[uplifting music]
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>>Eric Flickinger:
Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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Glad that you could
join us again this week.
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We're continuing
a 13-week journey
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through some of
the major prophecies
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of the Bible and learning
how we can best study them
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and understand them.
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This is week number four.
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We are taking a
look at "The Nations."
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This is actually part one
of a two-part short series,
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miniseries that
we're going to be doing,
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looking at the
relationship of the nations
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to Bible prophecy,
delving ever so slightly
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into politics and
some other fun things.
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So, we're glad that
you are here with us.
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, thank You
for being with us today.
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Thank You for
allowing us to be with You.
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As we study Your
Word, as we study the Bible,
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we gain a clearer picture of You
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and a better understanding
of the world in which we live.
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So we're anticipating
that as we do that today,
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You will do as
You have always done
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and given us some
more hope and encouragement
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and perhaps even challenging
us a little bit along the way.
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We thank You for doing
so. In Jesus' name, amen.
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Well, we're happy to
have back with us again
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the author of this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson,
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Pastor Shawn
Boonstra. Shawn, welcome back.
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>>Shawn Boonstra: Hey,
I'm surprised you had me back,
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but here we go, week four.
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>>Eric: So far people
seem to be enjoying it.
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We'll see what week five looks
like, whether you're back again.
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>>Shawn: If I get
removed from the premises.
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>>Eric: That's right.
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>>Shawn: But I've been thrown
out by all kinds of people.
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>>Eric: So nothing new.
>>Shawn: No, nothing new.
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>>Eric: "The
Nations"-- this is interesting.
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As I mentioned, we're looking
a little bit into politics.
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>>Shawn: Yeah, we are.
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>>Eric: Give me a
little bit of your history.
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I think some of us are familiar
with kind of where you came from
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into where you are today,
but a little bit of history
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that gives us
some background here.
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>>Shawn: Yeah, out of
everything that appeared
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in this quarterly, this one
probably was my favorite theme.
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We ended up
with two weeks on it.
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And I think it's a
major, major theme in prophecy.
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Before becoming a Christian,
I was a political activist,
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and I mean a very busy one.
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I was the
president of a certain party.
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It doesn't matter
what party I've left,
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but certain parties organization
on our university campus.
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I sat on an advisory
board for the political party.
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I still to this day once
in a while get communications:
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"Hey, you wanna work on
Senator so-and-so's campaign?"
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No, I really don't.
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It was my entire life.
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I've got firsthand
experience with how the kingdoms
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of the world run.
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And man, we could
spend the entire time
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on what actually
happens. I'll just say this.
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I believe almost
nothing I see on TV,
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almost nothing because I used to
be a part of making that happen,
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the appearance it's on TV.
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Now, there were a lot of
people that went into politics
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who went in for
all the right reason.
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I will say this:
They wanted to serve.
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They wanted
to--almost an evangelist heart
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but in a secular sense--
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they wanted to serve
their fellow human beings.
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They wanted to hold office
to make a positive change.
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The number of people,
however, that stayed that way
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in that environment
was really quite small.
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We're all human
beings. We're all fallen.
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I saw fallen nature up close.
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Eventually, your self-interest
rises to the surface.
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It occurs to you, "I
now sit in a seat of power,
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and I can start appropriating
resources around me."
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And they'll say anything and
do anything to retain that seat,
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make promises. I mean,
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how many election cycles
do you have to go through
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before you realize they're not
keeping any of these promises?
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There's very few
that actually keep them.
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And we've also seen
this willingness to say
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or do anything to
destroy your political opponent.
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Sometimes everyone
knows that what you're saying
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isn't even true,
but it doesn't matter.
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Just put it out
there, make sure they lose.
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It brings out
the very worst in us.
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I've seen it up close.
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I remember one
time-- and this is actually
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a part of why I
became a Christian.
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I know that I'm
taking a bit of time here,
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but this will give you
a sense for why this theme
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is so important to me.
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I was at a fundraising dinner
for a political candidate,
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and I was waiting on tables.
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I mean, I'm 18 years
old. I'm there as a volunteer.
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I can't afford $1,000-a-plate,
$50,000-a-plate dinner,
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so I'm a busboy and a waiter.
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And at one point I had to go
do what little boys have to do
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halfway through an evening, and
I ran over to the men's room,
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and I opened the door,
and on the floor, Eric,
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was one of the most influential,
powerful people I know of.
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His face was common in the news.
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He was wealthy. He was powerful.
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Who it is doesn't matter.
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I will always
protect his identity.
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But he was on the floor
of the bathroom sobbing,
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clearly drunk, and his
face was stuck to the tiles.
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You know, he'd been laying
on the tiles, facing the tiles.
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The alcohol probably got
him down to that position,
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and he's sobbing.
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And he pulls himself up
when he hears me come in,
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and he looks at me.
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And it was just gross.
There's slobber everywhere.
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A string of drool goes
from his cheek to the floor,
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and he looks at me and
says, "I'm worth nothing."
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And I looked at
him, and I thought,
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"You've got
everything I'm trying to get.
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"You've got power, you've
got money, you've got notoriety,
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"you're on TV every single
day, people chase you around,
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"the world in your
hand, and you're on the floor
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thinking you're worth
nothing? This is a dead end."
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And I walked--I'd love to
say I quit that day, I didn't,
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but that started to
bother me, and I think the Lord
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let me see that so
that I could walk away
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from that life into the
one that I currently have.
