Okay, good to see this good turnout today. That’s what a beautiful day in Oklahoma helps, doesn’t it? The last time we taped we weren’t that fortunate. But we’re glad to see everybody. We’ve got some visitors back from Minneapolis area, and I’ve got my son and his wife down from Duluth. The cold weather has just driven them south. I guess when you guys left it was about 30 below, wasn’t it? I know it was when Todd and Kim left Duluth. They’re down in sunny and warm Oklahoma today.

For those of you out in television, again, we like to just introduce ourselves as a simple Bible study. We don’t have any axe to grind, we don’t attack anybody, hopefully, and all we attempt to do is let everyone, regardless of their background, just simply see what the Book says. I think it’s having a lot of impact. We’re getting a lot of mail. Like I said, I think in the last taping, hardly ever does anybody give us a hard time. We trust that that’s the reason. We’re not interpreting my own ideas. We’re not hitting any denominational slant, but hopefully just showing what the Word of God says. So again, we want to thank all of you out there for your letters and your prayer support as well as financial. I had a phone call the other day from some outfit and they wanted to know who we use for a fundraiser. I said, "We only have One, and it’s the greatest One in the universe. He always supplies just enough."

All right, let’s jump in where we left off in our taping. It wasn’t the last program exactly, but at the end of the third program, which would mean there’s one in between this. We jumped ahead to pick up a little of the language which, in turn, sent us on up into the New Testament. We covered the plan of salvation, because it was referring here to Israel being saved and their sin and their shortcomings. We showed how that perfectly agrees with Paul in the book of Romans. But we’re going to come back, now, to where we left off at the end of the third program. We’ll drop in at verse 7.

"I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the LORD, and the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses." All right, now we have to understand, as we have seen all through the book of Isaiah, that the vast majority of Israel was in an attitude of rebellion and unbelief, but in the midst of rebellious national Israel, there was always a what? A remnant!

It’s always been that way, even before Israel appeared. Probably the best example of a tiny remnant was the flood. Out of the several billion people that were no doubt on the earth, how many were spared? Eight. Now, that’s a mighty small remnant. But that’s the way God has always operated. The vast majority of the human race has no concern. They’re in an attitude of unbelief and rebellion, but it’s upon the remnant that God pours out His love and mercy. All right, now to show you this, let’s come back to Isaiah chapter 1. We’re going to look at several of these verses, now, that deal with the concept of the small percentage of the human race that actually become true believers. Now, that doesn’t mean they’re religious. There are a lot of religious people. But you see, not all religious people are truly believers.

"Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, (Do you see that? Not a large remnant, but rather a small one. If it hadn’t been for that they…) we would have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." But, it was because of that small remnant.

Now, that should immediately make all of you think of another instance of when an Israelite, you probably don’t think of him as such, bargained with God. Where was it? Abraham - over Sodom. You remember that? He said to God, "If there are 50 righteous in Sodom, would you spare it?" God said, "Yes, for the fifty sake, I will spare it." Abraham said, "How about 45?" God said, "Yes, for 45 I will spare it." It went all the way down to how many? Ten. For ten God said, "I will spare Sodom and Gomorrah." So, since He didn’t spare it, what does that tell you? There weren’t even ten. But, this is a whole concept of Scripture, from beginning to end, that God always has that small believing remnant.

All right, now let’s jump all the way up, for example, in the New Testament. We can go to Romans, chapter 11. This is the classic example I’ve used over and over. I never apologize for it, because it is so easy to understand. When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal up there on Mount Carmel, now remember that’s Elijah, clear back before even Isaiah. That’s about 1000 BC. You all know the story. How Elijah killed the prophets of Baal and then old Queen Jezebel heard about it and said he’d be as dead as they are. What did Elijah do? He ran and he ran and he ran. A marathon ten times over. Finally, he sat down under a juniper tree and in so many words said what? "Take my life, I’m the last one left in Israel."

What was God’s answer? Well, we pick it up in Romans, as well as in Kings, so let’s just see how Paul puts it, Romans chapter 11 and let’s start at verse 1.

"I say then, Hath God cast away his people?" Boy, now that flies in the face of a lot of Bible teaching and preaching today. They say what? "Yeah, He’s all through with the Jew. They faded away after the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD." That’s not according to this Book. Paul makes it so plain. He has not cast away His people.

"God Forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew." In His foreknowledge, He knew everything that was going to come to pass. He knew that the Romans would destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, but He also knew that He would always have a remnant.

"Wot ye not (Don’t you know) what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, 3. Lord, they have killed the prophets and digged (or torn) down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life." 4. (But Paul asked the question.) But what saith the answer of God unto Him? (This is what God said to Elijah. Elijah, you’re not the only one.) I have reserved to myself 7000 men,…" Now, if we can call 50/50, there were also 7000 women; that’s 14,000. But, even so, out of a nation of seven or ten million, you’ve heard me say it over and over and over, what was the percentage? One tenth of one percent. One out of a thousand. Now, that’s a small, small remnant, but it’s still the remnant.

All right, now go on up into verse 5, and Paul is speaking from his own day and time in about 60 AD.

"Even so then at this present time also (when he’s writing) there is a remnant according to the election of grace." In other words, there was a small percentage of Jews that were following Paul’s Gospel, and they were coming into the Body of Christ. In fact, let me just prove that. Keep your hand in Romans and let’s flip over to Galatians chapter 3, starting at verse 26. Now, this is written primarily to Gentiles, of course, but there was a small percentage of Jews embracing Paul’s Gospel. This is how he refers to them.

"For ye are all (No designated race or nationality) the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ (That is by the Holy Spirit, into the Body of Christ, according to I Corinthians 12:13.) have put on Christ. (Now, here’s the verse I was thinking of, verse 28.) There is neither Jew nor Greek, (Gentile) there is neither bond nor free, (or rich or poor) there is neither male nor female: (In the Body of Christ, we’re all the same.) for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

All right, now flip back to Romans 11, again. This is why we can refer to this remnant of Jews who had become believers of Paul’s Gospel, and become members, then, of the Body of Christ.

"Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace." In other words, they were not coming in under Judaism and the Law and the Prophets, they were coming in under Paul’s Gospel, but it was just a few, a remnant.

All right, now I ran across an interesting point the other night in one of my classes. I don’t remember where it was, but turn with me to I Corinthians. It brought about an interesting point that I’d never really thought of before. I Corinthians chapter 9 verse 22, and this all fits that whole concept for this Age of Grace, not only back in ancient Israel, but in this Age of Grace: God is only expecting the few, not the many, but the few.

"To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save (how many?) some." Now, let’s look what Peter was trying to do? Back up with me to Acts, I think that’s chapter 3. Now, I didn’t intend to do this, so bear with me if I don’t find it. Acts chapter 3, what a difference! Peter is now preaching and appealing to the nation of Israel in hopes of Christ yet returning and setting up the kingdom. That’s what he says up there in verse 20, that if Israel would repent, then God would send Jesus Christ who was preached unto them, but verse 26 sets the criteria. Got it?

"Unto you first (Well, who’s the you? Israel! That’s who he’s preaching to.) God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away (Some?) every one of you from his iniquities." Now, what does every one mean? Every one! So, Peter wasn’t just looking for a little remnant there. He wants the whole nation to embrace Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah, and then God would send Him and set up the Kingdom. But Paul knows better than that, and he doesn’t try to win the whole nation, but reckoning instead that he can only win a small remnant. So, it’s always been.

Now, I can think of another one. Let’s go back to Matthew 24. My, I’ll shoot the whole half-hour before I get out of verse 1! Here’s another remnant, and I’m glad I thought of it just before we went back to Isaiah 63. This is the remnant that’s making the prayer of these verses in Isaiah. This is Israel’s final remnant.

Now, I’ve got to wake people up once in a while with a smile. I hope people don’t mind that. I had a call the other day, and they said, "Les, I admit this is going to be the most stupid question you have ever had. He said, "I told my pastor that I knew it was a stupid question. He wouldn’t even bother to answer, it was so stupid." This is his question. It will make you smile. "How did the writers of Scripture know when to pick up the red ink pen?" Did you get that? "How did they know to put the words of Jesus in red?" I about cracked up.

This is just a relatively modern day invention to give us the words of Christ in red. The only thing we can ever say, no matter who wrote this Book, they all wrote by inspiration. That brings up another point. I had somebody call, I think it was out in Kentucky, and they had a Bible teacher in their church who said that this Book was nothing more than stories and myths and legends. That maybe here and there was something that was God speaking, but for the most part it was stories. I said, "Listen, you go back and tell that guy that every word of this Book is Holy Spirit inspired."

You know, I picked this up years ago when I was reading an article. Somebody made the comment that Luke must have been a tremendous diarist in order to have the facts and figures of everything that happened for his gospel account as well as what happened in Paul’s journeys and so forth. No, Luke didn’t have to keep a diary! Luke didn’t have to chase all over the country asking people, "Well, do you remember this situation?" No, Luke wrote how? As the Holy Spirit inspired him to write! Never forget that. Those of you out in television, if you are confronted by someone or other with the idea that there’s less than inspiration in this Book, remember that every Word of this Book was Holy Spirit inspired, even if they did remember the details, that isn’t what they wrote. They wrote what the Holy Spirit inspired them to write. Never forget that.

