Two Great Nations and the Faithfulness of God

Submitted by admin on July 13, 2009 - 11:01am
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Sermon by Lyle Welty



Summary

God has a purpose in all He does and He's not a respector of persons. It's important for us to take a moment to consider why God specifically chose to work through Abraham to further His purpose to share His Promises and Blessings with all future generations.


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Sermon:  “Two Great nations & the Faithfulness of God” 

Not long ago I checked out of the library a book by the British historian, Paul Johnson.  At the end of the book, he included his footnotes (or source notes) for each part of the book.  There were so many of them that I couldn’t resist counting them up – to satisfy my curiosity about the total number of sources he’d used in researching material for the book.  There were 1950!  1950 references to various books, magazines (& newspaper) articles & personal letters.

Think about the INTEREST, ENTHUSIASM & EXCITEMENT you’d need to have for a particular subject, in order to do that depth of research.  It’s obvious that the author had a very STRONG & MOTIVATING interest in his subject.

Let’s turn to 1 Peter:1:10 to read about a group of people who also had a CONSUMING INTEREST in a particular subject.

1 Pet:1:10 – Peter had been writing about the GOAL of a Christian –which is salvation or E.L.  Then in verse 10, he wrote –

1 Pet:1:10  “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully,  who prophesied of the grace that would come to YOU,  [Other translations say they “carefully researched & investigated”; or “searched intently & with greatest care”.  They had a deep & lasting interest in the things God had revealed to them.  They knew these were EXCITING & MARVELOUS things, & they put their hearts into understanding them as best they could.] 
11  “searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.

God’s Spirit had inspired them to prophesy about the things Jesus would have to SUFFER -- & also about Jesus’ GLORY – including His role during the Millennium.

Verse 11 tells us the prophets didn’t COMPLETELY & CLEARLY understand their own prophecies about Jesus Christ, & the end-time events.

One example would be the prophet Daniel.  At one point Daniel said, “Although I heard, I did NOT understand”.  Daniel was told, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are CLOSED UP & SEALED till the time of the end”.

(1 Pet. 1 & Vs 12)  “To them it was revealed that, NOT TO THEMSELVES, but TO US they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven…
[In other words, it was revealed to the prophets that their prophecies were for the purpose of serving US – God’s church.  Verse 12 ends by saying]; …things which ANGELS desire to look into.

Why would God inspire Peter to write that the PROPHETS & ANGELS have had an intense interest in things that WE now understand?  I would imagine that part of the reason is to emphasize to us how PRIVILEGED & BLESSED we are to have our minds opened to know the things we do about GOD & His PLAN.

SPS:  With that in mind, in today’s sermon I’d like to review a subject the patriarchs & prophets COULD NOT POSSIBLY have understood –  in the detail we do today.  In fact, the original apostles (& generations of Christians who lived after them) were not able to understand it as we do.

The subject we’ll be covering today is: Promises made to Abraham that have had their prophetic fulfillment in the modern nations of the United States & Britain.

We’ll only have time to cover an overview of the subject, but hopefully it will be an INSPIRING overview.  One goal of the sermon is to highlight IN OUR MINDS God’s power & His wonderful quality of FAITHFULNESS.  And we’ll see a few points of application at the end of the sermon.

Let’s set the stage by reading Isa 46 – verses 9-10.  This is a good passage to read on the Sabbath – a day when we focus on God, to worship & honor Him.

Isa:46:9  -- Here we see one of the great powers of God – only God has this power.

Isa:46:9 “Remember the former things of old [Or remember what GOD has done in the past], For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is NONE LIKE ME
10  Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'

God is able to PLAN OUT the course of history, PREDICT the future, & then bring it to pass.

Think what an astounding thing that is -- & has been!  Over thousands of years, billions of people have lived, & they have all had FREE MORAL AGENCY.  They HAVEN’T been just “puppets” that God has controlled in order to bring His plan to pass. 

Human beings have had FREE MORAL AGENCY & yet at the same time, God has had the ability to guide world events, & accomplish what HE SAID HE WOULD DO.  That’s a concept we can’t fully grasp or explain – but it’s something God in His great power is able to do.
In other places in the Scriptures God tells us that He CANNOT LIE.  When God says He will do something, we can BE SURE He WILL do it -- & since He always does things for a reason, His promises should be IMPORTANT to us -- & VERY INTERESTING to us.