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I have firsthand experience
in how the nations work.
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And we could spend
the whole time on stories
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on how self-interest
operates in that realm,
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but it is definitely--
even those that start well,
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most of them end up--it's
just a game of self-interest.
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>>Eric: As we look
at this week's lesson
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and next week's lesson,
it's apparent, it's clear
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that you're very
passionate about this,
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and there are elements in
here that you've woven into it,
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like Genesis, chapter 10.
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Talk about Genesis, chapter
10 and why this chapter is,
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just holds so much
fascination for you.
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>>Shawn: Yeah,
I'm currently making
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a documentary series
on Genesis, chapter 10,
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tracking mythology
through different cultures
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all over the planet and how they
all seem to lead back to here.
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When you get to
Genesis 10, some scholars
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will call this
"the table of nations."
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And this is foundational,
again, for Bible prophecy.
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Everything's in here. You find
the beginnings of Babel in here.
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And if you're not familiar
with the book of Revelation,
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you know, that one has a
star on its door in that cast.
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It's verse 10: "The beginning
of his kingdom was Babel."
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And if you look at this,
this is a little bit different
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than mythology. There are
real people and places in here.
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In verse 6, you've
got Kush-- it's Ethiopia.
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You've got Egypt;
Put, which is Libya.
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These places are
still on the map.
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I mean, the people on the map,
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there are cities
named after them.
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And Genesis,
chapter 10 is actually
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the story of real people.
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Now, what's fascinating
about this is that up until
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about the late 19th century,
we were tempted to believe
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that this is
just more mythology;
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this may as well just
be Zeus and Saturn and--no.
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There was a guy by the
name of Hormuzd Rassam.
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And Hormuzd Rassam is the first
Assyrian-born archaeologist.
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He was working
with a British guy
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who decided to go into politics.
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He left, and they were
digging up the ruins of Nineveh.
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In there they found the
library of Ashurbanipal.
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And Hormuzd Rassam found
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what we now call
the Gilgamesh tablets.
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And the Gilgamesh
tablets got everybody excited,
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so excited, in
fact, that George Smith,
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who was the person who
finally cracked the code
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on the cuneiform and
translated them, got so excited,
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and I verified this
story at the British Museum,
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he stripped himself
naked running around.
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He was so excited. He just
started peeling off his clothes.
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"Woo, look what I found."
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It's a weird response,
but that's how excited he was
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because they found the
first mention of the Flood
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outside of the Bible ever.
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And the Gilgamesh
tablets, it turns out,
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well, they're in
the Bible as well.
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Gilgamesh is a character
that's very big in Mesopotamia.
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He founded a bunch of cities.
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The number one city he
founded was called Uruk.
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It's where we get the
name for the nation of Iraq.
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It's still on
the map today, Uruk.
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He was a terrible
tyrant who wanted a god named--
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oh, what was the
name that they gave him?
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It was just almost
identical to Yahweh--Huwawa.
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Huwawa, they wanted him
dead, and he's terrified
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when his best friend dies.
What is the answer to death?
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And someone says, "Did you
know your great-grandfather
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"Utnapishtim
survived a great flood,
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and he's still alive, and he
has the secret of eternal life?"
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My goodness, what
are the odds, right?
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Utnapishtim is Noah.
He goes and finds him,
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and because Noah can't
give him a magic formula--
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you know, he's found
eternal life in Christ.
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The story is anti-Noah,
anti-God. It's the other side.
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It's the Babylonians
telling the same story.
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But it turns out that
Gilgamesh is actually Nimrod.
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Nimrod is not a proper
name. The Hebrews use it.
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You know, when they're telling
the story of Haman in Purim,
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the Jews make noisemakers--
"Let's not hear his name."
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The same with Gilgamesh;
they won't use his name.
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Nimrod means "the
rebel," "the bully."
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It's just a nickname for him.
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He's the founder of
the city of Erech here.
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Uruk, it's the same thing. And
so we have this verification,
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and I find it fascinating.
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In a previous
episode we said, look,
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Daniel 12 is talking about
knowledge of the book of Daniel.
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Wouldn't you know it,
when we start in the 1830s
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to really start
digging into Bible prophecy,
00:10:03.97\00:10:07.60
suddenly we start finding
all the ancient cultures.
00:10:07.64\00:10:09.74
In the middle of
the 19th century,
00:10:09.77\00:10:11.27
somehow by
accident we find Nineveh;
00:10:11.31\00:10:13.07
we find all these
things; we dig up the tablets
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that verify what
we're reading in here.
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Gilgamesh--Nimrod--
is the original rebel.
00:10:18.98\00:10:23.25
He's the founder of Babel.
00:10:23.28\00:10:24.75
"I will do
things my own way, sir."
00:10:24.79\00:10:27.06
He opens up the first kingdom.
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I don't know
how-- I mean, I think,
00:10:28.56\00:10:30.69
I've probably
underlined why I find Genesis 10
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so very important
and so foundational.
00:10:32.63\00:10:36.36
But here is where
we get this divergence
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between the kingdoms of
men and the kingdom of God.
00:10:38.63\00:10:42.94
>>Eric: And we continue to see
that divergence going on today.
00:10:42.97\00:10:45.87
You hit in this
week's study on Abraham
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and the significance of Abraham.
