Tuesday, November 30, 2021
Genesis 19:24
Tuesday, November 30, 2021 |
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
For further study – Genesis 19:24-38
The key verse for our devotional reading today is a record of the judgment of God on a sinful society that lived in Sodom and Gomorrah, which would have been located in the Dead Sea area of modern-day Israel.
The “sin” in question here is “sodomy”, the sin of un-natural sexual relationships between men. It is a sin that the Lord punished with the destruction of their society and He also turned them over to a “reprobate mind” because of their sin, Romans 1:28.
The beginning of the chapter is the account of the two angels that had been traveling with the Lord, Genesis 18, coming into the city of Sodom and there meeting Lot, who was a judge that sat at the “gate of the city” each day.
These angels were in the appearance of “men”, verse 5, and Lot invited them to his house for a meal. This passage is evidence that “angels” can take on the form of “man”. Some of the “men” of the city of Sodom came seeking to have an un-Godly relationship with the two angels who they thought were “men”, evidence of how sinful the people of Sodom and Gomorrah were in this society.
Verses 10 to 23 reveal the events leading up to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as the angels work to save Lot, his wife and their two daughters from the judgment. Three of the four escaped but Lot’s wife looked back at the judgment and was turned to a “pillar of salt”.
After the escape and the destruction of the cities another terrible sin was committed between the two daughters of Lot and their father. In the cave where the three were being protected from the judgment the daughters decided to get their father drunk and then commit “incest” with him, verses 30 to 38.
Both daughters bore a son to their father, the oldest called her son “Moab” and the second born called her son “Ammon”. These names are the Biblical names of two locations in Jordan during the times of the Israelites.
This account, of these terrible times in the history of mankind, is a reminder of the end times as well. Dr Luke, in his Gospel, Luke 17:28-32, warns us of the last days just prior to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ back to the Earth.
Luke records the words of Jesus, who said, “as it was in the days of Lot”. We are indeed living in similar days when “sodomy” is rampant in our world and becoming more aggressive everyday. We are living in the last days, the days when Jesus will shout to call us up to be with Him in the heavens. It could be today, so keep looking up.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for the warning that you give to each of us of the nearness of your return. We can see the similarities between Lot’s day and our day. Help all of us that know you as Lord and Saviour to be alert to the times and be ready for the shout that will call us to be with you, forever more.
Monday, November 29, 2021
Genesis 18:1
Monday, November 29, 2021 |
And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
For further study – Genesis 18:1-33
The key verse for our devotional today is the Lord appearing to Abraham at the “tent door” in Mamre, which is today known as Hebron, the second most sacred location on the Earth for the Jewish people. It is in this location that a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, along with two angels, visited with Abraham.
The two “men” with Jesus Christ were actually “angels”. Notice that the angels took on the form of “men”, verse 2. These two angels would continue on with Abraham after the Lord departs back to “heaven”.
Abraham was so excited that the Lord was there that he rushed to make ready a special meal for his heavenly guest, telling Sarah, his wife, to prepare as he went to the field to get the food for this special meal, verse 4-8.
The Lord inquired as to the whereabouts of Sarah and then told Abraham that Sarah was going to have a “son”, which would be the “son of promise”, Romans 9:9. The fulfillment of this promise seemed to Abraham impossible because of their age, in fact Sarah even “laughed within herself”, verse 12, knowing she was too old to bear a child.
What a wonderful statement the Lord then made to the two of them, verse 14, “Is any thing to hard for the Lord?” The Lord then assured Abraham and Sarah that He would return and give them a “son” the “son of promise”. Isaac, that son, would continue the line of the “chosen people”, the Jewish people.
The fulfillment of this promise is key to the Lord keeping His “covenants” with the Jewish people and to the entire prophetic program that is described in the Word of God. The Lord is the “God of the impossible” and a “promising-keeping God”.
This chapter also is the introduction of the “sin” of Sodom and Gomorrah, a sin that was very grievous onto the Lord, verses 16-22. The “sin” under discussion here is “sodomy”, men involved in unnatural sexual relations.
The sin is so despised by the Lord that He will destroy the entire society of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of this sin. Verses 23-33 describe the pleas of Abraham trying to protect the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
We will see the total destruction of these two cities, as recorded in Genesis 19. This is evidence that the Lord is also a “God of judgment” and will deal with sin.
