Welcome to Anchors Of Truth,
live from Surprise, Arizona.
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Well we welcome you
here, and we're so happy
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that we have a
beautiful congregation here
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in Surprise, Arizona at the
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Clearview
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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And thank you
so much for coming.
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And thank you for tuning in
to be a part of this special
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Anchors Of Truth.
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When we do an Anchors
away from our headquarters
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in Illinois, we
call it, Anchors Away.
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And that may be something
that you've heard before
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in a song about the
Navy, but with us it means that
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we're on the
road with an Anchors.
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And right now we've had
the privilege of visiting with
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the North American
Division Jewish Ministries.
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The head of which
is Dr. Ralph Ringer.
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You'll be hearing
from him in a few moments,
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because he will introduce
our speaker, Sasha Bolotnikov,
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a little later on.
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So we're just happy to be here.
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We're also happy to be
promoting and supporting
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and encouraging the
Jewish work, which is what we do
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especially during
this particular week.
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You see, the Bible
tells us a lot of things about
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God's chosen people.
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It tells us that
through this chosen people
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came the Messiah.
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And we have our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ,
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as a result of Abraham
and those who followed,
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and the Abrahamic covenant.
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And so we have been so happy
to reach back with the gospel
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to the Jewish people.
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The spirit of prophecy tells us
that just before Christ returns
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there's going to be
a great movement among
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the Jewish people.
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I read a
statement the other night
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that is extremely important.
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It says, "The time is coming
when there will be as many..."
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And it's talking about Jews.
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"...converted in a day as there
were on the day of Pentecost..."
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Can you imagine that, folks?
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I'm looking forward to that.
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Three thousand people were
converted in a day at Pentecost.
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And I'm looking forward to
that many Jews being converted
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again in a day.
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Acts Of The Apostles, page
381, says, "God expects His
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messengers to take particular
interest in the Jewish people."
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You know, there
have been some people...
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In fact, any time I talk about
this, you will be surprised...
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Maybe you wouldn't.
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...at the letters I will
get from those who do not
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like the Jewish people.
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Anti-Semitic response.
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It breaks my heart when I feel
that some of those were actually
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professing Christians.
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But they've missed what the
Bible and the spirit of prophecy
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says about reaching out.
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Another
statement I want to read.
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It says, "We must get
away from our smallness
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and make larger plans.
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There must be a wider reaching
forth to work for those who are
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nigh and those who are afar off.
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Let there be
special efforts made for the
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enlightenment of the Jews.
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Every soul converted causes
joy in the heavenly courts."
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From Manuscript 87, written
in 1907 in an article entitled,
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"Our Duty Toward the Jews."
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Then it says, "Among the
Jews are some of those who,
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like Saul of Tarsus, are
mighty in the Scriptures..."
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We're going to
hear one of them today.
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Sasha Bolotnikov loves the Lord.
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He understands Greek and Hebrew.
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And he is a great
student of the Scriptures.
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And I believe that he is one
of those, and there are many.
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It says, "There are among the
Jews many who will be converted,
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and through whom we
shall see the salvation of God
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go forth as a lamp that burneth.
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There are Jews everywhere,
and to them the light of
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present truth
is to be brought. "
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And I could go on.
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But I just wanted to
give you an insight that
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this is not something
that comes out of our minds.
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This is not something
that Ralph Ringer and his group
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have invented.
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This is something for which
we believe there is prophetic
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support and encouragement.
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And we want to
follow what God has told us
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what we should do
in these last days.
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I want to go home. Don't you?
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I want this message to go forth.
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When we see the events of
this week and what's happening,
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and this is going to be
multiplied around the world,
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we realize, my
friend, that Jesus Christ
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is coming again soon.
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We don't have a lot of
time to spread this message.
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For me, as far as I'm concerned,
the media is one of the
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best ways to do it.
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That's why I'm
involved with 3ABN.
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Because there's just so
many doors you can knock on.
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But right now through
media God is knocking on
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millions of doors.
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There are actually
billions of people who could,
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led by the Holy Spirit, tune
in to this telecast right now
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and watch it around the world
by the coverage that we have.
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Sometimes people ask me,
"Well who does 3ABN reach?"
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According to a study
that was done a few years ago,
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only three-tenths of
one percent of our viewers
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are Seventh-day Adventists.
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Most of our viewers are not
a part of God's remnant church.
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And so we continue
to spread this message
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with all the power that the Holy
Spirit will pour out upon us.
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We have really
enjoyed, as I mentioned earlier,
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being here at Clearview
Seventh-day Adventist Church.
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I'm going to invite
Pastor Murrell Tull.
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Dr. Tull is the pastor here,
a good friend for many years.
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And I'm going to invite him to
lead us in prayer at this time.
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Shall we pray.
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Our Father which art in heaven,
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we thank You for
Your Son Jesus Christ.
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He left heaven, He came
born in the country of Israel,
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Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem,
baptized in the Jordan,
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went back to heaven,
preparing a place for all of us.
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We thank You for the
dedication of the Trinity,
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and seeing that
we are taken care of.
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So today, we invite the Holy
Spirit to be part of our lives,
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to change our lives.
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We ask a special
blessing upon the Jewish work,
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for those in Israel,
in this loving country,
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especially those in
the pockets of the Jewish
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parts of our country,
in New York and Florida.
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And I know we have our
Jewish friends right here
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in Arizona, in the Phoenix area.
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So we invite Thy
presence to be in their hearts
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as they listen to this
message about being our anchor
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and our truth,
and being our life.
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In Jesus' amen I pray, amen.
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Thank you Pastor Tull.
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Pastor Tull knew
Dr. J.M. Hoffman,
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who is one of
those that helped begin
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the Jewish work in America.
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He began that in New York City.
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He later moved
out to California.
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But it was through
his early pioneer work,
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his financial
support, and his reaching out
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that the work actually,
one of those that began
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the Jewish work
in North America.
