Transcript [00:06] Well, thank you team. That was a [00:08] wonderful time to be in the presence of [00:10] the Lord. We uh appreciate you. We also [00:13] appreciate all of our prayer teams and [00:16] prayer partners who will be available at [00:18] the end of tonight's service to cover [00:19] you in prayer. Uh those of you that [00:22] helped us in the 21 days of prayer and [00:24] those of you that have signed up to help [00:25] us cover the the 26th of the month, [00:27] which is tomorrow. Don't forget, Pastor [00:29] Wayne will remind us of that at the [00:31] close of the service. But we do want to [00:32] thank all of our prayer partners. I also [00:34] wanted to say thank you today to uh to [00:37] Liz Stout who helps cover and lead all [00:39] of our children's ministries, including [00:43] our nursery, our summer camps, and all [00:46] that she does for us. Thank you, Liz. [00:48] We're we're so grateful for you um and [00:51] what you do. We welcome you back. [00:53] Members of King of Kings, welcome home. [00:55] It's good to see everybody today. All of [00:56] our visitors, we're so happy to have [00:58] you. What an honor to get to spend some [01:00] time with you in the word of God [01:01] tonight. Everybody watching online, [01:03] Kings Community Live, Facebook Live, [01:05] YouTube, Alphomega Ministries, other [01:07] platforms around the world, welcome to [01:09] King of Kings and Jerusalem. Some great [01:10] countries are watching today. We send [01:12] you a shalom uh for to Australia and [01:14] Austria uh Canada, Czech Republic, [01:17] Finland, France, other parts of Israel, [01:20] the Netherlands, the Philippines, [01:21] Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, [01:23] Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, [01:26] United States, and especially tonight, [01:28] Vietnam is joining us tonight. Welcome [01:30] to King of Kings. What an honor to have [01:32] everybody joining us tonight. We also [01:34] have uh Jeff and Sharon Feuters from [01:36] First Century Foundations with us, part [01:37] of the King of Kings family here on the [01:39] front row from Canada. [01:42] Thank you guys for joining us. A great [01:44] honor. And um uh he's not on the stage [01:47] at the moment, but he was on the guitar [01:49] a few minutes ago. Um we want to say [01:52] mazalto to Lucas and Ruthie Rosari. Uh [01:56] this is his first time back since they [01:57] had their baby. So we got a good report [02:00] that baby Davided is doing really, [02:03] really well. [02:05] Praise the Lord. I had a meeting this [02:08] week with one of our King of Kings uh [02:10] pastors in Ashcolon. The congregation is [02:13] called Dorsch Panav. [02:15] And uh he came to me and he he said, [02:18] "We're going to need some help this [02:19] year." And I said, "What's going on? Why [02:21] do you need why do you need help later [02:23] in the year in this special way?" And he [02:25] said, "Well, uh by God's grace, me and [02:27] my wife are pregnant." I said, "That's [02:29] great." And he said, "But also our [02:31] assistant pastor is pregnant." Oh, [02:34] that's good, too. And he said, "And our [02:35] worship leader, they're pregnant, too." [02:37] And and we're all due in the same month. [02:43] I say, "All right, I'll I'll bring a van [02:45] load from King of Kings Jerusalem and [02:46] see if we can help out during that [02:48] month." So, if that's you, I need some [02:51] help. We're going to go bless them. It's [02:53] going to be great. Hallelujah. Um, grab [02:56] your Bibles. We're going to dive in [02:57] tonight. It's going to be a fun time in [02:59] the word of God. [03:01] Thank you, Jonathan, for a great reading [03:03] tonight. Also, I'm glad to hear that our [03:06] our deacons, and don't forget Jonathan [03:08] and Chrissy are one of our deacon [03:10] couples. [03:11] They're in the word with their kids. [03:13] That's always good to hear. We've been [03:15] in a series called the covenant table, [03:19] and we're focusing on crucial parts of [03:22] the Bible where God has a covenant meal. [03:26] He's sitting down at a table and eating [03:28] a meal with his people. But it's not [03:30] just any meal. It's a meal that changes [03:32] something. It it it redirects or it [03:35] introduces something significant in the [03:38] kingdom that we didn't have before. We [03:40] started in week one in Genesis 14 [03:44] where [03:46] Abraham is having a covenant meal, if [03:48] you will, the bread and the wine with [03:50] MelkiseDC. And you can go in the [03:52] archives and catch that and all the [03:54] unique parts that were offered there [03:56] that that there was the bread and the [03:58] wine. There was the victory after the [03:59] war. Uh there was the priestly blessing [04:02] for Melkazedc