The First And The Last [את]

Genesis 1:1
1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

This is the first sentence of the entire Bible which, I'm pretty sure, everybody knows.  In English it doesn't seem to say too much but in Hebrew it speaks VOLUMES!
Below is a screen shot of Genesis 1:1 from Strong's Interlinear Online.

See the middle word, "et?"  It is untranslated wherever it appears by itself, which is a total of 22 times in the Hebrew scriptures, the exact number of letters in their alphabet.  

Though 10 words in English, it is only 7 words in Hebrew.  The are 28 letters in all as well as other multiples of 7.  Seven, "shevah" in Hebrew, is the number of completeness in biblical numerics. It also means "promise or oath."

(For more on this topic, follow this link:  

http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2015/11/bible-numerics.html?m=1)

The untranslated word, "et," is spelled using the first and last letters of the aleph-bet, pictured below.  These two are the most significant letters in the entire Bible because of Who they represent. But before we get to that, here is some important background information.

#1.  Hebrew reads from right to left and is a form of picture of writing, like Chinese. Each letter also has a corresponding number, color and musical note associated with it.  These are very consistent. 

#2.  The Name of God in this verse is Elohim: [אלוהים], which means "Creator God."  In Hebrew,  when you want to make any word plural, you add "im: [ים]" at the end.  It's like our letter "s."  The "et" tells you which person of the trinity created all things, namely Elohim-et. 

#3.  There are 7 words in this verse so it qualfies as what the rabbis call a "menorah verse," a phenomenon of which they are well aware. 

A menorah verse is one which contains seven words.  The Menorah has 7 branches. Place all 7 words above the menorah, one word over each branch as in the picture below, and the most important word or concept will be directly over the Shemesh, or center lamp.

The word, et- [את], is directly over the Shemesh.  Shemesh means "center" or "SERVANT LAMP."  It is lighted first, then used to light the other lamps, hencephalitis the serving function.  It is removable.  

It's a picture of our Lord Jesus!  He said in Mark 10:45,  "...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

We didn't come to Him; He came to each one as the Light of the world.  He gave His life for us.  He saved us! We now carry His light in us and shine out to a dark and lost world.

In the Hebrew text, this two-letter middle word is always untranslated, as I said earlier, but because it is over the "Shemesh," or center lamp, God is pointing out that it has special significance.  Pay close attention.

Reading from right to left, the FIRST letter is [א] aleph.  You can see it's the first letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet.  It means "ox or sacrifice." That's Jesus!  

The second letter, [ת] tav, is the LAST letter Of The aleph-bet.  It is a picture of the "cross."
These two together point to THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON AND EVENT OF ALL TIME:"  

JESUS AND HIS SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS!

Come with me now to the very last book of the Bible, Revelation.  In the very first chapter it says in verses 11-14 (YLT) "I am the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the FIRST and the LAST;' and, `What thou dost see, write in a scroll, and send to the seven assemblies that [are] in Asia; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.'

12 And I did turn to see the voice that did speak with me, and having turned, I saw SEVEN GOLDEN LAMP-STANDS, 13 and in the MIDST {the middle branch} of the seven lamp-stands, [One] like to a son of man, (Jesus) clothed to the foot,and girt round at the breast with a gold girdle, "

The ONE in the "midst-middle" of the seven golden lamps is our Lord Jesus.

Notice the words "GOLDEN BAND" girded about Him?  It is showing us the He is ETERNALLY A SERVANT TO US."

More than 400 years before Jesus was born, a group of Jewish rabbis got together and translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, which was fast becoming the language of commerce, like English is today.  That's how our New Testament came to be written in Greek.  This verse, of course, is RECORDED in Greek as "ALPHA and OMEGA."  Alpha and omega are the FIRST and LAST letters of the Greek alphabet.  But Jesus was speaking John on the island of Patmos.  He would not have spoken to a fellow Jewish person in Greek.  He would have been speaking either Hebrew or Aramaic.  His actual words would not have been "I am alpha and omega."  He would have actually said "I Am ALEPH and TAV." {את} 

THIS IS JESUS' SIGNATURE!

