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Biblical “Kinds”

Bible skeptics enjoy trumping the variety of species in our modern world as the main objection to Noah’s Ark being a factual occurrence. The understanding of the “kinds” described in the beginning of the Bible is becoming clearer and clearer – thanks to modern science and the exploration of DNA. It has been documented that polar bears and grizzly (Kodiak) bears have interbred, not only in zoos, but rarely in the wild.

This wonderful article from the Institute for Creation Research gives glory to our Creator – and His perfect, preserved Word.

Zonkeys, Geeps, and Noah’s Ark

by Brian Thomas, M.S. *

Zookeepers in Reynosa, Mexico, recently witnessed a female zebra give birth to a “zonkey.” So far, this rare hybrid animal appears to be in good health.¹ Meanwhile, an Irish farmer’s sheep chases its baby “geep,” sired by a goat.² What do zonkeys and geeps have to do with Noah’s Ark?

The zebra mother had grown familiar with a neighboring dwarf albino donkey. Although its father was colorless, the zonkey progeny has striped legs and a mostly brown torso.¹ Zebras and donkeys actually have different numbers of chromosomes, making fertilization quite challenging, but cellular machinery sometimes somehow finds a way to form a viable offspring. It appears life was designed to do just that.

Similarly, the typical goat has 60 chromosomes, and most domestic sheep have but 54. Modern science has attached separate genus names for the two varieties, but the fact that they can interbreed demonstrates that they descended from a single kind. They both fall under a broader category: the subfamily called “Caprinae.”

Family names, or in this case the subfamily, for animals seems to best approximate the Genesis kind. Adding those of air-breathing, land-dwelling animals yields a population that would not even take up half the Ark’s calculated volume.³

Nevertheless, Bible skeptics discount the Ark, insisting that it could not possibly have carried all the required creatures. When asked to estimate how many creatures entered the vessel, they sometimes suggest millions—an unrealistic number by far. But they sometimes add sea creatures to their tallies, and they may also be counting various versions of sheep, goats, zebras, donkeys, and horses separately.

Noah and his sons only needed two of each kind, and if two creatures can interbreed, they essentially belong to the same kind. Noah’s family also only needed land-dwelling, air-breathing animals. The text says, “Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.”⁴ That rules out fish and a host of other water creatures, which comprise the largest chunk of currently tallied animal names—Nemo and Flipper need not apply.

How did today’s animal varieties arise, anyway? Since creatures continue to diversify into newly named varieties as they pioneer new environments and breed with neighbors of their own general kind, it stands to reason that the few number of animals on the ark rapidly diversified after the Flood into the vastly diverse animal kingdom we see today. For example, over a thousand named species of finches and sparrows have been linked through breeding studies to a single, interbreeding kind.⁵ And that’s where rare animals like zonkeys and geeps come in, showing that today’s varieties trace back to basic kinds.

Were horses, zebras, donkeys, sheep and goats on the ark separately? Maybe, but based on these rare cross breeds, perhaps the two basic kinds were represented by animals that looked more like zonkeys and geeps.

As we learn more and more about chromosomes – it shouldn’t stretch any Bible believer’s understanding to know where the “giants” of Noah’s day came from. “Kinds” are why all the animals were able to fit, comfortably, on Noah’s Ark.

The animals, and even the human beings of modern history (post-flood) have been closely interbreeding for thousands and thousands of years – mostly due to geographic isolation. What went on the Ark – both animals and people – looked much different from what we see now.

GENESIS 7:13-15

¹³In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

¹⁴They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

You can have confidence that every Word of your Bible is true – despite the tenacious efforts of the wicked to prove otherwise.

Hints for Home Schoolers – Being a Keeper at Home

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Men should stop treating feminists like ladies, and instead treat them like the men they say they want to be. [Phyllis Schlafly]

3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God be not blasphemed.

Titus 2: 3-5

Let’s examine the phrase “keeper at home.” Some of what could be termed – New Age Bible Versions – have corrupted this passage to say something entirely different. Merely keeping a clean house – is not being a keeper at home. The keeper at home is something far greater than is commonly understood.

FROM THE GREEK, “KEEPER” IN TITUS 2 IS TRANSLATED FROM THIS WORD –

οὖρος

a watcher, warder, guardian

The same directive was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden – he was to“keep” the garden. It means something a great deal more than pruning! The Cheribum was to “keep” the way of the Tree of Life. With a flaming sword, no less! The same charge is given to women for their homes. It has ever been the desire of Satan to destroy the family – and one of the ways he does this is by changing God’s Words. The NIV version changes “keepers at home” to

to be busy at home

Think I am making too big of an issue over a few words? The change in context here is of gigantic proportion! That simple change, in the NIV, as well as others, has influenced Christians for the past generation, to abandon their children to the pagan shrines masquerading as schools, and thrust women into the unnatural role of competing with men. Even our seniors are being shuffled off to assisted living, because the “keeper at home” is not there to care for the elderly members of the family.

As the keeper at home – you are the guardian of your family. You are to be ever watchful for the welfare of your home, and its occupants. There simply is no more important job in the entire world. No where, and I mean no where, in the Holy Bible, the inspired Word of God, is this incredible responsibility given to men. Not in thousands of years of recorded history.

When you begin each day, have this thought in mind. You are the watcher, warder, guardian of your home. Not a mere housewife! You are the chatelaine of your castle, with all the commensurate responsibilities. Don’t let the media, politicians, or someone close to you diminish you and your desire to be obedient to the Lord. Your home is a fortress against the outside world, and you are its keeper! And the world, under the influence of the evil one, will attack with as much vengeance as an invading army. He will try to break down your door, infiltrate through a weak spot, smoke you out, and catapult destruction over the wall. The war machines you see in the above illustration are nothing compared to what he has in his arsenal.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Ephesians 6: 11

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Ultimate Banana Bread!

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

1 1/2 cups mashed, ripe bananas (usually three)

2 eggs

1/2 cup light olive oil

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Spray 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Stir just until blended. Pour into pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes! (very important) Turn out onto rack to finish cooling.

Now that’s what I call “instant breakfast!”

Hints for Home Schoolers – Mornings

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As a veteran home-school mom of over 25 years, I thought it might be nice to start a series sharing some of the things I learned in the trenches. It will also give an opportunity for other home-schoolers to comment and share their experiences, as well as assist those who are contemplating home school.

Let’s begin at the beginning – that is – the beginning of the day.

Some moms like to go with the flow. I fell into that at one point, and it always led to a disorganized day. After determining in my mind to start at a specific time, (with allowances for sickness of course) it was much easier to accomplish everything.

1. I would arise at 6:00 am, (sometimes with an infant) and clean myself up, dress appropriately, and spend 15 minutes in personal devotion to the Lord. Also – care for the immediate needs of any pets.

2. Wake children at 7:00, get them cleaned up and dressed for the day, and all eat breakfast together at 7:30.

3. Spend one hour doing household chores. Age suitable – even a four year old can run a small vacuum. If the weather is warm, the garden also gets inspected during this time.

4. Have Bible study with the children. I used A Beka Bible flashcards for ages 6-13. (To say they loved those flash cards would be an understatement) Younger kids play with Bible felt books and puzzles on the floor, or Bible coloring pages seated at a kiddy table, at the same time. Interesting to note – when the young ones were ready to take part – they requested to sit- in with the “big kids,” and sat with rapt attention. It was a natural transition from “milk” to “meat.” High schoolers have independent, guided Bible study. Bible study is the single most important part of your school day!

5. Morning break – consisting of a light snack ( hot chocolate with a graham cracker or fruit) but it really helped us get though the morning!

Money saving idea – A spray bottle can be filled with water to the base of the neck, then a squirt (approximately a teaspoon) of dish-washing liquid, (I use Dawn) then the rest of the bottle filled with isopropyl rubbing alcohol. This home-made spray cleaner will clean glass, mirrors, counters, tile, washable painted walls, bathroom tile, and vinyl floors – and will remove stubborn wax coatings from fruit – with no noxious fumes! I buy the alcohol in huge bottles from Sam’s or Costco. It saves a huge amount of money over store bought cleaners. An added bonus – this cleaner is completely safe for granite counters, unlike cleaners containing vinegar or ammonia. Will also kill mildew!

She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 31: 27

Next week we will cover the second part of the day. Divide and conquer!

God’s Plan of Salvation – Introduction

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As we enter into this all-important focus of Bible Doctrine, please take note of these three important imperatives:

There are seven irrefutable facts revealed in God’s plan of salvation.
It is God’s plan – not man’s.
There is no other plan that can save your lost soul and make you a child of God.

