1 SAMUEL 14
    - Jonathan and his armor bearer defeated some Philistines.

• Saul and his men joined the battle and won.

1 SAMUEL 15
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, 11 “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my instructions.” So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.[1]

• God regretted that He had made Saul king because of Saul's actions, not because God felt that He had made a mistake in appointing Saul as Israel's king.

 
24 Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. 25 Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the Lord.”
26 Samuel replied to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29 Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.[2]
 
35 Even to the day of his death, Samuel never saw Saul again. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted he had made Saul king over Israel.[3]
 
1 SAMUEL 16
1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected for myself a king from his sons.” [4]
 
Eliab rejected:
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”[5]
 
12 So Jesse sent for him. He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance.
Then the Lord said, “Anoint him, for he is the one.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward.[6]
 - 1029 BC – 12 years old.
 - According to Chuck Swindoll, more was written in the Bible about David than about any other character: 66 chapters in the Old Testament plus 59 references to his life in the New Testament.
 
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him,[7]

• The removal of the God’s Spirit leaves one back to the seed of Adam and a sinful nature… which is selfishness… Doing things in your own strength.

 
21 When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul loved him very much, and David became his armor-bearer. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse: “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor with me.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.[8]

• The importance of music – soothing, calmness and connection.

 
DAVID VERSUS GOLIATH
1 SAMUEL 17

• 1024 – 17 years old

1 The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah;

• Map & Pictures
• The goal of this strategically important battle was undoubtedly to secure the Valley of Elah, the natural point of entry from the Philistine homeland into the hill country of Saul’s kingdom.

then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
3 The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them.

• Even though Saul had already been rejected as king, he was going to force his position even further.

4 Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches tall

• Not a Nephilim but probably from the people of Anakim.
• Anakim people were large and often compared to the Nephilim.

5 and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds. 6 There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield-bearer was walking in front of him.
8 He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 9 If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

• Since Saul was the tallest Israelite and the king, he was the natural choice for an opponent.
• But, as earlier (14:1-2), Saul was staying in the background when he should have been leading the people.

12 Now David was the son of the Ephrathite (F-ra-T) from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons and during Saul’s reign was already an old man. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third, 14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul, 15 but David kept going back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

• The site of battle was 15 miles due west of David's hometown: Bethlehem.

16 Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand.

• The number 40 often represents a period of testing in the Bible (cf. the Israelites' testing in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus' testing for 40 days, etc.). 

17 One day Jesse had told his son David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the well-being of your brothers and bring a confirmation from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”
20 So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him.
He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. 22 David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. 23 While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard. 24 When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
25 Previously, an Israelite man had declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter. The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”
26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27 The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28 David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him. “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!”

• The very things with which he charged his brother—presumption and wickedness of heart—were most apparent in his scornful reproof.
• Whenever you step out by faith to fight the enemy, there's always somebody around to discourage you, and often it begins in your own home.

29 “What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.” 30 Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.
31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him. 32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him; your servant will go and fight this Philistine!”
33 But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”

• The opposite of the fear of the Lord is the fear of man.
• No greater contrast of these opposing fears could be presented than when David confronted Goliath.
• Saul and his men feared Goliath the man, but David by virtue of his fear of Yahweh did not.

34 David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

• David doesn’t take credit for what the Lord did.

Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
38 Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor. 39 David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off.

• Saul was still dependent on personal possessions were David was dependent on the Lord.

40 Instead, he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

• Shepherds used slingshots to herd their sheep.
• Stones were as big as baseballs.

41 The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?”

• Shepherds fought off dogs (wolves).

Then he cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!”
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him. 46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
48 When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. 50 David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword.

• Stoning was the penalty for blasphemy in Israel (Lev. 24:16; Deut. 17:7).

51 David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52 The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
53 When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54 David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55  When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?”
“Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.
56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”
57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David answered.[9]

• Facing a giant or giants?
• Fear standing in your way?
• The difference between fear and hope.
• Both are projecting the future… but with different perspectives of outcome.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 15:10–11.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 15:24–29.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 15:35.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:1.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:7.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:12–13.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:14.
[8] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 16:21–23.
[9] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Sa 17:1–58.

Review:

• Joseph sent his brothers back to Canaan to get Jacob and his “stuff” so they could live in Egypt with Joseph.
  
  

JACOB LEAVES FOR EGYPT
GENESIS 46:1-34
1 Israel set out with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, and he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

• There was hesitancy for Israel because this land was promised to him and his ancestors.
• He did not know his people would be captive in Egypt for over 400 years… or did he…
• Genesis 15:13 - Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain: Your offspring will be resident aliens for four hundred years in a land that does not belong to them and will be enslaved and oppressed.[1]

2 That night God spoke to Israel in a vision: “Jacob, Jacob!” he said.
And Jacob replied, “Here I am.”
3 God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. 4 I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you back. Joseph will close your eyes when you die.”,
5 Jacob left Beer-sheba. The sons of Israel took their father Jacob in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him, along with their dependents and their wives. 6 They also took their cattle and possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan. Then Jacob and all his offspring with him came to Egypt. 7 His sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters, indeed all his offspring, he brought with him to Egypt.
 
JACOB’S FAMILY
8 These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt—Jacob and his sons:
Jacob’s firstborn: Reuben.
9 Reuben’s sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.
10 Simeon’s sons: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman.
11 Levi’s sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.
12 Judah’s sons: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan.
The sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.
13 Issachar’s sons: Tola, Puvah, Jashub, and Shimron.
14 Zebulun’s sons: Sered, Elon, and Jahleel.
15 These were Leah’s sons born to Jacob in Paddan-aram, as well as his daughter Dinah. The total number of persons: thirty-three.
16 Gad’s sons: Ziphion, Haggi, Shuni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli.
17 Asher’s sons: Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.
Beriah’s sons were Heber and Malchiel.
18 These were the sons of Zilpah—whom Laban gave to his daughter Leah—that she bore to Jacob: sixteen persons.
19 The sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. They were born to him by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, a priest at On.
21 Benjamin’s sons: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
22 These were Rachel’s sons who were born to Jacob: fourteen persons.
23 Dan’s son: Hushim.
24 Naphtali’s sons: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem.
25 These were the sons of Bilhah, whom Laban gave to his daughter Rachel. She bore to Jacob: seven persons.
26 The total number of persons belonging to Jacob—his direct descendants, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons—who came to Egypt: sixty-six.
27 And Joseph’s sons who were born to him in Egypt: two persons.
All those of Jacob’s household who came to Egypt: seventy persons.
 
JACOB ARRIVES IN EGYPT
28 Now Jacob had sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph to prepare for his arrival at Goshen.

