Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000118A
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00:22 Hello and welcome to Wednesday night
00:24 A Sharper Focus here in the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:28 We thank you so much for tuning in tonight 00:30 as we continue our study, 00:32 we walk through the Word of God together. 00:34 So thank you for taken the time to tune in. 00:37 Now as you know, 00:38 we are going to continue the lesson that we began, 00:40 and the last lesson we continued was 00:43 the truth about the body temple. 00:46 And so we'll tell you more about 00:48 how to get a copy of the lesson in just a moment. 00:50 But before we do anything, 00:52 before we have our theme song or anything else, 00:54 we always begin with a word of prayer. 00:56 Let's bow our heads together. 00:58 Our loving Father in heaven, we thank You that tonight 01:00 as we open Your Word, You'll open our hearts. 01:03 Father, we pray for Your Holy Spirit to come 01:05 and be our teacher, to be our guide, 01:07 to be our strength, 01:09 and also to be our understanding. 01:11 May we not only learn, Lord, 01:13 but maybe we find within us a deep desire 01:16 to not only know Your truth, 01:19 but to serve You as our Lord and as our Savior. 01:21 So guide, Lord, we pray 01:23 that all things may be done in harmony with Your will. 01:26 In Jesus' name I pray, amen. 01:29 Now for those of you 01:31 who are here that are part of our local audience, 01:33 you know, there's someone missing, 01:34 my wife is missing tonight, 01:36 and I just want to say hello to her. 01:37 She's there in Miramar, Florida visiting with her mom, 01:40 and her brother, and a sister, and a sister-in-law. 01:43 Hi, Angie, hope everything is nice and warm down there. 01:47 We want it to be cooler up here, 01:48 can we say amen? 01:50 The warm weather is something... 01:52 You know, when it gets cold we complain, 01:55 when it gets warm, we're happy, 01:56 when it gets too hot, we complain, 01:58 when it gets too cold, 01:59 we just really never know what we want to have. 02:02 Tonight's lesson is entitled 02:03 "The Truth about the Body Temple." 02:05 If you'd like to get a copy of it, 02:06 go to this following website. 02:08 The website is asf.3abn.org 02:12 and download lesson number 31, lesson number 31. 02:18 If you've already downloaded it 02:20 and you have up to 19 questions, 02:22 then you don't have to go back. 02:23 But as many of you know, as we continue in the lesson, 02:26 we'll be adding on additional questions 02:28 as we consider the remainder of the focus of this topic. 02:32 Also, at that very same website, 02:34 you can look at all the different videos 02:36 that you may have missed. 02:37 I think we have about 30 lessons 02:39 that are prior to this. 02:41 We have about 87 or 88 videos. 02:44 So if you've missed any of the lessons 02:46 from the very beginning, a couple of years ago till now, 02:49 you can go to that website and get a copy of it, 02:51 and share with your friends and your neighbors. 02:53 But before we get into our lesson, 02:55 what do we sing? 02:56 We sing our theme song which is on the screen, 02:58 what is it? 02:59 Victory in Jesus. Let's sing the song together. 03:11 I heard an old, old story 03:15 How the Savior came from glory 03:18 How He gave His life on Calvary 03:22 To save a wretch like me 03:26 I heard about His groaning 03:30 Of His precious blood's atoning 03:33 Then I repented of my sin 03:37 And won the victory 03:41 O victory in Jesus 03:45 My Savior, forever 03:49 He sought me and bought me 03:52 With His redeeming blood 03:56 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:00 And all my love is due Him 04:04 He plunged me to victory 04:08 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:11 I heard about a mansion 04:15 He has built for me in glory 04:19 And I heard about the streets of gold 04:23 Beyond the crystal sea 04:26 About the angels singing 04:30 And the old redemption story 04:34 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 04:38 The song of victory Key change 04:42 O victory in Jesus 04:45 My Savior, forever 04:49 He sought me and bought me 04:53 With His redeeming blood 04:57 He loved me ere I knew Him 05:00 And all my love is due Him 05:04 He plunged me to victory 05:08 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:12 He plunged me to victory 05:15 Beneath the cleansing flood 05:22 Amen. Amen. 05:24 That's the story of our redemption 05:26 and our salvation being plunged 05:28 beneath the victory of His redeeming blood, 05:32 His cleansing flood. 05:35 Both of those are interchangeable. 05:37 Tonight, the topic is 05:39 "The Truth about the Body Temple." 05:41 Say that with me. What is the topic? 05:43 The Truth about the Body Temple. 05:46 Now there is a scripture 05:47 at the beginning of every program 05:49 that's on this topic I'd like to go to. 05:51 So let's begin by going to 1 Corinthians Chapter 6. 05:54 1 Corinthians Chapter 6. 05:56 You know, many people 05:58 when they study the topic of the body, 06:02 you know, we are very much into health. 06:04 We want to be healthy. 06:05 So we are careful about 06:07 what we put on the inside of our bodies, 06:09 but as we continue studying, 06:12 if you have a church building or a temple, 06:16 well, not just the outside is holy, 06:19 but the inside is holy, and not just the inside, 06:23 we should be careful about what we put on the inside, 06:25 but also careful about what we put on the outside. 06:28 There's nothing more disheartening 06:31 than walking by a beautiful holy temple. 06:35 And in some cities, 06:37 seeing graffiti on the building. 06:39 Now, you know, it doesn't belong there. 06:41 Well, the generation in which we live, 06:43 the Bible talks about God's body temple, 06:45 and we live in a generation 06:47 where there's graffiti on the body temple. 06:50 But we want to study what the Bible says about 06:52 how important and how special God considers our bodies to be. 06:57 So let's begin with the principle, 06:59 1 Corinthians. 07:00 6:19 and 20, here's what the Bible says. 07:05 It says, "Or do you not know that your body is the," what? 07:10 "Temple of the Holy Spirit, 07:13 who is in you, whom you have from God, 07:16 and you are not," what? 07:17 "You are not your own." 07:19 And why? 07:20 "For you were bought at a price, 07:23 therefore glorify God in your body, 07:27 and in your spirit, which are Gods." 07:31 Now, when we talk about worship, 07:33 worship is vitally important. 07:35 All temples that I know of whether Buddhist temple, 07:39 or Hindu temple, or Christian temple, 07:42 or Catholic temple, 07:44 whatever terminology may be added to that, 07:46 whatever denomination, 07:47 whatever persuasion may worship in there, 07:49 they consider the outside and the inside very important 07:53 and very holy. 07:55 When you think of the journey of the Israelites 07:57 and we have laid some foundation on this topic. 07:59 We have talked about 08:01 the Israelites and their journey. 