He is the FIRST;
He is the LAST;
He is the CENTER.
He is the BEGINNING, the END.

EVERYTHING works well only when it revolves around Him.

Just as a wheel would wobble and be unsteady if the pivotal pin is off-center, so we are off balance unless Jesus is our center, our ALEPH TAV!

 [את] aleph-tav = JESUS' SIGNATURE!

Jesus really is the FIRST and the LAST.

Noah's Ark: Flood Series Part 1 of 8

Genesis 6:13-14

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch."

Did you ever ask why God destroyed everyone on earth except the 8 people in the Ark?  If you were to take seriously the Hollywood version of 2014, you'd think He was either monumentally unfair or downright cruel.  You would also think that Noah was the hero, that he came up with the idea to build the ark all by himself and was some crazy guy who heard voices.  

Too bad Hollywood didn't accurately portray the word of God.  The truth is way better and much more exciting story proving once again that Holy Word trumps Hollywood!

The account unfolds in chapters 6 & 7 of Genesis.  Now, the English text simply says that wickedness was rampant and the thoughts and intents of the hearts of men were continually evil.  You don't really get a very clear picture of what was actually occurring, however, until you dig into the Hebrew text.  Do a little word study and a whole different picture emerges.  Your understanding rises to a whole new level as you realize oh, yeah, without question.....the flood was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

Genesis 6:1-2  "Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, ² that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose."
 

The Biblical account in Engilsh is "somewhat vague" here.  But God has hidden little nuggets of truth in the Hebrew text for those who are hungry enough to seek them out.  

Proverbs tells us that it is the "glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings to search it out."  As sons and daughters of the Most High, you and I are kings and priests.  So, Kings and queens; let's go searching! 

In order to get the whole picture,though, we'll have to go all the way back to where it all began:  

The Garden of Eden. 

Here's the scene:  Adam and Eve disobeyed God and the infamous fall has occurred. They are told of the consequences of their sin and of all the curses that, apart from Christ, are now also all of mankind's heritage as well.  
But before God told them their consequences, He turned to the serpent and said the following in the last half of Genesis 3:15.

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel."

The devil was told that there Someone...he didn't know who...is coming at some point...he didn't know when...to COMPLETELY, UTTERLY AND IRREVOCABLY DESTROY HIM!!!  Of course, he didn't like that very much.  So, down through the ages from that time until THE ONE was born, do know what his #1 mission was? 

TO STOP THE SEED OF THE WOMAN!

Fortunately for us, he didn't have a scorecard to tell the players.  He tried everything he could think of to either stop this ONE from being born or to confuse and pervert the gospel message so that man would not know it and, therefore, believe the truth about the promised Champion. 

You see, the devil hates God; but he cannot strike at Him directly so he does the next best thing:  He strikes at His favorite creation:  Us, who are made in His image.  That's why he hates us.
Just as Abraham was counted righteous because he believed the gospel preached to him (see Galatians 3:8) so everyone else who believed was counted righteous, too.

Here the "short list" of what he did to try and stop "THE ONE" we know to be Jesus:

1. He saw that Abel's sacrifice was accepted but Cain's was not so he thought Abel might br THE ONE.  He got them to fight and Cain killed Abel, but.....NOPE!  He missed.  
Abel wasn't THE ONE.

2. He tried to confuse the Gospel story in the stars with his perverted invention we call "astrology."  That's why he incited his buddy, Nimrod, to build the tower of Babel.  Most scholars agree that Nimrod was one of the earliest anti-christs.  You see, for 2500 years, there was no written word of God until Moses wrote it down.  They told the story of the gospel by recounting the story that God blasted all over the heavens.

