America's Roots

Later this week, you know, it'll be a holiday that the country pauses to think about, the 4th of July. And, you know, as I was growing up, and even still today, the 4th of July is one of the holidays that I very much enjoy. It is a time to remember American history. I don't know about many of you, but, you know, American history was always one of my favorite subjects in high school.

It's just a fascinating history when you look at American history. There's all the names, and on the 4th of July, maybe we don't take time to think about what the history of America is during the year, but on the 4th of July, you think about people like Paul Revere and Nathan Hale and Patrick Henry, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.

American history is just rich and alive and fascinating. You know, you have the Revolutionary War, that, you know, and what happened there. The birth of America was unique in terms of history. It was a nation unlike any other nation before it, and look at the effect that it's had on all the world, because, you know, before there was an America, there was tyranny, there was monarchy, and that's what the way of the world was, and now it more leans toward the democracy, I guess, if you will, and the allowing people to become who they need to become or can become through the freedoms that this country brought to the world for the first time.

Now, we in the Church know that God is the one who blessed this country, and our forefathers often talked about that. They knew, they knew that it was God who blessed this country because it was unlikely that it could ever have developed on its own, and they acknowledged God, and as you read through the documents, you see that they based the Constitution, they based the government on principles in the Bible.

You just can't get away from it, and the naysayers today who want to say, no, it wasn't. Yes, it was. Yes, it was. They knew the words of the Bible, and they didn't know all the truth of the Bible, and they didn't maybe understand Sabbath days and holy days and the things of God, but they knew the Bible and principles, and they built that into the Constitution that we have. America has been on the forefront of the world affairs for 200 years.

Today, still, when America speaks and something goes on over here, the world stops and listens. They listen closely, and a lot of the nation doesn't know us or doesn't like us, or not of the world doesn't like us, I should say, but we're a factor, and without the United States, the world, as we know it, is a far, far different place. Now, when we go back and we talk about the history of America, and we can go back to the 1700s with the names that I talked about, we can go back to the pilgrims, we can go back to the Puritans and talk about them coming over here and establishing communities where there was religious freedom as they tried to get away from the tyranny of the European nations that they were in.

We can go back to 1492 in Columbus, and the common is that Columbus discovered America. And we can say our history goes back some four, five hundred and fifty years. Well, the truth is that America, America's history goes back far, far beyond that. And the story of America, the story of America is fascinating to the world, should be fascinating to the people of this country. And we should be proud of the history that we've had, and the nation should have never forgotten God.

But those of us in the Church, we know that the history of America is one of the, was one of the founding things, I guess, I don't know if founding is the word, one of the inspirational things of the Bible. Because you see in the history of the Bible, from the beginning all the way to the end and well into the future, you see the history of a people that God has worked with. The history of a people that God, from way back when, began to do that. And when you see the history that He has in the Bible, when you understand where it is that those people are today, you see the promises of God.

You see that He is loyal and He keeps His covenants. He keeps His promises to people. Sometimes those people fail and sometimes those people fall away from Him. But He always remembers. He never forgets. And that should be a source of inspiration to us and a source of motivation to us.

Our God is faithful. When our God says something, it happens. And it happens for thousands and thousands of years. He doesn't forget. And when He calls the people and He says something, we can put stake our lives on it. And so it is in the history of a people that began back in Genesis. Let's go back to Genesis 12 and let's look today and look at the history of a people, where they are today, and how that should encourage us and rehearse some of these things that maybe we haven't thought of for a while.

And as we look at this Thursday, the 4th of July, to think about what God has done, and it extends far, far, far farther back than 1776 and the 1600s and 1492. It happened 4100 years ago. It began, if we want to take this part, it really happened before the foundation of the earth because God knew it was going to happen.

But let's look at Genesis 12. We have a man named Abraham. And on the face of the earth, there was a man named Abraham who was loyal to God. He gave himself totally to God. He was a man of note, apparently, in the Babylonian society, of smart men, a wealthy man, like the other Babylonians of that time, or the Chaldeans, or whatever they called them back then.

He worshipped all those gods, just like they did. But he came to know God, and God opened his mind. And as God opened his mind, he realized and he knew there was one God. And when he understood there was one God, and he saw that God, he totally dedicated his life to him. He forsook all the other gods, forsook everything that he had behind him and in his life, and he followed that God and determined that he was going to do whatever that God said.

He was a man unlike anyone else on the earth, and God saw his heart. God opened his mind, and God looked at this man, and because of his hearts, and because of his faith, and because of what he did, he made him some stupendous promises. Genesis 12, verse 1.

And you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you. And in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Abraham, Abram, didn't quibble, didn't quarrel, didn't say, can't we just do it here? Bop, bop. He just simply went where God told him to do. What a fine attitude. But here in this blessing, called the Abrahamic Covenant, an Abrahamic Covenant that still exists today. Let me read to you what the open Bible commentary says about this Abrahamic Covenant. They say, this covenant with Abraham is the first of the theocratic covenants. It is unconditional, depending solely upon God, to bring to pass the promised blessings. The Abrahamic Covenant is the basis of all other theocratic covenants, and provides for blessings in three areas, as we read. There's national blessings, as in, I will make you a great nation. Personal blessings, I will bless you and make your name great. And you will be a blessing, and universal blessings in, when it says, in you, all families of the earth will be blessed. That's quite a statement for the God of the universe to tell Abram, this is what I'm going to do for you because of where your heart is and how you've yielded to me and the faith you have in me.