Let’s go to Gen:12:1 to see the beginning of the story of God promising “blessings” to a particular man & his descendents.

Our booklet, “The United States & Britain in Bible Prophecy” refers to these promises to Abraham as “REMARKABLE”, “AWESOME” & “FAR-REACHING”!

Let’s read several verses here in Gen 12, & especially notice WHY God made these promises to Abram (or Abraham).

Gen:12:1 “Now the LORD had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you.
2  I will make you a great nation [That’s a promise of PHYSICAL BLESSINGS.] I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3  I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

We see in these verses that God was offering Abram PHYSICAL BLESSINGS of national greatness & ALSO, in verse 3, spiritual blessings – spiritual blessings that would come through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus Christ.  The ultimate fulfillment of the last part of Vs 3 will be that ALL people will ultimately have an opportunity for EL in the family of God. 

That concept is explained very clearly in our booklet.  If you haven’t read & studied it, I’d encourage you to do that.   Although the SPIRITUAL aspect is much more important, we are going to focus on the physical blessings today.  At the same time, it’s vital to understand WHY God gave the physical blessings of national greatness to Abraham’s descendants.

God intended the PHYSICAL blessings to be used to help achieve the great SPIRITUAL goal He had in mind.  The physical blessings were given for the purpose of SERVICE to other nations & peoples.  We should NOT think of the physical blessings to Abraham’s descendants as UNRELATED to the promise of spiritual blessings for all people.

Here’s an analogy to help us understand the point:  A man has several children.  He LOVES them all EQUALLY, & each child is equally VALUABLE & IMPORTANT to him.  The father is concerned about the education & development of ALL his children.  So he buys several hundred dollars worth of educational toys – interesting & fun toys – & he chooses ONE of the children, & gives the toys to him. 
We could say the father “blesses” one child with the toys.  But he tells that child, “I’m giving YOU these educational toys, but I expect you to use them to serve & help & teach your brothers & sisters.  I want my blessing to you to be a blessing to ALL the children.  If you don’t follow my instruction, you’re going to be in big trouble, & you’ll be punished!  The goal here is for EVERY ONE of my children to receive the benefit of these toys.”

In a similar way, God gave the descendants of Abraham  PHYSICAL BLESSINGS for a SPIRITUAL WORK OF SERVICE.  That’s true for both the OT NATION OF ISRAEL & the MODERN-DAY NATIONS  of the physical descendants  of Israel.   God intended for the Israelite people to serve & teach others by being examples of God’s way of life.  God gave Abraham’s descendants all the physical blessings that were needed to do that job, & do it well.

Going back to the analogy of the human family, we could ask – why not just have the father give the educational toys to ALL the children, instead of just to one of them?  To answer that question, we need to keep in mind one of the basic principles of how God works.  He works in STAGES, or STEPS, to fulfill His plan.  His plan for working with human beings has an ORDER to it.  We review that principle each year on the Day of Pentecost.

 In regard to the church – God chooses some first (the First Fruits) – people from many races & nationalities.  He chooses them for a work of SERVICE.  We’re not called into the church just so that God can give us E.L. ahead of the rest of the world.  We’re called to SERVE God & SERVE the world by doing a work (& by preparing to teach & rule in WT).  So whenever God chooses a person (or group of people), it’s because God has A JOB for them to do, & there are serious consequences if that job ISN’T done!

My point in saying this, is so that we’ll understand that the physical blessings (& national greatness) given to Abraham & his descendants have NOTHING to do with certain people being SUPERIOR to other people.  God is NOT a respecter of persons.  Everything God does (including giving physical blessings to physical Israelites) is directed toward the ultimate spiritual goal of offering EVERYONE E.L. in His family.

So in Gen 12, God had spoken to Abraham about both spiritual & physical blessings -- & as time went along (& Abraham proved his obedience & faith) God EXPANDED the physical blessings to include more territory & greater blessings.  At the end, God SWORE to Abraham that God would fulfill these incredible promises.

Our booklet says, “God put His own truthfulness & integrity on the line in these commitments.  He has UNCONTITIONALLY BOUND HIMSELF to bring all His promises (to Abraham) to pass, in all their details.”  [End of quote]

Let’s turn to Gen 17 – We won’t read all the scriptural accounts (of the promises God made to Abraham) – but you can see them on your handout (under Abraham).  Check them out later if you’d like.  We will notice, though, one of the accounts in Gen 17.  