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I'm going to invite Pastor
C.A. Murray to come sing for us.
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He's a very
multi-talented individual.
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I love working
with Pastor Murray.
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It's a real privilege.
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After he sings, Dr.
Ralph Ringer is going to come,
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who's the director of
NAD Jewish Ministries,
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to introduce our
speaker of the hour.
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Pastor Murray.
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When I think how Jesus loved me,
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how He waited patiently,
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even when I turned
my back and walked away;
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when He knew I wanted everything
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this world could offer me,
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well I guess He knew
the price I'd have to pay.
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So He watched
me tumble downward,
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saw each compromise I made,
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heard each lie I
whispered just to get my way.
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Still He waited there to hear me
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when I cried to Him and prayed.
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Then He saved my
soul, and that is why I say:
00:10:08.20\00:10:14.28
Tell me, is it any
wonder that I love Him
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when you consider
all He's done for me?
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And is it any wonder
that I long to do His will
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and let His light
shine out for all to see?
00:10:41.34\00:10:47.48
And is it any
wonder that I praise Him
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each time I think of
how He's made me free?
00:10:57.45\00:11:04.96
And is it any wonder
that I've given Him my heart,
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when Jesus freely
gave His life for me?
00:11:12.93\00:11:21.74
When I think how Jesus loves me,
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how He watches patiently,
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how His arms are
stretched to meet me when I run;
00:11:41.83\00:11:48.44
when I'm
feeling down and lonely,
00:11:48.47\00:11:52.27
how He's there to comfort me,
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in the darkness He
becomes my morning sun.
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When I think of
how He's healed me,
00:12:02.92\00:12:06.79
how He's touched me in my pain,
00:12:07.02\00:12:10.69
how His gentle hands
have whipped my tears away,
00:12:10.73\00:12:17.47
how He's taken every heartache
and brought happiness again.
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Oh I want the world
to hear me when I say:
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Tell me, is it any
wonder that I love Him
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when you consider
all He's done for me?
00:12:43.26\00:12:50.47
And is it any wonder
that I long to do His will
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and let His light
shine out for all to see?
00:12:58.81\00:13:04.91
And is it any
wonder that I praise Him
00:13:04.95\00:13:14.66
each time I think of
how He's made me free?
00:13:14.76\00:13:22.00
And is it any wonder
that I've given Him my heart,
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when Jesus freely
gave His life for me?
00:13:30.21\00:13:40.18
Amen.
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Our speaker this morning
is Dr. Alexander Bolotnikov.
00:13:59.50\00:14:07.11
But most of us
know him as Sasha.
00:14:07.98\00:14:10.95
He will be speaking on,
The Atonement and The Covenant.
00:14:11.61\00:14:18.19
I want to wish
you a Sabbath peace,
00:14:27.80\00:14:31.93
or Shabbat shalom.
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And it is the second time I
am standing here in front of you
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with the topic of covenant.
00:14:45.41\00:14:49.68
And last time we talked
about the connection between
00:14:49.72\00:14:55.06
the covenant and the law.
00:14:55.09\00:14:57.33
But this morning
we're going to talk about
00:14:57.96\00:15:02.56
the connection between the
covenant and the atonement.
00:15:02.60\00:15:07.27
The word, "covenant," is not
very common outside the Bible.
00:15:10.77\00:15:16.34
Isn't it?
00:15:16.38\00:15:17.71
I'm not a native
English speaker, but outside of
00:15:18.68\00:15:24.02
the Bible I've seen it
only in the very, very, very,
00:15:24.05\00:15:28.92
some legal documents.
00:15:28.96\00:15:31.06
Right?
00:15:31.13\00:15:32.46
So explain to me,
what is the covenant.
00:15:33.33\00:15:36.63
I expected to hear, "agreement."
00:15:39.07\00:15:42.77
I expected to hear that.
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How do you
picture that, "agreement?"
00:15:49.54\00:15:53.72
God and some representatives
from the union of the human race
00:15:54.48\00:16:02.72
sit for a talk
to make a contract?
00:16:03.16\00:16:08.23
And the union of the
human race promises to strike
00:16:09.33\00:16:14.00
if God will not do what
the human race feels to be
00:16:14.04\00:16:22.34
right to be done?
00:16:22.64\00:16:24.48
That's the agreement?
00:16:24.51\00:16:26.18
Or God is like a bank that gives
you a customer type of agreement
00:16:28.08\00:16:37.33
which you ought to sign?
00:16:37.36\00:16:39.43
Oh boy, there's lots
of small print there.
00:16:40.40\00:16:43.26
It's hard to
read this agreement.
00:16:44.83\00:16:47.67
You know, you start
with the book of Leviticus
00:16:48.20\00:16:51.77
and you get lost right
away from the first words.
00:16:52.77\00:16:57.11
"Alright, I'm going to sign.
00:16:57.15\00:16:58.78
Otherwise, I'm
going to get lost.
00:16:58.81\00:17:00.52
I don't want to get lost."
00:17:00.55\00:17:02.02
It's like that?
00:17:02.28\00:17:03.95
You know, "If you don't want to
get lost, if you don't want to
00:17:04.25\00:17:07.52
burn in hell, just sign
this agreement with Me."
00:17:07.56\00:17:13.73
Well, don't we need
the Bible to clarify
00:17:15.16\00:17:18.67
what this term means.
00:17:19.20\00:17:21.37
So I want to invite
you to a text in the
00:17:22.20\00:17:28.88
book of Deuteronomy.
00:17:28.91\00:17:30.31
It is the book of
Deuteronomy chapter 29,
00:17:30.95\00:17:35.78
and starts with verse 10.
00:17:36.95\00:17:39.29
And it says, "All of you stand
today before the Lord your God:
00:17:39.85\00:17:48.70
your leaders, your tribes,
your elders, your officers,
00:17:48.73\00:17:53.17
all the men of Israel..."
00:17:53.20\00:17:56.37
Then skip to
verse 12 to save time.