You're going to be a great nation.

They go on to say, the Abrahamic Covenant constitutes an important link in all that God began to do, has done throughout history, into which all of God's programs and works fit.

This covenant with Abraham, I will make you a great nation. I will make your name great. In you, all families of the earth will be blessed. We can give a sermon on each one of those three parts of that blessing, but today let's focus in on, I will make you a great nation. I will make you a great nation.

We'll see that God followed that to the detail. In Genesis 12, God says this to Abram, and Abram simply does what God says. If we follow the process here, we see that God makes that statement, and then he adds to it, he gives Abraham more details as time goes on. In chapter 15, following the time that Abraham went out and he battled the kings of Sodom and those five kings and brought back the goods. And in verse 23, we read it last week of chapter 14, verse 20, he acknowledged God, didn't look to himself as he was the power that made that happen. And when God enriched him, he gave him a tithe of all. And in chapter 15, God says this to him in verse 5. He brought him outside. Now, let's pick it up in verse 3 and get the context. Verse 2, Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me? Seeing I go childless in the air of my house is the Eleazer of Damascus. And Abram said, Look, you've given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir. And behold, the word of the eternal came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. And then God brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them. And God said to him, So shall your descendants be. Not even one child at that point. God takes him outside and said, Remember, I told you I will make you a great nation. Look at the stars. As you see the stars, that's how many descendants you will have. And Abraham didn't doubt. Abraham believed in God, and God accounted it to him for righteousness. It didn't seem likely. I don't even have one child. And obviously, Sarah is barren because we don't even have one child. But God said, As many as you see, as you see the stars, Abraham simply believed. And God knew it was in his heart. He believes me. If we go over to... Oh, verse 7, let's continue there. And God said to him, I am the eternal who brought you out of her and the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. You'll own this land. This land you and your descendants will possess. If we go over to chapter 17. After Abram and Sarah take matters into their own hands and have a son by her handmade, God reminds Abram of what he promised him. Chapter 17, verse 4.

It says, As for me, behold my covenants... This is God speaking. As for me, behold my covenants is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. He adds to those blessings, he gives in more details, you're going to be a nation. Nations will come from you. Kings will come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you in their generations for an everlasting covenant.

Abraham, it's not just for your lifetime. Abraham, this is forever, as the Bible would describe forever. To be God to you and your descendants after you. This is what I will do to you. This is what I will do to you over in chapter 22. After Abram passes another test when he's willing to give God, sacrifice to God, his only son Isaac, the son of promise, that God promised him and Sarah, and Abraham was willing to give him up to sacrifice him after that event here in chapter 22. And verse 17, God adds to the blessing, gives him more detail. Verse 16, let's start. By myself, God says, I have sworn, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son. Blessing, I will bless you. Multiplying, I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. There's another one. Not only will they be great, not only will they be nations, not only will kings from them, but they're going to possess the gateway into some of their enemies. They're going to control the gates of that earth. And in verse 18, in your seed, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because of you, Abraham, because you have obeyed my voice. You obeyed my voice. So God kept increasing the vision for Abraham, what he would be. God kept saying that no matter what he asked Abraham to do, Abraham just faithfully followed. He simply believed in God, and God accounted it to him for righteousness. Whatever God asked Abraham to do, he did. And God kept saying that, and he kept saying, telling him, this is an everlasting covenant between you and me. Your seed will last forever. Your seed will be there forever.

And in Genesis 48, as that blessing was passed down to his son Isaac, and then down to Jacob, and then Jacob had 12 sons, and they found themselves in slavery. And at the end of Jacob's life, he passes on that blessing. And in Genesis 48, we see the future beyond the life of Abraham, beyond the life of Isaac, beyond the life of Jacob, beyond the life of even Manasseh and Ephraim, that God continues to work with that people and honor the covenant that he made. Genesis 48. Let's pick it up in verse 4.

And I will make of you a multitude of people and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession. You're here in Egypt now. You're here in this land now. But I'm going to make you a multitude of people, and I'm going to give you this land. And now your two sons, Jacob says to Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine. As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine. Your offspring, whom you beget after them, shall be yours. They will be called by the name of their brothers and their inheritance. But these are mine.

These are mine. My name will be on them. We're passing the blessing on to Ephraim and Manasseh, you, to your sons, Joseph, the line through which these blessings will go on. Let's drop down to verse 14. Israel, Jacob, stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand was on Manasseh's head, guiding his hands knowingly.