All right, now we’ll drop back in at Matthew 24 verse 15. These are the words of the Lord Jesus. Remember, Matthew 24 is all Tribulation ground. He starts right off at the beginning of the Tribulation, and how it’s going to open up, but now, by the time we get to the mid-point, he can refer back to Daniel - verse 15 says:

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, (Now, that’s from the words of the Lord Himself – Daniel was a prophet. What does that mean? He was legitimate. He wasn’t just telling tales and legends. He was a prophet inspired of God.) stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)"

Now, we’ve got to go back to Daniel chapter 9. We’ve got to do this quickly, because I didn’t intend to do this, no way, shape, or form. But, evidently it’s what we need to do. Daniel chapter 9, verse 27. This has to do with that 490-year period of prophecy concerning the Nation of Israel. 483 of those years were fulfilled at His first advent and the cross. The other seven have never yet been fulfilled, but as we look at the situation today, those seven years are getting pretty close. We think it’s about to come upon the world. This is the final seven years of that 490-year prophecy from the pen of Daniel. Now, this is the verse that Jesus is referring to in Matthew 24.

"And he (the prince that shall come, the anti-Christ) shall confirm the covenant with many…" Now, I think that includes the whole Arab world with the Nation of Israel. They’ll finally get peace in the Middle East because of this man. But, it’s going to be a supernaturally done thing, because it’s prophecy being fulfilled. God will now be in it.

"… with many for one week: (Or for a seven-year period, it’ll be a seven year peace treaty between the Arab world and Israel.) and in the midst of the week (Now, watch this carefully. At the end of that first three and a half years…) he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation (or temple worship) to cease,…" Now, I put this on the program years ago. Here’s the way I put it. Can you stop something that’s never started? Well, no. So when did it start? It started at the beginning of the seven-year treaty.

That’s one of the statements of the treaty. The Arabs will permit Israel to build a temple up on the Temple Mount. Why, you wouldn’t dream of such a thing happening today, but it’s going to! Because, like I say, God is going to supernaturally bring it about. So, the Arab world will permit Israel to build the temple up on the Temple Mount. They’ll re-institute temple worship, everything is ready, remember, over there in Jerusalem. The mannequins are clothed with the cloaks of the priests. They’ve got all the shovels and everything for the altar of sacrifice. They’re all ready to go. So, when this peace treaty is signed and Israel gets the temple, they’ll have it for three and a half years. That’s why Paul writes in I Thessalonians chapter 5, that what will they say? "Peace and Safety."

Oh, they’re going to think the world has finally arrived. Peace has come to the Middle East, and Israel will be euphoric. After all, they’re going to have permission to once again get up on the Temple Mount. But what happens in the middle, at the end of three and a half years?

"…in the midst of the week he (the anti-Christ) shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations, (He’s going to turn on Israel with the most horrible persecution the Jew has ever experienced.) he shall make it (that is the temple) desolate, even until the consummation (or the end of the seven years) all that determined shall be poured upon the desolator." All right, now we can flip back to Matthew and probably get a little sense out of it. So, this is what Jesus is referring to – what Daniel the prophet wrote concerning these final seven years. How, in the middle of the seven years, the anti-Christ is going to go into the temple and defile it. Now, this is what he’s referring to.

"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,…" When the anti-Christ will go into that rebuilt temple. Now, it won’t be a fancy Solomon’s Temple. I’m of the impression it’s probably stocked someplace in a warehouse in Jerusalem. It’ll be a prefab. It’ll merely be functional, and they can get with Temple Worship once again.

Now you know, an interesting thing happened in Israel just a couple of weeks ago. They reformed the ancient Sanhedrin. Unheard of! Even the Jews were beside themselves with awe that once again, after hundreds and hundreds of years, they have a Sanhedrin. Some of the Jews were so euphoric that they literally announced to the press that this can only mean one thing – the coming of their Messiah is getting close. Well, if they think the coming of Messiah is getting close, we better agree, because we like to think so, as well. All right, time’s going by, let’s read on - verse 16.

"Then let them which be in Judea flee to the mountains: (Now, He goes down and He gives us a cross section of any society.) 17. Let him which is on the housetop (Probably retired folks who have enough that they don’t have to be out there in the fields working every day.) not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes." In other words, this is the working class. Now today, of course, that would be scientists and professional people and college people and you name it, not so much agricultural anymore, but all the cross section of the working class are lopped into this one word.

"And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! (those that are nursing) 20. But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:" Because, after all, they’re back under the what? They’re back under the Law. The Law stipulated they couldn’t walk but just a short distance on the Sabbath. Well, that wouldn’t even get them out of town. So, all of this falls in place now that this is what I’ve always called them, you’ve seen me put it on the board before, "The escaping remnant."

Now, we’ve got just enough time, I think, to go back to Zechariah, chapter 13. I think this is the remnant we’ve been talking about in Matthew 24. It’s going to be a little more than one or two percent, it’s going to be one third. One third of the Jews living at the time all this happens will be the remnant. Zechariah chapter 13 and we’ll drop in at verse 8, and if this doesn’t all fit, then I don’t know what does.

"And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third part shall be left therein. (Now what’s going to happen to the third?) 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, (that is of Tribulation) and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them (or test them) as gold is tried: (tested) they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, it is my people: and they shall say, the LORD is my God." Now, we’re going to see, in our next program, that this is basically what these prayer type people in Isaiah are saying. That’s why I’m going to try and tie the two together. That this is that Tribulation remnant that Isaiah is foretelling back there in Isaiah chapters 63, 64, 65, and so forth.

All right, this is, I feel, the remnant that Jesus is referring to in Matthew 24. Suddenly, they’re going to get a providential desire to flee the city. One way or another He’s going to gather them together out in the mountains or the deserts or wherever, and they’re going to be protected. They’re going to be saved for all the last three and a half years of torment and tribulation. I feel, I am not saying that this is what the Scripture adamantly says, but I feel, that at the end of that three and a half years, they’re going to witness the return of Christ coming in the clouds of Glory. Every last one of those Jews are going to say what? "There’s my God!" They will suddenly become believers, by believing that Jesus was indeed their Messiah, and that He has now returned to set up the King, the Kingship, and the throne in Jerusalem. That will be this remnant that we’re going to be talking about throughout the closing verses of the book of Isaiah. So, it all fits that they will flee, they will be spared, and God will bring them through it.

Okay, once again, we’re ready to go for another half-hour program. For those of you joining us on television, we would like to thank you. We just can’t get over how you support us financially and with your prayers, and with your letters. What an encouragement to read your letters. Yesterday, one letter just stood out about how our program and our teaching had transformed their whole household. Well, what else can you expect but to let the Word do its work?

All right, now we’re going to pick right up where we left off in the last lesson. In that lesson I kind of digressed more than I intended, and we only got one or two verses, so we’re going to jump back in at verse 8 of Isaiah 63. But I want to remind you that the whole half-hour we just spent was to show that God always keeps a remnant. Even in ancient Israel, the whole nation certainly was not obedient believers. The vast majority was anything but. If you doubt me, go back and read your Old Testament. But in the midst of them, they still had that remnant of true believers. So it is today. Just because the church is full and seemingly vibrant and is making a lot of headway numbers-wise doesn’t mean that they’re all believers, because many have never placed their faith in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for their salvation.

I’ve given the illustration that years back, when we were in Genesis, I ordered a book from one of the Lutheran seminaries. A Lutheran theologian wrote it. It was just simply called The Flood. I’ve never gotten over the analogy he drew, I’ve repeated it before, and I’m going to repeat it again. This is so typical, I think, of what we’re seeing, especially today, with these huge mega-churches - full of a lot of excitement seemingly but how much of the truth of the Word?

But anyway he said this, "When Noah and those three sons were building that humongous ark, which remember was longer than a football field (450 feet long), and it was three stories high. It stands to reason they probably had to hire extra help." "But," he said, "When the flood came, were any of those extra workers in the ark? No. They had no concern. Even though they’d helped build it." Then he took it one step further, and this is sobering. He said, "How many church people are busy, busy, busy. Singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, giving, doing everything, but they’re not in the ark." You know, that’s frightening. They have all the "churchianity" in the world, but they have no saving grace. This is why we try to constantly emphasize that it isn’t the work that you do, but rather it’s the faith that you have in what Christ has already done.

All right, now the same way in Israel. There was that small element that was true believers, not just worshippers. All right, jump in at verse 8. Now remember, this is the element that we’re dealing with, this little remnant of believers, but we’re picturing them in the closing days of the age or in the final days of the Tribulation. This is what we’re really referring to over and over throughout these final chapters - verse 8.

"For he said, (that is the Lord) Surely they (this remnant) are my people,…" Now you remember what the verse said in our last program. In Romans chapter 11 especially, what would God say? "They are my people." Now he doesn’t say that concerning Israel today. They are out there in unbelief. And although He’s certainly in control, He’s got them where He wants them, yet they are not a nation of believers, they are not what God will yet call "My people."

"For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their (what?) Saviour." They were true believers. So, even back in the Old Testament economy, where salvation is far different than what you and I understand, He was their Savior. Next verse:

"In all their affliction (Now, Israel has always gone through a constant time of persecution and affliction, but in all their affliction…) he was afflicted,…" That is, He suffered with them. In fact, do you remember, I think I mentioned it in our last taping which was shortly after the Tsunamis over there in Asia, that God does not precipitate these tragic events, Satan does.

Now, God permits it, but Satan is the one who moves and shakes these things. But why does Satan bring so much turmoil and suffering on the human race when he’s already got them under his control? Because Satan knows it hurts the heart of God. God doesn’t enjoy seeing those thousands being washed away. It tears at His heart, even in their unbelief. So, this is what it’s saying here, as Israel was suffering affliction, who was suffering with them? God was.

