The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Six - J Apr 15, 2018 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T003_20180415.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Nu 13:1 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them." We will today look at events surrounding Israel at Kadesh Barnea. The full text of this message and the accompanying power point can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 15th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 6J ‘Your Descendants After You’ 1). Ex 19:10 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 "And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people…….. 20:1 ¶ And God spoke all these words, saying:………… 13 "You shall not murder. 14 "You shall not commit adultery. 15 "You shall not steal. 16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. We had seen last time that once Israel had been delivered from Egypt, through the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs, God had revealed to them His expectation of obedience on their part so that they would access the promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. a). And in conjunction with this in Exodus Chapters 19 and 20 we read about God coming down on Mount Sinai on the 3rd day to give the nation the Law, the ‘Constitution’ as it were, by which those who were to rule with God should live. b). Not only does this account deal with a very significant moment of Jewish history, but it also looks prophetically to the coming 3rd Day yet future, the Millennial Kingdom, when God will ‘tabernacle’ with His people and His rule shall go forth from Jerusalem - Mic 4:1 ¶ Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD'S house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. 2 Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. c). And that seen here in Micah is also foreshadowed in the parallel event to the giving of the Law, that which we have come to call, ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, recorded in Matthew Chapters 5-7 - Mt 5:1 ¶ And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 ¶ "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. And here in these Chapters in Matthew we find the ‘Constitution’ for those who would believe on the Lord’s name with a view to a position of rulership with Christ in the heavenly realm of the Kingdom. d). Now, as we read these Chapters in Matthew we will realize that the content of ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ is for that generation of eternally saved Jews to whom the Kingdom of the Heavens was being offered at the Lord’s first advent. e). And essentially that contained in this ‘sermon’ has to do with participating in the rulership of the Millennial Kingdom or being denied that opportunity - which can be quite easy to see – if the ‘meek’ are to inherit the earth, receive the earth as their inheritance, then those who are not ‘meek’ cannot receive that inheritance. f). And then, following the creation of the one new man in Christ that taught in this ‘sermon’ would still be for that generation of eternally saved Jews, but would also, in a secondary fashion, be for the one new man in Christ also – those who were now making the offer of the Kingdom as well as sharing in that offer; it would be to the Jew first. g). But once the events in the Book of Acts came to a close the Kingdom of the Heavens was and is being offered solely to the one new man in Christ and that taught in Matthew Chapters 5-7 is from that time applicable to the Church throughout the course of this dispensation. h). So, how are we to live with a view to being found worthy of receiving our inheritance? Look to ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ in one direction and the example of the Children of Israel in the other. 2). We had ended last week with a question concerning what our ‘Sinai’ experience would look like – God the Father came and sat on the mountain and gave the Law; God the Son came and sat on a mountain and gave ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, both with a view to the Kingdom on offer – so, what does this look like for us? Do we have a mountain top experience? a). Well, our answer is really a very simple one and one that we have seen many times before - Heb 1:1 ¶ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; All that God needed to communicate to us concerning the coming Kingdom of His Son and how we are to organize our lives so as to be worthy of a position of rulership in that Kingdom has already been said and has been in our possession since the day when we first had a Bible - Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. b). And so, there is no single mountain top experience for us, but rather a continuing revealing of the Word as we progress toward spiritual maturity. c). With this thought in mind though, let’s remember what we read last week in – Heb 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. And we know by comparing scripture with scripture that - Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. d). So, our faith comes by hearing and our hearing through the word of God. Well, if we look back to Hebrews 4:2 for a moment we see that the Children of Israel ‘heard’ the gospel that was preached to them, but apart from faith. Hearing then, or perhaps it would be better to say listening, as a natural action, is not what this is all about. e). The Lord says over and over to the 7 Churches in Revelation Chapters 2-3, with regards to the overcomers’ promises - Re 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. What we are dealing with then is hearing the spiritual truth that is given through the Word and believing that which is ‘spiritually’ heard, giving rise to how we then conduct our lives - Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. f). The first generation of the children of Israel to come out of Egypt had spiritual life and they were therefore capable of understanding spiritual truth, but quite clearly didn’t. And the same would have been true for the generation of eternally saved Jews alive at the Lord’s first advent, and in John Chapter 3 we have an excellent example of this - Joh 3:1 ¶ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again [brought forth from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Nicodemus was a Pharisee, ‘the teacher of Israel’, who kept and taught that which Moses and the prophets had written, but without understanding the prophetic spiritual truth in these writings - Joh 5:46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. g). Nicodemus saw the signs which Jesus did and knew they couldn’t be done except that God was with Him, but he couldn’t at this stage make the connection between what he saw and the scriptures he read and although the Lord tells him that this understanding is brought forth from above, Nicodemus can only see this in terms of a physical birth – he heard the words Jesus spoke, but didn’t ‘hear’ what He said. h). A good example of what the Lord is talking about in John 3:3 can be seen with Peter in - Mt 16:13 ¶ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. The profound revelation that Peter has concerning the Lord’s identity is brought forth from above, it is spiritually discerned, flesh and blood did not reveal it to him, but it came about through a work of the Spirit via the word the Lord had spoken concerning His Kingdom. i). And this of necessity must be our experience also - Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Joh 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 1Pe 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope [brought us forth from above with respect to a living hope] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. All this we will keep close by us as we return to the generation of Israel delivered from Egypt. 