08:04 Let me just see 08:05 if you're following me carefully. 08:06 Where did the Lord free the Israelites from? 08:10 What nation? 08:11 From the nation of... 08:13 Say it again, the nation of... 08:14 The nation of Egypt. 08:16 So while they were in Egypt, 08:17 there were many practices that the Israelites learned 08:21 after being slaves there for 400 years. 08:26 Anybody live in any place for that many generations, 08:30 you're going to inevitably pick up 08:31 what that generation 08:33 or what that country has to offer. 08:36 I'm looking at my audience today, 08:38 we have Hispanics, we have Asians, 08:41 we have Americans, we have... 08:42 Where are you from? 08:44 Polish. 08:45 And I can tell you, I've heard this before, 08:47 at birth, if you take a Polish baby 08:51 and raise him in the Philippines, 08:53 he'll speak Filipino which he would Tagalog 08:55 or whatever the dialect may be. 08:57 If you take an Asian baby, and raise them in Poland, 09:01 they'll speak Polish. 09:03 They are inevitably molded by their society. 09:07 That's almost standard. 09:08 If you take an English baby and raised them in... 09:12 Where are you from again? Cuba. 09:13 From Cuba or as a they say Cuba, 09:16 they learn how to speak Spanish. 09:19 And I've discovered that even in the Latino countries, 09:22 Spanish sounds different from country to country. 09:24 But the country that a person is in 09:27 shapes the way he or she thinks. 09:30 We think like America has informed us, 09:33 we think like America has influenced us. 09:35 While the children of Israel were in Egypt, 09:38 from the time that Joseph was taken there as a slave, 09:40 you can add that all up and it was 430 years. 09:43 And so when God brought them out 09:45 because they were slaves most of the time, 09:49 when God let them out of Egypt, 09:52 He made sure that they did not leave 09:54 without getting properly remunerated. 09:56 That's the high class pays. 09:59 The Lord made sure that 10:00 they got paid for all the labor they did 10:03 under the taskmaster's hand of the pharaohs of Egypt. 10:07 The Lord made sure that when they left Egypt, 10:10 they left Egypt with absolutely nothing. 10:12 Everything that Egyptians had... 10:14 You got to broaden the picture here. 10:16 If you leave... 10:17 I was going to use Thompsonville as an example. 10:21 Anyway, let's use a bigger city. 10:25 If you were being let out of New York City, 10:27 and the Lord said to the million plus slaves, 10:32 "When you leave New York, 10:33 take everything the New Yorkers have," 10:36 What do you think they're going to take? 10:38 They can take suits, and dresses, and if they said, 10:42 take all the ornaments and adornments, 10:44 they can take all kinds of clothing, 10:46 all kinds of jewels, 10:48 their idols, anything made of gold, and silver, 10:51 and emeralds, and whatever precious metal, 10:53 they're going to take them with them. 10:54 But the Lord wasn't just paying them, 10:57 the Lord had a plan for those things 11:00 that He was going to give to the children of Israel. 11:04 Let's go to the first question, question number 14, 11:06 and see what God's plan was 11:09 when He led the children of Israel 11:12 out of Egypt. 11:13 Okay, keep the setting, He's about to set them free, 11:17 and before that time comes, He tells them when they leave, 11:21 this is what I'm going to do for you. 11:22 So question number 14, here it is. 11:24 If you're at home, it'll be on the screen. 11:26 Here's the question, 11:27 "What did the Lord give to the Israelites 11:30 when He freed them from Egypt? 11:34 What did the Lord give to the Israelites 11:36 when He freed them from Egypt? 11:39 Go to Exodus Chapter 3, 11:41 and we're going to look at that together. 11:44 Exodus is properly titled, 11:48 it means in a sense coming out, 11:52 they were brought out, they left. 11:55 Exodus by the way is almost synonymous 11:58 to the word Christian in the New Testament, 12:00 the word Christian in the Greek means the called out ones. 12:03 So you see in the New Testament Christian, 12:05 and the Old Testament Exodus, God always calls us out, 12:09 and Peter sets out of darkness into this, what kind of light? 12:13 Marvelous light. 12:14 Let's see what the Lord did for the children of Israel 12:17 when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 12:19 Here it is. 12:21 Exodus 3:21 and 22, and the Bible reads as follows, 12:26 the Lord says, 12:27 "And I will give this people favor 12:30 in the sight of the Egyptians, 12:33 and it shall be, when you go out, 12:35 that you shall not go out," how? 12:38 "Empty handed. 12:40 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor, 12:43 namely, of her who dwells near her house, 12:47 articles of," what? 12:48 "Silver, articles of gold, and clothing, 12:52 and you shall put them on your sons 12:55 and on your daughters. 12:57 So you shall do," what? 12:59 "Plunder the Egyptians." 13:02 Now that's a very important point. 13:03 And I want to emphasize, 13:05 I think I did some private program. 13:06 I sought it from this point for a particular reason. 13:09 But the Lord said, "You're going to plunder them." 13:11 And He said, "Put them on, put them on your children, 13:15 put them on your sons, put them on your daughter." 13:18 Now, just to illustrate, I have this jacket on, 13:22 but if I go like this, 13:26 I also have the jacket on. 13:28 In both cases, I'm able to carry it. 13:31 The context here in the Hebrew is the Lord was saying, 13:34 carry that stuff with you. 13:36 He wasn't saying put the stuff on you. 13:40 There's a difference all together. 13:41 He was saying put it up. 13:43 So as you carry things and one of the ways 13:44 that they carry that sometimes they use baskets, 13:48 they had weaved baskets 13:50 that were kind of like large backpacks 13:53 which had arm handles like we have backpacks, 13:56 and they put whatever they could in there, 13:58 and whatever the weight was that each individual can carry, 14:01 that's what they had on their backs. 14:03 Some people just throw it over this shoulder, 14:05 and throw it over that shoulder, 14:07 and depending on the size, 14:08 like Nana couldn't care very much, 14:11 but Michael could carry more. 14:13 You see, depending on the size of the individual, 14:15 they were able to carry that. 14:16 If they had ox carts 14:18 or whatever kind of apparatus they had to bring it, 14:21 they packed all those articles of gold, and silver, 14:25 and precious clothing, and ornaments, 14:27 they packed it all with them. 14:29 It was amazing that God had a plan 14:31 for the children of Israel. 14:33 Let's look at the very next verse. 14:35 So if you answer Exodus 3:21 and 22, the Lord says, 14:39 "Take everything they have, their gold and their silver, 14:42 and put it on your sons and your daughters." 14:45 All right? 14:46 The Lord gave them all the wealth. 14:48 And if you could put that there in the nutshell, 14:50 the Lord gave the Israelites the wealth of Egypt. 14:54 All right, now let's see in Exodus Chapter 12. 