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00:00:00Luke's gospel account.
00:00:05Find the 21st chapter, Luke 21, we've been talking about the divine monarchy, the monarchy
00:00:15of heaven or the monarchy of God, the government of God, which is the kingdom of God.
00:00:28And we'll look here at Luke chapter 21.
00:00:35As we read through the gospel, often we see Jesus teaching that the kingdom of God is
00:00:42like, the kingdom of God is likened to.
00:00:49And here, one quick example is of the fig tree.
00:00:58Luke 21, 29, and we'll read through verse 33, which says, then he spoke to them a parable.
00:01:07Look at the fig tree and all the trees.
00:01:13When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.
00:01:22We can look at the trees and know seasons are right around the corner, they are close.
00:01:30So verse 31, he says, so you also, when you see these things happening, know that what?
00:01:35The kingdom of God is near.
00:01:40Surely I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take
00:01:44place.
00:01:46Not even an earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
00:01:54Look here in this 31st verse again, he says, so you know, you could look at nature who
00:02:01God is responsible for or in which God is responsible for.
00:02:07You can look at nature and get an idea of the stages and phases of the kingdom.
00:02:15So he says, so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of
00:02:20God is near.
00:02:21Jesus preached the message, repent, change your mind because the kingdom of God is near
00:02:28or draws nigh, it is close.
00:02:32What was he talking about?
00:02:33The system that his ecclesia, his church would operate in.
00:02:39And we here, almost 2000 years removed, we are the church and we are operating under
00:02:46this governmental system that is the kingdom of God.
00:02:49Again, there are phases, the phase that our apostle Paul in a sense led us into receiving
00:02:58instructions from Jesus and in two different places in scripture he tells us what the kingdom
00:03:03of God is.
00:03:04He tells us that the kingdom of God is righteousness, right standing with the father is the kingdom
00:03:10of God.
00:03:11The joy of the Lord is the kingdom of God.
00:03:13The peace that surpasses all understanding is the kingdom of God.
00:03:19The kingdom of God is not just in word, but in demonstration and in power.
00:03:26Remember the Pharisees who accused Jesus of casting out a demon by the power of Satan.
00:03:32Jesus has to correct them, but he says, I cast out demons by the finger of God or by
00:03:37the Holy spirit.
00:03:38And when this has happened, surely the kingdom of God has what it has come upon you.
00:03:43So we see it's in demonstration.
00:03:45It's in display in miracles, signs, and in wonders.
00:03:49And then he says here in verse 32 is surely I say to you, this generation will by no means
00:03:54pass away till all things take place.
00:03:58Number of theories and lines of thinking as to what Jesus was saying here.
00:04:02But here's one thing that can always be settled.
00:04:06That every generation that reads these words is this generation.
00:04:11As we are reading right now, we are this generation.
00:04:16Then when they heard those words, you and I weren't there, but the disciples were, and
00:04:20that was this generation.
00:04:23And so it could easily be referring to things leading up till Calvary.
00:04:29It could be things leading up into the beginning of the church or things leading up until the
00:04:33appearing of the Lord, receiving the church and all the way to the coming of the Lord.
00:04:37But what does he say?
00:04:39This generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.
00:04:43He says, heaven and earth will pass away.
00:04:44And how true is this?
00:04:45What does John say in revelation 21, I saw a new heaven and a new earth.
00:04:49In other words, he saw heaven made new and he saw the earth made new, but notice that
00:04:54the word of God will never pass away.
00:04:59It's always settled.
00:05:01Okay.
00:05:04Now let's make our way to Ephesians chapter 5.
00:05:08Ephesians chapter 5.
00:05:11And let's look at this first verse.
00:05:16Ephesians 5.1.
00:05:18It's okay, baby.
00:05:22I know.
00:05:25See how those baby whisper powers work, right?
00:05:31Ephesians 5.1.
00:05:35What we learn here, and this is just one of many examples, but they pretty much read the
00:05:40same way.
00:05:42Paul tells us who has not inherited or who is not a part of the kingdom of God and thereby
00:05:51tells us who is.
00:05:53Here in Ephesians 5.1.
00:05:57This is therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
00:06:01We have been called to imitate God.
00:06:04In this earth realm, we should be imitating God and God is love according to the scriptures,
00:06:10which is why in verse 2 it says, and walk in love.
00:06:14When we walk in love, we are imitating God as dear children.
00:06:18This is a walk in love as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us in offering
00:06:24and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.
00:06:29Verse 3, befornication or sexual immorality and how much uncleanness, all or covetousness,
00:06:39let it not even be named among you as is fitting for saints.
00:06:46Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting.
00:06:52This is not, coarse jesting has to do with joking, but the kinds of jokes you tell when
00:06:58your intent is to hurt feelings, not just playing around, playing around with your friends.
00:07:04That's not what this is talking about.
00:07:06I don't know if you know anyone who has to make a joke out of everything.
00:07:13I mean everything, turn everything into a joke.
00:07:16Now sometimes, key word, sometimes it's received because maybe the environment or the atmosphere
00:07:24needs to be lightened or lifted up.
00:07:28That's understandable.
00:07:29But when, again, when your intent is to hurt with words and you encase it in a joke, that's
00:07:38what this scripture is talking about.
00:07:40Coarse jesting.
00:07:41And it says, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
00:07:44Now I need to read this again because we need to be very clear as to what Paul is saying
00:07:50here.
00:07:51Notice what he says.
00:07:52He says, fornication, sexual immorality, that's anything sexually immoral, any kind of uncleanness,
00:07:59any kind, covetousness, Bible says that's idolatry.
00:08:05Covetousness is when you desire what belongs to someone else.
00:08:09Not that you want to do like them or be like them, but you want what they have.
00:08:15You want what's theirs.
00:08:16You don't want to go and get your own, you want what's theirs.
00:08:19That's covetousness.
00:08:20I don't want a house like yours, I want your house.
00:08:24That's covetousness.
00:08:25Look what he says.
00:08:28He says, don't allow it to be named among you, mentioned among you.