Acts 4:12

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Revisionist history states that the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, but that is not entirely true. It still exists, and is regrouping for the final phase of the story of the world. At one point, during its zenith – all roads led to Rome. And in a very real sense – all organized religions also lead to Rome – not to God and His salvation. There is only one way – God’s way. And, God’s Way is a Person; and the Person is His Son – Jesus Christ.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

GOD’S THREEFOLD PLAN OF SALVATION

I. Christ appeared here, on this earth, to save each and every one of us, from the penalty of sin. He accomplished this, by putting away our sins, through sacrificing Himself on the cross. Heb. 9:26 – For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

II. He then appeared in heaven, in the presence of God, after His resurrection, to save us from the power of sin. Heb. 9:24 – For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

III. Christ will appear again on this earth, for the second time, as “Lord of Lords and King of Kings,” to save us from the very presence of sin. Heb. 9:28 – So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Please come back, for an in depth, seven part study of – God’s Plan of Salvation.

Bible Study – Esau’s Disappointment and Enmity

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Genesis 27:30-40

³⁰And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

³¹And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.

³²And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau.

³³And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.

³⁴And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.

³⁵And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing.

³⁶And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?

Esau’s pleading and tears could not undo what had happened. When he so casually sold his birthright for a bowl of pottage, he demonstrated to the Lord just how much he did not care for Spiritual things. His heart and head were filled with fleshly desires. Because of this, a seed of bitterness took root in his soul –

Hebrews 12:15-17

¹⁵Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;

¹⁶Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

¹⁷For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.

Esau’s repentance was not genuine. He was grieving over what he had lost – not expressing Godly sorrow for what he had done. Children often think they are only wrong when they are caught. Esau was the same as a naughty child, only longing for the blessing, not desiring to be right with the Lord. We can be reminded of the many Replacement Theologists – who attempt to take for themselves all of the blessings promised to Israel – without desiring the conditional basis for the blessings. Many, many people only express sorrow for sin – when they are caught.

³⁷And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son?

³⁸And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

³⁹And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above;

⁴⁰And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother; and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.

Isaac predicts that Esau will continue in his warlike mindset – “by the sword thou shalt live.” Certainly, an ominous and accurate statement of where the descendants of Esau are to this very day. Esau ultimately allows his bitterness to turn to anger. Anger, when allowed to proceed unchecked, gives birth to hatred and fighting, and can even lead to murder. Today – the descendants of Esau – are still harboring enmity towards Jacob. Today – they call themselves Palestinians.

TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT! FOUR WRONGS ARE EVEN WORSE!!

Isaac was fully aware that God had told Rebekah even before the twins were born that “the elder shall serve the younger.” Isaac also knew that Esau had sold his birthright to Jacob. Despite that, Isaac chose to ignore these rather remarkable facts.
Rebekah attempted to anticipate God, whereby she instigated a terrible deception rather than waiting on the Lord to do His perfect work.
Esau could not have forgotten that he had sold his birthright to his brother Jacob. It would have been proper for him to remind his father of the event, and refuse the blessing outright.
Jacob deceived his father by lying, and acting out the lie that he was his brother Esau.

For a family with so much promise and blessing, they ended in a terrible mess. Esau’s future is described in Obadiah, some refer to this as “The Obadiah War.”

Obadiah 17-21

¹⁷But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

¹⁸And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.

¹⁹And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

²⁰And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

²¹And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord‘s.

Bible Study – God Confirms Covenant With Isaac

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Only by adhering strictly to Scripture, are we allowed to see the Lord’s complete relationship with mankind. Anytime we veer even slightly into the world, our “world-view” will become corrupted. There are countless books, blogs, websites, Youtubes, and even television programming, devoted to “expanding our understanding of the Bible.” Unfortunately – the “world-view” of whoever is producing these products, will heavily impress itself upon the finished product. It is essential to truly delve into the Word of God in the King James Bible, to understand Him. And, through His Word, we can understand why the Jews were – and still are – God’s chosen people.

Genesis 26:1-5

26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

[Abimelech = My father is king. It is not a name as much as it is a title, in the same fashion as Pharaoh is. There were several “Abimelechs” recorded.]

²And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:

³Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;

⁴And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

⁵Because that Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

As we progress through the Book of Genesis, we see our Lord further refining the people known as Hebrews. In the above passage, the Lord reconfirms the eternal Abrahamic Covenant. It is not a new covenant. In verse 5, He lists the reasons why He has done so. In verse 4b – He states just how ALL the nations of the world will be blessed through Abraham’s penultimate seed – Jesus Christ.

There are many ministries, religions, cults, and so-forth, dedicated to destroying the Biblical truth of the nature of God’s relationship with Israel. Many even go so far as to trash the Epistles of Paul! It is imperative, for the serious Bible student, to understand the difference between the Nation of Israel, and the Church. It is implicitly laid out in both the Old and New Testaments. God used Israel throughout His-story, and He is still using them. It is my firm belief, that even the Song of Solomon is about our Savior and His Gentile Bride – the Church. This story is told over and over again, in varying scenes, throughout the Old Testament. Jews do not even know why they perform the rituals and rites of the proscribed Feasts – yet all the same – they are portraying the same story.

All O.T. Biblical Covenants are between Jehovah and Israel – the Church is a third party beneficiary! The Church is not a part of the nations of the world – but rather a pilgrim on earth. Israel engages in earthly physical battles, while the Church’s battles are spiritual. Israel has a priesthood, the Church is a priesthood. Israel has Biblical borders and a capitol, while the Church consists of peoples from all nations and tongues. Israel is referred to as the frequently faithless wife of Jehovah, while the Church is referred to as the Bride of Christ. God’s relationship with Israel was one of Subject/King, while the Church’s relationship is one of Bride/Bridegroom.

four fifths of the bible pertains to the jews, while one fifth deals with the church!!!!

Just because the Jewish nation at large does not realize their role, does not mean they are not still players in the scene. They have been blinded in part, and it is not for us to conjecture the full why and how. He tells us in the following passage, that the Jews were blinded so that we may take part in His Salvation. It is one of the mysteries of God’s manifold love for His creatures.

Romans 11:24-26

²⁴For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

Bible Study – Death and Burial of Abraham

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Genesis 25:7-11

⁷And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years.

⁸Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Please note that Abraham, God’s faithful friend, was not taken to heaven! He “was gathered to his people.” The faithful were not able to access heaven until Jesus Christ, Abraham’s penultimate descendant, was sacrificed and rose from the dead. All believers were assigned to a division of hell, known as “Abraham’s bosom,” where it can be determined, they received comfort from Abraham himself. . . but. . .were not in torment!

Luke 16:21-23

²¹And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

²²And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

²³And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Many, many believers labor under the unscriptural belief, that the saints of the Old Testament went to heaven based on the Law and faith. This simply is not found anywhere in the Bible. There is only one way, and it has always been the only way, from before the dawn of time. Please see this study on the two Gospel quandary.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

⁹And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre;

¹⁰The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth: there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife.

Pro-Palestinians and Islamist’s should note – that this land was purchased by Abraham to bury Sarah – not Hagar!

When Abraham gave his son to God, Abraham gained back his son. God does not require anything nearly so dramatic from believers today. But, it is true without doubt, that when we give of ourselves to God, we gain far, far more than we ever gave. If we do not grow in faith and continue in infantile Christianity, we will eventually lose a great deal, because as baby Christians, the tendency is towards selfishness and far too much introspection – AKA – naval gazing!

We see in the following verse, God’s continuing plan for the Salvation of mankind. Though Ishmael was the first born, and natural heir, The Lord knew these men before they were even conceived. He chose the second born – Isaac – for His purposes, just as we choose Him, over our own natural man – who is our first born man.

¹¹And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary

I.e., “the well of Him that liveth and seeth me,” or, as some render it, “the well of the vision of life”, the well where the Lord met with Hagar (Genesis 16:7-14). Isaac dwelt beside this well (24:62; 25:11). It has been identified with `Ain Muweileh, or Moilahhi, south-west of Beersheba, and about 12 miles W. from Kadesh-barnea.

Bible Study – Isaac Gets a Bride – Part 2

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The unnamed servant has asked the Lord to reveal who the Bride will be – by volunteering to give water to the ten camels.

Genesis 24:15-27

¹⁵And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

¹⁶And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

¹⁸And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

¹⁹And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

²⁰And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

²¹And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water.^[17] Unlike other mammals, their red blood cells are oval rather than circular in shape. This facilitates the flow of red blood cells during dehydration^[21] and makes them better at withstanding high osmotic variation without rupturing when drinking large amounts of water: a 600 kg (1,300 lb) camel can drink 200 L (53 US gal) of water in three minutes.^[22]^{[23] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel}

That’s right ! 53 gallons of water for 1 camel!

53 gallons x 10 camels = 530 gallons of water!!!

Rebekah was not a sluggard! as the bride of the son of promise – she portrays the bride of jesus Christ – the church.