14:57 Let's look at that. 14:58 Exodus 12:35 15:03 and 36, all right? 15:07 Let's go to that one. 15:08 What else did the Lord do? 15:10 And the Bible says, 15:11 "Now the children of Israel had done..." 15:14 Now the first verse was the instruction, 15:16 now they're following the instruction, here it is. 15:19 "Now the children of Israel had done 15:22 according to the word of Moses, 15:26 and they asked from the Egyptians 15:28 articles of silver, articles of gold, 15:32 and," what else? " 15:33 Clothing. 15:35 And the Lord had given the people favor 15:38 in the sight of the Egyptians, 15:40 so that they granted them what they requested. 15:43 Thus," let's read that part together, they did what? 15:46 "They plundered the Egyptians." 15:49 Now plunder is a powerful word. 15:52 Plunder didn't just mean they took everything they had, 15:55 but plunder means simply when they left Egypt, 15:58 Egypt's economy bottomed out, they had nothing. 16:02 Because in that era, in that generation, 16:05 they didn't have credit cards like we have nowadays. 16:08 They didn't have wallets with dollar bills in it. 16:10 They wore their money. 16:12 If you look at some of the ancient coins, 16:13 and depending on how far back you can go, 16:15 but there were some cities of antiquity 16:17 where they literally wore a necklace with their coins 16:21 that had a hole in it. 16:22 So when they paid whatever they purchased, 16:25 they would loosen the chain and take a coin out 16:27 and another coin, that was their money. 16:29 But now we can see one of the reasons 16:31 why we went from just coins to dollar bills. 16:33 Who can tell me, 16:35 what's the sense of going from coins to dollar bills? 16:37 What's the sense? 16:39 The weight, exactly. 16:41 Can you imagine carrying $200 of coins 16:43 around your neck or $1,000 for that matter, 16:47 I don't think 16:48 you'll have a neck for very long. 16:50 But when they left in those days, 16:51 they took all the articles of gold, 16:53 all the articles of silver, 16:55 and the list goes on and on and on and on. 16:57 But God had a purpose for that. 16:59 But there was something that the Lord told them to do, 17:03 there was something else the Lord told them not to do, 17:06 right? 17:07 He said, take that, 17:09 but here's what I don't want you to do 17:11 with what you take out, all right? 17:13 Let's go to question number 15, question number 15. 17:17 What specifically did the Lord tell the Israelites not to do? 17:23 What specifically did the Lord tell the Israelites not to do? 17:27 So if you can put this in two categories, 17:29 God gave them a to-do list and a not to-do list. 17:33 When you leave do this, 17:35 but when you leave don't do this, all right? 17:38 Because they had been so influenced, 17:40 God had to give them specific instructions. 17:43 And as is the case, 17:45 if they followed God instructions, 17:47 their to-do list and their not to-do list 17:50 would stay intact. 17:51 Here's what the Lord said. 17:53 And we'll go now to Exodus Chapter 20, 17:55 and we're going to look together at verse 23. 18:00 Let me turn there. 18:02 Exodus Chapter 20, 18:03 and we're going to look at verse 23, all right? 18:09 Here it is on the screen. 18:11 It says, the Lord, 18:12 "You shall not make anything to be with Me, 18:17 gods of silver or gods of gold, 18:22 you shall not make for yourselves. 18:25 He says when you leave... 18:27 Now this is important because in Israel, 18:29 I mean, sorry in Egypt, these were gods. 18:32 If you look at... 18:34 I've never been to Cairo's museum, 18:36 but I've seen it on the internet, 18:38 you know, the internet is the portal. 18:40 I love to go and see. 18:41 But when they buried, the kings of antiquity, 18:45 and they buried many of these tombs were raided. 18:50 You've heard of tomb raiders. 18:51 Many of the tombs were raided. 18:52 And so sometimes 18:54 they would build these large pyramids, 18:55 and on the inside, they would put all the articles 18:58 that indicated the wealth 18:59 and the fame of that particular king. 19:01 And when they uncovered that, they unearthed that, 19:03 they would see... 19:05 The descriptions were just so vast 19:10 to even begin to describe. 19:12 Whatever they made, 19:13 whether it was sarcophagus in which they were laid, 19:17 whether it was their crown 19:20 or the breastplate that they wore, 19:22 whatever they made, it was ostentatious 19:25 or as they would say, in Dubai, 19:27 you know, you can't say luxurious in Dubai, 19:29 that's a little word, you have to say opulent 19:32 because they were extremely wealthy, 19:34 gold, silver, emeralds, diamonds, sapphires, ruby, 19:39 Egypt was a powerfully wealthy dynasty. 19:43 So now the tables are turned. 19:46 They're poor, and the Israelites are what? 19:48 Wealthy. 19:50 And there's a promise in the Bible, the Lord says, 19:52 "I will give unto you the wealth of the Gentiles." 19:56 And that's exactly what He did. 19:57 He gave them all they needed, 19:59 but there was a particular purpose. 20:00 So now if you can write the answer down, 20:02 what specifically did the Lord tell the Israelites not to do, 20:06 and what did He tell them not to do? 20:08 "Do not make gods out of these things. 20:11 That's powerful. 20:13 Do not make gods out of these articles. 20:16 A lot of times we read the Bible, 20:19 but there's a particular point we missed. 20:21 I'm going to go back, this is an earlier question, 20:23 I'm not going to go back to the question. 20:24 But to give context to this, 20:26 I want to establish something vitally important. 20:32 These were described as gods, 20:34 what they brought from the land of Egypt, 20:37 they're very important, not just accessories. 20:40 See we call it accessories nowadays. 20:42 You go to some of these stores in the mall 20:44 or in big shopping centers 20:45 and you see all the golds and jewels, 20:47 and they call it accessorizing, God called them gods. 20:51 There's a difference all together 20:53 because these were used for a particular purpose. 20:58 Each of these articles had a particular function. 21:01 A number of years ago, I remember, 21:02 I told the story, but it fits here again. 21:04 I remember meeting a young lady who was a Wiccan. 21:09 She practiced the art of witchcraft. 21:12 For some reason, 21:14 at least my understanding back then, 21:15 I could be corrected if I'm incorrect. 21:17 She was considered, 21:19 you know, they considered Wiccan not an evil witch, 21:21 but a good witch. 21:23 Is that an oxymoron? 21:25 Good witch. 21:27 And she wanted to meet me, 21:28 and I was preaching in Wisconsin. 21:31 And after one of my sermons, 21:33 young lady came to me 21:34 that was an Adventist Christian, 21:35 and she said, "My friend wants to meet you. 21:37 She liked your message. 21:38 And could she meet you this afternoon?" 21:41 I said, "Sure." 21:42 She said, "Well, let me ask a bit 21:44 because maybe she won't... 21:45 Well, let me see... Well, maybe she's ready... 21:47 Well, let me see if she's ready... 21:49 Well, I don't know if she has a protection on." 21:51 And I said, "What's the problem? 