00:10:50.81\00:10:52.95
Why was it important
for God to call Abraham,
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and how does that help us to
see this divergence of the two?
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>>Shawn: Well,
it's fascinating to me.
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Why couldn't Abraham
be Abraham where he was?
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If you look at where he
was required to move from,
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he moves from
Ur in the Chaldees.
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He's a Chaldean.
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And he goes way up north
and then comes way down south,
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takes forever to get there,
and he's in a strange land.
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And I sometimes
laugh to myself, like,
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how did he sell
his wife on this move?
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"Where are we gonna
go?" "Well, way out there."
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"That's full of barbarians. I'm
pretty sure they eat people."
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You know, it's like,
not a--but he trusts God.
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It's one of the reasons he's
held out as a hero of the faith.
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He moves. And I keep
asking myself, but why?
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Why didn't he stay at
the center of civilization?
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Why did he have to move?
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Well, number one, we
have some indication,
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I don't know if it's reliable,
00:11:41.56\00:11:42.93
but if you read Josephus,
Abraham had run-ins with Nimrod.
00:11:42.96\00:11:47.97
Maybe, maybe not, maybe
the timelines don't work.
00:11:48.00\00:11:51.27
But he wasn't much loved
once he became a monotheist.
00:11:51.31\00:11:54.61
That part of Jewish
history is the memory.
00:11:54.64\00:11:56.54
He wasn't loved around there.
Would they have wanted him dead?
00:11:56.58\00:11:59.55
You know, maybe God moved
him so he wouldn't end up dead.
00:11:59.58\00:12:03.45
He could go somewhere
and build a new world.
00:12:03.49\00:12:06.52
Secondly, where is Canaan?
00:12:06.55\00:12:08.92
It's the crossroads
of the ancient world.
00:12:08.96\00:12:11.33
If you lived in
Europe, you went through there
00:12:11.36\00:12:12.86
to get to Africa or Asia.
00:12:12.89\00:12:14.50
If you lived in
Africa, you went through there
00:12:14.56\00:12:16.16
to get to--everybody
had to go through there,
00:12:16.20\00:12:18.53
and Abraham's about
to raise up a people
00:12:18.57\00:12:20.84
that foreshadows
the coming Messiah
00:12:20.87\00:12:23.04
and God's plan of salvation.
00:12:23.07\00:12:24.37
Moving him, I think, had
to do with preserving him,
00:12:24.41\00:12:27.41
and I think it had
to do with the fact
00:12:27.44\00:12:29.11
that it's the right place.
00:12:29.14\00:12:31.65
>>Eric: So God orchestrated all
these things in His knowledge
00:12:31.68\00:12:35.48
of the future and
knowing what would need
00:12:35.52\00:12:38.05
to take place and how
ultimately the plan of salvation
00:12:38.09\00:12:40.92
was going to come through
this, which is pretty powerful.
00:12:40.96\00:12:44.83
Again, Shawn, we struggle with
lack of space in the quarterly,
00:12:44.86\00:12:49.26
in the study guide and inability
to put everything in there
00:12:49.30\00:12:53.60
that you would have liked.
00:12:53.64\00:12:55.30
We have the companion
book. >>Shawn: Yep, we do.
00:12:55.34\00:12:57.64
And this one, you'll
get a little more detail
00:12:57.67\00:12:59.64
here in particular
because my favorite subject--
00:12:59.67\00:13:02.34
it's politics in the
light of Bible prophecy.
00:13:02.38\00:13:05.18
And so you'll find extra
material there that I think
00:13:05.21\00:13:07.75
we'll find--really, it casts
a lot of light on your study
00:13:07.78\00:13:11.99
of Genesis in
particular. >>Eric: Very good.
00:13:12.02\00:13:14.66
So if you would like to
pick up that companion book
00:13:14.69\00:13:16.96
to this quarter's
"Sabbath School" lesson,
00:13:16.99\00:13:18.73
you will find it
at itiswritten.shop.
00:13:18.76\00:13:21.76
Again, itiswritten.shop.
00:13:21.80\00:13:24.33
It's going to have more
stories, more in-depth research,
00:13:24.37\00:13:27.97
a lot that Shawn has gathered
00:13:28.00\00:13:30.24
through his life experience
and through his research
00:13:30.27\00:13:32.67
that will help you to understand
the role of the nations
00:13:32.71\00:13:35.24
in Bible prophecy.
00:13:35.28\00:13:37.31
We're going to come
back in just a moment
00:13:37.35\00:13:38.68
as we continue
looking at the nations
00:13:38.71\00:13:40.25
and the significance
of understanding them
00:13:40.28\00:13:42.25
so that we can better understand
the prophecies of the Bible
00:13:42.28\00:13:44.52
and better understand
the plan that God has for us.
00:13:44.55\00:13:47.19
We'll be right back.
00:13:47.22\00:13:48.52
[uplifting music]
00:13:48.56\00:13:50.56
>>John Bradshaw: It's one
of the most remarkable stories
00:13:52.66\00:13:54.66
in the Bible.
00:13:54.73\00:13:56.20
And although it's the
story of an historical event,
00:13:56.23\00:13:58.80
it's also a story with
prophetic implications,
00:13:58.83\00:14:02.24
allowing us to see
ahead into earth's last days.
00:14:02.27\00:14:05.44
Don't miss "The Fiery Furnace."