00:17:56.40\00:18:00.58
"...that you may enter into
covenant with the Lord your God,
00:18:00.61\00:18:08.02
into His oath,
which the Lord your God
00:18:09.02\00:18:15.96
makes with you today..."
00:18:15.99\00:18:19.29
You see what's
interesting in this text?
00:18:21.30\00:18:24.40
You have two sentences
that express the same idea
00:18:25.03\00:18:33.14
in different words.
00:18:33.17\00:18:34.94
In the high biblical exegesis
terms it's called, parallelism.
00:18:35.78\00:18:41.85
So look at this again.
00:18:42.68\00:18:46.32
"...that you may enter into
covenant with the Lord your God,
00:18:47.92\00:18:56.10
into oath..."
00:18:56.97\00:18:59.87
Some translations
give, "sacred oath."
00:19:01.50\00:19:06.54
Do you see what the
covenant is in the Bible?
00:19:07.18\00:19:10.95
This is God's, this
is divine sacred oath.
00:19:12.65\00:19:20.79
This is not what you promise.
00:19:24.06\00:19:26.46
This is not what you agree upon.
00:19:27.80\00:19:30.77
This is something that
God promises to you and me.
00:19:31.63\00:19:37.87
How do we see it illustrated?
00:19:40.94\00:19:44.78
Let's go with me
to Genesis chapter 15.
00:19:46.28\00:19:52.22
And there you see very clearly,
00:19:53.72\00:19:58.93
a very clear
illustration of what happened.
00:20:01.33\00:20:06.57
The Lord speaks
to Abram in a vision.
00:20:11.34\00:20:15.31
And He says to him,
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
00:20:15.51\00:20:19.41
I am your shield, your
exceedingly great reward."
00:20:20.35\00:20:26.59
And Abram replies, "'Lord
God, what will You give me,
00:20:27.29\00:20:32.93
seeing that I go childless,
and the heir of my house
00:20:32.96\00:20:38.47
is Eliezer from Damascus?'
00:20:38.50\00:20:40.94
Then Abram said, 'Look,
You have given me no offspring;
00:20:42.97\00:20:46.94
indeed one born to
my house is my heir.'"
00:20:46.98\00:20:53.75
But the Lord
replies, and He says,
00:20:54.42\00:20:59.99
"This one shall not be
your heir, but the one who will
00:21:00.19\00:21:07.03
come from your own
body shall be your heir."
00:21:07.06\00:21:12.00
Then He shows him
how many descendents
00:21:13.90\00:21:21.21
would he have, right?
00:21:21.24\00:21:22.88
And Abraham believes God.
00:21:24.88\00:21:28.72
And then God says to Abraham...
00:21:30.52\00:21:39.09
Let's go to verse 8.
00:21:39.86\00:21:41.86
Abraham asks God
first, "How shall I know
00:21:45.50\00:21:49.40
that I will inherit this?"
00:21:49.44\00:21:51.91
And in verse 9 the Lord replies,
"'Bring Me a three year old
00:21:52.64\00:21:57.75
heifer, a three
year old female goat,
00:21:57.78\00:22:00.82
a three year old ram, a
turtledove, and a pigeon.'
00:22:00.85\00:22:05.55
Then he," meaning Abram,
"brought all these to Him
00:22:06.22\00:22:10.53
and cut them in
two, down the middle,
00:22:10.56\00:22:14.96
and placed each piece
opposite to each other."
00:22:15.00\00:22:20.34
What is going on here?
00:22:21.07\00:22:22.77
Well, Abram lives in Canaan.
00:22:23.54\00:22:27.61
And northern Canaan was the
part of the sphere of influence
00:22:27.98\00:22:33.48
of the large empire of Hittites.
00:22:33.52\00:22:36.72
And Hittites, their
center was in today's Turkey.
00:22:37.95\00:22:43.12
And so Hittites would
come to Canaan and conquer
00:22:43.63\00:22:50.03
the cities and make them
swear the oath of loyalty
00:22:51.10\00:23:00.11
to the great Hittite king.
00:23:00.14\00:23:02.44
So this is how the
oath of loyalty swearing
00:23:02.48\00:23:07.68
procedure looked like.
00:23:07.72\00:23:09.28
We see this in the
ancient Hittite documents
00:23:09.32\00:23:14.16
written in
cuneiform, which was discovered
00:23:14.19\00:23:18.19
in the excavation of the ancient
capital of the Hittite empire,
00:23:18.23\00:23:23.63
the Hattusa.
00:23:23.67\00:23:25.17
So this is how it looked:
00:23:25.43\00:23:28.40
Here was the town, the
gate, imagine this, and here was
00:23:29.27\00:23:36.14
the road to the city gate.
00:23:36.18\00:23:39.21
So the Hittite general, or
the king, stands right here
00:23:39.71\00:23:46.19
looking straight.
00:23:46.39\00:23:48.12
And the Hittite
king stands here.
00:23:48.16\00:23:54.20
And along the road they
have carcasses of donkeys
00:23:54.40\00:24:00.17
that are cut in the middle, and
put on each side of the road.
00:24:00.20\00:24:06.21
And so the king of
that town walks slowly,
00:24:06.98\00:24:16.99
bent down, sometimes
crawling on his knees,
00:24:17.15\00:24:22.79
over to his new
suzerain, and he repeats,
00:24:23.02\00:24:28.76
"If I break my loyalty
to you, then let your god
00:24:28.80\00:24:37.71
do to me like it is
done to these donkeys."
00:24:37.74\00:24:42.44
So as soon as
Abram hears the promise,
00:24:44.41\00:24:51.32
God says, "You will
have your own descendent."
00:24:52.25\00:24:57.33
Abram believes, and then he
asks, "Give me a confirmation."
00:24:58.59\00:25:05.23
So as soon as Abram
hears, "Bring Me these animals,"
00:25:06.63\00:25:12.21
he understands, "Okay, we need
to have this swearing ceremony,
00:25:12.24\00:25:16.14
and I need to swear
my allegiance to God."