Gen:17:1 “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. [This is the 1st use in the Scriptures of the name “Almighty God”.  God would have to be “Almighty” to have the power to bring to pass the things He was about to promise Abram.  Imagine what it must have been like for Abram to hear these promises.]

Vs 2  "And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly." [meaning a large number of descendants]
3  Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying:
4  "As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations.  [Not just 1 or 2 nations, but MANY NATIONS.  This would be fulfilled far off, in the distant future.]
5  "No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham [Abraham means “father of a multitude”]; for I have made you a father of many nations.  [“Many nations” would involve more than just “descendants”, also much “land”.]

Abraham would not have known exactly how (& in what way) God’s words would be fulfilled – but from OUR vantage point, we can understand at least a large part of what God did over thousands of years to fulfill these promises.

Vs 6  "I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you.  [The greatest king would be Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.]
7  "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.

Our booklet makes a very powerful statement.  It says, “These commitments (to Abraham) were based on the most far-reaching series of promises & prophecies ever delivered by God to a human being.  The later prophets of Israel, Jesus’ apostles & JESUS HIMSELF all regarded these prophecies as the foundation of their work.” (End of quote)

That would refer 1st & foremost to the spiritual blessings to come to ALL PEOPLE through Abraham – but as I mentioned earlier, the PHYSICAL blessings were …
to play an important role in accomplishing the SPIRITUAL goal.  These are things that should be very precious & meaningful to us.

Later in the same chapter, Gen 17, God told Abraham that Sarah would have a son (we know him to be Isaac) & those same blessings would be passed on to Isaac.
Notice Gen:17:18 – a very touching scene

Gen:17:18 “And Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!"

Abraham already had a son, Ishmael, born through Sarah’s handmaid, Hagar.  Abraham & Sarah had become impatient about having a promised son, so they had come up with a plan that resulted in the birth of Ishmael. 

He was Abraham’s only child at this point, & Abraham must have loved him dearly.  Abraham hoped that ISHMAEL could inherit those promises.  It seems that Abraham hoped that God would pass along the blessings & promises through Ishmael.

Vs 19 “Then God said: "No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

Then verse 20 – I like this verse because it shows us a side of God that’s important for us to see – how kind, compassionate & understanding God was to Abraham & to Ishmael.

20  "And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21  "But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year."

God had a plan, & He chose to carry it out through Isaac – but God was kind.  He gave a different & separate (& generous) blessing to Ishmael. (Many of the modern-day Arabs have descended from Ishmael.)

Eventually the blessings promised to Abraham were passed along to Isaac. 

Then, in time, Isaac had 2 sons, Esau & Jacob.  Ordinarily the 1st born son (Esau)  would’ve received the birthright blessing, but Jacob (along with his mother) tricked his father into passing those blessings along to him.  God had intended all along for Jacob to receive them – but not by tricking his father.  Jacob would have some lessons to learn.

When Jacob received the blessing, he was told that his descendants would “spread abroad to the west & the east, to the north & the south”.  It was part of God’s plan that Jacob’s descendents would eventually be INFLUENTIAL POWERS on the world scene.

You’ll see on your handout the scriptural references that give the details of the blessings passed on to Jacob.
Let’s turn to one of them – Gen:35:9 to see an interesting new detail given to Jacob.
Gen:35:9  “Then God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Padan Aram and blessed him.
10  And God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel.
11  Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply [Here’s what the All-powerful God promised to do for him.]; a NATION and a COMPANY OF NATIONS shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body.

Again, the MOST IMPORTANT KING would be Jesus Christ – but for our purposes today, we want to notice that God promised that a NATION & a GROUP (or community) of nations would come from Jacob.   God CANNOT LIE – so this would HAVE TO come to pass.  This promise of a nation & community of nations was NEVER fulfilled by the OT nation of Israel.  We’ll see more about that later.

Jacob (whose name God changed to Israel) had 12 sons.  (You’ll see their names listed on the handout.)  One son, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his brothers, & ended up in Egypt, where he rose to a very high position.  Eventually, due to a famine, Jacob & his entire family came to live in Egypt, where Joseph was living.

Let’s go next to Gen 48 to see a very moving account of the passing along of the blessing to another generation.  We’ll see why it is that the OT nation of Israel could NOT have fulfilled the prophecy about a “nation & group of nations”.

Gen:48:1 – this takes place in Egypt, near the end of Jacob’s life.  God inspired this to be preserved in a lot of fascinating detail – which is another indication of the importance of what we’re about to read.