"In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he (what?) redeemed them;…" Now, you want to remember the whole book of Exodus is really a picture of what? Redemption. Redemption is buying something back that you have previously owned. Well, I haven’t got time to go into all the applications, but nevertheless, when the brothers sold Joseph down into Egypt it was the sin that broke the fellowship between him and the brothers. So, the whole process of redemption had to begin, and that, of course, was bringing them back out of Egypt 200 and some years later.

"…he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (In other words, up through their ancient history, the days of antiquity.) 10. But (in spite of all of His love and grace) they rebelled,…" In unbelief. They didn’t want to be collared by godliness and spirituality. They wanted to live the life of the flesh.

"…and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their (what?) enemy, and he fought against them." Consequently, again, He used Babylon and He used the Syrians and He used other nations to be their tormentors.

"Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put his Holy Spirit within him? 12. That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?" Now, every time I consider the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the Children of Israel walking over on dry ground, I just have to mull over to myself how many of the current world’s population believe that really happened? Well, I don’t know, but I’ve got a pretty good idea - not many.

I think in the minds of most people, that’s just another legend, that’s another myth that was concocted around the campfire - but it happened. It is something that takes some faith. Yes, the water of the Red Sea parted. Now, I have one favorite portion of Scripture to prove that. Turn back with me to Joshua. If there’s any in my listening audience that may be of that persuasion, that this is just Jewish legend, that these things didn’t really happen, yes, they did! Physically. Physically, the waters of the Red Sea were parted, and Israel walked through on dry ground.

Come back with me to Joshua chapter 2 and verse 9. The spies have now confronted Rahab on the wall of Jericho. This is only a few years after - it’d be a little over forty years, because this is after the wilderness experience. They’re now coming into Israel from the east side of Jordan, and they confront Rahab on the wall of Jericho. This is what Rahab, the Jerichoite, says to these Jewish spies.

"And she said unto the men, I know (She’s not going by hearsay.) that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. (Now, here it comes.) 10. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt;" Now listen, Jericho wasn’t that far from Egypt.

This wasn’t something halfway round the world that they had picked up by hearsay and legend. No, this was front-page news, if you want put it that way. Here, the God of Israel opened up the waters of the Red Sea, and that nation of several million people walked through, not through the mud but on dry land. It was an established fact in ancient history that this is what God did when He brought Israel up out of Egypt. So, never doubt it – not for a moment. This is not just some legend or some myth. This is actual historical fact. All right, Isaiah 63 once again, and reading verse 13.

"That led them through the deep, as an horse in the wilderness, that they should not stumble?" Now, that’s a play on words that the average reader will never get. Like I’ve pointed out, I think in our last taping, in the Middle East what’s the wilderness? Desert. What’s desert? Flat. I’ll never forget our trip down to Petra. Remember that? Oh, just flat for miles and miles and miles. Well, for a horse and rider what is that? Hey, that’s smooth going. That’s smooth going compared to going through the rocks and canyons of a mountainous area. So, this is the picture now, the horseman in the wilderness in the Middle East is riding without fear of stumbling or rocks or whatever like that, and this is the God who led them as someone riding on horseback on a flat desert table. Then, "they should not stumble." But, on the other hand, verse 14, we have another picture and it’s:

"As a beast goeth down into the valley,…" Now, why do beasts go down into the valleys of a terrain? What’s down there? Water! So, these are the analogies that you’ve got to look for. God brought them out just like a horseman riding on the desert, but He took care of them like animals going down to the cool water of a mountain stream.

"…the Spirit of the LORD caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name." Now, this is really a prayer, you see, on behalf of this small little remnant who recognized who the God of Israel really was.

"Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory: where is thy zeal and they strength, the sounding of thy bowels (innermost being) and of thy mercies toward me? are they restrained? (Now, in the next verse there’s an interesting statement, again, that the casual reader will just slip over.) 16. Doubtless thou art our father,…" Now, did unbelieving Israel think that? Let me show you. Come back to John’s gospel.

Now, I like to jump into the New Testament as often as I can, because I don’t want someone to accuse me of staying in the Old Testament - John’s gospel chapter 8 verse 39. The Pharisees are now confronting Jesus and ridiculing Him. They’re scorning Him.

"They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father." So, they really didn’t understand God the Creator of everything as their Father. They ridiculed Christ when He claimed to know the Father and was the Father. I think I had a couple of other verses on my mind, but that should suffice. They knew nothing of God as their Father. They recognized Abraham as their father, and they were religious on that basis. But to have God as their Father; they knew nothing of it. All right, verse 16 again, back in Isaiah 63. So, the believing element can claim God as Father.

"Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not:…" Now, there again, what does that tell you? How did the rank and file of Israel feel about the true believers? They detested them. They’re nothing but negatives. They’re holding everything back. They’re not progressive. Sound familiar? Yeah, it does. It’s no different today. So it’s always been that the true believer was considered a stumbling block to progress.

"…thou, O LORD, art our father, our redeemer; (See, there’s that word again, the One who purchased their salvation.) thy name is from everlasting. 17. O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance." Now, you see, way back here Isaiah is prophesying how the remnant at the end-time, that we looked at in the last half-hour, will be waiting for the return of Christ to establish His Kingdom. So they can pray, "Return." But, did the unbelieving element want that? No. That’s the last thing they wanted.

In fact, this always brings up a question. Go back with me, I hope I don’t get myself in trouble here. I should probably look up where I was in Psalms, but anyway, go back with me to Acts chapter 7. Here we have the account of Stephen. He’d just finished his great dissertation condemning the nation of Israel, and then you come down to verse 54, Acts 7. I hope you’re catching my analogy. This is going to be the attitude of the masses of Israel compared to that remnant that will be spared and are waiting for the Lord to return - much like the unbelieving element confronting Stephen.

"When they heard these things, (That is from Stephen.) they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55. But he, (Stephen) being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God," Oh, that throws a curve at everybody. Why did Stephen see Jesus standing when all the rest of Scripture says, "He sat down at the right hand of the Father on high?" Well, if He’s going to return, what does he have to do from the seated position? Well, He has to stand. Was Israel ready for that in Stephen’s day? No. Now, flip back to Psalms 68, and this will show you why. Oh, they didn’t want Christ to return. That’s the last thing they wanted. But the remnant did.

"Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered: (Why? Because when He stands from that seated position, He’s going to come in judgment first before He brings in the blessings of the Kingdom.) let them also that hate him flee before him." Now, we showed that so graphically in our last set of four programs. My, when He returns He’s going to be as if stomping on the masses of humanity so that the blood is splattered on His raiment. It was compared to what? The grapes in a grape vat. Remember? All of Scripture draws that analogy that He’s going to return in wrath against His enemies, but it’ll be the greatest blessing on earth for the remnant of believing Israel who will be waiting for His coming.

"As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God." (That is his Second Coming.) 3. But (What about the righteous? They’re going to be glad.) let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. 4. Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens, by his name JAH (Jehovah), and rejoice before him." Now, that’s the exuberance of the remnant at the return of Christ. But the majority of Israel? No. They don’t want Him to return. They aren’t ready for Him. So, always remember these things, that the Second Coming will be wrath and vexation on the unbelieving world, but for that remnant of Israel it’s to be the culmination of all the prophetic Scriptures.

All right, back to Isaiah, we’ve got a couple of minutes left, Isaiah 63 verse 17. The last part again:

"Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance." See, the believers wanted Him to return. Now, don’t forget the setting. This is the Tribulation remnant that is waiting for His sudden return.

"The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries (Now this, of course, is a reference to the Babylonians as well as the Romans.) have trodden down thy sanctuary. (I feel it’s a reference to the temple. But, the little remnant of Israel can claim…) 19. We are thine: (Why? Because of their faith God has redeemed them. They are a believing remnant.) thou never barest rule over them; they (That is the adversaries.) were not called by thy name." It’s so obvious now that this is the prayer and the expectation of the remnant.

Now, I think we can go right on into 64 because, after all, the chapter breaks were not in the originals, and it reads just as well without the chapter heading. So, it’s that same remnant that continues in this prayer of exultation.

"O that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down,…" Now, I think we did this in one of our last programs. Israel is waiting for Christ to come down. Turn with me to I Thessalonians chapter 4, and we’ll see the opposite effect for you and I and the Body of Christ. I Thessalonians chapter 4 and this is what we have to do. A lot of people try to put everything into one basket. No, you don’t ever do that. You just keep separating the Scriptures. The Old Testament believers expected God to come down. He’s going to stand on the Mount of Olives. He’s going to set up His throne in Jerusalem, and He’s going to give them an earthly Kingdom. But you and I, we’re going the other direction.

I Thessalonians 4 and I’m going to read them all again, because everyday we get letters from people who have just caught the program for the first time. You know, yesterday a lady called and she ordered something and I said, "Well, how long have you been listening?" One program! That’s unbelievable - one program. So, we have to constantly keep them in mind as we repeat and repeat and repeat. All right, here’s Paul’s take on what the Church or the true Church, the Body of Christ, is looking for shortly (7 years) before Israel looks for Him to come down into their midst at the end of the Tribulation. Now, it’s the same way with the two Jewish ladies grinding at the mill, one will be taken, the other left. Well, that’s not the rapture. The one taken in that case is the unbeliever. They’re going to be removed from the scene and the believer will be left, that is in the Tribulation, having received salvation through the preaching of the 144,000, but for the church age believer it’s just the opposite.

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, (Who have physically died.) that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, (In other words, we believe Paul’s Gospel for salvation.) even so them also which sleep (have died) in Jesus will God bring with him. 15. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord…" See how plain that is?