3). We will remember that Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was not just for its own sake, but to accomplish God’s purpose for His people - Le 20:24 'But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. The ‘land flowing with milk and honey’ is the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and God had promised Jacob’s descendants that He would give them this land, just as He had told Abraham, and they would possess it as an inheritance. a). And these same descendants could remember what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and what He had done to the Egyptians in the Red Sea. b). And as Israel moved from the Red Sea to the borders of the land they could remember the Lord’s provision for them, the thundering of His voice from Mount Sinai, the victories and His terrible judgments for disobedience. c). All this experience we can see as the child training of the Lord as He taught His firstborn son to believe Him and trust Him. d). And this parallels the experience of Abraham and his journey to the land, the same land his descendants were being taken to. And we had seen in our study of Abraham how his experiences, his incomplete faith, his mistakes, God’s blessing, can also be seen as child training; preparing him and bringing him to the ultimate test of his faith - Ge 22:1 ¶ Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." And Abraham’s response we will remember. e). And what we see with Abraham is equally true for his descendants – they were prepared, challenged, chastised and directed to what would be for them the ultimate test of their faith - Nu 13:1 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them."……………17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 "and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 "whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 "whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. God had told Abraham that in Isaac his seed would be called, and that Isaac’s descendants would be the recipients of the promises. For Abraham the test was to see if he would believe what God had previously said about Isaac even though Abraham was told to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. As we know Abraham did believe what God had said and was assured that God would raise Isaac from the dead if He had to, to fulfill His promise. f). After a similar fashion God had told the Children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, that He would give to them the land that was promised to Abraham - Ex 33:1 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' 2 "And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. God had told them it was a land flowing with milk and honey, that it would be their possession as an inheritance and that His angel would drive out the inhabitants of the land before them and He had sent out 12 spies to determine if the land was as good as He had said. The test for Israel was to see if they would believe that which God had said, even though the land was occupied by their enemies, including the ‘giants’. g). Well, the 12 selected men, all leaders of the people, went and spied out the land to see if it was as the Lord had promised, and after 40 days they returned with their report - Nu 13:25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. 26 ¶ Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan." 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." The land was as the Lord had said, flowing with milk and honey, and the spies brought back the fruit of the land in abundance; it was occupied by their enemies as the Lord had said and there were ‘giants’ there ‘the descendants of Anak’. But they did not believe that which God had previously said to them – they saw only with the natural eye, not with the eye of the spirit, the eye of faith. h). And despite Caleb’s and Joshua’s intervention the other 10 spies turned the hearts of the people in a negative direction, taking them away from God’s promise - Nu 14:1 ¶ So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 "Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" 4 So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt." And we find commentary on this in - Heb 3:16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Passover could not be undone, but that first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt were excluded from the purpose for their deliverance ‘because of unbelief’. Power Point – Slides 1-6 i). And this situation with the first generation to come out of Egypt finds its parallel at the Lord’s first advent where the leaders of Israel turn the hearts of the people away from their King and the Kingdom He came to offer – Mt 12:24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." Mt 23:13 ¶ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Mt 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Mt 21:43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. j). We already know from the scriptures that all these things happened to Israel as our ‘examples’ and this becomes particularly pertinent for us because of what we read in - Heb 4:1 ¶ Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; 5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. The rest that remains for the people of God is a reference to the day in which God rested from His work, the 7th Day in Genesis, looking to the coming 7th Day, the Day of Rest, the Millennial Kingdom. k). And like Israel, we are on our spiritual journey to that heavenly Kingdom and if we will allow Him, the Lord will child train us for rulership through the trials and testings of our life - Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 ¶ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. And we are called to faithful obedience - Heb 4:11 ¶ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. And we strive with determination and passion to be diligent to enter that rest, because we remember all that God has done for us, beginning with the sacrifice of Himself in the person of Son. We will have to pick this up again next time though – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Six - J Apr 15, 2018 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/T003_20180415.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon Nu 13:1 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them." We will today look at events surrounding Israel at Kadesh Barnea. The full text of this message and the accompanying power point can be found by clicking the PDF button. Sunday April 15th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 6J ‘Your Descendants After You’ 1). Ex 19:10 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes. 11 "And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people…….. 