Hebrews

[0:00] By the way, speaking of material things, I want to share this with you. It's a rather profound thing. 1923. Who was, number one, the president of the largest steel company?

[0:15] Number two, president of the largest gas company? Three, president of the New York Stock Exchange? Four, who was the greatest wheat speculator?

[0:26] Five, who was the president of the Bank of International Settlement? And six, who was the great bearer of Wall Street? These men were considered some of the world's most successful of their days.

[0:41] Now, 80 years later, the history book asks us if we know what ultimately became of them. The answers? Number one, the president of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died apocry.

[0:57] Two, president of the largest gas company, Edward Hobson, went insane. Three, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was released from prison to die at home.

[1:13] Four, the greatest wheat speculator, Arthur Cougar, died abroad penniless. Five, the president of the Bank of International Settlement, shot himself.

[1:24] Number six, the great bearer of Wall Street, Cosby Livermore, also committed suicide. However, in that same year, 1923, the PGA champion and the winner of the most important golf tournament, the U.S. Open, was Gene Sarazin.

[1:45] What became of him? He played golf until he was 92. He died in 1999 at the age of 95. He was financially secure at the time of his death.

[1:59] Moral of the story? Screw work. Play golf. Okay. Hard to top that, isn't it?

[2:14] So, as the old saying goes, money ain't everything. Sure is. For those of you who have sheet 3E, we are in Hebrews chapter 3, and we are looking at a new thought in verse 15, which says, While it is said, Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

[2:40] Now, what the writer of Hebrews is doing is trying to pull his present audience, to whom he is writing this epistle, back into the history of the nation of Israel and the time when they came out of Egypt.

[2:57] And he is imploring them, Don't make the same mistake your forefathers made when they came out of Egypt. Don't repeat their negative attitude toward the Lord.

[3:11] Benefit from it. And someone has said that anyone who refuses to consider the past is doomed to repeat it. And that is exactly what is going to happen in the lives of some of these, to whom the writer of Hebrews is addressing his epistle.

[3:29] And that's the basis of what he is saying in verse 15. While it is said, For some, when they heard, and he's talking about the Israelites, many, many years earlier, when they heard, they did provoke, agitate, disgust, how be it not all that came out of Egypt by Moses, but with whom was he grieved forty years.

[4:01] Who were those people that really ticked God off? Was it not them that had sinned whose carcasses fell in the wilderness?

[4:15] And what was their sin? One simple word. Unbelief. They simply refused to believe God and take him at his word.

[4:28] Miracle after miracle God dispensed on their behalf. Each time they were dazzled by it. Each time they were awed by it.

[4:39] But it didn't take long to slip back into the same old rut such as, but what have you done for us lately? This was a group of people with whom there was simply no ability to please.

[4:53] Not even God himself could please them. These people, this generation, we would call them implacable. Implacable.

[5:05] That means they cannot be placated. Cannot be satisfied. No matter what you do, it isn't right. Let me tell you something.

[5:16] By way of a little present day application, we've got this same kind of mentality going on in this nation right now. there's a group of people, no matter who does it or what he does, doesn't satisfy.

[5:32] It's criticized. It's rejected. It's ignored. So what else is new? Nothing. This is systemic to human nature. And the name of the game is, when you don't do what I want you to do, I'm going to criticize you.

[5:45] I'm going to fault you. I'm going to blame you. And that's what's going on. Roger. Oh yeah, absolutely.

[5:57] These were the people who cut their teeth on the miraculous. God demonstrated one way after another his provision and his care for them.

[6:10] It all began with the ten plagues coming out of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna from heaven, the water from the rock, the cloud by day, the pillar by night, all these provisions.

[6:21] Did it satisfy? Nope. They ended up constructing the golden calf. And they thought, maybe, maybe this whole thing is a mistake.

[6:33] Moses has been gone 40 days. He might even be dead. You know what we ought to do? We ought to pack up and go back to Egypt. At least we had the leeks and the garlic and the onions back there.

[6:45] And what do we got here? All this desert, wait, this is the murmuring, the griping, the complaining. Where's the gratitude? There is no gratitude. And let me tell you, fellas, if there is anything that ought to characterize the Christian mentality, it should be a profound sense of gratitude.

[7:11] In everything, give thanks. This is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. It doesn't mean everything is good. Sometimes things are very painful, very difficult, very bitter.

[7:24] And it doesn't mean that we are to give thanks for everything. We are to give thanks in everything, realizing that God is behind the consequences.

[7:34] for with whom was he grieved forty years, was it not with them that had sinned? And their sin was unbelief.