²²And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;

The unnamed servant gives precious gifts to Rebekah, gold bracelets and earrings, tokens of his master’s wealth. The Servant (Holy Spirit) gives tokens of the Father’s riches – endless joy, and boundless peace.

²³And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?

²⁴And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.

²⁵She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.

²⁶And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord.

²⁷And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and His truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.

What an example the unnamed servant is to us! He was a faithful steward in every way. He looked after his master’s affairs as if they were his own. Unfaithful stewards will cheat and steal from their masters. In our own service to Christ, as faithful stewards, we must handle our talents, abilities, money, time, and opportunities as faithful stewards of God. In so doing, we will be rewarded for our faithful stewardship at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

The unnamed servant also trusted God implicitly to help him meet his responsibility.

Luke 16:10

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Bible Study – Isaac Gets a Bride – Part 1

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Abraham has buried his beloved wife, Sarah, in the cave of Macpelah – which later became the family burial place for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not Ishmael and Esau!!!

Genesis 24 And Abraham was old, and well stricken in age: and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

²And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:

³And I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell:

Here the very aged Abraham, is adjuring his most trusted servant, to journey to the land of his birth, to find a bride for the son of promise. His instruction to place the hand under his thigh, is deep in covenant meaning. The thigh area is generalized in the Old Testament to mean the area of sexual reproduction, also playing significantly into the symbol of circumcision. It refers to the importance of the son of promise and his progeny – from which the Messiah would come.

Abraham also, in choosing the Gentile bride for Isaac portrays our heavenly Father choosing a Gentile Bride – the church – for His Son – the Christ. If Abraham had chosen a Canaanite bride for Isaac, imagine how differently things would have happened!

⁴But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.

⁵And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?

⁶And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.

This is a strong caution to the unnamed servant!

⁷The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.

⁸And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again.

The son of promise, Isaac, is not to be brought to that land under any circumstances!

⁹And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.

Remember – the hand under the thigh refers to the blessed progeny of Abraham, through his covenant with God!

THE UNNAMED SERVANT IS THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTER OF GENESIS 24 –

Luke 16:10

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

Why is the servant nameless? Because God chose for him to be nameless. A faithful servant never cares about promoting himself, his interest is solely in serving his master. The Holy Spirit never promotes Himself, but always exalts the Son of God.

¹⁰And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.

¹¹And he made his camels to kneel down without the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.

¹²And he said O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray thee, send me good speed this day, and shew kindness unto my master Abraham.

This is very significant. The unnamed servant does not rely on his own perspicacity to find a bride for his master’s son. He relies on the God of heaven to do it all!

¹³Behold, I stand here by the well of water; and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water:

¹⁴And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

The unnamed servant states right here that if God is providing the bride, that God is showing kindness to Abraham – not the servant himself!

THE SERVANT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) SEEKS THOSE WILLING TO BELIEVE HIS MESSAGE (THE GOSPEL) EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN THE BRIDEGROOM (CHRIST).

Bible Study – The Birth of Isaac

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The year was approximately 1892 B.C., when the Lord fulfilled His promise to Abraham. Both Abraham and Sarah had laughed when God said that 90-year-old Sarah would have a son. But it was a different story when the promised son did arrive – and joyous laughter would be heard in Abraham’s tent.

GENESIS 21:1-8

21 And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken.

²For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

³And Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

⁴And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

⁵And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.

⁶And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me.

⁷And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

⁸And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned.

But for Ishmael, Abraham’s son by Hagar, Issac’s presence caused jealousy and resentment. He had been the apple of his father’s eye until Isaac came – and we can naturally expect jealousy to be demonstrated towards his half brother. At the feast Sarah sees Ishmael mocking, or teasing the little Isaac, who is perhaps 2-3 years old at the weaning. Sarah, knew that Ishmael was old enough, at around age 16-17, to know better.

GENESIS 21:9-13

⁹And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking.

¹⁰Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac.

¹¹And the thing was very grievous in Abraham’s sight because of his son.

¹²And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

¹³And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed.

Sarah was very upset at Ishmael’s behavior, and Abraham was upset at losing his son. But the Lord told him that Sarah was right – and that he must cast out the bondwoman and her son. Though it was painful – Abraham obeyed in faith – believing that if he did God’s will, that everything will turn out right.

God cared for Ishmael as he promised Abraham He would. Through this extremity, Ishmael met the Lord; and God promised to make of him a great nation. These are the tender mercies of God, because Abraham believed in faith.

GENESIS 21:14-21

¹⁴And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

¹⁵And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

¹⁶And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.

¹⁷And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is.

¹⁸Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.

¹⁹And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink.

²⁰And God was with the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.

²¹And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

AN ALLEGORY OF LAW AND GRACE

GALATIANS 4:22-24

²²For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.

²³But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

²⁴Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

GALATIANS 4:28-31

²⁸Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

²⁹But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

³⁰Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

³¹So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

Ishmael and Isaac represent a spiritual allegory of law and grace (unmerited favor.) Hagar and Ishmael represent the law at Sinai, while Sarah and Issac represent God’s grace at Calvary. The two principles – law and grace – are always in conflict! They can not coexist. The “law” represents all of man’s best efforts to earn favor with God, while “grace” represents favor from God that is not earned.

The law principle must be “cast out” of our lives in order for us to receive grace. We need grace both for our salvation, and for our daily walk with God. Salvation and victory in the Christian life are always done through faith, not through the law – not through trying to earn God’s favor by good works.

GALATIANS 3:6-7

⁶Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.

⁷Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

GALATIANS 3:11

¹¹But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.

Even so – to receive God’s grace by faith does not mean we can live any way we choose! Rather – it is His grace that teaches us how we should live!

TITUS 2:11-12

¹¹For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

¹²Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. . .

Bible Study – Lot Delivered from Judgment

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Lot has returned from trying to persuade his two married daughters and their husbands of the impending doom. They mocked him in the same fashion that the world mocks Christians today. Since they can not see the doom coming – it does not exist in their minds. Forever the fallback of the secularists – prove it!

The angels spend the night in Lot’s home, then awaken him at dawn.

15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. 16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.

Apparently Lot was “lingering” (vs. 16) – something many people do when presented with the Gospel. They delay leaving their old, sinful life, because they, like Lot, fail to see the gravely perilous situation they are in. We also see that Lot is being delivered, as we are, because of the Lord’s mercy. Not for anything that Lot did – and not for anything that we do.

17 And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:19 Behold now, Thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified Thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:20 Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.

21 And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 22 Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

The map at right shows the approximate locations of the “cities of the plain.” Some scholars believe they were farther north, but the location is not germane to this study.

Lot – still the carnal believer – is terrified of being homeless. His weak flesh still has control over his actions. He feels that if he were too far from “civilization” he would not be able to live. He asks to be granted sanctuary in the “little” city of Zoar.

23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24 Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; 25 And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

Many archeologists have attempted to locate the remains of these cities. I find that rather ridiculous, because the Lord “overthrew those cities.” Working in my garden, I often turn the top layer of soil and its weeds completely over. When I go back a few weeks later, the weeds underneath are all dead. If that could happen in my garden in just two weeks – how could something the the Lord completely destroyed still remain after thousands of years? Most experts now agree – that Sodom and the “cities of the plain,” are now what is known as the Dead Sea. They were completely destroyed. The Lord “overthrew” them – even turning them upside down, as one dumps out a garbage pail!

26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

NO MAN, HAVING PUT HIS HAND TO THE PLOUGH, AND LOOKING BACK, IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. LUKE 9: 62

27 And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord:

28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. Genesis 19: 15-29

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

Leviticus 18: 22

ALL sexual behavior outside of the God ordained marriage between one man and one woman is sin – gay or straight, plural, animal, whatever – including all fornication and adultery among “straight” people. Christians – when you are intimate with someone- you are permanently joined to them. Only God can separate that. Sexual sin is sin against your own body – and sin against God.

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.

16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith He, shall be one flesh.

17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is One Spirit.

18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 1 Corinthians 6: 15-18

The Lord Jesus Christ could not have been more clear on this subject –

Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Matthew 19: 4-6

If you are struggling with sexual sin – no matter if it is homosexuality, pornography, adultery, or fornication – it is the same sin of lust. Jesus can deliver you from this sin, no matter how heinous and unforgivable you feel. You may feel that you are beyond redemption. Jesus came and died to save sinners! If you are truly repentant, and truly want to be delivered – you can be delivered. Do you long to be pure? You can be – just like the thief on the cross next to Jesus. It’s not too late for you. . . repent now, and turn to Jesus Christ.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which Thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide Thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. Psalm 51: 7-13

Bible Study – Two Angels Visit Lot

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In our last devotional, Abraham has interceded for his nephew Lot, after the Lord has revealed to him the impending judgement of Sodom. We learned two things – that the Lord desires the faithful to know His plans, and that He is receptive to the prayers of His saints. As we enter this lesson – the Lord has left communing with Abraham, and the two angels that had accompanied Him continue on towards Sodom.

