Intro 01

[0:00] Well, thank you guys. I appreciate your identifying yourself and throwing in a little bit of history. I do appreciate it very much. I want to alert you also that some of you have different kinds of schedules and responsibilities.

[0:17] So if at any time you need to excuse yourself because you have to be somewhere or something and we're not finished, nobody will think you're rude or angry if you just get up and leave.

[0:29] You're free to do that because guys have all different kinds of schedules and responsibilities. So you feel free to peel off any time even before we get finished. Ordinarily, we will be aiming for about 815, but we won't always hit it.

[0:45] So somewhere in the area of 815 we'll be dismissing, may go a little longer. It depends on the Q questions that you might have that take a little longer.

[0:56] But that's what we'll be shooting for, so I want to give you an idea as to our usual dismissal time. And frankly, I prefer the eating before as opposed to after.

[1:08] But the restaurant is different. They have to take the orders and all the rest. So you can't do that there. But it worked out very well here, and apparently it's more convenient for Amy and for Jeff to do it before.

[1:18] So as far as I'm concerned, we can just continue on that way. And certainly, we don't expect hot meals all the time. We know that that will be on occasion.

[1:30] But there will always be coffee and donuts and calories to imbibe. So that will keep us going. And as long as the coffee is available, there really isn't anything else that matters.

[1:40] So thank you again for being here. I know there are different churches represented here. That's fine with me. My background is 51 years at Grace Bible Church as a pastor and retired from that.

[1:58] And I just have opportunities like this to continue teaching. And for me, this is so much better than what a lot of people do in retirement.

[2:09] I just, nothing, for me personally, nothing competes with the enjoyment that I get from sharing the word of God. So when you're doing something that you love to do, why look for anything else?

[2:23] So once again, thank you all for being here. And I want to apprise you a little bit of where we plan to be going with this study. We meet every Tuesday as well at Studebaker's in Springfield there on Route 41.

[2:42] And guys are welcome to attend either class. And some may want to attend both. That's fine. It doesn't make any difference. You just need to know that there is different content from the two classes.

[2:53] It won't be the same thing or repeat. There might even be a little bit of overlap. But ordinarily, that won't be the case. And I'm also considering a third venue for the possibility of Wednesday.

[3:06] So we could have a different class conceivably Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. But I'm not sure that's going to work out. And I won't know until after the first of the year.

[3:17] So we'll keep you posted about that. I don't know that we have any other announcements to make. I do appreciate your chipping in with the funds to help offset the cost of the goodies.

[3:32] That was not required or even requested. But I feel that that's the least we can do for providing us with this terrific facility. And I'm very impressed with this. This is amazing.

[3:42] I've often just driven by it. But this is the first time I've been in it. And wow, what a surprise. This is quite a building. And it's got tremendous possibilities.

[3:56] And we're really, truly grateful that in the midst of all of this floor space, you carve out a nice small area like this. This is just perfect for what we need.

[4:06] So also, I want you to know that we are here with the intent on my part. And I don't know how best to describe it.

[4:17] So I'll just say it again. My great desire is to scratch where you itch when it comes to the study of the scriptures. And I know that there are a lot of questions in your minds out there floating around, things that you wonder about, because the same thing is true of me.

[4:35] I've got a lot of things I wonder about, too. And sometimes when somebody will let it be known what they're struggling with or what they're trying to understand or appreciate or get a handle on, and they share it, very often there are other guys saying, yeah, yeah, that's a problem with me, too.

[4:53] You know, and that way you're kind of scratching where people itch. And that makes the class all the more profitable. So I don't want to just dose out a lot of doctrine and a lot of teaching that isn't all that applicable and it doesn't really impact your life so much because life is too short.

[5:12] And we need the direction that the scriptures provide, and that's what we're here to do. We don't have all the answers. We don't even have all the questions. But we have a good time searching and digging for them.

[5:24] And right now I would ask you to consider what we're going to be taking up on actually beginning this morning and continuing on for however long it takes.

[5:36] I don't know exactly what to call it, so I guess we would say from the beginning or from the end of the beginning to the beginning of the end, we're going to cover the whole gamut of creation, only we're going to go before creation.

[5:58] We're going to go before Genesis 1-1, and you might be thinking, how can you do that? Because Genesis 1-1 is the beginning.

[6:10] Well, that's the beginning of creation, but that's not the beginning because the beginning goes back before that, and we'll be considering that also. And what we will be entering into, guys, and I don't have a better name for it, is the great angelic conflict that is underway and has been underway before Genesis 1-1.