• Judah was made leader of the brothers here.
• Similar to meeting his brother, Esau.

When they came to the land of Goshen, 29 Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel. Joseph presented himself to him, threw his arms around him, and wept for a long time.
30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die now because I have seen your face and you are still alive!”
31 Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s family, “I will go up and inform Pharaoh, telling him, ‘My brothers and my father’s family, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 The men are shepherds; they also raise livestock. They have brought their flocks and herds and all that they have.’ 33 When Pharaoh addresses you and asks, ‘What is your occupation?’ 34 you are to say, ‘Your servants, both we and our ancestors, have raised livestock from our youth until now. Then you will be allowed to settle in the land of Goshen, since all shepherds are detestable to Egyptians.”[2]
 
PHARAOH WELCOMES JACOB
GENESIS 47
1 So Joseph went and informed Pharaoh: “My father and my brothers, with their flocks and herds and all that they own, have come from the land of Canaan and are now in the land of Goshen.”
2 He took five of his brothers and presented them to Pharaoh. 3 And Pharaoh asked his brothers, “What is your occupation?”
They said to Pharaoh, “Your servants, both we and our ancestors, are shepherds.” 4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to stay in the land for a while because there is no grazing land for your servants’ sheep, since the famine in the land of Canaan has been severe. So now, please let your servants settle in the land of Goshen.”
5 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Now that your father and brothers have come to you, 6 the land of Egypt is open before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They can live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”
7 Joseph then brought his father Jacob and presented him to Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?”
9 Jacob said to Pharaoh, “My pilgrimage has lasted 130 years. My years have been few and hard, and they have not reached the years of my ancestors during their pilgrimages.” 10 So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and departed from Pharaoh’s presence.
11 Then Joseph settled his father and brothers in the land of Egypt and gave them property in the best part of the land, the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 And Joseph provided his father, his brothers, and all his father’s family with food for their dependents.

• Rameses I reigned about 1347-1320 B.C. However the biblical chronological references (1 Kings 6:1; Exod. 12:40; et al.) point to a date for Israel's move to Egypt near 1876 B.C.

 
THE LAND BECOMES PHARAOH’S (vv 13-26)

• Severe famine in Egypt & Canaan
• People exchanged silver for grain until Joseph had all their silver.
• Next year, people exchanged livestock for food until Joseph had all their livestock. (horses also)
• The next year, the people gave Joseph their land and offered themselves as slaves to Pharaoh.
• The only land they didn’t get was that of the priests because they were given an allowance of food from Pharoah already.
• Joseph gave the people seed to sow and made it a law that 1/5 of their produce belongs to Pharaoh.
• The average tax at this time was 1/3.

 
ISRAEL SETTLES IN GOSHEN
27 Israel settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property in it and became fruitful and very numerous. 28 Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and his life span was 147 years. 29 When the time approached for him to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh and promise me that you will deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”
Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.”
31 And Jacob said, “Swear to me.” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.[3]
 
JACOB BLESSES EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH
GENESIS 48
1 Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants. 5 Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. 6 Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. 7 When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?”
9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.”
So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.” 10 Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” 12 Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.
 
EPHRAIM’S GREATER BLESSING (vv 13-18)
 - Israel criss-crossed his hands and placed his right hand on Ephraim and his left hand on Manasseh.

• Joseph tried to correct his elderly dad.

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know! He too will become a tribe, and he too will be great; nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a populous nation.” 20 So he blessed them that day, putting Ephraim before Manasseh when he said, “The nation Israel will invoke blessings by you, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

•  This was the fourth consecutive generation of Abraham's descendants in which the normal pattern of the firstborn assuming prominence over the second born was reversed: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and Ephraim over Manasseh.

21 Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Over and above what I am giving your brothers, I am giving you the one mountain slope that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”[4]
 
 
JACOB’S LAST WORDS
GENESIS 49
1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.
2 Come together and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to your father Israel:
3 Reuben, you are my firstborn,
my strength and the firstfruits of my virility,
excelling in prominence, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as water, you will not excel,
because you got into your father’s bed
and you defiled it—he got into my bed.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers;
their knives are vicious weapons.
6 May I never enter their council;
may I never join their assembly.
For in their anger they kill men,
and on a whim they hamstring oxen.
7 Their anger is cursed, for it is strong,
and their fury, for it is cruel!
I will disperse them throughout Jacob
and scatter them throughout Israel.
8 Judah, your brothers will praise you.
Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 Judah is a young lion--
my son, you return from the kill.
He crouches; he lies down like a lion
or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah
or the staff from between his feet
until he whose right it is comes,
and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.
11 He ties his donkey to a vine,
and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine.
He washes his clothes in wine
and his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun will live by the seashore
and will be a harbor for ships,
and his territory will be next to Sidon.
14 Issachar is a strong donkey
lying down between the saddlebags.
15 He saw that his resting place was good
and that the land was pleasant,
so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load
and became a forced laborer.
16 Dan will judge his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan will be a snake by the road,
a viper beside the path,
that bites the horse’s heels
so that its rider falls backward.
18 I wait for your salvation, Lord.
19 Gad will be attacked by raiders,
but he will attack their heels.
20 Asher’s food will be rich,
and he will produce royal delicacies.
21 Naphtali is a doe set free
that bears beautiful fawns.
22 Joseph is a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine beside a spring;
its branches climb over the wall.
23 The archers attacked him,
shot at him, and were hostile toward him.
24 Yet his bow remained steady,
and his strong arms were made agile
by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 by the God of your father who helps you,
and by the Almighty who blesses you
with blessings of the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lies below,
and blessings of the breasts and the womb.
26 The blessings of your father excel
the blessings of my ancestors
and the bounty of the ancient hills
May they rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey.
In the morning he devours the prey,
and in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

• Map of the 12 Tribes of Israel

 
JACOB’S BURIAL INSTRUCTIONS
29 Then he commanded them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hethite. 30 The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre (near Hebron), in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hethite as burial property. 31 Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried there, Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried there, and I buried Leah there. 32 The field and the cave in it were purchased from the Hethites.” 33 When Jacob had finished giving charges to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, took his last breath, and was gathered to his people.[5]

• Jacob desired that his funeral would be a clear witness that he was not an idol-worshiping Egyptian but a believer in the true and living God.

 
JACOB’S BURIAL
GENESIS 50
1 Then Joseph, leaning over his father’s face, wept and kissed him.

• (vv 2-14)
• Joseph commanded his servants to embalm Israel, which took 40 days.
• The Egyptians mourned for Jacob for 70 days, just two days less than they usually mourned the death of a Pharaoh.
• Joseph asked Pharaoh if he could bury his father in Canaan, which was granted.
• So a massive procession was made to Mamre, and they buried him in a cave. (mourned for seven days).
• Joseph and his brothers returned to Egypt.

