1 John 3

If you would turn to 1 John chapter 3, thank you, 1 John chapter 3, the general epistles, the meat, the heart of the Word, not the milk. We spent a good bit of time on 1 John 3.9. It is sort of an enigmatic verse, and the commentators are all over the place. And I've studied this verse for years and looked at the commentators for years, and I'm where I was when I started.

It seems to me that this verse is referring to the here and now. Obviously, if you're born of God in the sense of that you are a spirit being, you cannot sin. But if you take it just in the way that it's written, it would have to be in the resurrection, because as long as we're in the flesh, we are subject to sin. And even the first chapter of 1 John says, if any man says that he's without sin, he's a liar. The truth's not in him. And then the first chapter 2 verse 1 says, if you do sin, you have an advocate of paracletus, one alongside an advocate with the father. So we know that even though the incorruptible seed of God may be in us, we can sin. Now this word, we're going to read this verse one more time, but the options are still the same. I lean toward and not understanding exactly the syntax or the way this was intended when John wrote it. I don't know for sure. In verse 9, 1 John 3, 9, whosoever is born of God. Now the word born is very important is ganao. Ganao can be translated begotten or born. When it is of the action of the father, it means to beget, to engender life. When it is the action of the mother, it is to bring forth, to give birth.

And we know that resurrection is equated with birth in Revelation 1 verse 5, because Jesus Christ, it says there Jesus Christ is the first born from the dead. In that case, the word first born is prototikos, which definitely means first born. Whosoever is born or begotten of God does not commit sin. Now we spent a good bit of time on this word that is translated here, commit. In some places it's translated does, which we'll see in verse 10. This word is poi-e-a-o, p-o-i-e-o, poi-e-o. Poi-e-o has several different meanings. It can mean commit or to do.

And here we have it translated that he that is born of God does not commit sin, for his seed remains in him. And we're going to take a most of the Bible study today will be taken up with a study on the meaning of seed in the Bible. One of the most fascinating studies that I've ever encountered or taken to task and spent a lot of time with, and that will be in just a moment. Where his seed remains in him and he cannot sin. Now this cannot here is an absolute negative. It means what it says, he cannot sin. That's that form of that verb that is used there. He cannot sin. Because he is, once again, Ganau, is either born or begotten of God. Now the structure and all of that of the verse, if you just take it just like it's written in the English, it seems to mean that it would have to be in the resurrection. To me, John is writing more in terms of what we have to do at the present time.

You know, John is called the apostle of love, but John writes probably more than any other writer in the New Testament about keeping the commandments. And he who says he knows God and he who says he knows God and keeps not his commandments as a liar, the truth's not in him. That's 1 John 2.4, or for this is the love of God, that we should keep his commandments, his commandments are not grievous. Several, several places, John writes about the commandments, both in the Gospel of John and in 1 John as well. So, verse 10, in this, the children of God are manifested, or they're made known, they're shown for what they are, and the children of the devil. So it's in the immediate context in this, in this what? Those who do evil versus those who do good. As we note further here, in the children of God are manifested and the children of the devil. In other words, there's a contrast between those two. Whosoever does not righteousness, and here's this word poi-eo, that's translated commit in verse 9, and whosoever poi-eo commits, does not righteousness, does not of God. So if you don't keep the commandments, you're not of God.

Neither he that loves, not his brother. For this is a message that we heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not his cane, who was of that wicked one. Who is the wicked one, Satan the devil. There are two types of, in the broadest sense, there are two types of seed. The seed of God and the seed of the devil. And the seed of God, in the spiritual sense, we'll talk about both in the spiritual and the physical sense of the seed of the devil and the seed of God. Not his cane, who was of that wicked one, and slew, killed his brother, killed Abel. And why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. So the contrast between good and evil. Now we want to go to Genesis. I would call Genesis, we're going to talk about seed. I would challenge each one of you to read every verse in the Bible that has seed in it. And as you read those verses, you'll come to verses that will intrigue you, and you wonder, well, what is this all about? And where does this go? And hopefully our study here today will give us some motivation and some background to enter into that kind of study. Now, the book of Genesis, I would call it the book of seeds. Because in the book of seeds, in the book of Genesis, various seeds are identified to a large degree, and also the battle of the ages is clearly defined and set forth.

The word Genesis in the Hebrew is bersheth, b-e-r-e-s-h-i-t-h, bersheth.