[6:33] And that has to do with the created beings that God brought into existence before Genesis 1-1 ever occurred or before Adam and Eve were ever made, and that was the angelic sphere.

[6:47] We do not know how many angels were created. We just know there is a tremendous number of them, and they are beings that are as real as you and I, but they do not have physical bodies.

[7:02] However, there have been occasions when they have been able to assume physical bodies and appear as human beings, yet they are angelic beings.

[7:13] And these creatures existed before Adam and Eve were ever created, and there was a great rebellion that took place on the part of Lucifer, and that set everything in motion. And in order to rectify that great rebellion, the resolution of the angelic conflict, God brought the second string into action.

[7:39] And that's us. We're not the first team. We're not the A team. We're the B team. But with the expertise that God has to offer and the power and ability and wisdom he has to offer, in the end, we will see that the B team, under the leadership of our Lord Jesus Christ, is going to not only survive, but thrive and be victorious.

[8:04] So, with that in mind, thinking in terms of the beginning, let's go to the end. And that is in Revelation chapter 5. We just want to point out a couple of things that will help to set the stage for what we're actually going to be talking about.

[8:21] Last book in the Bible, Revelation chapter 5. John is giving us a revelation.

[8:39] And by the way, this book that is called the book of Revelation, actually it is singular, even though there are multiple revelations that are given in it, yet the thrust of the book is about the revelation of one being.

[9:01] And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and his activity on our behalf.

[9:12] And it is referred to as a series of visions that the Apostle John, as far as we know, was probably the youngest of the 12 apostles that Jesus selected.

[9:30] We don't know that for sure, but we base that on the possibility of his being that because he obviously is the last surviving one of the 12 and he is an aged man exiled on the Isle of Patmos when God reveals to him these visions that he was instructed to record and write.

[9:52] And they are going to tell us the story as it is progressing. And in Revelation, Revelation chapter, well, we better start with chapter 4. Let's look at chapter 4 first, if we may.

[10:05] I'm going to skip some of this for time's sake, but if you will look at verse 5, Revelation chapter 4 and verse 5, and from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God.

[10:28] And by the way, guys, all of these numbers, here we find seven repeatedly used, all of these numbers have significance. There is nothing in the scriptures that is inconsequential or trivial or optional.

[10:45] Everything in this book belongs here. Much of it, we may not have the handle on that we would like, but that doesn't mean there isn't a handle. And the more you study and saturate yourselves with the scriptures, the more you will be able to connect the dots and make sense of it.

[11:07] Because guys, everything in this book is connected to everything in this book. It's all interrelated. There's nothing in here by accident.

[11:19] There's nothing extraneous. There's nothing that is disposable. Everything is needed. Yes, even those passages in Leviticus that will put you to sleep if you try to read it before you go to bed at night, you know.

[11:31] everything is there for a purpose. And when we read this in verse 6, he's describing there before the throne, you just have to use your imagination and your mind's eye a little bit.

[11:48] There was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal and in the center and around the throne four living creatures.

[11:59] How else does it describe them? obviously, because he'd never seen anything like this. So all he can do is describe what he's looking at and this is the way it appears to him. Four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

[12:15] What does that mean? Well, apparently, it is an indication that they have some kind of special type vision that they are provided with. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings full of eyes around and within day and night, they do not cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the almighty who was, who is, and who is to come.

[12:39] And when the four, when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, who is, of course, Christ, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him and who lives forever and ever and will cast their crowns before the throne.

[13:05] And here's what they'll be saying. Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power.

[13:17] Why? Because thou didst create all things and because of thy will they existed and were created.

[13:30] If you have a King James Version and I'm reading from the New American Standard, I think it says something to the effect that because of his good pleasure they exist and were created.

[13:43] and all that means is that God was pleased to create these beings. We don't know why he was pleased. We are not given an explanation as to why he was pleased.

[13:56] He just wanted to do it. But I can assure you this. God did not create, bring anything into existence out of a sense of need because God has no needs that he cannot meet within his own person.

[14:15] He is not like us in that he does not have to go outside himself to meet any need quote unquote that he has nor is he dependent upon anything that he has created to help him meet his needs.

[14:31] God is God is supreme and he is totally independent from dependence upon anything or anyone. And all we know is that he created because it pleased him to do so.