over Abraham. And then [04:05] there was the giving of tithe from [04:06] Abraham to Melkazedc and this special [04:08] relationship that happened. Last week we [04:11] we dove into Genesis chapter 15 and 18. [04:15] But we realized it was so rich we [04:16] weren't going to get through all of it. [04:18] So we took our time. We split it in [04:19] half. And tonight will be the second [04:21] half of that. But as I kick off, I [04:25] wanted to make a correction from last [04:28] week. We were we were reviewing chapter [04:31] 15. [04:32] And in that in that chapter, you you [04:35] have uh the Lord says to Abraham to go [04:39] get the animals and and cut the larger [04:41] ones in half and put one half of the [04:44] animal on this side and make a row and [04:46] and the other half of the animal on that [04:47] side of the row, but don't cut the [04:49] birds. And so there's two rows and and [04:52] Abraham physically did this. This he was [04:54] told to go get the animals, cut them, [04:56] lay them out and do this. And then he [04:58] falls into a deep sleep. But the [05:00] correction I didn't need to make is that [05:02] um I said we reviewed it together as [05:05] elders and and I said that Abraham and [05:07] God walked through the pieces. It's not [05:10] true because Abraham was asleep [05:13] at that time. God alone walked through [05:15] the piece is through the the image of [05:18] the of the firep pot, right? We we're [05:20] talking about the Holy Spirit being in [05:21] the fire oftent times in in the imagery. [05:24] And the reason that's so important to [05:25] make that correction, yes, Abraham was [05:27] involved, but it was God alone who [05:30] walked through the pieces is because [05:31] it's good to understand what kind of [05:34] covenant and it's good to understand who [05:38] introduced the covenant. It's very [05:40] important in the word of God to know who [05:43] is the who is the one offering [05:45] something. In this case, if we're back [05:48] in Genesis 15, as a recap, it's God [05:51] offering and saying to Abraham, "Yes, [05:54] help me set it up, but I am alone going [05:57] to be the one who walks through the [05:59] pieces because I'm the one offering this [06:01] to you." Right? And it dawned on me that [06:04] as we were reviewing that as a team, and [06:06] we do have a great team. Next week, we [06:08] get to hear from Pastor Wayne. It's [06:09] going to be awesome. It dawned on me [06:11] that we didn't take time yet to go over [06:14] the different types of covenants as [06:16] we're diving into this covenant table [06:19] series. And so, I thought this would be [06:21] a good time to pause from the scriptural [06:24] uh march and look at a few descriptions [06:27] of covenant. And when I'm saying that, I [06:29] don't mean the different people that God [06:32] made covenants with, cuz you'll hear [06:34] that language sometimes, right? He makes [06:36] a covenant with Adam. It's called the [06:37] Adamic covenant or with Noah the No [06:40] covenant or Abraham the Abrahamic [06:42] covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the [06:43] covenant with Caleb, the Davidic [06:44] covenant, the Bhadesha, the new [06:46] covenant. I'm not talking about [06:47] necessarily the people he's making [06:49] covenant with. I'm talking about the [06:51] kinds, the types, the different styles. [06:54] And so I wanted to run you through those [06:55] a little bit because I was mentioning [06:58] Genesis 15 and the firepot. [07:01] This is what we called last week a [07:04] reciprocating covenant. And it means [07:08] whatever is mine is yours and whatever [07:11] is yours is mine. And that's what God [07:13] was offering to Abraham. Which down the [07:16] road made a lot of sense to Abraham when [07:18] God said, "I need your son." And he [07:21] said, "Yeah, but we have a reciprocating [07:22] covenant. So if you want my son, [07:25] automatically God, I get your son." And [07:28] there would have been a prophetic [07:29] knowledge of what that covenant meant [07:31] and what it was leading to down the [07:34] road. So, Genesis 15 is a great example [07:37] of the reciprocating covenant. We [07:38] covered that last week, but let's give [07:39] you a couple of more. [07:42] Here's one we're all very familiar with. [07:43] We call it the conditional covenant. It [07:47] has a condition to it. It's a it's an if [07:50] then. If you will do, then I will do, [07:53] right? It's that kind of thing. So, a [07:55] good example of this this if then is is [07:58] really Moses and Israel and God in [08:00] Exodus 19 verse 5 and 6. I'll read it to [08:02] you. Now, if you obey me fully and keep [08:05] my covenant, then out of all the [08:07] nations, you will be my treasured [08:09] possession. Although the