There are so many practical lessons that we learn as we read through the Bible. But I bring your attention to all the prophetic aspects of the Word as well, passages that help us to understand God’s plan for the future. Genesis is key to understanding the future.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for your Word that informs me of the past, present and the future. Help me as I study your Word to make ready for the next event on your calendar of prophetic events, the Rapture.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for your Word that informs me of the past, present and the future. Help me as I study your Word to make ready for the next event on your calendar of prophetic events, the Rapture.
Sunday, November 28, 2021
Genesis 17:1
Sunday, November 28, 2021 |
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
For further study – Genesis 17:1-27
The key verse for our devotional today is the Lord telling Abram to “walk before me”, and then He exhorts Abram to be “perfect”. There is so much in this first verse that I actually could take the entire space to help us learn from God’s Word in this one verse.
The word “perfect" in this passage does not mean “without sin” because there is no one who is “without sin”. The etymology of “perfect” is from the Hebrew word “”tamam” which is a verb meaning “to be complete”. It means to be not only complete but sound, unimpaired, innocent, having integrity and in accord with the truth.
The way Abram was told that he could be “perfect” was “to walk before the Lord”. With the Lord right behind you, or for that matter in front of you, and me, we will have the motivation to be perfect in our life style and daily walk.
Before we leave the first verse of our devotional passage notice that Abram is standing with a member of the “Godhead” as he receives his instructions for his walk. Abram is face to face with “Almighty God”, El Shaddai.
This is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. Every time that you see the name of God, El Shaddai, it is the “Son” of the Holy Trinity, Jesus. As is the case when any of the Biblical personalities see Jesus Christ face to face they fall on their face to honor and worship Him, verse 3.
In verse 5 the Lord tells Abram that his name will be from this time on “Abraham” and that he would be the “father of many nations”. The word here in the Hebrew is “goy” translated “nations” in the passage. Remember, this word can also, and is in the Bible, translated “people”, “Gentiles” and refers usually to non-Hebrew people.
The verse is not saying that Abraham will be the father of the Arab world as we have already discussed. Again I remind you that Abraham’s son Ismael did not father the Arab world, but was the father of one nation, verse 20.
Another interesting fact about this passage is that we have here the record of the very first “circumcision”, verses 11-14 and 23-27. The Lord gave this act as a “token of the covenant” between Abraham and God, verse 11.
The Lord gave Abraham a promise that Abraham thought was funny, verse 17. When the Lord told Abraham that he and his wife Sarah were going to have a son, Isaac, who was to be the “son of promise” Abraham “fell on his face and laughed.
This promise from the Lord is key in all of God’s plans for the future. Verses 15-19 reveals to us that the “covenant” that the Lord makes with Abraham pertaining to his son Isaac is an “everlasting covenant”, a promise that the Lord cannot break.
Though Ishmael was the “first born” to Abraham, Isaac is the “son of promise” even though he was the second son born to Abraham. This sets up the lineage from Abraham through Isaac and Jacob on to the Jewish people, the people God sets aside as a special people to Himself.
God has a plan for the Jewish people that will come to pass some day in the future. God is not finished with the Jews, remember the circumcision that God gave Abraham, was a “token” that God will keep His promises to the Jews.
However, before the Lord totally fulfills all of His promises to the Jews He will complete His promises to Christians, and call them to be with Him in the heavens, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. That process will be the Rapture of the Church, which could happen at any moment, even today. Even so come, Lord Jesus.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for your token of the absolute promises that you made to Abraham. I know you are a “promise keeping” God. That assurance is strength for me in the days preceding your shout for me to join you in the “air”, maybe today.
Saturday, November 27, 2021
Genesis 16:12
Saturday, November 27, 2021 |
And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man’s hand against him.
For further study - Genesis 16:1-16
The key verse for our devotional today is a description of the first son of Abraham, a son born to Abraham and his wife’s handmaid, Hagar. This was a “birth of convenience”, so that there would be a “son” to carry on the family line into the next generation and those to come.
Abraham and Sara were not willing to wait on the Lord to fulfill His promise of a “son” born of a Biblical marriage, Genesis 2:24. The result was that the new male child would be one that would be a “wild man” as the Lord indicates to his Mother, verse 12.
The birth of “Ishmael” would be the beginning of a nation that would be a “people” that would also “raise their hands against others”. By the way, the Bible tells us that Ishmael would “father one nation”, Genesis 17:20. Ishmael did not “father” the “Arab world”, as many have been taught down through history.
