The Divine Monarchy (7) -- Dr. Fred K. C. Price - July 8th, 2024
Transcript
00:00And right now, we're going to go to a historical writing.
00:09I want to expound on what we read in Genesis chapter 10 and chapter 11,
00:15talking about the first government in the earth, but it was unauthorized.
00:21A man decided to do what he wanted to do
00:25and create a kingdom and garner a following.
00:31He had garnered the following, which led to the kingdom.
00:34And his name was Nimrod, and we saw his birth in Genesis chapter 10,
00:38that the beginning of his kingdom was Babel.
00:41And then in Genesis 11, we saw the building of this particular tower in the land of Babel.
00:51And so, we're going to look at some historical writing really quickly.
00:58And I want you to see, truly see what kind of man this Nimrod was.
01:07Let's go to Antiquities of the Jews.
01:14I think you all are already prepared.
01:20Antiquities should be on the screen in just a second.
01:34There we go.
01:36Okay.
01:38And what we're reading, a man by the name of Flavius Josephus gives us much history regarding Israel.
01:47And he expounds on some things that we read in Scripture.
01:56We're going to look at Book 1, chapter 4, Antiquities 1.4.1 to 1.4.3.
02:03I'll read and you can just follow along.
02:08It says, now the sons of Noah were three, Shem, Japheth, and Ham.
02:15We read about them in Genesis 9 as well as Genesis 10.
02:20It says, born 100 years before the deluge or before the flood.
02:27It says, these first of all descended from the mountains into the plains,
02:32which mountains? The mountains of Ararat into the plains of Shinar.
02:37We read this in Scripture as well.
02:39Genesis 11.
02:42This is into the plains and they fixed their habitations there and persuaded others who were greatly afraid of the lower grounds on account of the floods.
02:52And so we're very lofty to come down from the higher place to venture to follow their examples.
02:58And now they shouldn't have been worried about anything because God said,
03:01I'm going to give you the rainbow as a sign of my covenant with the earth, with man,
03:07and with every creeping thing and birds of the air that I'll never destroy the earth again with floodwaters.
03:14God's a keeper of his word.
03:17This is now the plain in which they first dwelt was called Shinar.
03:21Remember, that's the biblical name for Mesopotamia.
03:24God also commanded them to send colonies abroad for the thorough peopling of the earth,
03:29populating the earth.
03:30What did God tell Noah in Genesis chapter nine, verse one and two?
03:34He told Noah the same thing he told Adam, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth.
03:42So he commanded them to send colonies abroad for the thorough peopling of the earth,
03:46that they might not raise seditions among themselves,
03:50but might cultivate a great part of the earth and enjoy its fruits after a plentiful manner.
03:56But they were so ill instructed that they did not obey God,
04:00for which reason they fell into calamities and were made sensible by experience of what sin they had been guilty.
04:07For when they flourish with the numerous youth, God admonished them again to send out colonies.
04:12But they imagining the prosperity they enjoyed was not derived from the favor of God,
04:20but supposing that their own power, their own ability was the proper cause of the plentiful condition they were in.
04:28They did not obey him.
04:29You following along so far?
04:31In other words, the people said, we did this.
04:35It's because of us, not God.
04:39It says, nay, they added to this their disobedience to the divine will,
04:43the suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies that being divided asunder,
04:49they might easily or more easily be oppressed.
04:52What were they avoiding?
04:54They wanted to avoid distinction.
04:56They wanted to avoid the divisions that God ordained.
05:01And so remember what we read about in Genesis 11.
05:04It says the people were one and they spoke the same language.
05:08And what did they set their minds to do?
05:13Build a tower into the heavens.
05:16Antiquities 1.4.2.
05:19Who was the cause of all of this?
05:22Now it was Nimrod.
05:24Listen carefully to this.
05:27It was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God.
05:33He was the ringleader.
05:35He was the fuel.
05:37He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man and of great strength of hand.
05:43He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God as if it was through his means they were happy.
05:53Did you get that?
05:55Nimrod said what?
05:56He said what?
05:57Don't give credit to God.
05:59Don't give glory to God.
06:01Give credit and glory to me.
06:05Let me read that part again.
06:07He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God as if it was through his means that they were happy.
06:17But to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness.
06:23We see that today.
06:25The kind of self-righteousness, righteousness rooted in me, in self.
06:31It keeps God out of the equation.
06:33He also gradually changed the government into what?
06:37Tyranny.
06:39Seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God.
06:43So remember what happened in the earth.
06:45This is sometime after Cain murdered Abel.
06:49Then Eve has another child by the name of Seth.
06:53And Seth's name meant substitution.
06:56It also meant appointed.
07:00So Seth comes into the world.
07:03And Seth has a son by the name of Enosh.
07:05And then this is what Eve says.
07:08She praises God and she says what?
07:11Now men will begin to call on the name of the Lord.
07:16Well, what's Nimrod doing here?
07:20He operated in tyranny because he saw no other way of turning people from the fear of God.
07:27But to bring them into a constant dependence upon his power.
07:32He also said he would be revenged on God, meaning he'll get vengeance.
07:38Why?
07:40If he should have a mind to drown the world again.
07:44For that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach.
07:50And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers.
07:56This is Nimrod's mindset.
07:59So at the least the tower in his mind would have been above the highest peak.