00:14:05.47\00:14:07.98
Three young captives in Babylon
dared to defy a powerful king,
00:14:08.01\00:14:12.25
willingly choosing to honor God,
00:14:12.28\00:14:14.25
whatever the
consequences might be.
00:14:14.28\00:14:16.55
It's a story of
faith and faithfulness,
00:14:16.58\00:14:18.95
an inspiring
account of what God can do
00:14:18.99\00:14:21.12
for those who
choose to put Him first.
00:14:21.16\00:14:23.59
"The Fiery
Furnace," three young men
00:14:23.63\00:14:26.03
who'd been
taken from their homes
00:14:26.06\00:14:27.66
and marched
across a barren desert,
00:14:27.73\00:14:30.07
who stood boldly for
God when everyone else
00:14:30.10\00:14:32.93
chose to worship a golden image,
00:14:32.97\00:14:35.70
three young men who speak of
God's saints in the end of time,
00:14:35.74\00:14:39.61
choosing fidelity over
fear and truth over tradition.
00:14:39.64\00:14:44.81
"The Fiery Furnace,"
00:14:44.85\00:14:46.65
brought to you by
00:14:46.68\00:14:47.98
It Is Written TV.
00:14:48.02\00:14:49.85
[uplifting music]
00:14:52.15\00:14:56.96
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:14:56.99\00:14:58.46
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:14:58.49\00:15:00.76
We're looking at
the role of the nations
00:15:00.80\00:15:02.13
in understanding the
prophecies of the Bible.
00:15:02.16\00:15:04.63
And, Shawn, you
on Monday's lesson
00:15:04.67\00:15:07.70
talk about how it wasn't
just the temple and its rituals
00:15:07.74\00:15:10.91
that foreshadowed
Christ, but you actually have
00:15:10.94\00:15:13.44
the people
themselves as a type of Christ.
00:15:13.48\00:15:16.24
How does that show us Christ
a little bit more clearly?
00:15:16.28\00:15:19.95
>>Shawn: Yeah, it's
a huge, huge subject.
00:15:19.98\00:15:22.55
But Israel was never supposed
to be like other nations.
00:15:22.58\00:15:25.65
That's pretty clear
throughout the Old Testament.
00:15:25.69\00:15:27.56
We'll touch on
that a little bit today.
00:15:27.59\00:15:29.96
They were
supposed to be different.
00:15:29.99\00:15:31.29
They were also a type of Christ.
00:15:31.33\00:15:33.76
And so there's this
concept in the Old Testament,
00:15:33.80\00:15:36.30
the "bechor," the firstborn.
00:15:36.33\00:15:38.73
The firstborn was
usually the oldest child,
00:15:38.77\00:15:40.97
not always but usually.
00:15:41.00\00:15:42.44
And the job of the firstborn
was to carry the name--
00:15:42.47\00:15:45.24
big concept in prophecy,
00:15:45.27\00:15:46.74
Father's name
written on our foreheads.
00:15:46.78\00:15:48.68
The "bechor" is to
carry the father's name,
00:15:48.71\00:15:51.68
culture, reputation forward
into the next generation.
00:15:51.71\00:15:56.42
This is how you persist.
00:15:56.45\00:15:58.22
And so God, on
more than one occasion,
00:15:58.25\00:16:00.49
calls Israel His firstborn.
00:16:00.52\00:16:02.69
You see it in Exodus, chapter 4:
"Thus you shall say to Pharaoh,
00:16:02.72\00:16:06.70
'Thus says the Lord,
Israel is my firstborn son.'"
00:16:06.73\00:16:09.33
Hosea 11: "When 'Israel
was a child, I loved him,
00:16:09.36\00:16:12.30
and out of Egypt
I called my son.'"
00:16:12.33\00:16:16.04
The parallels from that
point forward are stunning.
00:16:16.07\00:16:20.24
Israel goes into Egypt because
of a problem, stress: famine.
00:16:20.28\00:16:25.05
They spend time in
Egypt; they come out of Egypt;
00:16:25.08\00:16:28.08
they cross the Red Sea,
00:16:28.12\00:16:29.68
which Paul in 1
Corinthians 10 calls a baptism.
00:16:29.72\00:16:33.69
They were
"baptized" in the Red Sea,
00:16:33.72\00:16:35.89
and then they spend 40
years in the wilderness.
00:16:35.92\00:16:39.36
Then we get to
the story of Jesus.
00:16:39.39\00:16:41.13
Because of trouble, persecution
by Herod, a death sentence,
00:16:41.16\00:16:44.43
the family moves to Egypt.
They come back out of Egypt.
00:16:44.47\00:16:47.44
At the
beginning of His ministry,
00:16:47.47\00:16:48.74
Christ is baptized
in the Jordan River
00:16:48.77\00:16:50.97
and then goes into
the wilderness for 40 days
00:16:51.01\00:16:53.04
to be tempted of the devil.
00:16:53.07\00:16:55.04
Israel itself was
intended to foreshadow Jesus,
00:16:55.08\00:17:00.25
and where they failed
provides us with contrast,
00:17:00.28\00:17:03.12
and where they
succeeded in following God
00:17:03.15\00:17:05.32
gives us comparison.
And it's not by accident.
00:17:05.35\00:17:09.29
Israel was supposed
to be entirely different
00:17:09.32\00:17:11.86
than every other nation.
00:17:11.89\00:17:13.70
Every other nation,
if you think about it--
00:17:13.73\00:17:15.33
we talked before the
break about Gilgamesh and Erech
00:17:15.36\00:17:19.50
and Babel and so on.