1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;

Lot “sat in the gate.” meaning he had a position as a civic leader. Lot arises and bows with his face towards the ground in the Oriental custom. [far different from when Abraham prostrated himself to the ground at the appearance of the Lord]

2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.

Lot, the carnal believer, lives among these people and knows it is not safe for them to remain in the streets all night.

3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.

They relent and enter Lot’s home and eat a meal with him. Yet another example of angels having the ability to take on the appearance and function of human flesh. These are not disembodied spirits!

4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: 5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.

Many so-called “gay Christians” try to claim that the issue here is hospitality, not homosexuality. This defies all logic. For what possible reason could a hundred or so men have to bang on the door of someone’s home at night? Here is Sodom and Gomorrah, just a few miles from Hebron, Abraham’s home, and Jerusalem, Melchizedek’s home – and the stench of evil is so great that it has reached unto God in heaven! (Gen. 18: 20-21) Only 400 years since the profligate wickedness of the entire world was destroyed by Noah’s flood!

6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, 7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. 8 Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.

Lot attempts to reason with these savages. Here is proof that the men of Sodom are wanting to violate Lot’s visitors, because Lot offers his two young daughters instead. I assure you that what is going on here has nothing whatsoever to do with the Oriental sense of hospitality.

9 And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.

The Sodomites tell Lot to get away from the door, and then deride him as being in no position to judge them, he being a newcomer. They proceed to threaten Lot with even worse things than they had planned for the two angels. With even more aggression, they almost break the door.

10 But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.11 And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Through supernatural power, the Sodomites are blinded by the angels – yet Lot is able to leave and seek out his married daughters and their husbands in an attempt to deliver them from the impending doom.

12 And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:13 For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it.14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. Genesis 19: 1-14

Recall that after Abram had rescued Lot, and the King of Sodom along with him, Abram declined to keep any of the booty he was entitled to as victor of the war. Abram refused to give the “devil an inch,” if you will. Please don’t underestimate the importance of this. From the beginning – God has been separating the wheat from the tares. In the story of Lot, living among the Sodomites, we see ourselves. We are living in a sinful, fallen world, that daily grows in degeneracy. As the evil grows, those that belong to Christ shall grow more and more uncomfortable living in “Sodom.” The Bible tells us that the immorality of the men of Sodom was a great affront to Lot’s sense of righteousness, as he was a believer in the One True God. The Word also says that for the same reason – our souls will be vexed – but that we will be delivered.

As we try to witness to family, friends, and people we just happen to meet, or we have a King like the King of Sodom, or our churches embrace abomination, and we read things like this – “A Christian Finds Acceptance of Homosexuality in the Bible,” and the whole world treats us with scorn as Lot’s sons – in – law did, we can take strength from the following passage, and know in our hearts that the Lord is yet separating the wheat from the tares until the cup of iniquity is full:

6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;

7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:

8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)

9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

2 Peter 2: 6-9

Bible Study – The Doom of Sodom

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As we left Abraham last week, he was being visited by three angels in human form who appeared out of no where. Abraham was given no warning by his men that strangers were approaching the camp. They were suddenly there at his tent door! After the Lord’s extraordinary and prophetic exchange with Sarah, the men arise to leave . . .

16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.

17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which He hath spoken of him.

This is so wonderful – that the Creator of the universe will share His thoughts with faithful Abraham. In like fashion, the Lord desires us to know all of His plans. That same Creator, Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry had this to say about the faithful:

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you. John 15:15

20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will know.

If the Lord is Omniscient – why does He need to go and see? It is entirely for our benefit, to teach us an eternal truth. That God is interested in the affairs of men, and that He is responsive to the prayers of the faithful.

22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? 25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

Who is Abraham thinking of here? His worldly nephew, Lot! How patient the Lord is, already foreknowing what the end result will be. And it is indeed the Lord that Abraham is speaking to. The One Who stays behind to talk to Abraham is Jesus Christ in preincarnate form, known as a Theophany, or more correctly – Christophany. Please recall that Abraham did not worship the king of Salem – Melchizedek, but he “bowed himself to the ground,” [Gen. 18:2] instantly when he saw these visitors. God’s messengers (angels) will never accept worship – but here it was rightly accepted by the only One worthy of worship.

26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And He said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And He said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And He said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

33 And the Lord went His way, as soon as He had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

Genesis 18: 16-33

So many have asked me – what was that long negotiation all about? It was for us! Telling us that no matter how sinful and degenerate the world becomes (for they will surely outnumber us as the Sodomites outnumbered Lot) – the end time judgement will not fall until the faithful are safely taken out of the way. Even if there are only ten Christians left in the whole world! The same judgement that fell on Sodom will happen again, except next time it will be world wide.

Pray without ceasing.

1 Thessalonians 5: 17

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

James 5: 16

Bible Study – Three Angels Visit Abraham

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The Covenant has been sealed by both YHWH and Abraham. The year is approximately 1898 B.C. With the sealing of the Covenant, officially begins the Abrahamic Covenant – and the nation of Israel.

1 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

Abraham lived in Mamre, a life that could be described as Spiritually rich.

2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,

3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in Thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from Thy servant:

4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

Here is evidence that angels can take on the function and form of flesh – because they all ate. Abraham’s visitors are not spirits. But – they are not human beings either. The identity of One of these visitors will be covered in the next devotional.

9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.10 And He said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And He said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

Genesis 18: 1-15

There is a distinct difference between Abraham’s laughter of indescribable joy [Genesis 17:17] and Sarah’s laugh of disbelief. Also note in vs. 12, that Sarah laughed within herself – it was not audible laughter. See how the Lord knows our very thoughts? But this extremely significant exchange between the Lord and Sarah is often overlooked.

Sarah is far, far past the age for having children – she is as “good as dead”
She frankly asked if she were to “have pleasure” – meaning would the son be conceived naturally with her “lord” – very old husband
She denied that she laughed
The Lord asked her a question – which went unanswered – “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?”

The Lord had waited until there could be absolutely, positively, no chance of Sarah conceiving a child naturally. In His Sovereign Majesty He states that He will do what man can never do. The unanswered question – “Is any thing too hard for the Lord?” was answered miraculously almost 2,000 years later in reference to the most impossible Conception and Birth. Issac was an impossible conception and birth from dead flesh – Foreshadowing the impossible conception and birth of Jesus Christ – born to give all mankind, spiritually dead in sin – New Birth, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.

For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Luke 1: 37

Bible Study – Prophecy of Israel’s Bondage

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In our last devotional, Abram’s extraordinary faith was shown, and God promised Abram an innumerable inheritance. We proceed with the establishment of the the Abrahamic Covenant. It is a detailed procedure, not being fully sealed for 15 years.

7 And He said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.8 And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9 And He said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

It is only my personal take on this – but I believe the covenant animals used here are extremely significant.

The heifer would correlate with the Babylonian empire.

Persia is not included because Persia willingly released Israel.

The she goat is the Grecian empire.

The ram is the Roman empire.

The animals are three years old – each representing a third of Israel’s bondage. The undivided turtle dove would be Israel, and the undivided young pigeon is the offspring of the turtle dove – the church. The fowls that come down to devour the sacrifice, are Satan and his demons.

12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.13 And He said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

God tells Abram of Israel’s 400 years of slavery in Egypt.
He is told of Egypt’s reciprocal punishment
They will come out of Egypt with great wealth
God will afterwards use Israel to punish the Amorites, but not yet. They had not fully descended into the moral abyss. Much like the pagan world today. But – it’s coming!

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

Notice that Abram does not pass through the pieces! God does.
God is not “cutting” the covenant, He is sealing it with fire! Sealing off His chosen from the pagan nations throughout history, carrying them through, for His purposes. God’s eternal covenant is just that – eternal.

18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,21 And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Genesis 15: 7-21

Interesting to ponder – the governments of the world all want Israel to give up even more of the tiny patch they hold now. The nations of the world are now much in every way like the “ites” that Israel was commanded to destroy.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

2 Peter 3:9-10

Bible Study – Mysterious Melchizedek

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Our last devotional covered the exciting rescue of Lot, by Abram, who performed a brilliant coup in the middle of the night with only 318 men. Lot has been restored to his old life, and Abram turns towards home.

17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

Lot and his household had been taken hostage right along with this “king of Sodom.”

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

19 And he blessed him, and said,

Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20 And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.