Gen:48:1 “Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your father [Jacob or Israel] is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 

Jacob was able to sit up in bed, & he talked with his son about the wonderful physical blessings of Abraham that had been passed on to him.  He announced that he was going to adopt Joseph’s 2 sons – adopt them in the sense that they would have the right …
to receive the birthright promises (of national & physical greatness).  The birthright should’ve gone to Jacob’s oldest son, Reuben, but he had disqualified himself because of sexual sins.  So now the birthright blessing would go to Joseph’s 2 sons.  We pick up the story in Gen:48:10. 

Gen:48:10  “Now the eyes of Israel [another name for Jacob] were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them [his 2 sons, Manasseh & Ephraim] near him, and [Israel] kissed them and embraced them.

Next, Jacob formally passed along the birthright promises of national greatness to Manasseh & Ephraim.  Manasseh was older & would’ve normally received a greater blessing, so Joseph put Manasseh near Israel’s right hand.  And Ephraim, the younger, was put near Israel’s left hand.

Then in Vs 14, something unexpected happened – Vs 14 “Then Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly [This wasn’t a mistake – somehow God had made it known to Israel what God wanted done.], …for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15  “And he blessed Joseph [He blessed Joseph by blessing Joseph’s 2 sons], and said: "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16  “The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, Bless the lads; Let my name be named upon them, And the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; And let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

When Joseph saw his father cross his hands as he did, Joseph was quite upset.  He apparently thought it as a mix-up on his father’s part – perhaps because Israel was old & sick.  Joseph tried to uncross his father’s hands, but in verse 19 we read:

Vs 19  “But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. [The rest of the verse is extremely important because it’s a key to understanding end-time prophecies.]  …He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great [Manasseh’s descendents would become a single great nation]; …but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."  [Ephraim’s descendents would become an influential group or community of nations.]

You’ll remember we read that God had told JACOB that his offspring would eventually have 2 distinct identities – a great nation & a community of nations.  Here in Vs 19 we saw that promise (of a nation & a group of nations) passed on ONLY to Ephraim & Manasseh.  Jacob’s other sons were NOT included in that prophecy. 
The OT nation of Israel would NOT be the fulfillment of the prophecy of a single great nation & a group of nations.  The great nation would come, ONLY from Manasseh’s descendents, & the company of nations, ONLY from Ephraim’s.

We understand & believe that the prophecy about Manasseh (a single great nation) has been fulfilled by the United States of America, & the community of nations fulfilled by Britain & the Commonwealth.  Our booklet, of course, goes into much more detail on the subject.  Britain & the Commonwealth (& the United States) were prophesied by Jacob to be the leading nations of the world in the last days, inheriting Joseph’s birthright. 

If we go back to verse 16 for a moment, we see that Israel said, “Let my name be named on the lads”.  It’s very significant that ISRAEL’S NAME was to be transferred to his 2 grandsons.  That’s a key to understanding prophecies about the end-times.  In the Bible, the term “Israel” will often be a reference to the United States (or to the English-speaking countries of the British Empire) – or to both.  Although there are times when a reference to “Israel” in prophecy will include all 12 tribes.

As I mentioned before, God preserved this account for us in great detail.  Hold your place here in Genesis, & turn to Heb:11:21 –

Heb:11:21 – Hebrews 11 is the faith chapter.  Jacob is listed here among those who demonstrated outstanding faith.  Notice the ONE EVENT God chose from Jacob’s life in order to draw our attention to, & to demonstrate Jacob’s faith.

Heb:11:21  “By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph [In other words, Manasseh & Ephraim], and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

We don’t know how Jacob knew that God wanted the astounding national & physical blessings to be passed on to Ephraim & Manasseh.  What we DO know is that Jacob BELIEVED & TRUSTED God to fulfill those promises.  He believed that God would one day create a great nation from Manasseh, & a community of nations from Ephraim.

Now let’s go back to Genesis – chapter 49 – which is another significant chapter in regard to prophecy.  We’ll pick up just a few points.  In Gen. 49 we see that certain blessings & prophecies would be given regarding Jacob’s 12 sons, with the greatest national & physical blessings going to Joseph (through Ephraim & Manasseh).

Gen:49:1 – Jacob was about to die – (the last verse of the chapter tells us that after he finished speaking, he breathed his last breath).  Typically a dying person doesn’t make a long & beautiful speech about the destiny of his descendents.  But we see once again that Jacob had been inspired by God.