00:25:16.24\00:25:20.08
So let's read what happened.
00:25:21.28\00:25:26.19
So verse 12, Abram is
waiting for the Lord to appear.
00:25:27.26\00:25:34.90
But what happened?
00:25:35.43\00:25:37.23
Deep sleep, and horror,
and darkness falls upon Abram.
00:25:40.47\00:25:47.08
And God appears to Abram.
00:25:48.11\00:25:53.82
And in verse 17 it
says, "And it came to pass,
00:25:54.72\00:26:00.46
when the sun went down
and it was dark, that behold,
00:26:00.92\00:26:08.06
there appeared a
smoking oven and a burning torch
00:26:08.10\00:26:13.27
that passed
between those pieces."
00:26:13.30\00:26:17.67
You see, who passed
between the pieces? Abram?
00:26:19.57\00:26:25.71
It was God.
00:26:26.78\00:26:28.12
This is the divine sacred oath.
00:26:29.35\00:26:33.96
In other words,
what God did was fallen.
00:26:34.49\00:26:39.19
He basically said, "I
promise, Abram, that you will
00:26:39.23\00:26:46.03
have your own son.
00:26:46.07\00:26:47.54
And your descendents will be
like the sand, like the stars,
00:26:47.57\00:26:53.51
of the sea.
00:26:53.54\00:26:54.88
And if I break this
promise, let this be to Me."
00:26:54.91\00:26:58.95
Look at the next text.
00:27:02.15\00:27:04.32
"On the same day the Lord
made a covenant with Abram..."
00:27:04.35\00:27:12.73
Made a covenant.
00:27:12.99\00:27:14.33
This is how all
English Bibles would translate.
00:27:14.36\00:27:17.97
Because if you translate
literally, you just may not
00:27:18.37\00:27:24.01
get the full meaning.
00:27:24.04\00:27:26.17
It is not, "made,"
in the original Hebrew.
00:27:26.68\00:27:29.94
It is, "cut off."
00:27:29.98\00:27:33.82
Whenever you read,
"make the covenant,"
00:27:34.95\00:27:39.39
this expression is always
literally, "karath bariyth."
00:27:39.42\00:27:43.89
Bariyth is the covenant.
00:27:43.93\00:27:45.43
Karath is, cutting off.
00:27:45.73\00:27:47.96
Covenant is always cut off.
00:27:48.00\00:27:52.93
That's the expression.
00:27:53.77\00:27:55.90
Why?
00:27:55.94\00:27:57.27
You understand why.
00:27:57.31\00:27:58.64
Because Abraham actually
cut the animals in two pieces.
00:27:58.67\00:28:04.91
So that's what the
covenant is all about.
00:28:06.55\00:28:10.65
So what's the atonement?
00:28:11.25\00:28:15.12
That's the loaded word.
00:28:17.69\00:28:20.10
That's the loaded word.
00:28:21.66\00:28:23.47
If covenant appears in
legal text outside of the Bible,
00:28:24.47\00:28:29.07
I still fail to find any English
text that would not be connected
00:28:29.10\00:28:36.98
with the Bible and would have
the word, "atonement," in it.
00:28:37.01\00:28:42.48
So we do really need
the Bible to understand what
00:28:43.69\00:28:47.72
the atonement is all about.
00:28:47.76\00:28:50.13
It is interesting the first
time the word, "atonement,"
00:28:52.83\00:28:56.36
is used in the book
of Leviticus chapter 1.
00:28:56.40\00:28:59.93
And there...
00:29:00.64\00:29:04.07
...in verse 8 it says...
00:29:08.38\00:29:13.52
Sorry, in verse 4 it
says, "Then he shall put
00:29:13.55\00:29:19.99
his hand on the head
of the burnt offering,
00:29:20.02\00:29:24.19
and it will be
accepted on his behalf to make
00:29:24.23\00:29:30.27
atonement for him."
00:29:30.30\00:29:33.30
So atonement is made
as soon as the sinner
00:29:34.97\00:29:42.44
lays his hand upon
the head of the animal
00:29:42.48\00:29:47.68
which is going to be
brought as an offering,
00:29:47.72\00:29:51.79
as a sacrifice.
00:29:51.82\00:29:53.36
But what exactly
is the atonement?
00:29:53.99\00:29:59.56
Let's look at the biblical
definition of atonement,
00:30:00.46\00:30:05.73
and you will see
the same pattern.
00:30:06.53\00:30:08.84
Difficult words are usually
explained by another word,
00:30:08.87\00:30:14.64
which is what's
called, parallelism.
00:30:15.04\00:30:18.78
Two sentences,
different words; the same idea.
00:30:18.81\00:30:22.45
Let's open
Leviticus chapter 10...
00:30:24.19\00:30:29.46
...verse 17.
00:30:30.46\00:30:36.10
I have to kind of
place it in the context here.
00:30:40.54\00:30:44.77
Leviticus 10 talks about two
sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu,
00:30:46.14\00:30:54.22
whose lives were taken
in the Sanctuary because
00:30:54.72\00:30:59.72
they went basically drunk.
00:30:59.75\00:31:02.82
So after this happened,
everybody is really scared.
00:31:03.53\00:31:11.53
And so the priests stop
coming to the Sanctuary.
00:31:12.50\00:31:16.44
And so what happened,
they would not want to
00:31:16.91\00:31:21.54
come into the Holy Place.
00:31:21.58\00:31:23.85
And that's what
they were suppose to do
00:31:24.51\00:31:27.55
with the sin offerings.
00:31:27.58\00:31:29.05
They have to eat the
meat of a sin offering.
00:31:29.55\00:31:32.75
But instead, they decided
to stay around the altar,
00:31:33.15\00:31:36.76
and all the offerings
that come to the Sanctuary,
00:31:36.79\00:31:39.63
they just burned them.