His sight was dim at that time, but he knew what he was doing. God was guiding him through what he was doing there, but Manasseh was the firstborn. And Jacob blessed Joseph and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads. Let my name be named upon them. They will be known as Israel. They will be known as the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Let my name be named upon them and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. Again, quite a blessing. Quite a blessing that God is giving, that Jacob is passing on to these two young men. Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Abraham, it displeased him. So he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Abraham's head to Manasseh's head, and Joseph said, Not so, Father, for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head. He thought his dad had made a mistake. But Jacob refused and said, I know, my son. I know. He also shall become a people, and he will be great. He will be great. But truly, his younger brother, Ephraim, shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations. Now that's a prophecy for the future. That wasn't happening then, but God was telling, or God through Jacob was telling him, This is what's going to happen. You've got this detail of what's going to happen. They are going to be nations. The older one is going to be a great nation and a multitude of people, but the younger one is going to be a company of nations. And we have throughout the Bible the history of these descendants. We have Israel. We know what their history is. What Jacob promised, what God promised through Jacob there, never happened in biblical times. Never did they become a company of nations in the earth.

So if this never happened to Israel, if this never happened to Israel, then we could throw out the Bible. Because God promised it would happen. But when you read in the Bible, it didn't happen during that time. It's for a future time beyond the biblical years. And if it didn't happen, the Bible's not true. And God doesn't predict the future. But we know His promises are sure. We know that what He says surely comes to pass, sometimes in not ways that we expect, but we know that what He promises happens. Didn't happen in Ephraim's lifetime, Manasseh's lifetime, David's lifetime, Solomon's lifetime. All those kings of Israel didn't happen in their lifetimes. Didn't happen in Jesus Christ's lifetime. Didn't happen in the lifetimes of the apostles. Didn't happen during all that time. But the Abrahamic covenant was forever. Was forever. And so Israel became a people. They were there in the land of Egypt. And they became a great people, just as God said. They grew to millions, they say, in Egypt. And during that time, God worked with them, and they knew what it was like to be slaves and to be under the oppression of people. And God brought them out of Egypt. And He brought them out, and for 40 years He trained them in the desert. He taught them His way of life. For 40 years they walked with Him. For 40 years they saw His protective covering by day and His warmth by night. They knew His principles, and they watched, and they followed Moses, who was also loyal to God. And they knew their identity when they were in Egypt. They became a people, and they knew who they were. And when they came out, they were known as Israel. Let's pick it up in Deuteronomy 28. As Moses is about to die, he reminds the people what they need to do going forward. This people that God is looking at, this people that God had said earlier in the book of Deuteronomy, you are My people, you are My treasure, you are My treasure. And that He wanted them to become an example to all the nations and fulfill what He had asked for them. So here in Deuteronomy 28, as Moses is talking to Israel, the 2-3 million people that became the nation of Israel from one man, one man, and one son of promise. In 28, verse 6, Moses says, Now, shall come to pass if you diligently... Boy, every time I see the Lord diligently anymore, I take that personally. It shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, just like Abraham did. If you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, so observe carefully, carefully all His commandments, which I command you today. That the eternal your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. Remember that promise. Remember that prophecy. Remember who you will be. And all these blessings will come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. You'll be blessed in the city, blessed in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground, and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle, and the offspring of your flocks.

Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. And he goes through and he talks about all these blessings that He'll give them. Unconditional, but they need to obey God. They need to obey God.

Down to verse 13. It says that the Lord will make you the head and not the tail. You'll be a leading nation on earth. People will look to you.

The Lord will make you the head and not the tail. You will be above only and not beneath. If you heed the commandments of the Eternal, your God, which I command you today, and are careful, careful to observe them.

So you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day to the right or the left to go after other gods to serve them. Follow what He says. Believe God just like your fathers did. And then in verse 15 He starts saying, but if you decide that you know better, you're going to do your own thing. You want to do it the way you want instead. He tells them what's going to happen.

It shall come to pass if you don't obey the voice of the Lord your God. To observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. You'll be cursed in the city, cursed in the country, cursed in your basket, cursed in your kneading bowl. Your food will be the fruit of your body will be cursed, the produce of your land and the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. And He goes on and He gives detail of what's going to happen if they depart from God. The blessings came from Him and they will continue as long as they follow Him. But if they stop following Him, there's going to be other things that happen to them. Let's drop down to verse 58.

58. If you don't carefully... Boy, that word is over and over again. A word for us. If you don't carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then He will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues, great and prolonged plagues, and serious and prolonged sicknesses.

He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt. And a year, maybe a year and a half ago, we talked about those diseases of Egypt that were there, many of which are so prevalent in our nation today. Wherever He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness and every plague which is not written in this book of the law, will God bring upon you until you are destroyed.

You're millions now. You're millions now, Israel. But you shall be left, verse 62, few in number, whereas you were as the stars of heaven and multitude. Why? Because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And it shall be that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so He will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing. And you will be plucked from off the land which you go to possess. You'll lose it all. Everything I said I've given you, I will give you, I will.

But if you depart from Me, you'll be plucked from that land. And the eternal, verse 64, will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other. And there you will serve other gods which neither you nor your fathers have known, wood and stone. They would depart from their land. They would still be a people. They would still be a people.

But they wouldn't be in their land anymore if they departed from God. And so, the nation of Israel stayed together through the time of Joshua, stayed together through the time of the Judges, stayed together through the time of the first King Saul, who did depart from God and who was rejected by God, did stay together during the time of David, a man after God's own heart, and through David's son Solomon.