whole earth is [08:11] mine, you will be for me a kingdom of [08:12] priests and a holy nation. These are the [08:14] words you are to speak to the [08:15] Israelites. It starts with the if you [08:17] will, then I will. That's called a [08:19] conditional covenant, right? [08:22] And we contrast that to a third type [08:25] that we call the unconditional covenant. [08:27] We all love this one, the unconditional [08:30] covenant. It does not have an if then. [08:32] and it does not depend on us. A good [08:35] example of the unconditional covenant [08:37] might be God in King David, 2 Samuel [08:41] 7:16. [08:43] Your house and your kingdom will endure [08:45] forever before me, your throne will be [08:47] established forever. At that point, he's [08:50] not saying, David, if you will do [08:52] something, then you get He's not doing [08:54] that in that moment. He's saying, we've [08:57] already got a relationship going on. We [08:58] we're already in the depths of our love. [09:01] I am promising this to you and there's [09:03] nothing you need to do in order to make [09:05] it happen. I'm giving it to you. That [09:08] would be a great example of the [09:10] unconditional covenant. What about a [09:12] fourth kind? Here's one I called and [09:15] other people have called the royal grant [09:17] covenant. Some people call it a land [09:19] grant, but I think there's more examples [09:21] than just land. So, we call it the royal [09:23] grant. This is a possession exchange. [09:27] A good example here would be Abraham and [09:29] God in Genesis 15:7. [09:32] He God also said to him, Abraham, so God [09:37] said to Abraham, [09:39] I am the Lord who brought you out of the [09:41] Calaldanss to give you this land to take [09:43] possession of it. It is it is a physical [09:45] gift. It's the royal grant. It's like [09:47] saying here's the deed to the house. You [09:51] get to have it, right? [09:53] something physical is granted here. And [09:57] then there's another kind that we see in [10:00] the Bible that we call the cesarian [10:02] vassel covenant. And this is a a [10:05] relationship that is explained in each [10:09] person's role in the relationship. [10:11] That's how this one works. It it [10:13] basically means one group agrees to [10:16] submit to the other and the second [10:19] person or group says as long as you [10:21] submit then I will cover and protect you [10:23] and take care of you and no one will get [10:24] you. So if you submit then I'll take [10:27] care of you. Right? And this was common [10:30] in more ancient times where where you [10:33] had citystates and you had the vassels [10:35] on the outside of the city walls that [10:37] that that were farmers, right? They were [10:39] agricultural, but they needed protection [10:42] in order to raise the crops and the [10:43] animals for the people inside the walls. [10:45] And so they said, "If we submit to you [10:48] as our king, then you have to protect us [10:49] with your army, and we'll make the food [10:51] for you, and we'll exchange." [10:53] A great example of this type of [10:56] relationship covenant. Exodus 6 [10:59] and 7. Therefore, say to the Israelites, [11:02] "I am the Lord, and I will bring you out [11:04] from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I [11:07] will free you from being slaves to them. [11:09] I will redeem you with an outstretched [11:10] arm with mighty acts of judgment. I will [11:13] take you as my people and I will be your [11:16] God. Then you will know that I am the [11:18] Lord your God who brought you out from [11:20] under the yoke of the Egyptians. You [11:22] see, it was God saying that if if you [11:25] will submit to me, then I'll take care [11:27] of everything else for you. I'll be your [11:29] protector. I won't let people come after [11:31] you. I'll protect you from your enemies. [11:33] I'll give you food. I'll give you the [11:34] supernatural supply. all of those things [11:36] that an earthly king might have said to [11:39] a covenant that they would have made to [11:41] the people outside those walls. Okay? [11:44] So, when we're going through this [11:46] covenant table series and and you see [11:50] that we introduce different covenants, I [11:52] wanted you to understand the different [11:54] styles, the different kinds that might [11:56] be mentioned along the way. Not just the [11:58] different people, but also the different [12:01] kinds. [12:03] So, now we're going to turn our [12:04] attention to our main text, Genesis 18. [12:09] So, a quick recap if you didn't join us [12:11] last week. Abraham is a hard worker. [12:14] He's working and it's hot. So, it tells [12:17] us it's not the winter time. Right now, [12:19] we're kind of zoomed in on when it is. [12:20] It's hot [12:22] hot in