And he gave him tithes of all. Genesis 14: 17-20

Melchizedek (Melkhey-Tsedek) is translated as King of Righteousness

Melchizedek was the King of Shalem, which is King of peace

Mysterious Melchizedek has been seized upon by cults and the occult for millenia. Mormons/Masons have a Melchizedek priesthood. With extra-Biblical writings, he has been ascribed variously to be a man, Noah’s son Shem, the Holy Spirit, another supernatural entity, the archangel Michael. . .

The most important thing to remember – always use Scripture to interpret Scripture!

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Abram’s encounter with Melchizedek was around 1913 B.C. While in the Spirit, King David wrote this beautiful prophetic Psalm almost 1,000 years later –

1 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.

Verse one refers to the past 2,000 years – between Christ’s first coming and His second coming.

2 The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion: rule Thou in the midst of thine enemies. 3 Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: Thou hast the dew of Thy youth. 4 The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

5 The Lord at Thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. 6 He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill the places with the dead bodies; He shall wound the heads over many countries. 7 He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall He lift up the head. Psalm 110 1-7

Verses 2-7 is a scene of Armageddon, when “Christ will become King of kings and Lord of lords; He will also reveal His priesthood. He is the altogether unique High Priest established, not after the order of the Levitical priesthood, but after the order of Melchizedek.” {Hidden Prophecies in the Psalms, J.R. Church, p. 315}

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So here it is – right in the middle of the Old Testament – Gentile New Testament Christianity!! Psalm 110!!

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Then in A.D. 64, this incredible passage was written in Hebrews 7 –

1 For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;

3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

Verse three seems to indicate that Melchizedek is more than a man, but we must remember that Hebrews was written to the Jews, whose entire thinking was based on the priesthood, and genealogies, specifically the Levite High Priest as the only means to access God. It is being stressed here that Melchizedek, whom was written about in their own book of Psalms, was not part of this Levitical priesthood, not of the bloodline of priests, but better! Even their father Abram tithed to him, and Levi tithed also while the priesthood was “being in Abram’s loins.” Saying he is without mother or father, is demonstrating Melchizedek is not in the Aaronic bloodline.

4 Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils. 5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham: 6 But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

7 And without all contradiction the less is blessed of the better. 8 And here men that die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them, of whom it is witnessed that he liveth. 9 And as I may so say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham. 10 For he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him. 11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law. 13 For he of whom these things are spoken pertaineth to another tribe, of which no man gave attendance at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

15 And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, 16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. 17 For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews 7: 1-17

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The writer of Hebrews (Paul) throughout this last letter to the Jews, is stressing that the Perfect High Priest has made the perfect, final sacrifice. All the priests up until this point had been frail humans, who had to offer sacrifice for their own sins, but this High Priest is the completion of what was begun so long ago. As the Jews would undoubtedly been well versed in the book of Psalms – this was intended to open their eyes to Who Jesus Christ really was.

The focus of both David and Paul – is Jesus Christ – not Melchizedec!

MELCHIZEDEC IS AN OLD TESTAMENT “TYPE” OF CHRIST – A FORESHADOW OF JESUS CHRIST

Both priest and king
Superior to Aaron
Superior to Abram
Offers bread and wine (great symbolism here)

For such an High Priest became us, Who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens

Hebrews 7: 26

And as much as King of Salem, Melchizedec, is Biblical typology of Jesus Christ, next week we will see that the the King of Sodom portrays the devil.

Bible Study – Abram Sojourns in Egypt

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And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. Genesis 12:10-13

Several things did not happen here, which should have. As we have observed faithful Abram over the past few weeks, his faith was in evidence. Where is it now? Where is the sacrifice?

He decides to go to well watered Egypt (river culture similar to Ur) to wait out the famine.
Rather than relying on God’s promises, he fears for his life based on the desirableness of his wife.
He predetermines to deceive the people he is sojourning with.

At this point, Abram and his caravan would be traveling from Beersheba to Egypt. In Scripture, Egypt represents the world (flesh). Seeking after it indicates broken fellowship with God. Rather than turning wholly unto YHWH in the test of the famine – his fear overcame him, and he attempted to anticipate the future, despite the fact that God had clearly stated that he would be blessed – in the promised land.

We will pause here, and examine Hurrian culture for a moment. It would not be unusual – for a man to be killed in order to seize his wife. Abram, passing Sarah off as his sister, would be able to stall for time to escape (during a long betrothal period) while the negotiations were taking place. During this time, Sarah would dwell safely with her “brother.” Aside from that – Sarah was without doubt – an extraordinarily beautiful woman.

These paintings are from the rock cut tomb of Khnumhotep II located between Upper and Lower Egypt at Beni Hasan, and made during the reign of Senusret II of the 12th dynasty (around 1880-1874 BC). The hair, beards, and clothing portray Semites from the area of Palestine. More than just a trading party, entire families with wives and children appear to be relocating to Egypt. They are well groomed and dressed in the colorful clothing of their heritage.

14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. 17 And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

Genesis 12: 14-20

The consequences of Abram’s backsliding are so far reaching, it is breathtaking in scope.

Backsliding always begins by failing to trust God in some area of life
Backsliding then progresses to “departing” from the will of God.
Backsliding always reaps unpleasant results.

Today – the world still reaps the “crop” sown by Abram’s backsliding. While in Egypt, he bought a young slave girl named Hagar to be Sarah’s handmaid – who became the mother of the Arabs.

The seeds of unrighteousness always reap a bitter harvest of sorrow and grief for generations to come. Seeds of righteousness reap a bountiful harvest of blessings – for generations to come.

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in Thee: yea, in the shadow of Thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. Psalm 57:1

Bible Study – Abram Called Out

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These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

This family tree displays Genesis 11: 10-26

27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 11: 10-32

We have come through four great events in our study of Genesis 1-11; which took place over a period of 1,800 years.

The Creation
The Fall
The Flood
Babel

What happens in the next chapter – 12 – is pivotal. There are very few Bible characters whose lives are so extolled in the divine record as Abraham’s is. He is a wondrous example of a person who is justified by faith – not works.
1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: Genesis 12:1

Looking at the family tree above, you can see that Abram is a descendant of Shem – who is still living at over 500 years of age! Knowledge of the true God was available, through Shem, but very few people wanted it. Just like today!

The people of Ur worshiped many gods, even Abram’s own father – Terah – was a pagan. In the following verses from the book of Joshua – God is telling the people the history of Israel:

2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. Joshua 24:2-3

[Ur had libraries complete with: dictionaries, grammars, reference works, encyclopedias, official annals, works on mathematics, astronomy, geography, religion and politics. Hammurabi, who ruled Babylonia in Abraham’s day, was a great patron of learning,]

This military standard is from the ruins of the royal tombs at Ur of the Chaldees in ancient Mesopotamia. The standard is about 4500 years old and one of the earliest representations of an ancient Sumerian army.
It has two sides, one depicting war and the other depicting peace. The excavator was the brilliant Sir Leonard Woolley, the archaeologist who uncovered the ruins of a highly advanced civilization, whose ruins can be traced before the flood of Noah. The royal standard of Ur is important in the study of Biblical archaeology, it reveals the fact that the original home of Abraham, the city of Ur really existed. Ur was an ancient city of Sumer, South Mesopotamia. The city is also known as Ur of the Chaldees. It was an important center of Sumerian culture and is identified in the Bible as the home of Abraham. [biblehistory.com]

Abram was being asked by God, to leave comfortable civilization and go out into an unknown land – strictly on faith. The faithfulness of Abram is truly incredible.

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. Genesis 12:2-3

All the families of the earth are blessed through Jesus Christ – Abram’s ultimate descendant, Who is the focus and theme of the entire Bible.

4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came. Genesis 12:4-5

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

This map displays Abram’s journey from Haran, where his father, Terah died, to the land of Sichem – or Shechem as you see at the end of the red trail.

The Canaanites that were in the land were the descendants of Ham’s cursed son – Canaan. Gen. 9:25

7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, Who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Beth–el, and pitched his tent, having Beth–el on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Hebrews 11:8

Bible Study – The Curse of Canaan

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And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19 These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

Modern biochemical analysis supports verse 19, in that through these three sons of Noah was the whole earth populated.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) indicates that all women have descended from a single woman, called mitochondrial Eve. This does not prove that she was the only woman alive at the time, but is consistent with it. High mutation rates indicate that this ancestor lived at about the time of the Biblical Eve as well.

[Carl Wieland, “Mitochondrial Eve and Biblical Eve are looking good: criticism of young age is premature” TJ 19(1) 2005, p. 57

This video is of Professor of mathematics, John Heffner, on the statistical evidence for the current world population.

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.

