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Sunday, October 11, 2020

The Promises of God Are Sure

 God's Covenant with the Present World

Book of Genesis Chapter 9

The Noahic Covenant is the promise that God made to Noah and his descendants after the flood which destroyed the world. 

This Covenant has several distinguishing features. 

First: it is an unconditional covenant. 

Second: it was made to Noah and all his descendants (includes us today) as well as “every living creature” and the earth in general (Genesis 9:8-10). 

Third: it was sealed with a sign, the rainbow.

The Noahic Covenant is an unconditional covenant since it does not depend upon anything Noah or his descendants, or us today have to do to fulfill the covenant. 

We are also the descendants of Noah!

This promise is based upon God’s faithfulness alone! 

Because of God’s faithfulness to always do what He says He will do, we can know today with certainty that there will never be another worldwide flood as there was in the days of Noah, no matter how wicked mankind becomes. 

Neither the wickedness nor the righteousness of mankind affects this unconditional covenant! 

There is no "condition" under which God will renege on His promise! 

This does not mean that God will never again destroy the earth, however! 

He has promised to one day destroy the earth by fire (2 Peter 3:10, 11; Revelation 20:9, 21:1 ) in the terrible events known as the “day of the Lord.”

After the flood, God promised that He would never again send a worldwide flood to destroy the earth as an act of His divine judgment for sin. 

As a sign to remind Noah and his descendants of His covenant promise, God “set the rainbow in the cloud” (Genesis 9:12-13). 

The lesson to us is, that when we see a rainbow we should always be reminded of God’s faithfulness and His amazing grace. 

We should also be reminded that our God is a holy and righteous! God has a holy hatred for sin, and He will not allow sin to go unpunished forever. 

Also, just as God provided a way for Noah and his family to be saved in the Ark, He also has provided a way for us to be saved through Jesus Christ who is my Ark. 

Noah and his family were saved from the wrath of God that came in the flood, just as those who are in Christ will be saved from the “wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

*****Gen 9:1  And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 

The first thing we see after the flood is over and Noah and his family are free to leave the Ark, is that they receive a blessing from God.

It is from these four couples that all the earth would be established.

They were all still sinners because they inherited the sin nature of Adam just as we still do today!

Noah at this time was the head of the human race and I am sure our DNA can be traced back to Noah!

What we should understand that whatever God established with Noah is still in effect today in the eyes of God!

In blessing Noah, God has blessed us all!

In words used today, a New World Order had truly begun!

The lesson of what God does with sin is a reality.

More important, we now understand God's mercy and His grace to those who choose righteousness based upon the Word of God.

We see God's good will and God's intentions.

We see God's pleasure and joy in providing for those who love Him.

We see God has great gifts.

Most important, God makes great promises, and we begin to see that God will never break His promises!

All but these eight humans had been completely wiped out, erased, from the face of the earth.

The Apostles clearly understood these things of God.

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 

1Pe 3:19  By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 

1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 

Who did Jesus preach to? He went to preach to the descendants of Seth!

For the Word of God to remain true, then the Earth would need to be filled with humans.

Married couples, one man and one woman, would come together and repopulate this earth.

This could not happen if the world were full of Sodomites or lesbian women.

This is another reason that abortion goes against the Word of God!

God has never withdrawn His command to replenish this earth, and there has always been enough food and the capability to produce enough food for the entire population of this world.

It is so-called politicians and dictators, who cause the world's food problems

It is evil and wicked humans who do not allow food to reach the poor.

God will not bless our soils until we quit spilling innocent blood!

Reproduction establishes families.

Families establish societies.

Societies establish governments.

In our nation the Democrats want the prisoners to vote.

They want the illegal immigrants to vote.

Yet, they reject those millions of babies murdered each year and they reject those votes.

Are they afraid every newborn will be a Republican?

Babies have been sacrificed since the beginning and every time it has been about false religion!

Their platform has this and another agenda!

Reproduction teaches us that we are all one blood, from one source.

Therefore all races, all people, all nations are to live and work together to subdue the earth and these who brag so much about the climate and the freedoms and constitutions, are the same ones trying to destroy these things because they belong to Satan and they are proud of it.

The animal world would also have to change for the populations of humans to reach out into the world.

*****Gen 9:2  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 

This could be called a New World Order from the days that were before the flood.

God told Adam he was to subdue the earth.

Gen 1:28  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. 

Notice the command to subdue the earth was not given to Noah!

Because of sin, mankind no longer has the ability to subdue the earth, so these things are left in God's hands.

After all Jehovah, Elohim, is the Master of Life.

Man will never be able to control nature no matter how hard they try!

We can do our best to control climate changes, but our work will amount to nothingness!

Man will never be able to produce a pure environment and foolish to try. 

Those monies would be better spent to help the poor and those that truly have needs, and not those who refuse to work.

2Th_3:10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

It is our God who is in control all of nature!

Heb 2:7  Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: 

Even in our modern world, we still do not reign supreme over nature nor the animal world. 

In fact our answer to things we do not understand is to destroy them!

*****Gen 9:3  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 

Gen 9:4  But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 

Notice that humans were given God's permission to eat of the animal world.

Before the flood it is never stated that God would allow the consumption of animals. We do know that certain animals were sacrificed to God.

Remember Abel brought the best portions of the animal to sacrifice to Jehovah, but it never says they consumed that was remained even though the skins were used for clothing and probably milk was consumed.

Because of the curse, the vegetables and the herbs and the fruit did not provide the nourishment that it once did because of sin.

The land that had changed after the flood, made the tilling of the ground harder to accomplish.

We should understand that at no time would man be able to completely provide for himself without the help of God.

1Ti 4:4  For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: 

1Ti 4:5  For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

These eight people that remained totally understood the power of God and it was these eight people who were to teach those that came after them the truth of God and that sin has its consequences.

We think about these people from our past as having no law, but we should know that when it came time for Moses to write these things down by the Holy Spirit, many of these laws were observed in the time of Adam and the time of Noah.

There is one exception to the eating of animals. It is never to be consumed raw.

A live animal is not to be eaten, nor dead animals with the blood still in them. The blood needs to be drained from animals!

In fact animals need be killed in a precise manner. Every hunter knows that an animal that suffers until death will damage the flavor of the meat.

A quick kill is important in most all cases.

We know that certain beast prey animals and they start devouring their kill even before they die, and these animals are never good for food even though at the time of Noah all animals were approved because the answer to nourishment comes by prayer!

The answer to nourishment today is that prayer of thanksgiving at the provision of God!

Then God said you need to clearly understand that the murder of your fellow humans will not be tolerated!

*****Gen 9:5  And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 

Gen 9:6  Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 

The beginning of policing. The beginning of laws and governments had their start in the time of Noah long before Moses.

To obey this law of God it would require government. To police is the internal regulation of government of a kingdom or state.

As these families of Noah spread out across the earth this commandment was to go with them just as all the Word of God is to be with us at all times.

Today we used the phrase, “Capital Punishment”, when we sentence a murderer to death, but we can see this is a command of God.

Murder is a serious offense in the eyes of God.

It is a fact that today the hardened criminal does not fear our "justice system"!

Our justice system has become a revolving door to the true criminal while the innocent victims are forgotten.

Today the victim of a crime is not even considered!

Example, those who are causing destruction in many cities are allowed to destroy private property, while the justice system stands by and allows it to happen.

Even God teaches us the difference between murder and murder by accident and there is the murder by self-defense.

God calls for those who plan a murder, to be put to death!

Blood for blood and life for life. God requires the death of the murderer!