[7:45] Whose carcasses fell in the wilderness. rainds, whose dead bodies fell in the desert. Here they are walking around in circles, actually for thirty-eight years, until that whole grumbling, griping generation died off.

[8:03] And then, God said, I'm going to bring in your children, not going to bring you in. And there were two, out of the two million that left Egypt, there were two, human beings of that original group that's going to enter into the land.

[8:25] Joshua and Caleb. And all the others are going to die off there. And to whom swear he? Verse 18, let's look at our new sheet now, on 4B, 4A.

[8:38] And to whom did he swear that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believe not? And what was the rest? The rest was the land of Canaan, the land of milk and honey.

[8:54] And when they get there, it's going to be God's additional provision for them. They will enter into a supernaturally provided rest. They will realize they're in the land.

[9:07] But these are not going to enter into that rest. They're going to die in the wilderness. So, we see that they, verse 19, could not enter in because of unbelief, owing to their lack of faith.

[9:26] The Amplified says, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust and rely on God, unbelief had shut them out.

[9:37] And I don't know how many times I have found it opportune to say this in the time 40, 46 years that I have been at grace.

[9:48] And I'm more convinced of it now than I have ever been. The thing that God wants more than anything else is to be believed, to be trusted.

[10:01] And when we refuse to believe him, we insult him. And God does not appreciate being insulted by us lesser creatures.

[10:13] The attitude of gratitude is that that ought to ever characterize the believer. We have so much for which to be thankful. I care not if you are wiped out financially, if you are wiped out health wise, if you are wiped out in any and every way, so long as you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, you are blessed beyond measure.

[10:44] And we need to keep that perspective in mind. If you have nothing else but him, you are complete in him. You are not complete in him along with all the other things you have.

[10:57] You are complete in him, period. Boy, what a lesson we all need to keep in mind. Because of unbelief. Therefore, and again, here is an excellent example of ignoring the chapter division because it disturbs the continuity.

[11:14] Brings up the argument. The writer of Hebrews didn't end it here, he continued it here. And that's the basis for the let us therefore. And it simply means, in light of what I've just been giving you as an example regarding the children of Israel and their unbelief, let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.

[11:43] He's talking about this present generation. There is a spiritual rest and there is a physical rest. Children of Israel were going to come into both, really. And the land of Canaan is not a picture of heaven.

[11:57] it is a picture of the rest of God. It is a picture of the peace that is enjoyed by those who are in him.

[12:09] And then he says, for unto us, verse 2, and when he says us, he's talking about himself and the Jewish constituency to which he is addressing this letter.

[12:23] Unto us was the gospel preached, that is, the good news, as well as unto them. But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

[12:40] That means when the gospel is given out, here by way of a present day application, when the gospel is given out, it is not enough that people hear it.

[12:54] Now that begins the first step. gospel, but there has to be a response to it. The response is the act of faith, the act of belief, or trust, or commitment, whatever it is that you want to call it.

[13:12] But it is not sufficient just to hear the information. Now you can't do anything about the information until you hear it. That's why you recall the little Latin expressions that we used some time ago that have to do with the Latin experience of belief, the three different levels.

[13:34] There is, first of all, what the Latin calls ticia, N-O-T-I-C-I-A. And it's the word from which we get the English word notice.

[13:47] Notice. It's also the word from which notify comes. And when you have been notified, that means you have been told something. You have been informed about something.

[13:59] And then the second word, and we're talking about levels of belief here, and it all has to begin with this. You have to hear first. You have to be put on notice first. And that is the gospel.

[14:10] And the second part of that word is essentia. A-S-S-E-N-T-I-A. And it means assent. When you assent to something, you agree to it.

[14:25] You are in line with it. It means you buy it. You hear the message, and you agree to the truthfulness of the message.

[14:37] This is what a lot of people have done as regards the gospel of Christ. They've heard Christ died for their sins. That's the notification.

[14:49] And the assent is they can say, you know what? I believe that. I believe what the Bible says. Christ died for my sins.

[15:00] And if that is as far as they go, all they have done is assented to an item of information. Something is lacking. That is the third level of belief.

[15:14] And the third level of belief is the word in the Latin fiducia. F-I-D-U-C-I-A. Fiducia.

[15:25] It's the word from which we get the word fidelity. And fidelity has to do with trustworthiness. How many banks have the word fidelity in their title?

[15:39] All that means is, and what they are trying to convey is, you can trust us with your money. We are trustworthy. Put your money in our bank. We have fidelity.

[15:51] That means faithfulness. If a husband has fidelity to his wife, he is faithful to his wife. If he is engaged in infidelity, he is unfaithful.