21:54 Why would you need protection from me? 21:55 I'm just the pastor, I'm just doing the sermon." 21:58 I came to find out when I met her, 22:01 I had to ask the question, 22:03 "Your friend said you had on your protection, 22:08 what does she mean by that?" 22:10 And I learned something that day 22:11 that ignited in me the mind of an inquirer, 22:15 and I began to study deeper into this particular topic. 22:19 What I came to discover is that as a witch, 22:25 they protected themselves, as it were, 22:28 from whatever spirit you have. 22:32 So they don't want to get the spirit that you had, 22:35 neither do we want to get the spirit they have, right? 22:38 Amen to that. 22:40 We don't want their spirit, 22:41 and they didn't want our spirit. 22:43 So they wore protection, 22:45 and their jewels were their protection. 22:49 If you go to some of these websites today... 22:50 I don't suggest you do a lot of that, 22:52 but if you want to meander in the maze of mediocrity, 22:55 you can look at some of these websites 22:56 where they sell these articles, 22:58 and they literally call them gods. 23:00 Like the goat's head. 23:02 There it's an amulet in the occult world. 23:06 All these articles that they wear 23:07 have a particular function, the upside down cross, 23:11 the hand with the various symbols, 23:13 these are all amulets, 23:14 and they have various functions in the occult world. 23:17 Well, Egypt is the mother of the occult world. 23:22 Those who study the occult 23:24 often go to Egypt as a pilgrimage 23:27 because that's the place 23:28 where much of this occult practice was started. 23:30 So now putting this together, 23:32 those articles that were brought 23:34 out of the land of Egypt and the children of Israel 23:36 now have, they got all these articles 23:38 that were used for occult worship. 23:40 And the Lord said, "Whatever you do, 23:43 do not make a God out of these things." 23:46 Because that's exactly what they were. 23:48 Okay, now let's see why. 23:49 Let's go to Exodus 20:3. 23:51 Let's put this in the proper context 23:53 because I believe that oftentimes 23:56 this commandment is probably, maybe second 24:00 to one of the most misunderstood commandments. 24:02 A lot of people say the fourth one is, 24:04 but this is an amazingly misunderstood commandment. 24:07 Exodus 20:3, here's what the Bible says. 24:13 Well, let's start with verse 2. 24:15 Well, let's start with verse 1. 24:18 "And the Lord God," we got to get the author. 24:20 "And the Lord God spake all these words saying, 24:24 'I am the Lord, your God, 24:26 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 24:29 out of the house of bondage.' " 24:31 Now get this. This is so vitally important. 24:34 He brought them out of bondage, He brought them, what? 24:36 Out of bondage. 24:38 So when He brings them out of bondage, 24:40 are they still in bondage? 24:41 Yes or no? 24:43 I'm giving you the answer. No, they're not. 24:45 So the things that He's going to give them now, 24:48 as He frees them from bondage will maintain their freedom. 24:54 He's not going to give them anything. 24:55 It's amazing as you go through the Ten Commandments, 24:58 and the reason why this jumps out of my mind right now 25:00 is because the fourth commandment, 25:02 when you talk about the Sabbath, 25:03 people say you're in bondage. 25:05 He reminded them of the Sabbath 25:07 when He brought them out of bondage, 25:09 but there's something else He reminded them of. 25:12 Look at verse 3, the verse I want to focus on. 25:16 He says, "You shall have no other," 25:18 what's the next word? 25:19 "Gods before me." 25:21 Then look at this. 25:22 "You shall not make for yourselves any carved, 25:26 or graven images, 25:28 or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, 25:32 or that is in the earth beneath, 25:34 or that is in the water under the earth. 25:38 You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them 25:43 for I the Lord, your God, and a," what kind of God? 25:46 "Jealous God, 25:48 visiting the iniquity of the Father, on the children, 25:52 to the third and fourth generation 25:54 of those who do," what? 25:56 "Hate Me." Got to finish it though. 25:58 "But showing mercy to thousands of those 26:01 who love Me and keep My commandments." 26:06 He made it very, very clear, very clear, 26:09 please don't make gods out of these things 26:12 that you brought out of Egypt. 26:13 Don't bow down to them, 26:15 don't serve them, don't worship them. 26:17 In the occult world, 26:19 they understand perfectly what that means. 26:21 But in the Christian world, it's often misunderstood. 26:25 It's parlayed off as accessorizing, 26:29 but let's continue to go on, all right? 26:32 Question number 16. 26:34 Question number 16. 26:36 Now, God, everything that the Lord gives us 26:37 has a purpose. 26:39 It has a, what? A purpose. 26:41 God just never... 26:42 He never gives us anything 26:43 just for the purpose of giving it to us, 26:45 except health and strength. 26:47 You know, we can't share our health and our strength. 26:49 It could be a blessing to others, 26:51 but whatever God gives to us, 26:52 He intends to use it for a particular purpose. 26:55 This is often something that's missed 26:57 in understanding why the Lord gave the Israelites 27:00 all the articles of gold, and silver, 27:02 and jewels that He did. 27:04 Question number 16, here it is. 27:07 For what purpose were the precious stones 27:10 and jewels to be used? 27:13 For what purpose were the precious stones 27:15 and jewels to be used? 27:18 Let's go to Exodus Chapter 25, Exodus Chapter 25. 27:26 All right, we're going to look at... 27:36 I'm going to read verse 8, 27:38 but then I'm going to back up 27:39 after we answer the question on the screen, 27:41 I'm going to back up to a few verses 27:43 just to show you 27:44 that the Lord now begins to expand the material, 27:47 the list that He brought out of Egypt, all right? 27:50 Here's the answer, Exodus 25:8, let's read this together. 27:53 It's on the screen. 27:54 And the Bible says, 27:55 "And let them make Me a," what? 27:57 "Sanctuary that I may," do what? 27:59 "Dwell among them." 28:01 Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. 28:06 The Lord wanted to make a place of worship. 28:09 What He didn't want them, 28:10 He didn't want them to be the place of worship, 28:13 He wanted to make a place of worship. 28:17 The Egyptians had so many gods, like... 28:22 My wife and I went to India, we saw the Buddhist temples, 28:25 and the Hindus' temple. 28:27 Amazing, the gods, and I asked, 28:32 "Well, how many gods are there in the Hindu religion?" 28:34 They said, "Too many to count." 28:36 And during the night, 28:38 you'll see various altars set up along the roadway, 28:41 I mean, late at night, 28:43 and then you'll see as you're driving, 28:44 you see a really bright light, 28:45 and when you turn to your right there are people 28:47 right at the intersection under a bridge, 28:50 under an overpass candles lit up on the ground, 28:53 and they're bowing before this God 28:54 that is either out of some kind of shiny metal 28:57 or some kind of painted material. 