Good evening, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis.  Tonight is study #32 of Genesis 31, and we will read Genesis 31:52-55:

This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount. And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.

We will pick up our study again in Genesis 31:52:

This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

This is such an important point that God is teaching on the spiritual level.  The spiritual level is always the most important level.  It is the reason that God has written the Scriptures to teach the Gospel, the spiritual things of the kingdom of God.  And on the spiritual level, this is telling us about the judgment of God in the days of the world’s final judgment, our present time period.  That makes it all the more significant to us.

It is a covenant between Jacob and Laban, historically.  But, spiritually, it is a covenant between Christ and Satan and their two kingdoms.  It is at the time that Jacob was fleeing Haran, or when Christ was leaving the world.  And He did not leave empty-handed, but He spoiled the house of Satan.  He completely plundered it of all the riches He had come for, which was all His elect people. 

It was at that point that the covenant was made, and the pillar and “heap” set up.  You know, the Bible tells us to bring these things to remembrance because we have very bad memories.  (I know I do.)   Once again, look up the word “heap,” and it leads us to the wrath and judgment of God, and this “heap” is witness that it is the time of the world’s judgment.

So this language is very crucial when Laban says, “I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.”  The word “harm” can be “evil.”  No one will pass over the pillar in either direction.  Satan will not come over.  And remember that Satan is a representative of his kingdom or his people, so the unsaved inhabitants of the earth cannot pass over that heap to come to Christ, and remember that Jacob and his flocks are headed to for the Promised Land of Canaan, representing the kingdom of God.  So if you cannot pass over, you cannot get to the Promised Land, and that is the covenant that Laban, a type of Satan, is making with Jacob: “…I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me…”

You see, that is why this is like a “cease fire,” or, really, the end of the spiritual battle that had waged over the souls of men.  Now it is completed.  It is over and done with, and there will be no more entering into the world by the forces of Christ’s messengers in carrying a Gospel that could deliver souls out of captivity to sin and to Satan.  That is the spiritual picture.  As I mentioned before, it fits right in with the language of Luke 16 and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  It says in Luke 16:19-26:

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

There is no passage in either direction.  This is a match and is in agreement with the language we are finding in Genesis 31: “I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me…”  In the parable, the rich man and Lazarus had both died.  We have to understand what death identifies with in the Bible.  It identifies with “hell,” and when God closed the door of heaven and began the judgment process on the whole world, He turned the nations into “hell” or into the “grave.”  The whole world became a grave.  That is the image we find in Revelation 9, as smoke came up out of the pit and darkened the sun, and the locusts came out of the smoke.  It is describing a world that has taken on the condition of the “pit.”  The pit was full of smoke, and it was the place of hell (or the grave), but it has risen up to the earth where people are still physically dwelling, and the condition of the pit now becomes the condition of the nations, the whole world.  The nations have been turned into hell, and when you are in hell, you are dead.

Here, Lazarus, a type of the elect children of God, is dead, and the rich man is a type of the unsaved people of the world who have their riches of Babylon (this world), and yet, he is also dead.  Both are dead, but their death is described very differently.  Lazarus was in Abraham’s bosom, and he is being comforted.  The rich man is being tormented in the flames.  So the spiritual condition of each one is being described using this language, but it is actually talking about what we see before us today, where both the saved and the unsaved are still physically alive on the earth, and the earth is still operating, and the literal sun, moon and stars are in place as time continues.  People are working, and there is family life going on, and it is almost “business as usual,” except that the world is being troubled and tormented like never before. 

And within this world that has been turned into hell or the grave, there are still the elect of God who are alive and remaining on the earth.  As God has laid out in His Word, it has always been His plan that we, the elect, would go through the judgment, and not be raptured prior to it.  We will go all the way to the last day, and even though the earth has been turned into hell, we are comforted through the salvation of God.  We have received salvation and, therefore, we have our spiritual residence in the kingdom of God.  We are in Abraham’s bosom, as Abraham typifies God the Father.  We are safe and secure in Him, and we have that comfort.

On the other hand, the rich man has no such comfort, and he is tormented in the flame, and he would desire to pass over.  And that is the reason the statement is made because he is requesting that Abraham have mercy and send Lazarus with a drop of water to cool his tongue.  But his request for mercy is denied.  It is kindly and gently denied with the sharing of the information that it is impossible for anyone to come from hence and go to him.  So we can feel the gentle and kind statement made by Abraham, typifying God Himself.  There is no pleasure in this statement, but it is how it must be according to the Law and judgment of God.  No one can go to him, and he cannot come to us.  So the request was denied, just as we read in Luke 13, for example.  It says in Luke 13:24-28:

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:  Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out.

That is what is in view with the rich man who sees Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, but he himself is thrust out.  So the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” is equivalent to being in the spiritual flames, and he makes request for just a drop of water: “…send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”  But it is refused, just as the Lord Jesus after He had shut the door refused to open up the door once it was shut.  So that is telling us about this “great gulf” that is fixed, and when it was fixed, because we know from the Bible that on the date of May 21, 2011, God shut the door of heaven, and that was the only entryway into the kingdom of heaven.  It is just like we see in Genesis 31 where there is a “heap” of stones, and it is almost as though it is blocking the way, and the language certainly serves to indicate a blocking of the way to come or to go, and you cannot pass over it.  But that was the direction to the Promised Land of Canaan, picturing the kingdom of God.  And yet, none of Laban’s house will pass over any longer.  They will not pass over to Jacob, and Jacob will no longer pass back over, and that ties together with the “great gulf fixed.”