Gen:49:1 “And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you [notice the timing] in the last days: [Referring to a time leading up to the return of Jesus Christ.]

During the time of Moses & Joshua, the 12 tribes of Israel returned to the Promised Land, & were established as a nation.  Later they divided into 2 kingdoms – a northern kingdom (Israel), & a southern kingdom (Judah).  God sent both kingdoms into captivity because of their sins.  Most of the tribes lost their identity as descendants of Jacob/Israel.  But here in Gen:49:1, we’re told that people from each tribe will still be in existence thousands of years later, at a time before the return of Jesus Christ.

We can be confident about the end-time identity of peoples from 2 of the 12 sons of Jacob.  One would be Joseph (as the USA & the British Commonwealth), & the other would be Judah.  The Jews have preserved their identity, & many are found today in the modern middle-east nation of Israel.  It’s important to know the modern identities of Judah & Joseph (or Ephraim & Manasseh) – because they figure prominently in end-time prophecies.

It’s NOT as important to know the modern identities of the OTHER sons of Jacob -- & we would only speculate about their possible (or likely) national identities.  What IS important is that God PROMISED to preserve the descendents of each of the sons of Jacob down to our time today -- & beyond.  WE may not know exactly who & where they are, but GOD DOES.

Isn’t that an amazing thing?  Down through thousands of years, (with who knows how many marriages & births), God has preserved a line of people from every one of the 12 sons of Jacob.  God knows just how to determine who belongs to which family line.  He has the power to faithfully keep His promise.  To us this may seem like an impossible thing.  But it’s not that difficult for a God who is able to know, & remember the names of TRILLIONS of stars!

Each of the 12 sons of Jacob is mentioned here in Gen 49.   We’ll only look at what was said about Joseph (which is a reference to Ephraim & Manasseh.  We’ll see the special birthright blessings that were given to Ephraim & Manasseh).

Gen:49:22  "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.  [His descendents will live in a productive land -- & they’ll expand to places around the world.]
23  The archers have bitterly grieved him, Shot at him and hated him.
24  But his bow remained in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),  [They’ll have many enemies, but God will intervene to give them military victories.]
25  “By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. [wealth, influence & productivity]
26  The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.

Notice how often the word “blessings” was used in Vs 25 & 26.  The Word Biblical Commentary has an interesting note on those verses.  It says, [Very slowly] “BLESSING is one of the key words of (the book of) Genesis … Here in chapter 49, verses 25-26, LIKE THE FINALE OF A FIREWORKS DISPLAY, (the word “blessings” or “bless”) occurs 6 times, making  a BRILLIANT CLIMAX to the last words of Jacob.  The God-given blessings of the future will FAR OUTSHINE those already experienced.”  (End of quote)
Those of us living here in the United States are living with GOD-GIVEN blessings – not blessings we’ve earned on our own, or deserved.  God is mentioned 5 times in these verses (about Joseph’s descendents).  He’s called: “the MIGHTY God of Jacob”, “the SHEPHERD”, “the STONE of Israel”, “the God of your father”, & “the ALMIGHTY”.

This prophecy about Joseph’s descendents emphasized 2 things – “God” & “blessings”.  What a tragedy when our nations lose sight of this fact that our blessings have come from God! 

What would Abraham, Isaac, Jacob & Joseph think if they could see the physical aspects of our nation today – it’s size, its wealth & the breathtaking beauty of so much of our nation.  I’m sure they’d be overwhelmed by it all.  (They’d also be SHOCKED at the tragic state of the CHARACTER of our nation – a nation full of Bibles that aren’t being read, believed, or put into practice.)

If we wanted proof that the physical descendents of the 12 sons of Israel would still be on the scene & known to God at the time of Christ’s return, we couldn’t do better than to notice the words of Jesus Christ Himself in Luke:22:29.

Luke:22:29 –the setting is Jesus’ final meal with His disciples, shortly before His crucifixion.  Jesus makes a significant point to the apostles.  Jesus said: 

Luke:22:29 "And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me,
30  "that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

There will be some physical Israelites (from all the 12 tribes) who will survive the coming Gt Trib, & live on into the Millennium.  At that time, they’ll be grouped together by tribes, & each tribe will be governed by one of the 12 apostles.

