Fundamentals of Bible Prophecy

Well, good afternoon again, everyone. We will put the little muskrat down. Hello, webcast people! We're glad to have you with us, too. I don't know how many of you are listening in, but I believe we are webcastings, so hopefully there are some who are listening. I really appreciate Mr. DeMoor leading that last song. That is a beautiful song. I hope you were listening to the words. In fact, it leads in very beautifully with my sermon. Did you notice how prophetic that last song was? It was all about prophecy. It was really very well done. Thousands of sermons have been given and tons of books and videos written and produced on the subject of Bible prophecy. It is an intriguing subject to know the future in advance, to be able to predict what's going to happen next. Much of the Bible directly or indirectly relates to prophecy because God does have a plan, and that plan has not yet been fulfilled. Of course, the Bible is full of fulfilled prophecies, but there are also many, many prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled. Today we're going to actually start a series of sermons. I don't know if I'll go... I'm sure I won't be going in order because the Passover is coming and I'll be giving some Passover sermons. But I did want to talk about the fundamentals of Bible prophecy. And when I say fundamentals, that doesn't mean it's not important. In fact, the fundamentals are the backbone, you might say, of prophecy. The fundamentals are the most important thing to get. If you don't get the fundamentals, you're surely not going to get anything else that God might want you to understand or that He might want to reveal. In the prophecies in the Bible, we have to understand the fundamentals of Bible prophecy.

And first, in fact, probably the whole sermon today, we're going to look at prophecy in the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis. Now, is there that much prophecy in Genesis? Isn't prophecy primarily in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel? Isn't it in Matthew 24, Luke 21? Isn't it in 2 Thessalonians and in the book of Revelation? Well, of course, it's in all these places, but it's also in the book of Genesis. And I think you'll find it interesting to see how much prophecy is in the book of Genesis. I don't believe we'll get entirely through the book of Genesis today, but we will make a dent in what the Bible says in the book of Genesis in regard to prophecy.

Let's first of all realize that the first important key to an understanding of biblical prophecy is to recognize that almost all prophecy directly relates to the intervention in human affairs of one key player, one key being, and that is Jesus the Messiah. Jesus Christ, the anointed one. And what about the word? What about the one who became Jesus Christ? What role does he play in prophecy? Well, let's go to the book of Genesis because that's where we find the first prophecy in the Bible.

Let's go to Genesis 3. Genesis 3. And this is a very, very important prophecy. It was immediately after Adam and Eve had sinned. So in verse 13, the eternal God. Now, who is this eternal God? This eternal God is the Word. He is the logos. He is the spokesman. He is the one that the Father sent to deliver the message to mankind. It's very clear because the eternal said to the woman, what is this that you have done? The eternal is speaking.

Christ said that no one has seen the Father. No one has heard His voice. This is the Word, the one who became Christ, who is speaking here. And the eternal God said to the woman, what is this that you have done? The woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate. Now, we know the story. I'm not going to rehearse the story here about the serpent and Adam and Eve. But the eternal God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle.

Now, this is actually a prophecy. It's a curse. It's also a prophecy upon the serpent. You are cursed more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you shall go and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. So, this is evidently talking about a serpent, what we would call a snake that crawls on the ground, that eats the dust. You know, it seems to me like there is an innate fear of snakes for most of us. Most of us do not like coming up on a snake unbeknownst.

I mean, I've seen people jump about 16 feet high when they've seen snakes, and I've probably been one of them. I do not like snakes. I hate snakes. In fact, there was a snake—I'm not kidding you. He was every bit as long as my arms. He was at least six feet long and is that wide. I was out fishing in my kayak one summer here in the Dallas area, and this gigantic snake was all curled up on a log.

I'm about 15 feet away from this snake when I see him, and I'm thinking, you stay right where you are. I do not want you coming in the water, because water moccasins are very aggressive snakes, and this was indeed a water moccasin. Some of you have seen the picture of this water moccasin I'm talking about. It was a huge snake. I've been jogging out there in a similar area along the bank, and I've run across snakes about as big—maybe that same snake. That's when I jumped 16 feet high.