Concerning this “great gulf,” let me read it again, in Luke 16:26:

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed…

The word “gulf” is the Greek word “chasma,” and it is only found here.  The word “fixed” is Strong’s #4741, and it is translated as “stablish,” “established,” “steadfastly,” and “fixed.”  For example, we read in Romans 16:25:

Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel…

Or we see in 1Thessalonians 3:13:

To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God…

Let us look at one more verse, in 2Peter 1:12:

Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

When we look up this word, it is typically referring to some aspect of the Gospel as it relates to a spiritual condition.  To be established in one’s heart as unblameable, or to be established according to the Gospel, or to be established in the present truth,  all has to do with the Word of God and one’s spiritual condition and steadfastness and fixed nature of the Gospel, God’s Word the Bible.  And that is actually what the “gulf” consists of, as there is no literal “chasm” or place where there is a dividing line, and one side is Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom, and on the other side is the rich man in a flame of fire.  It is spiritual language to describe the spiritual condition of these two men, and these two men typify the two types of people in the world, the elect of God and the unsaved, or Jacob and Esau.  And it is also typifying them at the point when God has completed His salvation program, and He has saved everyone He had wanted to save, and they are all safe and sound with Him, and everyone else is outside.  They are “without,” and they are in the spiritual fire that the Word of God has lit, as the message of the wrath of God and Judgment Day has been revealed from the pages of the Bible.

After it tells us that there is a great gulf fixed or established (and it is established by the Word of God), it goes on to say in Luke 16:26:

… so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

The English word “pass” that we find twice in verse 26 are two different Greek words.  The first time, where it says, “so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot,” is found three times in the New Testament.  It is used once here, and it is used in Acts 16:9-10:

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

That is interesting, is it not?  Again, “so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot,” and why can they not come over?  It is because it requires that it be God’s will.  It requires the Lord Jesus Christ, “a man of Macedonia,” to issue the decree to come over and help them.  And once that command by God to His people is sent forth to “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” then they will assuredly gather that the Lord had called them to preach the gospel to these people.

But with the statement in Luke 16, “… so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot,” that means that there is no command of God, and there is no more sending of the Spirit, which means there is no more “rain.”  The “early rain” was the sending forth of the Spirit from 33 A. D. until it ended on May 21, 1988, and the “latter rain” was the sending forth of the Holy Spirit, beginning in the Jubilee year on September 7, 1994 until its conclusion on May 21, 2011.  There is no third period of rain in the New Testament era.  There is no more rain.  There is no more sending of the Holy Spirit unto salvation, so there is no more salvation.  That is the teaching of the Bible.

The people of God are just servants.  We are sent to do what God sends us forth to do, and we carry the Word as messengers, and we run the way of His commandments.  That means there must be a commandment to run with, and there has to be a commandment to follow in order to bring the Gospel.  And this is the error of those that are insisting, “Oh, God is still saving.”  They are still trying to tell people to go to God and He will save them.  They are acting like this is like any other time in history.  They must be blind.  How can they conduct themselves like this time is like any other past period of time?  Do they not see and understand that the churches are destroyed and a desolation, with not one stone left upon another?  Do they not have eyes to see “time and judgment,” and that the time of the churches’ judgment has already come and gone?  Do they not see that God caused His people to proclaim to the world – with practically everything they had, holding nothing back – that May 21, 2011 would be Judgment Day?  Only God could have spread that message to the degree that it was spread – far and wide across the face of the earth – with an intense and bold proclamation that the world had never before heard throughout history. 

And now look what has happened.  The world has fallen.  It is obvious to anyone who has “eyes” to see.  Of course God must give eyes to see and ears to hear.  He must give spiritual understanding.  But it is as obvious to the elect child of God that the world has fallen as it was for the elect child of God to see that the church age was over and that the churches are apostate and dead.  It is just as obvious today to see that the world is fallen. 

How can someone who claims they are a true believer, and he says, “I see the church age is over,” but he cannot see that the same God has now brought His judgment upon the whole world?  And the evidence is just gushing forth from the Bible showing this to be true.  How can one see the first judgment (on the churches), but not see the judgment that followed on the world?  I do not know.  I do not know what God is doing there, but I know that God’s people see it.  It is extremely obvious.  We see that God has commanded that we cannot “come over,” like in times past, and go into Macedonia to help, as it were:   We would like to go: “…that they which would pass from hence…”  There is that desire!  Of course we would love to bring a Gospel unto salvation once again, starting with our own families, those we have cried to God about, and for whom our hearts break.  We could come quickly with the “water,” like hewers and carriers of water.  We would come speedily, but we cannot.  We cannot.  There is no command.  There is no further fruit.  There are no other names in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and that is why things are “fixed,” and one’s spiritual condition can no longer change.