Now, Israel would say the coming of the Lord is down to them. He’s going to come to the Mount of Olives. Zechariah 14 says it. Acts 1 says it. He’s going to stand on the Mount of Olives when He comes. But for us in the Body of Christ, He’s not going to come to the planet. He’s going to only come to the air!

"…shall not precede (or go ahead of) them which are asleep (who have died). (This is the reason.) 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17. Then we which are alive and remain (We’re still in our everyday livelihood.) shall be (what?) caught up together with them in the clouds, (He’s not going to be brought down to our midst, we’re going to be caught up.) to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Well, that’s the beginning of eternity for us.

For Israel, it’s the beginning of the Kingdom here on earth, which will come seven years later at Christ’s Second Coming to the earth, at the end of the Tribulation. There will be a thousand years of glorious rule and reign, by their King, their Messiah, and their Redeemer.

But for us it’s already the beginning of the eternal state. We’re getting closer and closer every day. How we long for, as Paul puts it, to escape this old tabernacle of the flesh, with all of its disappointments and its pain and its suffering. One day we’re going to have that glorious new body like His resurrected body and not just for the thousand years, but for all eternity. But Israel…Israel is looking for the Messiah to come down from heaven into their midst and to set up the promised Kingdom.

Again, we want to thank all of you out in television for all of your prayer support, your financial support, and most of all your encouraging letters. I appreciate the fact that most of you know I like to have you keep them short. You don’t have to overdo it, but try to refrain from two, three, and four page letters because that crimps our time. We try to be honest with you. In fact, we had guests in our home last week from Chicago, and they were helping us open the mail, and they said, "Well, do you read every letter?" And I said, "Isn’t that what I tell people on television, so I can’t lie to them." So, yes, I’ll keep reading every letter, and it helps if you keep them short. But how we love them.

In our last lesson we got through Isaiah 64 verse 1. Now remember, as we’ve been studying the last two half-hours on the main topic of "the prayer of the remnant," it’s the believing remnant of Israel shortly before the Second Coming that is in view of the eyes of the prophet, and remember, the prophets can do that. They can leap the centuries and speak as if it’s today or tomorrow or whatever. So, this is the voice of the remnant just before Christ’s return and this continues now in chapter 64. Then we get into chapter 65; we’re going to see Jehovah, or the LORD, respond to the prayer of the remnant. Then we go on into chapter 66, hopefully in the next half-hour and wind up the book of Isaiah. It ends with all the blessings that are waiting Israel when they have the King and the Kingdom, following the soon to be, we feel, 7 years of Tribulation that is coming upon the earth. All right, but Isaiah 64 verse 1, we’re still in the words of the remnant.

"Oh, that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down (That is His Second Coming as we look at it.) that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, 2. As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine (what?) adversaries,…" Now, I don’t like to run a good thing into the ground, but you see, in our last taping, in those first three programs, we covered some of the horrors of those final seven years, and it is beyond human description. But it is coming. God will have to do that if He’s the righteous God that He claims to be. He has to deal in wrath and judgment before He can open up the doors of the Kingdom. So, the horrors will be beyond human description.

In fact, I don’t think I did it last taping although I intended to because it was at a point just shortly after the Tsunami horrors of Asia on December, 25, 2004. As people began to call, I referred them one after the other to Jeremiah 25, and now you can turn with me for a minute to Jeremiah 25. Since this is all fresh on our memory and seeing the horrors of the destruction that was all just along the coastlines. It hardly affected the inland.

If any of you happened to see the video, it was not…oh…not too long ago, but it was long after the original, and Iris and I just happened to catch it. Here was all the water rushing back out to sea. That’s what I’ve been waiting to see, because I knew that all the waves that went over land had to go back out. Well, this video happened to show it and it was beyond description. You can’t imagine if you didn’t see it, the death and destruction as that river of water was going back out to sea. Trucks and cars and trees and buildings and -- unbelievable! But here is the graphic description from Scripture of how it will not just be on a few miles of shoreline in Asia, but this is going to be around the planet. Nothing is going to escape God’s wrath.

Now, I don’t do this to be facetious or to be sensational, but it does bear being reminded of the wrath of God that’s coming on the unbelieving world. Even as Israel knew it was going to come on all except the remnant. All right, you got Jeremiah 25 and I’ve been telling my callers to start with verse 30, so we might as well do it here. Now, if these tapes are still being shown several years from now, it’ll probably seem a little out of place. But, in view of where we are today, just stop and analyze this and ask yourself, how much of this did we see in those miles of coastline in Asia?

Now remember, that didn’t go very far inland. All the damage and havoc was just along the coastline. But this isn’t going to be limited to coastline. This isn’t going to be limited to Asia. This is going to be striking every nation on the planet.

"Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, (Now this is almost the same language that we saw a couple of programs back in Isaiah 63.) and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against (now watch the language) all the inhabitants of the earth. (Not just a few hundred thousand Asians. This will strike everybody around the planet.) 31. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations,…" Why? Because of their unbelief! Because of their rejection of all of His love and grace.

"…he will plead with all flesh; (Not just Asia, not just Israel, not just Europe, not just America. It’s going to be the whole planet.) he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD." The believer is not going to be in this scenario at all. This is for the majority who has chosen to reject Him. Now, the sword only speaks of one thing and what is it? Death.

"Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation,…" Now, I think this is going to include nuclear. It’s going to include natural events, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis - you name it. It’s going to be a conflagration of every description.

"…and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts (borders) of the earth." Now verse 33, and as you look at this verse just stop and think of what you saw in Asia the last few weeks. This is exactly what we saw. But that was just one little isolated area.

"And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: and they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried;…" What happened over there? They couldn’t find most of the corpses to even have a funeral. Many of them were never found. We know that. Washed out to sea. We happened to catch a little clip where they had a great big firewood pier, and they were just simply throwing the corpses on it just to get rid of them to stop the disease. They didn’t have time to embalm and have funerals and bury. Well, isn’t that exactly what it says here? They will not be lamented. There’ll be no funerals. They’ll not be gathered. There’ll be no taking them into a mortuary. They will not be buried. There won’t be any reason or opportunity to. Why? Because those dead bodies:

"…they shall be dung (or refuse or trash) upon the ground." That’s what the world is facing. They can scorn us all they want. When I read these articles of scorn I just have to have two reactions. On the first hand I feel sorry for them, and on the other hand, I think, "You’re going to deserve it." Because you don’t have to be that blind; the Scripture is so plain. But anyway, this is just a little itsy bitsy tip-of-the-iceberg of what the world is facing.

All right, back to Isaiah 64 and the remnant is still pleading to God when He comes and raises his wrath and vexation against the unbelieving world, all right, verse 3.

"When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence. 4. For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." Now, we’re going to jump up to the New Testament a minute, if I may.

Let’s flip all the way up to I Corinthians 2:9. Some of you are way ahead of me, aren’t you? That’s great! That shows that you’re getting aware of the Scriptures. I Corinthians 2:9 - now this is the Apostle Paul writing to you and I as Gentiles. I almost have to go back to verse 6 to pick up the flow. We’re not going to rush. If I don’t finish Isaiah today, why we’ll do it later.

"Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: (or spiritually mature) yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought: 7. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, (or a revelation of secrets) even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our (or I think the apostle could have written, ‘my’) glory. (Because he’s the one that reveals all this, and all of this was such that-) 8. Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, (Now the princes of the world means the rulers and those with authority – Israel, as well as Gentile.) they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."

Now, what’s he referring to? Had the authorities of Israel or even the authorities of Rome known that this Jesus of Nazareth was the Creator of the universe, would they have nailed Him to that cross? No way! They wouldn’t have been that stupid But why did they? They didn’t know. They were blind in their unbelief. Like Isaiah said, it’s always been that way. They cannot comprehend. But read on.

"But as it is written, (This is where Paul is quoting from Isaiah 64.) Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that (what?) love him." Not the wrath and vexation that’s coming on the unbeliever, but the things that are prepared for the believer, it’s beyond comprehension!

Now, you know, I’m always the first to admit that Scripture, as I see it, does not really tell us that much about our eternal state. It doesn’t tell us what we’re going to be doing. It doesn’t tell us how we’re going to be operating. In fact, it almost tells us nothing, except one thing. It’s going to be what? Glorious! We cannot begin to comprehend the glory that is awaiting the true child of God.

"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." But, even that is limited to the Scriptures. The Scripture limits us to the fact that the eternal state is glorious. That’s as far as we can go.

You know, my daughter loves horses, and that’s why, of course, she experienced her horrible accident. She’s always been a horse-nut. I remember a couple of years ago, she said, "Daddy, do you suppose it’s possible the Lord will give me a horse barn a half a mile long? And I can clean stalls every day?" Because, you know, it’s funny with these gals that love horses, their favorite pastime is cleaning the stalls and putting in fresh bedding and all that. Well, I said, "Honey, we don’t know." We have no idea of what we’re going to be doing or how when we get into the eternal state.

Now, I’m of the same impression. I hope that there will be animals in glory, because I love animals. But I don’t know. I’m not going to tell people well, we’re going to have pets, and we’re going to have animals. But I know one thing; it’s going to be glorious - beyond human comprehension!

Okay, now I could probably use a few other verses, but I think we’d better go back to Isaiah 64, or I won’t even get close to finishing the Book today. But anyway, now the believers are crying out, those that have an inkling of what God has prepared for them that wait for him. That’s the next one I wanted to use. Wait for him. Turn back again to the New Testament, all of you - I Thessalonians. I should have thought of it while I was in I Corinthians, but I didn’t. That was the next key word - to wait.