What does God say about all those who reject "Capital Punishment"?

Psa 10:13  Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it. 

It is wickedness to reject the Word of God!

Elsewhere the Bible says you will know them by their works.

If any animal causes the death of any human, then that animal should be put to death.

The human is God's greatest creation, and the human was created in the image of God and this still does not have anything to do with our looks!

We must understand that when an innocent victim is murdered then his or her purpose is lost to society.

We will never know what good things we have lost to our societies by the murder of all those innocent babies who have been aborted!

The cure to many diseases could be in one of those babies who did not get a chance to live!

God told humans to populate our earth. Every family knows how many children they can provide for which is our job, but this is still not to abort any child that is conceived.

This does not mean to overpopulate the earth it means to produce a people that will follow our Creator!

Psa 127:3  Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. 

Psa 127:4  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. 

Psa 127:5  Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. 

Every quiver can hold only so many arrows!

Still we are to obey the commands of God!

*****Gen 9:7  And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

When God gives this command to Noah, the only ones alive were married couples.

The family, one man and one woman was established by our Heavenly Father!

You cannot have a society without families.

You cannot have government without societies made up of families.

It is the family that is being forgotten by the corruption of our government! 

I am not talking about President Trump who does his best to serve the family!

All these things being true then marriage is a sacred institution!

This marriage must be between one man and one woman to be able to obey Gods command to multiply by procreation.

Any and all relationships outside this marriage of one man and one woman, is then a violation to the commandment of God and is only fornication a sin in the eyes of God.

Heb 13:4  Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. 

Tit 1:6  If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 

And God said to Noah, listen to my words and do them!

*****Gen 9:8  And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 

Gen 9:9  And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; 

Gen 9:10  And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 

Gen 9:11  And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 

Now who did God make this covenant with? 

To Noah and his wife.

To all three sons and their wives.

To all the descendants of Noah throughout life upon this earth.

This includes all of us here today.

No matter the color of our skin we are blood relatives of Noah!

This covenant was also made with every animal that had been saved by the Ark.

Remembering the Ark is a type of Christ, just as the water is a type of Christ!

That pitch is a type of the Holy Spirit.

We now begin to understand the promises of God that include us who are here today.

This flood in the days of Noah was the most devastating thing that has happened to this earth we live on.

Every living thing on the face of the earth was erased except the animals that survive in water and many of those died as the flood waters receded and the eight humans and the animals that were on the Ark.

It would have traumatic just to witness these things that happened.

When I was in Vietnam, I witnessed what rain for forty days can do to a small area.

At one time it rained day and night for 45 days and 75 inches of rain was recorded.

Wet weather streams became rivers and rivers became lakes and my platoon were out in this thing with no shelter but the terrain and the poncho.

This does not compare to the time of Noah, but it does have some similarities if you are caught in it.

In the time of Noah the earth changed from one large continent to breaking up into many continents and continued to do so for many years, especially through the days of Peleg.

In fact this earth we call home continuously changes every day, along with the climate.

It happens and most of it is not man-made not man caused!

What did Noah's family need from the Lord as these days came to an end? They needed God's assurance.

We must never be fooled, it is our Holy God who has total control of the happenings that take place on our planet earth, just as He does in all His creation.

The rains would come from above instead of from below as they do today, and Jehovah did not want this family of Noah to be frightened every time it came.

Another thing we must realize is, that these eight individuals were in the care of our Holy God until families began to be established again.

We can say that it was God who wrote down the facts of this first covenant!

A normal covenant is between two or more people, but God made this covenant with Himself!

This promise of God would be fulfilled no matter what Noah and his family did.

We can say that covenant was another covenant of Grace, a free gift of God.

This same covenant is still in effect today, since God made this covenant with every living being on this earth!

God said: "this is My Covenant".

God said: "it is in My Power that these things will be true"

God said: "it is My Desire to keep you safe from ever seeing this thing again"

It is the promises of God that give us assurance.

If the oceans are rising, God did not tell us to build so close to the waters.

If the forests are burning, God did not tell us to not manage our forest in fact God told Adam to manage the forest of the Garden.

If the Amazon is being cleared for others to live, God did not tell us we could not plant new tree for those that are being removed. 

Who are we to dictate what other nations are to do! They are also in the hand of God.

If we want to do something productive for this place called earth, we could at least pick up the trash that is thrown down and put a stop to this travesty to our earth, our nations, our cities and our communities.

We cannot say we are serious about the climate until we can stop those who litter!

All of nature is in the hands of God and there are no experts who can teach us how to stop nature or improve on nature. 

Noah became the father of all life of the humans and Noah believed the promises of God.

Another thing we should understand is that this earth will exist until God says it will come to an end!

There will be seasons, there will be summer and winter, there will be hot and cold because these are the promises of God until the Lord returns!

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

God will not break this promise to the descendants of Noah which includes us here today.

We must do what we can to keep our earth beautiful, but the safety of our earth lies in the hands of an All Powerful God who is a God of All Power and cannot be swayed nor defeated in His purposes!

Do not be frightened by those who claim the destruction of climate change, and I do not need some scientist’s approval when I have the Word of God and the promises of God!

Our earth will not be destroyed by floods.

Our earth will not be destroyed by hurricanes.

Our Earth will not be destroyed by volcanoes.

Our earth will not be destroyed by a disaster of any kind, even man-made until the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ when it will be destroyed by fire for the same exact reason God sent the flood, SIN, because we never learn.

Until then we do not have to concern ourselves, knowing we are to be good stewards of the things God shares with us!

This written picture of Noah and the Ark, because of sin, gives us the perfect picture of our salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ.

All those who claim destruction by "climate change" are sinners who reject the truth of God!

All those who trust the Word of God, live in peace that all these things are in God's hands and God has never broken a promise!

2Ti 2:19  Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 

2Ti 2:20  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 

2Ti 2:21  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.

"And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth". 

Then God gave us a sign to remind us of His promise.

*****Gen 9:12  And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 

Gen 9:13  I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. 

It was only Noah and his family that needed God's assurance at this time, but we see that God knew we would need those same assurances today because sin still abounds.

Just over 5000 years ago God gave this sign to Noah and in the year 2020 we can still see the beautiful sign of the rainbow.

Ezekiel wrote; that the day he had a vision of the Lord, He stood out just as the vision of the rainbow which we get to see at end of almost every rain.

Eze 1:27  And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 

Eze 1:28  As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake. 

The truth is, the rainbow is not just a sign for us to remember the end of the destruction of the flood in Noah's day also when God sees the rainbow He too will remember what He did because of sin.

Now we cannot say that God remembers His wrath in a bad way because He is righteous in everything

that He does!

We also know that nothing that God does in our lives shows His intent to destroy us because everything that God does for us or to us is for our own good.

Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

We need to forget about whether God knows what He is doing because He does, and we need to concentrate on our obedience to Him.

There may stories from false religions about the "Rainbow" but the rainbow was placed in the sky for the reason God states right here in the Scriptures.

Do not get confused by some commentaries. There had never been a rainbow until it was shown to Noah!

A token is something intended to indicate another event!

The rainbow is to assurance, as the blood of the Lamb is to redemption!

*****Gen 9:14  And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: 

Gen 9:15  And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. 

Gen 9:16  And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 

We should understand that that this promise is not that the rainbow will be seen whenever God sends the clouds to cover the earth, but that, whenever God sends the clouds and His rainbow is visible, He will remember His covenant.

The wrath of God is a sight to behold but the rainbow reminds the Lord it is not yet time for His wrath to return.