What are these places?
00:17:19.53\00:17:22.54
They're artificial paradise.
00:17:22.57\00:17:23.87
All right, God says, "I
can restore you to paradise.
00:17:23.91\00:17:25.57
"You can come
back into the garden,
00:17:25.61\00:17:27.04
wait for the seed of the woman."
00:17:27.08\00:17:28.61
Human nature,
selfish, says, "You know what,
00:17:28.64\00:17:30.78
"we can build our own paradise.
00:17:30.81\00:17:32.41
"Put up a wall
that deals with enemies.
00:17:32.45\00:17:34.12
"Get a workforce;
we can grow our food.
00:17:34.15\00:17:35.95
Agriculture will keep us fed."
00:17:35.98\00:17:37.59
That's a replacement for the
trees and the garden and so on.
00:17:37.62\00:17:40.62
The issue is that you
put a bunch of sinful people
00:17:40.66\00:17:42.66
inside of a walled city,
00:17:42.69\00:17:44.19
and the most
powerful guy rises to the top,
00:17:44.23\00:17:46.03
becomes self-interested,
and becomes a king.
00:17:46.06\00:17:49.63
And Gilgamesh--Nimrod--
they were tyrants.
00:17:49.66\00:17:52.93
The Nephilim were tyrants.
They're not space aliens.
00:17:52.97\00:17:55.94
The word
literally means "bully."
00:17:55.97\00:17:57.71
They were bullies
running these cities.
00:17:57.74\00:18:00.21
And they're artificial paradise.
00:18:00.24\00:18:02.21
It's man-made solution
to the problem of death.
00:18:02.24\00:18:04.61
And they fail. They
fail on every front.
00:18:04.65\00:18:07.28
Israel was supposed to
be completely different
00:18:07.32\00:18:09.28
and show what the
kingdom of God looks like.
00:18:09.32\00:18:11.95
>>Eric: So they were
supposed to be different,
00:18:11.99\00:18:13.36
but they looked around
at these different nations.
00:18:13.39\00:18:15.09
>>Shawn: Yeah, I know.
00:18:15.12\00:18:16.36
>>Eric: And one of the things
was, "Oh, they've got a king."
00:18:16.39\00:18:18.99
So walk us through
1 Samuel, chapter 8.
00:18:19.03\00:18:21.73
>>Shawn: 1 Samuel, chapter
8 is an interesting chapter.
00:18:21.76\00:18:24.83
The people are
saying to Samuel, "Look,
00:18:24.87\00:18:26.43
"you're getting old, and we
don't have a succession plan.
00:18:26.47\00:18:29.44
What are we gonna
do about leadership?"
00:18:29.47\00:18:30.91
And he says,
"Well, I got my boys,"
00:18:30.94\00:18:32.04
you know, Abijah and Jehu.
00:18:32.07\00:18:33.51
"We don't want your boys.
They're corrupt as all get-out."
00:18:33.54\00:18:35.68
And the Bible is not
flattering describing the boys.
00:18:35.71\00:18:38.55
You wouldn't want them
for leadership, either.
00:18:38.58\00:18:40.98
And Samuel says,
"What do you want?"
00:18:41.02\00:18:42.48
"We want a king. We've
looked at the other nations.
00:18:42.52\00:18:44.82
"Look, it's time
for Israel to grow up,
00:18:44.85\00:18:46.96
become a proper nation."
00:18:46.99\00:18:48.79
And Samuel's
like, "You don't get it.
00:18:48.82\00:18:50.53
"You're not supposed
to be like the others.
00:18:50.56\00:18:52.43
You're not
supposed to have a king."
00:18:52.46\00:18:54.23
And when he talks to
God about it, God does this.
00:18:54.30\00:18:56.80
God is amazing.
00:18:56.83\00:18:58.13
He says, "Let them have
what they're asking for."
00:18:58.17\00:19:00.20
"What do you mean,
Lord? That's not right."
00:19:00.24\00:19:01.97
He says, "I know it's
not right, but, Samuel,
00:19:02.00\00:19:03.34
they haven't rejected
you. They've rejected me."
00:19:03.37\00:19:09.24
Now, what's fascinating about
it is from that point forward,
00:19:09.28\00:19:12.38
kings do in
Israel what kings did
00:19:12.41\00:19:14.92
in all these
pagan false paradises.
00:19:14.95\00:19:18.49
They get more and more
and more and more corrupt.
00:19:18.52\00:19:21.52
I don't know if we touch
on this in a coming lesson.
00:19:21.56\00:19:23.53
Maybe we do, maybe we don't,
00:19:23.56\00:19:25.73
but what you find
fascinating is that by the time
00:19:25.76\00:19:28.90
you get to the
end of 2 Chronicles,
00:19:28.93\00:19:31.10
you get this long
string of really wicked kings.
00:19:31.13\00:19:34.80
In fact, it calls
their acts an abomination.
00:19:34.84\00:19:39.14
And all those abominations
take place and the next thing
00:19:39.17\00:19:41.78
that happens is
that Nebuchadnezzar
00:19:41.81\00:19:43.95
rides into town and says,
"Oh, you don't need this temple.
00:19:43.98\00:19:45.98
You're not all
that different anyway,"
00:19:46.01\00:19:47.58
rips down the temple.