And it can mean in the beginning, literally the book of beginnings. In the Greek, it means generation, creation. So life is basically generated from seed, whether it be the seed of plants or whether it be the seed of animals. The Bible speaks of several kinds of seeds. So look at Genesis 1, verse 11. In Genesis 1 and verse 11, God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb, or the herb as the English say, yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth, and it was so. So we have the seed in what's called the plant kingdom, and the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind, and God saw that it was good. So here we see thus non-animal seed, the seed of plants and trees, I guess technically you could call a tree a plant. Then if you look at Genesis 3 and verse 15, after Adam and Eve sinned, and they were told that they had sinned and they were going to be cast out of the Garden of Eden, we look at Genesis 3.15, which is the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible, Genesis 3.15. But in spite of the fact that Adam and Eve had sinned, and they were going to be cast out of the Garden of Eden and cut off from the Tree of Life, they were promised a Redeemer. Humankind was promised a Redeemer. And I will put enmity between you and the woman between Eve or say, womankind in your seed, and people make jokes about women being afraid of snakes, and some are, and some aren't. Maybe more women are afraid of snakes than men, I don't know for sure. And I will put enmity between you and the woman. Of course, they get that from it. It says, the serpent in verse 1, and of course the serpent represents Satan, between you and the woman, between your seed. Now, the seed of Satan, those who do evil, as we have read from 1 John 3.10, they are the devil. Now, you don't have to, from time to time, even those who are the seed of God, from time to time, do works that would be that of the devil, which we are urged to repent of. I will put in between you and the woman between your seed and her seed. It shall bruise your head. Jesus Christ is going to put Satan away, and you shall bruise his, you shall bruise his heel. And so Satan has tried at every turn to try to kill Jesus Christ, and also from every turn to try to destroy the people to whom the promises were made. And it is, you have a battle in a sense of the seeds, the seeds through whom the promises came, the seeds that have warred against the seeds through whom the promises came.

When you look at the Middle East today, the war still rages between the seeds of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the physical sense, and the seeds of Ishmael and Esau. You still see that today. We shall see that as we go through this, how relevant the Bible is to really understand the end of things. You also need to understand the beginnings, because Revelation to a large degree is the completement of that which was intended in Genesis. In the book of Revelation, the Garden of Eden had the Tree of Life. The Garden of Eden was called a... it's like a paradise. So in Revelation, you'll find the Tree of Life, the River of Life, and so on. And we'll see many of those things as we go along here today. You look at Genesis chapter 4 and verse 1. Cain and Abel are examples of seed from the evil, from the evil one, the wicked one, and Abel is symbolic, representative of the righteous line. So we look at Genesis chapter 4 verse 1. And Adam knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare a cane, said, I've gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel, and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller at the ground. Now the time came, and somehow God had revealed to them about sacrifice.

And so the time came to offer sacrifice. Cain brought of the fruit of the ground a thank offering, and Abel brought a blood offering, a sacrifice, for sin. Abel recognized that he was a sinner and needed his sins to be covered. Cain, on the other hand, apparently thought he was a Messiah, and he brought a thank offering, and his offering was rejected. Abel's was accepted, and because of jealousy, he rose up and he killed his brother. And Cain was cast out from the presence of God. You notice verse 12, and then God put a mark upon Cain, and telling people that they should not kill him. So here we see the example of the seed of the wicked one in the human sense, the line of Cain, and it was very wicked. Cain killed Abel. Now you look at Genesis 4.25, and Adam knew his wife, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth. For God said, she hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain sleep.

And so Seth, now the descendants of Seth take the place of Abel, and from the descendants of Seth comes the righteous line. So you have the line of Cain from the wicked one. You have the line of Seth. From the line of Seth came Noah and his sons. So we look at Genesis 5 and verse 28. Genesis 5 is taken up basically with the descendants of Seth, and Seth begets so and so, and so and so begets so and so, and we finally come down in this generation from Seth, to Noah in Genesis 5 and verse 28. In Genesis 5 verse 28, And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and beget a son, and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work, and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed. And Lamech lived after he beget Noah five hundred and ninety-five years, and he begets sons and daughters during that time.

You look at verse 33, And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begets Shem, Ham, and Japheth, three boys. Shem, the firstborn.

From chapter 6 we find that wickedness was so great upon the face of the earth that God sent a great flood, and he wiped out the evil line of Cain. But, as we shall see, that evil line quickly emerged again, and it's very interesting who it emerged from. We'll get to that in just a moment. Now, in Genesis chapter 9, after the flood, God established his seed with Noah and his sons, established his covenant with them. In Genesis chapter 9 and verse 8, And God spoke unto Noah and to his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and behold, he says, and behold, I establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you. When God pronounces a prophecy, then it does not mean that every last descendant will be cast in that light. God is not a respecter of persons, and every person will have an opportunity to become a part of the Israel of God. But this is what the Bible says. Of course, this would not be politically correct today, not at all. Now, you read in one of those articles in the news items that just take, for example, how many Americans accepted same-sex marriage a few years ago, 39%.