Hab 3:8  Was the LORD displeased against the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation? 

Hab 3:9  Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers. 

Hab 3:10  The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: the overflowing of the water passed by: the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. 

Hab 3:11  The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear. 

Hab 3:12  Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou didst thresh the heathen in anger. 

Hab 3:13  Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck. Selah.

We should understand that God does not need reminders because He wrote this book called the Bible, and He knows exactly what He is going to do at every moment and why He did these things, so in the end all these things are to teach us the ways of our Savior!

*****Gen 9:17  And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth. 

There is no greater assurance than for the Lord to tell us what He is going to do and the reasons He does these things!

We now have seen what has happened since the time of Noah and things have stood just exactly as the Lord said they would. 

So much in fact that scoffers ask; "where is the promise of His coming".

2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 

Notice these same scoffers are not believers because they have ignored the flood.

Our government is full of scoffers today!

All evolution so-called scientist are scoffers today!

God says they are just ignorant.

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 

2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

We must not be ignorant with them, but have "faith" in the Word of God and just trust that what God says He will cause to happen.

It is not guess work?

It is the truth of our Holy God who can do no wrong.

All those who die by fire will die because they chose it to be that way.

We cannot be ignorant of the truth of God and still say we are Christians!

We cannot be Pro Abortion and still be Christians!

We cannot ordain the marriage of two people unless it is between one man and one woman and still be Christians!

We cannot approve of sodomites and lesbians and still be Christians!

We must believe the virgin birth!

We must believe in the sinless blood of Jesus was shed for our sin!

We must trust in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ to pay our sin debt!

We must love the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father who sent Him!

We must be filled with God the Holy Spirit or we do not belong to God!

These are the covenants God has given to us!

There are other covenants we need to study!

Amen


Sunday, October 4, 2020

God Remembered Noah

 The World That Perished


Book of Genesis Chapters 7 and 8

Last week we met Noah. Noah was the only man upon the face of the earth who our Creator saw was righteous.

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 

The rest of the world had destroyed their relationship with our Creator!

Gen 6:5  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. 

We should keep these things in mind as we see the things that are happening in our nation today!

Noah began working on a ship called the Ark, the first ship ever built that would bring him and his family to safety.

For 120 years Noah had worked on this ship and raised a family and every seventh day Noah preached the truth of God and the coming flood.

To the world, Noah seemed only to be a lunatic!

In all the world only Noah believed the Word of God and his family remained true to him.

Gen 6:11  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 

Gen 6:13  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. 

"We should open our eyes and see the Lord does not like violence"!

Psa 11:5  The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

The Lord loves righteousness. (Doing things according to the Word of God)

This ship was completed, and the time had passed, and God said to Noah: gather your family and come into the Ark.

*****Gen 7:1  And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. 

We should ask ourselves, what are the desires of our heart?

Do we desire to have a relationship with the world, or do we desire to have a relationship with our Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ?

Everything God had asked of Noah was now completed and it was time to do what He said He would do.

God has a Master plan for all His creation, but in the midst of that plan we see how in the days of Noah, God had a precise plan and this plan was very complex, yet was carefully carried out.

We could say that this plan was a plan of destruction.

We could also say that this was a plan of salvation.

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 

1Pe 3:19  By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 

1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 

God also preserved His animal kingdom in a way that only He knew how!

The big question is, are you going to enter into the Ark to be saved with Noah? Come on in Noah, bring all your family.

*****Gen 7:2  Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. 

Gen 7:3  Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. 

Before the Laws of Moses, we already see where some animals were called clean and many called unclean.

For those who do not realize it, animal sacrifice had been going on since God first sacrificed an animal to make clothes for Adam and Eve to cover their nakedness.

Noah could not enter into the Ark without the sacrificial animals.

These are the same animals that would also be used for food once the Ark had landed so, there were 7 pairs of each.

There were only one pair of each of the unclean animals, animals not used for sacrifice nor for food.

Remembering that if God says it is OK to eat an animal, then it is OK.

Clean are those things washed in a prayer of thanksgiving!

Notice also, the importance of our feathered friends, the fowls of the air. They would be needed to help reseed the earth.

I am not a gardener, but I did plant three tomato plants this spring and after they produced fruit, I have not had to purchase more from the store.

As spring progressed, I received more than three more plants brought to me by the birds and they now are also producing fruit of varieties which I did not plant.

The birds have given me border grass, and 3 magnolia trees and some other plants. I do feed the birds and they bring me these things in return.

Birds are important.

In all these things, we can hardly doubt that it was Moses who wrote the Book of Genesis guided by the Holy Spirit!

It was only seven days until the rain would come and this is interesting that the door was not shut until the end of those seven days.

Also in these things we see the determination of God to reshape this earth and the destruction of all humans who allowed sin to dominate their lives.

*****Gen 7:4  For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. 

Notice God gave His final warning seven days before He would send the rains and other waters to cover the entire earth.

The 120 years had expired down to the last week.

We could ask ourselves, why would God be so patient if He knew none other than Noah and his family would board the Ark.

We must understand that The Bible is written to Christians and God wants us to understand His thoughts and His reasons.

The Hebrew words used said He would "wipe out" or "blot out" or "erase" every living creature from the face of the earth.

They would be wiped from His memory of them!

You see anyone, "anyone" could have joined Noah and his family if they had chosen to do so!

This was God's last act of "Grace" before He sends the rains. 

Everyone left could have quoted you the words of Noah's sermons as he had repeated it over and over for 120 years.

Many of the aged had died, rejecting the Word of God.

Many of the newborn had grown up hearing the Word of God.

There is no telling how many of them had said "I wish that old fool would shut up" and probably laughed as Noah and his family entered the Ark.

The Ark was an Ark of "safety"!

Just like many today, they said that a loving God would never do such a thing as destroy His creations.

Those who rejected the Word of God were wrong then just as those who say the same things are wrong today!

What did Peter write to us by the Holy Spirit?

2Pe 3:3  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 

2Pe 3:4  And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 

2Pe 3:5  For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 

2Pe 3:6  Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 

2Pe 3:7  But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 

\We do not have to be ignorant we can be victors!

The Lord will do just as He says He will do!

2Pe 3:9  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. 

2Pe 3:10  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. 

The biggest problem we have in the Church today is, that people are taught that only part of the Scriptures are actually the Word of God, but this is never the truth.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 

Every word given to the writers of the true Bible were given to them by the Holy Spirit who has preserved the Word of God for us!

We need only rightly divide the Bible knowing that we need to study all the Word of God!

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

What did Noah do? Noah did exactly what God told him to do! 

Noah loved the Lord and Noah loved his family and would not take a chance on the life of those he loved.

Why would Fathers and Mothers even take the chance that the Word of God is not true for their children’s sake?

*****Gen 7:5  And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him. 

Gen 7:6  And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 

This is the only thing the Lord has asked us to do!

We need to listen to what God says, for the safety of ourselves and our families.

Noah's children obeyed their father!

From chapter 6 through our chapter 7 we see that God had repeated Himself 4 times about this destruction.

In reality, if God says it one time it is enough, but throughout the Scriptures God repeats Himself over and over, so we should not have any doubt about His actions pertaining with sin nor His actions pertaining with salvation.

Noah was no spring chicken Noah was 600 years old when he entered into the Ark.

You God does not even leave out small tidbits of information for us to understand what He is saying.

God's relationship to us is very personal when we allow ourselves to just accept God and the Words, He has given to us!

Noah just obeyed God without questioning Him because it was not the time for questioning, it was time to do the work he would be doing for more than a year.