08:07So that the waters, the floodwaters wouldn't reach it if God had it in his mind to destroy the world again with floodwaters.
08:15But again, God's a keeper of his word.
08:18He said he wouldn't do that again.
08:21And again, left us the what? The rainbow as a reminder.
08:26Antiquities 1.4.3.
08:29It says, now the multitude was very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod.
08:35And to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God.
08:39In other words, you are a coward if you serve God.
08:43It was better to serve Nimrod.
08:46And they built a tower neither sparing any pains nor being in any degree negligent about the work.
08:52And by reason of the multitude of hands employed in it.
08:55It grew very high sooner than anyone could expect.
08:59But the thickness of it was so great and it was so strongly built.
09:03That thereby its great height seemed upon the view to be less than it really was.
09:08It was built of burnt bricks cemented together with mortar made of bitumen.
09:12That it might not be liable to admit water.
09:15Nimrod was intentional to build the tower like the ark to make it waterproof.
09:21When God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly.
09:26Since they were not growing wiser by the destruction of the former sinners.
09:30What does he mean? The sinners before the flood.
09:33Now remember, God sent floodwaters to destroy the world not because of sin alone.
09:39Because sin was already here.
09:41Sin entered the world when Adam sinned.
09:46So if it was about sin, he could have flooded the world then.
09:50Cain murdered his brother Abel.
09:53If it was about sin only, God would have sent floodwaters then.
09:57No, a very specific something occurred in the earth realm that led to these specific actions.
10:04God flooding the earth.
10:05Genesis chapter 6 verse 1 through 4.
10:07I won't expound on it.
10:08But the Bible tells us the sons of God went into the daughters of men and they gave birth to giants.
10:13And what did those giants do?
10:15Those giants wrecked havoc of the earth.
10:18The Bible then says they got to a point to where they began to sin against nature.
10:24Sinning against the earth.
10:26Sinning against the animals.
10:27Sinning against plant life.
10:29God looks on the earth.
10:30All he sees is wickedness.
10:31And he sees that the wickedness is great.
10:34And so he sends floodwaters.
10:36So when God saw that they acted so madly, he did not resolve to destroy them utterly since they were not growing wiser by the destruction of the former sinners.
10:45But he caused a tumult among them by producing in them diverse languages or different languages.
10:52And causing that they through the multitude of those languages, they should not be able to understand one another.
10:59The place wherein they built the tower is now called Babylon.
11:05Because of the confusion of that language which they readily understood before.
11:10For the Hebrews mean by the word Babel confusion.
11:15The Sibyl.
11:17What's a Sibyl?
11:18A Sibyl was, anyone ever heard of an oracle?
11:20If you're familiar with that word.
11:22These were women who were to interpret the things of God to people.
11:27The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower.
11:29In other words, there were other writings.
11:31I said this to you last week.
11:33Other writings from other cultures and other mythologies and other religious belief systems.
11:38They too recognized a tower that was intended to reach the heavens.
11:43The Sibyl also makes mention of this tower and of the confusion of the language.
11:47When she says thus, when all men were of one language, some of them built a high tower as if they would thereby ascend up to heaven.
11:55But the gods sent storms of wind and overthrew the tower and gave everyone his peculiar language.
12:01And for this reason, it was that the city was called Babylon.
12:05We'll stop there.
12:08So this is historical detail regarding the Genesis 10 and Genesis 11 accounts of the man known as Nimrod.
12:19Again, what did Nimrod do?
12:21Nimrod created an unauthorized kingdom and government and he ruled by tyranny.
12:29Now, why am I mentioning this to you?
12:32Because I need you to understand that the government you and I live under.
12:37And I'm not referring to the United States of America.
12:41I'm referring to the kingdom of God.
12:45Now, let's make our way to this form of government by looking back at various forms of government.
12:54A little bit of history class we're going to enter into right now.
13:00I want to give you a few names for common and some uncommon forms of government.
13:09Number one, it's called a theocracy.
13:12A theocracy.
13:14A theocracy is when a deity, and I believe these words will flash on the screen as I'm going over the definitions.
13:23A theocracy is when a deity or deities are recognized as the supreme ruler or rulers with human key figures,
13:34or a key figure, as the intermediaries managing the government.
13:40Israel went from being a theocratic, katarki, or kritarki, what was that?
13:49That was the ruling by judges.
13:52Some of the judges in scripture you know.
13:54Samson, Gideon, there was even a woman judge by the name of Deborah.
14:03It went from that theocratic kritarki to a theocratic monarchy beginning with King Saul's rule.
14:12The term was coined by Flavius Josephus to describe the governing of Israel.
14:17He believed the three primary forms of government were the monarchy, the oligarchy, and the democracy.
14:26The monarchy.
14:28The monarchy is when a figure is the head of state for life or until abdication.
14:38That's forced or voluntary relinquishing of power.
14:44In most cases the succession is the bloodline leading to a dynasty.
14:50This was the most common form of government until the 20th century.
14:56What's an oligarchy?
14:58An oligarchy is a ruling by few.
15:04Okay, now I'm going to make mention of something.
15:06Again, I'm referencing something that was stated in President Biden's State of Union Address.
15:16There was a word that you might have missed it.
15:21And this is when he was referring to the Ukrainian-Russian conflict.