[14:46] Why it pleased him to do so? Maybe he'll tell us one day. But right now we don't know. We're just told that he was. And then in chapter 5 and here in verse 11 this is this is the expression because God has created all things.

[15:03] He brought everything into existence. And then in chapter 5 we're going to fast forward several thousand years in actual time but John the revelator is going to incorporate all of this here in one place so that we can get it together.

[15:20] So what we've got here is a beginning and a middle and an end. And now we're going to read about the middle and by the way you and I belong in the middle.

[15:34] We are between these. So let us read here. Chapter 5 and verse 1 and I saw in the right hand of him who said and by the way let me insert this too. I should have mentioned this.

[15:47] Our Bibles are divided into chapter divisions and verses and that is all man made. and because of that many of the chapter divisions are unfortunate because a chapter may end right where you're getting ready to latch on to something but that's the end there and it breaks the chain of thought and you lose the continuity so you just need to keep in mind that only about five six hundred years ago which according to human history isn't all that long five six hundred years ago the Bible wasn't in chapters and verses it was just one continuous writing on the scroll and there were no breaks in between them but along came people who saw the need for the breaks and were grateful that they did because it would be terrible difficult if I told you alright guys we're going to go to the book of

[16:50] Genesis now go about halfway through there and we'll start reading now we've got an address to give you we've got a street number and an address to give you so you can go right to the very verse and dig it out and it's right there so we're grateful that the chapters and verses divisions are there but they're not to be relied upon or dependent they're not in any way inspired of God as is the text so we just need to keep that in mind and here by the way is an excellent place where you can put that into practice because there should be no break between verse 11 and verse 1 of chapter 5 but there is so we'll just take that into consideration and when John says and all that means is he's continuing he's continuing the vision that he's got in chapter 4 and I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back sealed up with seven seals and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals who has the credibility who has the right to do so and John goes on to say no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it and I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it it's almost as if the word is put out if you can imagine this this huge crowd here and the word is put out who can who can open the book because we're desperate to know contents and nobody shows up and places quiet and silent and John says this is terrible this is terrible and he begins to register the only response that could be given in the event that no one is able to open the book and as he begins to weep our hero shows up and he is there and he is just waiting and I think the reason for this law and the reason for the waiting and the reason that nobody is standing up is deliberate on the part of the lamb who stands because it needs to be established that nobody has the right or the ability and everybody has given the opportunity and nobody rises to it and when it is clear that there is no one there with that ability then the only one who does have it after everybody else has been eliminated by their not coming forth he stands and the text says one of the elders verse 5 said to me stop weeping behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah

[19:57] Jesus is described in so many ways in scripture he's got so many names but two of the chiefest ones are lamb and lion and you cannot find a greater difference than there is between a lamb and a lion and when he came the first time we know he came as the sacrificial lamb which is exactly what his second cousin John the Baptist was talking about when he cried out to that crowd in Matthew 3 behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world that was none other than the Lord Jesus entering into his earthly ministry that would last for about three and a half years but when he returns the second coming he will not be as a lamb he will be the lion of the tribe of Judah and someone has said that Jesus is coming again and the second time he comes he is coming to collect on what he paid for in his first coming and in the second coming

[21:09] Jesus is coming again and this time he will not be in a good mood it's going to be devastating for those who are opposing him and we'll see that later in Revelation 19 not this morning but later on so the lion of the tribe of Judah Judah was the fourth born son of Jacob and he is the progenitor of the royal tribe from the time that King David was anointed king he was of the tribe of Judah there will not be a king sit on the throne of Judah that did not come from the tribe of Judah and Jesus is the last one Jesus the Messiah is the last one in the long genealogical line from the tribe of Judah he is the end of the royal line there are no successors after him and

[22:13] King David of course was the beginning of that dynasty and as you read Matthew and Luke Luke 4 and Matthew 1 you see the genealogy of our Lord Jesus Christ and in Matthew he's coming through Joseph the adopted father of Jesus and in Luke's gospel he's coming through Mary and she is the direct descendant of David son Nathan whereas Joseph who is the adopted father of Jesus is coming from the line of Solomon and that line is going to be under the curse so he would be ineligible it's a beautiful thing we'll look at it later maybe around Christmas and it's just absolutely amazing so anyway let's continue on stop weeping behold the lion that is from the tribe of Judah the root of David has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals and