Those animals needed his attention for they must survive also. Their importance was real!

And the rains came, and the entire earth was covered.

*****Gen 7:19  And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. 

Gen 7:20  Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.  

In our studies of Chapter 1, we know that all the land was like one, very large island, surrounded by seas on all sides, so there was only one high hill at the time.

The earth did not go through her first serious changes, until they were caused by the flood waters as they exploded to the surface and then receded.

The water was at least 22 1/2 feet above the highest hill.

We will later find out that this highest hill was in Ararat Mountain range.

The highest mountain in Ararat today has two peaks one at 14,300 feet and the other 10,300 feet above sea level, but it was not like this before the flood.

Today, this place is called Noah's mountain named by the Persians.

The waters had to raise over this mountain to make sure the birds died also.

Today this cannot be denied because the remains of fish can be found in every mountain range, because the water levels dropped so fast and they were trapped on land.

What did God ask of Job?

Job 12:7  But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee: 

**Job 12:8  Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. 

Job 12:9  Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this? 

Job 12:10  In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Today those who seek these answers are called Paleontologist.

*****Gen 7:21  And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: 

Gen 7:22  All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. -

Gen 7:23  And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. 

Gen 7:24  And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. 

But God said the proof of this flood is in the fossils and it is.

Just because many so-called, scientist reject what they find does not make what God says any less true.

It just makes those persons to look foolish!

Paleontology is the scientific study of life that existed prior to our day.

God says this is how it all happened, and it happened because of sin!

Today these things seem important, but to God, it was only those inside the Ark who were important.

You see God does not finish the flood story until Noah and his family are back on dry ground.

The flood waters remained at least 22 feet above the highest hill for 150 days.

You see God does care about our trials and tribulations and how they affect us!

All those who had rebelled against God were now in Hell the entire population of the earth at that time, except Noah and his family.

Noah and his family had plenty to do during this time as they were all shepherds to the remaining animals on the Ark.

And yes there were dinosaurs on the Ark. God had said there would be at least one pair of all land-based animals and the fowl, the birds.

Many may not realize it, but of all the dinosaur skeletons that have been found, 90 percent or more have been no larger than a chicken but we never hear about these smaller ones, only the gigantic ones who are made to be meat eaters when they were grass eaters.

We might ask, why all these animals, but we should take knowledge that wicked and evil men can change even the actions of animals!

We must also understand that what God has already done, teaches us about what God will do in the future, because God never changes.

So God remembered Noah and his family.

*****Gen 8:1  And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; 

Gen 8:2  The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; 

Gen 8:3  And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.

Psa 139:17 "Says" How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 

Psa 139:18  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 

When we are going through trials and temptations we are on the mind of God!

When we are not going through trials and temptations we are on the mind of God!

Psa 40:5  Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, "and thy thoughts which are to us-ward": they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. 

No matter what we are going through God is never far from us.

Jer 29:11  "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. 

Jer 29:12  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, "and I will hearken unto you". 

Jer 29:13  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

You see God remembered Noah and not just Noah, but every living thing aboard that Ark of safety.

Noah, his family and all these other living creatures had been on the Ark for 150 days, so God began to remove the flood waters.

This place called earth, went through some drastic changes for these next 150 days, the time it took for the waters to be restored to their locations.

On the second month of the Hebrew calendar on the seventeenth day the rains began.

On the seventh month and the seventeenth day the Ark came to rest upon the highest mountain called Ararat.

The waters continued to recede till the tenth month and the first day of the month.

Forty days later Noah opened the window and sent forth a raven.

Remember a raven will eat anything.

The Noah sent forth a dove which will not land on a dead creature and the dove returned.

Seven more days passed and again Noah sent the dove and the dove brought forth a leaf.

Seven days later Noah sent forth the dove and it did not return.

Again on the second month and the twenty seventh day the earth was dried, and God told Noah he could leave the Ark.

And the first thing Noah did was to build and altar of sacrifice.

*****Gen 8:20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 

Gen 8:21  And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, "seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease".

We must understand that the worship of God as individuals, is necessary!

We should also understand that public worship is also necessary!

Psa 96:7  Give unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the LORD glory and strength. 

Psa 96:8  Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts. 

Psa 96:9  O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. 

Psa 96:10 Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. 

Psa 76:11  Vow, and pay unto the LORD your God: let all that be round about him bring presents unto him that ought to be feared. 

Noah may not have been given all those 613 commandments given to the Hebrew children, but he did know to worship.

The Ark had provided Noah and his family safety for more than a year while God had destroyed life on this earth.

Surely it was time to offer thankfulness!

What we as Christians know is, that as long as this place called earth endures, there will be seed time and harvest, there will be cold and heat, there will be Summer and Winter, and there will be Day and Night.

We hear so much about climate change that it is becoming like just foolish talk when we compare it to what God says.

What God says is the actual truth and there is far too much political talk about climate change which will end up being only a formula to raise taxes that will be used to waste. just like our government waste the tax monies today.

Noah's family were now to go forward and repopulate this earth and it would not happen without God's blessing.

So it was not time to build a house, it was time to worship.

So it was not time to celebrate because they had survived the flood, it was time to worship!

So it was not time to plan for survival on new land, it was time to worship!

Noah's first concern was not for his family, he must first thank God!

You see God made a serious promise to not just Noah, but to every human who has lived since that day, and those who will live after we are gone as long as time last!

Praise be to God!

Amen!


Sunday, September 27, 2020

The Grace of God

 The Grace of God in a Sinful World

Book of Genesis Chapter 6

There are a lot of different thoughts about chapter 6 and the flood of the entire world but one thing we should clearly understand.

Our Heavenly Father has a plan of salvation and Satan will do everything he possibly do to cause God's plan to fail, which is impossible.

The things before the flood is our lesson today. We live in the world after the flood!

If we are not careful, we will make the events of Chapter 6 complicated when they are not.

We must understand once sin entered into the world, this world began to die.

This process of death began in earnest after the world-wide flood, and yes there was a world-wide flood.

The first part of society is the family, but when sin entered into the world of that day because of Adam, it passed down through his family and on to everyone who has been born since that day.

We begin to see the division.

A godly side who continued to worship and serve God, the line of Seth.

The ungodly side who neglected the worship and commands of God, the line of Cain.

In my mind this is what happened after Cain refused to repent and moved away.

We must understand the words of the Holy Spirit here!

2Co 6:14  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

We know that our God never changes, so it would have been the same command in the time of Adam and of Seth.

We will soon see that even those born in the line of Seth will soon depart from the truth.

There are certain reasons God does not want His children to be wed or joined to unbelievers, and we can see many of these reasons in this chapter.

Certainly, mankind was multiplying upon the earth at a pace we cannot comprehend.

Just look at Adam who lived to be 930 years old.

Gen 5:4  And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: "and he begat sons and daughters": 

Gen 5:5  And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.

All these men who were mentioned in the line of Seth lived many years and had many children and it would have been similar in the line of Cain.

*****Gen 6:1  And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 

Gen 6:2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 

We should not get confused about this phrase "the sons of God". 

If it is talking about angels, we should be clear that the "fallen angels" are never called the sons of God!

If we consider that it was angels that came together with these daughters of men, then we would have to ignore the truth that the Lord Jesus teaches the Church.

Mat_22:30  For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Mar_12:25  For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

To understand what Jesus says is that angels do not have the ability to come together with human women or any humans at all!

Since this is true or Jesus is a liar, then we know these "sons of God" are other men who once served God in reality or falsely, and throughout the Scriptures the "sons of God" refer to believers or so-called believers!