[16:08] And this is the word infidel, which means no faith or having no faith. You all remember, he passed away not too long ago. I'm sure you remember because you couldn't forget, Fidel Castro.

[16:22] Fidel's first name was taken from this Latin word, Fidel. And you've seen the word Fido over the doghouse, the faithful dog. That's the meaning of the word from Latin.

[16:34] It means the dog is faithful. And you'll look far and wide to find an animal that's more faithful to humans than the dog. So you call him Fido. And this faithfulness has to do with the actual response.

[16:49] So you hear the message, you are informed about it, you agree with the message, but if that's as far as you go, nothing happens.

[17:00] What is required is the fiducia, that is the commitment to the message. This is the word from which our word faith comes. And it means to believe.

[17:12] And you entrust, you do this as an act of the will. Human faith is the response to what God did through Christ when he died on the cross for our sins.

[17:25] And when you act on that, you do so in a deliberate, conscious, intentional way, which is why we say, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ is an act of the will.

[17:42] In the same way that a man and woman stand at an altar and express their vows to each other and they are asked, will you take this man to be your lawful wedded husband?

[17:55] And if she does not respond, she doesn't. She needs a response. The person marrying them needs a response.

[18:07] The groom needs a response waiting for her to say, I will. That is the commitment. And she does it as an act of her will.

[18:20] And it is the same way that you exercise faith or belief or trust in Jesus Christ. There isn't some different kind of spiritual, religious faith.

[18:31] It is the generic faith. It is the belief and trust the same way that you would put it in anything else except this time. The object of your faith and trust is Jesus Christ and you commit yourself unto him.

[18:46] That is the essence of this faith and trust. The gospel was preached as well unto them, but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

[19:01] They did not have the response to it. they heard and they agreed, but they did not act on it. And that makes all the difference in the world.

[19:13] For we, verse 3, for we which have believed, do enter into rest. This is a spiritual rest. He's not talking about coming into the land of Egypt.

[19:25] He's talking about having come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah. And the struggle, the struggle for acceptance with God is over because we are made accepted in his beloved son.

[19:42] We which have believed do enter into his rest. As he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

[19:59] For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

[20:11] And in this place again, if they shall enter into my rest, seeing therefore, it remains that some must enter therein.

[20:22] Let's turn the page here. And they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief.

[20:35] And again, he limits a certain day, saying in David, that is, now he is fast forwarding from the children of Israel, coming out of the land of Egypt, all the way up to David the king, which of course is several generations forward, but it's still a thousand years prior to the time of the audience to whom he's writing.

[21:00] As he says in David the Psalms, today, after so long a time, as it is said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

[21:15] What do you do when you harden your heart? You steal S-T-E-E-L. you steal your will against the information.

[21:28] And it is a negative position. I will not believe. I will not accept this. And that is a common response. Matter of fact, I think it is safe to say, fellas, that in the vast majority of cases, before anyone, I'm sure there are exceptions, but I think in the vast majority of cases, before anyone accepts Christ as their Savior, they reject Him.

[21:56] There are often multiple rejections before there is acceptance. And sometimes it may transpire over a period of years.

[22:07] People may hear the gospel and understand it as a child, but their self-centeredness and their ego and their desire to run their own show, causes them to reject God's gracious offer.

[22:21] And they spurn it. And this may go on for years. And then sometimes something happens, something comes along, God in His grace may intervene, and they find themselves dealing with circumstances they can't handle, and the next thing you know, they begin to soften.

[22:40] And before a hardened heart can be penetrated, it has to soften. And nothing softens human hearts like adversity.

[22:56] Because adversity means it is a vivid demonstration that you are really not in charge, even though you thought you were. And we have to kind of come to the end of ourselves, and that hardened heart begins to soften, harden, and it is amazing the things that God can use to soften, harden hearts.

[23:21] And by the way, understand if you will, that almost every time the Bible uses the word heart, it is not talking about the physical organ in the middle of our chest, it is using the word heart as referring to the core of our being, the essence of our life.

[23:40] In the same way that we use the expression, the heart of the matter. That is the way the Bible uses the word heart here. Do not harden your hearts.

[23:52] For, if Jesus had given, this is a terrible translation here, I don't know why the King James got this so wrong, but they did. And it isn't talking about Jesus at all, it is talking about Joshua.

[24:06] And perhaps the confusion is that the Old Testament word for Joshua is actually Yeshua.

[24:17] In anthropomorphism, it simply means that human body parts are ascribed to the deity for the sake of explanation and understanding, because otherwise there is no way that we can grasp any of this.