15:27And he talked about cutting off funds to Russian oligarchs.
15:36I'm only mentioning that because it's something that he mentioned.
15:39I'm not picking political sides.
15:41I need you to be very clear about that and understand I don't use this platform for that.
15:47But I just want to give you a point of reference.
15:50An oligarchy is a ruling by few.
15:54Authority is in the hands of a smaller number of people.
15:58Things like wealth, education, and nobility may or may not factor in the lives of the people that make up the few.
16:06Throughout history, most oligarchies have been considered oppressive.
16:11They've been considered oppressive.
16:15The aristocracy, you all are familiar with the aristocrats.
16:20The aristocracy is also a ruling by few with the few deemed the best.
16:29They were the privileged and the ruling class, often the wealthy upper class.
16:34Aristotle said that an oligarchy was a perversion of an aristocracy.
16:43Ancient historian and politician Polybius saw the monarchy, the aristocracy, and the democracy as the three basic benign forms of government.
16:57What were the three malignant forms?
17:00Tyranny, which was the perversion of the monarchy.
17:05The oligarchy, which was the perversion of the aristocracy.
17:11And the oculocracy, which was the perversion of the aristocracy.
17:18I'm sorry, the democracy.
17:22What's tyranny, Nimrod?
17:24Tyranny is absolute rule unrestrained by law.
17:28A tyrant could come to rule as a usurper or without constitutional right.
17:34That's everything that we read about Nimrod.
17:37And we can probably think in our mind of some tyrants throughout history who usurped the crown, the throne, who came into power without constitutional right, who rule with cruelty and as a bully.
17:56That's what a tyrant is.
17:57A tyrant is a bully.
17:58Nimrod was a bully.
18:00An oculocracy is the rule by mob.
18:04I don't mean mafia.
18:06I mean the people.
18:09In other words, it's the perverted rule by the people, the perversion of democracy.
18:15People who intimidate legitimate rulers make up this form of government.
18:21Then you have a timocracy, which is where only property owners participate in government.
18:27And now we'll get to the last two that we're most familiar with, a democracy, which causes me to then ask you the question, is the United States of America a democracy?
18:44I heard yes.
18:45I heard sometimes.
18:46I heard both.
18:48All right.
18:49Let's see.
18:50The democracy is a system of government in which state power is assigned to the people.
18:58It's supposed to be.
19:04You know, here's what's interesting about whether you believe that the—and we're going to actually answer it in just a second—whether you believe that the government is a democracy or a republic or a representative republic or a constitutional republic or a democratic republic.
19:25Clearly, the democracy and the republic are the two words that most would fall on to describe the form of government that governs this nation.
19:34But here's something that's interesting.
19:36I define for you the oligarchy, which is said by Aristotle to be the perversion of the aristocracy, right?
19:43The ruling by few.
19:44And in most cases, oligarchies were deemed oppressive.
19:48Would you believe this, that our 39th president, Jimmy Carter, in an interview said that America runs like an oligarchy?
20:01A president said that.
20:03I didn't.
20:05The democracy is a system of government in which state power is assigned to the people and rulers are elected.
20:13Rulers are elected.
20:15That's why you can't always make a comparison between a monarchy and a democracy, because in a monarchy, don't nobody vote the king in?
20:27But in a democracy, your leaders are supposed to be elected by the people.
20:32That's why what?
20:34A democracy is a system of government in which state power is assigned to the people.
20:41We're supposed to be the ones who determine the leaders.
20:47Wait for it, though.
20:50Cleisthenes is said to be the father of Athenian democracy.
20:56The democracy as we know it is rooted in Attica or Athens, Greece.
21:03Not an exact version, but its roots come from there.
21:07But it was his great nephew, Pericles, who would expound on it.
21:13He would embody concepts that caused even many to believe he was the father of democracy.
21:22And our last form of government is a republic.
21:27Now, I asked the question just a moment ago, is the United States of America a democracy?
21:33And your responses were intriguing.
21:36Yes.
21:38No.
21:39Maybe.
21:41I don't know.
21:42Sometimes.
21:43Next.
21:47Let me now ask you this question.
21:50Is our form of government a republic?
21:55We got Democratic Republic.
21:58Many of you are shaking your head yes.
22:00Well, let me give you a hint.
22:06Let me give you a little hint.
22:09I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the democracy.
22:22I'm sorry.
22:24My bad.
22:25What did I say?
22:27What?
22:28Oh, I was incorrect.
22:31And to the republic for which it stands.
22:37You can stop.
22:38It's okay.
22:39It's okay.
22:44Because one nation under which God.
22:46Anyway, let me stop.
22:47Because see, I wasn't.
22:49I'm not trying to go there right now, necessarily.
22:52I just want to focus on the republic.
22:57What is a republic?
23:02Well, like the democracy is recognized as being birth, although there are other civilizations
23:10that seem to have aspects of a democracy or aspects of a republic.
23:15It's believed that like the democracy was born in Greece, the republic was born in Rome.
23:23Rome was a republic.
23:25It was a republic that was greater than the democracy of Greece, of Athens and Laconia
23:33and the other Greek territories.
23:37What is a republic?
23:39Well, here is what a republic is supposed to be.
23:43This is how it's supposed to operate.
23:47A republic is a mixed form of government.
23:49Which takes the best of all forms of benign governments.
