ヨセフの夢 外套と乾いた穴/Joseph’s Dreams, a robe and a dry pit

The big picture. That is the whole idea of this series. 
God’s foot prints in the story of Mankind.  
 It is history --- His story.  Can you see a developing theme here of God choosing some one person and that one person struggles to live in both worlds?   

How does man respond to the leading of God in their life?  For some, it was hard.  Cain, who we did not cover, but the story might be already known, blew it big time when he got jealous of his brother as his offering was accepted but his own was not—so he killed his brother. He could not live with the fact that his brother did things right.  He made a bad choice and he paid dearly for that mistake.  In the life of the one we will be covering today, we can see that his 10 brothers made some serious errors in judgment causing great sorrow for their father and a teenager lost his life into slavery. We are talking about the life of Joseph, son of Jacob—or Israel.
 

Jacob was not the model of a great father.  In fact, he most likely did just about everything wrong.  But even though that was true, God was still interested in him and continued to bless him.  I don’t understand that but the Bible shows us that God blessed him over and over again.  Jacob was a man like none other and yet, was like so many men today.  But our talk today is not about him—some other time perhaps.

Joseph was from a broken dysfunctional family.  One father, three main wives.  The sons of Bihah and the sons of Zipah were not behaving so Joseph brought a bad report about them to their father. This did not go over very well with his brothers.  A tattletale! Why don’t you mind your own business?

 

Here was a 17-year-old teenager.  He was looking for acceptance at home and two mother types did not give him any attention. His half brothers could not even speak a kind word to him.  His father showed more love to him than toward his other brothers and they became deeply jealous. He was just a 17 yr old kid trying to be wanted; to belong! Very much like any 17 yr old today!

Then Dad gave him a nice new robe.  It must have been something else!  “Ornate robe” is how the NIV put it.  We heard from Sunday School times that it was a coat of many colors.  Whatever it was, it was an extravagant gift to give to a 17 year old but his father did not care.  He loved Joseph deeply.  Then something happened that got in the way.  Joseph had a dream.  In fact, two dreams and he told his family about them.  He was loved but he was not so bright!  

“In my dream, I saw all of you bowing down to me! Isn’t that amazing? Wow!  It was so cool!”

Not shared by his brothers.  “They hated him all the more because of his dream and of what he had said.”

You’d think he might have picked up on it with that first dream, but when he had a second dream, he still told them all about it!  This one even got his dad bent out of shape.  “What? You think your Mother and I will come and bow down before you?”  Are you crazy?  Who do you think you are?  What kind of authority do you think you have over us?

People said the same thing about Jesus, remember?  When He told them the Truth, they said about the same thing back to Him.  “Are you crazy? You think you are the Son of God or something?”  “Well, yes I am, as a matter of fact.”  “Oh yeah?  We are going to kill you and then see how that runs true to real life!”

His bothers were jealous of Joseph.  Why?  Might be because of Dad’s love to him but even more so when they saw that this Joseph had something they did not have.  He had direction.  This ‘dream thing’ gave him a sense of a future, and I believe they saw that and it made them angry.

Why should the youngest have these dreams that God was behind.  I believe they could see that God’s Hand was there!

A boy who was loved deeply! A boy who was hated deeply! A favorite son of his father.  And 10 brothers who really started to hate him. And they had a chance to change things in their family forever. They plotted to kill their brother.

Jacob told his son to go and see how the brothers were doing.  His response: “Very well.” “No problem. I’ll go!”

And when he is seen from a distance, they plotted to kill their own brother.

The dreams really had made them mad. They would not let it go. That is the fascinating thing about anger. It starts small—an offence, sometimes an unknowingly offensive remark or action. It gets planted in the heart, grows, gets bitter, and when the feelings have a chance to become physical, it erupts into rage or certainly evil actions.  We often self-talk ourselves into the pit of anger, it is never a good place to be nor is it easy to get out of that pit of anger.

It is not a sin to be angry or even to be tempted, for we read in: 

James 1:14ff  "…each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.”   

These brothers ALLOWED that desire to not only to take root; they allowed it to come to full bloom. They were dragged away into their own pit. It ended with attempted murder.

