Participants: Shakeela Yasuf
Series Code: DOA
Program Code: DOA000007
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00:41 As-Salaam-Alaikum to our Muslim brothers and sisters,
00:44 shalom to our Hebrew cousins, 00:47 and peace be upon you to our Christian friends. 00:50 Welcome to "The Descendants of Abraham." 00:53 We are so blessed that you have joined 00:55 us today for another program. 00:58 In our previous program, we look at the tremendous tests 01:03 that Abraham faced when the Creator God 01:06 asked him to sacrifice his son Isaac. 01:10 Upon on Mount Moriah Abraham had heard the question of his son, 01:15 "My father, where is the lamb for burnt offering. 01:20 And the father answered, "My son, God will provide 01:25 himself a lamb for a burnt offering." 01:29 And we all know that the Creator God provided the ram 01:34 that took the place of Abraham's son. 01:39 God showed Abraham through this great event 01:42 that took place on Mount Moriah, 01:44 a symbol of Him who was to die for the sins of all mankind. 01:50 Our Creator was giving Abraham a vision 01:53 into the greatest defend ever to take place 01:57 on this rebellious planet of ours. 02:00 Some say that the first sacrifice was when the Creator 02:04 killed an animal to make a covering for Adam and Eve 02:08 after they sinned in the Garden of Eden. 02:11 I don't know may be. 02:13 We know that Adam and Eve, the parents of Cain and Abel 02:18 taught their sons regarding the sacrificial system 02:22 given to them by the Creator. 02:25 We are familiar with the story of Cain and his brother Abel 02:29 and how Cain through his pride and envy murdered 02:33 his own brother who was right in God sides. 02:38 We are told that the Creator God could not accept Cain's offering 02:43 of fruits because there was no shedding of blood involved. 02:49 There was no sacrifice for atonement 02:54 and that is so important in this lesson. 02:58 Let us take a look at what happened. 03:00 Let's read together Genesis 4:3-5. 03:07 "And in the process of time it came to pass, 03:11 that Cain brought an offering of the fruit 03:13 of the ground to the Lord. 03:16 Abel, also brought of the firstlings 03:18 of his flock and of their fat. 03:22 And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 03:25 but he did not respect Cain and his offering." 03:32 Why did the Creator not accept Cain's offering, 03:37 because his offerings from the fruit of the ground, 03:40 it represented the blessing that the Creator gives us each day 03:45 for our earthly needs, like food, like water, 03:50 the sunshine, the rain, it represented all off that 03:54 but it did not acknowledge faith in the Creator's 03:57 most important gift humanity, his son and the shedding 04:02 of his blood as the only sacrifice accepted 04:07 by the Creator God for our sins. 04:10 Abel's offering acknowledged the shedding of blood through 04:15 animal sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. 04:19 Cain's offering was based 04:22 on his own works for righteousness. 04:28 When Noah was out of the ark, the first out he walked out 04:31 after the ark landed and the water disappeared 04:36 from the earth, one of the first things he did was build 04:39 an altar to the Lord and offer burnt offerings. 04:44 Wherever Abraham went an altar 04:47 which he sacrificed animals upon was built. 04:51 When he moved from Canaan, when he went to Beersheba 04:56 where ever he went, there was always an altar left behind. 05:01 Canaanite travelers came and they always saw the altar 05:05 and they knew, they knew that Abraham 05:09 was there before, sacrificing to his God. 05:15 Abraham offered this sacrifice daily. 05:19 He was well acquainted with the requirements of the Creator. 05:23 The system instituted by the Creator Himself goes back 05:27 to the time of Adam and Eve. 05:30 Remember what the Creator God told the serpent 05:32 when Adam and Eve sinned. 05:34 Here is what He said. 05:36 Let's read it in Genesis 3:14, 15. 05:41 "So the Lord said to the serpent, 05:43 "Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, 05:48 and more than every beast of the field. 05:51 On your belly you shall go, and you shall east dust 05:56 all the days of your life. 05:59 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, 06:03 and between your seed and her seed, 06:07 he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel." 06:13 Enmity, if you look up the definition of enmity 06:16 what it means hatred. 06:18 God wanted to put hatred between whom? 06:23 Whom did they want to put hatred between? 06:25 It was between the fallen angel Lucifer who used the serpent 06:30 to tempt Eve who is now called Satan 06:34 and the son of the Almighty Jesus the Christ. 06:39 God said, He will put hatred, 06:43 enmity between Satan and his son. 06:50 Brothers and sisters, listen to me please, 06:55 our journey has descendants of Abraham as Ishmaelites 07:00 has not come to completion. 