Today, it's over 60%. And it has several other stats of what they would accept and not accept of how this Cultural Revolution, actually the sin revolution, has swallowed up the United States of America. So we read that verse 9, my covenant will be established, and one of the signs of that covenant was the Rainbow Covenant, as it's called. We pick it up again in Genesis 9 and verse 18. And the sons of Noah that went forth to the ark were Shem and Ham and Japeth. Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah, and of them was the whole earth overspread. So from Noah, from Shem, from Ham, from Japeth, the earth was overspread. In other words, repopulated. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth. Verse 20, Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. Now, verse 22, there are two different theories with regard to what happens here. Well, you might say three. Noah was naked. Some say, well, this he discovered, his grandson discovered that he was naked. I don't think that's really it, but some talk about it. The other was that his grandson, Canaan, committed sodomy on him. There's the other one that's given with regard to this. And another one was that he actually mutilated him, that his Canaan mutilated Noah. So we read verse 22.

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon their shoulders and went in backward and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

And Noah woke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And the younger son here means his grandson, Canaan, as we see in the next verse. And he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servant shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. And God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died. So once again, when God pronounces a prophecy like this, it does not mean that every last person or descendant will be cast in this light. God is not a respecter of persons, and his ultimate goal, and this is what's wrong with the world of religion, one of the main things today, they don't go and get the historical context. They don't understand what God is doing in bringing sons and daughters to glory. They just jump out their head and make certain statements. Oh, the Bible says God is a God of love. Why did he allow such and such? Why did he allow Israel to kill the Philistines when they came into the land of Canaan, and so on and so on? So he's not a respecter of persons, and every person will have his or her opportunity to become a part of the Israel of God. After the flood, the wicked and spiritual lines arose from the descendants of Shem through Abraham. Did you hear what I just said? After the flood, the wicked line that the Bible basically deals with arose from the line of Shem through Abraham. See, Abraham is the father of Ishmael. Ishmael is the father of the Arabs. Isaac, the son of Abraham, is the father of Esau, who is the father of Edom. Moab and Ammon, they are the seed of Lot, Abraham's nephew, his brother Haran's son. So we'll see that, too. Yes, Abraham is the father of the two main lines that have been at enmity to this very day. We see the wars raging in the Middle East, and as we shall see, with a third party thrown into the mix, who intermarried with one of Abraham and Sarah's sons.

See, Esau married one of Ishmael's daughters, and we'll see that. The descendants of Shem are listed in Genesis chapters 10 and 11. So look at Genesis 10.31. Now, we're focusing on this line of Shem. We have read the prophecies. We're not pursuing that, but we're pursuing what the Bible portrays in what comes up to the present day through seed, and bringing it also into the spiritual realm as well. In Genesis 10 and verse 31, Genesis 10 verse 31, these are the sons of Shem, after their families and their tongues. They've just been listed above, starting in verse 21, unto Shem, also the father of all the children of Eber, the Hebrews, the brother of Japheth, the elder, and even him, or children born. Then the children of Shem are listed. And so verse 31, these are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. These are the families of the sons of Noah. Remember, Noah came from Seth, who replaced Abel. These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations. And by these were the nations divided in the earth, after the flood. So all of these nations were given inheritances. They were to go out and to populate the earth and to be fruitful, multiply. And the first part of chapter 11 is taken up with the rebellion of Nimrod and the tower of Babel. And God goes down and convounds the languages, and they go out to their various inheritances. But then the focus comes back, after that rebellion is accounted for there and described to verse 10 in Genesis 11-10, back to Shem. These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old and beget our facts said two years after the flood. And Shem lived after he beget our facts said 500 years and beget sons and daughters. And so this line of Shem, the various descendants, are listed there. And we come down to verse 27, Genesis 11-27. Now these are the generations of Terah. And Terah is a descendant of Shem. Terah begat Abram, Abraham, the one who became Abraham. We talk all the time about Abraham, father of the faithful.

Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of their nativity in Ur, the Chaldees, modern Iraq. And Abram and Nahor took them wives, the name of Abram's wife of Sarai, and the name of Nahar's wife, Milka, the daughter of Haran. Now you want to pay attention to Nahor and Milka, because from Nahor and Milka, their daughter becomes later the wife of Isaac.

Now notice this verse 30. But Sarai, very short verse, but Sarai was barren, she had no child.

Verse 31.

And Terah took Abram his son and locked the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. And they went forth from Ur, the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. And they came unto Haran and dwelt there. Now you got Haran as a place, and Haran, the brother, and the father of Abraham. And the days of Terah were 205, and Terah died in Haran. And the Lord had said, the Lord had said, previous, in some kind of vision, God had appeared to Abraham and given him this vision and command.

And now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get you out of your country from your kindred, and from your father's house, in a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing.

Now the church has taken up a lot of time with this about Abraham and the physical side of it, and not as much time until in more recent times with the spiritual side of it.

Which is what verse 3 is all about, is the spiritual side, the spiritual seed. Who are the spiritual seed of Abraham?

And I will bless them that bless you, and curse him that curses you, and in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him. And Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Hurrah. Of course, later, Lot parts from Abraham and goes to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now in chapter 15, in chapter 15, chapter 14 talks about battles that Abraham had with some of the neighboring kings of the area, and also about tithing to Melchizedek in verse 18 of 14. But we come to Genesis 15, and after these things, the word of the Eternal came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am your shield, and you are exceeding great reward. In other words, I just like the song, You may be alone, but not alone. I am with you. I am your guardian, as it were. I am going to see you through.

And Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless? Remember that verse 30 back in chapter 10.

Sir, I was childless. I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.

And Abram said, Behold to me, you have given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, You shall not be, this shall not be your heir, but he that shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir. It's not going to be any one that's adopted. You will be the father of this one who will be your heir, the seed through whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And he brought him forth and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell, if you can number the stars. And he said unto them, So shall your seed be.

And he believed in the Lord, and it accounted him for righteousness. So Abraham said, Okay, I accept what you say. I believe in faith that you're going to do this, that I'm going to have seed. But there is a but there. He still doubted. And he said unto him, I am the eternal that brought you out of her of Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it. And the Lord said, Whereby, and he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take you and a half or three years old, and a she-go to three years old, a ram of three years old, a turtledale, a young pigeon. And he took him and laid him, divided him in the midst, and laid each one upon the other, but the birds divided he not. And when the falch came down upon the carcasses, Abraham drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon a brahm, and low and horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abraham, No of a she-r-ity, no for sure that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them. That's the prophecy that Israel would spend four hundred years in Egypt. And also, that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

And you shall go to your fathers in peace, and shall be buried in a good old age. So Abraham lived to be a hundred and seventy-five.

But in the fourth generation they shall come here again, for the iniquity of all the Amorites is not yet full. And it shall come to pass that when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with a brahm, saying unto your seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt, and the great river of the river Euphrates. So beginning there in modern-day Iraq, all the way through to the Mediterranean, and from the northern borders there in Syria, all the way down to Egypt. The Kenites, the Kennesites, and the Katamites, the Hittites, Perizzites, Repheons, Amorites, Kenanites, Grgashites, and the Jebusites. All of these, all the lands that they possess. And so he said, for sure I'm going to give you, I'm going to fulfill that promise from Genesis 12-3.

Now we come to 16.

Time had passed, Sarah was still without a child. So using human reasoning, it was not of faith, it was according to the flesh, I guess she began to say, well, maybe God wants us to work it out a different way. So she urged Abraham to have a child through her handmaiden, Hagar.

And that's what much of 16 is taken up with, but it is very vital to understanding the world today and what is going to come to pass.

Now, Sarai, verse 1, chapter 16, Abraham's wife, there him no children. She had a handmaiden, an Egyptian, an Egyptian. So Ishmael is is half Egyptian and half Shemite.

And Sarai said unto Abraham, Behold now the Lord has restrained me from bearing. I pray you go into my handmaid. It may be that I may obtain children by her and Abraham harken to the voice of Sarai, like a dumb ox to the slaughter, as it talks about in Proverbs. Oh, yeah, I'd like to do that.

And Sarai, Abraham's wife, took Hagar, her maid, the Egyptian, and Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan and gave her to her husband, Abram, to be his wife. So now Abraham has two wives.

And he went in unto Hagar and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. Well, that's what she said initially. She wanted. But then after Hagar got pregnant, she despised her. And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon you. I have given my maid unto your bosom. And when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes the Lord judged between me and you. So Hagar, in essence, was saying, Look, I've got to tell you, I'm pregnant. You're not. I'm really Abraham's wife. You know, you don't have any children.

But Abraham said unto Sarai, Behold, your maid is in your hands, due to her as it pleases you. And when Sarai dealt hardly, harshly with her, she fled from her face. And there are two times here now that Hagar flees.

One before Ishmael is born right here, and the other after he's born. Ishmael is up in age 13 or more.

An angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. And he said, Hagar, Sarah's maid, where you come from? Where are you going? She said, I flee from the face of my mistress, Sarai. An angel of the Lord said unto her, Return to your mistress, submit yourself under her hands. And the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply your seed exceedingly, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. I mean, God is playing a role in this. It's as amazing as this might sound. And today, there are, of course, not all of the Islamic world, not all of them, are Arabs, but there are 1.1 billion-plus people who claim Islam to be their religion, ranging from Indonesia. In fact, one province in Indonesia is governed by Sharia law from Indonesia to the east, all the way back to the west in Syria and Turkey and across much of Africa, now extending down into southern parts of Africa. Or, Boko Haram has taken hold in Nigeria. Verse 8, and he said, Hagar, Sarah's handmade, where do you come? I've read that. Verse 10, and the angel of the Lord said unto her, I will multiply you exceedingly. Verse 11, and the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, you are with child, and shall bear a son, and shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord hath heard your affliction. And he will be a wild man. His hand will be against every man, every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. So this conflict is basically raged from that day to the present time. At one time, Islam pushed all the way into Western Europe, as far west as Spain and France, and was eventually turned back. The Crusaders came on the scene and tried to free Jerusalem from the rule of the Islam and the Islam. The Islamic people eventually drove the Crusaders out and established the Ottoman Empire, which lasted from the 1400s until the end of World War II, the Ottoman Empire. Verse 12 again, He will be a wild man, and his hand will be against every man, every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her, Thou God seest me. For she said, Have I also here looked after him that sees me? Wherefore the well was called Bear-La-Ha-Roy, or not Bear, but Beer-La-Ha-Roy. Hold it, behold it is between Kaddish and Berid. In Hagar, a Brahma son, and a Brahm called his son's name, which Hagar bear Ishmael. And Abram was 86 years old when Hagar bear Ishmael to Abram. And so Ishmael was about 13 when God sent Ishmael away.