[23:14] I saw between the throne with the four living creatures and the elders a lamb standing as if slain having seven horns and seven eyes and all of these are significant the bible doesn't just throw numbers around but these all have significance which are the seven spirits of God and sent out into all the earth and he came and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne and when he had taken the book the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the lamb having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints and they sang a new song saying and by the way what was the old song the old song was in chapter four that we just read earlier the old song was a song of creation it was thanksgiving to

[24:27] God for creation but here there's a new song and the new song is thou slain and dispurchased for God with thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation so the first song they sang was creation and this new song that they are singing is redemption it is redemption and it was accomplished through the sacrifice of the lamb and because the lamb was who he was God in the flesh he was capable and able to do what he did and that is pay the price that was demanded for the fall of the human race and in the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ he paid the full penalty that was due for the sins of the entire world that is an absolutely amazing concept when

[25:28] Jesus said it is finished nothing was left out there was no one whose sin debt was not paid for at the cross that is no human angels that's an entirely different thing apparently there is no redemption for angels because for one reason the fall of humanity was corporate in our first parents and it was extended and passed on to every generation so it is corporate for humanity but there is no reproduction with angels and their redemption would have been individual but with one fell swoop God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself and has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation that guys listen that is the most astounding thing for all eternity please register this and don't ever forget it this he who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of

[26:52] God in him that transaction that took place within three hours on Calvary became the centerpiece of all creation of all times think of that that singular focal point there on the cross became the center of the universe for all times God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself just absolutely mind blowing and if if that doesn't if that doesn't stun you you just don't get it but I trust you will as time goes on it's amazing now what we need to do is go back before Genesis 1 1 so let's start with let's start with

[27:53] Isaiah Isaiah chapter 7 and you're thinking well what's he talking about that's not before Genesis well yes and no insofar as the canon of scripture is concerned of course it isn't before Genesis but insofar as eternity is concerned it is Isaiah chapter 7 and I'll be as brief as I can because I do want to get this in the mix here for future studies if you will what did I say Isaiah 7 I meant Isaiah 14 I'm sorry I just wanted to see if you were really paying attention and by the way you'll have to excuse me because I noticed that a number of years ago when I got into my 80s for some strange reason verses and chapters in the scriptures began moving around and they're not always at the same place where they used to be if you and you young pups wouldn't know anything about that but your time's coming if the

[29:07] Lord tarries so let's look at Isaiah 14 and for the sake of time I'm going to have to dispense with reading the whole chapter but I want you to understand that what is taking place here is an actual historical event but it is compounded with a prehistoric event and that is he is talking about someone here in Isaiah 14 he's talking about the king of Babylon you'll note verse 4 you take up this taunt against the king of Babylon and say this king of Babylon was a real honest to goodness person who lived then and who was the king of Babylon at that time and by the way Babylon is one of the most prominent dominant cities in all of scripture probably second only to Jerusalem but this man is a picture in the mind of God this king of

[30:09] Babylon is a kind of picture of a predecessor of his that he of course did not know because this predecessor existed before Genesis 1 1 and I'm talking about none other than Lucifer he is referred to as Lucifer in his origin with his original name but he is thereafter going to be known as Satan and the name Satan means the opposer he is the opposer of the creator and if you will look at what is taking place here beginning with verse 4 the oppressor has broken the staff of the wicked and so on and this guy that they are talking about is kind of like a chip off the old block this king of Babylon is being described as a Lucifer satanic kind of guy in his evil and in his pursuit and in his being unmerciful and all of the rest of it and

[31:12] Isaiah is writing under inspiration and he's making a comparison between what we might think of as the original type king of Babylon who's none other but Satan himself and is being compared with this actual historical guy so if you look at beginning with verse let's look at look at verse 11 we've got to jump in somewhere so let's just jump in with verse 11 your pomp and the music of your hearts have been brought down to Sheol that's the place of the grave maggots that's a death insect maggots are spread out as your bed beneath you and worms are your covering and that is a picture of this actual living king of Babylon and what he is in for and in verse 12 he switches and changes keys and he says how have you fallen how you have fallen from heaven oh star of the morning son of the dawn he's not talking about the king of

[32:19] Babylon now he's talking about Lucifer and he says you've been cut down to the earth you who have weakened the nations interesting and Isaiah wrote this 700 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem but do you know one of Satan's principal objectives that he operates through in his deceptive practices is the weakening of nations now we kind of look at that and there is a human tendency to scoff and say oh that's kind of crazy well that's just because we don't understand the machinations of Satan and exactly how he works but there is a satanic influence in this world and has been from the time of creation of Adam and Eve that was manifested in the serpent that deceived them and fellas in John's gospel chapters 12 14 and 16