 
JOSEPH’S KINDNESS
15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said to one another, “If Joseph is holding a grudge against us, he will certainly repay us for all the suffering we caused him.”
16 So they sent this message to Joseph, “Before he died your father gave a command: 17 ‘Say this to Joseph: Please forgive your brothers’ transgression and their sin—the suffering they caused you.’ Therefore, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when their message came to him. 18 His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!”
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. 21 Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
 
JOSEPH’S DEATH
22 Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years. 23 He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation; the sons of Manasseh’s son Machir were recognized by Joseph.
24 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will certainly come to your aid and bring you up from this land to the land he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” 25 So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”
26 Joseph died at the age of 110. They embalmed him and placed him in a coffin in Egypt.[6]

• Joseph lived to see God's blessing on his children's children.
• He died 54 years after Jacob's death, when he was 110 years old.

 

• Faith… trust… through troubled times.

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 15:13.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 46:1–34.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 47:1–31.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 48:1–22.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 49:1–33.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), Ge 50:1–26.

67 AD

• Peter knows that his time on Earth is also ending.
• He is burdened to write one last letter to the churches in the Diaspora (the Jews who are dispersed into Gentile nations).
• He has it on his heart to remind them of the things of Christ that have been deposited in them, to encourage them to continue to walk steadfastly in the Lord and to warn them of coming false teachers.
• The differences between these two epistles are also significant.
• The first epistle ends, "Stand firm in it [grace]" (5:12).
• Its theme is the sufficiency of God's grace.
• We need to stand fast in grace as Christians.
• The second epistle ends, "grow in … grace" (3:18).
• Its theme is the responsibility of grace.
• We need to keep growing in God's grace.
• This second letter builds on the first: We do not only need to stand fast in grace, but we also need to keep growing in it.
• PETER WRITES 2 PETER
• Year: A.D. 67
• From: Rome
• To: The churches in northwest Asia: Pontus, North Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia.
• Provocation: Peter reminds the churches of the true apostolic message, which is being threatened.
• He also encourages the believers to cultivate their spiritual lives.
• Peter warns the church about the coming of false teachers and their destructive heresies, exposing their motives and teachings in detail.
• He also informs the churches that his time on this earth is closing.
• Peter ends the letter by commending to them Paul’s letters, which he calls “Scripture.”

 
GREETING
2 PETER 1
1 Simeon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ:

• Simon was Peter's Hebrew name, and Peter is the Greek translation of the nickname Cephas (Rocky, cf. Matt. 16:18).
• There is only one Peter mentioned in the New Testament
• Peter establishes his identity as an apostle to establish his authority and encourage the church to guard against false doctrines that violate the true faith.
• Peter was not a newcomer onto the Christian scene.
• He had walked with Jesus, learned from Jesus, and knew the Gospel very well.
• Therefore, he was able to speak with such authority.

To those who have received a faith equal to ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

• Peter encourages the church not with a different message but with the same Gospel that he has always taught.
• This Gospel involves the righteousness of God given to all through faith in Jesus.

2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

• All believers understand the Gospel on some fundamental level.
• However, every Christian is also maturing in their knowledge, not of religious rules and customs, but of this grace of God.
• The more we understand the Gospel, the more grace and peace will multiply in our lives experientially.
• This will allow for general stability in Christ despite individual struggles we may encounter.

 
GROWTH IN THE FAITH
3 His divine power has given us everything required for life

• Through the true knowledge of God, the Gospel of grace, we have been equipped fully with everything we need for life and godliness.
• This is because Jesus Christ, the living Son of God, is alive within us.
• This startling reality means that we do not need rules and regulations for the Christian life.
• Furthermore, we do not need to perfect ourselves or equip ourselves somehow.
• What we need to do is learn all that we already have in Christ.
• We have total forgiveness for sins and an entirely new nature.
• When you proclaim the Gospel, don’t give me a website… give me the Scripture reference.

and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

• If the God we know is not excellent then we need to rethink the God in whom we believe.
• We don’t need to try to be thankful or try to celebrate God.
• We must recognize his awesomeness and allow natural thankfulness to arise.
• His excellence is manifested fully in the Gospel of Grace and the person of Jesus.
• As we focus on everything Jesus has done, we will truly understand God's nature.
• If the Gospel we believe is anything but magnificent, then we believe a false Gospel.
• "Each man must make a choice. Either he becomes freed from sin or further enslaved to sin."

4 By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.

• Believers have escaped their previous way of life in which they were enslaved to sin.
• We now have God’s very nature within us.
• God is so fused to us that we participate in His godly nature.
• This is the heart of the true Gospel.
• We are not only perfectly forgiven but righteous to the core of our beings.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.

• Because we are partakers of the divine nature, and because we have everything we need for life and godliness, we can mature into our salvation through new behavior and mindsets.
• Each of these characteristics listed come from the very nature of the Spirit.
• These traits are His traits produced within His children.
• So, we don’t need to work on conjuring attributes such as self-control.
• We simply let God produce self-control and all of His fruit within us.
• We receive it and transmit it to others.
• Power steering in the car has progressed over the years.
• Model T > Tesla

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.

• The one who lacks: Those believers who lack these characteristics or commit sins have forgotten their identity.
• As we think about Christ and our purification from sins, these qualities will increase in our behavior.
• As we understand grace better, we will see God’s amazing fruit coming through as we enjoy rest in Him.

10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble.

• This is not an encouragement for Christians to doubt whether or not they are true believers.
• This is a behavior verse.
• Peter wants Christians to embody their identity through behavior consistent with their righteousness in Christ.

11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

• Peter, while potentially referencing Heaven, is more likely speaking about the kingdom being actively supplied to us in the present.
• God’s kingdom has come in Christ, and we can participate in it through behavior fitting with our identity in Christ.

12 Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. 15 And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

• Believers know the truth of the Gospel, but we need to be continuously reminded of God's grace.
• We need to be reminded of our forgiveness, newness, and closeness to God.
• Peter made it his mission to remind the church of the Gospel so they could recall the truth whenever needed, even after his death.
• This is especially pertinent in the midst of the false teachings they were encountering.

 
THE TRUSTWORTHY PROPHETIC WORD
16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

• Peter is speaking of the first coming of Jesus Christ.
• Because he and the other apostles saw Jesus and learned from Him directly, they had an authoritative message from God.
• This message was the pure Gospel of grace, free from odd theology or cleverly devised tales.

17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!”