00:31:39.66\00:31:41.00
So Moses sees the
goat for the sin offering
00:31:41.03\00:31:45.23
and sees it's burnt.
00:31:45.27\00:31:47.04
And he's unhappy.
00:31:47.44\00:31:49.04
So he talks to the priests and
he says, Leviticus 10 verse 17,
00:31:49.40\00:31:55.94
"Why have you not eaten the
sin offering in a holy place,
00:31:55.98\00:32:03.32
since it is most holy, and
God has given it to you..."
00:32:03.52\00:32:10.16
Now look, two sentences.
00:32:10.96\00:32:14.06
Two lines here, two phrases.
00:32:14.10\00:32:16.80
Phrase number one,
"...to bear the guilt
00:32:17.07\00:32:20.70
of the congregation..."
00:32:20.74\00:32:22.74
Phrase number one.
00:32:24.17\00:32:25.57
"...to make atonement
for them before the Lord?"
00:32:25.77\00:32:29.98
You see what the atonement is?
00:32:30.71\00:32:32.45
Atonement is obtained
when someone bears your guilt,
00:32:33.38\00:32:42.49
your sin.
00:32:43.26\00:32:44.86
That's what atonement is.
00:32:44.89\00:32:46.80
You know, you've got to
transfer the responsibility
00:32:46.83\00:32:52.23
for the consequence of
your sin upon somebody else.
00:32:52.27\00:32:57.01
That's exactly what
the sin offering does.
00:32:57.27\00:33:05.71
The animal bears
the responsibility,
00:33:06.11\00:33:09.55
because it's killed.
00:33:09.58\00:33:11.79
See how covenant and
atonement is connected?
00:33:13.72\00:33:18.99
The famous story of the
sacrifice, or to be more
00:33:20.66\00:33:26.37
precise, the binding of Isaac.
00:33:26.40\00:33:29.77
Isaac was not sacrificed.
00:33:31.47\00:33:33.68
He was just bound. Right?
00:33:33.71\00:33:37.15
Because as soon
as he was bound...
00:33:37.18\00:33:40.82
Go with me to Genesis
22, starting from verse 11.
00:33:41.15\00:33:49.19
God calls to Abraham from
heaven and says to Abraham,
00:33:51.46\00:34:00.67
verse 12, "Do not
lay your hand on the lad,
00:34:00.70\00:34:04.87
or do anything to him; for
now I know that you fear God,
00:34:04.91\00:34:11.91
since you have not withheld your
son, your only son, from Me."
00:34:11.95\00:34:18.89
Well, Isaac is spared.
00:34:20.29\00:34:23.53
But is this the
end of the story?
00:34:23.73\00:34:26.43
The next verse is
the end of the story.
00:34:27.36\00:34:31.17
It says, "Abraham
lifted his eyes and looked,
00:34:31.67\00:34:37.24
and there behind
him was a ram caught in
00:34:37.27\00:34:42.11
a thicket by its horns.
00:34:42.14\00:34:43.78
So Abraham went and
took the ram, and offered it
00:34:43.81\00:34:48.85
for a burnt offering..."
00:34:48.88\00:34:50.69
The key phrase is the last.
00:34:51.15\00:34:54.52
"...instead of his son."
00:34:54.56\00:34:59.56
You see what happens?
00:35:01.33\00:35:02.76
That's the atonement.
00:35:03.37\00:35:04.87
God gave Isaac to Abraham.
00:35:07.27\00:35:11.31
That was in
fulfillment of His sacred oath
00:35:11.34\00:35:16.58
He gave in Genesis 15.
00:35:16.68\00:35:19.58
But as we know, Abraham
was not flawless and blameless.
00:35:21.05\00:35:27.72
So when God told Abraham,
"Offer your son as a sacrifice,"
00:35:28.96\00:35:36.33
He was effectively
saying, "Hey, I want to take
00:35:36.97\00:35:43.00
My promise back."
00:35:43.97\00:35:45.84
Because Isaac is the
fruit of that promise.
00:35:46.54\00:35:50.45
So look what happened.
00:35:52.41\00:35:54.85
Think about this.
00:35:55.78\00:35:57.12
Because I keep hearing
this question when we deal with
00:35:57.29\00:36:03.02
Christians talking
about Jewish perception,
00:36:04.26\00:36:08.46
"Oh, how come they
don't see it's Jesus?"
00:36:08.50\00:36:11.17
Where do you see Jesus here?
00:36:11.43\00:36:13.23
You won't find
Jesus in Genesis 22.
00:36:14.67\00:36:19.87
There's no
Mosaic statement there,
00:36:19.91\00:36:24.41
I mean statement by
Moses, at the end of it.
00:36:24.45\00:36:28.25
"All this story is symbolic
to show that in the future
00:36:28.28\00:36:33.15
God will send
Jesus to die on Calvary."
00:36:33.19\00:36:35.62
I wish it was there.
00:36:35.66\00:36:37.19
It is not.
00:36:38.09\00:36:39.43
So what do we do?
00:36:39.79\00:36:41.23
Well, we have to
look at what happened.
00:36:42.16\00:36:45.83
And what happened is very clear.
00:36:46.23\00:36:48.57
Isaac was suppose to die.
00:36:48.87\00:36:53.74
But in his place, who died?
00:36:54.98\00:36:58.01
The ram.
00:36:58.85\00:37:00.18
This is foundational.
00:37:01.72\00:37:04.45
In Jewish tradition,
in the Talmud, it says
00:37:04.49\00:37:08.79
that every time an Israelite
would come to the altar
00:37:09.36\00:37:16.56
with his sin offering,
a priest who officiates
00:37:16.60\00:37:22.50
over this sin offering
is suppose to read to him
00:37:22.54\00:37:29.31
the passage from Genesis 22
to show him that this animal
00:37:29.34\00:37:39.09
is going to die in
his place for his sin.