Now you know, the first time I caught that verse years ago, I thought, well, now what in the world? Why did the apostle write that these Thessalonians were being commended, not condemned, they’re being commended for their attitude of waiting. Now, all we ever hear is "get to work!" Do this, do this, and do this. Because, after all, if you’re a believer God’s got things for you to do. But we’re going to temper that a little bit. Don’t get so busy doing the Lord’s work that you haven’t got time to contemplate – What’s the next big event on God’s calendar? The return of Christ! First, to take us up and then seven years later to return to the nation of Israel.

Well, all right, I Thessalonians chapter 1 and I’m going to start at verse 8 in this series because Paul is commending these Thessalonian believers, fresh out of paganism, remember, they’ve been idol worshippers. They’ve been moon-god worshippers. They’ve been the mythological gods and goddesses worshippers. There they are – trophies of God’s Grace! Verse 8:

"For from you (the Thessalonian believers) sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia (Northern Greece) and Achaia (which was Southern Greece) but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing." In other words, Paul didn’t have to tell people about these Thessalonian believers. Their fame went all across the land of Greece.

"For they themselves (That is the rest of the population of Greece, when they’d talk about these Thessalonian believers.) shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, (That is, as Paul brought the Gospel to these pagans. Now watch it.) and how ye turned to God from (What?) idols (See, they were idolaters.) to serve the living and true God;" Now, here’s the verse. Along with their salvation, along with their serving, and telling others of this glorious Gospel and this newfound life apart from paganism, they were waiting.

"And to (What?) wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the (What?) wrath to come." That’s why I know we’re not going into the Tribulation. We’ve been spared that.

But what were the early believers doing? Waiting for this great event. What was the remnant of Israel doing? Waiting for that great event. Well, they didn’t live to see it, but that doesn’t take away from the fact and I think that’s where we should be today. My, in spite of all of our activity, in spite of all of our busyness, we should be able to just relax at times and say, "Lord, how long?" How long until we hear, as the songwriter put it, until we hear that great song and Christ Returneth. Okay, back to Isaiah 64. So, don’t get so busy that you haven’t got time to wait for the trumpet sound that we are confident is coming.

All right, verse 5, now this is a verse we took off from in one of our last programs, in our last taping, and I jumped up to the New Testament because of all the language here that prepared this remnant for their salvation. Now, of course, Old Testament salvation was different than ours under grace. I can’t explain it and I’ve never found anybody that really could. It’s kind of an enigma. What kind of a salvation did they have? I know it was by faith, but on the other hand, there are a lot of questions as to how much security they had and so forth.

But remember now, these are the remnant at the end of the Tribulation that we saw Jesus refer to in Matthew 24. They’re going to be escaping out into the wilderness, whereas the rest of the nation is going to suffer their death along with the rest of the world. All right, verse 5:

"Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways; behold, thou art wroth; (Now remember, the Tribulation is raging all around them. God is supernaturally protecting them out in that wilderness.) for we have sinned: (See, that’s the first step in salvation; it is to recognize our lostness or that we’re sinners.) in those is continuance, and we (because of recognizing their need) shall be (what?) saved." And this remnant was. They were saved Jews within the nation of Israel, and I’m sure they were a sprinkling of all the tribes, because they’re all going to be represented. In fact, that’s the way Paul puts it.

Let’s go back and look at it a minute, again. Romans chapter 11, I’ve got to make the point because this also precipitates a lot of questions. I hope I can find it. It’s got to be in chapter 11. Boy, some of you guys are going to have to help me find it; I’m not seeing the verse I want. Anyway, where it says, "that all Israel shall be saved." Am I looking at it and not seeing it? Thank you. Romans 11:26, this has to be answered.

"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." But all right, we can’t let one Scripture override another.

Now, come back with me to what we looked at in Zechariah a program or two back and our listening audience promises us that they watch every day, so they’ll remember this. Zechariah chapter 13 and this is going to answer the question. Now, I know this is repetition, but hopefully it will make a point.

"And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third (That is the third part.) shall be left therein. (That’s the remnant - one third.) 9. And I will bring the third part through the fire, (That is through the Tribulation.) and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try (test) them as gold is tried (tested): they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, the LORD is my God." All right, so this is the conclusion you have to come to when Paul says, "yet all Israel shall be saved." The Old Testament says it’ll only be a remnant. What does it mean? Only the remnant is the "all Israel" of Romans 11:26, simply to indicate that in that remnant there are members of every tribe. No tribe will be left out in that remnant.

So it will, for that time, be the "all Israel." Now, I hope that settles it even for my TV audience. When it says all Israel shall be saved, it doesn’t mean the fifteen million Jews on the planet today. It means more like five million and in that five million are representatives of all the tribes of ancient Israel.

Back to Isaiah 64, and verse 6, this is why we know this is the believing remnant, because they recognize their need. What about the rest of Israel? No, in spite of all their immorality and in spite of their idolatry, what did they do every so often down at Jerusalem? They went to the temple and that was supposed to make everything right. But the rest of the time they were horrific in their behavior. But you see, the believing remnant recognized their need and what they were and why God could save them.

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags;…" Now, let me stop and ask you, those of you who know Christ’s earthly ministry. You know the four Gospel accounts probably better than I do. Did the Pharisees think of themselves as "filthy rags?" Why, heavens no! They were self-righteous. They could do no wrong. Even Saul of Tarsus, who later became the Apostle Paul, what was he? Religious to the hilt! He couldn’t find any fault in his lifestyle; he was religious. But the believing element could recognize what they were in God’s sight, and that’s why God could save them. Well, it’s no different today, no different. All right, reading on.

But we are all as an unclean thing, all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; (We have nothing going for us.) and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7. And there is none that calleth on thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities." That was the very attitude that caused this little remnant of Israel to become believers.

See, it’s no different today. The pomp and the circumstance of most of Christianity today never brings a person to recognize their need. They’re okay. They’re going to make it. They’ve got all their reasons, but you see, the first step for salvation is to recognize our lostness, as we pointed out a couple of programs ago. So, always remember that this is the first step in God’s saving grace for mortal man, whether it was Israel in antiquity or for us today in 2005 or whatever year we’re in. That first step for salvation is to recognize that we are nothing in God’s sight. Our own righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags.

Okay, once again, it is good to have everybody back. This is our fourth program this afternoon and for those of you out in television, we’re just an informal Bible study. That’s why we have the coffee cups. This is not a pseudo church or anything like that. We’re just here to search the Scriptures and to see if these things are really so.

Now, we’re especially favored today, and I mentioned it in one of our other programs, but our youngest son Todd and his wife Kim are here and with our latest grandson. He’s only eight weeks old, so somebody just reminded me today that this is probably his first real Bible study! I’m sure they’ve already had him in church someplace, but this is his first Bible study, and if the Lord tarries, someday he can look at the tape and say, "There I was, I got a good start." My goodness, I didn’t even see him on the screen. I’m not just a proud grandpa, but that’s a pretty, pretty baby!

Okay, now then, back to the things at hand - Isaiah 65 verse 1. This is the Lord’s answer, now, to the prayerful plea of the remnant just before He returns.

"I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 2. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a (What kind of people?) rebellious people," Now, this is Israel! They’ve had the Word. They’ve had the prophets. They’ve had the temple. They’ve had the priesthood. But it didn’t make any difference. They were just as rebellious and unbelieving as the Gentile pagan world around them.

"I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;" Now, lest you think that this is recent in Israel’s history, go back with me to the last verse of Judges, and that would be chapter 21, and verse 25. Now, this is about shortly after they came out of Egypt. About 400 years before King David, and this is unbelievable. Samuel was the last of the judges, but this last verse just typifies ancient Israel almost from day one. Of course, Isaiah is now writing almost a thousand years later, and he’s deploring the same fact.

"In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." Now beloved, when you let the human race do their own thing, is it good or bad? It’s never good. Okay, back to Isaiah because I want you to see that God has mercifully put up with the human race from day one because Israel was, you know, the covenant people. They should have been a people of obedience. But they weren’t. The only ones that were obedient were just that small remnant.

"A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;" Now, what are they doing? Idol worship. They didn’t even build altars the way God instructed them to build altars, because when Israel was taught how to build an altar, they didn’t use brick, they used what? Hewn stone. See, bricks are manmade. They’re cooked in an oven. But see, here they used altars made of a counterfeit rather than the hewn stone as God had instructed Israel. All right, so it just all shows rebelliousness. They’re not even going to build an altar according to God’s design.

"Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, (Now, you know that was forbidden all the way up in Israel’s history.) and broth of abominable things is in their vessels;" In other words, even their soup that they made was made of stuff that was totally contrary to Israel’s dietary laws.

"Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou." My goodness, that puts it as plain as English can make it. So what are they likened to? The Pharisees. That was their attitude. They were righteous. They were holy. They would wrap their clerical robes around themselves, and they could do no wrong. But these were the same way. They say, "I’m holier than you are."

"These are a smoke in my nose, (Not the smoke of incense, as God appreciated in the temple worship. But this was acrid smoke that burned the nostrils.) a fire that burneth all the day." Now again, I think you can go back to an analogy of the ancients. They probably lived in small dwellings. They didn’t have central heat and air, so what was the normal material for burning to keep the house warm? Well, dried cow manure. Just like they did out west. So, the acrid smoke of that cattle refuse would literally permeate the whole house. That’s what they lived in. But God likens that to His experience with Israel.

"Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom. 7. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom." In other words, it’s been generation after generation. Now verse 8, this is an interesting little verse.