Anger might be present here in our worship time at ICCS. If you have anger or bitterness in your heart RIGHT now, you will not be able to worship at all. Bitterness takes away any feelings of holiness. Anger and worship can’t co-mingle! The Holy Spirit of God can’t speak to us when we hold bitterness in our hearts. We are outside the Camp of God and only repentance for that anger and bitterness can allow us to re-enter the sanctuary of His blessings and really worship with a pure heart. If that is where you are today, you might not be even able to hear my words very well. If that’s you, check your heart and come back to the place of worship.

The brothers felt good enough about their deed that they had a meal. They broke bread together.  And while they were eating, distant relatives came by. The Ishmaelites. Ishmael was their grandfather’s brother. “Let’s give the brat to our cousins!  They could take this dreamer to Egypt and that will be the end of his dreams coming true!” After all, they really did want to kill the boy—just get rid of him.  Not much of a difference considering what slavery meant to anyone caught in it. And they sold him for 20 shekels of silver.

Slavery meant Death.  A slow death. And a death unnoticed by anyone who could be concerned.

So Joseph left the pit of gloom and entered another type of pit; the pit of human slavery. At the time of the Civil War in the US, four million slaves were forced to call America home with the population of over 31,000,000. Today, there is a reported 12 to 27 million slaves worldwide! Human trafficking is primarily for prostituting women and children into sex industries—and as young as five years of age. Egypt, with its fields of grain, felt they needed slaves to work those fields and enslaved many from all over the known world.  

The Ishmaelites sold him to someone and he found himself standing naked, in front of possible buyers.  Can’t you just imagine how he felt? A boy of 17, standing in front of total strangers and wondering what will become of himself.  Lost, away from his dear Father, in a foreign land. Not knowing the language, he could only look into the eyes or hear the tone and try to understand what the meanings were… All was lost-then he is bought by Potiphar, the captain of the guard.  His position was to punish all national prisoners with capital punishment.  He must have been a harsh sort of man who’d have such a violent job.  

Let’s stop there and consider the different situations Joseph faced and try and apply these things to our lives.  Not an easy task but well worth our time today as we look at the footprints of God on this story. 

First, God is looking for a family. God seems to work in groups, like a family, to show His plans, both to those who are in that family and for those who are on the outside looking in.  Many times, those going through the events have NO idea what is going on but God’s hand is there and with hindsight, they might be able to put it together.  God was calling a Family to follow Him. Imperfect people, but people God is willing to work with them. Some in the family were cunning, while others were cruel, while still others were kind and had a soft heart.  God was AND is looking for Families to live in.  Do you fit the bill? Are you willing to trust Him more—as we asked last week? Is your family important to God?  YES, it is! And He wants to be worshiped by your whole family to show that His Plans work in the lives of everyone He touches.

That was how it was with Jacob. Not a perfect man but a man who would be lead of God and was chosen as the leader of a clan of 12 to be focal in His plans for sending the Messiah.

••Members can teach each other Deut 6:4-9

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

••Do not let sin effect family life  Ps 101:2

2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart.

••Don’t bring trouble to family  Proverbs 11:29

29 He who brings trouble on his family will inherit only wind,
   and the fool will be servant to the wise.

••Faith is more important than family  Luke 12:51-53

51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

••Believers are members of God’s Family  Eph 2:19

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household,

••Church leaders must have a good family life  1 Timothy 3:4-5 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)

••Families should take care of each other  1 Timothy 5:3-4

3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. 4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.

Second, God is looking for a person. Joseph would be such a person. I have always enjoyed looking at this guy! He was SO good and nothing turned his head. Brothers who wanted him dead! Cousins who would sell him into a slave market. Working for an executioner. Being falsely accused of rape. Placed in a horrid prison.  And he kept his heart pure before the Lord and those who he served. 

Thirdly, God is showing us a shadow.  Joseph was a foreshadowing of The Christ. 

See 1 Peter 2:22  “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth.” When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He trusted Himself to Him who judges justly.”

We just do not hear Joseph complain.  Not a word. His brothers sold him into slavery and we do not hear him protest!  (Overwhelmed, I am sure.)  Falsely accused of rape—not a protest.  He seemed to trust the One who gave him the dreams. His father, Jacob was a dreamer too.  Gen 28—runs in the family!  He took those communications from the God of his father as Truth. When we read and hear from God as we read our Bibles, do we put our trust in Him? Does it strengthen our fortitude! Are we strengthen in our Walk of faith!  