29:00 It has many arms or crowns, they're bowing down to them, 29:04 even in the Buddhist temples that we went in. 29:07 So I understand that Egypt is no different 29:10 because occult practices and the worship of false gods 29:14 were prevalent in Egypt as it is today in many lands 29:18 and among many cultures. 29:19 So the Lord says, I want to use these articles 29:21 to make a sanctuary. 29:23 But now look with me, and we're going to see, 29:26 look at verse 7. 29:28 He talks about a function very, very quickly. 29:31 In Exodus 25:7, 29:34 notice what other stones He mentions, 29:36 what stones does He mentioned? 29:38 "Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod 29:42 and in the breastplate." 29:44 Now what I'm going to do, a little later on, 29:47 we're going to see. 29:48 I'm going to show you some pictures 29:49 in one of the following programs 29:51 of what the Lord actually did with those articles. 29:53 How He really did design them to fit in the temple services. 29:58 So you could begin to compare what we see 30:02 and what we do not see, 30:03 what God intended to be using those articles for. 30:06 All right, so the answer to that one for question 16, 30:10 what purpose the Lord wanted to make a what? 30:12 Sanctuary, a place where He will be worshiped. 30:15 And by the way, when you think of God's house, 30:20 what the Lord is going to illustrate here 30:22 is should the Lord's house be less than anyone else's 30:27 or the best. 30:29 It should be the best. 30:30 So the Lord was going to make a temple, the sanctuary, 30:32 this is going to be the portable sanctuary 30:35 long before they made the permanent temple, 30:37 but this is going to be a portable sanctuary, 30:41 and all the articles on the inside 30:44 were going to be used for a particular function. 30:47 All right, let's go to number 17, 30:49 number 17, all right? 30:55 Question, here it is. 30:56 "How were the precious jewels 30:59 to be used in the sanctuary service?" 31:03 I just answered the question. 31:04 I gave you the answer. I jumped ahead of myself. 31:07 But just for those who are watching, 31:08 let's go ahead 31:10 and put the answer on the screen, 31:11 Exodus 25:7, here it is, here's the answer. 31:14 "Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the," what? 31:19 "Ephod and in the," what else? 31:21 "Breastplate." 31:22 You know, actually, 31:24 there's a blessing tonight in store for you, 31:26 I actually do have the slides, 31:28 and I believe I've given it to our graphics people. 31:31 So I'm going to bring them up on the screen right now 31:33 and show you what the Lord intended. 31:35 There it is. Okay, great. 31:36 Here we have it also. 31:38 Notice here, you have the priestly garments, 31:41 The ephod is that colorful garment 31:44 that is over his blue robe. 31:47 That's the ephod. 31:48 But in the middle of that is the breastplate. 31:51 Notice all the precious stones that are in the breastplate. 31:54 If you can count very quickly, how many stones do you see? 31:59 Fourteen. 32:00 Ah, I just wanted to check and see. 32:02 Right, there's one on the left, and one of the right, 32:04 those are called the urim, all right? 32:07 You have the ephod, you have the breastplate, 32:09 and you have those stones, 32:10 each one of the stones represent one of the tribes 32:12 of the children of Israel. 32:14 But the urim was powerful. 32:16 You see when God intervened in a matter 32:19 that could not be settled 32:20 by the leadership of the Israelites, 32:23 if the answer was yes, what will happen? 32:26 The white stone lit up. 32:28 If the answer was no, 32:30 the darker stone began to radiate. 32:33 So therefore there was a divine presence 32:37 that was accompanying the children of Israel. 32:40 There was divine presence there 32:42 that God was literally residing in the midst of His people. 32:46 But that breastplate, 32:47 if you notice it very carefully, 32:49 we still have it on our screen here, 32:50 you notice that the jewels were worn by whom? 32:54 Someone tell me. 32:57 By the high priests. 32:59 Now this is powerful, we got to get past this. 33:03 Who is our high priest, someone tell me? 33:05 Jesus is our high priest. 33:07 So now I always say to people, 33:09 of course, you can wear all the jewels 33:12 if you're the high priest. 33:14 Who's our high priest? 33:16 Jesus is our high priest. 33:17 Matter of fact, 33:19 go with me to Revelation Chapter 1. 33:20 Let's look at this picture. 33:22 You see Revelation is written so much in sanctuary language 33:25 before we go to the very next question. 33:27 Revelation is written in such beautiful language, 33:30 it describes Jesus wonderfully, okay? 33:35 Okay, we're going to go ahead, Revelation Chapter 1, and... 33:41 Okay, I'll go ahead and... 33:46 let's start with verse 12, 33:52 verse 13. 33:55 All right, the Bible describes the seven churches, 33:57 but then notice, notice one. 33:59 It says, "And in the midst of the seven lampstands, 34:04 one like the Son of man clothed with a garment 34:10 down to the feet 34:12 and girded about the chest with a," what kind of band? 34:16 "A golden band." 34:18 So notice right away 34:19 describing the high priestly garments. 34:21 Jesus is our high priest. 34:23 Clearly, He's the one ministering 34:26 in the sanctuary in our behalf today. 34:29 It goes on further, verse 14, 34:32 "His head and His hair were white like wool, 34:36 as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of," 34:39 what? 34:41 "Fire." 34:42 It describes His feet. 34:43 "His feet were like fine brass as if refined in a furnace, 34:48 and His voice as the sound of," what? 34:50 "Many waters." 34:52 So when you think about that, you see clearly, 34:56 and I like the way that the Bible describes it 34:58 because when you think about brass today, 35:01 brass is really not that valuable a metal. 35:03 But it refers to Him as what kind of brass? 35:06 Refined, refined, the best, the best. 35:13 So anything that describes the Lord 35:14 is always the best. 35:16 Amen to that. 35:17 So you begin to see clearly. 35:19 But there's another purpose that the Lord had 35:21 for these precious stones. 35:23 Look at the next text in question number seven, 35:25 which we're going to continue the question, 35:27 how are these precious stones to be used 35:29 in the sanctuary service? 35:31 Let's go now to Exodus Chapter 25. 35:34 And we're going to now look together at verse 17, 35:38 all right? 35:39 I'm in Exodus 25, I kept something there 35:41 that I not lose my place. 35:43 Exodus 25, 35:44 and we're going to look at verse 17, all right? 35:48 Here it is. 35:49 And the Lord says, 35:51 "You shall make a mercy seat of," what? 35:55 "Pure gold, 35:57 two and a half cubits shall be its length, 36:01 and a cubit and a half its width." 36:03 Now look at that, 36:05 the mercy seat was going to be made of what? 36:08 Gold. 36:09 So now let's put this in context. 