One nation. One nation that did become great. One nation. Not a company of nations, but one nation that became great in the world. And David was a man after God's own heart. He said, let's look at 2 Samuel, because God makes another covenant with David in 2 Samuel. That has spanned history as well. The Abrahamic covenant is still in existence. The Abrahamic covenant still exists. It hasn't gone away. The Davidic covenant still exists as well. 2 Samuel 7 and verse 8. 2 Samuel 7 verse 8. Now therefore, thus shall you say to my servant David, Thus says the eternal of hosts, I took you from the sheep-hold, from following the sheep to be ruler over my people over Israel.

And I have been with you wherever you have gone, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and have made you a great name like the name of the great men who were on the earth. Moreover, I will appoint a place for my people Israel. I won't forget them, and I will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more. Now take note of those three words. They will move no more. Now David, probably in his lifetime, thought God will never displace Israel from where they are now.

But we know in history that God did displace him, and he said in Deuteronomy 28, If you don't obey me, I'm plucking you from the land that I gave you, and you're going to be moved and scattered around the nations. And we know that happened. It's not a prophecy for the immediate future. God hasn't put Israel today or ever in a place that He didn't move them from. But His promise is, David, I'm going to put Israel in a place from where they will move no more.

Hasn't happened yet. They've been scattered. We know they're scattered. We know they're lost. If this doesn't happen, then we can't believe the Bible. We can't believe the Bible. But we know that the Abrahamic covenant lasted for as long as time there is man on earth. Let's go on. That they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more, nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore as previously. Well, Israel was oppressed. They departed from God. The Assyrians oppressed them royal in ways that we can't even imagine.

It's a prophecy that has not yet been fulfilled. Nor shall the sons of wickedness oppress them anymore as previously since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also, the eternal tells you that He will make you, David, He will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, when you die, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish His kingdom.

He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever. I will be His Father. He will be my Son. If He commits iniquity, I will chasten Him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. I'll punish Him with other people. There will be wars. They may lose things. It'll hurt.

But my mercy, verse 15, shall not depart from Him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house, David, and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever. Another one of those forever covenants. Did God forget that covenant? Or does it still exist today?

It better still exist today, otherwise we can't rely on the Bible. And it does still exist today. You know, you can mark down Psalm 89 because in there it is affirmed what the covenant was with David. But let's go over to Luke 1. Luke 1 and verse 31.

And we say in the New Testament, the throne of David being brought up, well, the throne to Israel and Judah. Israel and Judah have gone into captivity long before Jesus Christ was born. Many think the throne of David just disappeared at that time. When Israel and Judah went captive, the throne disappeared. But here in Luke 31 or Luke 1 and verse 31 when Jesus Christ is born, it says, And behold, you will conceive in your womb Mary, and you will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the highest, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. That's the throne that he's going to be given.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.

God said that throne is going to last forever. And Jesus Christ, Mary, who you're carrying in your room, he's going to take that throne. He didn't take the throne when he was alive. In the thirty-three and a half years he lived on this earth. He didn't take that throne. We know he's returning. The Bible tells us he will, and when he returns he will take that throne. We've spoken about this before. Where is that throne today? Because it is prominent on the face of the earth today, but it's hidden from the world. Let's go back to Ezekiel. Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel 37. You remember the beginning of Ezekiel 37. It's a prophecy about the resurrection. Very, very, very, very well written. That brings to our eyes the bones, the dry bones coming up from the earth, the bones being connected to one another as the chapter begins. And as we go through the chapter, and we get down toward the end of it in verse 24.

In this chapter, that is clearly for the future because Israel and mankind hasn't been resurrected today. We know that's in the future. Ezekiel 37 verse 24 says, David, David, he's been long dead. David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. And when Ezekiel wrote, remember, Israel's already been taken captive. They've already lost their land.

Well, Judah's about to. Ezekiel wrote at the time of the second deportation from there.

Well, that land, God took away from them.

Israel dwelled there. They, their children, and their children's children forever. And David, my servant, will be their prince.

It's a future prophecy. It's something that goes on beyond this nation that God started with Abraham. All the promises that he made him, the promises that he made David, that throne is still there. That nation is still there. Otherwise, we can't believe God. Otherwise, we can't believe God. We don't have a God who means what he says. And if we can't rely on his promises to Abraham and David, how can we rely on his promises to us? But in the history of America, in the history of Israel, we learn we can rely on those promises. We can have absolute faith. And we can see that what God says, he does. He does. It may not be how? Abraham didn't know how God was going to build a nation from him. God did it. When Abraham was told, look up in the sky and see all these stars, that's the number of your descendants. Abraham had to scratch his head, but he didn't doubt. He just believed because he knew God.

And he believed him, and God accounted it to him for righteousness.

So these prophecies are yet part still of the future of this nation of Israel. Still part of the future of that throne, that Davidic covenant that is still in place.

But David was king. Solomon was king. And certainly during their lifetimes, they became a great nation. God fulfilled his promise to them during that time. Let's go back to 1 Kings 10.