00:37:39.12\00:37:43.93
So that's what the
Bible is very clear.
00:37:45.69\00:37:50.53
In other words, God
was preparing the minds
00:37:50.63\00:37:55.97
of Israelites for
hundreds of years.
00:37:56.40\00:38:00.51
Seven hundred years after Moses
completed the book of Genesis,
00:38:02.68\00:38:12.35
Isaiah the prophet,
in his 53rd chapter,
00:38:12.85\00:38:17.99
in the 53rd chapter of his book,
compares the suffering Messiah
00:38:18.03\00:38:24.60
with the sacrificial lamb.
00:38:24.80\00:38:27.24
And this is why when John
the Baptist points to Jesus
00:38:28.37\00:38:36.95
and says, "Behold, the Lamb
of God," people, Jewish people
00:38:36.98\00:38:44.79
by the way, who came to
be cleansed from their sins
00:38:44.82\00:38:51.83
in the water of
Jordon understood
00:38:51.86\00:38:56.40
what John the
Baptist was talking about.
00:38:56.77\00:38:59.87
So the Bible is
very, very consistent.
00:39:01.60\00:39:06.21
And it builds up,
builds up the message
00:39:06.47\00:39:09.74
over the course of history.
00:39:09.94\00:39:12.18
So this is your atonement.
00:39:12.91\00:39:15.52
In other words,
what is happening here?
00:39:16.38\00:39:21.06
We have a situation.
00:39:22.32\00:39:25.86
Well, as I said,
Abraham wasn't perfect.
00:39:27.50\00:39:31.47
I remember a story, I
think it was in, The New Yorker.
00:39:33.23\00:39:39.94
It was kind of
not a serious story.
00:39:39.97\00:39:42.84
But the author of that article
said there was this commission
00:39:43.24\00:39:49.95
on September 11, all
this time spent years to
00:39:49.98\00:39:56.76
talk about what could have
prevented the September 11.
00:39:56.79\00:40:03.20
And they missed one
point, which is in the Bible.
00:40:03.70\00:40:07.37
The ultimate
prevention of September 11
00:40:07.60\00:40:11.07
should have been,
Abraham should not have
00:40:11.11\00:40:13.78
slept with Hagar.
00:40:13.81\00:40:15.64
Abraham was not an ideal man.
00:40:22.52\00:40:25.82
Abraham, you know,
and Sarah, they had their
00:40:28.92\00:40:34.06
rough, you know, times.
00:40:34.10\00:40:37.00
You know, covenant is
indeed compared to marriage.
00:40:38.20\00:40:44.07
Many times in the Bible
God speaks of Him making
00:40:45.44\00:40:50.05
covenant with
Israel as a wedding.
00:40:50.08\00:40:53.42
Which is why, in today's
New Testament, understanding
00:40:55.65\00:41:01.89
the church is
the bride of Christ.
00:41:01.92\00:41:05.16
This is not new.
00:41:05.19\00:41:06.76
This is all coming from
the idea of God's covenant.
00:41:06.80\00:41:12.67
Building the relationship.
00:41:13.23\00:41:15.80
Built on a
sacred oath of loyalty.
00:41:15.84\00:41:20.18
That's what the
covenant is all about.
00:41:21.01\00:41:23.78
And unfortunately, while God
holds to His end of the promise,
00:41:24.75\00:41:34.09
we don't.
00:41:34.12\00:41:35.46
You know, that Hagar
episode wasn't a pleasant one.
00:41:36.42\00:41:43.23
Somebody can talk,
"Oh, biblical messages
00:41:43.73\00:41:47.77
are culturally conditioned.
00:41:47.80\00:41:50.87
Because look, in the
Bible God permitted polygamy."
00:41:51.07\00:41:56.61
Permitted?
00:41:58.05\00:41:59.41
Well, God hasn't thrown stones
from heaven on polygamists,
00:42:00.65\00:42:07.69
but it doesn't
mean He permitted it.
00:42:08.49\00:42:11.59
You know, the commandment
number seven is very clear.
00:42:13.06\00:42:19.83
And you can't
circumvent it by creating
00:42:21.07\00:42:28.81
a second marriage license.
00:42:28.84\00:42:31.01
You know, some
countries brag that they
00:42:32.31\00:42:38.35
don't have prostitution.
00:42:38.39\00:42:40.56
You know, it
happens very interestingly
00:42:42.96\00:42:46.03
in those countries.
00:42:46.06\00:42:47.66
They have mullah's there.
00:42:48.10\00:42:50.37
And what they do, they make
a marriage with the duration
00:42:51.33\00:42:57.67
for one day.
00:42:57.71\00:42:59.37
That's how they
have no prostitution.
00:43:01.31\00:43:04.55
And in many Persian Gulf
countries, this is practiced.
00:43:10.32\00:43:15.49
So you can't
circumvent God like that.
00:43:15.52\00:43:19.86
And so in the Bible,
you have it very clear that
00:43:20.80\00:43:28.47
any polygamist
relationships are not blessed.
00:43:29.47\00:43:33.27
David and Absalom.
00:43:34.71\00:43:36.71
Had to kill his son.
00:43:37.85\00:43:40.05
You know, David
has a number of wives.
00:43:41.18\00:43:44.69
He was miserable with that.
00:43:44.72\00:43:47.92
I mean, look at
his son Adonijah.
00:43:47.96\00:43:52.39
And his son Amnon
raping his step-sister, Tamar.
00:43:53.76\00:44:00.94
You know, this is horrible.
00:44:01.07\00:44:03.20
This is dysfunctional families.
00:44:03.24\00:44:06.14
Look at the family of Jacob.
00:44:07.08\00:44:09.88
I mean, you can't
find any single functional
00:44:10.95\00:44:15.15
polygamist family in the Bible.
00:44:15.18\00:44:18.15
And they are described
for us to draw lessons,
00:44:18.19\00:44:23.53
not to tell, "Oh,
God permitted this."