Israel. So, pretty much the rest [12:25] of the year, right? It's just not that [12:27] couple of months he's working. But [12:30] culturally, we would have taken a break [12:32] in the middle of the workday. It's super [12:34] hot. You got to take a break. You got to [12:36] rehydrate. You want to go eat something. [12:38] So, you go to the entrance of the tent [12:40] to take a break. [12:43] I remember one time I was working in the [12:46] United States with with my dad and he's [12:48] a he's a custom home builder, beautiful [12:50] homes, and it was it was in the debt of [12:52] summer uh down south in the state of [12:55] Louisiana. [12:56] And in Louisiana, [12:59] um, uh, not only is it hot, but it's [13:01] always humid, [13:03] like, you know, 100% humidity, right? It [13:07] feels like it's raining all the time, [13:08] but there's no rain. That kind of thing. [13:11] And it was so hot and we were in this [13:13] mill. We were building this house on [13:14] this person's land and, you know, 20, 30 [13:16] acres of land, and there's no there's no [13:18] trees around. There's nothing. So, but [13:20] we just started, so there's nothing of [13:22] the house yet either and there's no [13:24] trees and it's the middle of the day and [13:25] it is so hot that we would take breaks, [13:28] but it didn't feel like a break cuz it [13:30] was so hot. There was nowhere to go. So, [13:33] I remember one time in particular, we [13:36] were all getting a drink of water and we [13:37] were like, "We've got to get out of this [13:38] heat. There's just too hot." So, we all [13:40] crawled under the trucks and just laid [13:43] there for 10 minutes to get out of the [13:45] heat, the shade. So every time I think [13:47] about Abraham at the tent of the meeting [13:49] in the heat of the day, I remember being [13:50] under a truck and saying, "Lord, that [13:53] was the day you were supposed to visit [13:54] me, Lord. I needed you on that day." [13:59] So he's at the tent. It's hot. He's been [14:02] working hard. Three visitors come up and [14:04] what does he do? It says in the Bible, [14:06] he he he gets up. He hurries [14:10] he hurries to the visitors because he [14:13] recognizes them. Then he bows down in [14:16] front of one of them. And then he calls [14:18] them in and says, "Let me wash your [14:19] feet." And then he begins to prepare a [14:22] meal for them. And there's so many [14:24] things we wanted to say about this last [14:26] week. One, he hurried and ran to the [14:28] visitor because he recognized them. You [14:30] don't run to a stranger. You run to [14:32] someone you recognize. He recognized the [14:34] Lord from his previous encounters. He [14:37] bowed down. We'll come back to that in a [14:39] little while. He bowed down because of [14:41] he knew who it was. [14:43] He washed their feet because we see this [14:46] as a foreshadowing of when Yeshua comes [14:48] to earth and he washes the disciples [14:50] feet. Remember, it's a reciprocating [14:51] covenant here. Whatever you do to me, I [14:54] do to you and you did it to me, so I do [14:55] it to you guys. We see that we also [14:59] talked a little bit about the kosher [15:01] laws here and and that they prepared [15:04] bread and they prepared uh cheese. They [15:07] called it Kurds. They prepared the milk [15:10] and the meat of the animal that they [15:13] that they had prepared here for the [15:14] meal. And we said, look, you know, for [15:17] those of you uh in our audience uh that [15:19] are that are Jewish, you keep a biblical [15:21] kosher, keep going. We encourage that. [15:23] Maybe there's some of you also keep a [15:25] rabbitic level of kosher. Go for it [15:28] because it falls within the guidelines [15:29] of the biblical kosher. So, you can you [15:31] can be blessed in that. And there may be [15:33] some Gentiles among us who feel called [15:35] to the same uh condition. [15:38] Following the wisdom of the Lord, [15:39] following the Bible, we bless you as [15:41] well. All participating. [15:44] But one thing we did not see in the [15:46] scriptures particularly was that you [15:49] must separate your meat and your milk [15:52] because we saw Yeshua eat it right [15:55] there. Now again, my my wife reminded me [15:58] this week that uh also don't forget that [16:00] this story predates the Mosaic law. So [16:02] the law for kosher wasn't quite even in [16:05] place yet by this time. And so there's [16:08] different applications you can make [16:09] there. So I was talking and studying uh [16:11] with with a brother and uh and he was [16:14] saying, well, you know that there's a [16:15] different explanation in the kosher laws [16:17] about this. And I said, yeah, tell me [16:19] about it. And he said, "Well, [16:21] yes, there's the group that