This is the first alcohol that was ever made. Before the flood – fermentation was impossible.
John Chrysostom, a church father, writes that Noah’s behavior is defensible: as the first human to taste wine, he would not know its aftereffects: “Through ignorance and inexperience of the proper amount to drink, fell into a drunken stupor”. Wikipedia

Which brings us to verse 22. Ham seeing “the nakedness of his father.” A great deal has been written on just what that means. My preferred method is to take the Scripture literally, and not put things in that aren’t there. Also – the best way is to use Scripture, to interpret Scripture.

We will take a short excursion into Leviticus, and see the Law.

7 The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 8 The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. Leviticus 18:7-8

Leviticus 18:8, specifically states that uncovering the father’s wife’s nakedness – is equivalent to uncovering the father’s nakedness. Back to Genesis:

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said,

Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Why was the curse on Ham’s youngest son?

The prevailing theory is that Ham simply saw his father’s nakedness. But that does not explain why the curse was on the youngest son, Canaan.
Some like to postulate that Ham committed great immorality, by the act of sodomy on his father. Scripture does not support this.

Here goes my take on this – supported by Leviticus 18.

Ham committed incest with his mother – and produced the cursed son – Canaan. I’m sure many will object to that idea, but Holy Scripture completely supports it. Please fire your best shots!!

8 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

Genesis 9: 18-29

Many evil people have misappropriated Genesis 9: 26-27, to justify the enslavement of black people throughout the centuries. It is still going on today in Africa, the Middle East, and in some cases – even here.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though He needed any thing, seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us: Acts 17: 24-27

Bible Study – Time for Judgement

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And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Every evil behavior that you can imagine, and probably ones you can’t – in every human being – infanticide, matricide, patricide, rape, murder, adultery, incest, treachery, cannibalism – and human sacrifice to the god – Molech. In addition – the entire human race had been corrupted by fallen angels.

Let’s review this passage from Jude, which describes the interaction between the fallen angels and mankind –

6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

strange = Strong’s #2087 – other or different. This phrase is not a reference to sodomy.

6 And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. 7 And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. Genesis 6: 5-7

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6: 8

9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

Noah’s gene pool was not corrupted by the fallen angels.

10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

All flesh – not only human beings. This is just one example of Sumerian bas-relief. There are hundreds of such chimeras depicted in Sumerian, Babylonian, and Egyptian artifacts.

13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Genesis 6: 9-13

14 Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 15 And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. 16 A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.

The ark was approximately 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. These are the same proportions employed in modern ocean liners and battle ships. It was divided into three decks, with compartments, and a course of windows around the top.

Gopher wood is used in this passage only, in the entire Bible. The type of wood can not be identified. It most likely refers to the process of treating the wood, rather than the species of tree.

Dr. Henry Morris said in his Defender’s Study Bible (1995) that the ark was made of “a hard dense wood whose species has not yet been identified.” He added that the “pitch” that made it waterproof (Genesis 6:14) is the Hebrew word kopher, equivalent to kaphar, which was “frequently translated later as ‘atonement’ (Leviticus 17:11). In providing a protective covering against the waters of judgment, it thus becomes a beautiful type of Christ.”

It is interesting to note – that so many people who profess Jesus Christ, do not believe in the Genesis flood. Do they think Jesus was a liar? Here He is giving the Olivet Discourse. . .

37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,

39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Matthew 24: 37-39

Bible Study – From Adam to Noah

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The beginning of Genesis 5, is a summary of what has gone before.

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; 2 Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Adam = of man- kind [Strong’s 120]

***Note to anyone witnessing to Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses. They often rely on the following verse to de-deify Jesus Christ and make Him a “created being.” It is a good idea to memorize the definition of the word – Adam. It means “of man-kind,” with kind being the operative portion of the definition. As Christ is the last Adam – those who are born- again, under His precious Blood are of His – kind – no longer of “man-kind.” The word Christian quite literally means – “of Christ.” Think back to the kinds that were established at the very beginning of Creation. This is very important doctrine! The truly saved of Christ are a different kind than the unsaved. Kinds can only bring forth after their own kind!

1 CORINTHIANS 15:45

And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: 4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: 5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died. Genesis 5: 1-5

This chart demonstrates the family tree that is detailed in verses 6-22.

(Chart from Dark Mirrors of Heaven)

Worth picking out of the family tree – is Seth’s descendant – Enoch.

21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5: 21-24

And “he was not;” – What does that mean?

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Hebrews 11: 5

translated = to transfer, transport, exchange [Strong’s # 3346]

Only Enoch and one other man – Elijah – did not experience death. This is the same experience that believers still living at the time before the Tribulation will have.

16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4: 16-18

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:52

If you are entranced by the esoteric “Book of Enoch,” I will state that I do not believe it to be the inspired Word of God. Anyone with good understanding of the King James Bible, upon reading the Book of Enoch would likely agree with me. For a good study on some of the obscurities I recommend this article by David J. Stewart. (though I disagree with Mr. Stewart strongly on origins!)

Bible Study – Leaving the Garden

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And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; Genesis 3: 14

Later Scripture reveals, that Satan was speaking through the serpent. Throughout history, it has been maintained that the serpent was very beautiful, and likely stood upright.

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. II Corinthians 11:3

And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. II Corinthians 11:14

This is the pivotal verse of the entire Book of Genesis:

and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; it shalt bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel, Genesis 3: 15

THERE HAS BEEN ONLY ONE DESCENDANT OF EVE, (SEED OF A WOMAN) NOT BEGOTTEN OF A MAN. JESUS CHRIST COULD BE BORN SINLESS, BECAUSE HE DID NOT INHERIT THE SIN- NATURE THROUGH A HUMAN FATHER.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Romans 5: 12

SIN IS PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE FATHER – NOT THE MOTHER – BECAUSE EVE WAS DECEIVED – ADAM WAS NOT

Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Genesis 3: 16-20

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them. Genesis 3: 21

This image from the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, shows a horribly grief-stricken Adam and Eve. One can only imagine how they must have loved all of the animals. Their attempt to cover their sin with fig leaves was not accepted by God.

The covering for sin can not be woven with human hands [Gen. 3:7]. Before Adam and Eve’s very eyes, God took one of the innocent animals they loved (probably a lamb) and slew the animal as the ground soaked up its blood.

God, by His own hand, began what is know as “The Scarlet Thread of Redemption.” The story of atonement and sacrifice continues to unfold throughout the Word of God until Jesus, the Lamb of God makes the Atonement.

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also the tree of life, and eat, and live forever; Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the end of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Genesis 3: 22-24

[See Ezekiel 1, here, for a detailed description of “cherubim.” Not chubby, cute little cupids!!! ]

Bible Study – The Fall of Man

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Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.

And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good from evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3: 1-7

Do not think of the serpent as a repellent snake. The serpent could very well have been Adam and Eve’s favorite animal. Which is why Satan took the serpent as his disguise – and was there in the garden from the beginning. His whole plan was to sow seeds of doubt. This is also the reason he approached Eve, rather than Adam. The Bible states that women are the “weaker vessel.” – 1 Peter 3:7.

Satan used a three-pronged attack on Eve’s will:

lust of the flesh – “the tree was good for food.“
lust of the eyes – “it was pleasant to the eyes.”
pride of life – “ye shall be as gods“; “and a tree desired to make one wise.”

“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2: 16

EVE IS DECEIVED – ADAM IS NOT. . .BUT THEY BOTH SINNED.

“Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Timothy 2:14

What happened when Adam and Eve took the fruit?

THEY BECAME SELF-CONSCIOUS, RATHER THAN GOD-CONSCIOUS.

“What the man and woman immediately acquired was the now predominant trait of self-consciousness. God-consciousness has been lost, and henceforth self-contemplation is to be the characteristic and bane of mankind, laying the foundation for those inner feelings for mental states comprehended under the term unhappiness, and for all the external strivings whereby effort is made to attain a better condition. “ John M. Gray, Christian Worker’s Commentary on the Bible

“Instead of seeking God and openly confessing their guilt, they attempted to conceal it both from Him and from themselves. Such has ever been the way of natural man.” Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis

It is still the plan of Satan to cast doubt on God’s Word. In seminaries, Sunday school classes, and Christian Colleges – the Word of God is questioned, critiqued, twisted, and even mocked. From the very beginning – it has been Satan’s method to lie, contradict, or cast doubt on the infallible, inspired, Word of God.

Yea, hath God said?

For ever,

O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.

Psalm 119: 89

sage

Creation Week – Day 6 – Part 2

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“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29: 11

Does this look familiar? It is still being presented in children’s textbooks – despite the fact that ALL of the ancestral forms have been proven fraudulent. All of them.

Piltdown Man was “discovered” in 1912, and kept in textbooks until as late as 1967, even though it was proven to be a hoax in 1953. It consisted of the lower jaw bone of an ape, combined with a fully formed human skull, having teeth filed down, and stained to give the appearance of age. This was the “hopeful monster” presented to school children for 70 years.