"Thus saith the LORD, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not;" Now, you’ve kind of got to put some thought here. What kinds of grapevines do you suppose the hired help were pulling out to burn? Well, the ones that weren’t producing - the dead ones. That stands to reason. But, as they’re about to pull out this dead grapevine, the husbandman sees what? One cluster of grapes. What does he say? Don’t destroy that good little cluster of grapes. Now read on.

"Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants’ sake, that I may not destroy them all." Again, what’s that one little clump of grapes on the dead vine a picture of? The remnant. Oh, all these things you’ve got to kind of dig and then here they come, and it just tantalizes your spiritual appetite. Don’t destroy the vine. There is one cluster of grapes that is still useful for the grape juice.

"And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine (What?) elect (The remnant again. The true believer) shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. (Now, we come to the promises of this coming Kingdom.) 10. And Sharon…" That is the Valley of Sharon, which is just east of the Mediterranean coast. It’s one of the valleys of Israel, and now a lot of it is covered with the sand that has blown up from the Mediterranean Sea. I don’t know how much validity this has, but one of our guides over there told us how all that sand accumulates up on Israel. It comes from the Nile water coming into the Mediterranean, and then all the prevailing northwesterly winds blow it up onto the shore of Israel. So, you’ve got these huge sand dunes all along the Mediterranean seashore. But beyond them, of course, you have this productive Valley of Sharon.

"And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, (In other words, Sharon is going to revert back to that beautiful productive valley of grass and water for the flocks of Israel.) and the valley of Achor..." Now, those of you who know your Old Testament, what was the Valley of Achor? Well, you remember Achan? This was shortly after they came across the Jordan River, and they were to have nothing to do with the spoils of the little town of Ai. They were instructed, don’t touch any of that stuff, it should all be destroyed. What did Achan do? He took some for himself, and he thought he’d gotten away with it but God knew. You remember that Achan was dealt harshly over that. The Valley of Achor became a curse to Israel. It was just something that was avoided. But, here in the Kingdom it’s going to be a valley of blessing.

"…and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me." In other words again, for the remnant that’s going to come into the glorious earthly Kingdom that’s been promised since day one.

"But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink-offering unto that number. 12. Therefore, will I number you (Now that’s the unbelieving element again.) to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter:…" Remember what Zechariah said? Two thirds will die; one third will come through the Tribulation and be the remnant to go into the Kingdom.

"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servant shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty, behold my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: 14. Behold, my servants (That is the believing remnant.) shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. 15. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall (What?) slay thee,…" Now, you see, I’ve mentioned the two women at the well and two people sleeping in the bed, and what does the Lord say in Matthew?

"The one shall be taken, the other left?" Well, which one will be taken? The unbeliever! He’ll be removed (die) and the believer will go on into the Kingdom economy. All right, now then, let’s drop quickly down into verse 17.

"For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former (That is the old earth.) shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Now, of course, I guess there’s room for controversy here. Is He speaking of the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21 and 22, or is He speaking of the renovated earth of the Kingdom Age?

I personally feel he’s talking about the renovated earth for the millennial reign. Now, you’ve got to remember the thousand-year reign of Christ is the Kingdom economy, in which Christ will rule and reign from Jerusalem. Then, at the end of that thousand years, according to Revelation, I guess we’d better go back to Revelation and take a look at that. Here in Revelation chapter 20 we find that those thousand years are over. Now remember, it’s going to be heaven on earth because Satan has been locked up. There has been no one to tempt them. They have had a perfect environment. They’ve not been tempted to sin or to rebel until Satan’s released, and then for a little while he’s going to again confuse the multitudes.

"And when the thousand years are expired, (That’s the Kingdom, the millennium.) Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8. And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, (All of them.) to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, (I mean, it’s just a repetition of Armageddon all over again.) and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: (Which, of course, is Jerusalem, but this time God wastes no time.) and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." In the next verse, Satan, of course, is consigned to the Lake of Fire. Then you go through the Great White Throne, preparing everything for the coming eternal bliss of both Israel and the Gentile world.

Now, you come into chapter 21 and John prophetically sees a new heaven and a new earth. I don’t think it’s the new heaven and new earth that Isaiah’s referring to. He’s referring to the thousand-year earth, which will be renovated. But this will be brand new.

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were (What?) passed away;…" Peter puts it in scientific language, and he says, "that the earth and everything in it is burned up and it’s going to be dissolved." It’s going to be melted down, and out of that will then come the eternal new heaven and new earth, and again it just seems that God’s going to still maintain that separation between Israel and the Body of Christ, who are the "heavenly," even for all of eternity.

But, back to Isaiah, quickly now, we’ve only got about half the program left, already. So, here we’re preparing the earth of the millennial reign, heaven on earth. It’s going to be an earth of tremendous production. There’ll be no want. There’ll be no sweat of the brow; it’s going to be an easy production, and food will be in abundance everywhere.

"And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 20. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days:…" In other words, death will be almost unknown in this thousand-year period.

"…for the child shall die an hundred years old; (In other words, at a hundred they’re still just as vibrant as a child.) but the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed." Which means there might be a possibility of someone having to be removed. I think it’s going to be so rare that the Scripture really doesn’t deal with it all that much. All right, verse 21, it’s going to be a Kingdom of tremendous activity.

"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 22. They shall not build, and another inhabit;…" Which was Israel’s history. They’d get their economy going and enemy forces would come in and take their crops and destroy their houses and they were under constant turmoil. But that will happen no more.

"…they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." In other words, I think they’ll live the whole thousand-year period of time, even as they did back before the flood.

"They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them. (Now, the next verse is a perfect parallel with John’s gospel chapter 14.) 24. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Now, I think I’ve got time. Let’s go up to John’s Gospel because this has been such a confusing thing for so many people, and they can’t get it through their thinking that Christ was looking forward to the Kingdom time when He said so many of these things. They’re not apropos for us today.

John 14 verse 13. Now, this will all become a reality in this Kingdom economy, when Christ is ruling and Satan is locked up. Every Jew will be in a special manifestation of God’s grace and power. The Lord is speaking, and He says:

"And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." What does that mean? Whatever they want. All they have to do is speak it. Providing, of course, that it’s within common sense, and I think that’s going to be a given. But it’s going to be a time when all their prayers will be answered as if they had merely had the thought.

Okay, back to Isaiah, quickly now, the last verse in chapter 65, and this is a perfect parallel for Isaiah chapter 11.

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together,…" Now, this isn’t just pie in the sky. A lot of people scoff at this, and they say, "Well, that’s just a figure of speech." No, it is not. This is going to become a literal reality when God will literally change the digestive system of the wild animals where they will not eat of other living things. Isaiah 11 says that they will eat of everything that grows naturally, the herbs and the grasses and so forth.

"The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: (His whole digestive system will be transferred from carnivorous to eating forage.) and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. (Now, we know that the serpent will not be active in the Kingdom, so this is simply a play on words that the serpent will not enjoy all these good things of the Kingdom.) They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, (or in my Kingdom) saith the LORD." All right, now let’s go into the final chapter of Isaiah, and remember that Isaiah is 66 chapters long and our Bible is 66 books. So, there is a parallel.

"Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: (Now, what is that a significance of ? His Sovereignty. The earth is just His footstool. It’s just a little marble out of all of God’s creation. And it’s His.) where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?" I’m going to skip now, so that we get a little closer to the end, as I want to finish Isaiah today - verse 5.

"Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you,…" Wow, what have we got there again? The little remnant has been hated by the majority. We’re seeing the same thing today. Even in the realms of Christendom, the true believer is more and more being scorned by the masses. They think we’re odd. They think we’re narrow-minded, and they don’t literally take this Book to be true.

My goodness, we just had a lady share with us during break time, where she was in a church out near the east coast where they gave their Sunday School kids the lesson that they came from apes – evolution. If they wanted to teach creation they could believe it if they want to. But listen, this is happening in churches. This is apostasy. It’s coming in like a flood. That’s one of the worst ones I’ve heard, but I’ve heard a lot of them almost as bad. But beloved, it’s always been this way, even in ancient Israel the true believer was scorned and ridiculed by the majority.

"…Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, let the LORD, be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be (What?) ashamed. (or disappointed.)" Now, that reminds me of a verse in Peter. I think I can take the time. Go all the way up to I Peter. It makes the same analogy. This is New Testament.

"Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, (Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah) elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded." If you want to take your concordance or Strong’s Concordance and you compare that word, what’s another word for it? Disappointed.

Now, when will the mass of the so-called religious people be disappointed? When they find themselves in the wrong place! That’s the same way with church people today. My, when they slip out into eternity, many are going to be disappointed. They’re not going to be where they thought they were going. Okay, we’re down to the final two minutes, so let’s move on up into Isaiah chapter 66, verse 7.

"Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child." Who are we talking about? Israel. What’s the man-child? Christ’s birth at Bethlehem.

"Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." Now, we’re jumping up from the miracle of Bethlehem to the super, super miracle of the Second Coming and Christ establishing His Kingdom, and the saved of Israel entering into all the promises that they’ve been looking for. How long is it going to take to happen? In an instant. The moment Christ returns they’re going to come into the glory of that promised Kingdom.

"Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth and shut the womb? saith thy God. (Oh, no way, God isn’t going to fall short of all these promises.) 10. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her,…" Then, drop all the way down to verse 15. I’ve got to do this quickly.

"For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 16. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many." Now, we’ll close with verse 18.

"For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory." When will it happen? At His Second Coming, and we’re getting closer and closer every day.