says, look, [16:23] they ate meat and milk together, so uh [16:25] you know, end of end of story, right? [16:27] There's that group, but then there's the [16:29] Ashkanazi [16:31] group who define it a little bit [16:33] different." And they said, "Well, if [16:37] you're going to kill an animal and by [16:38] the time you skin it and bleed it and [16:40] and salt it and cook it, it's been 3 [16:43] hours." [16:46] So they could have come in and had a [16:49] glass of milk and some cheese and then [16:50] waited 3 hours and then ate from the [16:54] animal and that would have been enough [16:56] separation of meat and milk. And he [16:57] said, "Yeah, but if you look in the [16:58] Talmud, that's not enough time." [17:01] So the three hours of the Ashkanazi [17:03] explanation actually doesn't match even [17:04] the Talmudic teaching. What you'd have [17:07] to go to is the Sphartic teaching. The [17:10] Sephardim teach that that it was six [17:12] hours. [17:14] So instead of grilling, they were [17:17] smoking the meat, [17:21] right? So the Ashkenazi want to grill, [17:24] but the Sephardim, we smoke it. And so [17:25] it takes longer. So now there's a now we [17:28] meet the Talmudic uh reference of time. [17:30] You needed a minimum of four hours. We [17:32] made it to six hours just to be careful. [17:34] And now all is good. We can still [17:36] separate our meat and milk. Praise God. [17:41] What's the moral of the story? [17:44] Eat meat. That's [17:47] Sorry for the vegetarians in the room. [17:51] That's [17:52] okay. [17:55] All right. And this idea of [18:00] what I thought was important and I and I [18:02] wanted to share it was when Abraham runs [18:04] and hurries, of course, he recognizes [18:06] him. We we know the washing of the feet [18:08] might be connected symbolically to [18:10] Yeshua washing our feet. We see that the [18:12] meal there's honor there. [18:16] But when he bow down, he bows down to [18:18] him. There's something there. There's [18:20] something significant that that Abraham [18:22] knew that he ran and then he bowed. [18:26] But notice in the text that the Lord [18:29] allows him to bow, which is very [18:32] different than other passages of [18:34] scripture. When a human tries to bow [18:36] down to a regular angel, the angel does [18:40] not allow him to do that. He says, "Get [18:43] up." But in this passage, he allows him [18:46] to bow down. I can give you a reference [18:48] from Revelation 22 8 and 9. It says, "I, [18:52] John, am the one who heard and saw these [18:55] things, and when I had heard and seen [18:57] them, I fell down to worship at the feet [18:59] of the angel who had been showing them [19:01] to me." But the angel said to me, "Don't [19:04] do that. I'm a fellow servant with you [19:07] and with your fellow prophets and with [19:09] all who keep the words of this scroll [19:11] only worship God." That's what an angel [19:14] says if you bow down to him. So when a [19:16] rabbi says that this visitor is an angel [19:18] or there three angels are all the same, [19:21] an angel would never allow Abraham to [19:24] bow down to him. You have to take that [19:27] into consideration as a proof sign that [19:31] Abraham knew that one of these visitors [19:34] was not simply an angel, but in fact it [19:37] was the Lord himself. [19:39] There's other examples I want to walk [19:41] through with you tonight, [19:43] just these confirmations of Abraham [19:46] connecting with the Lord in physical [19:48] flesh. [19:50] In the main text again, Genesis 18, look [19:52] at verse three for a a second. Abraham [19:57] said, 'If I have found favor in your [19:59] eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant [20:01] by. Well, we we know what this says in [20:04] in the Hebrew, of course, right? Adonai, [20:13] it's this it's the Lord name here is [20:18] Adonai. So, if you're going to the [20:21] Hebrew, if you want to push your little [20:22] button on your app and see the Hebrew, [20:26] it's literally Adonai. [20:29] That's how it's spelled, right? It's [20:32] alf. [20:33] It's Adonai. It would phonetically say [20:36] it. And so one one person could say, [20:39] well, he you could be using Adonai here [20:43] by saying my lord [20:46] almost like a an honorary title [20:51] like you might say to a prince or [20:53] something like that. You would say my [20:54] lord, you know, or like to a judge you [20:57] would say your honor, something like [20:59] that. [21:01] Well, what's very important is as we get [21:04] into this next section of Genesis 18, [21:07] the the bottom half, we're going to [21:09] watch how that name gets changed later [21:13] in the text. So, why don't we jump to [21:15] that since we're on this path now of [21:19] proving that we believe one of these [21:22] three