I never saw like that closely. I've run into all kinds of snakes. I know a little bit about snakes, and I really don't like snakes. They do crawl on the ground. Their belly is right there. They're eating the dust. That's a curse, and that's a prophecy that God gives right here in the book of Genesis. I will put enmity between you and the woman. That's talking about mankind. We all came from Eve.

Eve is the mother of all living. This is that enmity that I'm talking about. There's just an innate enmity between a snake, and I don't think they like us either, frankly. I think they're just about as scared of us as we are of them. I'll put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. Now, obviously, this is talking a lot more about something more than just a snake and mankind and the innate fear that's there. This now is talking about the woman's seed, as in mankind, and her seed, it says. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed, speaking of Satan, and her seed, and he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Notice that the word seed is capitalized here. That's because this is in reference to the Messiah. This is a reference to the one that was to come from Eve, that would actually be the Savior of the world. Between your seed and her seed, and he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

So, what is it talking about here? What it's talking about is that Jesus Christ was going to come as the Messiah, and he would bruise Satan's head in due time. Satan is going to be bound, first of all, for a thousand years by a fit man who is actually the Christ, will bind Satan for a thousand years just before the millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Then afterwards, after he's loose for a small season, he's going to be cast into outer darkness, into the abyss for all eternity. I don't know that we know for sure exactly Satan's fate, but we know that he's not going to be around to mess with God's people at a certain time, because the Messiah is going to bruise his head, and you shall bruise his heel. Now, again, his, as capitalized, is talking about the Messiah. What he's saying is that, yes, Jesus Christ would come the first time as the Lamb that was depicted in the song that we just sang.

He would come as the Lamb. He would lay his life down. Satan probably thought that was a victory when he was able to have the Son of God crucified. But the Messiah did not stay in the grave long. The Father resurrected Jesus Christ. He resurrected the Messiah. See, these are all prophecies. These are all prophecies, what we're talking about here. Christ did come the first time as a Lamb. His heel was bruised. He was crucified. He was actually dead for three days.

But then he was resurrected, and he lives forever now. So, there is certainly victory in the Messiah, in Jesus Christ. Going on to read further, it says in verse 16, This is a prophecy. Now, I've never had a child myself. My wife has. I had something to do with it. She wasn't happy with me when the baby was being born, because she was in pain, and a lot of it.

And I felt badly that she was in so much pain. I tried to help her as much as I could. But let's face it, this was actually a curse that was placed upon women in childbirth. They were children. They're going to go through pain. There's going to be sorrow. Oftentimes, it says, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception. There's been a lot of sorrow about this type of thing throughout the generations, throughout the years, throughout history.

Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. Now, that's interesting as well. What's the story of man and woman throughout the ages, throughout history? Man has taken advantage of women. It's true. Women weren't even allowed to vote until not that long ago, here in the United States. They have been put down, to some degree. There are also prophecies that will rise up in the last days as well.

It's interesting to consider that these are prophecies that are given in the book of Genesis. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. It's really sad that even some women who are abused will continue to go back with the abuser. It's almost like they have so much control over them. Now, that doesn't have to happen. It shouldn't happen. Women should not put up with that kind of abuse, obviously. But sometimes, with some women, it's very difficult. Verse 17, then to Adam, he said, Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree, from which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake, in toil you shall eat of it, all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles, it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field, in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground.

For out of it you were taken, and for dust you are, and to dust you shall return. So mankind was going to die. Now, what did Satan say? What did the serpent say? You shall not surely die, you shall not surely die. He lied, and mankind has been dying ever since. So these were prophecies that would take place, and that would happen. Now, I remember as a child growing up in Ohio, I grew up on a farm, and I would have to go out and cut the weeds out of the bean fields.