We’ve seen the incredible physical BLESSINGS God promised to the physical Israelites -- & especially to the British Commonwealth & the United States.  It’s ALSO important to remember that God promised to REMOVE those blessings, & PUNISH our peoples if & when we turned away from God, & failed to be an example of His way of life.

Lets go next to Lev:18:24 – here’s what God told the ancient Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.  The previous verses in this chapter described the sins (especially sexual sins) of the nations who would be cast out of the Promised Land.

Then in Verse 24 (Lev:18:24) God said: “Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you.
25  'For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

That’s a very graphic description, isn’t it?  God is saying that sin is so detestable & repulsive, it’s as if the land vomits the people out of it.

Vs 26  'You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments [everything pertaining to God’s way of life], and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation OR ANY STRANGER who dwells among you
27  '(for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled),
28  'lest the land vomit YOU out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

God doesn’t change.  We can look at how He has dealt with sinful & unrepentant nations in the past, & know how He’ll deal with nations TODAY – including OUR nation.

It’s a frightening thing to see the moral state of our nation.  How long will it be until our peoples are “vomited out of the land”?  This past Wednesday, Massachusetts (the 1st state to legalize gay marriages) SUED the United States government over a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man & a woman.  It’s just another step toward our nation being defiled!  We know how God feels about that.

Let’s turn ahead to Deut 28 – what we’ve come to know as God’s “Blessings & Cursings chapter”.  These are words that apply to the modern-day Israelite nations (including the United States & Britain) as much as they applied to the OT nation of Israel.

Deut 28:1  “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully ALL His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.

Do the people of our nation today “diligently & carefully” obey God’s commandments?  Are other things more important to Americans than God?  Do we ever hear God’s name taken in vain?  Does our nation faithfully keep God’s Sabbath & holy days?  Do our people worship God in the way He tells us to?  Is our nation guilty of sexual sins?  Of murder – including millions of unborn babies?  We could go on & on.
The 1st – 13 verses of Deut 28 lists God’s blessings for obedience – then in Vs 15…

Deut 28:15 "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these CURSES will come upon you and overtake you:

Drop down to Vs 20:  "The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.

God gives us the bottom-line.  The problems come when a nation FORSAKES God.  Our politicians & social commentators all try to tell us what’s wrong with our nation, & how to fix it.  But none of them sees the real problem – what is the real problem?  As a nation we’ve FORSAKEN GOD & His commandments.

The rest of the chapter gives a terrible & sobering list of punishments that God will bring on OUR NATION, sometime in the future.  It will affect everyone in our country – whether they’re physical Israelites, or whether they’ve descended from other nationalities & ethnic groups, & are citizens of our nation.

Our nation will continue to decline, it will be brought to its knees, & taken into captivity.  Those are terrible things to think about.  It will be God punishing our nation – out of love – so that He can eventually work with our peoples to offer them E.L. in His family.  God promises to be with His church – His faithful people at that time – but it will still be a very difficult thing for us to see these things happen to our country.

I imagine many of us read the columns written by Thomas Sowell.  He’s a very clear thinking man, an economist, & the author of many books.  I’d like to read parts of a column he wrote in Feb. of this year.  The title is “A Fatal Trajectory”: 
 “An increasing number of recent letters & e-mails from readers strike a note, not only of unhappiness with the way things are going in our society, but a NOTE OF DESPAIR.
        “Those of us who are pessimists are only a step away from despair ourselves, so we may not be the ones to offer the best antidote to the view that America has seen its best days, & is degenerating toward what may well be its worst.
        “Looming ahead of us -- & our children & their children – are dangers that can utterly destroy American society.  Worse yet, there are moral corrosions within ourselves that weaken our ability to face challenges ahead.”
        “The trajectory of our course leads to a fate that would fully justify despair.  The only saving grace is that even the trajectory of a bullet can be changed by the wind.
        “We have been saved by MIRACULOUS GOOD FORTUNE before in history.  The overwhelming military & naval expedition that Britain sent to New York to annihilate George Washington’s army was totally immobilized by a vast impenetrable fog that allowed the Americans to escape.  That is how they ended up in Valley Forge.
        “In the World War 2 naval battle of Midway, if things had not happened just the way they did, at just the time they did, the American naval force would not only have lost, but could have been wiped out by the larger Japanese fleet.
        “Over the years we have had our share of miraculous deliverances.  But (the fact) that our fate today depends on YET ANOTHER MIRACLE is what can turn pessimism to despair.”  [End of quote]

He’s saying that our nation needs a miracle if we’re going to be saved from a terrible fate.  A miracle WILL come – but only AFTER our nation has suffered a terrible punishment.

