Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #5 of Genesis, chapter 22. We are continuing to look at the first couple of verses, in Genesis 22:1-2:

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

We have been looking at what the Bible has to say about “temptation” because God did tempt Abraham. We saw that God “tempts” or “tries” His people through opening up doctrinal truths. Through His Word, He will try all His people, as He did with Abraham. He will try us today through the opening up of the Scriptures that had been sealed until the time of the end. That is how God “tempts,” but He does not tempt us with evil. We discussed that distinction.

We also saw that the Bible speaks of a “day of temptation” in the wilderness, which lasted for 40 years. We saw that there was a link between the day of temptation and the Day of Judgment. I do not know if we have talked about this, but when we look at what the Bible says about that 40-year wilderness sojourn, this is the way God refers to it in Hebrews 3:8-12:

Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)

Here, God is indicating that the judgment upon the nation of Israel would be (for the most part) that they would not enter into the Promised Land of Canaan. Of course, not entering into His rest has to do with His salvation program, because when someone becomes saved they cease from all their works and enter into that rest the Lord Jesus Christ provided for His people. The language here includes God’s statement: “So I sware in my wrath.” We also see similar language in Psalm 95:8-11:

Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

So, again, God is not just swearing, but He is swearing in His wrath. The penalty of wandering a year for each day the spies searched out the land was a judgment – it was the outpouring of the wrath of God. This is the reason they perished in the wilderness, and Hebrews tells us it was due to “unbelief” that they could not enter into His rest. It had everything to do with God’s judgment upon them. They would not become saved.

We have been looking at this 40-year period which the Bible calls the “day of temptation,” and we have seen the similarities between the beginning points of a “great deliverance” as they came out of Egypt with 1994, a Jubilee Year, and a concluding year of 2033, as Biblical evidence is pointing to the year 2033. From 1994 to 2033 is 40 inclusive years, and all during this time God has been testing His people, as He severely tries them and proves them, as He did with Abraham in Genesis 22:1.

We know that 1994 was the official beginning of judgment on the house of God, and all the years thereafter have been years of judgment, so there is simultaneous judgment and testing going on. And all throughout this time, the Lord has been continually opening up His word and revealing the hidden truths that were in view when He spoke to Daniel and told him to seal up the Word until the time of the end. You know, I have referred to this a few times, but it is always good to read these things. Sometimes, there may be an individual listening who is not familiar with these things. It says in Daniel 12:4:

But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Of course, the “words” and the reference to the “book” have to do with the Bible, and the Lord used (the book of) Daniel as a representative of His overall Word – it is not just limited to the prophesies in Daniel. It applies to the whole Bible, and the implication is that at the time of the end the sealed Word would be unsealed, and then knowledge would increase. Also, it says in the same chapter, in Daniel 12:9-10:

And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

We must ask the question: understand what? What is it that none of the wicked will understand, but the wise will understand? Of course, it has to do with the Word being “sealed.” God unsealed the Bible at the time of the end, and the time began in the year 1988, the 13,000th year of earth’s history. (We could say it was 1994 when the judgment on the churches was official.) God began to reveal all kinds of wonderful doctrines. The faith of Christ was revealed, as it had never before been revealed before in all history. The Sunday Sabbath doctrine was understood. All through the church age, there had been a little confusion, even though they correctly worshipped on Sunday. But they would sometimes refer to Old Testament Scriptures that spoke of the seventh day (Saturday) Sabbath as proof of why they wanted to keep the Sunday Sabbath holy. Of course, they were mixed up. It was not until the time of the Great Tribulation when the Word of God, the Bible, was opened up that there was clarification. Then we saw in places like Isaiah 58, especially, that it had to do with the New Testament Sunday sabbath. God said, “If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of JEHOVAH…” We found in Matthew 28:1 that it referred to the end of the Sabbaths when the Old Testament series of seventh day (Saturday) Sabbaths came to a close when Christ went to the cross and rose from the dead, and early that Sunday morning was the beginning of the Sabbath when Christ arose, and God made note of it in that chapter and verse. And in other Gospel accounts He said the same thing. The Lord was clearly showing that one Sabbath day was past, and another Sabbath day had come.