In Genesis 10 we see that many of the Arab-world nations were in existence over 300 years before Ishmael was even born. There are several such nations listed as “sons” of Ham, Noah’s son. In Genesis 10:6 it speaks of “Cush”, which is modern-day Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.
“Mizraim” is today Egypt and “Phut” is the Arab nation of Libya. These few nations that I’ve listed are all Arab nations today and were in existence almost 300 years before Abraham ever came on the scene, much less Ishmael. Neither Abraham, nor Ishmael were the “father of the Arab world”.
Genesis 25:18 indicates that Ishmael went to “Arabia” to live with his family of twelve sons that would be born to him. The only nation that Ishmael fathered was modern-day Saudi Arabia. If anything, Ishmael “fathered” the Islamic world. Mohammad, the "prophet" of Islam, said that he was “a direct descendant of Ishmael.”
It does each of us good to study the Word of God and not necessarily listen to tradition about the origins of the nations of the world. Nations, or at least many of them came into existence almost 4,500 years ago after the Flood. Notice Genesis 10:5, 20, 31 and 32 in their context.
What we see in our world today is setting the stage for the scenario found in Bible prophecy for the last days to be fulfilled. Remember, before these prophecies are fulfilled Jesus will shout for us to join Him in the heavens. The Rapture could happen today.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Help me Lord to remember that the time of your return is quickly approaching and each passing day, with all that it displays as evidence of what will proceed Your return, should make me keep looking up, expecting You to appear.
Friday, November 26, 2021
Genesis 15:18
Friday, November 26, 2021 |
In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
For further study - Genesis 15:1-21
This fifteenth chapter of Genesis is the record of the Lord making a "covenant" with Abraham, which is known as the "Abrahamic Covenant".
In Genesis 12 the Lord made a promise to Abraham that He would make this Gentile from Ur of the Chaldes, the "father of the Jewish people", and would make from His descendants "a nation of Jewish people".
In Genesis 12:7 the Lord mentions that the Jews will receive a piece of real estate along with becoming a nation. The fact of the matter is that you cannot be a nation in this world unless you do have a piece of "land" for your nation.
That's the reason for the continuation of the Lord's promise, the covenant, to Abraham in Genesis 15. This covenant is what is called a "blood covenant", that's when the two participants, after having divided a heifer, a goat, and a ram, the two making and receiving the "promise", walk between the parts of the slain animals, arm in arm and promising that if either one of them break the covenant the other will be able to divide asunder the person who broke the covenant.
Our passage tells us that the Lord, this appearance was of a pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, that the Lord put Abraham to sleep and He walked among the parts of the animals saying that He is the one responsible for keeping the promise, not Abraham.
This covenant is the first of four covenants the Lord makes with Abraham and his descendants, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Land Covenant, the Davidic Covenant and the New Covenant.
Genesis 15 also begins to reveal the land that the Lord will give to the Jewish people. Notice verse 18 where we see that at least some portion of the land extends from the "River of Egypt", most likely the Nile River, all the way north to the Euphrates River at Lebanon's northern border.
This passage is only one of the thirty-eight passages that describe the "Biblical borders" of Israel, the land that God will give the Jewish people. The thirty-eight passages describe a land, ten times what the Jews have today and will include half of Egypt, all of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Kuwait, plus three-quarters of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
Maybe now you can see the reason for the problem in the Middle East. All of this land will only be given to the Jews in the “Kingdom to come”. By the way, when the Lord does give all the land to the Jews that He has promised them, it will be their land forever, even into eternity future.
This is God's promise to Abraham and the Jews. What I love about the Abrahamic Covenant is that the Lord made it to Abraham 4,000 years ago and we see the final fulfillment of the promise, seemingly very close at hand.
The Lord will keep His promise to the Jews and that's why I can believe He will keep His promises to me for eternal life and the future, as spoken of in Bible prophecy. There will be the Rapture when Jesus calls us up to be with Him in the heavens. I know that it will happen because He is a "promise-keeping" God.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for keeping Your promises to Abraham, the Jews and to me also.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Genesis 14:18
Thursday, November 25, 2021 |
And Melchizedek, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
For further study –Genesis 14:1-24
The key verse for our devotional reading for today is a record of the appearance of the King, and priest, of Jerusalem, Melchizedek. This is an amazing personage of one that has been discussed by many Bible scholars over the years.