23:56Not all forms of government.
23:57It doesn't take from the oligarchy.
23:59It's not supposed to.
24:00It doesn't take from the tyranny.
24:03It's not supposed to.
24:06But benign forms of government.
24:08It takes the best of all forms of benign governments for an ideal ruling system.
24:17Each form of government provides a checks and balances system within the republic.
24:25Aristotle touches on this in his writing Politics in Book 3.
24:30But Greek historian and politician Polybius, I mentioned his name before,
24:35he really dives into this in his writing The Histories.
24:40What is a republic supposed to be?
24:43A republic is supposed to be the best kind of government created.
24:48That's what it's supposed to be.
24:51That's why there is something called the American Dream.
24:56That's why this country is viewed as a place that everyone wants to come to.
25:03Because, again, on paper we have the best government.
25:07You don't really ever have to call America a democracy
25:11because a republic consists of the best parts of a democracy.
25:17It's what a republic is supposed to be.
25:21Now you and I both know that ultimately the system of the world is run by the devil.
25:29Which means the devil will even taint and pervert benign forms of government.
25:37The devil can do what?
25:38The devil can do what?
25:40Remember, the democracy, for example, is ruling by the people.
25:48In other words, the people elect the officials, the leaders.
25:52The perversion of that is the oclocracy where the people intimidate rulers.
25:58They intimidate the people in charge.
26:00But the devil has a way of making sure that a democracy
26:04doesn't fully become a government run by the mob or run by the people
26:10and yet can still deposit his perversions in the democracy.
26:14So, in other words, we see all kinds of forms of government in this world
26:18but we can't forget that the system of the world is run by Satan.
26:23And there's no good in him.
26:27Many believe that the United States of America, and I'm gonna be honest,
26:31I don't really know how you can believe this.
26:34I get it because of its beginnings.
26:38But many believe that the United States of America is a Christian nation.
26:41No, it's not.
26:43I'm sorry, it's not.
26:46You can right now Google Christian states, meaning Google nations that are Christian
26:52and guess who's not on the list?
26:56The United States of America.
26:58Now, let's go to its origin really quickly.
27:00The United States of America came out of the loins of which empire?
27:06Come on, history students.
27:08It came out of which nation, right?
27:10I hear, the British, right?
27:12The British Empire.
27:13Well, the British, today, Britain is considered a Christian nation
27:18under the Church of England, which means that when the British Empire,
27:22now we know the heinous things they did in the name of God.
27:27All right.
27:29The British Empire got authorization from the Church of England
27:33to enslave West Africans.
27:35Yes.
27:37And they call themselves a Christian nation.
27:41But it was out of the crucible of the British Empire
27:47that this ideal concept of a government and nation was born.
27:55And so, for a while, America lived under the umbrella of the what?
27:59The British Empire.
28:01And so, therefore, America was Christian.
28:04Why?
28:05Because Britain was Christian.
28:08Oh, but July 4th, 1776, what happened?
28:14We declared our independence.
28:17And when we declared our independence, we said,
28:19Mommy and Daddy, we're moving out.
28:23And we're on our own now.
28:26And you know what happens sometimes when kids leave from under the tutelage
28:30and covering of their parents?
28:33They come up with some strange, weird ways of thinking
28:36that they clearly didn't learn at home.
28:40Sometimes.
28:41Just sometimes.
28:44America said, we're declaring our independence.
28:46And not only that, we're starting from scratch.
28:50Well, the faiths of our founding fathers,
28:58post-starting at and post-independence day,
29:04the founding fathers were not all Christians.
29:08Some of them were.
29:10Some of them were Christians.
29:12Some of them were theists.
29:17What's a theist?
29:19You believe in God?
29:21Maybe not the God of the Bible, though.
29:23Right?
29:24A Muslim is a theist.
29:28Hindus are theists.
29:31The opposite of theism is a-theism,
29:35which some of our founding fathers were also.
29:39You got Christians?
29:41Look at this mixed bag you have.
29:43You got Christians.
29:44You got theists.
29:46You have atheists.
29:48Then you have deists.
29:54I'll tell you what a deist is in a second.
29:57But then you also had those who subscribed to reason.
30:02Anyone ever heard of Thomas Paine?
30:04Anyone ever heard of the Age of Reason?
30:08You also have some Freemasons in the mix, too.
30:12These were the founding fathers of our nation.
30:16And so with that being the case,
30:19how then can you have a Christian nation
30:23when your founding fathers are a mix of different belief systems?
30:31Nation is not Christian anymore.
30:33But why?
30:35Well, to be an ideal form of government
30:39and to be an ideal nation, the best kind there is,
30:43you got to be open to everything.
30:46You got to be okay with everything.
30:49Again, not tyranny and oligarchy,
30:51but you got to be accepting of different faiths,
30:57religious beliefs,
31:00even to the point of preferences.
31:03Certain things today,
31:05a large portion of America is fighting for,
31:08things that they would have never fought for years ago.
31:12But this is America, people.
31:16The land of the free, the home of the brave,
31:21where the golden rule should be applied at all times,
31:25where your dreams can come true.
31:31And what is deism?
31:33It's belief in God without authority,
31:36belief in God without revelation.
31:39That's who made up the beginnings of our nation
31:44as it declared its independence from the Christian empire
31:49that wasn't so super Christian, the British empire.