[24:31] But we can identify with human body parts, so they are assigned to God. In the same way with emotions and feelings, God does not have human emotions. But the Bible talks about God being grieved, about God being saddened, about God being joyful.

[24:52] So, I think it is safe to say that while God does not have human emotions, He has something of whatever that equivalent is, only on a divine level, that we cannot approach.

[25:07] God So, after His own fashion and after His own being, God has feelings and emotions, but they are not the same as humans. So, having said that, let's look first of all to Genesis 15, because we're going to see here what I think is the first example of God revealing Himself in a way that we already talked about in our last session we dealt with the pre-incarnation of Christ and we referred to this as Christologies, which had to do with the appearance of Christ in the Old Testament, long before Bethlehem, and we posited the idea that He was the one who was involved in the hands-on creation of

[26:10] Adam and so on, and breathing into His mouth the breath of life, or His nostrils the breath of life, and so on. So, we're not going to be dealing with Christophany, we're going to deal with a different kind of manifestation that God gave to humanity all the way back in the Old Testament, and we will see it, in fact, we've already seen it, surface again and again in the Revelation.

[26:40] And we have told you in our study of the Revelation that there is going to be a reversion in the Revelation during the 70th week of Daniel, there is going to be a reversion to the miraculous and the supernatural that existed in the Old Testament and in the Gospels.

[27:00] And it is going to be prevalent during the Tribulation period. And one of the things that we have already seen surface has to do with John describing the vision of God and on His throne, and John talks in terms of lightning, and thunder, and smoke, and that's the same thing we're going to see in the Old Testament.

[27:27] But we don't see that now. And we didn't see it after the ascension of Christ. So there is something particular that is going on.

[27:40] And why these things is lightning and thunder. And these are both phenomena that are presented for the benefit of the human witness.

[27:56] And let me ask you, is there anything that you can hear that is more pronounced than thunder? It really gets your attention.

[28:08] Sometimes you hear a clap of thunder that just kind of jolts you out of your seat. It startles you. And the same way with a flash of lightning. So here we have both receptor vehicles, ears and eyes, that are subject to these manifestations of thunder and lightning and smoke and vapor and things of that nature that are replete in the Old Testament.

[28:35] And let's look at the first one, and it is in Genesis chapter 15. So I want you to continually keep in mind, if you will, that for the deity, for the deity to be discernible by humans, some accommodation or condescension is made.

[28:59] And that we will see in the fire, the smoke, the clouds, and the lightning. And in Genesis 15, a very familiar passage and a very key passage regarding the Abrahamic covenant. We'll just begin reading in verse 12, and I'm going to resist the temptation to go into the earlier part of it, because that will be the end of the study if we do.

[29:18] So verse 12, Abraham has been confronted by God, and we are told in verse 12 that when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him.

[29:43] I think that's another way of saying Abraham was scared to death. And God said to Abraham, know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not.

[29:58] And how many descendants did Abraham have when God said this? Didn't have any? Didn't have any? your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs.

[30:14] Of course, he's talking about Egypt, and this will be 400 years in the future, long after Abraham's dead, where they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. But I will judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions.

[30:32] He's talking about Israel and the exodus from Egypt. They're going to come out of Egypt wealthy, even though they served there as slaves for 400 years, and they are going to collect 400 years of back pay, and they're going to come out with that.

[30:48] They'll be very wealthy. And as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. That is Abraham. You shall be buried at a good old age.

[31:00] We know in his case it's going to be 175 years old. Then in the fourth generation they shall return here for or because the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.

[31:15] What in the world does that have to do with anything? Well, the Amorites were the people who lived there where Abraham was at the time God made this promise. And this was a thoroughly pagan corrupt culture into idolatry and everything.

[31:29] and they were sinning with a high hand. And God is saying that when the cup of iniquity of the Amorites is full, I'm going to judge them.

[31:41] And I'm going to use your descendants, Abraham, to judge them. And of course they will consist of the Philistines and others. So God is giving them a reprieve for 400 years and is going to bring Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land where they will do battle with these people.

[31:59] And many of them, of course, will be eliminated. And we read in verse 17, It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark. And behold, here we go, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.

[32:24] Who or what is this? this is Jehovah. This is his manifestation.

[32:36] This is God revealing himself in these forms. Now they may not be the forms you or I would choose or particularly approve of, but obviously they satisfy the Almighty.

[32:49] A flaming torch which passed between those pieces. And Abraham is out of it. ordinarily, when a covenant was sealed in this culture, the two parties to the covenant who were making the agreement would lock arms.

[33:10] And the two of them would walk between those animal pieces that have already been cut in half here. we won't go into that. But the idea was that these animal pieces that had been slain and laid on either side, and the two people entering into the covenant go arm in arm, walk between those animal pieces, that was their way of ratifying the covenant.