I am still studying Melchizedek and am not yet ready to be dogmatic as to whom this person may be. If I had to say right now what my opinion is I would most likely say he is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. There are those that disagree but remember, I’m still studying.
One thing for sure is that he is a lead character in the record of Bible history, and Bible Prophecy. In our devotional reading for today he is on the Biblical stage some 4,000 years ago and will be on the prophetic stage in the near future.
I had you read all 24 verses of Genesis 14 because I want you to get as much of the history of the “beginning” as possible. Remember, the foundation for Bible Prophecy is the book of Genesis. A true student of Bible Prophecy must know this book and not only the prophetic books in the Bible.
Let me point out to you the first usage of the word “Hebrew”, verse 13, in the Bible. The word is used 26 times in the Bible and it means, “one from beyond”. In this passage the author refers to Abraham as the “Hebrew”, describing the man that had come from the “land beyond the Euphrates”.
In verses 17 to 20, we see the record of the appearance of Melchizedek, the “king of Salem", verse 18. The word “Salem” is the word for “Jerusalem”, according to the Psalmist, Psalm 76:2.
King, and Priest, Melchizedek lived in Jerusalem and he came to honor Abraham with a “blessing” from the “most high God”. We have no record of the background of Melchizedek but we do have information on his future.
In the New Testament book of Hebrews, chapters 5, 6, and 7, nine times the Lord Jesus Christ is referred to as the “High Priest after the order of Melchizedek”. It is interesting to see that the “priesthood” of Jesus is not after the order of Aaron, the very first “High Priest”, of human lineage.
This is one of the many reasons that I am leaning towards the belief that Melchizedek is indeed a “pre-incarnate” appearance of Jesus. Jesus is the “highest” of the “High Priest”.
In His “priestly” responsibilities today Jesus is interceding for you and me with His Father. He is our special “advocate”, I John 2:1, and because of His own sacrifice He restores fellowship between each of us that are born again believers and His Father. This priestly ministry of Jesus will continue until He shouts for us to join Him in the heavens, forevermore.
By the way, that “shout” could come at any moment, even today. I suggest that we all keep looking up for Him to call for us to join Him. Even so come Lord Jesus.
PRAYER THOUGHT: I am so grateful that Jesus is my “special advocate” interceding for me with the Father. I’m also honored that He is our “High Priest” and all that this truth implies. Even so come Lord Jesus.
Wednesday, November 24, 2021
Genesis 13:18
Wednesday, November 24, 2021 |
Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.
For further study – Genesis 13:1-18
The key verse for our devotional reading for today is a record of the establishment of the first Jewish city by the “father” of the Jewish people, Abraham. Hebron is the oldest Jewish community in the world dating back some 4,000 years ago. Abraham is setting claim on the city that today has around 800 Jewish people living there.
In a future reading, Genesis 23, we’ll see how Abraham purchased his burial site in Hebron. He paid cash money for the site and when he was buried there, along with his son and grandson, Hebron became the second most sacred piece of real estate in the universe for the Jewish people, second only to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Abram, the Gentile name for the man who would be known as Abraham, Abram was a very wealthy man, verse 2, “very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold”. This reference to the silver and gold of Abraham has an interesting connection to Bible Prophecy.
Silver and gold are mentioned in Ezekiel 38:13 as the “spoil” that may be the “hook”, Ezekiel 38:4, that will bring the enemies of Israel into the land of the Jewish State to try and destroy Israel and wipe the Jewish people off the Earth. It would be interesting to know where the gold and silver of Abraham may be today.
Genesis 13:5-13 is the record of Abraham dividing the land that God gave him with his nephew Lot. The land was actually too small and could not accommodate them that they might live together.
Abraham was so gracious that he offered Lot the choice of the “promised land”, the exact location that he wanted before Abraham would take his portion. Notice that Lot choose the area that was most pleasant to his sight, the land that looked like the Garden of Eden, verse 10.
Let me remind you that you cannot go by “what looks good”, the area Lot wanted was Sodom and Gomorrah, a location that the Lord would destroy because of the sin of “sodomy”.
The promise of the “land” that God would make to the Jewish people is a “forever promise” of a “forever land” and the result of a promise that the Lord cannot break. This promise is in the Abrahamic Covenant that God made with Abraham, and passed on to all Jews after him.
