Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. Tonight is study #33 of Genesis, chapter 21. We will be reading Genesis 21:22-24:
And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phichol the chief captain of his host spake unto Abraham, saying, God is with thee in all that thou doest: Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned. And Abraham said, I will swear.
We talked about this a little bit in our last study, and I wanted to read it again, so we could go to a few verses in 1Samuel 24. This is probably the closest thing I could find to what we are reading here about Abimelech and Phichol asking Abraham to swear that he would not deal falsely with Abimelech, his son or his son’s son. In 1Samuel, it was the time when King Saul of Israel was pursuing after David. It says in 1Samuel 24:1-2:
And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats.
Then we read in 1Samuel 24:9-15:
And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that JEHOVAH had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is JEHOVAH'S anointed. Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. JEHOVAH judge between me and thee, and JEHOVAH avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. JEHOVAH therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.
Spiritually, we can understand that Saul is picturing the corporate church that had gone apostate and was driving out the true believers, as represented by David and his men. The Spirit of God or Christ, as typified by David, had departed from Saul, so we can relate these things to the time of the end of the church age.
Then it says in 1Samuel 24:16-22:
And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when JEHOVAH had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not. For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore JEHOVAH reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. Swear now therefore unto me by JEHOVAH, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.
I am not sure about this. I do not know all the spiritual implications. We do know the overall picture points to the end of the church age. In a short time, Saul would die in battle, pointing to the destruction of the corporate church at the hands of the enemy after God departed from them. But why did Saul cause David to swear unto him since Saul pictures those in the churches that were given up at the time of the end and under the power of Satan? Saul is king over the corporate church, so he would certainly have a relationship with Satan, just like King Abimelech, a ruler over a city state in the nation of the Philistines that were enemies of the people of God. Saul wanted David to swear that he would not cut off his seed and destroy his name out of his father’s house. And David sware to him. It is just like Abimelech asking Abraham to sware regarding Abimelech’s children: “Now therefore swear unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son.”
David swore to Saul and Abraham swore to Abimelech and, yet, both Saul and Abimelech were evil men. Again, we can understand how Abraham could swear not to deal falsely, because that would not be a problem for a true child of God. An elect believer follows the truth and, therefore, it is not a difficulty for us to deal truly with people. That is our aim and our desire. It is what we strive for in every situation because God has given us a spirit that desires to do the will of God and to be true and faithful altogether in everything the Bible says. We do not discriminate by dealing truly and faithfully only with other true believers, but we share the same truths with all. We spread the information far and wide regarding what the Bible says, to the best of our ability as we discern these things.
Now that does not mean that we cannot be corrected on some points. We have already experienced a good deal of correction over the last couple of decades as the Lord has opened the Scriptures to reveal many “new” things. We used to think it was faithful to teach the doctrine of eternal torment in a place called “Hell,” but we were wrong. The Bible has corrected us. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for correction. So, we desire to always speak the truth. That is our aim.
By the way, this came up recently when I posted something on Facebook. I cannot remember exactly what it was about, but the things I was talking about, I was speaking with confidence and making statements like, “There is no doubt,” or “Without question, this is what the Bible teaches.” And someone said to me, “You have not learned your lesson.” What they were referring to were dates like October 7, 2015 or October 21, 2011, and for some people, they even think we were wrong about May 21, 2011. Basically, the idea he was trying to present was to say that I have said incorrect things in the past. And that is true – I admit that. But why stop with dates. I have also said incorrect things about Hell, incorrect things about Christ having paid for sins at the cross, and I am sure I have said other incorrect things, and then later I received correction from the Bible. Likewise, I admit that October 7, 2015 was an error. The world did not end. The same could be said of October 21, 2011.
By the way, all dates were doctrines coming forth from the Bible, as we sought to prove them from the Bible by giving Scriptures, like we would with any doctrine or teaching. But a good thing about a date passing (as October 7, 2015 did) is that we can say, “I was wrong,” and then we have a superior vantage point because we are living at a time after the date. Then we can review what we thought we had learned: “These things seemed to point to the end, but it was wrong, so why was it wrong?” I know the reason that October 7, 2015 was incorrect, even though it had three very strong evidences for it. However, it was all based upon “days.” There were 1,600 (that broke down to “40 x 40”) added to the 8,400 days, with the 10,000th day falling on the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles in that year. So, those were some compelling evidences why EBible Fellowship felt that October 7, 2015 was a strong likelihood for the last day. But now I understand that there must be time paths of key Biblical events that fall on a date. It is not enough to just have an eternal working out of days, like the 8,400 days being extended to 10,000 days by 1,600 days. That is not sufficient. It must also include major time paths that fall on that date, like May 21, 2011 had the 722,500 days, but, more than that, it was exactly seven thousand years from the flood and 13,023 years from creation. These were major time paths that supported the 8,400th day of the Great Tribulation, so both elements were at work.
