Good evening and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #25 of Genesis, chapter 22, and we are going to read Genesis 22:15-19:

And the angel of JEHOVAH called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith JEHOVAH, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

In our last study, I was pointing out how this has to be understood spiritually, and that ruins the whole idea of the historical, grammatical, literal method of interpreting and understanding the Bible.  There is no way it is possible that God could be looking at Abraham’s action of offering up his only son Isaac and making the declaration, “for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” 

We know that the promised seed has to do with Christ and it has to do with all the elect that are counted for the seed in Christ.  It has to do with God’s salvation program and, again, God’s salvation program did not hinge upon Abraham’s obedient action concerning what he did in response to God’s command to take his son Isaac and go offer him up as a burnt offering.  But it does hinge upon what Abraham, the father, offering up his only son Isaac as a sacrifice pointed to, which was God the Father offering up His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Of course, the father giving his son has everything to do with God’s salvation program, concerning the seed who is Christ, and all those counted as the seed in Him, the elect.

That means there is a requirement when you read the Bible.  If you just accept the “surface” statement and the plain, grammatical information you find there, you are failing to bring deep blessing to yourself; you are failing to understand the Bible in the most important area, which is the underlying spiritual meaning of the Scriptures.  I pointed out last time how nine out of 10 lepers took Jesus’ words literally when He said to go and show themselves to the priests, and that is what they did.  One of those 10 seemingly disobeyed that command, as the other nine certainly went on their way to Jerusalem to find a priest and offer a sacrifice as the Law of Moses commanded.  One of them, the Samaritan, turned back to Christ and fell down and worshipped Him, glorifying God.  The question was asked, “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.”  It implies that the other nine failed to glorify God.  It is significant that Jesus pointed to the word “glory,” as He did in Luke 17:17-18:

Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

Why is it significant that Jesus said that?  It is because of what it says in the book of Proverbs, and a proverb is a parable.  It says in Proverbs 25:2:

It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

You see, God concealed “a thing,” and that would point to the Word.  In the Hebrew, the word “debar” can be translated as “word,” “thing,” or “matter.”  It is the word “debar” that is translated as “thing” here.  Again, it says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.”  The word “matter” is also that Hebrew word “debar.”  So it is the honor of kings to search out a Word, and even in this proverb, there is a parable because the “kings” point to a spiritual meaning.  They are the elect that are identified as prophets, priests and kings, spiritually.  And God in His wisdom, which glorifies Him, conceals a word.  He hides truth all throughout the Bible, and that is why the whole Bible is a parable. 

The definition of a parable is “that which serves to hide truth,” whether it be the parables as Christ spoke them or whether it be the book of Proverbs, or whether it be an historical parable like in Genesis and Job, or whether it be a declaration like the Gospel of John where it says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son…”  Each of one of these (examples) serve to hide truth in their own particular way and, therefore, according to the definition of “that which serves to hide truth,” they qualify as parabolic.  So the whole Bible is a parable, and that is why the Lord Jesus Christ spoke in parables, and “without a parable he did not speak,” in order to teach those that read the Gospel accounts and see that the Word that was made flesh speaks parables.  Of course, obviously, Jesus did this in order to teach us how to understand the whole Bible.  It is how the whole Bible must be understood.  It is a parable, and you have to look for the deeper spiritual meaning, so in Genesis 22 God is using Abraham, Isaac and the command He gave Abraham to offer up his son as a parable to hide truth.  When God goes on to say that in blessing, He will bless him, and in multiplying, He will multiply him and that all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him, it is true on the deeper spiritual level, which is the more important level.  For example, it is the more important meaning in Genesis 17 where God, again, spoke of blessing Abraham, and where He changed Abraham’s name, in Genesis 17:5-8:

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.  And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.

Of course, the literalists of the theologians, pastors and most of the corporate church come to this passage, and they take it literally.  God said He would give the land of Canaan to Abraham for an everlasting possession.  It is the Promised Land.  And they look at the Middle East, and they apply this promise to that particular strip of land, and they say, “It is Abraham’s land that God promised, and the Jews will have it forever.”  They do not even stop to think, but this is an example of how we must harmonize all conclusions in the Bible.  A theologian is someone that studies God and the Bible, and you would think they would be familiar with the rest of the Scriptures because God has declared His full intention to destroy the world.  He said it in numerous places.  2Peter 3 would be an obvious place that a theologian could go to, as it says in 2Peter 3:10:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

And there are many supporting Bible verses to go along with the statement that God will destroy the world.  Then we ask the question: “Is the Promised Land of Canaan over in the Middle East part of the world?”  Yes – it is, and I do not see how anyone can deny that, so since the world is going to be destroyed, is it God’s plan to destroy all the world, but leave that one little section of land to remain?  No – the earth passes away in its entirety, and a new earth is created.  So it is crystal clear, if theologians would take that extra step to see if their conclusion harmonizes.  In this case, it is part of their larger theological commentary they have developed that the Jews are the “holy people” and God will still bless all Israel.  They think that is the “holy land,” but the fact is that God has divorced Himself from national Israel, and He rent the veil of the temple, indicating that the temple was no longer holy; without the holy temple, there is no longer a holy Jerusalem, and without holy Jerusalem, there is no longer a holy Israel.  Without any of that being holy, there is certainly no longer a “holy people” called the Jews.  No – that is over and done with.  They had their (appointed) time, and then God identified with the New Testament churches and congregations, and so forth, and the Jews became like anyone else.  They, too, could enter into the New Testament churches and many did early on.  Actually, the New Testament churches at first were mostly Jews.  The Apostles were Jews.  Many of the disciples were Jews.  Then there were the Jews on the Day of Pentecost.  Three thousand of them had come to Jerusalem from various lands and God saved them to begin the church age, so the Jews were counted among the Gentiles.  Jews and Gentile alike became “spiritual Israel,” and circumcised in heart. 