And we had rows of beans, and we'd have to take our hoes and our H-O-E-S's. We'd take our hoes out, and we would have to... Thistles were the worst. Thistles were the worst. They were the hardest to get out, and they multiplied like crazy. And I thought, man, this is drudgery. I was getting paid twelve and a half cents an hour. That's right, twenty-five cents for every two hours that I worked out in the slave-ed-away out in the bean field.

Now, my brothers and sisters claimed that I really loathed a lot, which may be true. I was one of the younger ones when they were saying this. But anyway, it kind of does ring home to me that you have to work a lot to make a crop produce.

To really have it produce well, you have to take care of it. You have to spend a lot of money on making it work. Because there's thistles, and there's all kinds of weeds and things that try to choke out the good seed.

It's interesting, now we just throw pesticides and so forth and have done it for years. It takes care of the weeds to some degree, but what is it doing to our food?

There's a curse upon this land because of Adam and Eve listening to Satan the devil and going ahead and disobeying God. So there are certain curses and things that we read about in the book of Genesis. And they are promises and they are prophecies.

So, cursed is the ground for your sake, and toil you shall eat of it, and so forth. I've read all that. Let's see, let's stop there. But hopefully you can see that there's already been quite a few prophecies already in the book of Genesis. Now let's go to Genesis 5. Let's look at verse 7.

Now that's not right. I wrote that down wrong. I think it's Genesis 6. Genesis 6, verse 5. Then the Eternal saw, again, who's the Eternal here? The Eternal is most likely the one who became Christ, because the consistent pattern in the Old Testament is that the one who talked and interacted and was seen and just was involved with mankind was the one who became Christ. That was the Word, the Logos, the spokesman. So the Eternal saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And of course, this would certainly apply to the Father as well. The Father would know what was going on. They had continual contact, the Word, and the Father. And I'm sure there was a meeting of the minds in all these areas of life. And the Eternal was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and he was grieved in his heart. So the Eternal said, I will destroy man, whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Eternal. So Noah pleased God, and God was looking at the earth. In verse 12 it was corrupt. All flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. So God said to Noah in verse 13, again, this is a prophecy. He said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. This is a promise, and this is a prophecy, that God was going to intervene. God was going to do something because every thought of their hearts was evil continually. It was a very decadent age, a very decadent society. So it goes on and talks about the preparation for the ark. God gave specific instructions.

Verse 13, God said to Noah, the end of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them, and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. And then when we go down to chapter 8 now, we're going to skip a few chapters to chapter 8, and God has indeed done what He said He would do. He sent the waters upon the earth. Noah had built the ark to all the ridicule of the people around. No doubt they mocked Him and ridiculed Him unmercifully, until it started raining and continued to rain and really rained, and people started beating on the door of the ark, and they wanted in. But there was no way for them to enter the ark at that time. And God saved Noah and his family because of Noah's righteousness. Then verse 20 of chapter 8, verse 20 of chapter 8, Then Noah built an altar to the LORD. This was after God spared Noah and his family, and they were out of the ark. So Noah built an altar to the Eternal, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Eternal smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Eternal said in his heart, I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth, nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. Now the word, the Logos, undoubtedly was always submissive to the Father's will, just like he was when he came to the earth. Not my will, but your will be done. And again, it was the Father who was directing things, but the Eternal was carrying things out. And this is the one who became the Messiah. Nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease. So this is a promise, this is a prophecy, that God is not going to destroy the earth, not going to destroy mankind. And he's certainly not going to do it by a flood. So let's look at chapter 9, now verse 8. Then God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And as for me, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth, with you of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth, thus I establish my covenant with you. Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood. Never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth. A promise and a prophecy. God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I make between me and you, and every living generation or every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations, for perpetuity. From then on, generations of mankind would see this sign, and they would know that God is true, that God does not lie, that God cannot lie, and that God tells the truth. And these are prophecies, and they are promises. And you have to realize that you have to place your faith in this God in Genesis. God the Father and the Word, the Logos who became the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus Christ said that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. We can count on Christ. Just as these prophecies have been fulfilled in the past, all the other prophecies of the Bible will be fulfilled as God has promised.