Nebraska Man was formed from a single tooth in 1922. Henry Fairfield Osborn, of the American Museum of Natural History .

Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon Man was not primitive, had larger skull capacity than modern man has, made and played musical instruments, and buried their dead.

Peking Man apparently disappeared in China, with not a single bone preserved. Interestingly, one of the Peking Man “discoverers” was Teilhard De Chardin, implicated in the Piltdown hoax. Hmmm.

Java Man consists of a skull-cap and femur, which the discoverer, Dr. Eugene Dubois, later recanted and assigned the skull cap to a giant ape.

Heidelberg Man entire fossil consists of a lower jaw with teeth, plus a great deal of imagination.

Lucy has all the fossil bones of an extinct pygmy chimp, with the exception of the knee joint – which discoverer Donald Johanson admits was found over a mile away from the rest of the bones. ???

H.P. Yockey stated, “The current accepted … (evolutionist origin of life) … scenarios are untenable and the solution to the problem will not be found by continuing to flagellate these conclusions” (H. Yockey, 1992, Information theory and molecular biology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, GB. P. 289).

Nancy Touchette sums the current status of abiogenesis saying, “So far, none of the current theories have been substantiated or proven by experiment, and no consensus exists about which, if any, of these theories is correct. Solving the mystery may indeed take longer than the origin of life itself” (Nancy Touchette. 1993. Evolutions: Origin of Life. J of NIH Research 5:95).

A Reader’s Digest book – The Last Two Million Years , p. 12, is the typical story being presented to the public:

In Darwin’s time, there was little evidence to support his theory; but since then a whole chain of ‘missing links’ has been established by study of fossil bones at prehistoric sites.

Where is the “whole chain of missing links”? Where? Dates of 40 million years are tossed about without the least concern for proving anything scientifically.

“The chance that higher life forms might have emerged in this way is comparable with the chance that ‘a tornado sweeping through a junk yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein’.”

Sir Fred Hoyle (English astronomer, Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge University), as quoted in “Hoyle on Evolution”. Nature, vol. 294, 12 Nov. 1981, p. 105

The purveyors of human evolution have this goal in mind – to disprove the God of the Bible, and the Genesis account of creation. It is the work of Satan. . .

26 And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Genesis 1: 26-28

Who is the “Our” in the above Scripture? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Just a few quick facts relating to six, the number of man:

There are approximately six quarts of blood in the human body.

That blood travels approximately 12,000 miles ( 2,000 x 6) in one day.

The average lung weighs about six hundred grams, and has capacity of six liters.

There are six hundred muscles in the human body.

There are six senses – seeing, hearing, smelling. tasting, touching, and equilibrium.

There are six primary systems in the body – skeletal, circulatory, muscular, nervous, digestive, and reproductive.

There are six major members – head, torso, arms, and legs. (The Quest for Truth, Michael Dedivionai, p. 88)

Man is the crown jewel of God’s creation. Out of all creation, only man has language, reasoning, and logic. Only man can appreciate beauty, and only man was created to have a relationship with his Creator. Man is not just a little above the apes – man was made in the image of God.

I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

Psalm 139: 14

sage

Creation Week – Day 5

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“The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.” (Dr. Edwin Conkin, biologist, Princeton University)

“And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Genesis 1:20-23

Let’s examine a few of the incredible creatures created on the fifth day. This is a nudibranch, an animal with an unusual diet. Its primary food is sea anemones – which are covered with stinging cells, that usually explode at the slightest touch.

The nudibranch tears the anemones apart and swallows the stingers without exploding a single cell – but- they are not digested!! There are tiny tubes linking the nudibranch’s stomach to the waving spurs on its back. The stinging cells move from the stomach, through the tubes to the tips of the spurs. It can shoot them at anything that attacks. Logic question – How could this ability have been acquired gradually? All the animals would have been killed before “passing down” the mechanisms to make this stolen defense possible.

Truly a miracle of design, the hummingbird surpasses almost everything in the sky. The hummer is the only bird that can fly backwards, sideways, and hover. Their wings beat 80 strokes per second, their heart beats 1,000 times a minute. Here is the evolutionary conundrum – the hummer has no rods in its retina for night vision. What to do? Sleep, of course. But the hummer doesn’t sleep at night. It hibernates every single night, except when the female is nesting. It is true hibernation – with the body temperature dropping to conserve energy.

Even the most advanced military helicopters cannot match the hummingbird’s complex flight formation – which originates from the hummer’s shoulder. Question – how did the hummer’s beak, tongue, and wings develop simultaneously, without the birds starving to death first? In over 300 different species of hummer – at the same time?

THE VERY SIZE OF HUMMINGBIRDS MAKES THEIR SURVIVAL AN EVEN BIGGER ADVENTURE. HUMMINGBIRDS MUST EAT MORE THAN THEIR WEIGHT IN FOOD EACH DAY, AND THEY FULFILL THIS NEED BY EATING OFTEN. BECAUSE THEIR SURVIVAL DEPENDS CRITICALLY ON EATING FREQUENTLY MORE THAN ANY OTHER ANIMAL – THEY CONTINUALLY FACE THE DANGER OF STARVING. (HUMMINGBIRDS.NET)

Impossible. How could the hummer evolve its wings, tongue, and bill, (all at the same time) which are necessary to eat – while taking millions of years to form – if it has to eat its weight every day?

We have all been victims of science classes, where artist’s conceptions have been presented in the form of : 1. the geologic column (which exists nowhere in the world) 2. Haeckel’s Embryos (proven fraudulent) and 3. whatever hopeful monster your particular generation is presented with. Likely you were also taught that coral reefs took millions of years to develop.

“Little has been discovered of the growth rate of reefs by direct measurement. Shuiter found that a new reef established in Krakatoa after the eruption of 1883 had grown to a thickness of 20cm, in five years, or 4cm per year. Other investigators have estimated reef growth at 0.1 to 5 cm per year.” (Juenen,P.H. Marine Geology, p. 421)

As evolutionary theory slides further and further down the slippery slope – a new crop of “thinkers,” has cropped up. Those, like Richard Dawkins, who believe that the earth was “seeded” by intelligent life from somewhere else in the universe. Knowing now, that even a leaf is too complicated to have evolved , they find that hopeless idea more palatable than the truth.

“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:11

sage

Creation Week – Day 4

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For centuries the understanding of the first day of creation has caused mass confusion. In my first post in this series, I demonstrated that the “light,” created by God that first day was the electromagnetic field – not the sun. As we follow along chronologically, the second day the waters were divided and the firmament installed, the third day the seas and land were separated and vegetation appeared. And here is where day-age theorists run into trouble.

If the plants were created on the third day – how did they photosynthesize for 1,000 years or more until the sun was created on the fourth “day?”

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the stars also.

And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; And God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:13-19

Just some quick facts for evolutionists to ponder. If the planets and their 72 known moons evolved from the same materials – should they not share similar characteristics?

All planets should spin in the same direction, but Venus, Uranus, and Pluto spin backwards.
All 72 moons in our solar system should orbit their planets in the same fashion, but 8 are known to orbit backwards.
The orbits of these 72 moons should lie in the equatorial plane of the planet they are orbiting, but there are many that have inclined orbits, including our own moon.
Our sun is about 98% hydrogen or helium. If Big Bang and planetary evolution are true – the closest planets to the Sun, Earth, Mars, Venus, and Mercury should share the same composition, but they don’t. The four closest planets to the Sun are less than 1% helium or hydrogen.

More from the Bible – “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me.” Jeremiah 33:22 This was written at a time when only 5,000 stars were visible to the human eye. Since the invention of the telescope in the 17th century, today astronomers estimate there are at least ten thousand billion trillion stars.

God knows how many stars there are – “He telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names.” Psalm 147:4

Until the 16th century, geocentricity was the widely held belief, but 3,000 years ago it was written in the Word that. . .

4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 6 His (the sun’s) going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit ( the sun’s) unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. Psalm 19:4-6

Each star is unique –

There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. 1 Corinthians 15:41

sage

Creation Week – Day 3

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“Let the waters under the heaven be gathered unto one place. God called the dry land Earth and the gathering together of the waters called He seas.” Genesis 1: 9-10

For 50 years, scientist Alfred Wegener was ridiculed for proposing the idea of continental drift. Today, due to great advances in submersible technology – the ocean floor proves that the landmasses have been ripped apart. It is now generally acknowledged by evolutionists – that at some point – (in their view 200,000,000 years ago) the continents were in one huge land mass known as Pangaea.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.” Genesis 1: 11-13

Here is a black walnut leaf under electron microscope – a structure so complex, that if just one leaf appeared through evolution, it would be a mind boggling, impossible statistic.