00:08:36Notice again, he says fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, then he goes into verse four,
00:08:42filthiness, foolish talking, coarse jesting.
00:08:45He says, these are not fitting.
00:08:48Here's what should be named among you, the giving of thanks.
00:08:52Then he says this in verse five, for this you know, Paul's writing to the church at
00:08:56Ephesus and he says, this you know.
00:08:58Well, what do we know, Paul?
00:09:00What did the Ephesian believers know?
00:09:03And what is it that we as believers, those called to be saints, what is it that we should
00:09:07know?
00:09:08He says, for this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man.
00:09:14Now this is what I want you to observe.
00:09:15Notice in verse three, it was the act.
00:09:19The acts were mentioned, fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, but notice in verse five, it's
00:09:27not the act, it's the person.
00:09:30Do you see that?
00:09:32Verse three, fornication, verse five, fornicator, unclean person.
00:09:39Verse three, uncleanness.
00:09:42Verse five, unclean person.
00:09:44Verse three, covetousness.
00:09:47Verse five, covetous man.
00:09:49What difference is Paul making here?
00:09:51He's making the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous.
00:09:56If you are the righteousness of God, if you have truly been changed, if a conversion has
00:10:04taken place, there has been a nature change.
00:10:09Hear what I'm saying, ladies and gentlemen.
00:10:14You can't be a liar.
00:10:20And I know some of you are thinking, I know some lying Christians.
00:10:23I know some.
00:10:27You're right.
00:10:28You may know some Christians who unfortunately lie.
00:10:32And they—somebody said all the time—they lie as much as God is good, huh?
00:10:38All the time.
00:10:42And that ought not be.
00:10:45But what's Paul doing?
00:10:46Paul is letting us know who we are according to the contract.
00:10:50According to the covenant, he's saying, if you've been bought with the blood of the lamb,
00:10:55you can't be a fornicator.
00:10:57Now fornication could be named among you, but you're no longer a fornicator.
00:11:05Uncleanness could be named among you.
00:11:07You could engage in uncleanness, but if you're the righteousness of God, you're no longer
00:11:11an unclean person.
00:11:14There's been a nature change.
00:11:15In 1 Corinthians 6, 11, here's how Paul words it.
00:11:18He says, such were some of you.
00:11:21Meaning, this is who you used to be.
00:11:26Everything listed here before Christ is what and who we used to be.
00:11:32But if you've been justified, declared righteous, if you've been sanctified, set apart, if you've
00:11:39been washed, cleansed from sin, that's no longer who you are.
00:11:46So again, he's talking to the church and he's saying, new covenant believers, uncleanness
00:11:53should not be named among you because that is not the behavior of a saint.
00:11:59He says, but this you already know, verse 5, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor
00:12:04covetous man who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
00:12:13The unrighteous have not inherited the kingdom of God.
00:12:16The righteous have.
00:12:19And the righteous are all who call on the name of the Lord to be saved.
00:12:25If you've called on the name of the Lord to be saved, you are God's righteousness and
00:12:30you're no longer what you used to be.
00:12:34You're no longer the old you.
00:12:36Now, if you don't arrest yourself, if you don't buffet your body, if you don't discipline
00:12:42your tongue, you'll behave like the old man.
00:12:47Because the nature in your flesh hasn't changed, but your spirit man has been made new.
00:12:55And it's according to that new nature that we should live and walk.
00:12:59Verse 6, let no one deceive you with empty words.
00:13:03For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon who?
00:13:08The sons of disobedience, therefore you believers do not be partakers with them.
00:13:15So if I'm a believer, I'm not a son of disobedience.
00:13:18As a matter of fact, if I'm not a son of disobedience, I must be a son of obedience.
00:13:24You can't be both.
00:13:25Jesus said you can't serve two masters.
00:13:29You're going to love one, you're going to hate the other.
00:13:32Meaning if you love God, you hate Satan.
00:13:35You hate the devil.
00:13:38God is love.
00:13:39Yeah, but he hates hate.
00:13:43And he hates sin.
00:13:46And the devil is the embodiment of sin.
00:13:48So you can't love sin and love God.
00:13:52John said it like this in 1 John chapter 2, verses 15 through 17, says if you love
00:13:56the world and the things of the world, then the love of the Father is not in you.
00:13:59Well, if the love of the Father is not in you because you love the world and the things
00:14:03of the world, meaning you love the system of the world, that means you must love the
00:14:06one who oversees the system of the world, and that is not God.
00:14:11The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, but the system does not belong to him.
00:14:17Jesus was very clear about that.
00:14:19He said the ruler of this world is coming, John 14, 30.
00:14:22The ruler or prince of this world is coming, and he ain't got nothing to do with me.
00:14:28That's what Jesus said.
00:14:31He calls him the ruler of this world three times.
00:14:34Paul calls him the God of this age, the prince of the power of the air.
00:14:37The system of the world is run by the adversary.
00:14:41He does not own the planet.
00:14:43He's leasing the system.
00:14:44Matter of fact, he stole it or deceived it out of the first vice regent of the planet,
00:14:50you know him by Adam.
00:14:53And he handed jurisdiction.
00:14:55That's why when he was tempting Jesus, he said, if you bow down and worship me, I'll
00:14:58give you all the kingdoms of the world.
00:15:00Why?
00:15:01Well, they were delivered to me.
00:15:03When were the kingdoms of this world delivered to the adversary?
00:15:06Right there in that garden, because of Adam's sin.
00:15:09So what's Paul now saying to those who have received Jesus as Savior and Lord?
00:15:15He's saying, you are now a part of the kingdom of God.
00:15:19You're now a part of a new government and a new nation.
00:15:23Those who have yet to make the decision that you've made or those who have rejected it
00:15:27are a part of another kingdom.
00:15:30Therefore, do not be partakers with them.
00:15:36Okay, so I know who's in the kingdom of God.
00:15:42I know that if I am a believer in the Lord Jesus, I'm a part of his kingdom, part of
00:15:48his body, part of his church.
00:15:52So I'm a part of a new government.
00:15:55What does God have to say about government in general?
00:15:59I mean, do you look at the governments of this world and go, yep, God's responsible
00:16:04for that?