As you read all 18 verses of Genesis 13 you can recognize the “foundations” being laid for Bible Prophecy, in the last days, to be fulfilled. All of Bible Prophecy has its foundations in the book of “beginnings”, the book of Genesis.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Help me Lord to remember that the time of your return is quickly approaching and each passing day is a day closer to your shout to have all Christians join you in the heavens. Thank you for the foundations laid for Bible Prophecy in the book of Genesis and please help me to realize how close it may well be that you will shout for us to join You in the heavens.
Tuesday, November 23, 2021
Genesis 12:3
Tuesday, November 23, 2021 |
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
For further study - Genesis 12:1-9
The extended reading for the devotionals today is what the Bible calls the “Abrahamic Covenant”. This is an “unconditional covenant” that the Lord gave to the Jewish people through the “father” of the Jewish people, Abraham.
This is the first of four covenants that God gave to the Jewish people over the years, promises that God made to His “chosen people”, the Jews. Genesis 12 and 15 are the passages in God’s Word that explain God will make the family of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob, the Jewish people, a nation.
Now remember, you can have a group of people wanting to be a nation. They may well have elected their leadership and even have a “constitution”, but that does not make them a “nation”, they must also have a “piece of real estate” in order to be a nation among the people of this world.
Please notice verse 7, the Lord appears unto Abraham and tells him that the Jewish people will indeed receive “real estate”. This act by God prompted Abraham to build an altar unto the Lord in thanksgiving for this gift. This is the “Abrahamic Covenant”, the promise of God to the Jews that they will be a “nation” among the other nations of the world.
The Lord expands on this “promised land” in Genesis 15, which is the re-statement of the “covenant”. In Deuteronomy 30, the “Land Covenant”, once again the Lord promises the “children of Israel” that their “forever nation” will have a piece of real estate. The land promised will actually be ten times the amount of land they have today in their little state.
The “Abrahamic Covenant” is key to the end of days scenario found in Bible prophecy and how the plan of God for the Jewish people will be played out in the future. This is an “un-conditional” covenant, one that God can not abrogate.
This covenant is the tangible evidence that the Lord has not finished with the Jews and that He has a great plan for Israel in the last days. The fact that the Lord has kept this promise to the Jews, and will keep it until it is fulfilled, is also evidence that the Lord will be true to His Word about salvation for everyone that comes to Him.
One final thought before we leave this passage and our daily devotional. Verse 3 sets up the Biblical principle, which says that those who bless the Jewish people, God will bless. Of course, the opposite is also true, those who “curse” the Jews, God will curse.
The Abrahamic Covenant is absolute evidence that the Lord is not finished with the Jewish people. He has a plan that will be carried out by the Lord and His “chosen people”. In fact, everything that is happening in our world today is evidence that God’s plan is about to get underway.
The Abrahamic Covenant must, and will be fulfilled, seemingly in the very near future. However, before that happens the Rapture will happen. The Rapture could happen at any moment, even today. Keep looking up.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for your faithfulness to keep all of your promises, as evidenced by the fact you have and will keep the promises found in the Abrahamic Covenant. This assures me that your promise of eternal life for us as Christians will also be fulfilled.
Monday, November 22, 2021
Genesis 11:9b
Monday, November 22, 2021 |
And from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
For further study - Genesis 11:1-9
Our key verse for today’s devotional is the last verse in our extended reading and reveals what the Lord did to a rebellious people that had followed a “man” instead of God. This was the action of the one who had brought judgment upon the whole earth and all of mankind with the worldwide flood.
So quickly we forget, not only you and me but even the people in Noah’s day and the days of Noah’s great grandson, Nimrod. Remember, Nimrod had become a “king”, Genesis 10:10, by going against the direct command from God to be fruitful, multiply and re-people the earth, Genesis 9:1.
Nimrod, who became a “mighty one on the earth” had led the people of the world, at that time, against the command of God and went to Babylon and built a great “city”, verse 4 of our devotional reading for today. This action sets the stage for an end times scenario found in Revelation 18 to be fulfilled.
Interestingly, the way this was to be played out was because of all peoples on the earth speaking only one language, verse 1. Therefore, God’s move to come to the earth and to “confuse” the language of the people, was His way of having His will accomplished as all the people in Babylon were not able to understand each others speech, verse 7.