36:12 Everything in the sanctuary is supposed to point 36:14 to a particular function as Christ as our high priest. 36:18 And when He told Moses to make a sanctuary, 36:21 the very next verse in Exodus 25:9, He said, 36:25 "Make it according to the pattern 36:27 that I've shown you in the mountain." 36:29 So what you've seen, 36:30 I wanted this, and then He gave specific instructions, 36:33 so specific, 36:35 some people have followed those instructions 36:36 to make a mock up of the sanctuary. 36:39 Specific, the Lord was very, very specific. 36:42 All the articles were made of some kind of precious stone. 36:45 But let's look at that, pure gold. 36:47 Now we have another picture of that. 36:49 Let's look at this together, showing you 36:50 what the Lord intended to do with all this gold. 36:52 Here's the picture of the mercy seat, 36:55 the mercy seat. 36:56 Why is a mercy seat, 36:57 when the Bible says the Lord is full of mercy, 37:01 it's pointing to this article of furniture. 37:02 God was always the one. 37:04 And you have the two angels, 37:06 they're covering their face with one of their wings, 37:08 and they're covering the mercy seat with the others. 37:11 And inside the mercy seat, you had the rod that bud it, 37:18 you had the hidden manna, and you also had the... 37:24 Come on, somebody tell me, the Ten Commandments. 37:29 It is very same mercy seat, 37:30 on the sides of it was the book of the law, 37:35 on the inside were the Ten Commandments, 37:38 a differentiation between one and the other. 37:41 But the seat was to be overlaid with gold. 37:43 Everything about it was to represent the glory 37:47 and the beauty of the Lord. 37:49 So here's the next one, Exodus 25:17. 37:51 What the Lord intent to make with these precious stones? 37:54 What else? The mercy seat. 37:56 Write that down, the mercy seat. 37:58 We're just touching on a few of the articles 38:00 that are very important in the services 38:06 that are there in the scriptures. 38:09 The ephod, the breastplate, now the mercy seat. 38:12 Let's look at one more. Let's look at one more. 38:15 Exodus Chapter 31. 38:16 Let's turn there. 38:18 Exodus Chapter 31. 38:21 All right, 38:23 and we're going to look at verse 8, 38:29 verse 8, and those of you that are watching, 38:33 you'll see the scripture with us. 38:35 Here's the answer to verse 8. What else? 38:37 "The tables and its utensils, the pure gold," what? 38:43 "Lampstand with all its utensils, 38:47 the altar of, " what else? 38:49 "Of incense." 38:50 So the Lord was intending to make all that. 38:52 He wanted to make them 38:54 not only the pure golden lampstands, 38:57 but all the utensils, and the altar of incense. 39:00 I'll show you a picture that 39:02 as we continue to go through the study together, 39:04 but let me pause for a moment to begin to put this all, 39:06 begin to package this. 39:09 The Lord was about to make something 39:11 so profound and so beautiful 39:13 that when the children of Israel 39:15 came to the temple to worship, 39:17 every article of furniture 39:19 would represent a particular function 39:21 in the Lord's ministry, in the heavenly sanctuary. 39:25 Now let me ask a question, it requires a yes or no. 39:29 Is there still an earthly sanctuary? 39:31 Yes or no? 39:34 No. 39:35 Where is the sanctuary? 39:36 It is in heaven. 39:38 So when the Bible talks about that 39:40 in Revelation Chapter 4, John says, 39:42 "I saw heaven open," 39:43 and he described what he saw in the temple. 39:48 So the work that God is doing now, 39:50 the work that Jesus is doing as our high priest 39:53 is in that heavenly sanctuary. 39:55 But let's think in terms of all the articles 39:58 that were made. 40:00 You have the outer court, you have the inner court, 40:02 you have the holy place, 40:03 and you have the most holy place, 40:05 and everything about it 40:06 was made of some kind of precious stone, 40:08 that's why the Lord gave the children of Israel 40:11 these articles to use. 40:13 Okay, now let's go to question number 18. 40:16 Let's go to question number 18. 40:18 Here it is. 40:19 All right, now I want to kind of... 40:24 Let's go to Exodus Chapter 32. 40:26 But what I'd like to do... 40:29 Wow, this is a beautiful story here. 40:33 You could sometime run through the story, 40:36 and what I'll do after we read verse 1 40:39 of Exodus Chapter 32, 40:41 where our next answer is coming from, 40:42 we're going to look at some of the details in the story 40:44 before we go any further, all right? 40:46 Here's the question. 40:48 What happened to the Israelites, 40:50 question number 18, 40:52 while Moses was in the Mount of Sinai? 40:55 What happened to the Israelites 40:57 while Moses was in the Mount of Sinai? 41:00 Now the question is, why did Moses go up there? 41:05 What did he go up there for? 41:08 The Lord called him. 41:10 He went to receive the Ten Commandments. 41:13 While he was gone... 41:15 Do you remember how many days he was there? 41:18 For 40 days, for 40 days he was there, 41:21 and he seemed to have been there so long 41:24 that the people began to take liberties, 41:28 they began to move in the direction 41:31 that God never intended for them to move. 41:34 Now it may seem like we don't have many questions, 41:35 but we're going to take this story now, 41:38 and begin to break out components 41:39 in that particular story, all right? 41:42 Let's put the answer. 41:43 What happened to Moses while... 41:46 What happened to the Israelites 41:48 while Moses was in the Mount of Sinai? 41:50 Exodus 32:1, here's what the Bible says, 41:54 let's look at it together. 41:55 "Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down 41:59 from the," what? 42:00 "From the mountain, 42:02 the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him," 42:06 Look at what they said, here it is, 42:09 "Come, " read the next three words, 42:11 "Make us gods that shall go before us, 42:16 for as for this Moses, 42:18 the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, 42:22 we do not know what has become of him.' " 42:25 Well, the very thing the Lord said 42:28 not to do is exactly what they did. 42:30 Now, does that sound like children today? 42:32 It's amazing how the Lord calls them 42:34 the children of Israel. 42:37 When you say, "Dear children, 42:38 don't do this, " what do they do? 42:40 Exactly what you tell them not to do. 42:42 The same heart, the same heart of rebellion. 42:45 Don't do that, that's exactly what they do. 42:48 That's exactly how, 42:49 I mean, that's the kind of young boy I was. 42:51 But let's go to the very next verse, 42:54 the very next verse. 42:56 Well, first of all, let's answer verse 1. 42:59 Let's answer verse 1. 43:00 What happened to the Israelites 43:02 while Moses was at the Mountain of Sinai? 43:04 What do they do? 43:06 They request that God, a God be made. 43:10 So write that down. 43:11 They requested that a God would be made. 43:16 That's what they requested. 43:17 "We want us a God." 43:20 This is powerful. 