00:16:05Right?
00:16:06Do you look at this recent presidential debate and go, God's in the midst of this, I can
00:16:13tell you that.
00:16:14Right?
00:16:15Do you walk away with that?
00:16:25So what does God have to say about government?
00:16:28Well he's a governmental God.
00:16:31So let's see what he says in his word.
00:16:32Matter of fact, let's be crystal clear about what he says in his word.
00:16:37Romans 13, 5 verse 1.
00:16:50And if it's in your head, if it's embedded in your mind, what I'm about to tell you,
00:16:54you need to remove it.
00:16:57You have this idea that one party is so godly and the other is so devilish.
00:17:07Now maybe a certain party aligns with your morals.
00:17:16Probably not completely, but maybe one party is closer to your moral compass.
00:17:22And that's the way you go.
00:17:23And that's fine.
00:17:25But at its core, it's a part of the system of the world.
00:17:31Never forget that.
00:17:33And you and I are no longer a part of that system.
00:17:36We live in it, but we're not of it.
00:17:41And we abide by the laws of the land because that's the godly thing to do unless the laws
00:17:47of the land command me to abandon my God.
00:17:51The laws of the land commanded me to abandon my God and my only other option is imprisonment
00:17:56or death.
00:17:58To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
00:18:02You can't compromise.
00:18:06All right, listen to what Paul says about this.
00:18:11Romans 13, verse 1.
00:18:13Listen carefully to what he says.
00:18:16Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities.
00:18:21To the governing authorities.
00:18:23For there is no authority except that which is from God and the authorities that exist
00:18:30are appointed by God.
00:18:32We're going to clear this up in a second.
00:18:36Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God and those who resist
00:18:40will bring judgment on themselves.
00:18:43Okay, let's look at these two verses for a quick second.
00:18:49First off, authority only exists because God exists.
00:18:55When God created mankind, he said let them have something.
00:18:58Let them have what?
00:19:00Let them have dominion and dominion is authority, but man didn't have dominion on their own.
00:19:04Where did they get it from?
00:19:05They got it from God because God is the creator of authority.
00:19:12Jesus even said this after Calvary, he said all authority has what?
00:19:15Been given to me in heaven and on earth and then he told his church to go.
00:19:20And that word go in the Greek literally means transfer.
00:19:24So that was his transfer of authority, the transfer of his authority to the church in
00:19:29the earth realm to conduct or transact kingdom business in his name.
00:19:34That's what go meant.
00:19:35He said I'll ascend to the right hand of the father and I will handle authority from heaven.
00:19:42So again, there can be, you can't even have a perversion of authority unless you first
00:19:47have authority and you only have authority because there's God.
00:19:52Okay, so let every soul be subject to governing authorities.
00:19:58In other words, what has God ordained?
00:20:00God has ordained for there to be authority.
00:20:03He has ordained for there to be government.
00:20:07It doesn't necessarily mean he has ordained every single person assuming the positions
00:20:14of these governing authorities.
00:20:18Does he allow it?
00:20:19Sure he does.
00:20:20But not everything God allows is his will.
00:20:27No, there's what God causes and there's what God permits.
00:20:32There's the causative will of God and there's the permissive will of God.
00:20:36Just like there's the perfect will of God and then there's the acceptable will of God.
00:20:40There's what's acceptable.
00:20:41It's not perfect.
00:20:42Best example I can give you is the example that I always give.
00:20:45The Old Testament sacrifices, were they perfect?
00:20:48Was Jesus the perfect sacrifice?
00:20:50But until Jesus came, were those sacrifices before him acceptable?
00:20:55Correct.
00:20:56Okay, so there's no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed
00:21:01by God.
00:21:02In other words, again, the concept and the idea of authority has been appointed by God.
00:21:07Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God.
00:21:10See, this is the Scripture telling us we must obey the laws of the land.
00:21:17Look at verse three, for rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil.
00:21:22That's what they're supposed to be.
00:21:26Do you want to be unafraid of the authority?
00:21:29Do what is good and you'll have praise from the same authority.
00:21:33Verse four, for he is God's minister to you for good, but if you do evil, be afraid for
00:21:38he does not bear the sword in vain for he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath
00:21:42on him who practices evil.
00:21:45In other words, this is what God intended for it to be.
00:21:48Sadly, there have been those who have abused this.
00:21:53We can list a number of rulers who clearly, based on the way they operated, had nothing
00:22:00to do with God, nothing.
00:22:05But the idea of authoritative figures, the idea of decency and order is from God.
00:22:15Verse six, verse five, therefore you must be subject not only because of wrath but also
00:22:20for conscious sake, for because of these things also pay taxes.
00:22:25We're not excited about that, are we?
00:22:26But the Bible says, Jesus said it in his earthly ministry, render to Caesar that which is Caesar's.
00:22:35Render to God that which is God's.
00:22:38They were living under the Roman Empire during the days of Jesus, even in the days of Paul.
00:22:43It's the Roman Empire.
00:22:44So what's he saying?
00:22:45Well, he's saying because of this, you also pay taxes.
00:22:49They're God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.
00:22:53Render therefore to all their due taxes to whom taxes are due.
00:22:56Customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
00:23:01That's what we're supposed to do.
00:23:03Now in a perfect world, we would live in a Christian state.
00:23:06We don't live in a Christian state.
00:23:08There aren't many Christian states in the world.
00:23:13If a Christian state was truly a Christian state, that state would be governed by the
00:23:16Word of God.
00:23:19We don't see that.
00:23:22And even in states that are supposed to be Christian states, they're not so Christian.
00:23:29What else does he say?
00:23:30He says this through Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2.
00:23:35We're going to really see why the kingdom of God is in existence and why it's in operation.
00:23:45It's God's flawless governmental system.
00:23:50The kingdom of God is, it's counter-cultural.
00:23:56Jesus was counter-cultural.
00:24:00He went against the religious system of the day.
00:24:05But never violating the law of the land, again, doing all things decently and in order.
00:24:14It would not, because you're rulers, because those who have authority over you may not
00:24:19be godly people or exhibit or display godly character, that doesn't mean disobey laws.