For more information on the gospel written in the stars, follow the links below:

Real Story in the Stars:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-real-story-in-stars.html

Tower of Babel:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-tower-of-babel.html

Sign at the Border:  http://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-sign-at-border.html

3.  Then in Genesis 6 some "curiously cryptic" events are recorded. It says that "the sons of GOD (Elohim/Creator God) went in to the daughters of men, taking wives of any that they chose, bearing children by them. These "sons"of God were fallen angels that "refused to keep their place." {Remember this phrase for later}

Sons of God are all those directly created by Him which includes ALL the angels, the good one and fallen angels, and Adam.  Jesus is the only One Who was "begotten" of God, not created.  From these "sons of God" sprang the "Nephilim" that were on the earth in those days "and afterward," meaning after the flood. In the text they are called "heroes and men of renown."That doesn't sound too bad, does it?  Oh contraré!

The word for "Nephilim" comes from the root word in Hebrew, "naphal" which means " to fall, to lie." These are the offspring of fallen angels, demons, who took human form.  Their offspring were half-human, have-demon children.  Mutations of all description.  EWWW!!!  YUK!!!

You've heard it said that there's usually some element of trickle-down truth to myths and legends?  Suppose.....just suppose.....that the creatures of mythology or the creatures like in "Clash of the Titans," Narnia," Lord of the Rings" weren't so far-fetched after all?  Bear in mind, now, that the devil is laser-focused on STOPPING THE SEED by perverting or, preferably, destroying Him, whatever works.  Polluting human kind with demon seed would sure do the trick, wouldn't it?  Again, YUK!!! 
But that's just what he did.  It was his most heinous crime.  

These so-called "heroes and men of renoun" were not heroes in a good sense.  They were half-human, half-demon creatures; all kinds of perverse mutations:  Cyclops, giants, fauns, centaurs.

Back before the flood, men lived hundreds of years.  Think about it:  If one of your parent's is inherently evil, all your thoughts and intentions are continually evil, you could sure devise a whole lot of it and figure out how to kill more people more quickly.  Hard to picture, isn't it? Let's dig a bit more into the Hebrew text and see what else we find.

In Genesis 6:9 it says, "This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, *perfect* in his generations. Noah walked with God."  The word in Hebrew for "perfect" here is "tamim," the same word as used in this verse in Exodus 12:5--5 "Your lamb shall be without *blemish*-{"tamim"}, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats."   "Tamim" means "physically perfect."  

NOAH, HIS WIFE, HIS THREE SONS AND THEIR WIVES WE THE ONLY FULLY HUMAN STOCK LEFT ON EARTH!  They were the only 8 humans left.

Now do you see why the flood HAD TO HAPPEN?  It was the only way to preserve the human race. If He didn't destroy these hybrid creatures, The Champion, Jesus, could not have been born; the One Who could save us all!  Even so, it must have broken God's heart to have to destroy the creation He loved so much.

Oh, satan tried many other times to thwart God's plan. After the flood,when he found our God was never going to send another one, he had his minions try the same trick again.    These creatures were the post-diluvian Anakim and Rephaim like Goliath.  He was one them.  These demons who refused to keep their place spawned a whole bunch of new polluted hybrid creatures from these unholy unions.

Didn't you ever wonder why God told Israel to kill every man, woman and child in the cities of Canaan?  I know I did.  I never understood until I learned that these people there were not fully human. Their DNA was polluted like the Nephillim before the flood.

In Moses' day, the devil tried to have all the Hebrew babies drowned in the Nile.  Wrong again; it wasn't Moses!  Then, at the time of Jesus' birth, he arranged for all the children 2 and under to be slaughtered by his buddy, Herod. 

You see?  The devil is not all-knowing. He didn't know exactly what was happening or when but he knew it was something BIG!  After all, how could you miss the fact that there were legions of angels in the sky?  But, since he didn't know which baby it was, he arranged for all of the children age 2 and under to be killed.  

Well.......HE MISSED!  HALLELUIA!!!

......and that, Church, is why God had to send flood:  So He could preserve the human race in the vessel called "Noah's Ark."