Another question I need to ask? Are you reading your Bibles at all?  Just once or twice a week is not doing your part in knowing Him better!  Read the Bible each day. Get a system of day to day reading and get started. If you stop, pick it back up again!  You need to be in the Word of God on a regular basis! 

Joseph was sold for 20 pieces of silver. 

Jesus was sold for 30.  

Joseph was sent into Egypt, so was Jesus. 

Joseph was sold into slavery-

Jesus died to set free men. 

Joseph is a great example for us as we face difficult situations. He held on to what was foundational in his Faith base youth. And so should we! 

Titus 3:5-7“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His Mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His Grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”  

 Just what did he know of this God who takes him into places no one would want to go? We’ll hear more of that next week, when we finish this personal series of Joseph. (Please read ahead: Chapters 38~).

God is looking for such a person even today. 

Is He looking at you?

“Son, let’s take a walk…trust me.” 息子よ 歩こう わたしを信頼しなさい。

#3 Abraham and Isaac.

Last week the promise was given. Today, we will look at the first birth of Abraham, the Father of Many.

This is found in Genesis 21

Vs 2, Sarah had a child in her old age

Vs 5. Abraham was a hundred years old!

Sarah: “God has brought me laughter!”

Vs 13—deals with his other child. Ishmael and Hagar was sent away but God would bless that boy because he was a son of Abraham—not the son on promise but will become a nation as well. 

Chapter 21 ends and that lead to a testing in Ch. 22.

God calling Abraham again.

Abraham said “Here I am.” He was ready. He was available to His God. How ready are you?

Go and sacrifice “your only son, Isaac, whom you love, go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

And Dad responded quickly—the very next morning.  He took with him, wood, two servants and some fire and took off.

I find it interesting that he did not say a word to his wife. Was this a way to show his love to her? What would she say? 

Illustration: _ To prove his love for her, he swam the deepest river, crossed the widest desert and climbed the highest mountain. She divorced him: he was never home. Rose Sands, The Saturday Evening Post.

Let’s continue: He was told this deed to do and left in the morning. Third day of traveling- found the location—saw it in a distance.

He spoke to the servants: “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”   

 “WE”  Not, “I will come back alone…” His son hears this as well.

Then: 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together,

Then son spoke up…  “Eh, Dad?” 

“Yes, my Son?” 

 “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

God is leading Abraham to do something very wild! Way out of the ways He had been leading Abraham before. Out of character with what we now know of God. Abraham did not have a long history with this God, so how did he know this was going to be OK?  Was the belief in the promises (the covenant) so strong within him, that he just did not doubt? We will find that to be true-but first, consider this.

We have to look at this in light of the rest of Scripture. Had God done anything like this before?  Well, yes, He did.  With Noah.  He destroyed the whole earth and killed everyone in the earth except for Noah, his wife and his three sons and their wives. But not to a father on a child.  This was unique.  

In the New Testament, Jesus did something out of the ordinary when He cursed the fig tree. Mark 11: 12-14, 20-25.  When we read something like this, we NEED to put it in the light of the whole of Scripture. This narrative is full of difficulties.  We need to hold tightly to our principles of the interpretation of the Bible. Reminding ourselves of certain principles of Biblical interpretation.  To guard us of coming up with strange explanation of the passage #1 I must interpret the obscure by the clear. And the partial by the more complete. 

When you come to a passage like this, you HAVE to put it together with other passages that are more complete. Because some passages –at first reading—seem to be really difficult to understand. First say: “This is difficult to understand.” Start with the position of being humble and meek rather that saying I really understand this. 

2nd , comparing Scripture with Scripture and let scripture check my understanding. IF I come up with a different understanding of the Bible that runs contra or opposes the clear teachings of the Bible, than I would be 100% wrong with my interpretation  of the passage.

3rd , I must use the OT to understand the NT and in reading the OT, I will read it in relationship to the New, and see it as the fulfillment in Jesus.  This whole story in Chapter 22 is a foretaste of what God would be doing with His own Son.  The parallels are huge! God provided a sacrifice that could take the cost of the sin—that of His only Son, Jesus. God took the life of the Lamb of God to take away the sins of Mankind. 

4th , I must take deep care to understand each separate passage and not doing so in isolation. Is this unique? Does God do anything like this in other passages? Is it literal or figurative; is it actual, or metaphorical? Is it one of the figures of speech like hyperbole, simile or metaphor.  Is the language largely proverbial language?  