• Jesus’ identity as God’s Son was validated visibly during His earthly ministry.
• Thus, we must believe in Jesus’ true identity to be saved.
• This is the message that the apostles brought to the world.
• The gate to God is narrow, not because being a true believer is so hard, but because of the exclusivity of Jesus.
• He is the one path to God, and this is a difficult message for the world to hear.

18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it,

• The prophetic word is the identity of Jesus as God’s one and only Son.
• This is the message spoken by the Holy Spirit.
• The Spirit is forever perpetually communicating to the world about Jesus.
• If we hear something that contradicts the Gospel, then it is not from the Spirit.

as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

• Jesus, the lamp shining in the dark, wants to save everyone.
• When we agree with the prophetic word about Jesus’ identity, we are given God’s light in a dark world.
• According to Peter, the key to Christianity is not moralism or ethics but knowing the person of Jesus, who is life itself.[1]

20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.[2]

[1] Farley, Andrew. www.BibleCommentary.com. 2 Peter 1
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 2 Pe 1:1–21.

LIVING BY FAITH
HEBREWS 11
13 These all died in faith, although they had not received the things that were promised. But they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.

• Neither Abraham, Isaac or Jacob possessed the Promised Land to this day.
• The Jews are now back in the land… but they do not possess the land.
• They trusted God’s promise and knew they would one day have to be resurrected.

14 Now those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.

• Seeking new Jerusalem.
• Dr. George Morrison, a great Scottish preacher, once said, “The important thing is not what we live in, but what we look for.”[1]

15 If they were thinking about where they came from, they would have had an opportunity to return. 16 But they now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

• They were willing to die to wait for the promise of God.

17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He received the promises and yet he was offering his one and only son, 18 the one to whom it had been said, Your offspring will be traced through Isaac., 19 He considered God to be able even to raise someone from the dead; therefore, he received him back, figuratively speaking.

• The patriarchs believed in resurrection.
• Abraham knew for God’s promise to be fulfilled that God would have to resurrect Isaac if Abraham killed him.
• This should not be surprising from God because it was a foreshadowing of what He did with His Son for us.

20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

• We not only live victoriously but we can die victoriously.
• Isaac eventually honored the blessing of Jacob over Esau.
• Isaac knew the blessing to Jacob was irrevocable.

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

• Jacob gave blessings to Ephraim & Manasseh.
• These blessings were not received until Joshua lead them into the Promised Land so these blessings were made in faith.

22 By faith Joseph, as he was nearing the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions concerning his bones.

• Joseph lived most of his life in Egypt when he was sold into slavery by his brothers.
• He desired for his bones to be buried in Canaan (the Promised Land).
• This desire was made in faith because they were not in Canaan yet.

23 By faith Moses, after he was born, was hidden by his parents for three months, because they saw that the child was beautiful, and they didn’t fear the king’s edict.

• Beautiful because his parents recognized that he was going to be used by God.
• It was this recognition that caused them to risk their own lives.
• King’s Edict: All Jewish boys were to be killed.
• Moses was sovereignly retrieved from the Nile by Pharaoh’s daughter.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter 25 and chose to suffer with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasure of sin.

• Moses clung to his parent’s faith.
• He opted for eternal rewards rather than lavish temporary rewards.
• Remember that the Hebrew author is trying to convince the people to not return to what would seem easier for them.

26 For he considered reproach for the sake of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, since he was looking ahead to the reward.

• Symbolic to Jesus taking on humanity for the greater reward of saving the chosen in Christ.
• By acting in faith we obtain wisdom.
• Taking the easy road is not walking by faith.
• Walking by faith tells an adventuresome story.

27 By faith he left Egypt behind, not being afraid of the king’s anger, for Moses persevered as one who sees him who is invisible.

• Moses stayed the course of pursuing God & His promises even when the people rejected Moses and wanted to return to Egypt.
• 40 years of grumbling.

28 By faith he instituted the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as though they were on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to do this, they were drowned.

• It was faith that caused Moses to start the Passover and cross the Red Sea.
• Interesting that the writer focuses on Moses faith rather than him receiving and obeying the Law.
• Another way the writer was encouraging them not to return to the sacrificial system.

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after being marched around by the Israelites for seven days. 31 By faith Rahab the prostitute welcomed the spies in peace and didn’t perish with those who disobeyed.

• Jerico was in the Promised Land.
• The writer skips the wilderness history because there was little faith during that period.
• Rahab assisted the Hebrew spies because she had heard about the mighty God of the Jews.
• She mothered Boaz who grandfathered David.
• Rahab, once a harlot, became King David’s great grandmother.

32 And what more can I say? Time is too short for me to tell about Gideon (destroyed thousands of Midianites with only 300 men), Barak (destroyed the army of King Jabin including his commander), Samson (defeated the Philistines), Jephthah (delivered his people from the Ammonites), David (the only king mentioned here, was a mighty warrior who defeated many including Goliath), Samuel (a godly man who was the last OT judge, also a prophet who anointed Saul & David), and the prophets (all had character flaws but not mentioned here because there stories were triumphs of faith over the enemy), 33 who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the raging of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, and put foreign armies to flight.

• If you walk by faith, you will suffer for your faith.
• The more you become intimate with your Father, the more you walk by faith and do things differently from the world.
• You will stand out in the world.
• If we don’t stand out in this fallen world then most likely it is because we never got to know the heart of our God.

35 Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection.

• When we receive our heavenly bodies

36 Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned,, they were sawed in two (tradition says this is how Isaiah died), they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. 38 The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.

• Whether a believer dies by his enemies’ hands or is supernaturally delivered, faith is victorious over death.
• Wake up! Don’t go back to the old system.
• Live the adventure
• Yes! There will be pain & suffering.
• You won’t be the first ones to go through it!
• But we are not in this alone.
• You’ve had a cakewalk compared to the others in the past.
• Walk on… exercise your faith!

39 All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.[2]

• Pre-cross vs post-cross.
• Give me post-cross any day and every day!

Post-cross… we have been perfected!

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 319). Victor Books.
[2] Christian Standard Bible (Heb 11:13–40). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

• Saving Faith is different than Everyday Faith

LIVING BY FAITH
HEBREWS 11
1 Now faith is the reality (assurance/confirmation) of what is hoped for, the proof (conviction/evidence) of what is not seen.

• Faith is determined by hope in God’s promises.
• This is different than the faith one must believe in for God to save them.
• This is not a definition of faith, but a description of what faith does and how it works.[1]
• There is a difference between believing in something and allowing what you believe to impact your behavior.
• True faith does two things:

1) It proves the unseen things exist.
2) It brings a desire – within believers – to behave in a way that lines up with what they have come to believe.