31:54Okay.
31:57What does that have to do with the church now?
32:01Well, if I'm a part of the United States of America,
32:05and Paul did write under inspiration of the Holy Spirit
32:09that I am to obey governing authorities,
32:12in other words, obey the law of the land, right?
32:16If the law of the land does not require or demand
32:21that I violate the law of God,
32:23then I am cooperating with the law of God
32:27by obeying the law of the land.
32:29Jesus did it.
32:31In one example, he said,
32:33rendered to Caesar what Caesar's,
32:35who was the governing power then,
32:37the Republic of Rome in his day.
32:40So Jesus said, there's no particular reason.
32:44Oh, watch this.
32:46Let me give you a crystal clear example
32:48of Jesus obeying the laws of the land.
32:51And while obeying the laws of the land
32:54didn't violate the laws of God.
32:56Do y'all recall in Matthew 8,
32:59there was a Roman centurion who had a sick servant.
33:03And you all remember how it ends.
33:06You know, he says,
33:07I am under authority and I have those under me.
33:11And I say to one goes and he goes
33:13and I say to one come and he comes
33:15and Jesus marveled and he said,
33:17surely I say to you, I have not found such great faith,
33:19not even in Israel.
33:21Well, I want you to compare
33:24how Jesus obeyed the ruling power
33:29as it relates to him dealing with the centurion
33:32and then compare that to him
33:34dealing with a Canaanite woman.
33:36If you recall,
33:38when he encounters the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15,
33:41he ignores her at first.
33:43He didn't even acknowledge her,
33:46but he was under no obligation to.
33:49First off, Canaanites and Israelites
33:51didn't have the best relationship anyway.
33:53Israelites took their land.
33:55Now it was God ordained.
33:57Why was it God ordained?
33:59Because God was actually restoring land
34:01that Canaanites took.
34:03See, everything God does is legal.
34:05When you look at the extra biblical history
34:07and you're looking at the breakdown of Noah
34:10telling his son, Shem, Ham, and Japheth
34:13and telling his grandsons, their sons,
34:15the denominations of land that are due you
34:18or that are yours,
34:20we find out that Canaan decides
34:22to go into the lands of Shem and take land.
34:25He took land.
34:27Canaan took land that didn't belong to him.
34:29And so a prophecy was given to him.
34:31The prophecy was,
34:32the manner in which you took this land,
34:35so shall it be taken from you.
34:38Canaan, who was a son of Ham,
34:41took land from the sons of Shem.
34:43So when God gives the land of Canaan to Israel,
34:46he was simply giving Semitic land back to Semites.
34:51That's what he was doing.
34:53But Israelites and Canaanites
34:55didn't have the best relationship.
34:57Now ultimately we know how this one works out as well.
34:59And then as a matter of fact,
35:00first he ignores her and then he calls her a dog.
35:02Remember?
35:03He said, it's not good to give
35:05the bread of the children to the little dogs.
35:08Like, bro, Jesus, you just called her a dog?
35:10Is that what you just did?
35:12Really, that's not what he did.
35:14What he did was he called her
35:16what everybody else called Canaanites.
35:18In other words, he was basically,
35:20think of it like this.
35:22Jesus was saying,
35:24it's not good to give the bread of the children
35:26to the little dogs.
35:28Right, disciples?
35:30And then of course she wasn't offended
35:32because she didn't have time to be offended
35:34because when you're believing God for something
35:36and you're on your last leg,
35:38somebody can cuss you out,
35:40they can call you out your name.
35:42None of that is going to stop you
35:44from receiving from God.
35:46So instead of being offended, she said,
35:48well, even the dogs need to eat too.
35:50I want my daughter healed.
35:52And Jesus said, I have not found,
35:54or he said, great is your faith.
35:56He told the Canaanite woman,
35:58great is your faith.
36:00She's a foreigner.
36:02He told in referring to the Roman,
36:04I have not found such a great faith,
36:06a foreigner.
36:08In other words, a Gentile.
36:10He even said it regarding the Samaritan who came back.
36:12Remember the 10 lepers were all cleansed
36:14and nine of them still continued on to the priest,
36:16but one came back giving God glory.
36:18What did Jesus say?
36:20Weren't there 10 of you that got cleansed,
36:22but only one has returned?
36:24That Samaritan gave him glory.
36:26And what did Jesus say?
36:28Your faith has made you whole.
36:30Well, watch this.
36:32Notice that Jesus doesn't ignore the Roman
36:35like he ignored the Canaanite
36:37because who was in charge?
36:39The Romans.
36:41A Roman soldier asked of you,
36:43makes a request of you,
36:45or gives you an order.
36:47What are you supposed to do?
36:49Supposed to obey it.
36:51So we see Jesus didn't violate the law of the land.
36:54Now, now, now again,
36:56it's the scriptures, Paul in Romans,
36:58Peter in his first epistle
37:00tells us to honor the government,
37:02honor, honor,
37:04honor the idea and concept of government
37:07and the positions that,
37:09that, that wield authority.
37:11God has ordained again,
37:13not necessarily the individuals
37:15occupying the offices.
37:17Got that?
37:19Okay.
37:21So, so.
37:24America is a Republic.
37:27We are citizens of this country.
37:28And again,
37:30we should be obeying the laws of the land.