The result of the Lord confusing the language of the people with many different languages was, as seen in verse 8, “the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth”. Thus they stopped building the city of Babylon.
The lesson I learned from this account of history is that when the Lord tells us what to do we must do it, or the Lord will do it with you and me. It’s a hard lesson to learn but one that will continue to be brought to our attention as often as need be so that we can learn.
A number of truths can be learned from this passage of scripture, including the one just mentioned above. Also, the scripture gives us the background for a better understanding of how “Babylon” mentioned in Revelation 18 will be the focus of the world at that time in history, the end times.
Let me remind you that the last thing Jesus does before He comes back to earth to destroy the city of Babylon, Revelation 16:17 and following. Then Jesus steps down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, Zechariah 14:4. With the focus on “Babylon”, modern-day Iraq, in our day we can understand how close the Lord’s return really is today.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for your Word that has been written so that I might under stand the Bible passages pertaining to Your soon return. Help me to live everyday as if that could be the day of our Lord’ return.
Sunday, November 21, 2021
Genesis 10:32
Sunday, November 21, 2021 |
These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.
For further study - Genesis 10:1-32
Our key verse for today’s devotional is the overview of the entire chapter of Genesis that reveals how “nations” came into existence some 4,500 years ago. As you read through this chapter, should you not want to read every verse please read the following: verses 1-6, 20-21, and 31-32.
By reading the verses mentioned above you will notice that each of the sons of Noah had a family that they taught a new language and then went to a location on the earth to establish a “nation”. This is the beginning of “nations” in our world.
Remember, God told Noah in Genesis 9:1 to be fruitful, multiply, and “re-people” the earth after the flood. In obedience to God’s directive Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth moved forward to follow God’s plan for all of humankind.
Please notice the great-grandson of Noah, the son of Cush, Nimrod defied God’s command to fill the post-flood world with people, Genesis 11:4 and went to the “plains of Shinar” to build a “great city” called Babylon. In fact, Babylon was the beginning of “Nimrod’s kingdom”, Genesis 10:10.
This information has great significance as it relates to Bible Prophecy. The city of Babylon, founded by Nimrod as a “one-world government” with a “one world leader” is the prototype for the end of times scenario that is found in Revelation 18.
This Revelation passage is where we learn of the “one-world government” headed up by the Antichrist in the last three and one-half years of the Tribulation. Babylon has a very interesting history that is recorded in the Bible with the name “Babylon” used over 250 times in the scriptures.
Before we finish the study of Genesis 10, I want you to notice, what is found in the first 10 verses of Genesis 10. Several of the sons of Japheth were named Magog, Gomer, Meshech, Tubal, and Togarmah.
These are the names of the nations that form a coalition of nations in Ezekiel 38 to go against Israel in the last days. More on that when we come in our devotions to Ezekiel 38.
Please also notice Genesis 10:6, where we find the names of sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, and Phut. Cush is modern-day Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan. Mizraim is Egypt and Phut is Libya.
These are today all “Arab nations” and the record of the Bible indicates that it will be over 250 years before Abraham will come on the scene. It is even longer than that before Ishmael will be born. Let the record indicate that Abraham and Ishmael did not “father the Arab world”.
Though Genesis 10 is another genealogy it has some very important information that will help us understand Bible Prophecy when we get to those passages of scripture. Let me just say that when we do study Bible Prophecy passages we’ll see that what is happening today is evidence that the last days scenario in scripture will be fulfilled, seemingly in the very near future. Bible Prophecy will be fulfilled.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for the background needed to understand the last days events that seem to be coming to pass today. Because I have that information I realize that Jesus could come today. Help me to live in light of that reality.
Saturday, November 20, 2021
Genesis 9:28
Saturday, November 20, 2021 |
And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
For further study – Genesis 9:1-29
Our key verse for today’s devotional tells the story of the entire chapter, Genesis 9. Chapter nine is “Noah after the flood”, as you go through the first twelve chapters of Genesis. The chapter opens with God speaking to Noah, after the flood, telling him and his three sons, and their wives, to be “fruitful and re-people the Earth”.
The last two verses of Genesis 9, verses 28 and 29, tell us that after the flood Noah lived 350 years, making his total life 950 years long. This means that Noah was still alive when Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees. I’m sure that these two very important personalities of Bible history met and spent time talking about before and after the flood.