The Judgment Seat Of Christ

Luke 4:17-21
" And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, 18 Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.”
Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them,“Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

(Jesus reading the scroll of Isaiah in His hometown of Nazareth)

What does this scripture have to do with the Judgment seat of Christ?  EVERYTHING.  As you read this article, you'll see that God isn't into judgment; He's into Grace.  We will deal with what has heretofore been called "Judgment Seat of Christ" a bit later.  

You see, if you don't understand that God, though He is a Just and Holy God, is not about judgment but grace, it colors how you think of Him.  How you see Him affects how and what you receive from Him. If He is only a distant, stern disciplinarian, you'll never feel worthy enough to receive much of anything from Him because you'll always feel like He is angry with when in fact, He is not.  

Well, guess what?  Translators are people, too.  They face the same dilemma.  Their perception of God colors how they portray Him when they translate the Bible from the original languages.  It doesn't change what The Holy Spirit wants to convey, you understand.  But what often happens is the one translating will add words in English to make the text flow better that are not in the original text.  But Hebrew, and Greek to a lesser extent, can be taken in either a positive or negative tone, depending again on your perception.  Remember, translations are not the inspired languages.  Only the original ones are, so it's best to always refer to them whenever you study the bible.  (Try this link if you don't read Greek and Hebrew:  http://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/1.htm)

Jesus Came To Save, Not To Judge.

Now, when Jesus told them that this scripture from Isaiah 61 was fulfilled in their hearing, the people knew exactly what He meant.  He was calling Himself the Messiah, which of course He is!  But He didn't read the entire passage.  He left off the last part and closed the book before the last line.  Here's what He omitted:
Isaiah 61:2....AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD;"
He closed the book and did not read this part because Jesus came as The LAMB of God in His first coming.  He did not come to bring judgment but to save the world from sin and to proclaim the ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD. It would be a really good idea to follow His lead and learn to close the book where He did.  

God is not judging the sins of the world.....not yet, anyway.  We, as His representatives, do need not be going around judging people either.  Our job is to "RECONCILE" the world to God, not condemn people.

It's been 2,000 years of "the acceptable year of the LORD!" The vengeance of our God--the righteous, holy vengeance against all lawlessness, iniquity, sin and ungodliness--was unleashed upon Jesus at the cross.  That day, God righteously and judiciously punished His own beloved Son for EVERY sin from the beginning to the end of time FOR ALL HUMANITY because God SO LOVED the whole world.  Every type, every story, every picture from one end of the Bible to the other tells the incomprehensible story of Jesus' selfless sacrifice on our behalf.  

That doesn't mean that salvation is universal or automatic.  Of course not.  Salvation is a gift which implies the offering of it on the giver's side with no strings attached and acceptance--or rejection--on the receiving end.

(Three Hours of Darkness during Jesus' Crucifixion.)

When it comes to judgment the Bible calls it "A DAY" but it's the ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." That's because God is into Love and compassion not judgment; and a year is longer than a day!  He wants to bless people, not curse them.

The word in Hebrew for acceptable is "radzon," which means "delight, favor, acceptance."  This same word is used in chapter 1 of Leviticus where it instructs you how to bring your lamb to the priest as a burnt offering.  

When you brought your lamb to him, you placed your hands on it's head for your "radzon: acceptance."  The priest didn't look at you, of course. He knew why you were there.  He looked at your lamb to make sure it had no blemish.  When your lamb was thoroughly examined and found acceptable, it was then sacrificed in your place and you went away, made right with God by the death of the innocent--the lamb--for the guilty--YOU.

The old system of sacrifice was a shadow representation of the covenent we have.  Our deal is WAY BETTER!  Just like the priest in the Old Testament, under the New, God isn't looking at you to evaluate you either.  HE'S LOOKING AT YOUR LAMB, JESUS.  If He us acceptable, then SO ARE YOU.