So, right now, as we look at the mounting Biblical evidence for 2033, we have strong Biblical evidence from the time paths, perhaps stronger than any other time paths up to this point. And, yet, we do not have working together with that, the number of days. There is a path of 8,000 days, but it does not seem “rock solid” at this point, so we are not saying that it certainly will happen, but we continue to look at the evidence. But that was the problem with October 7, 2015. It did not have the support of major time paths that fell on that date, so it was in error and we have received correction.
But what some people are saying is that they want us to talk in ways that I think would just minister questions, which the Bible says we should not do. They do not want us to speak with authority, as Christ spoke, and, yet, that is what we should be doing because the Bible is the voice of Christ, as the Bible tells us in John 10. That is the voice of Christ that was heard through the ministry of Mr. Camping at Family Radio as the Lord used that ministry for many years. I remember tuning in and, for the first time in my life, I heard the Bible taught with authority. At the same time, I was listening to the Open Forum and Mr. Camping, and then I would go to a church and I would not hear the Bible taught with authority in the late 80s and early 90s. I would hear the pastor say, “Now Calvin said this about this verse and Knox said this other thing.” Then he would say, “And here is what I think.” So, he would present three options and I would leave the service not knowing which one it was and, by the next day, I forgot all about it because it was “wishy-washy” and uncertain. Remember, no man spoke like Christ. The authorities did not speak like Him. He spoke with authority. Obviously, we are not Christ, but we have the Spirit of Christ as we go to the Bible comparing spiritual with spiritual, who speaks? It is the Holy Ghost or the Spirit of Christ that speaketh. What is the nature of that voice? It is a voice that speaks with authority and declares, “This is what the Bible says.” So, as we study the Bible, we must get to that point of saying, “Now this is what the Bible says.” Yes – it should humble us. Yes – we must acknowledge that we have taught some things incorrectly in the past; we have not been right in everything we said, but what man has ever been 100% right? And the answer is, “None, with the exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He was the God-man.”
It is not humility to say, “We made an error, so we must quit teaching.” Again, it is not an error we continue to hold to like those in the churches hold onto their errors. They hold onto multiple errors in matters of major doctrines, although no doctrine is minor, but in matters of adding or subtracting to the Word of God, the corporate church that continues to operate at this time after God has ended the church age is adding to their error by their very existence. There are pastors that are preaching in churches at a time when the church age has ended, and God has caused the pastors to cease to feed the flock, so everything they say and do is in error. But these same people will say, “Two years ago you said this, so you are a false prophet, so I do not have to listen to you.”
Since I referred to it, let me read 2Timothy 3:16:
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
So, we have been corrected, but it is not so we can just give people “all the possibilities.” We do not say, “When I was studying, I came up with this possibility and that possibility and a third possibility, and, perhaps, it could be one of these.” If I heard anyone teaching like that, it would be about 10 seconds before I would turn them off. That is not the purpose of correction. God corrects us and then we go back into the Bible and we study even more. This is the nature of God’s elect. We do not like having made an error, so we go back and cover the same ground – we do not shy away from doctrines regarding the timing of the end, just because we made an error in that area. No – we go back to the Bible and we study all the more, as we pray for wisdom. We are more serious than ever as we search the Scriptures. Then God begins to bring forth information (as He has been doing) and we see the Biblical evidence, and we declare it boldly. We are to be bold in the Day of Judgment, as it says in 1John 4:17:
Herein is our love made perfect…
And “love” has to do with keeping God’s commandments, and we cannot keep His commandments if we do not know what His Word says. To perfect something means that we bring it to completion or fulfillment. Again, it says in 1John 4:17:
Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
The word “boldness” is Strong’s #3954 and it often has to do with speaking forth the Word of God openly. In John 18:20 Jesus said, “I spake openly to the world.” It also says in John 16:25: “…but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.” It has to do with declaring something definitively, and so forth. We spoke boldly: “May 21, 2011 is Judgment Day.” We declared it with an “exclamation point.” There was a spiritual judgment. God did complete the judgment on the churches. The Great Tribulation has ended. The Latter Rain has ceased to fall. Now it is the time of spiritual judgment on the world. All the elect are appearing before the judgment seat of Christ: “There is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked.” It is the declaration of the righteous judgment of God and as God gives us these truths, we speak them, but it is the Holy Ghost that speaketh. As we compare Scripture with Scripture, harmonizing our conclusions, then the Holy Ghost speaks.
And, yet, if someone can come up with a verse and says to us, “You did not take this verse into consideration,” what do we do? We do not try to hide from it or run from it, but we say, “Thank you very much. I see what you are saying. Let me make correction.” Then we correct our teaching. That is humility and the humble nature of God’s people. It is not humility to say, “I was wrong three years ago about a doctrine and, therefore, I will ‘zip my lip’ and I will no longer delve into that area.” No – that is a reaction of fear or even a proud reaction. “I got my feelings hurt and people mocked me. People said (bad) things about me. What can I say? I was wrong, so I am just going to shy away.” That is not humility. That is not what God would have His people to do.
I do not know how we got off on this topic, but I think it needed saying. So, I am glad we had a chance to discuss this, but it has brought us to the end of this Bible study. Goodnight, and I look forward to the next time we get together for our Bible study in the book of Genesis.”