This being true then, these "sons of God" must be the descendants of Seth from Chapter 5.

When we understand this, we can understand this whole passage.

Throughout this passage we never see the word angel!

Even in the New Testament references, we still see that this passage refers to men.

Mat 24:37  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 

Mat 24:38  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, 

Mat 24:39  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 

Luk 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. 

Luk 17:27  They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Again the Bible is written for Christians.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 

2Ti 3:17  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 

Now we see that these descendants of Seth looked out into the world and decided that the daughters of the world are more desirable than the daughters of the sons of God.

Yes, men were told to multiply upon the face of the earth, yet corruption caused the abuse of God's blessing and turned it into another curse!

Moses understood that intermarriage between the godly and the ungodly was forbidden many years before there was such a law.

Deu 7:3  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. 

Why would God teach us these things?

Deu 7:4  For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: "so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly". 

Moses knew how serious this issue was with Jehovah and that He might destroy them suddenly.

Even Isaac and Rebekah understood this thing.

Gen 27:46  And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land, what good shall my life do me? 

Gen 28:1  And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 

There is never a time in the Scriptures where we find angels marrying human beings and God will never allow such a thing.

When godly men fall into this trap with ungodly women, the only sure thing is that sin will increase but it does not change the fact that we are on the winning side!

Pro 29:16  When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth: but the righteous shall see their fall. 

When the godly look at the world for satisfaction, it means they have forgotten what God has already done for them!

Then God our Creator says these words:

*****Gen 6:3  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 

In this verse we begin to understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It is crucial that we follow the lead of the Holy Spirit!

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 

Rom 8:8  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. 

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

Gal 5:16  This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 

Gal 5:17  For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 

This Scripture leaves little doubt that the Holy Spirit was striving to keep the children of God on the right path!

In chapter 5 we see a list of men in the line of Seth who lived for many years and we can attribute this long life to the Holy Spirit.

We already know that our death cannot come, as long as we have that God breathed spirit within us.

We can also believe that we cannot live long lives, even eternity, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who will never leave us once he moves in.

In this Scripture God is saying that these long lives would begin to get shorter and that length of life would get an average of 70 years as told by Moses, rather than near 900 years of the old patriarchs.

We know that God did allow Moses to live for 120 years but who died when his body was still healthy and strong.

All these things being true the truth is because Noah found "Grace" in the eyes of God, he was given 120 years to build the Ark of safety and the Holy Spirit would work for these 120 years on these unbelievers and then He would only work when called on by our Heavenly Father.

We can believe that God will not waste His time on those who have set their hearts on rebellion!

The Holy Spirit worked on these men by the preaching of Noah and He did so for 120 years and it is just that simple.

God does not beg for us to listen to Him and He will not beg us nor will He force us!

To spend eternity with our Heavenly Father is something we must have a great desire to do!

In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit will only come to live within those who have already made this decision and then it takes place only by the "Grace of God" just like it happened to Noah!

Now all these things being clear, we can learn of giants in the land.

*****Gen 6:4  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 

Humanity becomes totally lawless.

We must not be deceived by that word "giant". In this passage it means "tyrants", "bullies", "apostates" from the truth of God and history proves this out whenever lawlessness occurs, and it can also mean some who were above average in their growth.

One group would attack another group until only the strongest most wicked groups were left.

In reality we still see these things in rogue godless nations because this is what sin does as sin increases!

We can be sure that there were men larger than other men and the strongest usually came out on top.

Many times these are the most wicked because they are feared.

The earth had become a place where the physically powerful ruled and dominated.

To me it sounds like the stories of the old wild west we use to enjoy as kids where there was always the hero coming to the rescue.

There was no one coming to the rescue at this time anywhere upon the earth and the Holy Spirit saw the end of His usefulness at this time which left only destruction.

God will not allow sin to rule for very long until, He puts a stop to it!

Deu 2:20  (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; 

Deu 2:21  A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead: 

Deu 2:22  As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day: 

Deu 2:23  And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.) 

These giants, men of renown, could be the descendants of those men in the line of Seth who left the Lord and married into the line of Cain.

Even today we know of many who have left the Lord to serve the world and they are some of the most wicked.

We already know that the Lord would bring an end to this evil day by a world-wide flood.

We already know that God will use fire to destroy this earth completely in our future.

*****Gen 6:5  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. 

Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 

When I read this passage, I just wonder what God sees today upon this same earth?

One man wrote: Before the world-wide flood we could look down as if we were in Heaven and see the things that were happening on God's creation. We were allowed to listen in on God's conversations with Adam and Eve, but after the flood, we can only see the characters of the Bible.

We see the story of the Bible and what sin has done to our world.

We see the flood waters come up around us and we will witness how God closes the door of the Ark to keep sin from safety.

What causes these things? The wickedness to humanity!

The wickedness of sin had multiplied much more than righteousness.

Society had fallen so deep into sin there was no bringing them back.

We now see that the wickedness of sin today, is becoming as it was before the flood!

It amazes me, especially in a certain state, that someone imagines something wicked in their mind and immediately they want to make it a new law for all people everywhere to observe.

It amazes me that some "judge" in no man's land can make a ruling and then say it will be the same through all 50 states and he is allowed to get away with it.

We see portrayed upon the screens of our television sets everyday wickedness and evilness continually.

We see that the very best people can do still falls far short of righteousness!

Righteousness is simply doing things that are right!

This is what God saw. The heart of society on earth had grown evil!

People were mean.

People were immoral.

People were perverse.

People were vile.

People were destructive.

People were lustful and sensual.

People were filthy and foul.

People were judgmental and condemning, of all those who did not think the way that they thought.

All these things sound familiar and could describe our own nation today.

Job 15:16  How much more abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water? 

Crime was gross and heinous.

Psa 14:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 

Psa 14:2  The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. 

Psa 14:3  They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 

When we get to the building of the Ark, we will realize that if Noah was not looked upon as a lunatic, the Ark would have never been built.

Our Creator groaned in His heart for what humans He had created.

We could say that the heart of our Creator was broken at what He was seeing happen to His creation, but still total destruction was never part of His plan.

God's mercy is still one of His greatest traits! Surely His great love is His greatest trait!

God decided that humanity should not exist and to destroy all mankind was the only answer!

*****Gen 6:7  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. 

Jehovah said: "I will erase this day from the days of creation".

What had God created on the fifth and sixth day?

Gen 1:20  And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 

Gen 1:21  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. 

Gen 1:24  And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 

Gen 1:25  And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 

Gen 1:26  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. 

Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 

Gen 1:28  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. 

Gen 1:29  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

God said He would destroy everything but the fish and mammals of the sea. These would be living creatures that did not depend upon the land for survival.

The animals and other creatures were destroyed because they were made for man's pleasure!

All things concerning humanity would change after the flood.

This is the very reason the flood had to be a world-wide event!

That word "destroy" used in this passage means to "erase".

All these creatures were created to show the awesomeness of God, that man might serve and honor Him, but just as today the world did not see our Creator at all.

What happened that day is happening again today!

Rom 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; 

Rom 1:29  Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 

Rom 1:30  Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 

Rom 1:31  Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: 

Rom 1:32  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

There is very little doubt at least in my mind, that this is the mindset of a certain party of politicians who want to rule us because they are reprobates!

Reprobates have infiltrated their way into many places of government!

There was only one man that helped God to decide what He would do!

A man named Noah.

*****Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 

Gen 6:9  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 

Gen 6:10  And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 

Throughout the Bible we will never see where God will destroy a righteous human being!