20:1 ¶ And God spoke all these words, saying:………… 13 "You shall not murder. 14 "You shall not commit adultery. 15 "You shall not steal. 16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. We had seen last time that once Israel had been delivered from Egypt, through the death and shed blood of the Passover lambs, God had revealed to them His expectation of obedience on their part so that they would access the promises God had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. a). And in conjunction with this in Exodus Chapters 19 and 20 we read about God coming down on Mount Sinai on the 3rd day to give the nation the Law, the ‘Constitution’ as it were, by which those who were to rule with God should live. b). Not only does this account deal with a very significant moment of Jewish history, but it also looks prophetically to the coming 3rd Day yet future, the Millennial Kingdom, when God will ‘tabernacle’ with His people and His rule shall go forth from Jerusalem - Mic 4:1 ¶ Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD'S house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And peoples shall flow to it. 2 Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. c). And that seen here in Micah is also foreshadowed in the parallel event to the giving of the Law, that which we have come to call, ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, recorded in Matthew Chapters 5-7 - Mt 5:1 ¶ And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: 3 ¶ "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. And here in these Chapters in Matthew we find the ‘Constitution’ for those who would believe on the Lord’s name with a view to a position of rulership with Christ in the heavenly realm of the Kingdom. d). Now, as we read these Chapters in Matthew we will realize that the content of ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ is for that generation of eternally saved Jews to whom the Kingdom of the Heavens was being offered at the Lord’s first advent. e). And essentially that contained in this ‘sermon’ has to do with participating in the rulership of the Millennial Kingdom or being denied that opportunity - which can be quite easy to see – if the ‘meek’ are to inherit the earth, receive the earth as their inheritance, then those who are not ‘meek’ cannot receive that inheritance. f). And then, following the creation of the one new man in Christ that taught in this ‘sermon’ would still be for that generation of eternally saved Jews, but would also, in a secondary fashion, be for the one new man in Christ also – those who were now making the offer of the Kingdom as well as sharing in that offer; it would be to the Jew first. g). But once the events in the Book of Acts came to a close the Kingdom of the Heavens was and is being offered solely to the one new man in Christ and that taught in Matthew Chapters 5-7 is from that time applicable to the Church throughout the course of this dispensation. h). So, how are we to live with a view to being found worthy of receiving our inheritance? Look to ‘The Sermon on the Mount’ in one direction and the example of the Children of Israel in the other. 2). We had ended last week with a question concerning what our ‘Sinai’ experience would look like – God the Father came and sat on the mountain and gave the Law; God the Son came and sat on a mountain and gave ‘The Sermon on the Mount’, both with a view to the Kingdom on offer – so, what does this look like for us? Do we have a mountain top experience? a). Well, our answer is really a very simple one and one that we have seen many times before - Heb 1:1 ¶ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; All that God needed to communicate to us concerning the coming Kingdom of His Son and how we are to organize our lives so as to be worthy of a position of rulership in that Kingdom has already been said and has been in our possession since the day when we first had a Bible - Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. b). And so, there is no single mountain top experience for us, but rather a continuing revealing of the Word as we progress toward spiritual maturity. c). With this thought in mind though, let’s remember what we read last week in – Heb 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. And we know by comparing scripture with scripture that - Ro 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. d). So, our faith comes by hearing and our hearing through the word of God. Well, if we look back to Hebrews 4:2 for a moment we see that the Children of Israel ‘heard’ the gospel that was preached to them, but apart from faith. Hearing then, or perhaps it would be better to say listening, as a natural action, is not what this is all about. e). The Lord says over and over to the 7 Churches in Revelation Chapters 2-3, with regards to the overcomers’ promises - Re 2:7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. What we are dealing with then is hearing the spiritual truth that is given through the Word and believing that which is ‘spiritually’ heard, giving rise to how we then conduct our lives - Jas 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. f). The first generation of the children of Israel to come out of Egypt had spiritual life and they were therefore capable of understanding spiritual truth, but quite clearly didn’t. And the same would have been true for the generation of eternally saved Jews alive at the Lord’s first advent, and in John Chapter 3 we have an excellent example of this - Joh 3:1 ¶ There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him." 3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again [brought forth from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." 4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" Nicodemus was a Pharisee, ‘the teacher of Israel’, who kept and taught that which Moses and the prophets had written, but without understanding the prophetic spiritual truth in these writings - Joh 5:46 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. g). Nicodemus saw the signs which Jesus did and knew they couldn’t be done except that God was with Him, but he couldn’t at this stage make the connection between what he saw and the scriptures he read and although the Lord tells him that this understanding is brought forth from above, Nicodemus can only see this in terms of a physical birth – he heard the words Jesus spoke, but didn’t ‘hear’ what He said. h). A good example of what the Lord is talking about in John 3:3 can be seen with Peter in - Mt 16:13 ¶ When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" 14 So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." 15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" 16 Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 17 Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. The profound revelation that Peter has concerning the Lord’s identity is brought forth from above, it is spiritually discerned, flesh and blood did not reveal it to him, but it came about through a work of the Spirit via the word the Lord had spoken concerning His Kingdom. i). And this of necessity must be our experience also - Jas 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Joh 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 1Pe 1:3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope [brought us forth from above with respect to a living hope] through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 2Pe 1:20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. All this we will keep close by us as we return to the generation of Israel delivered from Egypt. 