00:44:24.33\00:44:27.66
It is, on the contrary,
the message is, you know,
00:44:28.43\00:44:33.20
this is what happens when you go
and do the way of the culture.
00:44:33.23\00:44:39.37
You're not going to
get the blessing from God.
00:44:40.01\00:44:43.04
So there were issues
in Abraham's marriage.
00:44:43.91\00:44:49.15
You know, the fact
that God had to permit
00:44:49.18\00:44:53.49
Abraham to send Hagar
away; not very pleasant.
00:44:54.36\00:45:00.80
It was a nasty situation.
00:45:01.26\00:45:03.20
The two wives
could not co-exist.
00:45:03.23\00:45:06.40
That's why it was
happening, you know.
00:45:06.50\00:45:08.77
You start on the path, the
chain of events keep going.
00:45:09.14\00:45:13.21
And so that's why God
said, "Enough is enough.
00:45:13.74\00:45:17.48
I'm going to take a
fruit of My oath away,
00:45:18.48\00:45:24.12
effectively
nullifying the covenant."
00:45:24.52\00:45:27.12
So what happens?
00:45:28.22\00:45:29.79
What happens?
00:45:30.49\00:45:31.83
Look at the end.
00:45:32.49\00:45:34.43
After the ram is sacrificed,
00:45:35.96\00:45:43.77
verse 16, God says,
00:45:44.07\00:45:48.24
"'By Myself I have
sworn,' says the Lord,
00:45:48.94\00:45:56.62
'because you
have done this thing,
00:45:56.65\00:45:58.89
and have not withheld
your son, your only son.
00:45:58.92\00:46:04.69
Blessing will I bless...'"
00:46:04.73\00:46:07.36
Probably the best
way to translate here is,
00:46:07.40\00:46:11.50
"I will definitely bless you,
00:46:11.60\00:46:14.80
and definitely
multiply your descendents."
00:46:14.84\00:46:19.71
What is this?
00:46:20.78\00:46:22.11
It's a sacred
oath of the covenant.
00:46:22.48\00:46:26.41
We start Genesis
22 with a procedure of
00:46:29.38\00:46:36.26
breaking the covenant.
00:46:36.29\00:46:38.66
And Genesis 22 ended with
the restoration of the covenant.
00:46:39.19\00:46:47.44
What restored the covenant?
00:46:48.40\00:46:51.71
The sacrifice of the ram.
00:46:54.01\00:46:56.44
The atonement
restores the covenant.
00:46:57.95\00:47:06.59
It's the ram who
took the responsibility
00:47:06.62\00:47:12.29
and died for all
Abraham's errors and mishaps.
00:47:12.33\00:47:20.14
So Isaac is alive,
and blessing is promised
00:47:20.17\00:47:28.08
and continued.
00:47:28.64\00:47:30.48
The covenant was literally
cut off, because in order for
00:47:32.61\00:47:39.95
Isaac to survive, Abraham
had to cut off the throat
00:47:39.99\00:47:47.90
of that ram.
00:47:47.93\00:47:49.86
That's why the
covenant is always cut off.
00:47:50.80\00:47:55.37
Why is it so important?
00:47:56.57\00:48:00.04
Look with me at
the book of Daniel.
00:48:01.24\00:48:05.91
And by the way, as a Jew
I can testify to you today
00:48:07.85\00:48:14.42
that without chapter
9 of the book of Daniel,
00:48:14.59\00:48:18.86
there is not any solid proof
that it was Jesus of Nazareth
00:48:18.89\00:48:27.14
who is the Messiah.
00:48:27.77\00:48:30.91
Because, you know, it
is sad to me sometimes
00:48:32.04\00:48:37.91
to hear how many Christian
preachers focus chapter 9
00:48:38.71\00:48:48.22
of the book of Daniel on
God's rejection of the Jews.
00:48:48.26\00:48:54.53
Which is
absolutely not the case.
00:48:56.06\00:48:59.73
The whole chapter, the end of
the chapter is focused on hope.
00:49:00.77\00:49:07.81
Because it gives you
the exact time of the death
00:49:08.24\00:49:15.25
of the Messiah.
00:49:15.28\00:49:16.72
It gives you the
beginning of the 70 week period,
00:49:18.02\00:49:23.02
which can be verified
through historical documents
00:49:23.53\00:49:28.36
which are not in the Bible.
00:49:28.46\00:49:29.96
That's why it's very
independently verified.
00:49:30.00\00:49:33.20
You know, in the
book of Ezra you read that
00:49:33.23\00:49:37.51
on the seventh year of
his reign, King Artaxerxes
00:49:37.54\00:49:41.91
allowed Ezra the
priest to go back to Jerusalem
00:49:41.94\00:49:47.88
and start restoring the city.
00:49:47.92\00:49:50.29
That's very clear.
00:49:50.85\00:49:52.19
And you can establish through
multiple historical sources
00:49:52.22\00:49:57.93
what was this year, the
seventh year of Artaxerxes.
00:49:58.89\00:50:03.60
Which is 457 BC.
00:50:03.63\00:50:07.30
So after that, you have 7 weeks,
and then you have 62 weeks.
00:50:07.40\00:50:14.31
And in the middle of
this, look what it says
00:50:14.71\00:50:18.78
in the book of Daniel chapter 9.
00:50:19.18\00:50:23.79
And it says here in verse 25,
00:50:26.65\00:50:33.63
"Know therefore and understand,
that from the going forth
00:50:35.13\00:50:40.84
of the command to
restore and build Jerusalem
00:50:40.87\00:50:46.27
until Messiah the Prince,
00:50:46.68\00:50:49.81
there shall be seven
weeks and sixty-two weeks."
00:50:49.84\00:50:53.65
Then look at verse 26.
00:50:54.12\00:50:56.58
"After the sixty-two
weeks Messiah shall be..."
00:50:56.62\00:51:02.42
What does your Bible say?