00:24:27That doesn't mean break the law.
00:24:28I'm breaking the law.
00:24:29I mean, they break the law, so I'm going to break the law.
00:24:32That's not the way we're supposed to carry ourselves or conduct ourselves as citizens,
00:24:36especially citizens of the kingdom of God.
00:24:39First Peter chapter 2, verse 13, it says, therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance
00:24:46of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors as to those
00:24:54who are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, for the praise of those who do
00:25:01good.
00:25:03For this is the will of God that by doing good, you may put to silence the ignorance
00:25:08of foolish men.
00:25:10As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice.
00:25:16I don't use my liberty in the Lord as a disguise to do whatever I want to do.
00:25:23But as what?
00:25:24Bond servants of God, honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
00:25:29In other words, in a general sense, there must be submission to government.
00:25:34There must be submission to authority.
00:25:38Going against that would be going against the word.
00:25:40Again, God has not ordained every individual.
00:25:44Oh, but there's that scripture over in Daniel chapter 4 as it related to Nebuchadnezzar
00:25:52where, you know, it talks about how God raises up kings, has the power to remove them.
00:25:58Again, you got to keep everything in its proper context.
00:26:03Now we have to go back to the beginning so that we can see how we arrived where we are
00:26:11today.
00:26:12Going to take a little government journey as it relates to the scripture because my
00:26:19lens, your lens, is the Bible.
00:26:21That's our worldview.
00:26:24We've got to measure everything according to scripture.
00:26:29Scripture may not address everything that we specifically, may not address it specifically
00:26:34everything that we deal with in life, but there is a, again, there's a thread in scripture
00:26:42in which by the Spirit of God you would know what to do and what not to do.
00:26:48Go to Genesis chapter 10.
00:26:49We're going to go to Genesis chapter 10 and we're going to look at, we're going to look
00:26:56at the first, we're going to look at the first unauthorized government.
00:27:06The first unauthorized government.
00:27:09Now God's, God's system again was very simple.
00:27:12Matter of fact, there wasn't supposed to be sin in the world.
00:27:15He told Adam, don't eat of the fruit of that particular tree.
00:27:19If you do in the day, you eat of it, you'll surely what?
00:27:22You'll surely, you'll surely die.
00:27:25God's system was very simple.
00:27:27He created the Adam to tend and keep the garden and all who would come as a result of who
00:27:35we know as Adam, their job was to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
00:27:44Eating by definition means pleasure and abundance.
00:27:47So God placed man in a garden of pleasure, a garden of abundance to live and they were
00:27:55to do tend to the garden and it was work, but not the kind of work we experience today.
00:28:03You know, we work till the sweat of our brow.
00:28:06We work to the sweat of our brow and at the end of the day we look up and we wonder, did
00:28:09we accomplish anything?
00:28:12That's all because of sin.
00:28:16The environment has been tainted by sin and so the results that we, that we, that we receive
00:28:22from our work, they're, they're, they're not like the results Adam received before sin.
00:28:29Okay.
00:28:30Real simple process.
00:28:31Again, God would leave his house, come down to his kid's house in the earth realm and
00:28:35hang out with him.
00:28:37That was it.
00:28:38Sin comes into the world, messes everything up.
00:28:40Sin comes into the world and now you have a brother murdering his brother.
00:28:44We all know the account of Cain and Abel.
00:28:47We all know about the wickedness that was in the world because the wickedness was so
00:28:50great due to some celestial activity as well, but the wickedness was so great that it led
00:28:54to flood waters, destroying all life on the earth except for eight, Noah, his wife, their
00:29:02sons and their wives.
00:29:04Well, what happened after, right?
00:29:07Water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.
00:29:08Water is symbolic of the word, but water is also symbolic of cleansing.
00:29:14So the floodwaters cleansed the earth from filthiness and wickedness, but it did not
00:29:19do away with the nature of sin, did it?
00:29:22It did not.
00:29:23Because wickedness and evil would arise at a later time.
00:29:28But it was Noah's son's responsibility to populate the earth.
00:29:32Well, there's a man by the name of Ham over here in Genesis chapter, chapter 10.
00:29:39We learn about Ham and we learn, we especially learned this during Apostle Frederick Cayce
00:29:45Price's definitive lesson, Race, Religion, and Racism, in which he went through the table
00:29:51of nations and we learn, you know, we've heard some silly, silly ideas over the course of
00:29:57our lives.
00:29:58Things like being black is a curse.
00:30:00Anyone ever heard that or anyone ever heard anything like that?
00:30:03And then you even had certain Christians who didn't have black skin trying to support
00:30:09the idea that black skin is a curse with scriptures, which is an abuse of the text.
00:30:16That's making the word of God say what you want it to say, not what the word of God really
00:30:20says.
00:30:22And we know black, we know black was not a curse.
00:30:25Matter of fact, when you read Genesis chapter 10, verse 6, the Bible says, and the sons
00:30:31of Ham were Cush.
00:30:32Cush was his first son.
00:30:33From Cush we get Ethiopia, we get the horn of Africa, we get the ancient Nubian kingdom.
00:30:38You know what Nubian means?
00:30:39Black.
00:30:40Want to know what Ethiopia means?
00:30:41Black.
00:30:42Want to know what Cush means?
00:30:43Black.
00:30:44So, literally, when we're reading the scripture, Genesis 10, 6, the Bible says, and the sons
00:30:48of Ham were black.
00:30:54Seems like it would have been a problem, at least with Noah, when he saw that black boy
00:30:58come out of the loins of his son, Ham.
00:31:04It's amazing how you can take the scriptures and you can make them say whatever you want
00:31:09them to say, especially if you're preaching to a people who don't have access to the scriptures
00:31:15you're preaching from.
00:31:16I can make the word say whatever I want it to say.
00:31:20I can lord it over people.
00:31:22No, no, no.
00:31:24We go back here, we see that Ham was responsible for fathering the nations, again, I'm coming
00:31:30from a biblical position.
00:31:33From a biblical position.
00:31:34This is what the Bible teaches us.