•   Many believe in salvation.
•   Few believe they have been made righteous.
•   This is the evil one’s greatest ploy to create a mediocre church today.
• This is why you hear the same message over and over. To increase your belief during the battle.
• This is why it is critical, without me “shoulding on you” to read your Bibles.
• It is your intimacy with the Father that increases your faith.
• The world fails to realize that faith is only as good as its object, and the object of our faith is God.[2]
• Faith is to a Christian what a foundation is to a house: it gives confidence and assurance that he will stand.[3]
• It didn’t take much faith for you to sit in that chair this morning… because you believed that the chair would hold you.
• The chair is not holding you because of your faith… it is holding you because of the chair’s strength.
• It’s not our faith in Jesus that sustains us every day of our life.
• It is only Jesus, in whom we trust, that sustains us.

2 For by this our ancestors were approved.

• “this” – is faith in God.
• Old Covenant believers believed that God would send the Messiah to forgive them of their sin.
• Because of this belief, they were approved/credited/commended for righteousness although they were not made righteous.
• At some point, Christians must be made righteous. When is that? Death? Judgment? Cross?
• At the cross, we were made righteous, he removed our wicked hearts and replaced them with new ones.
• Thank God you live after the cross.

3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.

• What better way to motivate their faith than to prove how God has already answered promises in the past.
• Why wouldn’t He continue to keep His promises?
• Confirming God’s faithfulness encourages the Hebrew Christians to walk on and trust Him. Even now.
• But how encouraging is it to know that even when the physical resources that we need do not “seem” to exist, that God can reveal them in a heartbeat?
• There is a greater adventure out there when trust in the things you can’t see.

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

• The writer will take us through a series of believers to show the Hebrew Christians that it was their faith in the Messiah to come that approved them righteous.
• They believed in it so much that it greatly impacted not only how they lived their lives but how they died.
• Abel made a blood sacrifice. Cain made a sacrifice from the fruit of the ground.
• Adam & Eve made the first blood sacrifice when they needed clothing.
• Bloodless sin offerings were not instituted until Lev 5:11… and those were only for the poor.
• Cain tried to reconcile with God on his own terms and it was unacceptable.
• The blood sacrifice always pointed to the cross and the offering that Jesus was to make for our sins.
• Abel was declared righteous… not made righteous.
• Long after Abel was gone… we still talk about him as a model of faith.

5 By faith Enoch was taken away, and so he did not experience death. He was not to be found because God took him away. For before he was taken away, he was approved as one who pleased God.

• Genesis 5:18-24 - Jared was 162 years old when he fathered Enoch. 19 Jared lived 800 years after he fathered Enoch, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 20 So Jared’s life lasted 962 years; then he died.
• Enoch was 65 years old when he fathered Methuselah. 22 And after he fathered Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 23 So Enoch’s life lasted 365 years. 24 Enoch walked with God; then he was not there because God took him.[4]
• Intimacy with the creator!
• Mentioned in only a few verses but known for his relationship with God.
• The writer is saying that Enoch was so intimate with God that he didn’t even have to experience death.

6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

• It is faith… not works that pleases God. Works are a result of our faith.
• For believers, it is when we quit seeing God as a judge of sin but a giver of life and rewards.
• I’m not talking a health and prosperity Gospel here.
• I’m talking about walking by His Spirit and the moment of every breath with Him.
• It would be hard to walk intimately with a God when you think He is going to kick you in the butt every time you make a bad choice.
• What if you sin… and God says “Rusty… I dearly love you.”?
• What if you could embrace that thought…
• I’m not saying go sin so He will remind you of what He already did for you.
• I’m saying, when you realize what He did for you and continues to do for you it becomes less of a desire for you to make bad choices.
• If you see yourself as never winning this game… why try?
• If you see yourself as redeemed and forgiven, you will want to live fully in this!
• That is when real intimacy with the Father happens.
• You just wallow in His goodness.
• It is because of our faith in the object of Jesus Christ that we can walk with Him consistently.

7 By faith Noah, after he was warned about what was not yet seen and motivated by godly fear, built an ark to deliver his family. By faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

• Genesis 6:9 - These are the family records of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his contemporaries; Noah walked with God.[5]
• “Not yet seen” – Rain and floods.
• Can you imagine the years?
• Noah was not concerned about what others thought about him.
• Now we all descendants of not only Adam… but Noah as well.
• “godly fear/in reverence” – Noah was intimate with the Father.

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents as did Isaac and Jacob, coheirs of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

• Abraham – Father of the Jewish Nation.
• Genesis 12:1-7 - The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you, 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. 5 He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the site of Shechem, at the oak of Moreh. (At that time the Canaanites were in the land.) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring, I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him.[6]
• Abraham left as the Lord was telling him to go… that is real faith.
• Where? Just go!
• He was looking forward to a city that has foundations with God as the builder.
• That hasn’t happened yet… but it will.
• He lived as a foreigner… just as the Hebrew Christians did… just as we do.

11 By faith even Sarah herself, when she was unable to have children, received power to conceive offspring, even though she was past the age, since she considered that the one who had promised was faithful.

• Sarah? On the heroes of faith list?
• What is she known for?
• Bearing Isaac in her old age…
• But also getting Abraham to sleep with Hagar to bear the son to Abraham named Ishmael and his descendants have harassed the Jews ever since.
• She made the list!
• She had a hard time waiting on God’s timing.
• But the core of who Sarah was believed that God was faithful.

12 Therefore, from one man—in fact, from one as good as dead—came offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and as innumerable as the grains of sand along the seashore.[7]

• Abraham in his old age bore a son named Isaac.
• Isaac bore Jacob (and Esau)
• Jacob had 12 sons that became the 12 tribes.
• Through the 12 tribes came the entire Jewish nation.

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Heb 11:1). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[4] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 5:18–24). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 6:9). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[6] Christian Standard Bible (Ge 12:1–7). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.
[7] Christian Standard Bible (Heb 11:1–12). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

Old Covenant vs New covenant
 - New makes old obsolete
KNOWING CHRIST
PHILIPPIANS 3
1 In addition, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write to you again about this is no trouble for me and is a safeguard for you.

• We are prone to forget who Jesus is and what He has done in our lives.
• Keep waving the banner.
• Paul’s tone changes… very loving man… speaks of joy… he is happy… through suffering.
• There is a conflict he has been involved with for many years.
• There were other religious people who continually undermining Paul’s ministry.
• Critics, enemies & opposition from pastors and elders of the church
• Paul rebuked religious people who led people astray.