Thankfully, UNlike the Old Testament where sacrifices were offered again and again but sins were only COVERED, under the New Covenant, our perfect sacrifice, Jesus, was offered ONCE.....for all time!  Our sins are not covered:  THEY ARE CLEANSED, HALLELUJAH!  Our forgiveness is not good only for the next 12 months; IT'S FOREVER.  

We only ask God to forgive our sins ONE TIME.  As far as sin is concerned, between us and God, IT'S A DONE DEAL.  That doesn't mean there won't be human consequences for your deeds or actions, but there is no more condemnation or consequences from God.  Asking forgiveness is horizontal--between people--not vertical ever again.

We still confess our sins to God but now it's from the standpoint of knowing that we are already right with Him.  We are already forgiven.  Now, we can talk to Him honestly and openly about those sins or bad habits that are keeping us bound so He can help us overcome them and gain the victory!  

Your sins and shortcomings cannot touch your righteousness.  It is a gift you received, not an action you perform.

At the end of the last sentence Jesus read, there was a comma.  You see, there is a debt for sin that must be paid.  Everyone, when they leave this life, must have a right sacrifice to offer God.  But you and I are blemished. We don't qualify to be our own sacrifice.  Only One qualifies:  JESUS.  Those who don't recognize and accept Him as their substitute, as their Savior, The One Who exhausted all God's divine retribution and holy vengeance against ALL SIN and lawlessness for them, they will have to face "the day of the vengeance of God" for their sins on their own. God has no choice but to reject them since they rejected the only possible payment:  Jesus.  The sentence is eternal darkness where the fire is never quenched, the worm never dies and torment never ends.

But thank God Jesus is qualified!  He was the final sacrifice.  The blood of bulls and goats is NO LONGER accepted. It's Jesus.....OR NOTHING. Much better to accept His sacrifice offered for us than to be forever condemned to that awful place that was never intended for man.

Make no mistake:  There is a day of judgment coming.....but it's not here yet.  

Since that day that is still future, legally and judiciously, based on God's word, it's not right or accurate to say that God is judging America or this nation or those people.  He isn't.  The "day of vengeance" will happen after the "acceptable year" of the Lord has come to an end, and not a nano-second sooner.

Jesus is still proclaiming that ACCEPTABLE YEAR, the year of "RADZON."  The "DOOR" is still wide open.  

The word for "acceptable" is "dektos," in Greek.  Thayer defines it this way: "Denotes the most blessed time when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound." How AWESOME is that?!!!  God is delaying His return because He is willing that no one should perish in hell, but be saved to spend eternity in heaven with Him!

So what about this "JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST" all about?  

Our "paid-in-full receipt" from Jesus will signify to a God on that "Day" that there is nothing in us to be judged; that Jesus paid ALL our debt!!!  AMEN!   

2 Corinthians 5:10 is the verse that has caused all the confusion.  Where it mentions "the judgment seat of Christ," the word, "judgment," doesn't appear in the Greek.  It is the word, "bematos."  The "bema seat" is like in the Olympics.  You compete in an event and if you win, you go to the "bema seat" and you receive your reward or medal.  If you didn't win, you don't receive anything.  That's it!  But you still make it to heaven.

The English translation of 2 Corinthians 5:10 also says in English "deeds both good and bad," which is both frightening and unfortunate.  It is one of the many "translator issues" that we find in scripture.  It would have been more accurate to have said, "for deeds of both great and little consequence;" No consequence in our eyes, anyway. In other words, you may think many things you did while on earth were of no consequence for eternity and for God's kingdom or reaching the lost.  But those things that seemed of little or no consequence to you had far-reaching effects of which you were unaware.

So fear not, church; There is NO JUDGMENT in your future ever.  NONE!  YOUR PAID-IN-FULL receipt, Jesus, says so!

In fact, in the previous chapter, Isaiah 60, God says of The church:  "Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, 2 And deep darkness the people; BUT THE LORD WILL ARISE OVER YOU, And His glory will be seen upon YOU. The Gentiles shall come to your light, 3 And kings to the brightness of your rising."