00:31:36You know, at one point, the Bible was the premier history book in the world, in antiquity.
00:31:44It was reported to be the oldest written work until the discovering of one work known as
00:31:51the Epic of Gilgamesh.
00:31:53But even when you study that out, you know that that comes from one of the sons here
00:31:57in Genesis 10, which again is known as the table of nations.
00:32:01So what does Ham give us?
00:32:02He gives us the nations that today, if we were to go to his lands, it'd be considered
00:32:08North Africa.
00:32:10Well, one son, a bad seed showed up.
00:32:18And he was black, but he wasn't bad because he was black.
00:32:29There are people with what we would call white skin that do bad things, and there are people
00:32:36with what we would call white skin that do good things.
00:32:39And it's the same with those with that which we would call black skin.
00:32:44Here we go.
00:32:45Genesis chapter 10.
00:32:46We're going to drop down to verse eight.
00:32:48We're going to drop down to verse eight because in verse six, we get these, we get these sons
00:32:52of Ham and in verse seven, we get these sons of Cush, but then we get to verse eight and
00:32:56one son gets special attention.
00:33:01Special attention.
00:33:02Genesis chapter 10, verse eight says, Cush begot a man by the name of Nimrod, a man by
00:33:09the name of Nimrod.
00:33:11Now this name Nimrod later on in, in humanity and the existence of civilizations and cultures,
00:33:21very recent as a matter of fact, the word Nimrod would somehow be associated with idiot.
00:33:28Stupid, the word Nimrod.
00:33:33If you have, if you, if you're familiar with your Warner Brothers Looney Tunes history,
00:33:41if you're well-versed in it, then you would know that often Bugs Bunny would refer to
00:33:47Elmer Fudd as a Nimrod.
00:33:51And Elmer seemed to be pretty stupid, right?
00:33:54But here's what most don't know.
00:33:56There was an underlying message.
00:33:58Elmer Fudd was a what?
00:34:00A hunter.
00:34:01And what is the Bible called?
00:34:02Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.
00:34:05Nimrod was not an idiot.
00:34:06Nimrod was brilliant.
00:34:09He was brilliant and wicked as I don't know what, evil.
00:34:18I would go on to say Nimrod was probably the first anti-Christ figure we see in the earth.
00:34:25That's how anti-God he was.
00:34:28Cain was a mess, but Cain at least, Cain had a little bit of reverence for God.
00:34:38I mean, he runs from God when God asks questions that Cain knows God already knows the answer
00:34:44to and then Cain lies.
00:34:46But there's a, there's some reverence that Nimrod, pure evil.
00:34:50I'll show you why.
00:34:51Verse eight says, Cush begot Nimrod and he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
00:34:57We're about to witness the birth of the first government, but that government was unauthorized.
00:35:02It was not God ordained.
00:35:07It was wicked, holy, fully in and out.
00:35:13He began to be a mighty one on the earth.
00:35:15Now, now when I just read this scripture, I mean, it sounds like Nimrod was the man.
00:35:19He was mighty on the earth.
00:35:22Don't we all desire to be mighty on the earth?
00:35:26Then look at verse nine.
00:35:27He was a what?
00:35:28A mighty hunter, a mighty hunter before the Lord.
00:35:35Therefore it is said like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.
00:35:40Now Genesis chapter 10 is simply a chapter about the nations that came from Shem, Ham
00:35:48and Yapheth and Noah's sons.
00:35:50It's not the chapter you go to to read about righteousness or, or laws.
00:35:55It's a, it's a, it's a, that's why it's called the table of nations.
00:35:59So it's simply telling you what Nimrod did, what he built.
00:36:03It's not telling you who he is.
00:36:05You, you, you learn about who he is by, by the result of one of his edicts in chapter
00:36:1111.
00:36:12We'll read that in just a second.
00:36:13This is just telling us who he was and what he built, but this is what you're going to
00:36:17notice.
00:36:18Watch this.
00:36:19Verse nine again, he was a mighty hunter before the Lord.
00:36:20Therefore it is said like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.
00:36:23Verse 10 it says, and the beginning of his what, as soon as I see this word, where does
00:36:30my mind go?
00:36:31Oh, we have a kingdom now.
00:36:34We have a kingdom now.
00:36:35Well, if we have a kingdom, we must have a, we must have a king.
00:36:40High probability that we also have a queen.
00:36:44And if there are sons or daughters, then we have, we have princes.
00:36:47We have, we have princesses, but okay, now we've got a royal court.
00:36:51Oh, okay.
00:36:52We've got government here.
00:36:54Now you don't see this word kingdom between Genesis chapter one and Genesis chapter nine.
00:37:01The first time we see the word kingdom is right here in Genesis 10, 10, and it is specifically
00:37:07associated with a man named Nimrod.
00:37:11What does that mean?
00:37:12Verse 10 again, the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Babel.
00:37:21By definition, Babel means confusion.
00:37:26It's interesting that there's a software product that's a competitor with Rosetta Stone
00:37:33called Babel.
00:37:36You want to learn a language?
00:37:37You can purchase this language software called Babel.
00:37:42Where'd they get that from?
00:37:48Anyone recall the account of the Tower of Babel or you have heard of, of it at least
00:37:54the Tower of Babel.
00:37:56The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech or Erech or Akkad, the land of the Akkadians
00:38:05and Kalna in the land of Shinar.
00:38:08What was Shinar?
00:38:09Shinar was known as the country of two rivers.
00:38:13Shinar was the biblical name for another name that interestingly I did not learn about when
00:38:19I was in school.
00:38:21I don't think most of us did, especially when it came to informing children in classrooms
00:38:29where civilization began.
00:38:33We were told that the fathers of antiquity were the Greeks.
00:38:38Nope, wasn't the Greeks.
00:38:43And we for sure know civilization didn't start with Greeks or Romans.
00:38:49We've been told it was Africa, but no real specifics.
00:38:52Many say Egypt, Egypt could be a part of it.
00:38:57Egypt was a part of something known as the Fertile Crescent.
00:38:59The Fertile Crescent consisted of Egypt, consisted of the entire Levant.