[33:36] And what they were saying is, if I violate the terms of this covenant, may the fate that has happened to these animals happen to me. Well, all God is doing, and here again, is an accommodation thing.

[33:53] one would think that it would have been good enough for God to simply tell Abraham by way of a promise that he was going to do what he was going to do, make his land great, make his name great, have many children, and so on.

[34:08] He already told him that, back in chapter 12. So, what's the purpose of this? Why didn't Abraham just say, okay, you said it, I believe it, that settles it?

[34:23] Why didn't you do that? For the same reason that you don't. Our faith is imperfect. Our faith needs bolstered from time to time. Our faith needs revitalized.

[34:35] God had already told Abraham back in chapter 12 what he was going to do. What, then, is the purpose of this? Well, the purpose of this is accommodation.

[34:47] God is stooping, if you will, to satisfy the flagging faith of one who just couldn't bring himself to take God at his word.

[35:01] Now, that is amazing. That is amazing. But this is what God is doing. And he is actually using, this is so, this is so typical of us humans.

[35:14] God is using the present day method of that time in the manner in which covenants were made between people.

[35:28] God was stooping to enter into a human-like covenant that the people made among themselves to reinforce Abraham's faith. can you believe that in essence Abraham was saying, I don't know if I can believe that or not.

[35:46] But if you want to make a covenant that really means business, then do it the way we folks do it here. We cut these animals in half and we pass between. You know, Abraham can be glad that I was not God, but I would consider that downright insulting.

[36:06] You know, downright insulting. So here God is condescending, if you will, stooping to accommodate this human. You talk about grace and mercy.

[36:17] That's what this is. You wonder why God didn't just say, Abraham, you don't want to believe me? Forget it. I'll get me another boy.

[36:28] Go to someone else. But he didn't do that. And here it is as much as God is saying, okay, Abraham, I'll do it your way.

[36:40] And they take these animals, that they're all described here, they cut them in pieces, lengthwise, lay half the animals on that side, half the animals on that side. And when it comes time for the two parties entering into the covenant to pass between those pieces, Abraham is out cold.

[36:59] He's not going to walk anywhere, going to do anything. But he obviously sees, God gives him this vision, and it is the deity who is passing through these pieces.

[37:13] And folks, this speaks volumes, because what it is saying is even though this is a covenant between two people, between two beings, it is an unconditional covenant.

[37:31] covenant. That means the fulfillment of this covenant is not dependent on both parties, it's dependent on one.

[37:44] And that is God. To the degree that it is dependent on man is the degree to which the possibility of failure is very real.

[37:57] there won't be any failure with this covenant. God is taking this into his own hands exclusively, and he is revealing his presence in this smoking furnace while Abraham is out cold.

[38:13] And on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying to your descendants, I have given this land. Well, he already did. Back in chapter 12, he already did.

[38:25] He's doing it again. Because we need the reaffirmation, don't we? From the river of Egypt, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, the Canaanite, the Canaanite, the Cadmanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Urshite, and all of this.

[38:45] So, here we've got a visible, physical kind of manifestation because God has moved from immateriality, materiality because man cannot see immateriality.

[39:05] We've got to have something physical to focus on. God is spirit. What would you see if you looked at God in his spirit form?

[39:16] You would see zero, nothing because spirit is immaterial. that's what makes it so difficult for us to get a handle on it.

[39:28] And by the way, it is God being spirit that accounts for his omnipresence because physicality has to have space and time in which to exist.

[39:48] Immateriality does not. this is the way that God can be everywhere at one and the same time. And yet, part of God isn't in Asia and part of him in Europe and part of him here.

[40:03] God in his spirit is everywhere present. Incomprehensible concept, but it's one that the scriptures support. So, let's go now to Exodus chapter 3.

[40:15] We'll be spending our time in the Old Testament. And by the way, don't hesitate to jump in with a question or comment. And sometimes the questions and comments are more valuable than the contents that's being brought.

[40:33] So, don't hesitate. Exodus 3, and here we've got another manifestation of the physical nature that God has poured himself into, if you will.

[40:47] Moses was pastoring the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

[40:59] And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.

[41:16] Now, here we have the angel of the Lord, and this is frequently referred to as a Christophany. Christ is referred to as the angel or the messenger of the Lord, and he'll appear that way to Joshua as well.

[41:32] But this is the fire, the flame, and we are told that he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet it was not consumed.

[41:42] So, Moses said, we must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up. When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses, and he said, here I am.