And, not only that, but we had clarification on the doctrine of baptism. If you ever want to see utter chaos in doctrine, just look at the various positions of churches on baptism. They could not agree on the mode of baptism. Do they dunk or sprinkle? They could not agree on that, and they could not agree on who should be baptized. Should infants be baptized, or not? Was it only believer’s baptism? And we could go on, and on, and on, as there was all kinds of confusion, but then the Lord opened Mr. Camping’s eyes to write the book, “Baptism: the Washing Away of Our Sins.” And there was beautiful clarity that came forth. The Lord used a man to show us, because that is how God typically works. I really recommend reading that book and you will see that baptism was a ceremonial law that pointed to the spiritual baptism that comes by the Holy Spirit when God saved a person and their sins would be washed away. Of course, they could only be washed away because Christ had already bore their sins from the foundation of the world as He suffered the wrath of God and gave His life. At that point, He paid the penalty, thereby purging them away and washing them by the fire of the wrath of God and cleansing Christ from them as He was baptized, and cleansing the one whose sins He was bearing Therefore, the elect were baptized. We are not going to get into this, as we do not want to turn this into a discussion of baptism, but the elect are appearing before the judgment seat of Christ during this time in a demonstration of that spiritual baptism or cleansing that God did. The fact is that because we have already been cleansed from all sin, the elect will endure to the end. Then God will say, “I find no fault in them. They are innocent. There is no sin upon them and, therefore, they ‘did good’ in Christ.”

But that is just another example of this “manna” that God has been raining down from heaven over the course of our sojourning here at the time of the end of the world. And it is no coincidence that these doctrines are “new,” in the sense that they had never before been known. You know, some people try to make an issue of this, saying, “Oh, who are you to come up with something new that the churches never understood or believed or held to?” Just because it is “new,” some of them are bold enough to state that it is heresy because the churches had never held these doctrines. Well, yes, that might be true if the churches were perfect and had always been right in their beliefs, but the corporate churches were never perfect. They are very imperfect churches that have had many “high places.” They have held to many errors. They have spoken of many things and they have often been wrong, so just because something is “new” does not mean it is not true and faithful, especially when we look at Daniel 12 and other Scriptures that indicate that God did seal up the Word until the time of the end. Or, we could look at John 16 where Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit who would guide us into all truth and that He had many things to say unto us, but He would not say them now. Then we read of the Holy Spirit and the plan of God for the Spirit to guide us into all truth.

There are numerous Scriptures to indicate that this has been God’s plan, and the truth is that the churches are not the ones in control of truth or the revealing of truth. And just because they did not have all truth revealed does not mean there is not more truth to learn. It was the same situation with national Israel. They could have charged (and they did) the forming congregations of New Testament churches: “You cannot believe those things. We have never believed them or held to them – we hold to the Law of Moses.” It is very much the same thing. They would not change, and they would not recognize the right of God to give further revelation. And that is what “progressive revelation” means; God can increase the knowledge and understanding of certain truths. Israel refused to do so, and that was their end. They have stayed right where they were almost two thousand years ago, doctrinally speaking. They have made no progress. Their growth was completely stunted as they held on to the past.

Likewise, the New Testament churches and congregations had their time. They had their era, and God opened up truth specifically for them, and they did see more truth than Israel did, but God had a plan to later bring forth vast amounts of information at the time of the end. The churches did the same thing, and because no churches had held to these things or believed or taught these things and, therefore, they cannot do so. No – that is not how we prove or disprove anything. We prove it by the Bible. When we compare Scripture with Scripture and spiritual with spiritual, the Bible says the Holy Ghost teaches. When these doctrines (such as the faith of Christ, the Sunday Sabbath and the true meaning of baptism) are laid out according to the Bible, then it is the Word of God. We can trust it. We can believe it. This is “manna” come down from above. It is nourishment for the people of God.