43:21 We want us a God. 43:22 The Lord said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." 43:25 We want us a God. 43:27 What's going to happen to Moses? 43:29 What happened to Moses? I have no idea. 43:30 Now there's a parallel here that's very important 43:32 to what we're studying 43:34 because has Jesus returned yet? 43:37 Yes or no. 43:38 Does it appear as though He is delayed? 43:42 Well, this is powerful, 43:43 there's a powerful parallel here. 43:45 Has the Lord brought us out, 43:50 He's brought us out of darkness into His, what? 43:52 Marvelous light. 43:53 Did He bring out the Israelites? 43:55 Yes, He did. 43:56 Now, if we compare the two, 43:59 what is our journey called 44:00 if you compare that to the Israelites journey, 44:01 what is our journey now called? 44:03 We are in the... 44:06 Or in the wilderness. 44:08 So Egypt to Canaan, 44:12 darkness to light, earth to heaven, 44:16 just like the children of Israel, 44:18 we are in our wilderness journey. 44:21 But let's look at a couple of examples. 44:23 Go back with me... 44:25 Go with me now to the Book of Hebrews, 44:28 but we've got Hebrews Chapter 3. 44:29 Before we got to the very next question, 44:31 I want to give you some fillers 44:32 because, sorry 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, 44:35 1 Corinthians Chapter 10. 44:39 Okay. 44:44 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, 44:46 because everything that they did, 44:50 the Lord is saying to us, 44:52 and Paul the Apostle writes very emphatically 44:55 in 1 Corinthians Chapter 10. 44:58 He records 45:02 the journey of the Israelites to say, 45:05 Yannick, look of what they did and don't do it. 45:09 So God still has a to-do list, and a not to-do list, 45:14 it's found in His Word. 45:15 Let's look at 1 Corinthians Chapter 10, 45:17 we'll walk through this together. 45:19 Verse 1, "More over brethren," the Bible says, 45:26 "I do not want you to be unaware 45:29 that all our fathers were under the cloud, 45:32 all pass through the," what? 45:35 "All pass through the sea, all were," what? 45:39 "Baptized." 45:40 Are you baptized? 45:41 Same language he's using the New Testament language, 45:44 but in a similar sense into Moses, 45:46 in the cloud, and in the sea. 45:50 Now I'll go to the next verse, "All ate the same spiritual, " 45:53 what? 45:55 "Food." 45:56 What was that same spiritual food? 45:57 Manna. 45:59 Today, it's the Word of God. 46:01 "And all drank the same spiritual drink, 46:05 for they drank of that spiritual rock 46:08 that followed them," and that rock was Christ. 46:11 Today, we have the same thing. 46:13 Our journeys are parallel. 46:16 This is where it just turns. 46:17 Anytime a sentence following something so good 46:20 begins with the word, "But," 46:22 it's a reversal of what just happened. 46:24 Here it is. 46:25 "But with most of them, God was not well pleased." 46:31 And what happened? 46:33 "For their bodies were scattered," where? 46:35 "In the wilderness. 46:37 Now these things became our examples." 46:42 What are they? 46:43 So if you want examples, where do we look in the Bible? 46:47 What people do we look at? 46:49 Whatever the Israelites did, don't do. 46:54 God's got a to-do list and not to-do list. 46:56 If you want examples, He said. 47:00 "But with most of them, God was not well pleased, 47:02 for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness." 47:06 That's where we are, 47:07 we're in our wilderness journey now. 47:09 Now verse 6, "These things became our, " 47:13 say that word together, "Examples to the intent, 47:18 that we should not lust 47:19 after evil things as they also lusted." 47:24 Wow. 47:26 "And do not become idolaters as were some of them." 47:29 Well, let me not start preaching. 47:33 Idolatry means what? 47:35 What is an idolater? 47:39 In this particular sense, I'm idle. 47:41 If your car's on idle, are you going anywhere? 47:44 No, you're not going anywhere. 47:45 That means you're just not doing anything. 47:48 They were idolaters. 47:50 Not only that, 47:51 but also as you just said, they worship idols. 47:53 Had the dual application. 47:55 They were the kind of people that just... 47:57 Where they were doing anything, 47:59 but what God had called them to do. 48:00 Look where it goes on further to emphasize and explain, 48:03 describing what this idolatry was, 48:06 as were some of them. 48:08 "As it is written," and this is Exodus 32:6, 48:12 "the people sat down to do," what? 48:14 "Eat, and drink, and rose up to play." 48:18 They rose up to play. 48:20 They lived in a generation just like ours. 48:23 And to think that we say today, 48:25 we have a whole lot more things to do today 48:27 than they had then. 48:29 Hey, but they still had things to play with. 48:31 Now I want you to keep your hats on, 48:34 they're in the wilderness now, what are they playing with? 48:41 Huh? 48:43 Somebody said sand. 48:45 That's a good analogy. 48:48 But I would suggest to you 48:50 that whatever they brought out of Egypt 48:53 became their toys, 48:55 whatever they brought with them out of Egypt 48:57 became a part of the things that occupy their time. 49:00 It's so vitally important as children 49:04 that are on the way to the Promised Land 49:06 that we don't allow anything that came out of Egypt to what? 49:09 Occupy our time 'cause they're idolaters. 49:12 Some people are great Christians, 49:14 they sit down to eat and drink potluck, 49:17 and they rise up to do nothing but have fun. 49:20 Don't do that the Lord says, 49:22 get involved in the mission of the church, 49:24 praise the Lord for that. 49:25 But now let's go on further, verse 8, 49:28 "Nor let us commit sexual immorality 49:32 as some of them did." 49:35 And what was God's attitude towards that? 49:37 And in one day, how many died? 49:40 Twenty three thousand fell. 49:43 But then not only that, 49:45 they became dissatisfied with Christ. 49:46 Now do we live in an age of sexual immorality? 49:51 Unbelievable, 49:53 we got to pass by all this stuff 49:55 on the way to the Promised Land, 49:56 and let me make a statement, 49:58 it came out of Egypt, spiritual Egypt. 50:00 It didn't come out of Canaan, they're on their way to Canaan, 50:03 it's not there, it came out of Egypt. 50:07 They learned this in Egypt, and that's what they practice. 50:10 Now let's go on, verse 9, "Nor let us do," what else? 50:15 "Tempt Christ as some of them also tempted, " 50:20 and the word there is test, 50:24 "And they were destroyed of serpents." 50:27 Now let's keep going. 50:29 Verse 10, "Nor murmur as some of them also murmured, 50:34 and were destroyed by the destroyer." 50:37 So here they are, they're in the land, 50:39 they're in the desert, they're on their way to Canaan, 50:42 and here they are just having fun. 50:46 Get up early in the morning, 50:47 and if you want to read the rest of the story, 50:49 you go to Exodus Chapter 16, "When the bread..." 50:51 When the Lord rained down bread, 50:53 He said, "Get just enough for one day." 50:55 What did they do? Who remembers? 50:57 They took twice as much. 51:00 They were involved in appetite, just like our generation. 