My, we got some testimonies in the mail yesterday from prison inmates and we’re going to share them in our next newsletter. It’s just thrilling how the Lord is using our simple teaching of the Word to bring hearts and lives to a true saving knowledge. We just want to let you know that we appreciate so much your letters, your financial help, your prayers, everything that makes the ministry possible.

Okay, we’re going to be taking a little different approach today, as we’ve gone through the Scriptures from Genesis through Revelation and have just finished the Book of Isaiah, pretty much chapter and verse. Today I’m doing something pretty much from requests from our listeners. We’re going to do a series of studies on the Covenants.

I’ll never forget the first time I ever heard about them. I was still teaching in small Bible classes up in Iowa, and I’d been teaching the dispensations. A lady came up and she said, "Les, do you ever teach the Covenants?" Well, I hadn’t even really heard of them. She said, "Our pastor has just finished a whole series, and we’ve enjoyed it so much. I’ll just bring you his notes sometime." So, she did.

Now, that was many years ago and in the meantime I would refer to the Covenants, but I’d never really made an in depth study of them. So, today we’re going to start way back in Genesis chapter 1. Now, for those of you that may feel that a lot of people spend too much time in the Old Testament, remember that whenever I teach the Old Testament, I jump up into the New constantly. So, we’re not bogged down back in Genesis, but we’re going to start today with the first of the Covenant promises in Genesis chapter 1. I’ve had them put on the board for us, and I hope the cameras can pick them up where those of you out in television can read them. There are seven distinct Covenants that God makes - first, of course, with the whole human race. Then with Abraham and then the rest of the Covenants deal primarily with the Nation of Israel and the eighth one afterwards.

Now, this is much the same as the Gospel of John. Those of you who remember, when we studied John, there were eight sign miracles through the Gospel of John. Seven before the crucifixion and then the eighth one afterwards. Well, you’ve got the same thing here. We’ve got seven Covenants coming all the way up until we finish time as we know it, and the Kingdom is brought in, and for it we have the eighth Covenant.

The sign miracle in the last chapter of John was the eighth miracle, which always depicts - most of you now know my numbers – seven is Completion and eight is New Beginning. It’s the same way in this numbering of the Covenants.

You know, not too long ago someone shared with me that a teacher had said, "Well, this is just a book of stories. This is just Jewish myths. This isn’t really the Word of God." Well, things like this make us beg to differ. Human intellect could never think of these things, of putting things in terms of "seven." Even the Apostle Paul, in his writings to the churches, will many times group things in lumps of seven. Now, I stress a lot of these things just to prove how meticulously the Holy Spirit has put this Book together.

Now, I’m sure that none of the writers of Scripture sat down and beat their brains out trying to figure out how they could put "sevens" together in Scripture. But the Holy Spirit does it, miraculously. So, here again we have seven Covenants dealing with time as we know it, then the eighth one in the Kingdom, which is "New Beginning." Look at all these things that pertain to "seven." The first four Covenants have seven parts, then the Mosaic Covenant drops down to three, which, of course, is another prominent number throughout Scripture. Then we come back to the Palestinian, and it has seven parts.

Now, just as soon as I use the word Palestine, people get all shook up. They think it’s not a Biblical term. So, in order to prove my point, here are three references in Scripture where you have the word Palestine - Exodus 15:14, Isaiah 14:29, and 31. Again, in Joel chapter 3 verse 4 you have the term Palestine. Again, that probably deserves a little explanation.

It is really from the original word "Philistine." So, Palestine originated in the area of the ancient Philistines. As I’ve stressed many times in my classes here in Oklahoma and in seminars around the country, Palestine was never a nationalized entity. Palestine is simply a geographical area there on the eastern end of the Mediterranean in which we have the Nation of Israel. So, when I speak of Palestine once in a while, I’m not talking about the Promised Land per se, I’m talking about that part of the world that includes the Nation of Israel or the Promised Land. Now, just remember, that Palestine, as such, was never a national entity. It never had a flag. It never had a constitution. It didn’t have a language of its own. It’s simply a geographical area.

We use them constantly. We speak of the Midwest, here in America. Now, you all know the Midwest doesn’t have borders or a constitution or anything like that, yet most people know what you’re talking about when you speak of the Midwest. The Sahara is the same way. Sahara has never been a nation. It has never had a constitution or a flag or a language, but everybody knows where the Sahara is. Well, you can do that with various aspects around the globe. So, always remember that when we speak of Palestine, it is not a taking away from the Nation of Israel or anything like that. It’s just a reference to the geographical area in which we find the Promised Land, the Nation of Israel.

Now, it’s interesting, too, that down through the centuries, you see, the true Palestinians were the Jews after the Canaanites were driven out. They were there before, and then God by decree drove the Canaanites out and gave the land to Abraham by Covenant promise, as we’ll see down the road. It wasn’t until 1947 that the Arabs took over the term Palestinian. Until then, you never heard of them referred to as Palestinians. True Palestinians were always Jews. They were the ones whose homeland involved the area of Palestine. So, remember that.

Well, anyway, to continue on, after the seven parts of the Palestinian Covenant, we come to the Davidic Covenant; the covenant made starting with King David. Instead of seven, there are five parts. Of course, those of you who know anything of numerology in Scripture – five stands for grace. So, it’s just by grace that this whole Davidic Covenant is brought about.

All right, now we’re going to start with the first of the Covenants; the covenant made concerning the Garden of Eden. We just put an ‘ic’ on the end of it to indicate that it’s an Edenic Covenant. We’ll start in Genesis chapter 1 verse 28. Now, you want to remember, in verses 26 and 27 God has just created Adam, with Eve within him. Of course, she won’t appear physically until sometime later.

In chapter 1 verse 26 we have the creation of Adam and Eve - a male and female. In verse 27 He created them, but you see, they are both in Adam, so they are both called Adam. (Gen 5:2) A lot of people get shook up at that, but it’s the only thing that fits Scripture. Because you see, the woman had to be in the headship part of the man in order to be a recipient of God’s saving grace. Otherwise, we’d have had to have two Saviors. We would have had to have a Savior for the women and a Savior for the men. But since Eve was in Adam, there is only a necessity of one Savior.

All right, here begins the beginning of the Covenant concerning the operations in the Garden of Eden in verse 28.

"And God blessed them, (That is Adam and Eve.) and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish (or fill up) the earth,…" Now, that’s the first part of the seven parts in this covenant.

"…and subdue it: and have dominion…" Now, that’s the word that I always like to emphasize that most people miss. Adam was given dominion, not just over the Garden of Eden; that was just simply the area in which they functioned primarily. But see, Adam was given dominion over the whole planet and everything in it.

"…over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." See, that’s not limited to Eden. It’s part of the Edenic Covenant, but, on the other hand, Adam is now given dominion over the whole planet.

Now, remember that because when we come to the next covenant we’re going to be making some comments about that very fact. All right, as you read on, you see that God now gives them everything that is necessary for life to function. In verse 29, He gives them all the things necessary for food. In verse 30:

"And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so." Then you come across to chapter 2, and we’ll find that we’ve got the fifth part in verse 8, where God now plants the Garden, a specialized place within the dominion of the whole planet.

"And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9. And out of the ground…" We have a repetition of what took place in chapter 1. He formed all these things concerning the creation of the planet, and then you jump over to verses 16 and 17. We have the sixth and seventh part of this covenant; it delegates what God was now forbidding.

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (That was the sixth part of the covenant.) 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely (What?) die." Now, that’s all part of God’s agreement with setting Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Now, I guess I should back up a minute and define the Biblical definition of Covenant. In our normal functioning of life we think of a covenant as an agreement, like a lease agreement or a contract or something, but a covenant, Scripturally speaking, is totally different. It should not even be compared to what we would call a human contract, because a covenant in Scripture originates and ends with God. See the difference?

We think of a contract between two parties. One has to be in agreement with the other. If one breaks it, then he’s going to have to make restitution to the one he’s wronged. But you see, these covenants, all eight of them, begin and end with God Himself. Man has nothing to do with the operation of these covenants. God can break it when He wants to. He can reestablish it if He wants to, as He’s going to do, we’ll see, with the Covenant of Law. But on the other hand, always remember that a covenant begins and ends with God.

So, God stipulated that man would now fill the earth, he would have a prodigy of human beings, he would have dominion over the whole planet, and they would eat of everything that grew naturally. They would kill nothing for food. Nor would any of the created life kill for food; everything would eat things that grew naturally. But along with all the other aspects of the covenant, they are now given the responsibility to not eat of one tree in the Garden. The day they would eat of it, death would be the result - spiritual death first, physical death later. Of course, that sets the stage, then, for the whole 6000 years of human history. God said it. God put it in motion. God will end it when He sees fit.

All right, now I think we can go on into the second covenant where we can spend a lot more time. That is what we call the Adamic Covenant. It, too, has seven parts to it. All right, now we’re going to jump over to chapter 3, and we’re going to start at verse 14. Now, you’ve got to remember that Adam has now eaten of the forbidden tree. How much time elapsed from Creation to the Fall? I’ve never found anybody that has a concrete answer. Some Jewish rabbis feel twenty-eight days. Others feel a little longer. But who knows? After all, Adam lived to be nine hundred and thirty years, so there was a lot of time to deal with it. But whatever, as soon as Adam ate of that forbidden tree, spiritual death entered. Of course, the culprit that precipitated it all was the one whom we know as Satan, or the devil.