Just to finish this point regarding Genesis 17, there is no way you can take this literally when God says He will give him the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.  You must understand this to be true only on a spiritual level, just like Genesis 22 can only be true on a spiritual level, regarding the blessing as a result of Abraham’s obedience.  It is only true on a spiritual level. 

And sometimes God gives a Law and the only possible way it can be understood is in the spiritual realm.  This is important because it has to do with understanding the whole Bible.  If you do not understand these principals, you are not going to understand the Bible, and we are interested in coming to truth when studying the Bible.  It is necessary to know that we compare spiritual with spiritual and Scripture with Scripture, but it is also necessary to harmonize all conclusions, or we will come into error, like those that fail to do a search to see that it is God’s plan to destroy the earth, thereby showing that it cannot be referring to the physical land of Canaan as an everlasting possession.  Throughout the Bible, this is a principal: the spiritual meaning is of the utmost importance, and it supersedes the surface, literal meaning.  God wants us to know that, so once in a while God gives a command that cannot possibly be understood literally.  It cannot be obeyed in its surface meaning, but only in the spiritual realm.  For example, it says in Deuteronomy 10:16:

Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

Deuteronomy is part of the Law of Moses.  You can read of many Laws in the book of Deuteronomy.  Of course, God is counting on people’s common sense and on their natural instinct of self-preservation not to act upon this.  I am sure someone would have to be “out of their mind” to act upon this command.  He would have to be insane to take a sharp knife and literally try to circumcise his heart in order to obey it.  And sometimes people are out of their minds.  Another related command to this would relate to what the Lord Jesus Christ said in Mark 9:43-45:

And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off…

Then it says in Mark 9:47:

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out…

Then the same things are repeated.  Cut off your hand, cut off your foot and pluck out your eye.  And, tragically, there have been instances in which some people have tried to do this literally, because they were out of their minds.  Of course, that is not what Jesus meant.  Absolutely not.  He was doing what He did all the time (speaking in parables).   But notice He is not saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” and then giving a parable, but He is simply speaking.  And this is how it is in the whole Bible throughout the Scriptures.  God will say something on a plain, literal level, but He means something on a deeper level.  Obviously, no one should cut off his hand, his foot, or to pluck out his eye.  The hand and foot identify with the “will,” and the eye also involves the will and the desire of man to sin.  And Christ is saying that these evil desires must be “cut off” or ended, and that can only be done by God.  Ultimately, that is what that command points to.

Let me continue to read in Deuteronomy 10, by reading Deuteronomy 10:12-17:

And now, Israel, what doth JEHOVAH thy God require of thee, but to fear JEHOVAH thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve JEHOVAH thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of JEHOVAH, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is.Only JEHOVAH had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. For JEHOVAH your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

It continues, but there is nothing there to indicate that verse 16 is parabolic – nothing.  It is written in the Law Book of Deuteronomy, so why should we take it parabolically?   Is it just because it is something someone would never do if he were in his right mind?  No – that is not why we take it parabolically.  It is in the same book (Deuteronomy) where God said that one should not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.  There is no “danger” to man in that kind of statement.  It is part of the Law, among a list of Laws in the book of Deuteronomy.  And, yet, in 1Corinthians 9, the Lord moved the Apostle Paul to bring up that verse and then ask the question, “Doth God take care for oxen?”  That is, did God write the Bible because of oxen?  Is He so concerned about how oxen are treated is why He gave this Scripture?  Of course, God wants creatures to be treated humanely and rightly, but that is not the reason He wrote the Bible.  Then Paul went on to say, “Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt,” and then he went on to apply the deeper spiritual meaning.  It is always, always the greater meaning and the more important meaning.

And with the command to “circumcise the foreskin of your heart,” God elaborates further in Deuteronomy 30:6:

And JEHOVAH thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love JEHOVAH thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

If you remember, the verse about loving God with all your heart and soul was also in the context of Deuteronomy 10, but no sinner that is dead in heart and soul can love God, because to love God is to keep His commandments.  You need a new heart and a new spirit, and you cannot do it, and I cannot do it, and no man can do it.  JEHOVAH thy God will circumcise your heart.  He will perform the “circumcision” or the “heart transplant.”  He will give you a new heart, and that is what “circumcision” always pointed to, and that is why God stipulated that anyone that was not circumcised was to be “cut off” from His people.  He had in mind the circumcision of the heart.  That is why a Gentile that was born again before God ended His salvation program on May 21, 2011, received that new heart and he was considered “circumcised” and part of spiritual Israel.  That has always been the more important level of meaning, and that is why God makes statements like He did in Romans that the physical seed of Abraham that were circumcised in the flesh are not (true) Jews.  That is part of the Word of God.  God Himself made the statement that they were not Jews.  They were Jews on an earthly level.  But, again, that is not the important level.  It is more important to be a Jew on a spiritual level, and then you are considered a “true Jew,” or an “Israelite, indeed,” and “a man without guile.”  God’s elect people are more truly “Jews” than the physical descendants, according to the Bible.

We could go on with this, looking at verse after verse.  By the way, I want to mention this, even though we only have about a minute left.  This is why when God said to Jonah, “Yet forty days,” and Nineveh would be destroyed, but, historically, Nineveh was not destroyed in forty literal days.  God spared the city, historically, but that does not mean that it was not true on the more important level, the deeper spiritual meaning.  Jonah had to do with the Holy Spirit and the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and from the point he entered the city.  Spiritually, it was yet forty years, and that (time) has not passed.  It represents the period from 1994 to 2033 A. D., and that is why it is so significant.

We will stop here and pick up where we left off when we get together next time.