You see "Grace" is the theme of the New Testament (New Covenant) and Jehovah could not show His lack of "Grace" to this righteous man.

What had God promised Satan?

Gen 3:14  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: 

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; "it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel". 

Once God said this then He had to know it would happen!

This is the first promise of the coming of the Messiah!

If there was no Messiah, then the Word of God would be a lie!

One man in the entire world still acknowledged our Creator and his name was Noah!

It was Noah who would continue the line from Adam to Jesus!

Luk 3:23  And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, 

Luk 3:24  Which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Janna, which was the son of Joseph, 

Luk 3:25  Which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Amos, which was the son of Naum, which was the son of Esli, which was the son of Nagge, 

Luk 3:26  Which was the son of Maath, which was the son of Mattathias, which was the son of Semei, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Juda, 

Luk 3:27  Which was the son of Joanna, which was the son of Rhesa, which was the son of Zorobabel, which was the son of Salathiel, which was the son of Neri, 

Luk 3:28  Which was the son of Melchi, which was the son of Addi, which was the son of Cosam, which was the son of Elmodam, which was the son of Er, 

Luk 3:29  Which was the son of Jose, which was the son of Eliezer, which was the son of Jorim, which was the son of Matthat, which was the son of Levi, 

Luk 3:30  Which was the son of Simeon, which was the son of Juda, which was the son of Joseph, which was the son of Jonan, which was the son of Eliakim, 

Luk 3:31  Which was the son of Melea, which was the son of Menan, which was the son of Mattatha, which was the son of Nathan, which was the son of David, 

Luk 3:32  Which was the son of Jesse, which was the son of Obed, which was the son of Booz, which was the son of Salmon, which was the son of Naasson, 

Luk 3:33  Which was the son of Aminadab, which was the son of Aram, which was the son of Esrom, which was the son of Phares, which was the son of Juda, 

Luk 3:34  Which was the son of Jacob, which was the son of Isaac, which was the son of Abraham, which was the son of Thara, which was the son of Nachor, 

Luk 3:35  Which was the son of Saruch, which was the son of Ragau, which was the son of Phalec, which was the son of Heber, which was the son of Sala, 

Luk 3:36  Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, "which was the son of Noe", which was the son of Lamech, 

Luk 3:37  Which was the son of Mathusala, which was the son of Enoch, which was the son of Jared, which was the son of Maleleel, which was the son of Cainan, 

Luk 3:38  Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God. 

The one thing our Creator will never do is, to destroy those who love Him! He will always remove them from His wrath!

The same water that caused the destruction of all humans and the land-based animals and the birds, is the same water that raised the Ark that Noah built to carry him to safety.

1Pe 3:18  For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 

1Pe 3:19  By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 

1Pe 3:20  Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 

The Ark of Noah in typology represents the Ark that saved Moses.

These two arks are very different in size!

Moses’ ark was maybe a yard long. Noah’s ark was 150 times longer. Moses’ ark was made of reeds from the Nile. Noah’s ark was made from cypress wood. One thing they both had in common — they were both covered in pitch or tar to keep them from sinking. And both arks represent the same thing — God’s means of saving humanity.

Noah’s ark saved a righteous family from God’s judgment on humanity!

Moses’ ark saved the man who would lead a nation to safety after God’s judgment on Egypt!

Both arks are about salvation, saving those God loves! 

They were life preservers for everyone on board, leading the world to the ultimate ark, the cross.

The cross is for those today who are sinking in a sea of sin. Hold on, it will get you through to the other side, where life everlasting awaits you.

God always sends an ark to save you from drowning. You just have to climb aboard!

We should understand that "salvation and holiness" are the work of God! God just ask us to have a part in them.

The Ark in typology represents Jesus Christ Incarnate on earth.

Noah became the symbol of salvation for mankind in his day, because he was the only remnant to survive, while Moses became the symbol of salvation for the Israelites, because he was the one who led them out of Egypt from the slavery that they endured.

Also, both of them were put into water as their journey. Noah was put into a wooden ark covered in pitch and then that ark was in the Flood.

Similarly, Moses (as a baby) was put into a reed basket covered in pitch which was placed on the Nile. 

Water is a significant symbol in both of the narratives. In The Bible, water tends to symbolize salvation or cleansing, hence the first comparison.

Both are types of Jesus Christ!

Noah had three sons who would repopulate the earth along with Noah and their wives.

We know that Noah found the "Grace" of God, but it does not say his children did.

God could have just saved Noah, but God has a much greater plan than to just save an Ark full of people and animals.

The one thing we know is that God's patience does have an end!

Now listen closely as the Bible describes the America of today.

*****Gen 6:11  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 

Gen 6:12  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 

What are two words that express the wickedness of our world.

1) Corrupt

2) Violence

What are the two biggest things we see in America?

1) Corruption

2) Violence.

The government is corrupt and those few who battle for righteousness are just outnumbered.

Those who are corrupt instill this violence we see every day along with the News Media and Facebook and Twitter and other such sources contribute also!

To add to this, the Church has become corrupt because the world has been invited into the pulpits and into the leadership of the church.

In the day of Noah, all these things were true as the "sons of God" had become caught up in the "maids" of the world.

No one in their right mind can say our day is not getting as bad as it was in the days of Noah!

Our Creator never changes, and we know what He did in the day of Noah, He will do again!

This time without water, but fire!

Wickedness breeds corruption and corruption breeds violence!

God had only one answer to stay true to His holiness.

These things had to be destroyed!

*****Gen 6:14  Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. 

Since we have discussed this Ark, we will keep this short.

Gopher wood the wood used for ships is also the wood used for coffins in many areas of the world.

As Noah built this Ark, he also preached to those who were lost.

God had allowed 120 years for these things to take place.

Noah may not have known the day or the hour that the rain would come, he did know the year.

The pitch that water-proofed this Ark, can be said to be represent a "pardon" which we know comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ!

The Ark and the pitch together represent "Grace" which in reality still means God's Mercy At Christ’s Expense".

The study of the Ark is a lesson in itself.

Not many realize that seven days before the rains began, Noah and his family moved into the Ark.

The one and only door stayed open for these seven days and "whosoever" chose could have boarded the Ark and not one of those people chose to do so.

Then God shut the door so that not even Noah could open it, and when the rains came, we can just imagine how many tried to get into the Ark, but it was too late!

Do not wait until the door to Heaven is closed. Come while you still have time. God still takes "whosoever" will come while the door to safety is open!

Amen


Sunday, September 20, 2020

The Freedom to Choose

 

The Fruit of Sin

Book of Genesis Chapter 4 (Focus on verses 1-15)

What does the word fruit mean?

In a general sense, fruit is the things that the earth produces for nourishment of animals and humans, but also for clothing and for profit.

It is the seed of the plant or in many cases the part of the fruit that holds the seed.

In Christianity, we say the fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

In the case of sin, it means the effect of sin or the consequence of sin and we could add the production of sin.

So far in our lessons we saw in God's creation that everything was very good.

In reality we see that Heaven was not perfect and the Earth was not perfect, and we noticed that Satan took advantage of these things in Heaven until he was tossed out and then he immediately took advantage upon this earth.

Now this not to say God cannot create perfect things because He can, and He will.

Much of the Bible teaches us how with a plan God, conceived everything before He made anything.

God has a plan to make every human perfect.

The only perfect being in existence is our Creator!

Now we can also say all those that have made their journey to our Heavenly Home are now perfect even though they are not yet complete.

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus "will God bring with him".

God has placed a craving within each human to seek out our Creator!

In order for God's plan to work, then each human was given the ability to make choices.