00:19:47.62\00:19:49.25
And there you have
what the Bible refers to
00:19:49.28\00:19:51.42
as "the
abomination of desolation."
00:19:51.45\00:19:53.12
I think we're gonna touch on
this in another lesson again.
00:19:53.15\00:19:55.16
We may end up repeating,
but that's a big concept
00:19:55.19\00:19:57.66
in the Bible.
00:19:57.69\00:19:58.99
And as we discussed in
a previous lesson, Eric,
00:19:59.03\00:20:01.06
what often happens
is we look outside.
00:20:01.10\00:20:03.53
Where's the antichrist?
Where's the antichrist?
00:20:03.57\00:20:05.03
No, the big problem's
inside, and the same is true
00:20:05.07\00:20:07.54
with the
abomination of desolation.
00:20:07.57\00:20:09.50
It was the
abominations of God's own people
00:20:09.54\00:20:11.57
that led to the
desolation of the temple.
00:20:11.61\00:20:14.24
Babylonians take it down.
00:20:14.28\00:20:15.71
Jesus says the same
thing in Matthew 23:
00:20:15.74\00:20:18.05
"Behold, your house is
left [to] you desolate."
00:20:18.08\00:20:21.15
Why? Because of the abominations
of God's own people,
00:20:21.18\00:20:24.59
which tells us
something about the abominations
00:20:24.62\00:20:26.76
described in the
book of Revelation.
00:20:26.79\00:20:28.56
Again, it's not the outside.
It's the professed people of God
00:20:28.59\00:20:31.96
that are
committing the abominations
00:20:31.99\00:20:33.76
that lead to desolation.
00:20:33.80\00:20:36.36
So yeah, they ask for a
king, and it was a big mistake.
00:20:36.40\00:20:40.47
And what I find fascinating
is that God loves them enough
00:20:40.50\00:20:44.14
to start describing what it
is that the king's going to do.
00:20:44.17\00:20:48.04
First Samuel 8 and verse 11:
00:20:48.08\00:20:51.05
"These will be the ways...
the king...will reign over you:
00:20:51.08\00:20:53.05
...take your sons...
appoint them to his chariots."
00:20:53.08\00:20:54.92
There's gonna be conscription.
00:20:54.95\00:20:56.65
He'll "appoint for himself
commanders of thousands...
00:20:56.69\00:20:58.52
commanders of fifties"--you're
going to be going to war--
00:20:58.55\00:21:00.96
"some to plow his
ground and...reap his harvest."
00:21:00.99\00:21:02.76
You'll be working for
the king, not yourself.
00:21:02.79\00:21:04.76
He'll "take your daughters."
00:21:04.79\00:21:06.16
He'll "take the
best of your fields."
00:21:06.19\00:21:07.30
There's taxation
for you right there.
00:21:07.36\00:21:09.70
Now, that doesn't mean
you don't have to pay it,
00:21:09.73\00:21:11.23
'cause Romans is pretty clear:
As a Christian, pay your taxes.
00:21:11.27\00:21:14.40
But it was the natural
outfall of wanting this.
00:21:14.44\00:21:17.27
"Take the tenth of your grain,"
put everybody to work for him.
00:21:17.31\00:21:20.74
"And in that day
you will cry out...,
00:21:20.78\00:21:22.14
but the Lord
will not answer you."
00:21:22.18\00:21:23.61
You asked for this,
I'm gonna let you have it.
00:21:23.65\00:21:26.61
This is how we
ended up in the situation
00:21:26.65\00:21:28.62
we ended up in
the medieval period.
00:21:28.65\00:21:30.92
As we get into the
1600s, what happened in England
00:21:30.95\00:21:35.22
was that Henry VIII
looks around Europe and says,
00:21:35.26\00:21:38.63
"Look, all the German princes,
00:21:38.66\00:21:39.96
"they get to
break away from Rome?
00:21:40.00\00:21:41.53
I'm breaking
away from Rome, too,"
00:21:41.56\00:21:43.13
but for all the wrong reasons.
00:21:43.16\00:21:44.47
He just wanted an annulment,
wanted to run his own church.
00:21:44.50\00:21:47.44
Some of the Bible-believing
people in England at the time
00:21:47.47\00:21:50.31
thought, "Aha,
we're gonna be free.
00:21:50.34\00:21:51.97
Now we're really, really
free to do what we want."
00:21:52.01\00:21:54.18
No, no, no. The Church
of England was almost worse.
00:21:54.21\00:21:57.78
They were told, "No, you
can believe what you want
00:21:57.81\00:22:00.78
"in your head, but when
it comes time to worship,
00:22:00.82\00:22:02.45
"you'll follow the
Book of Common Prayer.
00:22:02.48\00:22:04.09
"You will do what you're told.
00:22:04.12\00:22:05.42
"You wanna baptize
adults by immersion?
00:22:05.45\00:22:07.72
"No, you will do infant baptism.
00:22:07.76\00:22:09.42
You wanna keep the Sabbath?"
00:22:09.46\00:22:10.76
There were
Sabbath-keepers in the 1600s.
00:22:10.79\00:22:12.59
"No, you won't. We all
go to church on Sunday."
00:22:12.63\00:22:14.93
It actually got worse.
00:22:14.93\00:22:16.93
Some of them actually fled.
Some of them went to prison.