"And the LORD God said unto the serpent,…" Now, right there I think this calls for some digging deeper into the Scriptures. Go back to verse 1 in this chapter, and we’ll see that the serpent is described as one of the most subtle. That word subtle, I looked it up one time, has got about fourteen definitions, and they’re all good. It all speaks of his intelligence and of his ability to connive and make deals, and what have you. Evidently, the serpent was not only beautiful to look at, but it must have been an upright creature. I go so far as to say that it even had the ability to speak, because Eve was not the least bit shook up when the serpent spoke. So, we’ve got to realize that Satan has simply picked the best of all creation as his vehicle for approaching Adam and Eve.

That’s the only way I can look at it, because you see, in verse 14 we find that as part of the curse on Satan and the snake that he used, it would now crawl on its belly. Well, that would be unnecessary if that had been the way it had always functioned. So, I think from that we can see that the serpent was an upright, walking, beautiful creation, and that’s what Satan chose to use.

All right, we can pretty much follow up this concept of Satan being the serpent, and the power that he has as a result of picking up Adam’s dominion. Let’s jump all the way up to the New Testament, and we’ll start picking up this fallen creature, this fallen angel with power and subtleness, and see how Scripture constantly refers to him as the serpent and Satan and the devil and so forth.

All right, in Matthew chapter verse 3, the Lord is just beginning His earthly ministry. Here we’ll see the various names associated with this fallen angel. The Lord has just finished His forty days of fasting:

"And when the tempter…." That’s what he is. He’s the tempter, and that’s what he’s called here in verse 3. All right, you can just turn the page, at least in my Bible, and you can come down to verse 5, and now he’s called the what?

"Then the devil, (the tempter) taketh him up into the holy city,…" Then, again in verse 8, he’s referred to again as the devil.

"Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain,…" Now, when you come all the way down to verse 10, this is from the lips of the Lord Jesus Himself, so this is authoritative, we don’t have to quibble over it one iota.

"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, (Now what’s he called?) Satan:…" So now, in just this little short period of Scripture, you’ve got him called the tempter, the devil, and Satan. They all refer to that same personality. All right, let’s jump ahead a little further and see how Paul deals with this creature, this powerful entity that has been plaguing the human race since the dawn of human history.

Come up with me to I Corinthians chapter 5. I want II Corinthians 4, that’ll be the next one, but I Corinthians chapter 5 verse 5 is where Paul is dealing with gross sin in the Corinthian church, but look who’s behind it.

"To deliver such an one (the one who is guilty of this gross sin) unto (Whom?) Satan for the destruction of the flesh, (In other words, to take his physical life.) that the spirit (the soul of the individual) may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." So, here we have Satan as the culprit behind this individual’s gross immorality.

All right, if you’ll come to II Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3, you can just follow how the Scriptures, from Genesis all the way to Revelation, attribute to this fallen angel the various names that apply to the one and the same personality, or the powerful entity that he is.

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4. In whom the god (small ‘g’) of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Well goodness sakes, who’s the god of this world? Well, the same one – Satan, the devil, the tempter, the fallen angel. He is the one that is constantly keeping people from the truth.

Now, you know I’ve made the analogy over and over on this program, I did it on the phone again yesterday with someone. If you know anything about target shooting, whether it’s with a rifle or with a bow and arrow, you know that the center of the target is that small dot we call the bull’s eye. In order to get a full credit for your ability, the name of the game is "hit the bull’s eye." If you don’t, you only get part of the points. Well, you see, it’s the same way with salvation. God is absolute. God is not One who will compromise His person and just let people get away with this and that. So, the name of the game for salvation is to hit the bull’s eye. We have to hit the truth, and we cannot let our ideas and our thinking be shunted aside by any of the deceptions of the evil one. We’re seeing it running rampant today.

Oh, they use the Bible. They use the name of Jesus. They use one thing after another, but they are not putting the target, the bull’s eye, in front of the people. So, I’m afraid that multitudes are going to miss the mark, and Satan is gleefully realizing that he’s accomplished his purpose. Because that’s all he wants to do, keep people from salvation. For a reminder to you, salvation can only be obtained by believing in your heart that Jesus died for your sins, was buried, and rose again. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) Faith in the finished work of the cross is what saves you and nothing more or less will do the job!

All right, now let’s go back in the little time we have left, all the way to the Book of Revelation. Once again, in chapter 12, we pick up the terminology that makes it so plain who we have been dealing with throughout Scripture. We deal with him yet today, this adversary, this tempter, this devil, this Satan, this one who is out to deceive the masses. All right, let’s start in chapter 12 verse 3. Now, this is symbolic prophecy, and it leaps over quite a period of time here, but in verse 3:

"And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red (Now what is he?) dragon, (Same person, only instead of a serpent, now he’s referred to as the great dragon.) having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4. And his tail drew the third part of the stars (or the angels) of heaven, and did cast them to the earth:…" That’s all depicting Satan’s fall and the angels that fell with him way back in Isaiah 14. But now, symbolically, Satan stands before the woman, who, in this chapter, is the Nation of Israel.

"…and the dragon stood before the woman (Israel) which was ready to be delivered, (That is of the Christ child, and what was his purpose?) for to devour her child as soon as it was born." Well, that’s symbolic language. How did Satan attempt to do it? With the decree from Herod that decreed that every boy baby under the age of two was to be put to death. Well, that was Satan’s way of devouring the man-child as soon as it was born, so he could interrupt God’s plan of salvation for the human race.

All right, so here we find he’s referred to as the great dragon. All right, now come on down to verse 9, and we’ve got to see how all these Scriptures fit together from Genesis through the Gospels through Paul and now even to the last book of your Bible.

"And the great dragon (that you saw up there in verse 3) was cast out, that old serpent, (Now, that’s the language of Genesis 3.) called the Devil, and Satan,…" See how Scripture is putting it all together for us? These are all terms describing this great adversary of God.

"…which deceives the whole world:…" Now, he didn’t just stay in Eden. He immediately usurped the power of even, I think, the universe. I may be stretching it a little bit. Some may not agree with me, but turn with me now, just to make my point, all the way up to Revelation chapter 21. Just to make my point when I say that I think he was given the power and the wherewithal to deceive and to pollute, not just the planet earth, but the whole universe. He has defiled everything. Consequently, what’s God going to do? Well, here it comes, Revelation 21 verse 1, and now John sees, out in the future:

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away;…" Why? Because it was all defiled. Satan had touched every bit of it one way or another. After he’s finally taken off the scene, God only has one thing left to do, and that is to destroy everything that was defiled and start over for eternity with everything brand new. No more of the curse. No more of the sin and the heartache and what have you. It’s going to be all brand new. Never forget that all the world’s problems, all the heartache, and all the suffering is brought about by this single entity. This, I don’t like to call him a person, but a personality, called the tempter, the Devil, Satan, the dragon, the serpent, whatever the case may be, it all refers to the very same personality.

For those of you joining us on television, we run four of these programs in an afternoon. We appreciate so much your response, your prayers, and your financial help. How we appreciate testimonies of how the Lord has brought salvation to so many through our simple teaching of the Word. I always have to be reminded, the Word of God is powerful, quick, and divides asunder the very soul and spirit. So, we always give the Spirit all of the credit for what is being accomplished.

All right, we started in our last program on a series of the Covenants that God has made with the human race or with Israel. In our last program, we got only as far as the first part of the second covenant. I guess I can review a little bit for the television audience. We have seven of these covenants coming up through Scripture. We’ve got the Edenic Covenant concerning Eden before the fall, the Adamic, which really sets the stage for human experience under the curse. Then we come to the Noahic Covenant as a response to the flood, and then in the center – I meant to point this out in the very first program. You’ll notice that there are three covenants on each side of what I call the lynchpin of all covenants, which is the Abrahamic. So, you’ve got these three I just mentioned before the call of Abraham, and then you have the Mosaic, the Palestinian and the Davidic after the call of Abraham. Then we have the New Covenant, which will kick in during the Kingdom Age, which will take place at the end of time, as we know it.

So, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to take these three (Edenic, Adamic, and Noahic), and I’m only going to touch on the Abrahamic Covenant. Then, we’re going to move on to the other three (Mosaic, Palestinian, and Davidic). Then I’m going to, hopefully some time down the road, come and deal more extensively with the Abrahamic and the New Covenants.

So, in this program, we’re going to continue on into the second segment of the second covenant, the Adamic. That means we’ll come back where we left off in Genesis chapter 3, and we can now go down into verse 15. In the last lesson we dealt with how God is going to deal with Satan and his experiences, as they will unfold throughout the 6000 years of human experience. Now, verse 15:

"And I (God says) will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed;…" Now, that’s the crucial part of that verse. We’ll come back to the last part a little later. But this continual, belligerent attitude of Satan toward God begins with Adam and will not end until he is finally taken off the scene completely at the end of the Tribulation, only to be released a little while again at the end of the Millennial Kingdom.

Here is what one famous pastor referred to years ago as the "scarlet thread of redemption" that runs all the way from Genesis 3:15 to the end of the human experience. We’re going to chase it down, because again, Satan knows that the only way God can remain God is to keep all of this intact. If Satan can do anything to destroy this "scarlet thread of redemption," then the whole thing falls apart.

Now, it starts right off as soon as Adam and Eve have the two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain rises up and kills Abel. Well, in our day and time, it’s just another murder, but so far as Cain and Abel were concerned it was Satan’s attempt to immediately break the scarlet line of redemption, because the Redeemer was to come through Abel (certainly not Cain). Now, in order to pick up that "scarlet thread of redemption," I’m going to take the easy way out, and I’m going to jump all the way up to Matthew chapter 1. We’ll have to finish the genealogies of the scarlet thread in Luke chap