visitors is not just an angel, but [21:24] it it is the Lord Yeshua himself. Look [21:26] at Genesis 18 verse 16. Genesis 18:16. [21:30] Here's [21:34] what it says. [21:36] When the men got up to leave, so they've [21:38] already had this great meal, right? When [21:40] the men got up to leave, they looked [21:42] down toward Sodom and Abraham walked [21:44] along with them to see them on their [21:45] way. Then the Lord said, "Shall I hide [21:49] from Abraham what I'm about to do? [21:51] Abraham will surely become a great and [21:53] powerful nation, and all the nations of [21:55] the earth will be blessed through him. [21:57] For I have chosen him so that he will [22:00] direct his children and his household [22:02] after him, to keep the way of the Lord [22:04] by doing what is right and just, so that [22:06] the Lord will bring about for Abraham [22:08] what he has promised him. [22:14] And the Hebrew here is not going to use [22:17] the word Adonai. It's not going to spell [22:20] it alf. [22:23] It's not going to say Adonai, the Lord. [22:26] It's going to use the tetetrogrammaton. [22:28] It's going to use the yu vave, [22:31] right? The the Yahweh, Yhovah, Yhovah, [22:33] whoever wants to choose to say it a [22:36] certain way. This is the that that that [22:40] precious name of God that they were [22:42] afraid to say. [22:44] That's the one used here. So Abraham is [22:46] talking to the same person. And it's not [22:48] a different person as before where you [22:50] might explain away well my lord could [22:53] have meant you know something honorary [22:56] my my dear friend thank you for coming. [22:58] This is now the precious name of God [23:02] talking to the exact same person in the [23:04] flesh right in front of him, right? And [23:08] this is the the the way it's spelled [23:11] here y uh vave. A lot of times we we [23:13] hear in the tradition of the rabbis, [23:16] they will substitute that Hebrew name [23:18] and they will say Adonai in its place. [23:21] But this is not Adonai. This is not the [23:23] name used here. It's just a substitute. [23:25] Maybe you hear Hashem [23:28] the name, right? They they they will [23:29] substitute it there. [23:31] But he he clearly says even here [23:36] and I'll just substitute Yhovah for a [23:38] second. That doesn't mean that's my [23:39] choice. I just have to pick one for this [23:41] reading. Okay, everybody calm down on [23:43] that one. I don't need any anything [23:46] online about it. It's just the one I had [23:48] to pick. Okay. [23:54] Abraham [23:57] he's using the name and saying [24:01] should I hide from my servant Abraham [24:05] what I am going to do [24:08] now what would ever give an angel the [24:09] right to say that [24:12] I an ordinary angel should I hide what I [24:16] am about to do well first of all angels [24:18] don't make those kind of decisions [24:22] secondly ly angels [24:25] do not make plans. [24:28] Like angels don't say this is what I'm [24:30] about to do. Angels don't get to say [24:33] those kind of things. They don't make [24:35] plans. They don't cast vision. They [24:38] don't make these kind of decisions. [24:40] Angels are servants that follow the [24:42] Lord's instructions. [24:44] So for one of these visitors to say, [24:46] "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am [24:48] about to do?" in no way fits an angel at [24:52] all because angels don't do those [24:54] things. [24:56] He goes on to confirm [24:58] the covenant he's already made with [25:00] Abraham back in Genesis 12. He restates [25:04] the exact same covenant that he made [25:06] that I will make you into a great and [25:07] powerful nation. Well, that was the [25:09] original covenant in Genesis 12. So, how [25:11] can an angel try to swoop in on his [25:14] angel wings? [25:16] I'm assuming they have wings. I don't [25:18] know, maybe they don't. [25:20] and steal the thunder of God, [25:24] right? Like God makes the covenant. An [25:26] angel's not going to swoop in and be [25:27] like, "Oh yeah, by the way, remember [25:29] that covenant I made with you?" He say, [25:31] "Well, you did you didn't make the [25:33] covenant with me. You weren't the one [25:34] that was talking to me." So an angel [25:36] cannot swoop in to do that. He cannot [25:39] restate the covenant like it's his when [25:41] it's not his. So again, we know that [25:43] that has to be the Lord. It has to be [25:46] Yeshua. [25:49] It says very clearly in the text, I have [25:51] chosen Abraham. [25:53] Well, this is multiple times God has [25:55] chosen Abraham. Again, referring to [25:58] something that an angel cannot do. An [26:00] angel does not choose. [26:02] He follows instructions. He doesn't [26:04] choose. [26:08] I'll give you this key phrase, one of [26:11] two key phrases