00:22:16.97\00:22:21.17
Bunyan, who wrote
"Pilgrim's Progress,"
00:22:21.20\00:22:23.44
wrote it in prison
because he was there
00:22:23.47\00:22:25.47
for matters of
conscience during this period.
00:22:25.51\00:22:27.98
John Locke, who wrote the
Second Treatise of Government--
00:22:28.01\00:22:30.45
it was one of the
foundational documents
00:22:30.48\00:22:32.01
of the American Constitution--
00:22:32.05\00:22:34.28
he goes to the
Netherlands to get away
00:22:34.32\00:22:35.92
because he's been accused
of a plot against the king.
00:22:35.95\00:22:38.72
And as they're
in the Netherlands--
00:22:38.75\00:22:42.26
happy to say it was the
freest republic of the day;
00:22:42.29\00:22:44.66
I'm a Dutch kid--
00:22:44.69\00:22:46.43
they meet Jews who were
fleeing the Inquisition,
00:22:46.46\00:22:49.03
and they start to study
the Old Testament together,
00:22:49.06\00:22:50.77
and they come
across this passage.
00:22:50.80\00:22:52.20
It's like, do you think this
is the source of our problems?
00:22:52.23\00:22:54.67
We have a king. Look at that.
We've lost all of our liberty.
00:22:54.70\00:22:58.34
And then they discover--we're
gonna crack open an egg here;
00:22:58.37\00:23:02.41
we'll never be able to
finish. I hope that's okay.
00:23:02.44\00:23:04.65
They discover Deuteronomy 17.
00:23:04.68\00:23:07.28
And in Deuteronomy
17, God anticipates
00:23:07.32\00:23:10.55
that they're gonna ask
for a king, and He says,
00:23:10.59\00:23:12.55
"All right, you're
gonna do this one day,
00:23:12.59\00:23:14.19
"I'm gonna let it
happen, but I'm gonna draw
00:23:14.22\00:23:15.76
some boundaries around it."
00:23:15.79\00:23:17.16
The boundaries are fascinating.
00:23:17.19\00:23:18.49
You'll find this
in Deuteronomy 17:
00:23:18.53\00:23:21.23
You will say when you
get there, "I will set a king
00:23:21.26\00:23:23.06
over me, like all the
nations that are around me."
00:23:23.10\00:23:25.43
God anticipates it:
00:23:25.47\00:23:27.24
"You may indeed set a king over
you whom the Lord...will choose.
00:23:27.27\00:23:30.07
One from among your brothers."
00:23:30.11\00:23:32.11
The chief executive
officer in your country
00:23:32.14\00:23:34.01
cannot be born a foreigner.
00:23:34.04\00:23:36.11
Where else do we
have that? Hmm, hmm.
00:23:36.14\00:23:38.61
>>Eric: It sounds familiar.
>>Shawn: It sounds familiar.
00:23:38.65\00:23:40.78
"Only he must not acquire
many horses for himself...
00:23:40.82\00:23:43.08
cause the people
to return to Egypt."
00:23:43.12\00:23:44.95
There's all these
checks and balances designed
00:23:44.99\00:23:47.19
to keep the king from
getting rich in verse 18.
00:23:47.22\00:23:49.86
"When he sits on the
throne of his kingdom"--
00:23:49.89\00:23:51.43
this is Deuteronomy 17--
00:23:51.46\00:23:52.93
"he shall write for himself
in a book a copy of this law,
00:23:52.96\00:23:56.60
"approved by the
Levitical priests....
00:23:56.63\00:23:58.33
"He shall read...it
all the days of his life,
00:23:58.37\00:23:59.83
[and]...learn to fear the Lord."
00:23:59.87\00:24:01.50
When you have a king, God said,
00:24:01.54\00:24:02.84
"He's got to be from
among your own people.
00:24:02.87\00:24:04.67
"He has to write himself a copy
of the law and live under it.
00:24:04.71\00:24:07.04
"The rule of law
applies to everybody,
00:24:07.08\00:24:08.61
including the person
at the top of the chain."
00:24:08.64\00:24:11.55
So in Europe, as they're
reading these 2 chapters,
00:24:11.58\00:24:14.62
it starts to occur to them:
00:24:14.65\00:24:15.95
Maybe God never
intended for us to have kings.
00:24:15.98\00:24:17.89
Maybe the day we brought a
king into the Christian church
00:24:17.92\00:24:20.39
under Constantine was a mistake.
00:24:20.42\00:24:22.42
Maybe we did the same thing
Israel did in the Old Testament.
00:24:22.46\00:24:25.86
And it blows their mind.
00:24:25.89\00:24:27.23
We marry church and
state, and that's the same thing
00:24:27.30\00:24:29.20
that Israel did.
00:24:29.23\00:24:30.97
And so they thought about, what
if we could have--this is one
00:24:31.00\00:24:34.30
of the biggest terms in that
period, the Hebrew republic;
00:24:34.34\00:24:37.27
you will find
books about the Hebrew--
00:24:37.31\00:24:39.01
they had a written
constitution, the Scriptures,
00:24:39.04\00:24:43.18
and they all lived under it, and
it was that that actually led--
00:24:43.21\00:24:46.75
well, the Enlightenment
had a role in writing
00:24:46.78\00:24:49.58
the American Constitution
as well, but so did this story.
00:24:49.62\00:24:53.39
We made a big mistake.