2 Watch out for the dogs (Religious people), watch out for the evil workers, watch out for those who mutilate the flesh (happy knife-cutters). 3 For we are the circumcision, the ones who worship by the Spirit of God, boast in Christ Jesus, and do not put confidence in the flesh--

• “Evil workers.” These men taught that the sinner was saved by faith plus good works, especially the works of the Law.
• But Paul states that their “good works” are really evil works because they are performed by the flesh (old nature) and not the Spirit, and they glorify the workers and not Jesus Christ.[1]
• There is a difference between Christians and religious people… understanding, joy and humility
• Dogs – violent, mean, bark, bite and scary. Not domesticated at the time.
• God hates religion!
• Religious people believe that Jesus helps us but that He needs us to help Him.
• Jesus plus anything ruins everything
• Circumcision plus salvation nullifies the cross (Gen 17 – Circumcision was a seal of the covenant that God made with Abraham)
• Temple, priests, sacrifices not needed today
• What are some examples of us adding to our faith to make it a “religion”?
• Richard Halverson writes, “When the Greeks got the Gospel, they turned it into philosophy; When the Romans got it, they turned it into a government; when the Europeans got it, they turned it into a culture; when the Americans got it, they turned it into a business.”
• The DNA of the church produces certain identifiable features:
     - The centrality of Jesus Christ
     - The innate desire to form deep-seated relationships that are centered in Christ
     - Authentic community
     - Familial love and devotion of its members to one another
     - The native instinct to gather without static ritual
     - The internal drive for open-participatory gatherings
     - The loving impulse to display Jesus to a fallen world.

4 although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee;

• Most rule keeping devoted religious people of their day…
• Jesus pointed out they even tithed from their spice racks

6 regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

• (OT has more than 600 laws and Paul was blameless).

7 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.

• Paul was auditing his own life… and realized that he had been bankrupt all along.

8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung,

• Garbage, refuse, filth, dung, dog dung, turds…
• Isaiah 64:6 - and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
• I started cleaning out my office at home yesterday.
• Things that I considered valuable (ad cost me much) are now considered just junk… trash.

 
so that I may gain Christ

• Paul literally had to “lose his religion” so that he could “find salvation”.
• Religion is about what “I do”… The Gospel is about what “Jesus has done”.
• Religion trusts in “my works”… The Gospel teaches us to rest in Jesus’ works.
• Religious people confuse justification and sanctification.
• Religious people hate to repent because it reflects their wrongdoing. (You are taking away their goodness!)
• Religion lends an uncertainty to your fate in the end.
• Religion leads to pride or despair. (I can do it or I can’t do it).
• Christianity leads to humbleness and joy which makes us happy!
  
  
• Hard Religion
     - Religion tells you to “clean up your act!”
     - Religious people take things out of the Bible and add their own rules to them and beat people with self-righteous rules and restrict their joy that Jesus intended.
  
  
• Soft Religion
     - Vote, Golden rule, be nice to animals, do things for others, fight poverty…
  
  
• Everyone has religion and is building their resumes.
• Everyone wants to be righteous.
• Will you pursue it through religion or through Jesus.
• All Religions tell us how to become righteous…
  - Buddhism – To be righteous… you cease all desires
  - Confucianism – You pursue education, reflection and lead a moral life.
  - Hinduism – You detach yourself from your ego and live in unity with the divine.
  - Judaism – You obey God’s Law.
  - New Age – You should see yourself as connected with the Oneness and live in perfect harmony with the creation.
  - Taoism – You should line yourself with the Tao and go with the flow
  - Islam – You should live a moral life, do good deeds, and stand before Allah in the end and if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds and Allah so wills it, you shall be declared righteous.
• Every single religion… both hard and soft… tells us that on our resume should be listed all the things we have done to be declared righteous.
• Paul is saying that it has nothing to do with what we have done but purely what Jesus has done.

Grace vs works
A lady was arguing with her pastor about this matter of faith and works. “I think that getting to heaven is like rowing a boat,” she said. “One oar is faith, and the other is works. If you use both, you get there. If you use only one, you go around in circles.”
‘’There is only one thing wrong with your illustration,” replied the pastor. “Nobody is going to heaven in a rowboat!”[2]
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith.
Justification…

• God demands perfection and there is only one way we can become perfect. Through Christ!
• Two words on my resume… Jesus Christ.
• I have been declared righteous because of my faith in Jesus!
• Gift righteousness!

10 My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death, 11 assuming that I will somehow reach the resurrection from among the dead.[3]
Sanctification…

• Everything changes. It has changed and continues to change!
• New nature, new desires, new power, new passion… a life that results in passion, purpose and JOY!
• Religion cannot compare to this!

It’s tax season and you are collecting your forms.
 - You will do your own personal financial audit.
 - What if you audit the things you do this week?
 - Is it your strength or His strength?

[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, pp. 84–85). Victor Books.
[2] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 85). Victor Books.
[3] Christian Standard Bible (Php 3:1–11). (2020). Holman Bible Publishers.

Does it Matter?
Salvation - John 3:16 - Non-negotiable
In Christ - If we are "in Christ" we were there at the cross... even the foundation of the world.
1 Corinthians 1:2
 - 60 verses that say you are a "saint"
 - Your forgiveness is safe and secure
Hebrews 10:14
Romans 8:1
 - There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
2 Corinthians 5:17
 - Understand your security and what you have
 - We have to encourage one another... we are in this foxhole together
 - "If your glass is empty, you can't pour into others"
Galatians 5:17

• Paul was encouraging the strong to not overpower the weak in faith.
• Stay focused on the main thing… Jesus.
• We can easily get distracted with the side show and spend many hours in discussion/debate which only brings division.

 
PLEASING OTHERS, NOT OURSELVES
Romans 15:1-33
1 Now we who are strong have an obligation to bear the weaknesses of those without strength, and not to please ourselves.

• I have my opinions and beliefs.
• I have to trust the Spirit in what to unpack with others.
• I was trained to force my opinions and beliefs on others to get them to believe the way I did.
• Evangelism 101… close the deal!
• Now… I wait.
• Text at 12:49 AM – “That is a very wise way of putting it and I think you're completely right. What you just said kind of plays into what I've been sitting on today ... I've had a lot of chaos throughout the course of my life ... my parents' and their nasty divorce, an absent father, depression and anxiety ..  Sure, a lot of people have had way more chaos but that doesn't devalue my own perceptions.

I have grown up in a life where chaos is normal and it is expected. I can see it in my mom and my brother and my father when I think about it. Each in unique ways. We all share it i think. But I think for people like us, if life doesn't have chaos it just feels uncomfortable. I really can't speak for my family but I can for myself and I feel uncomfortable when things are "calm" or "good" by the standard definition. I think I create chaos in my life to feel comfortable.
I have gotta relearn how to live again man.”
 