00:51:02.79\00:51:04.76
"...cut off..."
00:51:05.39\00:51:07.13
Karath.
00:51:07.36\00:51:08.70
That is a correct translation.
00:51:08.96\00:51:11.43
You see the connection here
00:51:11.47\00:51:13.57
between the
covenant and the atonement?
00:51:14.44\00:51:19.84
Messiah is cut off
so that the covenant
00:51:20.94\00:51:30.49
would not be cut off.
00:51:31.02\00:51:33.92
How can we say that God is
breaking covenant with somebody?
00:51:35.02\00:51:43.83
You know?
00:51:44.67\00:51:46.00
We often take one verse...
00:51:46.23\00:51:49.74
And I'll tell you why
exactly it's happening.
00:51:49.77\00:51:53.58
You know,
sometimes we just over do.
00:51:54.48\00:51:59.08
You know, when we
look at the development
00:51:59.81\00:52:02.32
of Protestantism, it was
the end of the 18th century
00:52:02.42\00:52:09.29
when most of the Protestants
rejected the historical
00:52:09.32\00:52:15.50
interpretation of the
biblical apocalyptic prophecies
00:52:15.53\00:52:21.04
and turned it into
futuristic interpretations.
00:52:21.34\00:52:26.17
Meaning, "Oh, we don't
know who the antichrist is.
00:52:26.21\00:52:30.31
You know, Luther
identified the antichrist
00:52:30.95\00:52:34.52
as the papacy, historically.
00:52:34.55\00:52:37.69
The Protestants at the
end of the 18th century and
00:52:38.15\00:52:45.29
beginning of the 19th century,
late 1700's and early 1800's,
00:52:45.49\00:52:53.94
they done away with this.
00:52:54.04\00:52:56.27
There was only a
small group of Protestants
00:52:56.91\00:53:01.24
who mainly gathered
around the Millerite movement
00:53:01.78\00:53:07.55
who kept historical
historicist interpretation
00:53:08.12\00:53:14.76
of the biblical prophecy.
00:53:14.79\00:53:17.13
Well, what the other side,
the dispensationalists, said,
00:53:17.46\00:53:23.10
they said, "Oh, the
antichrist should come
00:53:23.30\00:53:27.24
into the temple of God.
00:53:28.24\00:53:30.67
And so Jews must
rebuild the temple of God."
00:53:30.91\00:53:34.14
Well, this is
biblically incorrect.
00:53:36.04\00:53:38.85
But we shouldn't over do.
00:53:39.55\00:53:41.78
We can't now say, "Oh, Jews will
not rebuild the temple of God,
00:53:42.45\00:53:48.89
because God cursed them."
00:53:48.92\00:53:50.86
Folks, this is
not the right answer.
00:53:53.83\00:53:56.16
God curses nobody.
00:53:57.27\00:53:59.23
I mean, who is
cursed in my family?
00:54:00.50\00:54:04.41
My father, who
accepted Jesus three years
00:54:05.01\00:54:11.51
before he passed away?
00:54:11.55\00:54:14.45
Who said to me...
00:54:15.45\00:54:16.79
I couldn't believe my
father actually did it.
00:54:16.82\00:54:19.45
I said to my mother, who
also was baptized back then
00:54:19.49\00:54:24.53
in the year 2000, I
said, "I want my dad
00:54:24.56\00:54:28.86
to write me a
letter in his own words."
00:54:29.50\00:54:33.54
And he wrote, he
wasn't a very talkative man,
00:54:33.57\00:54:37.51
and he wrote and
said, "Sasha, I realize I am
00:54:37.54\00:54:41.48
sick and tired of atheism.
00:54:41.51\00:54:43.78
And that's why I give
my heart to the Lord."
00:54:43.81\00:54:47.08
Is this a curse?
00:54:48.15\00:54:49.98
I can site to you story
after story of Jewish people
00:54:51.09\00:54:57.26
accepting the Lord.
00:54:57.29\00:54:59.13
Is this a curse?
00:54:59.16\00:55:01.16
You know, God cuts off the
covenant for only one purpose.
00:55:01.96\00:55:10.24
So that we would not be cut off.
00:55:11.57\00:55:18.48
This is why covenant is
connected with atonement.
00:55:19.91\00:55:25.65
This is why God literally...
00:55:26.99\00:55:30.36
You know, I like this
statement of Harry Truman
00:55:30.93\00:55:37.17
who said, "The buck stops here."
00:55:37.60\00:55:41.34
This is what
happened on Calvary.
00:55:43.71\00:55:47.58
Calvary is a statement
from the heavenly Father saying,
00:55:48.94\00:55:57.45
"Look and see, all the
world, all the universe.
00:55:57.49\00:56:03.53
The evil stops here.
00:56:03.73\00:56:07.00
Satan will go no further.
00:56:07.96\00:56:12.13
Because I cut this covenant,
not with the three year old
00:56:12.73\00:56:21.64
sheep and three year old
heifer, but with My own blood.
00:56:21.71\00:56:30.42
I spill My own blood for Jews,
for Chinese, for Americans,
00:56:31.42\00:56:40.50
for Russians, for
Germans, because I don't want
00:56:40.53\00:56:45.73
to cut anyone off."
00:56:45.77\00:56:49.40
Is this a great message?
00:56:50.61\00:56:53.74
Covenant and atonement.
00:56:54.28\00:56:57.21
Let us pray.
00:56:57.25\00:56:58.81
Heavenly Father, help
us realize Your great love;
00:56:59.45\00:57:05.62
how You want the relationship
between everyone of us and You.
00:57:06.05\00:57:14.60
You're ready to die for it.
00:57:14.63\00:57:17.50
You died for it
because You love us so much.
00:57:17.53\00:57:21.60
Help us not to
neglect that love.
00:57:21.64\00:57:26.37
Help us not to ignore it,
00:57:26.41\00:57:28.21
because You were cut off for us.
00:57:28.24\00:57:32.05