[42:05] Then he said, do not come near here, remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. He said, also, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

[42:23] Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people, and so on. In verse 8, I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and so on.

[42:37] And he is using this manifestation in a very physical way to communicate with Moses. Moses cannot see any more than we can the essence and the character of God in his spirit form.

[42:51] So here again is that accommodation factor where God is stooping to a level that Abraham or that Moses is able to appreciate. And in chapter 13, let's go to Exodus chapter 13 if we may please.

[43:05] Exodus 13, if we may please. Exodus 13, and we'll just jump in with verse 21, or 20, start with verse 20.

[43:21] They are on the march. They've come out of Egypt, and they are en route. And in verse 20 we read, Then they set out from Sukkoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness.

[43:38] And the Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light that they might travel by day and by night.

[43:57] Now here is a twofold manifestation. One is a cloud, physical, you can see a cloud, and the other is fire, one was for day, and one was for night, and by the way, in a very practical sense, God is accommodating his people in more ways than one, because this cloud by day provided shade.

[44:22] Think about moving through this desert in daytime in the heat of the day, and it would get very, very intense, and how big the cloud was, we aren't told, we are just told that that when the cloud moved, they moved under it, and it stayed over them in a protective kind of way, and then when nightfall came, in this same desert that can be so intensely hot during the day, it gets pretty doggone chilly at night, so there's a pillar of fire by night, it's as if God provides shade by day and a furnace by night, it's a marvelous accommodation, so they not only have the fire that they can see in a physical way, but to what degree that fire or that furnace of fire may have warmed that whole area, we do not know, but it is not a stretch, I think, for God to accommodate them in that way as well.

[45:20] So we find this example here, and in chapter 14 of Exodus, in verse 19, we read that the angel of God, who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them, this angel of God, this is the angel of Jehovah, this, I take it, can only be answered by a Christophany, and he went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them, so it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel, and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night, thus the one did not come near the other all night.

[46:14] Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea back by strong east wind all night, turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. This is, of course, is crossing the Red Sea.

[46:26] Now, I've got a number of references here, and I'd like to get them all in, so we have to hurry on, but if you still want to inject a question or comment, feel free. Chapter 16 of Exodus, and let's look at verse 6.

[46:43] these manifestations, whether by fire or by cloud or by smoke, all of these are referred to as the glory of the Lord.

[46:58] This is the Shekinah. This is the Shekinah glory, and it is frequently in reference to the deity in the Old and in the New Testament, and it will surface again in the Revelation.

[47:14] It is talking about the physical manifestation of the deity, and here in Exodus 16 verse 6, so Moses and Aaron said to all the sons of Israel, at evening you will know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt.

[47:40] Well, didn't they already know that? Well, of course they should have, but there's going to be additional evidence. These people, these stubborn Jews coming out of Egypt had an enormous problem with lapse of memory.

[48:03] Their response to God was, yes, but what have you done for me lately? I mean, there's manna from heaven, there's water out of the rock, there's a pillar plowed by day, and a fire by night, and all the rest of it, and still they're questioning.

[48:16] And you know, one of the aspects that is going to be demonstrated throughout all the Old Testament, and a phrase that is repeated over and over and over again, and we'll find it in the New also, is, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.

[48:34] Doesn't man know that now? No. No, he doesn't. That's why he goes after all of these crazy things, all the idols and all of the nonsense.

[48:48] And in the morning, verse 7, you will see the glory of the Lord. This is the Shekinah, the glory of the Lord, for he hears your grumblings against the Lord, and what are we that you grumble against us?

[49:09] And Moses said, this will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread to the full in the morning, for the Lord hears your grumblings which you grumble against him, and what are we?

[49:21] Your grumblings are not against us, but against the Lord. And let's hasten on, because I'd like to get in a number of these references, because they're all pointing to the very same thing, but I think it will put a certainty to it that we perhaps have not had before.

[49:40] And if you will come to chapter 19 and verse 16 of Exodus.

[49:55] Keep in mind now, this is a nation that has just recently been birthed out of Egypt. And in 1916, we read, so it came about on the third day when it was morning that there were thunder and lightning flashes, and a thick cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud trumpet.

[50:25] You see, all of these things are to the ear gate and the eye gate. These are all physical manifestations that can be fully appreciated by the people to whom they're given. And he says, I lost my place, 1916, the thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

[50:52] And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now, Mount Sinai was all in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire, and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently.

[51:19] See, all this is physical stuff, undeniable physical, evidences, if you will, that are designed to satisfy the griping, complaining, mistrusting people that he's brought out of Israel.

[51:34] And when the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder. And the Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up, and the Lord spoke to Moses, Go down, warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish.