3). We will remember that Israel’s deliverance from Egypt was not just for its own sake, but to accomplish God’s purpose for His people - Le 20:24 'But I have said to you, "You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey." I am the LORD your God, who has separated you from the peoples. The ‘land flowing with milk and honey’ is the land covenanted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and God had promised Jacob’s descendants that He would give them this land, just as He had told Abraham, and they would possess it as an inheritance. a). And these same descendants could remember what the Lord had done for them in Egypt and what He had done to the Egyptians in the Red Sea. b). And as Israel moved from the Red Sea to the borders of the land they could remember the Lord’s provision for them, the thundering of His voice from Mount Sinai, the victories and His terrible judgments for disobedience. c). All this experience we can see as the child training of the Lord as He taught His firstborn son to believe Him and trust Him. d). And this parallels the experience of Abraham and his journey to the land, the same land his descendants were being taken to. And we had seen in our study of Abraham how his experiences, his incomplete faith, his mistakes, God’s blessing, can also be seen as child training; preparing him and bringing him to the ultimate test of his faith - Ge 22:1 ¶ Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." 2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." And Abraham’s response we will remember. e). And what we see with Abraham is equally true for his descendants – they were prepared, challenged, chastised and directed to what would be for them the ultimate test of their faith - Nu 13:1 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them."……………17 Then Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, "Go up this way into the South, and go up to the mountains, 18 "and see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; 19 "whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; 20 "whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land." Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes. God had told Abraham that in Isaac his seed would be called, and that Isaac’s descendants would be the recipients of the promises. For Abraham the test was to see if he would believe what God had previously said about Isaac even though Abraham was told to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. As we know Abraham did believe what God had said and was assured that God would raise Isaac from the dead if He had to, to fulfill His promise. f). After a similar fashion God had told the Children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, that He would give to them the land that was promised to Abraham - Ex 33:1 ¶ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Depart and go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' 2 "And I will send My Angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanite and the Amorite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. God had told them it was a land flowing with milk and honey, that it would be their possession as an inheritance and that His angel would drive out the inhabitants of the land before them and He had sent out 12 spies to determine if the land was as good as He had said. The test for Israel was to see if they would believe that which God had said, even though the land was occupied by their enemies, including the ‘giants’. g). Well, the 12 selected men, all leaders of the people, went and spied out the land to see if it was as the Lord had promised, and after 40 days they returned with their report - Nu 13:25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days. 26 ¶ Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Then they told him, and said: "We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 "Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 "The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan." 30 Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it." 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we." 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 "There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." The land was as the Lord had said, flowing with milk and honey, and the spies brought back the fruit of the land in abundance; it was occupied by their enemies as the Lord had said and there were ‘giants’ there ‘the descendants of Anak’. But they did not believe that which God had previously said to them – they saw only with the natural eye, not with the eye of the spirit, the eye of faith. h). And despite Caleb’s and Joshua’s intervention the other 10 spies turned the hearts of the people in a negative direction, taking them away from God’s promise - Nu 14:1 ¶ So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 "Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" 4 So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt." And we find commentary on this in - Heb 3:16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Passover could not be undone, but that first generation of Israel to come out of Egypt were excluded from the purpose for their deliverance ‘because of unbelief’. Power Point – Slides 1-6 i). And this situation with the first generation to come out of Egypt finds its parallel at the Lord’s first advent where the leaders of Israel turn the hearts of the people away from their King and the Kingdom He came to offer – Mt 12:24 Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." Mt 23:13 ¶ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Mt 27:20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. Mt 21:43 "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. j). We already know from the scriptures that all these things happened to Israel as our ‘examples’ and this becomes particularly pertinent for us because of what we read in - Heb 4:1 ¶ Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'" although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"; 5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest." 6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. The rest that remains for the people of God is a reference to the day in which God rested from His work, the 7th Day in Genesis, looking to the coming 7th Day, the Day of Rest, the Millennial Kingdom. k). And like Israel, we are on our spiritual journey to that heavenly Kingdom and if we will allow Him, the Lord will child train us for rulership through the trials and testings of our life - Ro 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 ¶ For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. And we are called to faithful obedience - Heb 4:11 ¶ Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. And we strive with determination and passion to be diligent to enter that rest, because we remember all that God has done for us, beginning with the sacrifice of Himself in the person of Son. We will have to pick this up again next time though – if the Lord is willing.