37:33Now, if the laws of the land
37:35tell us to worship other gods,
37:37we've got a decision to make.
37:39But if that's right,
37:41Daniel, you don't,
37:43we going in the fiery furnace.
37:45We're going to have service in the fiery furnace.
37:47That's just what we're going to do.
37:49Or in the lion's den.
37:51But if it's not that,
37:53then obey the laws of the land.
37:55That's obeying God.
37:56But then you have this group of individuals.
37:58And not only do they live
38:00in the United States of America,
38:02but they're all over the world.
38:04They're called the church,
38:06the Ecclesia,
38:08Christ's community of believers.
38:10And spiritually speaking,
38:12we are under a different form of government.
38:14What is that form of government?
38:16Well, I've already told you
38:18it's the kingdom of God,
38:20but let's see if we can
38:22unpack it a bit more today.
38:24So what do we have?
38:26We have Abraham in his kingdom.
38:28He decided he was going to be a king.
38:30He was going to be a tyrant,
38:32but then go to Genesis 12, 15.
38:34Now that's Genesis 10.
38:36And that's Genesis 11.
38:38You get to the end of Genesis 11
38:40and you have Abram's genealogy.
38:42And then at the very beginning of Genesis 12,
38:44you got a 75 year old Abram
38:46in which God is saying,
38:48get out of your father's house
38:50to a land that I'll show you.
38:52I'll bless those who bless you.
38:54I'll curse those who curse you in you.
38:56This is what I want you to see
38:58in Genesis 12 though.
39:00Take a look at this.
39:02Find verse 15.
39:04Genesis 12, 15.
39:06Are you there?
39:08It reads the princes of who?
39:13Okay.
39:15This is all I want you to realize.
39:20This is the first time we see the word Pharaoh.
39:23And by what we're reading in this verse,
39:27it is evident Pharaoh's already been ruling.
39:30So Egypt had already become monarchy-like or monarchical.
39:38In other words, ruled by a figure,
39:40ruled by the Pharaohs.
39:42Now we don't really see in scripture.
39:45We see the origin of Egypt,
39:47which is in Ham's son, Mizraim.
39:49But we don't see the forming of Egypt.
39:51But we do know a lot of years have passed
39:53between Genesis 10 and Genesis 12.
39:56We're now dealing with a 75-year-old Abram.
39:59Egypt has already blossomed into this booming economy
40:03and they're governed and ruled by Pharaohs.
40:07This is the first time we have mention of a Pharaoh.
40:10So this is the first time that we see,
40:12in a sense, a monarchy in scripture.
40:15Well, we see other kings in scriptures of other nations
40:18ruling figures and other monarchy-style forms of government.
40:26But then you have Israel in which God said,
40:28I need you to be different.
40:31You need to stand out.
40:33You can't be like the heathens.
40:35So you're not gonna be ruled the way in Egypt is ruled.
40:38You're not gonna be ruled the way the Akkadians are ruled
40:42and the other heathen Gentile nations are ruled.
40:45You're gonna be ruled by judges.
40:47Well, we get to a certain point and the people say,
40:51we wanna be ruled like everybody else.
40:54And God, through the prophet Samuel,
40:57to a degree we, in part, we understand why.
41:02Because of the immorality of the sons
41:05of a particular individual in scripture.
41:08You all are familiar with the sons of Eli.
41:11But then also because they were sinful people.
41:14And they had a sinful nature.
41:16They wanted to be ruled like the heathens.
41:19And what did God say?
41:21Okay, if they wanna be ruled like the heathens,
41:23Samuel, go back and tell them everything that'll happen
41:26if they choose that path.
41:28God told him.
41:30He said what would happen to their wives.
41:32He said what would happen to their children.
41:34He said what would happen to the men.
41:36Samuel went back and told him and they said, we'll take it.
41:39And then you have what?
41:41And then you have what?
41:43You have theocratic Israel born.
41:45Who was the first king?
41:48A mess of a man named Saul.
41:53You see that the kingdom didn't go to his son Jonathan, did it?
41:58It went to a new line, David.
42:02So we see this theocratic Israel now.
42:09We make our way all the way to the gospel.
42:12And when Jesus is born, there's a ruling figure
42:16on the throne of Israel who's not an Israelite.
42:19He's an Edomite.
42:21The seed of Esau placed there by the Romans.
42:26Herod the Great wanted Jesus killed
42:28because Herod the Great knew that an rightful heir was born.
42:33But Jesus is covered in Egypt till Herod dies.
42:37Jesus comes back.
42:39Jesus is 30 years old.
42:41Jesus is baptized in water, baptized with the Holy Spirit,
42:44goes to the wilderness for 40 days.
42:46He comes back.
42:48He's ready to go.
42:50And then he starts making these statements and these claims
42:52and he's offending everybody.
42:54Watch this.
42:56He's offending everybody by telling the truth.
43:00Gee, who would have thought that if you just tell the truth,
43:05people will get offended.
43:08Jesus was the rightful heir.
43:11But after he's finished work,
43:13the question is asked by the disciples,
43:16so your work's done, Jesus, at least here in the earth realm.
43:20When's God going to restore the kingdom to Israel?
43:23And he said, it's not for you to know the times and seasons.
43:26So you're focusing on the wrong thing.