It is getting very dark out there in the world today but we need FEAR NOT: THE LORD WILL ARISE OVER US and make US shine so brightly in the darkness that kings will come to the brightness of our rising!   You will have such favor and blessings of God on you like never before.  Favors are things you don't deserve, Church!

So, say "AMEN!"   1 Corinthians 1:20 says "For all the promises of God in Him {in Christ} are Yes, and in Him AMEN, to the glory of God through us {you and me}."  In other words, say "YES!" and "AMEN!" to all His promises FOR your life.  If you don't say, "Amen" TO His promises, there'll be no fulfillment IN your life. When you say "yes and Amen," YOU get the benefits and God gets the GLORY!

This word "amen" is a very interesting Hebrew word.  It is the most well-known in every language. It is derived from root word for "believe-aman (אמנ)" which was first spoken by Abram when he "aman" in the LORD and it was credited for him as righteousness.

"Faith" in Hebrew is "imunah (אמנה)," from the root word "amen."  So when you say "amen," you are saying "I believe that message;" in other words "so be it unto me."

"Amen, amen; So be it unto you" all who are reading this article that you catch ALL the blessings that God has for you and are not worried that you will face judgment of any kind.

THANKS BE TO GOD!!!  It is still the Acceptable Year of the LORD!  And that's the truth about the Judgment seat of Christ.

Passover Series Part 3: A Lamb For A House

Exodus 12:2-4
2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.”

Have you ever heard a sincere, devoted man of God claim that if you neglected to share Jesus with your family and friends, their blood was on your hands?  I have. But if you are a believer, washed by the blood of Jesus, that is a really cruel thing to say…..especially since IT ISN’T TRUE.  In fact, IT CANNOT BE. 🤨

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What part of “NO CONDEMNATION,” do believers who say such things not understand?”  You are NOT condemned for them…..or for anyone else for that matter.  You have been washed in the blood of the sinless, Son of God.  You and I are IRREPROVABLE. There may be human consequences, be they legal or interpersonal, but as far as God is concerned, the war is over between us.

You should, of course, try to reach your own families even if they are unreceptive.

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You see, God CANNOT condemn you. Why? Because you stand in the perfection of His Son.  It would be unjust to Jesus if you were punished for your sins since He already bore the penalty for them IN FULL–PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. 🙌🏻💖 

Yes; you read that right.  ALL your sins, including those you will commit in the future, are already taken out of the way.  Remember the bullock offering in Leviticus?  The priest gave the offerer the animal’s hide indicating that, as you walk through life, you are under your Savior’s covering.

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In case you‘re unfamiliar with the details of this part of the Burnt Offering, you may follow the link below and read all about it:

https://emmausrevelations.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-five-offerings-of-leviticus-part-5.html

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You And Your Whole Family.

Every family has members who are not saved. We do our best to introduce them to Jesus and long to see them saved, of course. But even if they refuse to hear, or if you are, for whatever reason, unable to reach them personally for Jesus, God has a plan!  He has given us so many wonderful pictures in the Old Testament to help us understand this truth.

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First and foremost, the Holy Spirit teaches us about Jesus.  But He also wants us to understand spiritual truths such as the one below, using the stories recorded in the Bible as visual aids, to bless, educate, comfort, and inspire.

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Family Covenant.

Your Heavenly Father wants your entire family saved. Now, they are not automatically saved, of course; but when you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you in effect “brought The Lamb into your house.”  The door is now wide open for Jesus to come in and work in your family.  He now has a covenant with you AND YOUR FAMILY.

A Lamb For A House.

During Passover, every household had to choose a cute little yearling male lamb and bring him into their home where he would remain from the 10th to the 14th:  A total of 5 days, as you saw in part 2. There was to be “A lamb for a house.” And if the house was too small for the lamb, they were to share it with their neighbor.  