Now the promise of a son to Abraham and Sarah is repeated.

Verse 1 of chapter 17, And when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abraham and said unto him, I am the Lord God Almighty. Walk before me and be you perfect. Verse 7, I will establish my covenant between you and your seed.

And he tells Abraham to keep his covenant. Verse 15, And God said unto Abram, As for Sarah your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless you and give you a son also of her. Yes, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples, shall be of her. Now notice verse 17, Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear a son? And Abraham said, Oh unto God, oh that Ishmael might live before you. Now the rest of 18 basically and the rest of 17, 18, 19 to a large degree is taken up with the situation with Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah in said chapters.

You remember that Lot is Abraham's nephew, the son of his brother Haran.

And you look in Genesis 19. Genesis 19, after Lot and his daughters fled from Sodom and Gomorrah, this is Genesis 19, 1930. And Lot went up out of out of Zor and dwelt into the mountain and his two daughters with him. For he feared to dwell in Zor and he dwelt in a cave he and his two daughters. And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, there is not a man in the earth to come unto us after the manner of all the earth. So after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, they thought, well, we're the only people left alive on earth and if we're going to keep seed alive, we better do it through our father. So they made this plan where each one of them, they would get the father drunk, they would lie with him, and so they did. And as a result, two children were born, verses 37 and 38, Moab and Ammon.

The number one people on the face of the earth that God is against is Edom, which is Esau, and secondly Moab. So here we see the evil line from Lot, who is from a descendant of Shem through Haran. Haran was Abraham's brother and the father of Lot. And verse in chapter 20 is largely taken up with interaction between Abraham and Abimelech. Now we come to chapter 21. In chapter 21, we come to the time in which the promise of the seed through which all the nations will be blessed comes to pass. Genesis 21 and verse 1.

The eternal visited Sarah, as he had said, and the eternal did unto Sarah, as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bare Abram a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son that was born unto him Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old as God had commanded him. And Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac was born unto him. Verse 7, and she said, Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck? For I have born him a son in his old age. And the child grew and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. Now the speculation is that maybe Isaac was up some five years old when he was weaned. That's really not important to germane to the whole story. But anyhow, it was quite a feast day when he was weaned. Now verse 9, and Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which had been born unto Abraham, mocking. Whereof she said unto Abraham, Cast out this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was grievous in Abraham's sight because of his sight. Now Abraham has spent 13 years with Ishmael, and apparently they were quite close. And now this son of promise is born. And great conflict is taking place here. What, I mean, you can imagine how torn Abraham was at this time. Verse 12, and God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in your sight because of the lad and because of the bondwoman, and all that Sarah has said unto you, Harken under a voice, for in Isaac shall your seed be called. Now the Bible is very clear with regard to whom the promises were passed down through, not through Ishmael, but through Isaac. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, took bread a bottle of water, gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder and the child, and sent her away, and she departed and wandered into wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was gone in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.

And she went and sat down over against Good waysoth, so she wouldn't see the child die. And she sat over against and lifted up her voice and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad, and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, saying unto her, What ails you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. So he's crying there, arise, lift up the lad, hold him in your hand, for I will make of him a great nation. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she went and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad, and God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Peron, and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt, not of the seed of Abraham, but out of the land of Egypt. Then there's this once again intervening time in what about Abraham and Abimelech. Abraham and Abimelech had quite a time. Now, chapter 22. And it came to pass after these things that God did try Abraham. King James says, tempt, not tempt in the sense of tempt him to sin, but he tried him. He said, go sacrifice your only son, the son of promise, Isaac. And of course, Isaac willingly went. He asked at one point, you know, well, where's the lamb? Abraham said, well, God will provide. And so they went their way. And at the last moment, you know the story, God stayed the hand of Abraham and Isaac lived. And you look at verse 18. This is Genesis 22, 18. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice.

Notice this. And in your seed, not many seeds, not the seeds of all nations, not all the sons. And in your seed, whose seed, one seed, Isaac. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went to Beersheba, and Abraham dwelt in Beersheba. Now the time comes in which we should look at Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians chapter 3, and we see once again this promise. The promise is fulfilled through Christ. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

Galatians 3 verse 14. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations. That's all nations. Jew and Gentile. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations. Not just Israel. That the blessing of Abraham might come on the nations. What blessing?