00:39:04The Levant were the lands of Canaan and Phoenicia.
00:39:07By the way, Phoenicians were black people.
00:39:10Not only were they black people, but we get our working alphabet from the Phoenicians,
00:39:15not the Greeks.
00:39:16The Greeks got it from the Phoenicians.
00:39:18Our working alphabet came from some black skinned people.
00:39:23Just ask why.
00:39:26It consisted of the Levant, Canaan, Phoenicia, and then it went into the land that was known
00:39:33as Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia.
00:39:36Mesopotamia would become prime real estate when it came to future kingdoms that followed,
00:39:43like Assyria and Babylon and Chaldea and even Persia, the Greeks and the Roman Empire
00:39:48as well.
00:39:50But Mesopotamia has been known as the cradle of civilization.
00:39:55It even appears in Scripture that Eden was in Mesopotamia.
00:40:02So that's the land of Shinar and that was the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom.
00:40:07But then watch this.
00:40:08Look what it says in verse 11.
00:40:09Then it says, from that land he went somewhere else.
00:40:12Where did he go?
00:40:13He went to a place called Assyria.
00:40:16Now here's where it gets interesting.
00:40:19Assyria didn't come from Ham like Nimrod did.
00:40:25Nimrod came from Ham, but Assyria came from a man, you can read it in beginning with verse
00:40:3121 of the same chapter, you see the sons of Shem.
00:40:35You see that one of Shem's sons was named Asher and from Asher came the land we know
00:40:44as the ancient land of Assyria.
00:40:48You want to see Assyria today, you want to see Babylon today, you want to see Chaldea
00:40:52today, you got to go, you want to see Persia today, you got to go to Iraq, you got to go
00:40:55to Iran.
00:40:56That's where their remains are.
00:40:57Back then there was no Iraq, there was no Iran, you had Assyria, you had Babylon, you
00:41:01had Chaldea.
00:41:02Where did these lands come from?
00:41:03Well, they came ultimately from Noah, ultimately from Shem, Ham, and Japheth, certain sons
00:41:08specifically.
00:41:10Here you have this land of Assyria birthed out of Shem and then you have this Nimrod
00:41:15birthed out of Ham, but he goes into the land of basically his cousin and the Scripture
00:41:21says that he did what?
00:41:22He built Nineveh.
00:41:26He built Nineveh.
00:41:28Anyone ever heard of Nineveh?
00:41:30You probably heard of Nineveh because you probably heard of Jonah, and if you're familiar
00:41:34with the account of Jonah, Jonah was swallowed by a—most of you are saying great fish or
00:41:49big fish.
00:41:52Some are saying whale, creature, swallowed by a—it was a monster, swallowed by a monster.
00:42:03But where was he headed?
00:42:04He was headed to Nineveh to declare the Word of God.
00:42:08That's where he was going.
00:42:10Well, who built Nineveh?
00:42:11Nimrod did.
00:42:12And it said from that land he went to Assyria, he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-er, Qala, and Rezin
00:42:18between Nineveh and Qala.
00:42:21That is the principal city.
00:42:23What's very interesting about this city, Nineveh, is that in Hebrew Bible definition, it literally
00:42:31means the abode of Ninus.
00:42:33Now who's Ninus?
00:42:34It's another name for Nimrod.
00:42:37Now any Assyriologist, which is one who studies Assyria, studies Babylon, studies Chaldea,
00:42:43studies these ancient territories, any one of these scholars in this field, they will
00:42:49tell you that the man by the name of Nimrod, also known as Ninus, is an enigmatic figure,
00:42:56meaning he's an enigma of a person.
00:43:00They don't really know his origin.
00:43:03They don't really even know if he existed, rather they believe certain rulers may have
00:43:08influenced his legend.
00:43:11But what do you and I know?
00:43:13Again, if you are a Bible believer, then you know that if the Bible says a man named Nimrod
00:43:19was born, then a man named Nimrod was born.
00:43:25So what did this Nimrod do?
00:43:27Now we don't read anything about him in the remainder of this chapter, anything else.
00:43:33But then we get to chapter 11.
00:43:36Let's look at verse 1.
00:43:38Again, I found out from chapter 10 that the beginning of his kingdom, so somebody said
00:43:45Nimrod was a king.
00:43:48Is it possible that those who observed him said that man's a king?
00:43:52Or is it possible that he said, I'm a king.
00:43:56I think I'm going to start a kingdom and I think I'm going to have you follow me.
00:44:03And clearly some folks said, sounds like a win.
00:44:08Let's do it.
00:44:09Well, history, biblical history that is, extra biblical history tells us that this man Nimrod
00:44:17was a master hunter.
00:44:20He was a, he, he, he had some other worldly influence over animals like horses and dogs
00:44:28specifically taught men how to hunt on horses, taught dogs how to hunt.
00:44:34That's what these writings tell us about this Nimrod figure.
00:44:37We don't see his name again, but we see the beginning of his kingdom in the next chapter.
00:44:41Look here, chapter 11, verse 1, it says, now the whole earth had one language and had
00:44:46one speech.
00:44:48Now, let's say you don't believe in the Bible.
00:44:54And let's say you're a person of facts, maybe science, maybe history that can be proven.
00:45:02Well, here are facts.
00:45:04Facts are that across multiple cultures in ancient times, they believed that there was
00:45:12a tower that reached the heavens.
00:45:15Across multiple civilizations, they believed there was a great deluge or a great flood.
00:45:24Let's say you don't believe in the account of Noah.
00:45:25Let's say you don't believe in the account of the Bible.
00:45:28The ancients did, they believed there was a flood.
00:45:32Some of them believed it engulfed the entire planet.
00:45:35Some believed a portion of the planet.
00:45:38My question would be, how did all of these cultures have this idea that there was this
00:45:44massive flood?
00:45:46How did all of these cultures have this idea?
00:45:48Where did they get it from that there was a tower that reached heavens and that there
00:45:51was one language?
00:45:55You can study the ancient peoples of Mesoamerica, like the Aztecs and the Incas and the Toltecs
00:46:04and the Mayans, and they have these stories.