07:03 Our journey must continue in the search for truth. 07:08 We will all say that there is only one God and yes, 07:13 there is only one God, so there must be only one truth. 07:21 Then why are there so many religions in this world? 07:25 Why are there so many different Gods 07:28 and so many different roads leading to God? 07:32 Most are invented by man according 07:35 to his own way and traditions. 07:40 How do you know that the God you follow 07:43 and worship is the true God? 07:46 The God who hears and answers the living God? 07:51 In my journey and many of our Ishmaelite brothers 07:56 and sisters journeys to find the truth, 07:58 we found the meaning of father Abraham's 08:01 call to sacrifice his son, his only son 08:06 as an offering to his God. 08:08 We as Ishmaelites and our cousins 08:12 the Hebrews all believe that 08:15 the God of Abraham is the one true God. 08:19 Yet so, yet why so many differences in our teaching 08:23 and our worship style. 08:26 Why so much bloodshed 08:28 all in the name of the God of Abraham. 08:35 If we all worship and follow the one true God, 08:38 we would help each other. 08:40 Our hearts would be filled with compassion toward each other. 08:46 Abraham's God would not have allowed 08:48 Abraham to sacrifice his son, 08:51 that is not who He is or what He is about. 08:56 God was testing Abraham's faith in Him 09:01 and He was also pointing us to the future to the sacrifice 09:06 of His Son Jesus who will have to make atonement 09:12 for us so that we may have lives. 09:17 Think about this. 09:19 If Jesus is the Son of God, then He must be our elder brother. 09:26 Let me show you what God says in his word, 09:28 in the Book of Romans in the Injil 8:15, 16, 17, 09:36 "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage to fear, 09:42 but you received the Sprit of adoption 09:45 by whom we cry out "Abba, Father. 09:50 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit 09:54 that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, 09:59 heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." 10:06 God is a God of love, compassion, 10:10 forgiveness and mercy. 10:13 He loved Isaac more than Abraham could ever love Isaac. 10:18 He loved Ishmael more than Abraham could ever love Ishmael. 10:23 And He loves you and me more than 10:28 we can possibly imagine. 10:32 God our Father Abba proved 10:38 His love for us by allowing 10:40 His Son and our brother to take our penalty 10:45 of death upon Himself, so that we may live. 10:51 He can never bless the fighting that goes on between us. 10:57 We are all His children. 11:02 He wants us to stop. 11:04 He wants us to stop the fighting. 11:07 He wants us to stop killing in His name. 11:11 He is holy and just and righteous. 11:16 And He never gave His permission to kill our brothers 11:20 and sisters and to say that we are doing it in His name. 11:25 We are not, that's not who the God of Abraham is. 11:30 That's not who the living God is. 11:33 This is not from the God of Abraham, Isaac or Ishmael. 11:41 There is no other sacrifice that the Almighty will accept 11:45 for the forgiveness of our sins. 11:48 Cain tried his own way and he was cut off 11:51 from the family of God. 11:54 Many of us are attempting to worship God 11:57 in our own way, we can't do that. 12:06 I would like us to look at what the Prophet Isaiah said, 12:11 Isaiah chapter 55:8, 9, 12:19 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 12:22 Nor are your ways my ways," says the Lord. 12:27 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 12:30 so are My ways higher than your ways, 12:33 and My thoughts than your thoughts." 12:38 Father Abraham understood this. 12:41 He prayed that Ishmael would be the son of promise 12:46 but when the Creator God said no, no, 12:50 Ishmael is not the promised son, it had to be Isaac. 12:53 Abraham submitted to God and accepted this. 13:00 But God kept His promise to Abraham and Hagar. 13:05 He blessed Ishmael and his descendants abundantly. 13:11 After Sarah died Abraham married Keturah. 13:17 He had six sons with her. 13:19 You can read about this in Genesis 25. 13:22 But, here is the interesting thing. 13:24 Let's take a look at it together, 13:26 let's look at Genesis 25:5, 6, 13:30 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. 13:35 But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines, 13:38 which Abraham had, and while he was still lived 13:42 he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, 13:47 to the country of the east." 13:52 Ishmael was not the only child of Abraham 13:55 that was sent away from Isaac. 13:57 Abraham knew that he had an obligation 14:00 to the Creator to protect Isaac, the promised son from 14:05 any influence that would get in the way of God's plans for him. 14:09 Did you know that Isaac and Ishmael 14:12 loved each other and reunited? 