43:29That'll happen in God's timing.
43:31Here's what you need to do.
43:33You need to receive the Holy Spirit so you can be a witness.
43:36Then go take the message of this kingdom
43:39that he had been articulating during his earthly ministry.
43:42The kingdom of God is like, the kingdom of God is like,
43:45the kingdom of heaven is as if.
43:47He had been explaining it the entire time.
43:50It's Paul that really helps us see that this kingdom of God,
43:55by telling us who has inherited the kingdom and who hasn't,
43:59we then know who the kingdom of God
44:02or what the kingdom of God consists of,
44:05and we see that it's this system of rule.
44:08We see that it's in words of power
44:12followed by demonstration of power.
44:15We see it's where his righteousness is,
44:17where his joy is, and where his peace is.
44:19There is the kingdom of God.
44:23And so with that being said,
44:25let's see if we can highlight
44:30this governmental system in the scriptures
44:35with even more detail.
44:37Go to Isaiah chapter 9, verse 6,
44:40one of my favorite prophetic scriptures.
44:43Isaiah 9, 6.
44:47And when you have it, say, I have it.
44:53Isaiah 9, 6.
44:56The prophet is speaking.
44:57We get to verse 6.
44:59And what does he say?
45:01He says, for unto us a child is born.
45:07For unto us a son is given.
45:12Stop right there. Stop right there.
45:14A child is born.
45:16A son is given.
45:19In your Bible, is the C in child capitalized?
45:26In your Bible, no. Okay.
45:29More modern translations capitalize the letter.
45:33And there's a reason they do.
45:35The word S, or the letter S in the word son.
45:39No?
45:41Many of you, yes.
45:43Okay, why?
45:45Why did even from those of you who have versions
45:48that have lowercase letters,
45:50why did versions moving forward capitalize those letters?
45:55Because of who it's referring to.
45:58Now, question.
46:00Is it referring to two people or one person?
46:03Why are you so convinced?
46:05I mean, if I just stop at the word given,
46:09I see that there's a child and there's a son.
46:12So what makes you think it's referring to one person?
46:15And don't tell me it's because you read the rest of the verse.
46:18I don't want to hear that.
46:20I want to get a bead on why you have this idea.
46:25Say.
46:28Oh, wow.
46:30One speaks of his humanity and one speaks of his Godhood.
46:34Okay, let's see if let's see if that's accurate.
46:37For unto us, a child is born.
46:40Capital C.
46:42The fact that the child is born means that the child has a beginning.
46:47But then it says for unto us, the son is given.
46:51Which means that the son that's given
46:53has to exist before he's given.
46:57Otherwise, you can't be given.
46:59If I give you a gift, the gift existed before I gave it to you.
47:04It came from somewhere.
47:06A child is born, meaning it has a beginning.
47:11It has an origin point.
47:13But a son that's given, we don't know when the son showed up to be given.
47:20Well, if we look at the next part,
47:22which reads and the government will be upon his shoulder, not their shoulders.
47:29So we for sure know this is referring to one individual.
47:32Okay, who's it referring to?
47:34You all have already said who it's referring to.
47:37It's referring to Jesus.
47:40It's referring to our Savior.
47:42This is a messianic prophecy.
47:45Okay, why is it written this way?
47:48Child is born.
47:49Son is given.
47:51Because it's referring to the dual nature of our Savior.
47:57Our Savior was man and God.
48:03He was man and God.
48:05The theological term for it is a hypostatic union.
48:10What's a hypostatic union?
48:11What's a hypostatic union?
48:13A hypostatic union or the conversation on hypostasis is a conversation on the dual nature of a thing.
48:21Divine and human.
48:24So every mythological demigod you've ever heard of is a hypostatic union.
48:30Because they're half man, half God, right?
48:34Heracles is probably the most popular.
48:36We know he's the son of Zeus and a human woman.
48:39So he's a demigod.
48:41But he's also not full human.
48:43He's half and half.
48:45But that's not Jesus.
48:47Jesus wasn't half man, half God.
48:49He was all man, all God.
48:51That's how you separate Jesus from the rest of the boys.
48:55He's all man.
48:57He was all God.
48:59The child that is born simply is describing his humanity.
49:03And this is why you can read in the scripture, in the gospel, about one named Jesus Christ.
49:14Also known as the son of man.
49:18That's referring to his human origin.
49:21But his divine origins go back much further.
49:28Which is why in the same gospel account that you can read about Jesus Christ and the son of man,
49:36you'll read about Christ Jesus, the son of God.
49:41Those are statements, titles that reference his divinity, his deity.
49:49All man, all God, always at the same time.
49:56From the beginning of his birth.
50:00From the beginning of his birth.
50:02Well, notice what it says next.
50:05It says, and the government will be upon his shoulder.
50:09What government is that?
50:12I'm curious.
50:14The government that we read about here has to do with rule, dominion, and empire.
50:22His rule will be upon his shoulder.
50:26His dominion, his authority will be upon his shoulder.
50:30And his empire will be upon his shoulder.
50:35The shoulder, as defined in the Hebrew, is the place of burdens.
50:40The shoulder is the spur of the hill.
50:43Referring to the back portion, referring to the shoulder blades.
50:48His government or the government will be upon his shoulder.
50:55Again, is this referring to the United States of America?