00:46:08The ancient Chinese and Japanese, they have these stories.
00:46:13Where did they get these stories from?
00:46:15Okay, look at verse one again.
00:46:18Whole earth had what?
00:46:19One language, one speech, verse two.
00:46:20And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, they found a plain in the land of
00:46:27Shinar, biblical Mesopotamia, and they dwelt there.
00:46:30First question, why are they coming from the east?
00:46:35That way would be east.
00:46:36Why are they coming from the east?
00:46:37They're coming from the east because where the ark stopped was east of Shinar in the
00:46:43mountains of Ararat.
00:46:45So they're journeying from coming to the land of Shinar.
00:46:49And it says, and they dwelt there.
00:46:51Then they said to one another, come let us, we're going to do something.
00:46:55Now it seems rather random that a bunch of people got together and said, let us make
00:46:59bricks and bake them thoroughly.
00:47:02It says they had brick for stone, they had asphalt for mortar.
00:47:07This word asphalt also means slime, let me tell you, or bitumen or bitumen.
00:47:15Anyone who's worked on streets may be familiar with this substance.
00:47:19The ark had it, which is why no water could seep through.
00:47:24And they wanted to build the tower with the same material so that it would be waterproof
00:47:29in case God chose to flood the world again.
00:47:34They were brilliant, using way much more of their brain than we use today.
00:47:44They said what?
00:47:45Come let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.
00:47:46They had brick for stone and they had asphalt for mortar.
00:47:49And they said, come let us build ourselves a city and a what?
00:47:53And a tower whose top is in the heavens.
00:47:56Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole
00:47:59earth.
00:48:00Now, what did they mean?
00:48:01They said whose top is in the heavens.
00:48:02Many believed that they were attempting to build a tower that would reach heaven.
00:48:06That would be very problematic.
00:48:08Matter of fact, if they were trying to build a tower that reached heaven, they'd still
00:48:12be building it right now.
00:48:18Because how far away is heaven?
00:48:20I don't know why I get excited.
00:48:23I tell this all the time and I get excited every time I tell it.
00:48:26Let me tell you how far is heaven.
00:48:27It'll give you an idea as to how big your God is.
00:48:30Like just in case you thought God was big, I want to help you understand that he's bigger
00:48:34than the big you thought he was.
00:48:40There were things like he existed before the beginning and that everything that exists
00:48:44relies on him for its sustenance.
00:48:49God created the earth.
00:48:50He created the heavens, plural, the heavens.
00:48:54What we call outer space or the vacuum of space, he created it.
00:49:01And scientists tell us what about space?
00:49:04That it's still expanding.
00:49:07Space is still going forward.
00:49:10How do they know this?
00:49:12Because when they look through their powerful satellites, there are certain things that
00:49:16they can see, luminaries, planets, stars, galaxies, and they're further away than they
00:49:24were the last time.
00:49:27Well that's right in line with the word of God because God said, let there be light.
00:49:36He never told light to stop.
00:49:40So watch this now.
00:49:41Now y'all about to see how much of a nerd I am.
00:49:43Here we go.
00:49:48If space is still expanding and started expanding the moment God created space, then space has
00:49:59a head start over them building the tower.
00:50:04Now I'm going to run into a number of issues when I'm building this tower.
00:50:08As I'm building this tower, I'm going to reach a point in the air in which it's going to
00:50:12be difficult for me to breathe.
00:50:15This is why when we're flying on an airplane, you can't roll the window down.
00:50:20Might not want to do that.
00:50:24There are many spheres that lead to the atmosphere.
00:50:29Even when we fly, it's worded this way that we're in the heavens, right?
00:50:36So the sky and the air and everything above the sky and the air.
00:50:40Well, it's hard to—we're not even in space yet and it's hard to breathe there.
00:50:44What happens when we breathe the atmosphere?
00:50:46We can't breathe out.
00:50:47So if they were actually building a tower in order to reach heaven, they've got a number
00:50:51of issues that they're going to deal with.
00:50:53Number one, they need to reconcile for lack of oxygen and the atmosphere or the environment
00:51:02of space.
00:51:03And then again, you're building a tower attempting to reach heaven and space has a head start
00:51:08on you.
00:51:10So how can you ever catch up with an ever-expanding universe?
00:51:14And let's say that you did catch up.
00:51:18The Bible says, Jesus Christ dwells in unapproachable light, unapproachable.
00:51:29So you're about to find out how brilliant these people were back in the day.
00:51:33Has anyone ever come across the idea?
00:51:36Maybe you've seen a documentary, maybe you've read it somewhere, but the idea that technology
00:51:42was way more advanced back then than it is today.
00:51:48And we're playing catch-up.
00:51:49Well, if your viewpoint is biblical, then you agree with that.
00:51:57And what were they building?
00:51:58Notice what they said.
00:51:59Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is where?
00:52:03In the heavens, plural.
00:52:04In other words, whose top is up there.
00:52:05But what was at the top of the top?
00:52:10Anyone ever heard of CERN?
00:52:14Raise your hand if you've heard of CERN, if you know what CERN—oh, that's a lot of hands.
00:52:18You know what CERN is.
00:52:21Anyone ever heard of a large hadron collider?
00:52:27Okay, this one particles, particles are moving at speed so fast that when they crash into
00:52:36each other, it causes a rip and a tear in the fabric of space and time.
00:52:41You may know it from your favorite fantasy or your favorite science fiction film as a
00:52:46gate or a portal.
00:52:48On their biblically speaking, now, again, if you don't believe the Bible, then ignore
00:52:51everything I'm saying.
00:52:53Easy peasy.
00:52:55But if you believe in the Bible, then you can know that portals are in the scriptures.
00:52:58Matter of fact, you even learn according to the scripture that you and I are portals.
00:53:04Because the psalmist says, lift up your head, oh ye gates.
00:53:12How can a gate lift its head up?
00:53:14Because you and I are gates.
00:53:16You and I are portals.
00:53:18I mean, aren't, weren't we at some point a doorway for the Savior to enter into and the
00:53:24Holy Spirit to enter into and take up residence in?