That’s a picture of MISSIONS!  You see, it’s never that the lamb is too small for the house; It’s always that the the house is too small for the lamb! It also tells you that Jesus is BIGGER THAN ALL YOUR NEEDS! He is always TOO good, TOO powerful, TOO loving, and TOO sufficient.  He always OVER answers your prayers and OVER provides for your needs.

What the Holy Spirit means to convey here is that, when God sent His Son, He intended for your entire household to be saved:  A Lamb for A house.

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Two Or Three Witnesses.
Still a bit skeptical? The Bible says that any truth should be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, right? That doesn’t necessarily mean another person but two or three other corroborating scriptures.  (See 2 Corinthians 13:1)

The Phillipian Jailer.

Yet another proof of this principle is found in the story of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16.  He and his entire household were saved.

It doesn’t matter if the rest of your family agrees with you or not.  It doesn’t matter if they argue with you, if they persecute you for your faith, or ridicule you for attending church and believing in Jesus. Because of you, there is now a great, big, wide-open door for The Father come in and reach your “entire family.”  God’s blessings and salvation can now reach them.  He now has a covenant with you because  you “brought THE LAMB into your house.”

He will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to save your entire family before they cross over to the other side.  WHAT AN AWESOME ABBA!!! 🙌🏻💖

So NO:  Their blood is not, CANNOT, be on your hands; and NO,  you are not, nor will you ever be, condemned for anyone or anything.  You are IN Christ Jesus….FOREVER.  Jesus’ sacrifice is FAR MORE than enough.  In fact, it is an OVERPAYMENT!

–

All it takes is One Lamb.  THE ONE LAMB is more than enough for your house!

Grieve Not The Holy Spirit

Ephesians 4:29-32
"29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying,that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

What is it that grieves the Holy Spirit? Is it sin? Is it not attending church, not reading your Bible? The way you hear some preach about it you're lead to believe that almost ANYTHING could "grie-e-eve the Ho-o-o-ly Spirit!"
 

This is another example of a passage that can, and has, been taken out of context. Any time you take a "text" out of it's "context," what you are left with is a "con."

 So, let's take another look at these verses and see them their proper context.

Notice it says "Let no corrupt COMMUNICATION proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, (why?) THAT IT MAY MINISTER GRACE UNTO THE HEARERS."

The Holy Spirit through Paul is concerned that we, meaning "BELIEVERS," minister "grace unto the hearers." He doesn't mean to simply refrain from vulgarity, although that is certainly included. He said "ANY WORDS" that do not minister grace to the hearers. 

Here is a list of them:
#1 All bitterness
#2 Wrath
#3 Anger
#4 Clamour
#5 Evil speaking
Put these things away from you.
ALONG WITH........
#6 ALL MALICE

This includes deriding yourself by confessing things about yourself that are not what Jesus says about you such as "I'm dirty, I'm no good," or the ever popular, "I'm so sinful."

Church, Jesus went and endured unimaginable torture AND the cross AND all His Father's judicial punishment, paying an incalculable price to redeem you. HOW DARE YOU CALL "SINFUL" WHOM GOD HAS MADE RIGHTEOUS BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF HIS BELOVED SON, making it seem like Jesus didn't do a complete work. AS IF!

When you do that, the Holy Spirit, Who is the SPIRIT OF TRUTH mind you, is forced to fold His arms. It grieves Him when you speak such lies. He CANNOT bless that.

What grieves Jesus is the same thing that grieves The Holy Spirit: Corrupt or ungracious talk comeing out of your mouth, like the ones above, or when you are unmerciful to others.....ESPECIALLY OTHER BELIEVERS. That's what the Pharisees did continually. They didn't care about people getting healed, blessed oe set free. It was the hardness of their hearts toward others--their total lack of mercy--that grieved and angered Him.


So........"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers"....including you.

That's how we "grieve not the Holy Spirit."

Who's Your Mama?

Genesis 21:9-11
9”And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, scoffing. 10 Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, namely with Isaac.” 11 And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son.”

(Ishmael persecuting Isaac.)