And look at a glimpse into just how wealthy and just how well known that nation was back then. 1 Kings 10 and verse 23. 1 Kings 10, 23.

2 Kings Solomon surpassed all the kings of the earth. See that? Surpassed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.

3 And all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. Oh, he was the head. He wasn't the tail. Exactly what God said. If you follow me, you'll be the head and not the tail. Here's the kings of the earth coming to Solomon. You know the story. The queen of Sheba came to visit him. 4 All the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

5 Each man brought his presence. Articles of silver and gold, garments, armin, armor, spices, horses, and mules at a set rate year by year. 6 And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen. He had a thousand four hundred chariots, twelve thousand horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king of Jerusalem. 7 Solomon made silver. God really did. The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones.

8 And he made cedar trees as abundant as the sycamores, which are in the low land. Ah, the nation of Israel. The world looked to Israel. Exactly what God had said would happen if they followed him. 9 As David loyally did. As Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob loyally did. 10 As Solomon began with the right heart, but then he let the riches and the allure of the world take him away from those things.

But God fulfilled his promise at that time. But they were still just one nation. They weren't a company of nations. They were just one nation on the face of the earth. To which everyone looked, a prominent nation in history. If we look back up in verse 22, we see something else that Solomon did. When a nation is rich, they're looking for things and they're looking to explore. They've got time to do that. They're curious about the universe.

The United States today and prosperous nations of the earth, what do they want to do? They want to explore. They want to explore new frontiers. Today we have space exploration. What's up there? We've got the money. We've got the resources. What's up there?

Can we send rockets up there? Can we land on the moon? Can we do these things? In verse 22 it says, the king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hyrum. Once every three years, the merchant ships came back bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and monkeys.

It should be translated peacocks according to the margin there. But they were out exploring. They had riches and they had ships. Here we have a man by the name of Hyrum. Hyrum, a king that they're working with. The king had merchant ships at sea with the fleet of Hyrum. So we get a little bit of window into what is Solomon doing? What is the nation doing at that time? Who is this man Hyrum? Well, we were introduced to him back in 1 Kings 5. Let's go back there. 1 Kings 5 verse 1.

And we see this man Hyrum again. Now Hyrum, king of Tyre, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon because he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father. For Hyrum had always loved David. I love this king. I see good in him. And so they were friends, friendly to the nation of Israel. Then Solomon sent to Hyrum, saying, You know how my father David couldn't build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet.

And then he goes down and he says that he wants to be the one to build the temple for God and asks for cedars from this land that Hyrum was in because those cedars were the best trees in that time. In verse 7 it says, So it says, When Hyrum heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced greatly and said, Blessed be the Lord this day, for he has given David a wise son over this great people. What a nation this is! Hyrum king said that. King of Tyre. King of Tyre. Well, Hyrum was from Canaan.

Tyre was in Canaan. Let me read to you about Canaan. This comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica. First it says that the chief cities of a group known as the Phoenicians, we've all heard of the Phoenicians, right? You remember that from world history. They were known as the Canaanites. So their chief cities were Gebel, Sidon, Sohr, Tyre, and Behor, which is modern day Beirut. Gives you an idea of where the ancient kingdom and where King Hyrum ruled.

It says, These people were known as Canaanites, meaning merchants, which characterizes well the Phoenicians. Well known to contemporaries as sea traders and colonizers, they had already extended their influence along the Mediterranean as far as Spain. Cedar and fine linen were exports from Tyre. Ivory and wood carving became Phoenician specialties. The Phoenicians, or the Canaanites, produced their own alphabet as early as 11th century BC, and it spread over the Mediterranean area by traders. It was developed, or they developed a Semitic language of which Hebrew is one.

The Germanic languages descended from it, of which English is one. Archaeologists argue that the Phoenicians are simply the descendants of coastal dwelling Canaanites, who over the centuries developed a particular sea-going culture and skills. I mentioned some other suggestions that have come up over the times, one of them that I thought was interesting, was that the Phoenicians and Hyrum were even represented the maritime activities of the coastal Israelite tribes, like Dan, who from the Song of Deborah and Judges are listed as being among their ships. Now, it's interesting because it goes on and talks about the city Cadez in Spain, which is right there between Spain and Portugal, and it talks about how they would come around Cadez, and that that was actually founded in the year 1110, and then another one, Utica in Africa, that they would have sailed around. That was also founded around that same time that Hyrum and the Canaanites and the Phoenicians were exploring all this land in the Mediterranean Sea as they went up there. It goes on to say that Phoenicians' ships used to ply the coast of southern Spain and along the coast of Portugal. It is often mentioned that Phoenicians ventured north into the Atlantic Ocean as far as Great Britain. Now, Solomon and David were there along with Hyrum. The Bible tells us they've had merchant ships along with them, so as they were exploring things around together, and they were great friends, and they were doing these things, then it's likely that the Israelites back then were exploring the area as well, all the way up into that area.

We can't prove it, but it seems likely, given the fact that they were allied with one another, and they were friends with one another, and they were sharing these things. And we know that Israel had that interest in the maritime activities as well. If you read history, and as you remember your high school history classes, there's a lot of credit given to the Phoenicians. They were good people. They brought a lot on the earth.