Through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Now when all is said and done, you could say the Bible is a book about faith. Those who would come to God must first of all believe that he is, and a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannuls or adds thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He said, Not unto seeds as of many, I just read Genesis 22.18, but as of one, and to your seed which is Christ. And of course Christ came from that line of Abraham. But so did Ishmael, and so did Esau. And we'll see more.

Now you look at verse 26. For you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as you have been baptized into Christ, and put on Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek, there's neither bond or free, there's neither male nor female. For you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Now we must go back.

So we've looked at the Ishmael part of it. Now we look at the Jacob and Esau part of it. But first, we have to have we have to get a wife for Isaac. So we're backtracking a bit to the the wife of Isaac. So we go to Genesis 24. Now it's time for Isaac to marry. In Genesis 24, what are we talking about? We are talking about seed. We're talking about seed of people who are now ravaging the earth in various ways, some good, some bad, and the ultimate spiritual seed that is through Christ. In Genesis chapter 24.

So it's a time for Isaac to get married. Is he going to marry one of the daughters of one of the tribes there in Canaan?

So we're Genesis 24.1, and Abraham was old and well stricken and aged. The Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. And Abraham said unto his oldest servant of his house that ruled over all the land, Put, I pray, your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the eternal, the God of heaven, the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but you shall go into my country and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac. And the servant said unto him, Well, wait a minute. What if this woman doesn't want to come with me? That's verse 5. The servant said unto her, Peradventure, the woman will not be willing to follow me unto the land. Must I needs bring your son again into the land from which you came? And Abraham said, No way do not bring Isaac back there. Verse 6. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, from the land of my kindred, and which spoke unto me, that swore unto me, saying unto your seed, Well, I give this land, he shall not send his angel before you, and shall take a wife unto my son from there. He shall send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife unto my son from there. In other words, you've got to take it from my kin's folk. Verse 15, it came to pass there before he had done speaking, just hitting the highlights. Then behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethul, son of Melchai, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, with her picture upon her shoulder. The damsel was fair to look on, the virgin and so on. And so this one was brought back to Isaac for him to wed. So we look at verse 58 in chapter 24, and they call Rebekah and said unto her, Will you go with this man? And she said, I will go. So Rebekah went, and they sent away Rebekah, their sister and her nurse and Abraham's servant and his men. And they blessed Rebekah. I mean, what a journey this is and what a step this is for a woman like this to make this journey into a strange land. And they journeyed southward, and they found, eventually they found Isaac, verse 64. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes, and when she saw Isaac, she lighted off the camel. For she had said unto the servant, What man is this that walks in the field to meet me? After the servant had said, It is my master. Therefore she took a veil, covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all things he had done. And Isaac brought her into his mother, Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her, and Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. Now we notice in chapter 25, Ishmael and Isaac come back together one time in verses 8 and 9 of Genesis 25, verse 8. When Abraham died, when Abraham died, Isaac and Ishmael came together and they buried Abraham. In Genesis 25, 8, Then Abraham gave up the ghost, died in a good old age, an old man full of years, and gathered to his people. And his son, Isaac and Ishmael, buried him in the cave of Machpila in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar, the Hittite, which is before Mamre. Look at verses 12 and 13. Now these are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son, and the names of Ishmael's son. So his generations are given. Now in chapter 26, in verse 20, in chapter 26, in verse 20, and the herdsmen of Girard did strive with Isaac's brethren, saying the water is ours. They had quite a deal over water. You know, one of the things that ISIS has done is they've taken over the water there around Romani. Water, when it's all said and done, is more precious than oil.

And he removed them there and digged another well, for they had strove not, and he called the name of it Rehavoth. And he said, For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.

Verse 24, The Lord appeared unto him the same night, I am the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I am with you, and will bless you, and multiply your seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

And so, God eventually blessed Isaac and Rebecca with a son. In fact, they had twins.

The twins were Jacob and Esau.

And verses 34 and 35 of chapter 27.

Well, let's back up before that. The first part of 27, of course, Esau was a hunter, and he went out into the fields to hunt to get venison. His father, Isaac, loved venison. And he came back very hungry. And Jacob had made a bowl of soup, and he was so very hungry, that Esau, that he was willing to sell his birthright for a bowl of soup.

Then later in chapter 27, we start in verse 32.

And Isaac, his father, said unto him, Who are you? And he said, I am your son, your firstborn Esau.

And this was the after the plot. Verse 33, And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Where is it that has taken venison and brought it me? And I have eaten of all this that came, and have blessed him. Yes, and he shall be blessed. So, Rebekah and Jacob had hatched up the plot in which Jacob dressed up like Esau. And Isaac was deceived into giving the blessing unto Jacob instead of Esau. Now Esau comes back from hunting, brings the venison, and sits down before Abraham.