Of course, the Lord did not stop there. After revealing the timeline of history and the Biblical calendar, the Lord laid out the Great Tribulation period so that we had a very good understanding of time and judgment. The people of God realized that judgment began at the house of God. And that, too, had never been understood properly. This is all past at this point, but we began to see it and understand it. Then there was more doctrine and more truth that God has revealed to help us, feed us and sustain His people, but it also served to simultaneously test or try the people that profess to be true believers.

It was just like when the Jews came out of Egypt. The “manna” was a way God used to try them. For example, let us take a look at some things the Bible has to say about this manna. Let us go to Exodus 16:4:

Then said JEHOVAH unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

We wonder what “manna” would have to do with proving them concerning God’s Law. And, of course, God’s Law is the Bible. The Bible is His Law Book. Here, the word “prove” is Strong’s #5254 in the Hebrew concordance, and it is the same word that was translated as “tempt” in Genesis 22:1: “…God did tempt Abraham.” Here, God sent the “manna” and He will do so, a certain rate every day. And for what purpose? “…that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.”

To get some of the background or history about how this took place, let us read Exodus 16:14-26:

And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which JEHOVAH hath given you to eat. This is the thing which JEHOVAH hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons; take ye every man for them which are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating. And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank: and Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating: and when the sun waxed hot, it melted. And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which JEHOVAH hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto JEHOVAH: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to day; for to day is a sabbath unto JEHOVAH: to day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.

I will stop reading there. Here, God is miraculously providing food for this great nation of hundreds of thousands of men, plus hundreds of thousands of women and children. Over a million people were in the wilderness. They had no crops. They had no way of obtaining food. They could not plant anything because it was not a land for it. In addition to that, God was directing their movements and they never stayed in one place long enough for a crop to come in, so how could these people be fed? God provided food by raining down manna from heaven.

There is another similarity because the manna came down from above, and we know that during the time of the Great Tribulation when the Lord began to open up the Scriptures, it was also the Latter Rain period. But when the Latter Rain ceased, God has continued to reveal truth to His people, so we cannot say that the doctrines that we have learned during the Great Tribulation were exclusively a result of the Latter Rain. No – this was something special God was doing concerning these glorious truths and teachings He had determined not to reveal until the time of the end. They are coming down from above through God, and funneled through His Spirit as God guides and directs His people to follow the proper procedure and methodology, comparing spiritual with spiritual and making sure that all conclusions harmonize; there must be agreement between “two or three witnesses.” Of course, God is the Triune God and we could say that the Father has spoken, the Holy Spirit has spoken, and Christ has spoken in the Word of God the Bible, and we go here and there and taking a “witness” from this verse, and that verse, and another verse over there. When these “two or three witnesses” agree, it establishes a principal, even though in some cases we must check more than two or three verses – we may need to check a hundred verses. But the principal is that there must be agreement or harmony among the witnesses of the Scripture concerning a doctrine that is coming to light and beginning to be understood through the comparison of Scriptures. In this way, God is the one that is bringing it forth. God speaks in His Word and He tells us that as we do compare spiritual with spiritual, the Holy Ghost teaches, and God is the one confirming it through God’s wonderful principal of harmonization; that is, God’s Word will agree with God’s Word. If we come up with a doctrine contrary to the Word of God that does not agree with another part of the Bible, there is a problem. We cannot then say that we have truth as yet, and that is the “safety valve” the Lord has provided for us.

So, the Lord is opening up these things and feeding His people. He continues to feed us with the understanding of the judgment on the churches and the end of the church age. The command was brought to the forefront of the spiritual eyes of the people of God that we must depart out of the midst. We were to leave the churches because it was the time of the separation of the wheat and the tares. All of this was like manna from heaven. At the same time, each and every one of these teachings was a proving ground that developed and produced severe testing programs for the people of God as we began to see, believe and understand them.

Well, we are at the end of our time at this point, and we will discuss this more, Lord willing, when we get together in our next Bible study.