• I’ve only waited about 7 years for this door to open.
• But the idea that they need chaos in their life… I’m good with that.
• I seem to rally in chaos as well. I would just prefer that it is not my own chaos or that I created the chaos.
• Sometimes I still do.
• But this is where the strong in faith begin to “bear” the weight of the weak.
• And it definitely should not be for the purpose of being pleased with ourselves.

2 Each one of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

• There is a party in our cul-de-sac this Friday Night.
• I’ll feed everyone physically with the hope of building a relationship to feed them spiritually when they come to point of crisis.

3 For even Christ did not please himself.

• Jesus didn’t come here for the sole purpose of pleasing Himself.
• Jesus came to serve others… to include you and me in the fellowship of the Trinity.
• Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”[1]
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 - For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.[2]
• Philippians 2:5-8 - Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
• who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
• Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,
• he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death—even to death on a cross.[3]
• Sure, He is pleased in you. But He came to rescue you and show you a pattern of life that works in a fallen world.

On the contrary, as it is written, The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. (Psalm 69:9)

• Think about that for a minute.
• What David said, Paul is transferring to Jesus.
• What David said was true for Paul.
• What David said is true for the believers today.
• I expect a fallen world to reject the plan/ways of God. So…
• I don’t have to defend God’s ways.

4 For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. 5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.

• Sadly, some people who call themselves Christians have abandoned enough of the faith, are theologically suspect enough, that it’s difficult to think of them as true brothers and sisters.
• Sadly, sometimes divisions are needed to preserve faithfulness to the truth of the gospel.[4]
• But Paul is saying that we don’t have to divide over every little difference of opinion or interpretation.

 
GLORIFYING GOD TOGETHER
7 Therefore welcome one another, just as Christ also welcomed you, to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, 9 and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and I will sing praise to your name. (2 Samuel 22:50 & Psalm 18:49)
10 Again it says, Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people! (Deuteronomy 32:43) 11 And again,
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
let all the peoples praise him! (Psalm 117:1)
12 And again, Isaiah says,
The root of Jesse will appear,
the one who rises to rule the Gentiles;
the Gentiles will hope in him. (Isaiah 11:10)
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

• The point of these Old Testament quotations then is to remind the believers in Rome that God’s purpose is to bring Gentile and Jew together in His end-time people, that this has all along been His plan, and they need to seek ways in which they can themselves work within that plan and seek to fulfill it as they become a Church of Jesus Christ, of Jew and Gentile together.[5]

 

• Greek letters in Paul’s day generally simply fell into those three parts: an introduction, conclusion, and, of course, the body in between. So with Romans 15:14, we come now to the conclusion of the letter.
• If you look at the letters of Paul, he does several usual things in the conclusions of the letters.
• He will talk about his own ministry and his plans for ministry.
• He’ll ask his readers to pray for him.
• He’ll mention some of his coworkers who are with him and send their greetings also.
• And he will greet people in the churches, praise God for their faith, and pray that God would continue to help them grow in Christ.
• The section of conclusion here in Paul’s letter to the Romans is much longer than in any of his other letters. Why is this so?
• Probably because Paul’s writing to a church he did not plant, to a church he has not even visited yet.
• He’s a bit of an unknown quantity to the Roman Christians, and so he has to spend a little bit more time talking about himself, his ministry.[6]
  ​
  

FROM JERUSALEM TO ILLYRICUM
14 My brothers and sisters, I myself am convinced about you that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless, I have written to remind you more boldly on some points because of the grace given me by God 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the gospel of God. God’s purpose is that the Gentiles may be an acceptable offering, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

• There was still the issue of the Jews accepting the Gentiles into the faith… and the Gentiles not puffing up in what they have been given as compared to the Jews.

17 Therefore I have reason to boast in Christ Jesus regarding what pertains to God. 18 For I would not dare say anything except what Christ has accomplished through me by word and deed for the obedience of the Gentiles, 19 by the power of miraculous signs and wonders, and by the power of God’s Spirit. As a result, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum.

• Illyricum was the name of a Roman province that occupied approximately the space now occupied by Serbia, Albania. Croatia just north.
• So it kind of draws a line from Jerusalem to Illyricum through many of the places where Paul has planted churches on his first, and second, and third missionary journeys.[7]

20 My aim is to preach the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that I will not build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but, as it is written,
Those who were not told about him will see,
and those who have not heard will understand. (Isaiah 52:15)[8]

• To the Gentiles who have not been told

To the Jews who have not heard and will come to understand.

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Mk 10:45). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (2 Co 8:9). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Php 2:5–8). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[5] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[7] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[8] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 15:1–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

• Look back to see where Paul is going…
• Chapter 12 – Live in harmony; don’t be proud
• Chapter 13 – Submit to government and love your neighbor as yourself.
• Paul was telling the Church how to live out their life in Christ in a dark world.
• 1) This is your moment – each day – not just a few times a week
• 2) Judge soberly but don’t think to highly of yourself
• 3) Just love one another
• But specifically to the Roman Christians who were meeting in homes. (20-30 people consisted of church)
• Different teachers, interpretations and opinions from house to house.
• If division is present, how do you accomplish the main thing?

THE LAW OF LIBERTY
Romans 14:1-23
1 Welcome anyone who is weak in faith, but don’t argue about disputed matters.

• Is Paul talking about new believers and veteran believers?
• Or is Paul talking about those who are free (walking by the Spirit) and those who are bound up (walking by their flesh).
• Paul is talking about the difference in what their faith will allow them to do.

2 One person believes he may eat anything (meat), while one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 One who eats must not look down on one who does not eat, and one who does not eat must not judge one who does, because God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge another’s household servant? Before his own Lord he stands or falls. And he will stand, because the Lord is able to make him stand.

• 1) Judging people based upon what they are comfortable with eating.

5 One person judges one day to be more important than another day. Someone else judges every day to be the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the honor of the Lord. Whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; and whoever does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat it, and he gives thanks to God.

• 2) Judging people because the celebrate specific holidays or else they see every day as the same.
• Are we talking about a “strong Gentile Christian faith” vs a “weak Jewish Christian faith”?
• Remember that Paul was a Jew and he sides with the strong in chapter 15.
• Are we talking about Jewish Holidays vs Roman pagan god holidays?
• Are we talking about abstaining from meat and wine because they believe it was contaminated from pagan idolatry?
• Daniel 1 – Daniel and his friends refrained from eating from the King’s table… No meat or wine.
• Daniel diet today.
• What Paul is talking about here is specific issues that he would consider “indifferent”.
• If they choose to follow holidays found in the Torah… so be it.
• If they choose their freedom in Christ so be it.

7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 Christ died and returned to life for this: that he might be Lord over both the dead and the living.