As we mentioned, the alphabet and the things, and the languages descended, and many of the things that they did were very good, but they were right there hand in hand with Israel. Now, the Bible tells us Hyrum looked up to Israel. All the kings of the earth were coming to Israel at that time. That's who they looked at. But you know, when you had high school history, do you remember reading much about Israel? You read a lot about Phoenicians, but you don't hear much about Israel.

Even though they were the greatest nation on earth at that time, that's where all the kings of the earth were coming. They were coming to hear Solomon and see what he had done and what they had done in Israel. The Phoenicians were right there with them, a friendly nation, but all the credit in the history books goes to the Phoenicians, and you get barely a mention. I remember one time in high school that there was a mention in one of the history books about Solomon and Israel, and they were a great nation at that time as well. But apart from that, there was almost nothing said. The history we have of Israel is right there in the Bible. But they were a great nation. They were a great nation, but for some reason, history doesn't give Israel the prominence it deserves. You hear very little about it. Let's go back to Psalm 83.

Psalm 83. Israel. God's people, he calls them in Deuteronomy 7. God who made this covenant with Abraham, who has filled it at once there with the wealth that he gave them, he made them a great nation. In Psalm 83, verse 1, it says, They have taken crafty counsel against your people, Israel, and consulted together against your sheltered ones, the ones that you watch over, the ones that you protect, the ones that you are guiding and directing. They have said, Come and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.

Let's just forget about this nation, Israel. It's God's nation on earth, but let's just forget about them. If we can just wipe them off the pages of history, if we can have people forget them, that would be what we would want to do. And so the pages of history are often silent about that great nation, Israel.

And today, that great nation, Israel, no one knows where they are. We have a little nation, Israel, over in the Middle East, that some people confuse with Israel. But it's not the real Israel. It's not the Israel that God. It's not all twelve tribes. It's just one tribe, as you know, over there.

Israel under David and then Solomon was great.

But after Solomon died, the nation went awry.

Solomon's son, Rehoboam, didn't handle things the right way, and God took the kingdom away from him and gave the northern ten tribes to a man by the name of Jeroboam.

And they became known as Israel.

You can read about it in 2 Kings 12.

2 Kings 12, I mean, the nation of Israel, one nation, became two.

Judah continued under the lineage of David, but Israel became a separate nation.

And all of a sudden, you have two nations on earth. Let's go back to 2 Kings 12 and take a look on the king that God appointed to be the king of those northern ten tribes that were known as Israel.

2 Kings 12.

2 Kings 12 and verse 27.

I'm sorry, 1 Kings 12. 1 Kings 12. 1 Kings 12. Pick it up in verse 26. The man's name who God gave the kingdom to was Jeroboam. And he should have been grateful. He chose me out of all these people to lead your people Israel?

Jeroboam said in his heart, Now the kingdom may return to the house of David. Hey, I'm really jealous of this. Now that I've got it, man, I don't want any chance.

I don't want any chance of letting this go. I want this. If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of God of Jerusalem, the heart of this people will turn back to their Lord, Reoboam, king of Judah, and they'll kill me and go back to Reoboam, king of Judah. What? God gave it to him. But here he is worrying about what's going to happen. Therefore, the king asked advice. He got some counsel from some of his people. He made two calves of gold and said to his people, It's too much for you to go to Jerusalem. It's too hard for you to go up there and worship. It's too hard for you to go to the Feast of Tabernacles in there. It's better to just stay here.

Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt. And he set one up in Bethel and the other he put in Dan. And this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on the high places and made priests from every class of people who were not of the sons of Levi.

He ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month. Different than the fifteenth day of the seventh month that God had ordained, using his own time trying to assault or trying to insinuate himself into the law of God. Like the feast that was in Judah. Here's our feast. It's just kind of like exactly the one that they're doing down in Jerusalem. You don't need to do it down there. Like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar.

So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. At Bethel, he installed the priests to the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart.

There's always the key. This is what I want to do. I'm not going to do what God said. This is what I want to do. I've got it rationalized. I understand. God gets it. I'm just trying to protect my territory. This is okay, and you know what?

It makes sense. It's better for the people to stay here and not do what God said. They don't need to go to Jerusalem to keep the feast. They need to keep it here. And hey, in the time that I said, which he had devised in his own heart, and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar, and Bergen says, You know what? Israel never followed God again. They never had a good king in Israel. Never had a good king that turned them back to the ways of God.

Judah, on the other hand, did have periodic kings that were good kings. We've talked about those recently. Israel turned from God. And God did to them exactly what he said he would do if they did. In 722 B.C., a kingdom named Assyria, an awful kingdom, a horrible kingdom, a cruel people that would make our hair stand on end. If we put pictures of what Assyria did, and the history books say they did to people they captured, our minds would be boggled that people could do those things to other people. You know, on our face of the earth today, sometimes we hear things that people are so cruel to other people. The kingdom of Assyria was like that.