Choice is the act of selecting from two or more things to determine which one is preferred and in the end which one is best for us.

God installed in each of us the yearning to reach out for perfection, but we can never reach this perfection without His help and He planned it this way!

This is the lesson we must learn early in life, but some do not learn it until later in life, but the opportunity still remains until we reach physical death!

Adam and Eve are now sinners in need of a Savior and the Earth has been cursed because of sin.

We say all the time that it was our Creator who caused the curse, in reality it is because sin changes us and it is not for the better!

Adam was told to leave the Garden of Eden and Adam now has to work hard to provide for his family and those who are true to our families are still doing this today.

In our lesson today we will learn of the birth of the first children upon this earth!

Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

We will also note that no children were born to Adam and Eve until they had succumbed to sin.

Everyone must face temptation!

In this chapter we also begin to see the results of false worship.

Though they were now sinners, the relationship of Adam and Eve to the Lord had been restored with the blood sacrifice of a lamb and they had also received some clothing to cover their nakedness.

We can have one question that goes unanswered. It is believed that all humans were had meals of vegetables and herbs until after the flood, but we might ask what happened to the meat of the animals that were sacrificed unless it was all sacrificed to the Lord.

What does that word "knew" mean to us?

Gen 3:16 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.

Adam "knew" that part of being a helpmeet to him was also a purpose for Eve was to bring forth children and by her falling into sin she had made this work much more sorrowful which means mental pain and grief.

The pains of bearing children will be used in many different ways throughout the Bible.

Adam recognized her nature and uses according to the Word of God.

Gen 1:28 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.

Do not be fooled by that word replenish. It simply means to make the earth full of humans and replace those that will die off.

There are actually two descriptions of sorrow:

2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Adam had relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and she would bear many children and her children would bear many children and so those children would bear many children and the world would begin its population growth.

Yes, the wives of Cain and Seth were also their sisters, but this did not create the same problems that incest creates today. We could say they pure bloods.

Her first child was a male child who was named Cain.

Eve had felt that sorrow in childbearing, but she now felt the joy of deliverance.

She also knew that all children are from the Lord and they are not given to abort, to murder, nor to treat as less than human, from the moment of conception.

Mar 10:13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

Mar 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Mar 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Mar 10:16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Jesus loved the little children and we should too!

Those nine months had been a great learning experience to pass on to her children.

Nine months later she had her second son, Abel.

*****Gen 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

We know that there is nothing wrong with either of these occupations.

Food and clothing are necessities of life.

The name Abel suggest pastoral life as Cain to agricultural life.

We know that in the Bible, Moses and David and many others had been shepherds and while alone with their sheep, they got a better understanding of God.

We also know that a tiller of the ground, after the soil is tilled and the seed planted, they too have much time to spend with the Lord for Him to provide the needed Sun and water.

This is why some of the first false gods pertained to the Sun and the Moon.

Even if the earth brought forth the water as an underground sprinkler system, now because of the curse it also brought forth briers and weeds and the bramble bush.

It amazes me that weeds thrive without water.

God had already planted the pastures, but they now contained things that could cause harm to the sheep and also the danger of wild animals that did not exist before sin entered the world.

The shepherd began to understand the ways of man and the need of a Shepherd.

Psa 78:70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

Psa 78:71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

Psa 78:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

It became time to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.

Cain wanted to be recognized for his works, but God would not allow this!

*****Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

We should understand that God had required a specific time and a certain place for worship.

We can see that this was probably be at harvest time. No doubt that Cain had worked hard, but he did have to realize that though he tilled the ground the seed he used came from God's creation. The watering of the plants came by God's irrigation system.

Many a farmer would love to have an irrigation system as this one in the Book of Genesis.

Cain also had to realize that it was the Sun another creation of God that caused this harvest to be bountiful.

When Cain had gone to worship on his own and he offered a sacrifice that he had never seen his parents offer, we can see that Cain was trying to add to the Word of God

This day of sacrifice was later added to days of worship for the Hebrew children.

Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

This was a bloodless sacrifice!

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

They understood that sin had enter into the world.

When Moses wrote the commandments, all 613, we should know that many of these laws already existed from the time of Adam and Eve.

At this time, all tree fruits and garden produce, were excluded for the sacrifice.

Why, because God had caused these things to grow before sin entered in the world.

The true sin of Cain was the fact that he attached to his sacrifice his ability to do these things without the help of God.

We are never to feel like we can do without God for one minute.

Worship is recognizing we have God our Creator and we are trying to please Him.

Sacrifice is an outward show of that worship.

We must be willing to give back to God because He has given so much to us.

Even before Moses the tithe is established, but in reality, all we have belongs to God and our acknowledgement of sacrifice is to show our gratitude for the things God has provided.

When we give back a tenth, then we are saying God will give back that tenth in multiples when we obey Him.

Another truth is it is just as wrong to approach God with empty hands!

Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and "none shall appear before me empty:")

Obviously, Cain had brought a part of his harvest all of which our Creator had caused to grow.

It may not have been the best that he offered but more probable it was his attitude of making himself equal with God.

We must be very careful how we approach our Heavenly Father!

Jesus said in teaching His disciples how to pray:

Luk_11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

We must begin by acknowledging the power of the Almighty Living God!

When we cannot do this, we make our selves gods and equal to our Heavenly Father and this what Satan told Eve.

Sin is disobedience and disobedience is like telling God we know more how to take care of ourselves than He does!

We can be sure that Adam would have been very careful to teach his children, how to approach God!

Let us see what Abel did.

*****Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Abel brought the first born of his flocks and the choicest portions.

When we give the Lord our very best, and the very best of ourselves, God sees that He is first in our lives.

It should be obvious to us that Cain was a wicked man and Abel was not!

They both were sinners. The sin of Abel would be forgiven. The sin of Cain would not be forgiven.

It also seems here that flesh (meat) could have been eaten before the flood.

God accepted the person of Abel, then He accepted his sacrifice.

Heb_11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

1Jn_3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Cain was evil and wicked in his heart.

*****Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

Even when God knew how wicked and evil Cain was trying to be, God still loved on him.

God still loves the sinner today!

Cain was mad and it showed.

It is almost impossible to hide our anger from those who are close to us, but it is impossible to hide our anger from God.

Anger held for very long becomes sin!

Eph_4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

What happens when we do?

Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

This is exactly what happened to Cain.

We can see that most all the principles of sin can be found in the Book of Genesis.

God says: Why are you so mad Cain? You see God will always give us space to repent!

Rev_2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

We will see that Cain will do the same, he will refuse to repent because he would allow himself to think he was better than Abel as good as God!

*****Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

If you cannot see the tender side of our God in this Scripture, then you are blind!

You can also see that God opens the door of repentance to Cain and all Cain had to do was to walk inside.

We can see that if we are to remain in the will of God, then those things we do according to His commandments, we must do well!

In reality there was nothing wrong with the sacrifice that Cain offered, it was his attitude of sacrifice.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Giving our best means to give according to a righteous heart. Not in self-righteousness!

According to Jehovah, sin is always lying at the door ready to pounce on our mistakes and our misgivings.

We are to rule over our sin and not allow sin to rule over us!

The Apostle Paul said:

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Col_3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Put our sin in that coffin and go ahead bury it, so it can no more come between us and the Lord!

What do we know? Cain ignored God's Words and rebelled and sin grew into murder.

These facts of the first murder upon this earth are recorded in the Bible.

*****Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

We can read into this what we want, but it seems Cain enticed his brother Abel away from his family and murdered him.