14:15 If you study this brothers and sisters, 14:17 you will find truth. 14:19 Again in Genesis 25:9 we see these half brothers 14:24 as they unite and come together at the grave of their father. 14:27 Let's look at that again. 14:29 In Genesis 25:9, "And his sons Isaac and Ishmael 14:34 buried him in the cave of Machpelah." 14:38 There was a lot of strife and trouble 14:42 in their earlier years. 14:44 Undoubtedly how many of us as teenagers 14:50 when our father or mother sends us away 14:54 since you have to leave, how many of us will be happy? 14:59 It will affect us, it will affect our soul, 15:02 it will affect our heart, it will break us, 15:05 and this caused a lot of trouble. 15:08 But Ishmael returned to the God of his father, 15:11 the living God, Jesus the Christ. 15:16 It was Jesus that brought peace and tranquility 15:21 to these brothers in the later part of their lives. 15:26 Only Jesus can bring this kind of unity and joy into our lives. 15:31 No other human being, no amount of money, 15:34 no amount of land or earthly things 15:37 can ever bring total peace to our hearts. 15:41 Isaac and Ishmael both worshiped and follow Jesus. 15:46 Jesus himself said to the unbelieving Jews, 15:49 the lineage of Isaac in John 8:56, we can read this. 15:54 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, 15:59 and he saw it and was glad." 16:04 At that time the Jewish people did not believe 16:09 in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. 16:12 They believed in Abraham but they missed Abraham's God 16:18 and this is why Jesus said what he did, 16:20 God did provide himself a lamb 16:24 just as he Abraham testified he would. 16:29 That lamb was and still is Jesus, His only Son. 16:37 The lamb offering had to be without blemish 16:41 because it symbolizes the Creator's 16:43 sinless unblemished Son, 16:46 the ultimate sacrifice for you and me. 16:51 There are many references 16:53 to Lamb of God in the Holy Scriptures. 16:55 Let us take a look at some of these. 16:58 In the Book of Ezekiel, in the Torah 17:02 we read in Ezekiel 45:15, 17:05 "And one lamb shall be given from a flock of two hundred, 17:10 from the rich pastures of Israel. 17:14 These shall be for grain offerings, 17:16 burnt offerings, and peace offerings, 17:19 to make atonement for them." 17:24 And In Isaiah 53:7 we seen the prophecy. 17:30 "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, 17:33 yet He opened not His mouth, 17:37 He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, 17:40 and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, 17:45 So He opened not his mouth." 17:50 When John the Baptist first laid eyes on Jesus, 17:54 here is what he declared, here is what he said. 17:57 Let's look at the Injil in John 1:29. 18:04 He said, "The next day John saw Jesus 18:08 coming towards him and said, 18:10 "Behold! The Lamb of God 18:13 who takes away the sin of the world!" 18:19 John recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God. 18:25 And in the Book of Revelation we are told that unless 18:30 we choose to follow the Lamb of God 18:33 and worship Him, we will worship Satan. 18:37 Here is what it says in the Book of Revelation, 18:40 the last book of the scriptures, the book of the time 18:43 of the end in Revelation 13:8, 9. 18:51 "And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, 18:56 whose names have not been written in the Book of Life 19:01 of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 19:07 If anyone has an ear, let him hear." 19:13 Brothers and sisters, my fellow 19:16 Ishmaelite descendants of Abraham and my Hebrew brothers 19:22 and sisters too, we cannot choose to be neutral. 19:26 We will choose to follow the Lamb of God or his enemy, 19:32 there is no middle ground. 19:34 In John again in the Injil in the Book of John 3:16, 19:41 we see the meaning of the sacrificial system 19:44 that was given by the Creator God. 19:47 Let's read that together. 19:51 Let's take a look at what it says, 19:54 "For God so loved the world that He gave 19:59 His only begotten Son, that whoever believes 20:03 in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." 20:11 Abraham knew that if he had to take Isaac's life 20:15 that his God, our God, your God, 20:20 the Creator of all things could, 20:23 would be able to resurrect Isaac. 20:27 He would have been able to restore him. 20:30 But, that did not have to happen because God provided 20:34 the sacrificial lamb for Abraham and Isaac, 20:39 for Ishmael and for you and for me. 20:49 Brothers and sisters, 20:55 I would like to close with these remarks, 21:01 although Abraham had other sons, nothing of significance 21:05 is mentioned of them, they seem to have 21:09 just faded into history. 