And this is what takes place. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said, Well, where is it he that takes venison and brought it me? And I have eaten and all of it, and I have blessed him. Verse 34, When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a grating, seeding, bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me, also, O my father. And he said, Your brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away your blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob, meaning supplanter? For he has supplanted me these two times, one with the bowl of soup, and he sold the birthright. He took away my birthright. Behold, now he has taken away my blessing. And he said, Have you not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered unto Esau, Behold, I have made him your Lord. And all his brethren have I given to him for servants, and with corn and wine have I sustained him. And what shall I do unto you, my son?

And Esau said unto his father, Have you but one blessing? My father blessed me, even me, also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and he wept. And Isaac his father answered and said unto him, Behold, your dwelling shall be in the fatness of the earth. And of course, the great petroleum reserves of the earth, and much riches are contained in that land.

But verse 40, and by the sword shall you live and shall serve your brother. And it shall come to pass that when you have the dominion, and this verse, is this verse yet to be fulfilled? And when you shall have the dominion, that you shall break his yoke from off your neck. And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father at hand, Then will I kill my brother Jacob. And these words of Esau, her elder son were told to Rebecca, and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said unto him, Behold, your brother Esau, as touching you discomfort himself, proposing to kill you. So Jacob fled into Peron and to his uncle's place to Laban. And you know the story there of Jacob laboring first of all seven years, given Leah, and then seven more years, given Rachel. So we have the seed of Ishmael and the seed of Esau. They eventually mingle. You look at Genesis 28 and verse 7, well, let's look at 6. Genesis 28, 6. When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob, and sent him away to Paddam, Aron, to take him a wife from there, and that as he blessed him, he gave him a charge, saying, You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, and that Jacob obeyed his father and mother, and was gone to Paddan, Aron. And Esau, seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father. Esau had already married an Egyptian.

Then when Esau into Ishmael and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath, and the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebihoth, to be his wife. So now Edom and Ishmael are mixed, and it's very difficult to distinguish between the two. But in the prophecies, they are distinguished.

So we have seen this history that we see playing live and in color on our television sets and in the news on a daily basis. The seeds of Abraham continue their battle against the seed of Abraham through Isaac. The seed of Ishmael and Esau. Any nation or people can become evil, and that includes Israel. Look at Isaiah chapter 1 verse 14. Isaiah 1 verse 14. Now we're going to give the spiritual application with that background in mind. Once again, I would urge you it'll take you quite a long time. You probably won't do it at one sitting. To read every verse in the Bible on seed, and you'll find out you'll learn quite a lot. Things that perhaps you never even thought of before. In Isaiah 1 and verse 4, a sinful nation and people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers. Children that are corruptors that have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. They are gone away backward. And this was a prophecy that Isaiah delivered. You look at verse 3, but Israel does not know my people, does not consider. So any nation can go astray. When it comes to the spiritual seed, Satan the devil sows seed, and they are called the terrors. And on the other hand, Jesus Christ and his ministers sow seeds, which is the Word of God. We look at Matthew 13.

See, all of this seed business is playing in the background. The physical seed, some evil, some good. The spiritual seed, some evil, some good, some of the devil, some of God.

And this parable, and a few other verses, brings us to light. In Matthew 13, verse 3, And he spoke many things unto them, and parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And when he had sowed, some seeds fell by the way, and the fowls came and devoured them. Some fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth, and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no depth. And when the sun was up, they were scorched, and because they had no root, they withered away.

Some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprung up and choked them. Others fell into the good ground, and brought forth fruit, some hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirty. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why do you speak unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven.

But to them it is not given. For whosoever has to him shall it be given, and he shall have more abundance. But whosoever has not from him shall be taken away, even that which he has. Brethren, I don't know if you understand what you have been given, what I have been given, with regard to the spiritual seed.

Now, this physical seed is in the background, and it's playing out. But the overall plan and purpose of God, of course, is to bring, all seed, whether it is Jew or Gentile, into his family, into his kingdom. And we pick it up again in verse 18. Verse 18, Hear you therefore the parable of the sower. So here's Jesus Christ's explanation of that parable that we just read. When one hears the word of the kingdom and understands it not, then comes the wicked one and catches away that which was sown in his heart.

This is he which receives seed by the wayside. See, the wicked one is always there. He wants to snatch away the good seed, the seed of God.

He wants to snatch it away. But he that receives the seed unstony places, the same as he that hears the word in anon, which joy receives it, yet hath not rooted in himself, but endures for a while. When he has tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he is offended. Well, God doesn't require all these rules, regulations. I love God. I do this. I do that. I'm a good person. I don't have to do this. I don't have to be in that church.

I don't. I can serve God anywhere. I'm just as good out on the creek bank as I can in a church, and on and on it goes. He also that receives seed among the thorns, he that hears the word and the care of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and he becomes unfruitful. But he that receives seed into the good ground, is he that hears the word, understands it, which also bears fruit, brings forth some 100 fold, some 60, some 30.

Another parable he put forth unto them, the kingdom of heaven is like in a man which sowed good seed in his field. But while the men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. Who sows the tares? Well, he tells you. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? From where then hath it tares? And he said unto them, and enemy has done this, the servant said unto him, Will you then that we should go and pull it up?