 IE, Jesus saying “I am the Door.”  He is not a door but the Son of God, so the meaning takes on a different sense.  When He said, “this is My Body”—He did not become bread-it is a descriptive device to give special meaning.

So, what do we have here? Does God tell Abraham to kill his son or was it a metaphor. Did God say take the life of his child? YES, He did. And what was Abraham’s thoughts on this?  “We shall both return.” He was convinced that God would raise his own son from the dead!  Never seen it but…

So, we look at 

Hebrews 11: 17-19 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son,  even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death.

It was God’s promise to Abraham. And Abraham understood that you can't break God's promises by leaning on them!  He trusted God THAT much! He believed God! God said it! Period!

How goes your trust level? Do you trust God? Do you trust me? Do you trust your spouse? Your child? Your parent? Your brother or sister? Does trust come into the picture when it comes to families getting along? Does trust come into the picture here at ICCS? Do we trust each other? Let me say this hard statement: If you don’t trust each other here—who you do see, how in the world can you say you trust God—who you can’t see?  

Trust is a heavy issue, isn’t it? Do you trust that God has you here for a purpose? Does God make mistakes? Well, He isn’t asking us to slice the neck of our child—or does He? I am in no way suggesting that God is asking you to kill your family member! No, but as a matter of simply trusting God, could you trust Him more? Is He worthy of that trust?

I say He is! And it is not just because I need to preach a sermon on this: I need to live that out in my own life as well.  I must trust Him for my family needs, for my family’s future. I must trust Him for life itself! To trust Him! 

As the hymn writer puts it: O how sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His Word, Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know “Thus says the Lord!” Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him over and over! O for Grace to trust Him more!   

Trust Him more!

And here we have Abraham, with knife in hand, with his only son tied to the wood-pile—who is looking up at his father with wide eyes!  Abraham looks at his son—whom he loves and is just about to plunge the knife into the boy’s neck—when he hears—“Abraham, Abraham!”  “Here I am!” 

The Lord sees that He cannot only trust Abraham but that Abraham can totally trust Him.  “Now I know that you fear God, BECAUSE you have not withheld from Me your only son.”

What a joy it must have been for this man!  “I have found favor with God!”  “He trusted me!”  “I was doing what I knew to be His leading and He will give me my son back—as it were—from the dead!” 

His mind was filled with the thoughts of how God was going to honor His Promises to him.  Now that was behind him, he looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.

All Abraham had to do was to show up and let God do what He alone was capable of doing: God provided a replacement offering! God provided it all! And for us today, that replacement offering is the Lord Jesus-His only Son!

 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” אלוהים ייתן In the modern Hebrew, this means: God will give.  In Japanese, it is: 神が提供されます。

God saw Abraham’s need and He provided. 

Jehovah-Jireh: This was the Name by which God revealed Himself to Abraham, "Jehovah-jireh." It may be translated in three ways. It could be translated "The Lord will See," or "The Lord will Provide," or "The Lord shall be Seen." However we translate this Name of our God, Jehovah-jireh expresses the idea of God seeing and of God being seen. For God, to see is to provide. You know how we sometimes say, "I will see to it," when we mean, "I will take care of it," or "I will provide for it." That is the meaning here.

The gift of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Substitute is a provision that secures all other conditions. 

Romans 8:32: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" 

He will give us all things we need according to His purposes.  He will give us all things promised in the covenant. He will give us all things in heaven. He has given us His OWN SON as our Lord: all we need to do is to do as Abraham did: he looked up and saw his offering.  You-look up and see your Savior waiting for you. He has provided His Son for you all. Put your faith in God.  Trust Him. He provides salvation to all who call on Him.

 

And then the chapter ends with God remaking His promise to Abraham. “I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.”

 19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.

Obey God. Look to Him. 

Let Him provide. 

And thank Him by living a life set apart for His Glory.

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The Big Picture/The Big Promise 全体像/遠大な約束

A number of years ago there was an ad on TV that started like this: There was a woman sitting in a car. She's minding her own business, and suddenly this man comes out of the blue, rips the door open, grabs her, and pulls her out of the car roughly. It looks like he's attacking her, and we look on in horror. Then the camera pulls back, and we see that the car is actually on fire, but the woman didn't know it. The man wasn't assaulting the woman; he was rescuing her. The advertisement finishes by saying, "You need the bigger picture. Channel 10 News gives you the bigger picture." 