I say that I’m sure, however, I do not have Biblical proof. We will see in Genesis 10 and 11 that Nimrod built a “great city”, Babylon, within miles of Ur. It is logical that Abraham would have wanted to talk with one of eight souls that lived on both sides of the flood.
The command that God gave Noah, to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”, was how the Lord planned to fill the earth with people and to establish the nations of the world, which we’ll look at when we come to Genesis 10.
Genesis 9:6 is the passage that records the establishment of “human government”. You will recognize “capital punishment” in verse 6, which is the highest function of all of human government. God brought “human government” into existence for the purpose of directing all of humankind through history.
There is much more that you will learn from your reading of Genesis 9 for our devotional today, please read the entire chapter. As you read the last two verses you notice that Noah lived after the flood for 350 years and I would suggest that he lived with his great-grandson Nimrod in Babylon.
When we get to Genesis 10 and 11 we’ll see this to be the case. What is interesting to me is that Matthew 24:37 says, “as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of the coming of Jesus, back to earth”. In the days of Noah, after the flood, the focus of the world was Babylon, in modern-day Iraq.
Thus, in the days of the coming of the Lord, the world will be focused on Babylon, modern-day Iraq, Revelation 18. I’ll spend time developing this when we come to our devotional time in Revelation 18. Suffice to say, we are at that time in history when the world will be relying on the activities of Babylon.
To the above, I want to add that before all of the prophecies found in the Bible are fulfilled the Rapture will take place and those of us who are saved will go to join Jesus in the heavens.
I realize that the current events of our present time seem to be telling us that God’s prophetic scenario found in the Bible will all be fulfilled in the near future. Remember, the Rapture could happen at any moment, even today.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you for the fact that the Rapture will happen, and that it could happen at any moment. Help me Lord to live in light of this truth in my daily walk.
Friday, November 19, 2021
Genesis 6:28
Friday, November 19, 2021 |
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
For further study - Genesis 6-8
As we come to our devotions for today I have selected three chapters of Genesis, six, seven, and eight. These are the chapters that give us the details of the “flood”, the worldwide flood that took place on this Earth 4,500 years ago.
I know that three chapters of the Bible are more than the average devotional, which most people read for a day. May I suggest that you sometime in the near future try to take the time to read all of Genesis 6, 7, and 8, it will be a blessing to you.
I will now bring to your attention several of the important elements of this record of God’s judgment on this Earth through the waters that completely covered the Earth and destroyed all living creatures on the Earth with the exception of eight souls, Noah, his three sons, and their four wives.
Genesis 6:9 reveals that “Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.” The idea that Noah was “perfect” does not mean that he never sinned, instead, it means that he had no “evil angelic blood strain in him”. We know that because Genesis 5 is a genealogy from Adam to Noah and there are no “angels” listed in the genealogy.
Genesis 6, verses 1 to 4, indicates that human women had sexual relations with evil angels, “sons of God” Genesis 6:2 and 4. The Devil did this to contaminate the “human race” so that the “Messiah” couldn't come from a “pure line” from Eve to the Messiah, as foretold in Genesis 3:15.
Thus, we have the reason for the Flood, which was to rid the world of all contaminated souls and protect the eight that were not contaminated, leaving a pure line for someone to bring forth the Messiah.
Noah preached for 120 years, Genesis 6:3, about the coming judgment of the flood and only had seven “believers”, his three sons and the four wives. It was Noah’s responsibility to preach, not to get the results, which was God’s responsibility.
The Lord protected the eight souls and all the animals that Noah brought into the ark for just over a year at which time the ark landed on dry land. Noah, his family, and all the animals then came off the ark onto “dry land”
I want you to notice one more of the many great truths that can be found in these three chapters in Genesis. One of the many answers to the false world phenomena of so-called “global warming” can be found in Genesis 8:20-22. It is refuted with God’s statement to “Noah that while the Earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.”
The record of the “flood” in Genesis 6-8 is key to understanding the entire Bible, and especially the prophetic passages in God’s Word. Remember Matthew 24:37 where it quotes Jesus as saying, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Lord.
Even so come Lord Jesus, and please do it soon. What a day today would be for the Rapture to take place. Even so come Lord Jesus.
PRAYER THOUGHT: Thank you Lord for the record of a judgment that will never happen again, there will be no more worldwide floods, thank you Lord. However, there will be terrible judgment to come during the Tribulation period. Thank you for providing the way, salvation, for all to miss the coming judgment.
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