51:04 And what happened is except the Sabbath, 51:07 it's spoiled, and it stunk, 51:08 and you can walk through the campground 51:10 and know who was a late night eater. 51:13 Okay, I could tell us in this tent, 51:15 but now look what the Lord says 51:17 about their examples, verse 11. 51:20 "Now all these things happen to them as," what? 51:24 "Examples, and they were written for our," what? 51:28 "Admonition on whom the ends of the ages have come." 51:34 I like these last two verses. 51:35 "Therefore let him 51:37 who thinks he stands take heed, lest he, " does what? 51:40 "Lest he falls." 51:41 Be very careful 51:43 because we could, like the Israelites, 51:44 we can say, we've got the Sabbath, 51:46 we got diet, we have the sanctuary message, 51:49 didn't they have that? 51:50 They had a sanctuary right among them. 51:52 They had diet, don't eat this, eat that. 51:55 They had the Sabbath. 51:56 They honored it, and some of them didn't honor, 51:58 but they had all these things, they had the vessels of truth. 52:01 But we see what happened to many of them. 52:04 But here's the beauty of the Lord's grace, verse 13, 52:07 "No temptation has overtaken you 52:09 except such as," what? 52:11 "Common to man. 52:13 But God is," what? 52:15 "Faithful, 52:16 who will not allow you to be tempted 52:18 beyond what you are able, 52:19 but with the temptation also make a way of escape 52:23 that you may be able to do," what? 52:25 "Bear." 52:26 So now here's the context as I go 52:27 to the very next question or the Exodus 32:2. 52:32 They can't say 52:35 that the Egyptians made them do anything. 52:39 They can't say we did this 52:41 because the Egyptians were influencing us to do this. 52:45 Everything that we do is a choice. 52:47 What is it? 52:48 It's a choice. 52:50 So what they did then was out of harmony 52:52 with the will of God. 52:53 Now let's go to question number 18. 52:55 But look at verse 32, Chapter 32, 52:58 let's go to verses 2 down to verse 4. 53:01 Before we answer the second part, 53:03 before we answer the second part 53:05 of question number 18. 53:08 Okay, I'm there now. 53:11 I'll read 53:13 Exodus 32:2-4, here it is. 53:18 Okay, verse 2, what happened? 53:22 It's a terrible thing. 53:23 Here it is. 53:24 "And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the," what? 53:28 "Golden earrings, 53:30 which are in the ears of your wives, " 53:33 just like today, "Your sons," just like today, 53:37 "And your daughters, and" do what? 53:39 "Bring them to me.' " 53:41 Let's pause right there 53:42 because we think that men wearing earrings is new. 53:46 They did it in Egypt. 53:48 So now to see that practice in our generation today 53:50 is a practice that has been around 53:52 for thousands and thousands and thousands 53:55 and thousands of years. 53:57 It was practiced in Egypt. 53:58 Today we call it a fashions, fads, styles, accessories, 54:04 but the Lord says, 54:07 "And Aaron said to them, 54:09 'Break off the golden earrings.' " 54:10 And this very people now, 54:12 he knew exactly what they had done with it, 54:14 exactly what the Lord told them not to do, 54:15 that's exactly what they did. 54:17 Let's continue to verse 3, continue to verse 3. 54:21 "So all the people broke off the golden earrings 54:24 which were," what? 54:26 "In their ears," And what did they do? 54:29 "They brought them to Aaron." 54:32 And now verse 4, 54:35 "And he received the gold from their hand, 54:39 and," what did he do? 54:40 "He fashioned it with an engraving tool..." 54:44 Thou shalt not make into any graven image. 54:47 The Lord just told them. 54:49 "And made a," what? 54:50 "Molded calf." 54:52 He made a molded calf. 54:54 And by the way, I'm going to go to the very next, 54:57 I'm going to go to the verse in just a moment here. 54:59 He did that, he made this golden calf. 55:02 And then he said, as we go on in the verse. 55:07 Look... 55:08 And I just, that's the only part I haven't, 55:10 He says, "And he received them, 55:11 fashioned with an engraving tool, 55:13 and made them a molden calf. 55:15 Then they said, 'This is your God, O Israel, 55:18 that brought you out of the land of Egypt.' " 55:20 I left that part of the text out from the slide. 55:23 When they did that, He said, 55:24 "This is your God that brought you out." 55:26 Now let me ask you the question. 55:28 If you were God, would you be offended? 55:31 Because who brought them out? 55:32 God brought them out with a mighty hand, 55:34 He delivered them, 55:35 but now they point to this article of gold 55:39 that came from their earrings that the women had, 55:43 the girls had, the sons had, 55:46 just like today, just like today, 55:48 they ornamented their body temples, 55:50 which God intended to be used 55:52 for the temple articles of furniture 55:54 for the high priest to wear in his garment. 55:56 But they had it on themselves, 55:57 they followed the practices of the Egyptians. 56:00 And that's where they got it from. 56:01 Now I want to go to verse 7, 56:03 and then I'm going to lay some foundation 56:04 for our next program. 56:06 Let's look at the last question, 56:08 the last question. 56:10 How did the Lord describe what had taken place 56:13 among the Israelites? 56:16 How did He describe what had taken place 56:18 among the Israelites? 56:21 Look at Exodus 32:7, this is an amazing verse. 56:28 Okay, the Bible says, "And the Lord said to Moses, 56:33 'Go get down! 56:36 For your people whom you brought 56:39 out of the land of Egypt have," done what? 56:41 "Have corrupted themselves.' " 56:44 I want you to notice the tone that... 56:48 See God brought them out. 56:49 But what did He say to Moses? 56:51 These are your people. 56:53 What did he immediately do? 56:55 When they followed the practices of the Egyptians, 56:57 the Lord said, "Those are not My people. 57:00 Go down. These are your people, Moses. 57:02 You need to go down and talk to these folks 57:04 because they have corrupted themselves." 57:07 Now when you look at that today, 57:09 and I want to tell you today if Aaron, 57:12 if there was an Aaron in the Adventist church 57:14 or many of the churches that says, 57:15 break up the golden earrings in your hand, 57:17 in your ears of the sons and daughters, 57:19 I tell you, there'll be a lot of golden gods 57:21 in Christian churches nowadays 57:23 because the church to the greatest degree 57:25 have followed the practices 57:26 that are here described in our journey 57:29 from the world to the kingdom from Egypt to Canaan, 57:33 from earth to heaven. 57:34 The churches of the world look more like the Egyptians 57:41 than the Israelites. 57:43 Next week, you're going to see in the next covering, 57:45 we're going to show you when gold and jewels were worn, 57:50 the Lord never identified His people as His people. 57:55 He always disconnected His identity. 57:57 Friends, keep studying. 57:59 If you don't make... 58:00 If it doesn't make sense, 58:02 one day it surely will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-01-21