tonight. Angels are not [26:14] decision makers, servant choosers, or [26:16] covenant makers. They are announcers of [26:19] God's decisions and helpers for those [26:21] called to do God's work. That's what an [26:24] angel does. [26:26] He would never try to take credit for a [26:29] covenant he didn't make. [26:32] He would never make a decision to hide [26:36] or not hide anything from the servants [26:38] of God. [26:39] And never does he have the power to make [26:41] a plan, [26:43] nor does he have the power to choose a [26:45] servant of the Lord. Angels don't do any [26:47] of those things. And of course, as I [26:50] mentioned earlier, angels will not allow [26:51] you to bow down to them either. So if [26:55] any teacher, if any rabbi, any kind of [26:58] Tanakh scholar is trying to turn this [27:01] story to make it seem like all three of [27:04] these visitors are all just regular [27:07] angels. He's forgetting these five [27:09] points that angels would not be involved [27:12] in any of them, only the Lord God. And [27:15] then we have the name of God being used [27:17] in the passage itself. [27:21] Let's continue in the text. [27:25] So Abraham is hearing the plans of God. [27:27] He takes a walk with God now and and God [27:31] says, "Am I going to hide from my [27:33] servant Abraham what I'm about to do? [27:34] I've chosen him. I' I've reinstated my [27:36] covenant with him. It's it's going to be [27:38] good." [27:41] And so in in the explanation, he tells [27:44] Abraham, I'm going to have to destroy [27:46] Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what these [27:48] other two angels have come to help me [27:49] do. [27:51] We pick up the reading Genesis 18, same [27:54] text, verse 23-2. [27:57] Then Abraham approached him [28:00] and said, "Will you sweep away the [28:02] righteous from the wicked? What if there [28:04] are 50 righteous people in the city? [28:06] Will you really sweep it away and not [28:08] spare the place for the sake of the 50 [28:10] righteous people in it? Far be it from [28:12] you to do such a thing, to kill the [28:15] righteous with the wicked, treating the [28:17] righteous and the wicked alike. Far be [28:20] it from you. Will not the judge of all [28:22] the earth do the right thing? [28:26] Look how he calls the Lord this time. [28:28] It's not the Yhovah Yahweh name and it's [28:31] not Adonai the Lord personal, [28:35] right? Hashet. [28:38] It's the judge of all of the earth. [28:42] Never would you give an angel that [28:43] designation. An angel would never have [28:46] the right to determine whether someone [28:48] was righteous or not righteous. [28:52] He can follow the Lord's instructions [28:55] when the Lord says [28:57] that field needs to be destroyed. That [28:59] harvest field needs to be destroyed. But [29:01] it's not their decision to make because [29:02] they don't sit as the judge of all the [29:04] earth. But Abraham knows exactly who [29:06] this person is that he's eating with. [29:09] He's calling him the precious name of [29:11] God. [29:13] And he's saying, "You're the judge of [29:15] all the earth, [29:17] not a designation for angels. [29:23] This is clearly the Lord God in a [29:26] physical form. [29:28] Yeshua, we call that [29:31] he's been called in these passages the [29:33] creator of the earth, the judge of the [29:36] earth. He's been a covenant maker, a [29:40] promiseke keeper, a vision caster, a [29:42] judge of the righteous and the wicked, [29:44] and a recognizable friend of Abraham, [29:47] who allows Abraham to bow down to him [29:49] and wash his feet, who gives and offers [29:52] a reciprocating covenant because he [29:54] knows what he wants to give the people [29:57] of Israel and the righteous ones that [29:59] join them in the future. [30:01] And so, he allows this relationship to [30:04] continue. I'll give you the second key [30:07] phrase of the night and then we'll we'll [30:08] close. [30:10] If any rabbi or teacher tries to say [30:13] that Yeshua did not appear in the [30:15] Tanakh, [30:17] they are in direct contradiction to [30:19] Abraham's eyewitness account. [30:23] Who are you going to believe? [30:26] Are you going to believe a rabbi [30:31] though we want to honor and respect to [30:33] some extent? [30:35] You going to believe a rabbi who is not [30:37] filled with the Holy Spirit, [30:41] who does not see the totality of the [30:44] redemption story from beginning of [30:46] Genesis to the end of Revelation? [30:51] Or are you going to believe the [30:52] eyewitness patriarch on the ground who [30:56] ate a meal and touched him and ran to [30:59] him and washed his feet and was told the [31:02] plans by God's own mouth in human flesh? [31:05] Who do you want to believe? [31:08] An earthly rabbi who sees in a