The same can be said for things found in the Bible. Even for those going through the events, they have no real idea what is going on, I am sure. But it all was part of the Big picture and the Big Picture was that God was doing something special. Today, we will be looking at a very special moment in the life of Abram – who later became Abraham.  God was making a big promise to him and to those who would follow him—his tribe, —was going to be really blessed! 

 ‘Covenant’ means promise. It comes from the Hebrew word “to cut”, and then a covenant is ‘cutting in two’. God is solemnly called to witness the transaction, as in the marriage compact because the marriage was made in God’s Name. 

Listen now to the passage found in Genesis 15:1-20,  創世記15：1-20

This morning, we will look at this promise God made to Abram. We will seek to understand it in light of the rest of scripture—as much as we can in the time we have. Not like last week, when we looked at seven people’s lives in the course of many years, here the situation seems to be between a night (15:5) a full day that ends with a sunset (15:12) and a little after the sun set (15:17). A promise given at night-lasted all the next day and into that next evening.  That promise would change not only Abram’s life completely but also alter the events for the rest of humanity.  God was choosing a People for Himself!

The covenants of Scripture: 9 Covenants with significance.

Eternal Covenant: Hebrews 13:20; Edenic covenant, Genesis 1:26-28; Adamic covenant, Genesis 3:14-19; Noahic covenant, Genesis 8:20-9:6; •Abrahamic covenant, Genesis 12:1-3 Mosaic covenant, Exodus 20:1-31:18; Palestinian covenant, Deut 30:1-10; Davidic covenant, 2 Samuel 7:4-17, 1 Chr 17:4-15; New covenant, Jeremiah 31:31-33; Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Hebrew 8:8-12

Today, we will talk about one of these covenants: アブラハムの契約（創世記12：1-3）

 • Abrahamic covenant, first seen in Genesis 12:1-3 

The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ;  “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

It was confirmed to Abram-exalted father, in  #2  13:14-17; 15:1-7-what we are looking at today. 

#3; 17:1-8: The covenant of promise where his name is changed to Abraham-father of many, circumcision given as a sign. Abraham's posterity was to be a great nation. In him (through Christ) all the families of the earth were to be blessed.  #4 (Galatians 3:16; John 8:56-58).   Merrill F. Unger, The New Unger's Bible Handbook,  Revised by Gary N. Larson, Moody Press, Chicago, 1984, p. 595.

Let’s begin—. “I am…”  わたしは

God starts His conversation with His friend with “Do not be afraid.” I would guess that would be a good place to start.  “So, Abram, don’t be afraid. I am with you and I am calling you to be something in My plan for Mankind.” Here, God takes the initiative.  He provides a Promise that only HE can provide AND keep. He promised People, land and a Blessing that all that who believed like Abram would be credited to them as righteousness.  Salvation comes by Faith alone!

THEN He says: “I AM your shield.”  Meaning: I will guide you. I will hold you up.  I will protect you. I will be your front guard. I will be there for you.

Is this a promise we can hold onto? Yes and no. Because of Faith, Abram was blessed and yet the promise was given to one man.  His generations would be blessed. And yes, once a person believes and enters God’s Forever Family by accepting the Death of Christ as our payment for our sins, then God can become our shield.

And God said, “Your very great reward…” Reward? For his belief. For his trusting God. For Abram was already holding onto what was already related to him in Gen 12.

God rewards them who put their trust in Him.

· Acts 17:27 God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.

· Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

IS that where you are today? Are you reaching out to Him? Are you earnestly seeking Him? Do you believe in Him as your Lord? Or is it passive? I’ll do it later. Too busy now. Know full well that THIS is THE most important relationship you are to deal with in life: this deserves serious attention.  Know full well that it is His deepest wish for each of us to follow Him and to call Him our Lord. Like Abram, we too can have This God be our shield—not only in times of conflict but also in times of joy, darkness, uncertainty, pain, unbelief, times of great need and during times of great blessing. He IS our shield!  We need Him as our shield! It is not a sign of being weak-just smart! A fool says there is no God.  Don’t be the fool.