[52:02] And also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. This is really serious stuff. And you almost get the impression that God is slowly losing his patience with these people, and he is warning them.

[52:18] So in chapter 24 of Exodus, we find so much of this in connection with the children of Israel, and I think that the reason is quite simple.

[52:32] These are the chosen people, and God is solidifying his claim with them, and providing every possible evidence that could ever be demanded. In chapter 24, and verse 15, Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain, and the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days.

[53:02] What I'm saying is, the cloud is the glory. The cloud is the Shekinah, and it is something that they can see. And the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud, and to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the glory of the Lord, was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop, and Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights.

[53:46] Now, it is significant, we won't go there, but I just want to remind you, what happened during those 40 days and 40 nights down below? The people got together and said, gee, we don't know what happened to Moses, we don't know if he's dead, if he left, if he's coming back or not, and this is when they made that ridiculous golden calf, remember?

[54:10] It's just another illustration of the foolish frailty of humanity, and our unwillingness to really believe what God has said.

[54:23] Exodus 33, yes? I just find myself wondering, what was Moses doing for 40 days? I have no idea.

[54:34] I've asked myself the same question. What did he do? What did he eat? Did he sleep eight hours a night? What happened? What kind of relationship was going on? No idea. We are not told.

[54:47] And I mentioned this to someone just this morning. God has given us his word that we might know the things that he considers most important.

[55:00] And the things that he considers most important are the things that he has mentioned most frequently and most clearly. The Bible was never given to satisfy our curiosity.

[55:13] To that I say, darn. I got a lot of curiosity in you. Yeah, CJ? Well, no doubt that's, yeah.

[55:35] Yeah. Yeah. You're right. You're right. Absolutely. I mean, Moses didn't have a Rolex with him or calendar or anything else.

[55:49] He was probably completely engrossed in what was happening and time was of no essence at all. And we're in chapter 33 and verse 17.

[56:02] verse 17. The Lord said to Moses, I will also do this thing of which you have spoken, for you have found favor in my sight and I have known you by name.

[56:17] Then Moses said, I pray thee, show me thy glory. God. Now what he's actually asking, I think, is, let me see what you really look like.

[56:34] I just want to get a glimpse of what you really are. And note the answer that God gives him.

[56:47] And he said, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you, Moses, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, namely you, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.

[57:07] But he said, you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live. I don't know how else to take that.

[57:21] but literally. I think what God is saying is to look upon pure deity by humanity is something you could not survive.

[57:37] So even in God hiding himself, as it were, in his essence, that too is an act of kindness. Because to look upon the deity, I don't know if he would dry up and go away or what, but he would not be able to take that in, would not be able to survive the experience of confronting deity.

[57:59] And of course, he knows that. No man can see me and live. And then the Lord said, behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand there on the rock.

[58:11] and it will come about while my glory, that's the Shekinah, is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock.

[58:24] This was a rock that was split. It was a cracked rock and it had a huge divide in it. And he says, Moses, you get in the cleft of the rock, get in that crack of the rock.

[58:35] And it could have been a huge boulder. And there you will have the protection that you need. You stand there on the rock and it will come about while my glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.

[58:54] Then I will take my hand away and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. Now all I can say is that at least in this instance, God is revealing some kind of physicality that Abraham is able to see even if it is only these so-called back parts.

[59:20] There is a commentary on this and let's come back to the New Testament in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3. Keep your place in the Old Testament and we'll be back there later. 2nd Corinthians chapter 3.

[59:33] Oh my, time's almost gone. Oh my, time's almost gone. Oh my, time's almost gone. Oh my, time's almost 2nd Corinthians 3 and verse 12.

[59:48] Having therefore, the Apostle Paul says, such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, and are not as Moses, who used to put a veil over his face that the sons of Israel might not look intently at the end of what was fading away.

[60:07] But their minds were hardened, for until this very day, at the reading of the Old Covenant, the same veil, this is a spiritual veil, remains unlifted because it is removed in Christ.

[60:27] But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over the heart, that is, over the heart and mind of the Jew. but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

[60:40] In other words, he's able to really see. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit.

[61:06] And that's a passage that has a depth to it that I have not been able to plumb. But anyway, let's hasten on for a few moments we have left. In Exodus chapter 40, and again, I want to emphasize we are talking about the infancy and the immaturity of humanity, particularly as it is played out in the people of Israel.

[61:30] And in Exodus chapter 40, and verse 34, when the cloud, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

[61:47] And Moses, this is Shekinah again, and Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

[62:02] and throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out.

[62:13] In other words, when the cloud moves, you move. That's your cue to pack up and move out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up.