[33:28] Jesus himself refers to Satan as the prince royalty of this world this world that you and I are living in by the way you do suspect that there's something wrong with this world don't you for sure I mean what was your first clue this is a far far cry from the way it was created when God could look upon it and pronounce it not just good very good and the very good has disappeared it hasn't been very good since and you know even in a position of having been cursed this is still a pretty fantastic place to live in this world got a lot of beauty in it a lot of ugliness but a lot of beauty too so this world has a prince royalty and the apostle

[34:35] Paul described you in 2nd corinthians chapter 4 saying if our gospel be hidden veiled so that people don't see it clearly if our gospel is veiled it is veiled by the god of this age who has blinded the minds a blinded mind we think of blinded eyes but a blinded mind guys a blinded mind is a mind that cannot think correctly I'm going to say something and I trust you will not consider it an insult but it is true of all of us every one of us here and every other human being on the earth is mentally impaired mentally impaired spiritually impaired psychologically impaired we are all damaged goods as a result of the fall and the proof of that is we're going to die

[35:54] Adam and Eve were not created to die they were created to live hold it Joe they were created to live and yet death death has become the norm isn't it death is the norm God is saying no death death is abnormal we were created to live and this brings me to the fact and I'm going to make a statement that's going to sound pretty weird but it will surface time and time again as we go through this and I'm absolutely satisfied that it's true guys there are no dead people there are only dead bodies big difference big difference world of difference everybody whomever they are everybody is alive somewhere think of that what Joe you're going to bust

[36:57] I got I got I got I got I got I got he's talking exactly what you're talking about this Lucifer this this world is bad he wants to be God over the God of the real God the real creator he wants to be that power and that's what he's doing all this for and here's a perfect example right in our own example Trump Trump could not accept the fact that he lost the election he wants to be quote the president the king the power of the United States and he could not that gets you and that's the same type of thing that Lucifer has he wants to be over God he wants to be the power of God and that's what he's working for I'm sorry Marv okay you'll be alright Joe you'll be alright now thus saith Joe Moore but that's a little different from what the scriptures are saying but the principles are there and you can understand that so he is giving a description of what is taking place in the mind and heart of Lucifer and fellas

[38:08] I wish I had a better handle on angelic beings and their composition and all we know is what the scriptures reveal and it's fascinating but there's so many questions we have about them we don't have answers yet but we do know that angels are superior beings to humans in probably every way and intelligence and power and everything else other ways that we don't know we don't understand much about how they work and that too will surface more and more as we move on but this is a picture of the ultimate angel this apparently Lucifer was the crowning achievement of his creation as God regarded him and yet he's going to have an end that will be anything but glorious and in verse 13 he is describing him and he says you said in your heart I will ascend to heaven

[39:08] I will raise my throne above the stars of God and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will make myself like the most high nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol to the recesses of the pit those who see you will gaze at you they will ponder over you saying is this the man who made the earth tremble who shook kingdoms who made the world like a wilderness and overthrew its cities who did not allow his prisoners to go home all the kings of the nations lie in glory each in his own tomb but you've been cast out of your tomb like a rejected branch clothed with the slain who are pierced with the sword who go down to the stones of the pit like a trampled course you will not be united with them in burial you have ruined your country you have slain your people and so on and so on in verse 22

[40:22] I will rise up against them declares the Lord of hosts I will cut off from Babylon name and survivors and so on these are veiled references to the origin and the significance and the demise ultimately of Satan and there is one more that we must go to quickly and it is in Ezekiel the prophet Ezekiel let's see Ezekiel 27 well we won't take time for the 27 so let's go to 28 we'll just jump in there the word of the Lord the word of the Lord came again to me saying and Ezekiel Isaiah was about 700 years before the birth of Christ