21:11 It was Ishmael and Isaac and their descendants 21:15 that were to play an important role in this great controversy 21:20 that has taken place in the last 4000 years. 21:24 There is still a conflict going on between the descendants 21:28 of Abraham because they have strayed 21:31 so far from the God of Abraham. 21:35 I pray that they will answer the call, 21:39 answer the call from the God of Abraham 21:44 to come back home where they belong. 21:48 Time is running out. 21:51 The earth as we know it is coming to an end quickly. 21:57 Can't you hear the voice of God? 22:00 Abraham's God calling you come home Ishmaelite, comes home. 22:11 I know it's difficult to answer this call. 22:15 It was difficult for me and it's difficult, 22:18 it was difficult for lot of our brothers and sisters 22:21 who have traveled that road, who has completed that journey 22:28 to find truth and to find the living God, 22:32 the one true God of Abraham. 22:35 It is difficult, I will not deny 22:38 that but not impossible. 22:40 And my fellow brothers and sisters, 22:45 take that path, pray about it, listen for the voice of God, 22:51 He will talk to you, pray to Him. 22:55 If you pray to Him to show you truth, 22:58 I promise you He will show you truth. 23:01 He will guide you and you will be safe 23:06 and you will be at peace and you will have joy 23:10 like you never had joy before. 23:15 I would like to take a few minutes to pray with you, 23:19 but before I do that, let me say a little bit about prayer. 23:24 When I first started following the God of Abraham 23:30 and learning about Him and learning about 23:33 His Son Jesus, my prayers changed, 23:38 it is so personal, it is He says He is our father, 23:45 but see we don't have to repeat verses 23:49 and we don't have to speak in any other languages 23:54 except our own native language, the God of this world, 23:58 the Creator of this world, He understands, 24:01 whatever language we speak 24:03 and He understands us each one of us. 24:07 We don't have to be scholars, 24:09 we don't have to be priests or imams, 24:12 whoever we are, He listens to us, 24:14 He draws close to us when we pray. 24:18 Let's pray together, and let me pray for you, 24:21 I want to pray for you. 24:26 Oh, God, Father in heaven, we come to you, 24:32 I come to you praying for my brothers and sisters, 24:37 the Ishmaelites and our cousins the Hebrews. 24:44 Father, we have lost our way and you know 24:47 that and we pray, I pray Father 24:51 that you will please shine your light, 24:54 your holy precious light that we can see 24:59 clearly the path to travel. 25:04 Speak to our hearts, speak to our minds, 25:08 I know father, I know that there are many out 25:11 there that are searching for truth, 25:14 that are searching for you, they want to know you. 25:19 Won't you please Father, hear my prayer on their behalf 25:23 and touch them with Your truth and bring them home 25:27 as You have been calling them bring them home, 25:32 I pray this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, 25:37 your beloved Son and our Savior. Amen. 25:43 When you get to the Descendants of Abraham, 25:46 you can be sure that you're lighting the way 25:48 for all in search of the Creator God 25:51 and His message of love and forgiveness to all nations. 25:54 Thank you for your support and for your prayers. 25:58 All contributions are tax deductible. 26:01 Please visit us online today at www.descendantsofabraham.org 26:06 or write to us at the address you see listed on your screen. 26:09 All correspondence will be kept confidential. 26:13 If you would like to learn more about the sacrificial system 26:19 that God himself instituted that Abraham followed, 26:23 that all the patriarchs and all the prophets followed. 26:26 Please contact us through our website 26:30 at www.descendantsofabraham.org again 26:34 that is www.descendantsofabraham.org. 26:42 There you will find some resources 26:45 that you may find interesting actually. 26:50 There are testimonies from former Ishmaelites 26:55 that you can look at and hopefully 26:58 it will give you courage to take that path, 27:02 that journey and they will tell about their struggles 27:07 but they will also tell how God helped them and came 27:10 to them in visions and dreams in so many different ways 27:15 that He can come to you. 27:19 Next week we will look at Jesus, the Son of God. 27:24 Who is he? Is there a mention of a mother? 27:29 Like you brothers and sisters 27:31 I too accepted this as blaspheme. 27:35 God is holy and to say that he had relations 27:39 with an earthly woman and produced a son, 27:42 yes, that would blaspheme, 27:44 but is that what had really happened? 27:47 We will learn more next week. 27:51 Inshallah you will join us again, 27:54 as we continue to learn about the true God, 27:57 the God of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. |
Revised 2014-12-17