00:24:53.42\00:24:55.02
They were so in
tune with some of this
00:24:55.06\00:24:57.19
that I think the
original seal for Virginia
00:24:57.23\00:24:59.36
was Moses leading the
people across the Red Sea
00:24:59.39\00:25:02.23
and on their way
to the Promised Land.
00:25:02.26\00:25:04.07
I think we abandoned that.
00:25:04.10\00:25:05.90
But this is
where we get the birth
00:25:05.93\00:25:08.00
of the American Constitution,
00:25:08.04\00:25:10.14
the first real
republic in centuries,
00:25:10.17\00:25:14.48
and it's the very place
that the remnant church emerges.
00:25:14.51\00:25:16.88
It couldn't have
emerged anywhere else,
00:25:16.91\00:25:19.05
anywhere else at all.
00:25:19.08\00:25:20.38
>>Eric: So God brought
all of these pieces together
00:25:20.42\00:25:23.55
and organized--we're seeing
how the nations of the world
00:25:23.59\00:25:28.56
work together
with Bible prophecy.
00:25:28.59\00:25:30.43
God works through the nations
of the world to help things
00:25:30.46\00:25:35.30
come to pass the way that
He knows that they need to.
00:25:35.33\00:25:38.80
So if we've got
somebody who's watching today
00:25:38.83\00:25:41.47
and is looking at the politics
of the world and is concerned--
00:25:41.50\00:25:47.34
I don't know why
anybody would be concerned
00:25:47.38\00:25:48.88
looking at the
politics of the world today,
00:25:48.91\00:25:50.38
but if, hypothetically,
that were the case,
00:25:50.41\00:25:52.41
how would you
give them some hope?
00:25:52.45\00:25:54.22
>>Shawn: Take a
glance through Revelation 18,
00:25:54.25\00:25:56.72
even if you don't understand
all of the symbolism and so on,
00:25:56.75\00:25:59.85
you get Babylon the Great,
00:25:59.89\00:26:01.52
and you get the kings of
the earth weeping over her.
00:26:01.56\00:26:03.99
Oh, it fell
apart in a heartbeat.
00:26:04.03\00:26:06.19
What you're seeing right now,
00:26:06.23\00:26:08.00
it's the
beginning of the unraveling.
00:26:08.03\00:26:09.66
It was never going to work.
00:26:09.70\00:26:10.80
The kingdoms of this
world were never going to work.
00:26:10.83\00:26:14.84
And I understand a lot of
you have tried going to church,
00:26:14.87\00:26:17.27
and you hear more politics
coming out of the pulpit.
00:26:17.31\00:26:19.71
That's not where you need to be.
00:26:19.74\00:26:21.11
You need to be in a
place where the Kingdom of God
00:26:21.14\00:26:22.98
is being preached,
00:26:23.01\00:26:24.45
where the
Scriptures are being preached.
00:26:24.48\00:26:25.85
Politics does not belong in
the pulpit. There's a division.
00:26:25.88\00:26:28.68
There's the Kingdom
of God, where you belong,
00:26:28.72\00:26:31.02
and the kingdoms of the world.
00:26:31.05\00:26:32.65
The kingdoms of the world
are gonna fail. It's guaranteed.
00:26:32.69\00:26:36.19
They've been unraveling
for thousands of years.
00:26:36.22\00:26:38.16
Revelation 18-- they
just collapse in a day.
00:26:38.19\00:26:41.36
But there's one
thing that lasts forever.
00:26:41.40\00:26:43.33
Read Daniel, chapter 7,
potent prophecy in the Bible,
00:26:43.37\00:26:46.53
Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14.
00:26:46.57\00:26:49.10
It's the kingdom of
Christ that endures forever.
00:26:49.14\00:26:52.44
God takes all the
kingdoms of the world,
00:26:52.47\00:26:54.21
pushes them aside and
says, "Had enough yet?
00:26:54.24\00:26:57.58
How about the kingdom of God?"
00:26:57.61\00:26:59.18
He invites us back to
what was supposed to be
00:26:59.21\00:27:01.62
before we fell from grace.
00:27:01.65\00:27:03.52
And He's put out
the welcome mat for you,
00:27:03.55\00:27:05.89
and you can be a
part of that kingdom.
00:27:05.92\00:27:07.59
You can actually look at
what's going on in the world,
00:27:07.62\00:27:10.43
pay attention to it, and smile
00:27:10.46\00:27:13.09
because you knew it
was gonna go that way
00:27:13.13\00:27:15.76
and that there's something
better just around the corner.
00:27:15.80\00:27:17.93
>>Eric: Shawn,
thanks for giving us
00:27:17.97\00:27:19.27
a little bit of
perspective on this.
00:27:19.30\00:27:21.20
And we're going to continue
digging into this subject,
00:27:21.24\00:27:23.41
the subject of the nations,
how politics and history
00:27:23.44\00:27:26.78
and geography all links together
in the prophecies of the Bible.
00:27:26.81\00:27:30.95
Next week is "The Nations"
part 2 and we're gonna see
00:27:30.98\00:27:34.68
a lot more pieces come
together as we dig into this.
00:27:34.72\00:27:38.29
And you're going to be
encouraged by the grace of God.
00:27:38.32\00:27:41.49
So we look forward to seeing
you again when we come together
00:27:41.52\00:27:44.49
again next week
here on "Sabbath School,"
00:27:44.53\00:27:46.73
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:27:46.76\00:27:48.93
[uplifting music]
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