Today we would say this was premeditated murder!

There is deception in most all murders! This thing did not happen by accident!

Cain allowed his anger to fester into a greater sin!

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

There was surely some jealousy.

More important there was complete rejection of the will of God!

Cain simply was not going to be obedient to the Word of God nor the teaching of his parents.

The Plants multiplied as the Lord said.

The Animals multiplied as the Lord said.

The Humans multiplied as the Lord had said.

We now see that sin will multiply at every opportunity as the Lord has said! (sin lieth at the door)

In fact we will soon see the sin will far outpace righteousness in this newly created world.

Sin is as a predator ready to strike at any time!

1Pe_5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Cain may have been out of sight of his parents and who knows his plan of deceiving them, but we are never out of sight of our Creator, Elohim.

It was the blood of Abel that cried out to its Creator.

The Blood of Abel cried out for vengeance just as the blood of all martyrs.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

We know that the blood of our Savior does not cry out for vengeance, the blood of Jesus cries out for redemption!

Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

And the Lord said to Cain:

*****Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Gen 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Cain had murdered his brother Abel, but just listen as he responds to God's questions.

Keep in mind, Jehovah already knows everything that happened, and when and why it happened. We cannot fool God!

When God questions us like this, He is never looking for answers, He is looking for remorse.

He is looking for a confession of our sin!

He is looking for repentance!

After God's rebuke of his sacrifice, Cain did not learn from his mistake, he had a new sin, the sin of hatred.

Cain hated his brother more each day until he lured him away from his parents and murdered him.

Certainly, he knew where the body of his brother was located.

God knew where the body of Abel was located.

Cain denied the responsibility for his sin and treated his brother’s absence as if it were nothing.

You see no matter what the "judge" says.

No matter what society says.

The premeditated murderer has no remorse for what they have done!

Satan had such a hold on Cain that he might acknowledge the death of his brother, but he would never confess his sin and repent.

Cain was now a child of Satan!

Cain was probably the very first person to enter into Hell! If not him then his son!

Next question, are we our brother's keeper?

Abel was a keeper of sheep, Cain said "am I my brother’s keeper". Cain was saying, am I to be his shepherd?

What does God say about the wicked?

Psa 10:1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

Psa 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Psa 10:3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.

Psa 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Psa 10:5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

Psa 10:6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

Psa 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

Psa 10:9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

Psa 10:10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

Psa 10:11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

Psa 10:12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

Psa 10:13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

Psa 10:14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Psa 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

Psa 10:16 The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

Psa 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Psa 10:18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

What is wrong in America today?

What is wrong in the world today?

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

There is no natural affection for one another, and it began with Cain.

God had no choice but to bring judgment to Cain.

*****Gen 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

Gen 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

The man with the first green thumb lost his ability, because green thumbs come by the hand of God!

We must understand that there will be consequences for sin!

Even when sin is repented there will still be consequences.

Today we are still paying for the consequences of that first murder.

Cain had shown no remorse for the premeditated murder of his brother.

The one thing we should remember is, that because of the sin of Adam, we all inherited our sin nature.

One man wrote: "Even at the time when we face the Lord of Life, Jesus the Messiah, the juices of death still flow through our flesh"!

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

You see, it was so important for Cain to settle these things with his brother in peace and not in death.

It is the same for all of us today!

Jesus also says that we may not always be able to do this, but this does not mean we are not to try very hard.

God told Cain if he would do well all these things would one day be a bad memory.

Life goes haywire when we think it is just too much to listen to what God has to say!

We must understand that to violate a brother is a deadly act and it is about the same to violate a brother or sister in Christ!

Listen as the Apostle Paul speaks to the Church.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

The first curse (Genesis 3:14-19) is Elohim's punishment for the consequences of sin.

What about Cain? Yes, he was part of the first curse as a descendant of Adam, his first son.

For Cain, he found farming to be enjoyable and preferred it above all things even God.

Now by the curse, he would no longer have such bountiful harvest.

Now by the curse, the harvest would no longer yield its strength.

He would have to eat more to keep his strength, and we all know this causes us to be overweight.

You can see God withholds His blessing when we are not obedient to the things, He teaches us!

Cain could only listen as Elohim gives His verdict of judgment.

Cain was cursed in his soul.

A vagabond in his body, a vagabond being a fugitive, a wanderer, no longer considering any place his home.

His labors would no longer be prosperous.

This is the first curse pronounced against a human being, but Cain still had the power to repent which he never did all the days of his life.

The ground had already been cursed because of the sin of Adam and Eve, but the misery of Cain would be far worse.

Added to this the blood of Abel was now in the earth and the blood of martyrs pour onto the earth are never forgotten by the Lord.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Jesus had these things to say:

Luk 11:47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

Luk 11:48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

God will never forget those who shed the blood of innocents!

How did Cain respond? Just like every guilty person who has done such things.

*****Gen 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Gen 4:14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

Cain felt that he could never be forgiven, but he never repented.

Repentance brings forgiveness!

So many people do not understand the "Grace of God".

Rom_5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Even in the time of Cain, the Lord was still full of "Grace" but Cain rejected the "Grace of God" just like many do today.

Cain's soul remained troubled all his days!

Cain hardened his heart against God.

Listen to what Cain says:

1) The punishment is just too great.

2) It is just too severe.

3) Its simply unfair.

4) It is just too abusive.

5) It is just too much for me and for anyone else to bear.

6) It just goes beyond and far outweighs the sin he had committed.

Lam 3:39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

Lam 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

These are the same excuses used by the liberal hearts today!

Just look at those who are destroying properties and committing murders in the name of protest, where all the methods that police use are considered just too harsh.

Cain understands that others may never forgive him, and they will seek to do him harm.

Cain does not hate his sin.

Cain does not hate that he caused the death of his only brother.

As we see the happenings of the Church today, the world sees the judgment of the Church far too harsh for the sin of the world and the Church has become the enemy for trying to do good.

Isa_5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

God never changes and all those such as Cain who refuse to repent will live similar lives until they find out, Hell is much worse than hell on earth!

Cain feared for his own safety, but God was not about to allow His judgment to end so easily and God was not about to allow a revenge killing which is still murder.

*****Gen 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

The murder of Abel was premeditated murder on the part of Cain.

For anyone to commit revenge killing would be far worse in the eyes of God and it should be.

Remember God had set the family unit as the first members of society.

As more family units came about a society would be formed.

Revenge is one of the things that breaks down societies.

We see this more and more today!

There is no doubt that some of the history of our nation is not a proud thing to look back upon.

History is history. History cannot be erased, but it is there to learn from our mistakes and see that it does not happen again.

What is going on in America today is revenge thinking!

Certain groups want revenge in any way they can get it or they will try to take it and they will be looked upon as seven times worse in the eyes of God and those who push such an agenda will be seen even worse than these people!

Why? Because vengeance belongs to the Lord.

The containment of these things will bring about a stable society where these things can be studied to make sure they do not happen again, and laws changed to make all the people be on equal standing.

We do not see this in our government today and I am not talking our President who inherited this mess.

We only see people starving for power when there is only one Power and that is the power of God.

We as society and who seek equality, will never win until we use our power to vote to make real changes and quit listening to broken and unrealistic promises.

Washington needs to be overhauled and those old scalawags need to be retired for good!

Remember the family unit is the first thing God established and the governments are to protect the family unit and not cause the destruction of families as we see today.

The government is not in place to run the lives of the people.

In fact the people are to put a government in place to protect the people and to serve the people.

A sevenfold judgment on those who violate the commands of God is serious.

Amen