mirror [31:11] dimly or Abraham who saw him face to [31:14] face? [31:17] For me, this has been one of the [31:19] greatest moments of sharing the love of [31:23] God and the salvation of Yeshua with [31:26] religious Jewish people. [31:29] And I want you to take that away as a [31:30] tool that you may need one day as the [31:34] Lord brings different people on your [31:35] path because when you show them the [31:38] clarity of passages like this and many [31:40] other ones that we will go through [31:42] whether it's uh I think Pastor Wayne is [31:45] going to touch on some of it next week [31:46] as well or Joshua wrestles with the [31:50] commander of the Lord of hosts or the [31:53] one in the fire who looks like the son [31:55] of God or the one that Jacob wrestles [31:57] with and Jacob the eyewitness says it [31:59] was God that I wrestled with or Samson's [32:02] parents or there's so many that we can [32:04] touch on the eyewitnesses in the Bible [32:07] that we honor and respect so much. [32:09] They're the ones telling us it was God [32:12] in the flesh [32:14] and they directly contradict the modern [32:17] rabbis teachings that it was only an [32:19] angel. [32:22] So be careful [32:24] and sometimes to show your friends. [32:28] I've had to do that on a number of [32:29] occasions with yeshiva students or [32:33] people in the religious community. And I [32:35] show them and and I said, "You need to [32:37] take this back to your rabbi and ask him [32:39] who it was." And when he tells you it's [32:41] an angel, I want you to tell him all the [32:43] points I just taught you. An angel would [32:46] never let you bow down. You would never [32:48] say an angel is the judge of all the [32:50] earth. He would never pronounce the [32:51] name, the holy name of God on an angel. [32:54] He would never let you do that. [32:57] It has to be God in the flesh, which we [33:01] call Yeshua. [33:03] During this covenant table episode, God [33:05] has confirmed his land covenant with [33:08] Abraham. He's confirmed his promised [33:10] child would be coming in the next year. [33:13] He gave the timeline of the child. He [33:17] looped in Abraham to the future plans [33:19] that he was going to do. And he [33:21] explained to Abraham the plan of [33:22] judgment of coming upon Sodom and [33:25] Gomorrah. [33:27] That's quite a meal, friends. [33:30] And you can see why we want to pause at [33:32] these covenant meals and this covenant [33:34] table. Because so much happens here when [33:37] you get a chance to sit down at the [33:38] table of the Lord. [33:41] And I remind you that the Lord [33:44] on one level is inviting us to sit down [33:46] at his table every day [33:48] and to say, 'Isn't it amazing what I [33:50] share with my servants when they come [33:52] and they eat with me? Well, I'm your [33:54] daily bread. Come and eat with me and [33:56] I'll share these same kind of things [33:57] with you cuz he wants to have the [34:00] covenant table with all of us. Would you [34:02] stand? Let me pray a blessing over you. [34:04] We want to take that back into worship. [34:07] Hallelujah. [34:09] [Music] [34:11] Yeshua, thank you for the goodness of [34:12] your word, making it so clear, giving us [34:14] so many different angles and [34:16] perspectives to make sure we see it [34:18] clearly. [34:20] [Music] [34:21] And although we admit there are times we [34:23] we we're not going to see everything [34:26] perfectly, [34:28] when you cover from this many angles, [34:30] Lord, it becomes really clear to us. [34:33] Holy Spirit, thank you for illuminating [34:35] your word. [34:37] One of the wonderful things we get, Holy [34:39] Spirit, when we walk with you. [34:42] Fill us with your presence today. Give [34:45] us boldness as we share with our friends [34:47] and family, co-workers and neighbors. [34:50] Let us be confident in the pattern of [34:55] how much, God, you want to come and [34:56] visit your people until the ultimate [35:00] visit that we're all marching toward. [35:03] Thank you for having covenant table with [35:05] us and inviting us each day to spend [35:10] this time with you that you might reveal [35:11] new things to us. [35:14] Give us the courage and the [35:16] determination, the perseverance [35:19] to take you up on that offer. We pray in [35:22] Yeshua's name. Amen. Amen. Prayer team, [35:25] if you could come on down, we're going [35:27] to present ourselves as an opportunity [35:29] for anyone in the congregation who needs [35:31] prayer tonight. If you're online and you [35:33] need prayer, email us at we [35:35] pray@kcj.org. [35:36] So come on down prayer team. We're going [35:38] to worship to let this soak into our [35:39] spirit. Pastor Wayne will close us in [35:41] just a few minutes. [35:54] [Music]