There are over 20 different kinds of amino acids that are the foundation of all proteins – the building blocks of life – plant, animal, and man.

These amino acids are linked, end to end to form a single structure called a macromolecule. Just one living cell holds over 30,000 proteins in different configurations. The 500 amino acids that are in an average protein can be arranged in 1 x 10 to the 600th power.

The simplest form of life, bacteria, consists of over 600 varying protein molecules. The probability that just one, of the 600 molecules could form by chance is – 10 to the 527th power.

And the author of the phrase “big bang,” Professor Sir Fred Hoyle stated –

“Precious little in the way of biochemical evolution could have happened on the earth. If one counts the number of trial assemblies of amino acids that are needed to give rise to the enzymes, the probability of their discovery by random shufflings turn out be ‘less’ than 1 in 10 to the 40,000th power.”

[that’s the number 1 followed by forty thousand zeros]

( The Quest for Truth, Michael Dedivonai, p. 6)

“The sea is His, and He made it; and His hands formed the dry land.” Psalm 95: 4

sage

Creation Week – Day 2

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Water, water everywhere. And quite a bit of it is drinkable. It is necessary for life, for even the most simple bacteria require water molecules within their Periplasmic space to function. Something to consider also – just as nothing living can survive without water, so nothing Spiritual can survive without Living Water. Water can exist in three states simultaneously, solid, liquid, gas, and Living Water exists in Three states simultaneously, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. Genesis 1: 6-8

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What is the firmament? Mentioned five times in this passage – it should not be overlooked. If we think about modern insulated windows, which trap inert gases, such as Argon, between the panes, it should not be too hard to understand.

Air in cavity between glass panes of insulated glass is usually dried by desiccant filled inside space bars prior to sealing. As insulated glass technology develops, Instead of air, dry nitrogen is used to further improve thermal conductivity. Nowadays, less conductive and slower-moving inert gases such as argon and krypton are extensively used instead. Inert gas moves or transfers hot or cold through the space at a much slower rate than air. These inert gases provide optimum insulation performances. They further reduce heat and sound transfer from one side of the double glazed unit to the other. http://xinology.com:888/Glass-Processing-Equipments-Supplies-Consumables/glass-insulating/inert-gas-filling-system/introduction.html

It is known that Venus and Saturn’s moon – Titus, both have dense canopies. Various scientists have made postulations worthy of considering in the light of Scripture. It won’t serve to detail them all here, but they all share one common theme. At a point in earth’s history – there was a dense layer of water surrounding the earth – nothing like the atmosphere we have now – but something like what we see in modern window and greenhouse applications. This firmament, with billions and billions of tons of water, trapped between the layers, would have made the earth’s entire climate much like a tropical greenhouse, with consistent temperature globally.

Besides the obvious benefit of consistent warm temperature, there are some other things to ponder about God’s “very good” creation. Just these few qualities would be a boon to all life:

increased air pressure
stronger magnetic field
slightly higher carbon dioxide and oxygen
warmer soil
warmer water

And the results of these ideal conditions?

longer life spans
minimal disease
increased stamina
gigantic plant and animal specimens of some plant and animal species that continue to grow for their entire life span

A patient receives treatment in a state-of-the-art Sechrist Monoplace
Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber

Used to treat burn, stroke, MS, cerebral palsy. . .

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But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4: 14

For an in depth and scholarly study of the term – firmament – or in the Hebrew – raqia – see here.

sage

Creation Week – Day 1

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16 For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him:

17 And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Colossians 1: 16-17

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said Let there be light and there was light.

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1: 1-5

The Book of Genesis contains the Creative acts of God. In the Hebrew, the word create – is bara, which means – to make out of nothing. Bara is used three times in the first chapter of Genesis. The light that God created in verses 1-5 was not sunlight, but rather – it was energy. As advanced as our scientists are – they have only scratched the surface of understanding light – and its power. Interacting electric and magnetic fields, quantum mechanics – there are countless new things to be discovered about light energy. In the past few years, researchers have been amazed to discover, that pigeons have their own GPS abilities, due to neurons which encode the direction and intensity of earth’s magnetic field. Read more here.

Why does the first day begin with night? Because God began with nothing, and silence. In the Hebrew, the word day – is Yahm. Unless there is a different use specified in the text – Yahm always signifies a literal day.

Some Bible students decide to force the Bible to say what makes them comfortable. Making claims for day-age theories, the literal days turn into thousands, even millions of years.

Dr. Thomas Barnes discovered that the electromagnetic field of the earth is decreasing exponentially – losing 1/2 its energy every 1,400 years. Calculated backwards, 2,800 years ago, the field was four times stronger than it is now. Going back just ten thousand years, the electromagnetic field of the earth would have been, so powerful , life would not be able to exist.

Going back 15,000 years [ a drop in the evolutionary bucket] the magnetic field would be the strength of a magnetic star.

The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens. Proverbs 3:19

Zonkeys, Geeps, and Noah’s Ark

by Brian Thomas, M.S. *

As we learn more and more about chromosomes – it shouldn’t stretch any Bible believer’s understanding to know where the “giants” of Noah’s day came from. “Kinds” are why all the animals were able to fit, comfortably, on Noah’s Ark.

The animals, and even the human beings of modern history (post-flood) have been closely interbreeding for thousands and thousands of years – mostly due to geographic isolation. What went on the Ark – both animals and people – looked much different from what we see now.

GENESIS 7:13-15

13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

14 They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

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Men should stop treating feminists like ladies, and instead treat them like the men they say they want to be. [Phyllis Schlafly]

FROM THE GREEK, “KEEPER” IN TITUS 2 IS TRANSLATED FROM THIS WORD –

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Now that’s what I call “instant breakfast!”

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She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

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Acts 4:12

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

GOD’S THREEFOLD PLAN OF SALVATION

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TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT! FOUR WRONGS ARE EVEN WORSE!!

Obadiah 17-21

17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.

19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord‘s.

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Genesis 26:1-5

four fifths of the bible pertains to the jews, while one fifth deals with the church!!!!

Romans 11:24-26

24 For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

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Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

11 And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

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Genesis 24:15-27

15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

17 And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

18 And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

20 And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

21 And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

22 And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;

23 And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?

24 And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.

25 She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.

26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord.

27 And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and His truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.

Luke 16:10

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

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THE UNNAMED SERVANT IS THE PRINCIPAL CHARACTER OF GENESIS 24 –

Luke 16:10

He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

THE SERVANT (THE HOLY SPIRIT) SEEKS THOSE WILLING TO BELIEVE HIS MESSAGE (THE GOSPEL) EVEN THOUGH THEY HAVE NEVER SEEN THE BRIDEGROOM (CHRIST).

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The year was approximately 1892 B.C., when the Lord fulfilled His promise to Abraham. Both Abraham and Sarah had laughed when God said that 90-year-old Sarah would have a son. But it was a different story when the promised son did arrive – and joyous laughter would be heard in Abraham’s tent.

GENESIS 21:1-8

GENESIS 21:9-13

God cared for Ishmael as he promised Abraham He would. Through this extremity, Ishmael met the Lord; and God promised to make of him a great nation. These are the tender mercies of God, because Abraham believed in faith.

GENESIS 21:14-21

AN ALLEGORY OF LAW AND GRACE

GALATIANS 4:22-24

GALATIANS 4:28-31

GALATIANS 3:6-7

GALATIANS 3:11

Even so – to receive God’s grace by faith does not mean we can live any way we choose! Rather – it is His grace that teaches us how we should live!

TITUS 2:11-12

11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. . .

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NO MAN, HAVING PUT HIS HAND TO THE PLOUGH, AND LOOKING BACK, IS FIT FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. LUKE 9: 62

Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.

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¹³In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

¹⁴They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

¹⁵And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

¹⁷But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.

¹⁸And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the house of Esau; for the Lord hath spoken it.

¹⁹And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall possess Gilead.

²⁰And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the cities of the south.

²¹And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord‘s.

²⁴For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

²⁵For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

²⁶And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

¹¹And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac; and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi.

¹⁵And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.

¹⁶And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her: and she went down to the well, and filled her pitcher, and came up.

¹⁷And the servant ran to meet her, and said, Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water of thy pitcher.

¹⁸And she said, Drink, my lord: and she hasted, and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.

¹⁹And when she had done giving him drink, she said, I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.

²⁰And she hasted, and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.

²¹And the man wondering at her held his peace, to wit whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

²²And it came to pass, as the camels had done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;

²³And said, Whose daughter art thou? tell me, I pray thee: is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?

²⁴And she said unto him, I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, which she bare unto Nahor.

²⁵She said moreover unto him, We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.

²⁶And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the Lord.

²⁷And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and His truth: I being in the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.

¹¹For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

¹²Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. . .