And they had a big kingdom. In 722 B.C., Israel fell to the kingdom of Assyria. They lost their land. They didn't cease to be a people, but they lost their land exactly the way God said that it would. That they would. You can mark down 2 Kings 18, 9 to 12 and read that. But let me give you kind of where Assyria is or was and how big that kingdom was.

This is according to Wikipedia. Now, I should have brought a map, but I didn't think of doing that. But let me read the description to you. You can get a picture in your mind of where it is. The Assyrian Empire, at its peak, was from 911 to 609 B.C. It was 722 B.C. that Israel fell to Assyria. So at its peak, it stretched from Cyprus, where Cyprus is, where Greece is, and the East Mediterranean down to Iran. Iran, the name that we still have with us today. And the East Mediterranean down to Iran. And from present-day Armenia and Azerbaijan up under Russia, and the Caucasus to the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, and Eastern Libya.

So you've had that picture of what their empire was like. It was a big empire. And the Assyrian king controlled it all, except for the land of Judah. God had mercy on Judah, and Assyria never conquered Judah. But they did conquer Israel, and Israel paid dearly for that. You know, we're here in first Kings. Let's go to 2 Kings. 2 Kings 9-18. I remember something that's in there that we should read. 2 Kings 18, as we put together the history of this people. 2 Kings 18 and verse 9.

They put them in Halab by the Haebor, the river of Gozad, in the cities of the Medes, into their area. They took them out of their land. They didn't cease to be a nation. Now they were taken away from the land that they did. Why does God say in verse 12?

Because they didn't obey the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed his covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded. They would neither hear, they wouldn't listen when they were told, they would neither hear nor do them. So we have a people now that's been scattered, taken out of their land. They're somewhere in Assyria that ranges from Iran all the way up into the Caucasus area, into the Eastern Europe, over by the Black Sea, by the Caspian Sea, in that area.

They're there. They've been taken away captive, and now they are slaves. Someone else comes in and inhabits the land that they used to have. God scattered them, and God put them there. Let's go over to Amos. Amos 9. If we pick up a piece of the history of Israel then, and Israel in the future too. Amos 9 and verse 8. Amos was a prophet to Israel, a nation of Israel, not Judah, but Israel. 9-8, Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from the face of the earth.

Yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob. I'll take it out of its land. They'll pay. They'll be fewer in numbers. But I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob. Says the eternal, 10 For surely I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations. They'll be a scattered people. Exactly what I told them would happen in Deuteronomy 28 if they didn't obey me. I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve. Yet not the smallest grain shall fall to the ground. I will know where every single one of them are.

Just like God knows every sparrow that falls to the ground, He knows where that people is, the people with whom He made a covenant with their forefather, Abraham. They're not a nation, or they weren't in their own land anymore. They were scattered everywhere, but God knows those people. Just like God knows you and me. When we bring it into the 21st century, He knew what was going on with them. A couple books back. Hosea. Hosea 1. Hosea 1, verse 6. Hosea is told to take a daughter, take a wife of harlotry. He has a few kids by her in verse 6 of Hosea 1. It says, And she conceived again, and bore a daughter, and God said to Hosea, Call her, Lo, Ruhama, for I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel.

They've disappointed me, they've turned from me. I will no longer have mercy. I will no longer prop them up. I will no longer have mercy on the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. I won't completely destroy them. I made a covenant with them that lasts forever. Ah, yet, verse 7, I'll have mercy on the house of Judah. In this whole kingdom of Assyria, Judah!

Judah I'll have mercy on. They've turned to me from time to time, and they'll be the one little nation that's out there that isn't conquered by Assyria. Now, later they would turn from God, and they would be conquered by Babylon. But in that whole Assyrian empire, God preserved that nation of Judah. I'll have mercy on them. And so when you read in Josephus, and you can read of Israel, I'm not going to go through the history of where and how you can see the movement of Israel across time, knowing that they had in their history, that they were probably up in ships in the Great Britain area, how they trans, and once the Assyrian empire was defeated, and they could move from place to place, starting off in that empire and then going westward across Europe.

How they ended up where they did. And you can trace it, and others have traced it, but let me read to you, and read our booklet on United States and Britain and Prophecy. I know when God was opening my mind fully, it was one of the books I read, and I was astounded by what God had done, and how he had kept his promise to Abraham during that time, and what had gone on during that time. I won't take the time here, but let me read to you one thing here, because you've heard of, you've heard of Peter, you've heard of Saxons, you've heard of Celts, you've heard of Sumerians, you've heard of these people.

Here's one interpretation of the Behistun inscription, which was King Darius's record of the ones that he conquered. This is from George Wallinson, famous transcriber and translator of that inscription. He says, we have reasonable grounds for regarding the Sumerians, that's C-I-M-M-E-R-I-A-N-S. We have reasonable grounds for regarding the Sumerians who first appeared on the confines of Assyria and Media, the Encyclopedia Britannica, when you look at it, they say these people just mysteriously appeared in the 7th century, they don't know where they came from. Ah, we kind of know where they came from. Israel was taken captive, Israel was put over there, and then all of a sudden they were free, and they came up under a different name, no longer called Israel, but some other names, who first appeared on the confines of Assyria and Media in the 7th century BC, exactly, exactly when they were taken captive and when the Assyria lost their empire, and the Sakai, S-A-C-A-E, of the Vihistun rock, nearly two centuries later, as identical with the Beth-Kumre of Samaria, or the ten tribes of the House of Israel.