50:58Is this referring to ancient Rome or ancient Greece or ancient Persia?
51:02This is another kind of government that will be upon his shoulders.
51:07Let's keep reading.
51:09And his name will be called something.
51:11What will it be called?
51:13It'll be called wonderful.
51:15How can your name be called wonderful?
51:17No doubt, he's Jesus.
51:19He's God.
51:21His name will be called wonderful.
51:23His name will also be called what?
51:25Counselor.
51:27And how true is that?
51:29His name will be called mighty God.
51:32His name will also be called what?
51:34Everlasting Father.
51:36And his name will also be called Prince of Peace.
51:38Now, I don't see a lot of individuals, those who believe in what we call the Trinity.
51:47Again, a word that we don't find in Scripture.
51:50We don't find Trinity or triune in Scripture, but we can find three.
51:54We can find that in Scripture.
51:57The opposing view is the Unitarian view.
52:00If you believe in three, three or one, you're called a Trinitarian.
52:05If you don't believe that there's a Trinity,
52:08you believe the Lord God is one,
52:11which Trinitarians believe that too.
52:14We just believe the Godhead is made up of three divine persons.
52:18Unitarians don't believe that.
52:21They don't remove themselves from the lordship of Jesus
52:28and the power of the Holy Spirit,
52:31but they don't believe in the Trinity,
52:33which in my opinion somewhat lessens the divinity of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
52:39But that's another conversation.
52:41That's a debate we don't have time for.
52:43My point is what I'm observing in this Scripture is Trinitarian.
52:48You tell me if you see it.
52:51The Scripture is talking about the son and calls the son counselor and father.
52:57You see it?
53:00Child is born.
53:01Son is given.
53:04Government will be on his shoulders.
53:06His name shall be called counselor.
53:08That's the Holy Spirit.
53:10His name shall be called everlasting father.
53:12That's Abba.
53:14Sounds like Trinity to me, but I'm not going to argue it right now.
53:19Look at verse seven of the increase of his government and peace.
53:22There will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom
53:27to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward,
53:33even beyond forward, which is forever.
53:36The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
53:39Look at this in verse six.
53:42Government will be upon his shoulder.
53:44Look at this in verse seven of the increase of his government.
53:48Jesus has a government.
53:53I wonder if those who follow Jesus are a part of his government.
54:01Okay, let's look at this.
54:04What will end here?
54:06Go to first Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28.
54:12First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 28.
54:18All right.
54:19This is the chapter written to the Corinth church,
54:23the Corinthian believers on the charismatic, the gifts of the spirit.
54:27That's how the chapter opens up.
54:29And we get to the end here of this chapter.
54:31And Paul's expounding more on these gifts, the gifts of the spirit,
54:35even touches on some other gifts.
54:37We get to verse 28 and look at what it says.
54:39And God has appointed these in the church.
54:42He's appointed them.
54:44First, what?
54:46Apostles.
54:47Second, what?
54:48Prophets.
54:49Then what?
54:50Teachers.
54:51After that, what?
54:52Miracles.
54:53Then gifts of healings.
54:55Helps.
54:56And this is the word I want to focus on.
54:58Administrations.
55:00However, if you have a traditional King James,
55:03if you guys can throw up the traditional quickly, that'll be great.
55:05If not, it's quite all right.
55:07Many in here are still reading from the traditional,
55:10and you don't see the word administrations, do you?
55:13You see the word governments.
55:15Governments.
55:16Let's read this.
55:18Replacing the word administrations with governments.
55:21Although you and I both know that the word administration
55:25is applicable in government.
55:28Because our current president has an administration.
55:32Every president has an administration.
55:35That's government talk.
55:37Verse 28, let's replace administrations with governments.
55:40We'll expound on it next time we're together.
55:42And God has appointed these.
55:44He's appointed them.
55:45What does it mean to appoint?
55:47That's right, put in place.
55:49That's it.
55:51That's literally what it means.
55:53To put in place.
55:55It means to put in place.
55:57It means to what?
55:59It means to fix it.
56:01It means to establish it.
56:03It means to ordain.
56:05To appoint is to fix.
56:07To establish, to ordain, to put in place.
56:09Now, how many of you know that if God has ordained something,
56:12and if God has appointed someone,
56:13there's nothing anyone can do about it.
56:16If God has done it.
56:18And look what he's appointed in the church.
56:20Again, first apostles.
56:22This is not a hierarchy of rule here.
56:24This is an appointment for the flow of the message of the kingdom.
56:28Apostles and prophets and teachers, miracles,
56:31gifts of healings, helps, and then what?
56:35Governments.
56:37God's appointed.
56:39Now, what does that mean for the church?
56:41We'll talk about it later.
56:43We'll talk about it next time.
56:45Father, we thank you for your word.
56:47It's life, it's truth.
56:49It will not, it cannot return to you void or empty.
56:52Futile, useless, but it will accomplish what it's sent to do.
56:58Because your word be, Father.
57:00What it's sent to do, it will go forth.
57:04When it goes forth, it accomplishes.
57:09Where it lands, where it arrives, it prospers.
57:13Thank you right now, Father,
57:15for your accomplishing and prospering word.
57:17Having gone forth, having been sown into the hearts of
57:20all who are present here, all who are watching online.
57:24Thank you, Holy Spirit, for making this possible.