• This is the non-negotiable.
• Our commonality.

10 But you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God., 11 For it is written,
As I live, says the Lord,
every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will give praise to God. (Isaiah 45:23)
12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
 
THE LAW OF LOVE
13 Therefore, let us no longer judge one another.

• In trying to unify these two groups, it’s also interesting to see that Paul spends a lot more time talking to the strong than he does to the weak in faith.[1]

Instead decide never to put a stumbling block or pitfall in the way of your brother or sister.

• So Paul is saying, “If what you’re doing—if by using your liberty and flaunting your liberty to do these things you think you can do—if those activities are spiritually hurting brothers and sisters in Christ, stop doing them.
• You have the liberty, but you also have the choice whether to exercise that liberty or not.”
• And Paul’s fundamental concern here is that the exercise of our liberty be done with a heart of love to others in Christ.[2]

14 I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. Still, to someone who considers a thing to be unclean, to that one it is unclean. 15 For if your brother or sister is hurt by what you eat, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not destroy, by what you eat, someone for whom Christ died.

• This statement right here brings value to all believers.

16 Therefore, do not let your good be slandered, 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

• We get caught up in the doing and comparing our faith based upon what we do rather than who we are in Christ.
• One’s traditions, opinions and expectations cannot be forced on another believer.
• It is the Holy Spirit who teaches, directs and causes us to rest in our freedom… to understand our righteousness and the peace and joy we already have.

18 Whoever serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and receives human approval.
19 So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another. 20 Do not tear down God’s work because of food. Everything is clean, but it is wrong to make someone fall by what he eats.

• Their concern, rather, should be the values of God’s kingdom and the spiritual health and development of their fellow brothers and sisters.
• So Paul encourages the strong in faith not to do anything that might bring harm to the weak in faith.[3]

21 It is a good thing not to eat meat, or drink wine, or do anything that makes your brother or sister stumble. 22 Whatever you believe about these things, keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But whoever doubts stands condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith, and everything that is not from faith is sin.[4]

• Paul is concerned that the weak in faith might start doing things that in their own conscience they continue to think is wrong.
• Paul doesn’t want that to happen.
• Paul doesn’t want our activity to run ahead of our conscience.
• We must first be convinced that something is right before we do it.[5]

 

• “everything that is not from faith is sin” – What does this mean?
• We have two choices: 1) Faith or 2) Not faith...
• 1) Walk by the Spirit or 2) Walk by the flesh…
• 1) Submit to the Spirit or 2) Be selfish
• 1) Rest and let the Spirit do it through you or 2) Do it in your own strength…

[1] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[2] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[3] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 14:1–23). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Last week we ended with Romans 10:13 - For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.[1]

• Joel 2:32 - Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved, for there will be an escape for those on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, as the Lord promised, among the survivors the Lord calls.[2]

 
ISRAEL’S REJECTION OF THE MESSAGE
Romans 10:14-21
14 How, then, can they call on him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about him? And how can they hear without a preacher?
15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

• Isaiah 52:7-13 - How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the herald, who proclaims peace, who brings news of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 The voices of your watchmen—they lift up their voices, shouting for joy together; for every eye will see when the Lord returns to Zion. 9 Be joyful, rejoice together, you ruins of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The Lord has displayed his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. 11 Leave, leave, go out from there! Do not touch anything unclean; go out from her, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the Lord. 12 For you will not leave in a hurry, and you will not have to take flight; because the Lord is going before you, and the God of Israel is your rear guard.
  
  THE SERVANT’S SUFFERING AND EXALTATION
• See, my servant, will be successful; he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were appalled at you—his appearance was so disfigured that he did not look like a man, and his form did not resemble a human being--15 so he will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of him, for they will see what had not been told them, and they will understand what they had not heard.[3]

 

• Isaiah 53 - Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at him, no appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; he was despised, and we didn’t value him. 4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. 8 He was taken away because of oppression and judgment, and who considered his fate? For he was cut off from the land of the living; he was struck because of my people’s rebellion. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, but he was with a rich man at his death, because he had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully. 10 Yet the Lord was pleased to crush him severely. When you make him a guilt offering, he will see his seed, he will prolong his days, and by his hand, the Lord’s pleasure will be accomplished. 11 After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.[4]

 
16 But not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our message? (Isaiah 53:1)

• His point seems to be that using the OT to show that Israel has had opportunity to respond.
• People have been sent proclaiming the good news.
• They have had the opportunity to see what God’s plan was, as they read the OT itself.
• So they are rightly faulted for their failure to understand and respond appropriately.[5]

17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ., 18 But I ask, “Did they not hear?” Yes, they did:

• Paul begins to quote OT passages and not using them in their previous context but using them in current context.
• We do that all the time with movie quotes:
• “Go ahead make my day.”
• “There’s no crying in baseball.”
• “There’s no place like home.”
• “May the force be with you.”
• “You can’t handle the truth.”
• “You had me at hello.”
• “I’ll be back”
• “Show me the money.”
• “Freedom”

Their voice has gone out to the whole earth,
and their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:4)
19 But I ask, “Did Israel not understand?” First, Moses said,
I will make you jealous
of those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation
that lacks understanding. (Deuteronomy 32:21)

• If Gentiles, who were darkened theologically, could understand the gospel, Jews could certainly have understood it.
• Israel is responsible for their unbelief because they had received enough understanding of the way of salvation.
• Their own scriptures should have enabled them to see God at work in the gospel.
• It was to Israel’s shame that they didn’t believe, whereas Gentiles did believe.[6]

20 And Isaiah says boldly,
I was found
by those who were not looking for me;
I revealed myself
to those who were not asking for me. (Isaiah 65:1)
21 But to Israel he says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and defiant people.[7] (Isaiah 65:2)

• Paul is in effect saying, “Just as knowledge of God has gone out among all the world (because of the way God created the world), so now through the preachers of the gospel is a particular message of Jesus Christ going out, a message that can’t be ignored, and a message that makes everyone—Jews included—responsible for their response to it.”[8]
• At the end of my notes every week, I have this statement:
• “Understanding the Spirits role, how would you communicate this message if your eighteen-year-old son had made up his mind to walk away from everything you have taught him, morally ethically and theologically, unless he had a compelling reason not to?”

How would you communicate this message?

[1] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 10:13). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[2] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Joe 2:32). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 52:7–15). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Is 53). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[5] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
[6] Abernathy, D. (2009). An Exegetical Summary of Romans 9–16 (p. 113). Dallas, TX: SIL International.
[7] Christian Standard Bible. (2020). (Ro 10:14–21). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[8] Moo, D. J. (2014). NT331 Book Study: Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.