God also said, (v7) “I the Lord.” わたしは He is God, the one and only God worthy of praise.  He also was the Lord who took Abram out of familiar surroundings. He set his feet on ground that was way out of his comfort zone. God sent him into Canaan among some of the most evil people known to mankind. Remember Abram? I am the Lord!

It was to these people, God sent Abram to be a witness of God’s Grace. These people who came from the offspring of Canaan- where the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites and Hivites and others come from.  They worshipped a god called Baal ; a bull/man; the god of fertility. Moloch was another Canaanite deity associated esp. with infant sacrifices. A bronze statue with the head of an ox and a body of a man with out stretched arms to receive the children into his belly were burned to death regularly.  

These tribes were a wicked people. Abram was NOT to join in with them. His relatives did and look where that led. Lot had sexual relations with his own daughters and produced two evil offspring tribes; the Moabites and the Ammonites. Incest and a preoccupation with sin (lasciviousness) was part of their lives. The Jewish nation was to keep as far away from them as possible. The opposite happened. 

But this “I am the Lord” was the one who brought Abram out of Ur and, as it said in verse 8: “to give you this land to take possession of it.” 

In later covenants, God would spell out just how much of that land was to be theirs.  But it was at this point Abram asked a strange question. “How can I take possession of it?”  Bizarre thing to doubt now—after he already believed God in verse 6!  He did not have children and he did not have any way of getting them. He was an old man!  His wife—though she was beautiful—was well be on the childbearing age.

It was at this point, God took out the big guns!

“Bring me a heifer 若い雌牛, a goat ヤギ and a ram 羊, each three years old, along with a dove （大きめな）鳩 and a young pigeon 若い（小さめな）鳩.”

With these animals, the Lord God will make His case with the divided bodies of the larger animals. 1.) Blood was needed.  Something had to die. It was cut in two just like it would happen to the one who broke this promise. There is a shedding of blood—remember Able’s offering? That was accepted by God.  In the New Testament times, Jesus shed His blood—for us. He paid the price for our warpness, our bending the rules of life, our strained and distorted attitude toward Him. That is where we fail.  

Note that the birds of prey came down on the carcasses. I believe this is a picture of life itself. When we make a cut with the past, when we make a promise, all sorts of ‘birds of prey’ attack us, trying to mess up our minds and hearts. The birds in this event symbolize Satan and his evil agents. 

 John 10:10a “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” ヨハネ１０：１０ｂ　A わたしが来たのは、羊が命を受けるため、しかも豊かに受けるためである。

 The diligence of Abram kept the birds away.

 2 John 1:8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.

Now that Abram has brought all that the Lord requires, God reveals, or makes known to him some of the future events. Their time spent in Egypt, and how they were going to be treated there.  The fact that God will punish わたしは罰するであろう that country for their evil ways and that they would come out of it, not only as free men but also with great possessions! In the fourth generation, the tribe of Abram will return to the Promised Land. It was not to happen yet as God had something else going on.  It had to do with the people Abram was living with now.  

 Look at end of verse 16: “for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

God is interested in the lives of the evil. This people group had time to repent. They had time to turn from their wicked ways, like the people of Nineveh, who, when faced with divine destruction, repented and was saved.   

 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 第２ペテロの手紙３：９　ある人たちは、遅いと考えているようですが、主は約束の実現を遅らせておられるのではありません。そうではなく、一人も滅びないで皆が悔い改めるようにと、あなたがたのために忍耐しておられるのです。

He is waiting for many in Japan to come to Him in repentance. He is waiting for some of you and some of the members of your family to surrender to His Love and come to know Him as Lord. And when that happens, like Abram, He will give (“To your descendants I give this land “),わたしは与えるであろう His Salvation and a place with Him in Glory. 

John 10:10b I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. ヨハネ10:10B 盗人が来るのは、盗んだり、屠ったり、滅ぼしたりするためにほかならない。

Black Gospel at ICCS!

Have you ever heard a Black Gospel concert? There has been a lot of action all over Japan for the past many years and Black Gospel is at the center.

You can learn how to sing those great Gospel songs at a local church or community center near you. Here is a change to learn how and help a very worth while organization.  Read on!

Black Gospel Benefit Concert for Wheelchairs of Hope
November 23, Wed – National Holiday
Biblical Church Ekoda

With Ray Sidney!