Let’s go to Jer 30 where we’ll see that AFTER our nation (& other modern-day Israelite nations) have been punished, there WILL BE a miraculous deliverance.

Jer:30:3 – We’ll read about an event that hasn’t taken place yet – but will in the future.

Jer:30:3  “ 'For behold, the days are coming,' says the LORD, 'that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,' says the LORD. 'And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.'"  [We’ll see that this will take place at the time of Jesus’ 2nd coming & the beginning of the Millennium.]
4  Now these are the words that the LORD spoke concerning Israel and Judah.
5  "For thus says the LORD: 'We have heard a voice of trembling, Of fear, and not of peace.
6  Ask now, and see, Whether a man is ever in labor with child? So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins Like a woman in labor, And all faces turned pale?
7  Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble,  [other scriptures tell us this will be the worst time ever experienced in human history], But he shall be saved out of it.
8  'For it shall come to pass in that day,' Says the LORD of hosts, 'That I will break his [the enemy’s] yoke from your neck, And will burst your bonds; Foreigners shall no more enslave them.
9  “But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them.  [King David was dead at the time Jeremiah wrote these words, so this has to be referring to a RESURRECTED David –resurrected when Jesus Christ returns.]
10  'Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,' says the LORD, 'Nor be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will SAVE YOU from afar, And your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet, And no one shall make him afraid.
11  For I am with you,' says the LORD, 'to save you; Though I make a full end of all nations where I have scattered you, Yet I will not make a complete end of you. But I will correct you in justice, And will not let you go altogether unpunished.'

After being punished, modern-day Israelites will repent, & turn to God.  God will rescue modern-day Israel -- & finally, during the Millennium, the Israelite people will serve God & serve other nations by becoming the example nation God wanted them to be all along.

Before finishing today, let’s quickly see 3 points of application.  How should we use this knowledge & understanding of God’s promises to Abraham & his descendents?
•    First, it should strengthen our faith & trust in God.  As we think about GOD’S power & faithfulness in bringing about the promises He made to Abraham – our faith should grow.  As we study these promises & see that they were fulfilled, we’ll have more confidence in ALL of God’s promises.  As conditions get worse in our nation, we’ll need to anchor ourselves to the promise of God’s kingdom & E.L.  We’ll need to trust God to see us through.  We’ll need faith to endure in the times ahead.

•    2nd – we should be motivated to do our part in the Work God has given us to do – preaching the gospel AND preparing a people.  We should be motivated to serve God (& serve the world) by sharing the truth of God, & by preparing to rule in the WT.  We’ve been called NOW because God wants a job to be done.

•    And 3rd – Let’s turn to Lk 21:34.   We should be motivated to watch world events, & watch our own spiritual condition, & our relationship with God. 

Lk 21:34 "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.

We have to be careful that we don’t get pulled into the sins & wrong values of our society.  We’re even told to watch out for “the cares of this life” – or the “anxieties of life” – worries & fears that can destroy our faith & take our eyes off the K/G.

Vs 35  "For it [that day] will come as a snare [a trap that closes quickly] on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36  "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."
We don’t set dates, but lots of things are happening in our nation & in the world -- & every day brings us closer to the return of Jesus Christ.

One example of what’s taking place in the world would be from a news release this past week from Reuters & the Vatican City.  “Pope Benedict called, on Tuesday, for a ‘world political authority’ to manage the global economy, & for more government regulation of national economies, to pull the world out of the current crisis, & to avoid a repeat.” That’s very sobering news, with prophetic implications.

For our last scripture today, lets turn to Jer:31:35 – if Jeremiah & the other prophets could’ve known how God would fulfill His incredible promises of national greatness to the descendents of OT Israel – if they could’ve seen the picture more clearly – as we see it today – they would’ve been astounded.

Jer:31:35 – highlights God’s promises that we’ve read about today.

Jer:31:35 “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name):
36  "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever."

God was saying:  “As long as the sun, moon & stars are shining, there will be Israelite people.”  In the Millennium, they will once again be one nation.

What a moving & inspiring scripture!  It highlights God’s faithfulness -- & reminds us that God is faithfully working out His plan –  to offer EL to ALL PEOPLE, NATIONS & RACES!