[62:26] And throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, and the sight, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

[62:41] And a couple of references in, well, I'm going to have to skip some of these because we're not going to have time to take them all. But let's go to Leviticus chapter 9.

[62:53] This is the next book. Close by. You want to wear your fingers out. Leviticus chapter 9 and verse 6.

[63:05] And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, that the glory, the Shekinah of the Lord, may appear to you.

[63:21] Moses then said to Aaron, Come near to the altar and offer your sin offering and your burnt offering. that you may make atonement for yourself and for the people. Then make the offering for the people that you may make atonement for them just as the Lord has commanded.

[63:38] And then one more reference in Numbers chapter 13. Numbers 13 and verse 30.

[64:02] Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, We should by all means go up and take the possession of it, for we shall surely overcome it.

[64:14] But the men who had gone up with him said, We are not able, these are the ten spies that gave the negative report, we are not able to go up against the people for they are too strong for us. So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they spied out, saying, The land through which we have gone, it's spying it out, it's a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.

[64:42] There also we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, a part of the Nephilim, and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight. In other words, these ten were just overwhelmed by what they saw when they came to spy out the land, never mind the fact that the Lord said he'd be with them, that's inconsequential.

[65:02] Here we see human rationalism taking precedence over the promise of God. And it's always been that way. It's always been that way. Man is more quick to believe what his fellow man says than he is anything that God says.

[65:20] Isn't that something? Isn't that strange? Today, in the western world, we are worshipping at the shrine of science. And we are so impressed with what these great brains come up with.

[65:36] Never mind the fact that they often disagree with each other, and never mind the fact that they have often been proved wrong over a period of years, we still put more confidence in what man says than we do in what God says.

[65:49] And that is systemic to the whole of humanity. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Well, I'm not going to pursue this further because we're just about out of time, but the manifestation of the Shekinah will be there with the rebellion of Korah in Numbers 16.

[66:12] And in Numbers 16 and 19, it will authenticate Moses when Samuel offers the dedicatory prayer for the building of the first temple.

[66:27] This is the original temple that Solomon was instructed to build, and Solomon offered his prayer, and we are told that the glory, the Shekinah of the Lord filled that temple, and it must have been some kind of an awesome site.

[66:46] And the last one I want to leave you with is in the New Testament, because it has to do with the Shekinah in the person of Christ. This is what the Transfiguration is all about.

[67:01] When Christ was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, and Moses and Elijah showed up, this was a clear-cut manifestation of the Shekinah, and we are told that Christ's face shone brighter than the noonday sun, and his garment was whiter than any polar stroke could whiten it, it must have been absolutely dazzling, to the extent that Peter, James, and John wanted to build some lean-tos and just stay there for a while.

[67:38] You know, they were just overwhelmed by it. And that too was the Shekinah. And John says in his first chapter regarding the coming of the Messiah, John says, and we beheld his glory.

[67:55] Shekinah, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So these physical manifestations of God that are so abundant in the Old Testament are found less in the New, but they are going to return in great numbers during that 70th week of Daniel when the lid will come off of the supernatural things, and all kinds of stuff is going to flow from that.

[68:25] And it will be a time of miraculous manifestation like the world has not seen since the time Christ was here on earth and the time the prophets were in the Old Testament.

[68:38] Comments or questions? anyone? I'm sorry? What was the last reference in the New Testament?

[68:49] The one in Corinthians? Oh, John 1. Yeah, John chapter 1, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.

[69:02] You know, keep in mind that this glory, the glory of God well, let me give you just one more. Okay, let's go to Hebrews chapter 1.

[69:14] Just one more reference. Hebrews chapter 1 and God, as he spoke long ago to our fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways in these last days is spoken unto us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world.

[69:47] And he, that is, the Son, is the radiance of his glory, that is, of the Father's glory, and the exact representation of his nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power.

[70:05] all of this is again a reference to this, the effulgence of his person, and the shekinah, or the glory of God.

[70:19] When John says, we beheld his glory, it was the glory as of the only begotten father. So, John is making that connection between father and son in a way that is undeniable, and the writer of Hebrews is here reinforcing it, and it will be reinforced even more when you get into the revelation.

[70:42] Okay, any other thoughts or comments? Anyone? Okay, well, I'm putting almost on time, but I don't want you to think that I'm going to make a hat about this.

[70:55] Okay, thank you all for being here today, and if you're interested, the men's class is dealing with the book of Hebrews, and some of the CDs are over there.

[71:13] If you're interested in any of those, feel free to pick them up, and you're welcome to take anything that's over there. Thank you.