Workshop Learn the songs with Ray Sidney

¥2,000
2 pm~4 pm

Concert And Celebration WOH

5:30 doors open
6:00 Concert starts

•  Music
• Report
• Testimonies
• Video
• Chance to donate toward the Thai Container Shipment

Asking donation: ¥3,000

 After the concert:

Wheelchair Project 5th floor

Walk thru work area and see how it is done

Cookies and coffee

Meet Ray Sidney and buy his CDs

Invite your friends for a great evening of song and help WOH reach their goal of becoming a NPO.

Footprints of God 神の足跡

What did these 7 have in common & how does that affect us today? 

 次の７人に共通して今日の私たちに何をどのように影響を及ぼすでしょうか。

アダム Adam-First man.

イブ Eve-first woman.

アベル Abel-first murdered.

エノク Enoch-first to not die.

ノア Noah-first to survive a flood.

アブラハム Abraham-first to be called..

サラ Sarah-first to be the mother of Israel.

Adam had the first relationship with the Creator.

Eve was the first to fall and the first to experience blame placed on her by her husband (“It was my wife’s fault!  You gave her to me… You made the mistake not me!”)

Abel never got to have a family-be married-see old age but had a growing relationship with his Creator.

Enoch was blessed to walk with God with such a close relationship; God did not want him to taste death.

Noah got to be part of a big building plan to re-start mankind.

Abraham left his family’s idols and started to serve the Living God who directed him.

Sarah had to follow her husband even when the call was his.

Adam had it made—all of creation was his to command AND he walked with God every day!

Eve found made like none other and was content with her husband.

Abel understood what it was like to be hated.

Enoch knew what it was like to find complete favor with his Creator.

Noah understood the importance of following instructions—even over many years. And by doing that, suffered the ridicule of people all around him.

Abraham had direct communication with God who told him what to do and where to go.

Sarah found something to laugh at when told, in her old age, that she was going to have a baby.

These seven people were the first for many things. These seven are true representatives of who we are.  I can’t even imagine how it would have been for Adam to take a walk with God every day at dusk.  How it would have been to have a verbal-I would guess it was verbal-communication with the Creator God!  Here Adam was—the only man—the only person on the earth. He had God’s full attention!  But Adam had not found a relationship with anything in the creation that would satisfy his longings.  He’d be seeing all the animals pairing off and having offspring but he was alone.

Then God put him to sleep—gave him rest of his searching—and made his helpmate right out of his side. (Can’t explain that but God did touch Adam in such a way that his helpmate was there when he woke up!)  

How that applies to us is interestingly parallel.  I too can take a walk with  God each and every day—when I want to, talk with Him--verbally. I can pray to Him. I can read His Word. I can learn what He wants of me as I do those things to build my relationship with Creator God. ¡He wants me to do that! He provides all I need to assure that to happen. I can speak verbally to Him or in my heart and He will hear me.  He has promised me all the riches of His Glory. 

Philippians 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

フィリピの信徒への手紙 / 4章 19節 わたしの神は、御自分の栄光の富に応じて、キリスト・イエスによって、あなたがたに必要なものをすべて満たしてくださいます。

2 Peter 1:3-4 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you

ペトロの手紙二 / 1章 3節-4節 3主イエスは、御自分の持つ神の力によって、命と信心とにかかわるすべてのものを、わたしたちに与えてくださいました。それは、わたしたちを御自身の栄光と力ある業とで召し出してくださった方を認識させることによるのです。4この栄光と力ある業とによって、わたしたちは尊くすばらしい約束を与えられています。それは、あなたがたがこれらによって、情欲に染まったこの世の退廃を免れ、神の本性にあずからせていただくようになるためです。

And when I am alone, I need to remember that 1. He will give me rest and 2. He will provide help for me.  I’m either single or married; He will provide help. It might not be a marriage partner but it could be, but His Spirit is always there to guide my life AS I SERVE HIM. If I do have a marriage partner, then I need to live my life in such a way that the marriage honors the Lord—showing my partner I care and support them—praying for them—to bring that relationship under His Rule and care.

Adam was the first man and he was the first to fall. It was because of his sinful nature you and I suffer separation from our Creator. And like Adam, we needed to come to God—and accept the sacrifice He provided for ALL mankind—the Second Adam, the Lord Jesus, who died in our place to take away the sins that holds us in darkness and emptiness.  

Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.”