There are beautiful pictures of Jesus hidden in the story of these two boys.  Some in typologies; some in the Hebrew meanings of names and places.

Isaac And Ishmael.
Isaac and Ismael were brothers, but each had a different mother.  Everything was going along fine until the day Isaac came of age to be weaned from milk to solid food.

Did you ever notice that there weren't any problems between the two boys until this point in time?  Isaac would have been somewhere around 2 or 3 years old at this time which would make Ishmael 13 or 14.  Why All the fuss?

Milk To Solid Food.

You see, back in those days, weaning from milk to solid food was a big deal. In fact, Abraham threw a big party in honor of this special day day.   From then on, Ishmael began to persecute Isaac.  Can you imagine? A big kid like that persecuting a little baby!  Ridiculous, but true. 

Paul contrasts these boys and their mothers in Galatians 4:29-30.  He says:
29” But, as he who was born according to the flesh {Ishmael} then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.” 

Notice, LADIES, God calls her words “scripture!”

(Abraham casts out the bond woman, Hagar.)

Murderous Intent.
This persecution had a murderous intent actually punishable by death under Mosaic Law.  At first, Abraham was not pleased that Sarah wanted Hagar cast out.  But God assured her that this was the right thing to do.

Kinda strange that this young teenager had to be taken care of by his mother, isn't it?  It’s usually the other way around, son caring for the mother.  But the account in Genesis 21 says,
“…she {Hagar}departed and wandered in the Wilderness of Beersheba. 15 And the water in the skin was used up, and SHE PLACED THE BOY UNDER ONE OF THE SHRUBS. 16 Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.”  

Weak And Beggerly.

“SHE PLACED HIM UNDER A SHRUB?”  He was obviously weak and sickly!

(Hagar wandering in the wilderness with Ishmael.)

Sounds very much like what Paul said in Galatians 4:9 about the very confused Galatians who had mixed the law in with the Gospel:

9”But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the WEAK AND BEGGARLY ELEMENTS, {the law} to which you desire again to be in bondage?” 

He calls the law “WEAK AND BEGGARLY ELEMENTS.”  The point is that if you are under grace but you go back to trying to keep the Law, you'll be just like Ishmael: Weak, sick, hungry, poor and destitute.

Typologies Of Two Covenants.
Further on in Galatians 4 it says,
24” For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar— 25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children— 26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.”

Those who think they have to obey the Ten Commandments, THEIR MOTHER IS HAGAR.  They are in bondage, weak, poor, sickly and destitute.
Those under grace, however, THEIR MOTHER IS SARAH of the Jerusalem above, which is FREE.

One is law--Hagar; the other is GRACE--Sarah.


Your Ex Or Your Wife?
Inviting the law into the church is like allowing your husband to invite a former girlfriend or worse, his ex wife, and their and child to come live under your roof!  How many of you women out there would agree to that? I'm guessing.......ZERO?
It's STUPIDITY!


Here's the picture:  You and I, as Christian brothers and sisters, all have the same Father.  But we do not all have the same mother.  Some are children of Sarah and are free.  The others are children of Hagar.  They are in bondage to the law.

(Abraham, Sarah and Isaac.)

The children of the bondwoman cannot, WILL NOT, INHERIT THE BLESSINGS OF GOD with the children of the freewoman.



The Promises Come Through Isaac.
Romans 9 adds this bit of enlightenment: 

"6 For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” 8 In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise {of Sarah's son, Isaac} who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

The promises are to Isaac, not Ishmael, though they have the same father.  Both groups are Christians but only one is blessed. Isaac inherits; Ishmael just lives an ordinary life outside of the greatest blessings.  This group struggles with sickness, poverty and lack where breakthroughs are always just out of reach.

As musc as you would love to see your brothers and sisters in Christ flourish, only our Daddy can open the eyes of these who are supposed to be free but are still under the law.

So, Church:  What's it gonna be?  Grace or Law?  Who's your Mama?