My conclusion is, when we look at the history of this people that appeared out of nowhere, they are identical, identical with the ten tribes of the House of Israel. Sharon Turner, from History of the Anglo-Saxons agrees. She says, Sakasuna, or the sons of S-A-K-A-I, abbreviated into S-A-K-S-U-N, Saxon, which is the same sound as Anglo-Saxon that we hear heard about. So it's a reasonable etymology of the word Saxon. It takes no great leap of reason, she says, to conclude that Saxons is a corrupted form of Isaac's sons. So we have the nation that has survived during that time, no longer called Israel, called other things, called Saxons, called Sumerians, called what history has them.

Because remember, the enemies of God don't want the name of Israel to be remembered anymore. They don't want that promise of God to be there for all the world to see. So where are those people today? Jesus Christ in Matthew 15, well, He's over there, notably... Let's turn to Matthew 15 while I'm mentioning it. Matthew 15. We know they still exist. And here in chapter 15, after He has His discourse with the Pharisees about dirty hands and whatever, it says in verse 21, Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Remember where the region of Tyre and Sidon is? Two of the chief cities of the Canaanites, where those Phoenicians were, right up there in that area. Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And the woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, Have mercy on me! My daughter is severely demon-possessed. But He answered her not a word, and the disciples came and nourished Him, saying, Send her away.

For she cries out after us. And Christ says, I was not sent, except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Look where He went. Look where He went. He knew where those people were. Look where the ten tribes of Israel were.

The book of James is dedicated to the house of Israel scattered abroad. That book was written to the ten tribes of Israel. They still existed at the time of Jesus Christ. They still exist today, or the Bible isn't true. Let's read back to Genesis 49. Genesis 49. We read Genesis 48 where Jacob put his hands on the two young men. He from Amazah said, One will be a great nation. He'll come after the younger one, who will be a great nation, and even greater than he. He will be a company of nations. Let's read Genesis 49, 22-26, where Jacob, we read in verse 1 of chapter 49, says, Gather together, that I may tell you what will befall you in the last days.

We know what the last days are. That's well, well into the future. Those are the last days that we live in now. You can read along in verses 23-26 from the version you have there. Let me read from the New Century version. Joseph is like a grapevine that's also known. My name is going to be on Ephraim and Asa, Israel said. They will be known as Israel. Joseph is like a grapevine that produces much fruit, a healthy vine watered by a spring whose branches grow over the wall.

Archers attack him violently and shoot at him angrily, but he aims his bow well. His arms are made strong. He gets his power from the mighty God of Jacob and his strength from the shepherd, the rock of Israel. Your Father's God helps you. God Almighty blesses you. He blesses you with rain from above, with water from springs below, with many babies born to your wives, and many young ones born to your animals.

The blessings of your Father are greater than the blessings of the oldest mountains, greater than the good things of the long-lasting hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, on the forehead of the one who was separated from his brothers. Now, in the last days, there would be some nations, and if we believe the prophecy of 48, a great nation and a company of nations that would bear these blessings, that would fit this description. When you look at the annals of human history and mankind's history, there's only two nations in history that fill that bill.

Only two. Only two! Search the history all you want from day one, so that as far as you can find, there's only two that fit Genesis 48 and Genesis 49. One of them is Great Britain, Great Britain that became the empire that the sun never set on. It was a great empire, a multitude of nations, and it was a kind empire.

It had its faults. It was cruel in some areas, but it was a blessing to the people that it ruled. All you have to do to look at the sea, the blessing that they had is look what happened to those nations when the British left them. One became a great company of nations in the last days, and then after him, and after that, became a nation that wasn't the company of nations, but a great nation, the greatest nation that the world has ever seen, according to some.

And that would be America. That would be America. And look at the tie between those two countries. They were twins, Ephraim and Manasseh. Look at the tie between America and Great Britain. They have every reason to hate each other. America came out of Great Britain. We understand that they were there, and the Revolutionary War was fought against Great Britain, but look at the bond between those today.

And look where the eyes of the world are today. They look to America, and Britain, even though it's lost so much of its former glory, the world still looks to it. And it's prominent in the news today what is going to happen to Britain with the exit from the European Commonwealth, from the European Union. They were the heads. They are the head, and not the tail. And look where a monarchy is in the world today that everyone looks to and that everyone sees favorably.

One monarchy that's notable in the world. And look at history, and get your books out, and see that. And it becomes evidence if you're allowing God to guide you, and look at the facts, that the history of America goes far beyond, far earlier than 1492, and well into the future. Ah, I've gone a long time. I've got more. I'm going to finish it another time, though, because the history of America isn't written yet. The history of America isn't written yet completely. And we know that Israel exists into the future, and there's a prophecy about that that we'll talk about a little bit as we begin Romans 9, because that's one of the questions that Paul has, that people will have.

What about Israel? What about this physical nation of Israel? Let me start there, and we'll take a break for a while.