アダム ヘブライ人への手紙 / 9章 28節 キリストも、多くの人の罪を負うためにただ一度身を献げられた後、二度目には、罪を負うためではなく、御自分を待望している人たちに、救いをもたらすために現れてくださるのです。

And Eve? Well, she shows us how to wait. When her first baby was born, in her mind THIS was the child that would take care of the sin problem.  She was wrong, as it turned out, but now there were three on Earth and God was still working with them and building the relationship back up.  Eve looked to her God.

And so should we! Maybe waiting is one of the hardest things to do. We want patience right now. We desire wealth quickly. We may want fast food. A fast dollar (¥). Short breaks so we can get back to work again. Short lines.  We want to be older when we are young and younger when we get old. We are upset when the short line at the market is held up because the person is paying in one yen coins!!! We want to be mature in the Lord - fast! We want! We want! We want!  Even when the waiting is for our good, we are not happy about that.  Nine months to have a baby? Sometimes, it feels like 19 months…other times, it flies by.  The Bible says some powerful things about waiting.

We should look to our God as Eve did. We know that, but we are impatient. We tend to fall back into old patterns and our mind is filled with old hurtful ideas. What should we do about that?

NKJV  Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”

イブ  イザヤ書 / 40章 31節　主に望みをおく人は新たな力を得／鷲のように翼を張って上る。走っても弱ることなく、歩いても疲れない。

When I look at these seven people, I feel rather detached from them.  One, they lived a LONG time ago. The only things I know from them are from the most part from my reading of them in the Bible…some info from movies but that is not reality!

Two, There is so much we don’t know about them. What kind of home life did they have? What were their dreams? Their passions? But then again, it is that way for most of the people in Scripture---just enough to tell the story. Like with Lazarus. What did he ‘see’ in death? Nothing said in Scripture.

And where would Faith fit into the whole picture IF we were told everything up front? Isn’t it by Faith that we grow? Isn’t it by faith that we move along in this walk of life? And as we continue this study of walking through the Bible, we shall see over and over again how God’s People failed in this and how some of God’s People succeeded in this.  We hope to learn how to do this right. How to live life in such a way that He is well pleased.

Looking ahead into the New Testament, we see the Father of our Lord Jesus responds when His Son, Jesus, identified with Mankind and was baptized—not for forgiveness of sins but to identify with the Will of the Father. You can hear His Voice say: 

Luke 3:22 NIV “and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”

ルカによる福音書 / 3章 22節　聖霊が鳩のように目に見える姿でイエスの上に降って来た。すると、「あなたはわたしの愛する子、わたしの心に適う者」という声が、天から聞こえた。

And God gave Eve to Adam.

What He said and what He did. 

 「何を語り何を為したか」

The footprints of God are all over this Book.  It is found in how He related with, not only these seven people, but with ALL of mankind.  Each of these seven had their own unique walk with the Creator. All of them were responsible for what they said and did. All were in direct contact with Him.  All the contact was started from His side first.

And God made Adam (Man) in His Own image.

God was pleased with the offering of Able.

God’s deep friendship with Enoch.

And God called Noah to build an ark.

God called Abraham His friend.

The Lord blessed Sarah with a child.

And as we look at these people’s relationship with God, we will need to call into question, how do we fit into His call.  How do we respond to His friendship? How do we walk in HIS footprints? Like Abraham did; by Faith. 

What are you learning about what God said and of what God did from your Bible Reading?   

何を私たちは神様の語ったこと、為さったことを聖書から学ぶでしょうか。

Let’s learn what that means.  Keep reading. Keep talking about what you are reading with each other. Grow as we walk through the Bible together.

•  

If you believe that Jesus died for you and you are not Baptized, then read on… Are you wondering about Baptism? Do you know what Baptism is? Why do we teach that Believers be ‘put under the water’? and what does that mean?  Come to the Baptism Class on Oct 16 at 9:45 AM here at the Chapel. The class will end on Oct 30.

もしあなたがイエスはあなたのために死んだことを信じ、あなたはまだ洗礼を受けていないとしてなら、洗礼を迷っていますか？洗礼とは何であるか知っていますか。私たちはなぜ信じている者を水の中に沈めるのでしょうか。そのことがどのような意味を持つでしょうか。１０月１６日９：４５から会堂にて洗礼準備クラスにお越しください。１０月３０日には終了いたします。