I don't know if you've ever tried to weed a garden. Sometimes you pull up the good stuff with the bad stuff because weeds really grow better than the good stuff oftentimes. But he said, No, lest you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together unto the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.

And another parable he went forth, the kingdom of headers like to grain a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Another parable he spoke unto them, the kingdom of headers like unto you, leaven. And so, through the mouth of parables, God communicates what they are through the parables and his explanation. Now, we pick up once again this explanation about the tares in verse 36. Then Jesus sent the multitudes away and went into his house, and his disciples came unto him, saying, Well, tell us the parable of the tares of the field. What is this all about? He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of God, or the Son of Man, or the Son of God. The field is the world. The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil.

The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of this age. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity shall cast them into a furnace of fire. There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Son and the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear? Let him hear. God's seed is his word and his spirit. Look at 1 Peter 1, 23. If God has sown this seed into you, and hopefully he has sown it into each one of us, how awesome is that in view of all the things that we have seen and talked about? You know, this part about seed has been playing out from the book of Genesis to the present time, and it will continue until the end of this age.

In 1 Peter 1, 23, being begotten again, your begotten first of your earthly father, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which lives and abides forever the word of God. Now look at James back a few pages. James chapter 1. James chapter 1 verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights with whom is no variables, neither shadow of turning, of his own will, beget he us with the word of truth. He is sown within us the incorruptible seed, the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creation.

The seed is incorruptible, but Satan and his agents, they're there, they sow the tares, they try to snatch away from the seed comes life. Once again, the words of Jesus, John 663.

It is the spirit that quickens, the flesh profits nothing. The words I speak, they are spirit and they are truth. The words I speak, they are spirit and they are life. Spirit is acquainted with life. The spiritual seed are of faith. Look at Romans chapter 9. Hopefully these things are not going over your head. You cannot grasp all of this totally without follow-up and without study and master it. Read every verse about seed. In Romans chapter 9, Paul writes, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience also bear me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great heaviness, continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ for my brother and my kinsmen according to the flesh. These are the physical seed of Abraham. Now, you look in, hold your place there, look at John 8 and verse 37. What about the physical seed of Abraham? We have the identity groups, we have the people that claim you have to be of the physical seed of Abraham to ever even receive the spiritual life. What does Christ say about if you're just a physical seed? In John 8, 37, I know that you are Abraham's seed, but you seek to kill me. My word, the true seed, the spiritual seed, has no place in you. So you say you are the seed of Abraham. Now verse 42, Jesus said unto them, if God were your father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God. Neither came I or myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word.

You are of your father, the devil. The devil sows seeds and tares.

The lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, abode not in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaks, he speaks a lie. He speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. Now we go back to Romans 9.

I could wish, verse 3, myself a curse from Christ, that my brethren, according to the flesh, might be saved. Verse 4, these are the Israelites, to whom the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of God and the promises, they were made, whose are the fathers, of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came. He was a descendant of Abraham, who was over all God bless forever, not as though the word of God had taken of non-effect, for they are not all Israel which are of Israel.

Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, in the physical sense, are they the children. But in Isaac shall your seed be called. Why? Because Isaac was born of faith. Ishmael was born of the flesh. That is the allegory. Ishmael Hagar represents the old covenant. Isaac, Sarah, Abraham represent the new covenant. That is, they which are the children of flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of promise are counted for the seed. For this is the promise, the word of promise, at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son.

And not only this, but when Rebekah also is conceived by one, even by our father Isaac. For the children being not yet born, either having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand not of works, but of him that calls. The elders shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I loved less.

So, brethren, here we are. The devil hates those in whom the spiritual seeds abides and seeks to destroy them, and we'll continue to try that to the end of this age.

The seed of God shall abide forever. We close with one final verse, or three or four verses, in Isaiah 66.

Once again, I urge you to take up this study of the seed, and it'll bring a lot of things together in your mind, in your thinking, and in your study of the Bible. In Isaiah 66, it talks about this new nation, Zion, which is the church, and bringing forth her children.

In Isaiah 66, 7, Behold, she travails, she brings forth. Before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child, who hath heard of such a thing, who hath seen such a thing, shall the earth be made to bring forth. In one day shall a nation be born at once, for as soon as Zion travails, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to birth, and not cause to bring forth, says the Lord, shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? Rejoice you with Jerusalem, be glad with her, all you that love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her.

For thus says the Lord, verse 12, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations, like a flowing stream. Then shall you suck, you shall be born upon her sides, be dandled upon her knees.

These will go out, and they will take the word of God to the nations. And he says, verse 21, And I will take also of them for priests and Levites, says the Lord. Whereas the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, says the Lord. So shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, says the Eternal. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me. For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched. And they shall be abhorring unto all flesh. Brethren, you are of the spiritual seed. Never let a terror take root with you.