00:53:29Yeah.
00:53:32So you got portals in the scripture, but you may have read it as a whirlwind, a whirl,
00:53:39a warp, see that's how portals work, right?
00:53:44Come on, if you watch science fiction, if you, if you, if you watch Star Trek, it was
00:53:47called warp speed.
00:53:48If you watch Star Wars, it was called light speed.
00:53:51The list goes on to get from point A to point B very quickly, very rapidly.
00:53:57That's ultimately the only way intergalactic travel would work.
00:54:00We would need to reach speeds that were unimaginable.
00:54:04Well it existed in the Bible.
00:54:05Bible says God spoke to Job out of a whirlwind.
00:54:09That's out of a portal.
00:54:10That's what they were building here.
00:54:11Now I'm out of time, but let me just finish this thought.
00:54:16What were they building at the top?
00:54:17Anyone ever seen the movie Stargate?
00:54:20Came out in 95.
00:54:22They found a Stargate.
00:54:23They opened the Stargate.
00:54:24It took them to the other side of the universe.
00:54:26And you know what was on the other side of the universe?
00:54:28Something that looked like Egypt.
00:54:31Watch this.
00:54:34Let us build ourselves a city in the tower whose top is in the heavens.
00:54:37Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole
00:54:41earth.
00:54:42Why were they concerned about being scattered abroad?
00:54:45There's a reason for it, because it was going to, it was going to interfere with Nimrod's
00:54:51government.
00:54:54But the Lord came down to see the city.
00:54:56You mean to tell me they built something that got the Lord's attention?
00:54:59Shoot, I want to get the Lord's attention so that he comes down to see what I'm working
00:55:04on.
00:55:07The Lord came down.
00:55:10That's Jesus, by the way.
00:55:12That's Jesus, because if it was the Lord God, the Father, if he would have entered into
00:55:15the earth's atmosphere, the earth would have blew up.
00:55:19Because God's too holy for this place.
00:55:21That's why he had to have the Israelites build him places like a tabernacle and a holy of
00:55:25holies where his presence could be housed, because the earth can't handle his presence,
00:55:30because sin can't handle a holy God.
00:55:33So the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which humans had built.
00:55:40It was so impressive that God came down.
00:55:42Oh, and by the way, across multiple mythologies and belief systems, you have humans doing
00:55:51things that get the attention of the gods.
00:55:54Where did all that come from?
00:55:55It came from a source.
00:55:57This is the source material from which it came from.
00:56:01It says, and the Lord said, indeed, the people are one, and they all have one language.
00:56:09Ladies and gentlemen, imagine life, especially if you're a world traveler, imagine life in
00:56:17which there's only one language.
00:56:20How much easier would life be?
00:56:22How much more would we do?
00:56:24Would we accomplish?
00:56:25It says, they're one, and they all have one language.
00:56:29He said, and this is what they—this is their plan?
00:56:32This is what they begin to do?
00:56:34Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
00:56:37What was the Lord saying?
00:56:38He was saying, if they pull this off, they'll pull anything off.
00:56:44They'll pull anything off.
00:56:47So what does he say in verse 7?
00:56:49Let us go down there and do what?
00:56:51Confuse the language so they don't understand one another's speech.
00:56:55This was also to do what?
00:56:56Disrupt Nimrod's government.
00:56:58What was Nimrod's government?
00:57:00It was tyranny.
00:57:04Nimrod was a tyrant.
00:57:06Nimrod was a bully.
00:57:07See, the first government that we read about in Scripture was an unauthorized government.
00:57:12It was a kingdom that God didn't ordain because it was a kingdom ruled by terror.
00:57:16It was tyrannical.
00:57:18Nimrod was a tyrant, and he got the people to build this tower for him.
00:57:24What was Nimrod—I'm going to show you some material next time.
00:57:26We're going to read historical material that gives more detail into Nimrod's plan, but
00:57:32what did he want to do?
00:57:33He wanted to enter into heaven through one of these portals, because again, that's the
00:57:36only way he's going to get there.
00:57:38And what did he want to do?
00:57:39He wanted to overthrow God, and he was going to demand a reason from God as to why the
00:57:45sons of men were flooded in the days of Noah.
00:57:50What was wrong with that dude?
00:57:54So God says, oh, they about to do this.
00:57:57Now, of course, they would have entered into heaven, and they would have got slaughtered,
00:58:00but still, they were about to reach heaven.
00:58:04Let's go down there, confuse their language so that they don't understand one another's
00:58:07speech.
00:58:08So what did the Lord do?
00:58:09Scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building
00:58:14the city.
00:58:16Therefore its name is called confusion.
00:58:18That's what babble means.
00:58:24Babble means to be confused.
00:58:27It means confusion.
00:58:28Have you ever referred to someone in which their language was unintelligible as babbling?
00:58:36You're just babbling.
00:58:39Or maybe you could understand what they were saying, but you were pretty much ready for
00:58:46them to be quiet, and so you considered their intelligent language as babbling.
00:58:54That's what babble means.
00:58:57Babble means confusion.
00:58:58So, oh, watch this.
00:58:59If babble means confusion, then what did the city that would show up later on babble on
00:59:09mean?
00:59:12Babylon is babble on.
00:59:14Okay, watch this.
00:59:16Therefore its name is called babble because the Lord confused the language of all the
00:59:18earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
00:59:23You got to come back next week so you can hear the rest of this.
00:59:25You don't have to.
00:59:26Father, we thank you for your word.
00:59:29Its life is true.
00:59:31It will not, it cannot return to you void, but it will accomplish what it set out to
00:59:35do.
00:59:36It'll prosper where it's sent.
00:59:37Father, I thank you that the seed of the word has gone forth.
00:59:41It's been planted into the hearts of the people.
00:59:43Father, I thank you that there are those who entered into this place, and they have now
00:59:46increased in knowledge.
00:59:49They have increased in understanding.
00:59:55They have therefore increased in wisdom.
00:59:59And so I thank you that right now, the seed of the word has indeed been planted.
01:00:07The seed of the word has indeed been planted into the hearts of these here.