[41:22] Ezekiel was probably about between 400 and 500 so they're kind of related but the word of the Lord came again to me saying son of man say to the leader of Tyre now here is the same kind of application it is made of the king of Babylon and Isaiah only here this guy is the king of Tyre and the reason that he is being used as an example is because he like the king of Babylon was satanic like in their aspirations in their abilities and so on evil conniving scheming deceitful etc son of man say to the leader of Tyre thus says the Lord God because your heart is lifted up and you have said I am a God I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the seas yet you are a man and not God although you make your heart like the heart of God behold you are wiser than Daniel there is no secret that is a match for you by your wisdom and understanding you've acquired riches for yourself have acquired gold and silver for your treasuries your great wisdom by your trade this is all the king of Tyre that he is talking about here and then when he comes to verse 11 he is switching and changing shifting gears here and in verse 11 then again the word of the Lord came to me saying son of man take up a lamentation over the king of Tyre and say to him thus says the Lord

[42:58] God you had the seal full of perfection full of wisdom and perfect in beauty you were in Eden now we know the king of Tyre the literal earthly king of Tyre was not in Eden that was many years earlier he's talking enough of course about Satan here you were in Eden the garden of God every precious stone was your covering the ruby the topaz the diamond beryl onyx jasper lapis luthui turquoise the emerald gold the workmanship of your settings and your sockets was in you on the day that you were created they were prepared you were the anointed cherub who covers and I placed you there you were on the holy mountains of God you walked in the midst of the stones of fire you were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you by the abundance of your trade you were internally filled with violence and new sin therefore I have cast you as profane from the mountain of God

[44:10] I have destroyed you oh covering cherub from the midst of the stones and on and on and on now guys I just want to insert something here that is difficult for us to grasp but we tend to think of humans as being the epitome of God's creation and I suspect that in some ways we are because I do think that our physical bodies are fashioned like unto our Lord's body before even before Bethlehem but what is being described here has to do with superior beings that God created before we have the record of even the creating of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 1-1 these angelic beings in innumerable number are spirit beings they do not possess bodies yet we are going to see something very dramatic that I have no other explanation for that will surface as we move on in our study and it doesn't come into play until Genesis 6 but it has to do with the daughters with the sons of God cohabiting with the daughters of men and I've tried every way that I know to keep those sons of God from being angels but I just can't

[45:36] I can't find any other designation for them I know that this is the ancient Jewish tradition and it goes all the way back as far as almost as far as Jews exist and that is that angels who are referred to apparently in Genesis 6 as sons of God who also seem to be identified with the Nephilim and the text goes on to say that there were giants in the land in those days and these giants do appear to have been gigantic in their structure in their build etc I cannot wrap my brain around this because I cannot conceive of how angels could possibly cohabit with human beings and produce offspring yet that is exactly what the scriptures do seem to suggest and that all of these

[46:41] Nephilim giants were destroyed in the flood I don't understand that either because they were not fully human they were apparently half human and half angelic and I cannot get my brain around that because we've got limited association with our physicality etc not only that but there is no record to my knowledge that angels are ever referred to as being sexual in any way shape or form there's no reason to believe that angels could cohabit with other angels and produce baby angels like we do with humans yet at the same time it is rather apparent that if that if that explanation is true and it seems to hold up very rigorously in all of the Jewish traditions but I hesitate to give a lot of credulity to Jewish traditions because we know many of them have been wrong but all I'm suggesting guys is that there was a world existing before this world that is only identified in a scanty way and we just don't know a whole lot about it we do know that the flood changed everything and we do know that apparently all those who were in opposition to God and I can't reach any other conclusion other than to say that the whole of humanity was corrupt at the time of the flood and it was only

[48:23] Noah and his family that escaped that corruption and that's why they were the only survivors because their survivorship was planned for and when they came out of the ark of course recreation began of humanity but there was a world a very real world that existed before this one and we have little or no idea exactly what it was like so we'll explore to the extent that we're able and you'll be welcome to inject any questions or comments you may have as we move along but what we're going to be looking at guys is this whole nine yards of beginning before the beginning began and concluding with the revelation and I'm not a prophet nor the son of a prophet but I would not be surprised I'm not saying we will be I'm just saying I would not be surprised if we are in glory before we get this finished and I'm looking for the undertaker even though

[49:32] I'm 88 years old I'm looking for the upper taker and it may be a lot sooner than we know the way things are going so all that we've offered this morning is just some background and some food for your thought to give you an idea of where we're going but we've got a big big task ahead of us but we've got a big book to draw from and a big God who is behind and I think we're in for some real enlightenment and I'm not just talking about you but me too I expect to learn as much from this as you do and we'll just kind of play off of each other our learning and etc and before we conclude is there anybody that has a suggestion question Larry I'm sure there's a good reason or good explanation but Satan in all of and I think we agree that he's very intelligent as all angels are he had to know that he would not be successful in what he is trying to do but he did it anyway is that pride

[50:48] I've always wondered about it well it is it is pride why take on God it is pride it is pride and you struck on that so it would be a good note to close on because it's a very very important thing that you brought up really I hadn't intended to include this but what can I do what else can I do guys there is something that is so big and so enormous that is so often overlooked that really comes into play every day in every way and that is our volition every one of us has a will the word volition is related to the word voluntary and a volition is that which is exercised just like a will you decide to do things or not do things according to your will according to your volition we are all charged with that God did not make us automatons he gave us a will makes us a free moral agent and that by the way becomes as far as I can determine that becomes the sole determinant for our evaluation because we are all going to be held accountable for what we did and the decisions we made with the will the volition the ability that God gave us we are free moral agents we made choices and we're going to be accountable for those good or bad and for the believer our accounting is going to be in 1 Corinthians 3 and for the unbeliever their accounting is going to be in Revelation chapter 20 so everybody is going to be held accountable with what we do with that will and Satan and all of the angels had a will also and they exercised it we are told in

[52:42] Revelation chapter 12 which we will not look at now but we'll look at later that Satan succeeded in recruiting how many was it it's about a third yeah Satan succeeded in recruiting a third of the angelic sphere to follow him and all I can suggest is he must have convinced them that he could get them a better deal than what God would give them and a third of the angels are referred to as fallen angels and as far as we know they will become the demonic spirits that are surfacing in scripture particularly during the earthly life of our Lord out of whom he cast many demons etc and so on so those demons have followed him and they are at his service even now and the only thing

[53:45] I can suggest in connection with what Larry said about Satan you know he can read the Bible I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Satan could read the Bible in every language that is known to humanity doesn't he know his end isn't it clearly spelled out in Revelation what the end of Satan is going to be he doesn't have a chance he thinks he does and here guys is the essence is the essence of human weakness and it is the same as the essence of angelic weakness is pride you have said in your heart I will ascend unto the most high I will be like the most God I will it's I I I I do you realize that every one of us is self-centered it's not a pretty thing but it's true it's part of the human psyche every one of us is self-centered before Adam and Eve succumbed to temptation they were

[55:04] God-centered but when they fell and I don't understand that either all I know is they became something that God did not create in them the nature changed and they morphed from being God-centered to being self-centered and it became part of their DNA somehow became part of their psyche this self-centeredness and to illustrate that self-centeredness the first human being born to our original parents murdered his own brother that's self-centeredness and I say that to say this Satan is self-centered also very much so and when he reads in the revelation what his final end is going to be he says ha

[56:11] I can beat that that's not going to be the way it's going to end that's the way God thinks it's going to end but that's not the way it's going to end because I've got a few things up my sleeve too he is the arch competitor of Satan and fellas there is an arch competitor for the spirit of God that lives in every one of you and me and it's called the flesh it's the old Adamic fallen nature that still wants to run the show and we're all cursed with it it's part of our being and yet in spite of that God loved us and Jesus died for us in the midst of all of that and frankly guys we weren't worth it but Jesus attributed such great value to us that he was willing to do what he did in order to have us to be with him forever that is the most amazing deal that humanity could ever have so thank you for that question because it led to another and guys

[57:22] I trust that as a result of our being together for these studies in addition to what we're all going to learn my prayer is that you will all gain either a new or an elevated appreciation for how wonderfully connected everything in this book is and how every word of God is true and can be relied upon and it is just this is God's gift to humanity and there's nothing like it and by the way when I say there's nothing like it I mean there is nothing do you realize there is no record available as to the beginning of everything and the why there is anything rather than nothing and what the end game is going to be there is no account in the world in any language other than this it's worth our time and effort thank you all for being here this morning

[58:25] I do appreciate Joe you've heard Genesis 1-1 mentioned it several times here also Genesis 1-2 take a look at Genesis 1-2 that'll tell you what Mars started out with creations before world before living the Lucifer and the angels before because there was a flood before Noah's flood and it's in there verses Genesis 1-2 tells you about the flood first and you know God made it he said I don't want to destroy the earth with another flood you know he put the rainbow there to give us the promise no more flood because there had already been two floods and he wasn't going to destroy the earth again by that he's going to do it by basically fire I guess is the accepted thing it's going to be by fire but so look at Genesis 1-2 and it's out of place that verse is out of place as far as creation is