So, getting back to chapter 9, verse 13, I set my rainbow in the cloud. How many of you have seen a rainbow? Let me see your hands. Have you seen it? You've seen lots of rainbows, I'm sure, throughout the years you've been here on the earth. Realize that that is a sign, that is a covenant sign, that God does not lie, God is not going to flood this earth and destroy all mankind except for one family. He's not going to do that again. He did it once, that was enough. He's not going to do it again. I will set my rainbow in the cloud. It shall be for the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. It shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh. The water shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud. And I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth. And God said to Noah, this is the sign of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth. God said to Noah, this was the word, the Logos, the spokesman. That's what he told Noah, and you can count on it.

Now let's go to Genesis 12, and consider what God is going to do with the family of Abram. Genesis 12. Are there any prophecies involved with the family of Abraham? Now the Eternal had said to Abram, Get out of your country, from your family, from your father's house, to a land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation. Okay, that is a promise. That is a prophecy. I will make of you a great nation. I will bless you, and I will make your name great, and you shall 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. Okay, a huge promise to Abraham, to Abram. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him.

Abram was obedient. He got on the road. Now that's the lesson of prophecy also. Obey God, and these things will come to pass. God will also bless you and be with you in ways that you can't even imagine.

God is good. God is powerful. He's almighty. He can do what he wills to do. So Abram departed, and he went on his way. He took Sarai, his wife, laud his brother's sons, and they got all their possessions, and off they went to the land of Canaan. Verse 7, And the Eternal appeared to Abram and said, To your descendants I will give this land. This is another promise, not just to Abram, but to his descendants. I will give this land. And there he built an altar to the Eternal who had appeared to him. Again, this is the Word, the one who became Christ. And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. And there he built an altar to the Lord, and he worshipped the Eternal. He showed respect. He showed love toward the Eternal. And he called on the name of the Lord.

This is a very powerful book, this book of Genesis. It's a foundational book for us. It's not just history, it's prophecy. Much of it is prophecy.

So, here again we see promises to Abram, and to his family. Let's go to Genesis 13, verse 1. Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and lot with him to the south. And Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. God told him he would bless him, that he would give him many riches, and that's exactly what he's doing. God is blessing him. He went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and Ai. To the place of the altar, which he had made there at first, and there Abram called on the name of the Eternal. So he always consulted the Eternal. He went to God. He wanted God to be very actively involved in his life.

Hopefully we continually call upon the Eternal ourselves, and that we have this relationship with God, and that we know God cannot lie, and that he will not lie to us, and that he will be faithful and true, and in spite of trials and problems that he allows to come our way, he has promised that he will never leave us, and he will never forsake us.

You have to believe that promise with all your heart. You have to believe it with every ounce and fiber of your being, or you will have problems, because life is hard. Life can be very difficult. And if you don't have that assurance, and if you don't have that faith, and if you don't cling to that, then life can knock you down, and it can keep you down for a long time.

And it happens to all of us at one time or another.

Life is difficult, and for some people it has been extremely difficult. And we should never, ever look at people and judge them harshly if they don't always respond the way we think they should, because we're not in their shoes.

We're not there, and so we have to be careful, very careful that we do not judge in harsh ways at all, and that we just pray for those people who are having trials, pray for those that God will give them strength, that God will help them through the trials, that God will restore them, and that God will bless them.

This is what your life is about, and this is what my life is about.

I'm assuming you're here because this is what your life is about. It's about pleasing God. It's about being His servant. It's about getting to know Him. He is our God. He says, I will be your God, and you shall be my people. That's exactly what He means. We are to be His people, and we are to respond to Him in love and in humility, and ask Him for guidance and direction, and believe and have faith that He will provide our every need. So God is with Abraham. He's blessing Abraham in many, many ways. It says in verse 6 that the land was not able to support Lot and Abram, because there was so much livestock and so many blessings upon, essentially, Abram for who he was and what he was doing and the faithfulness that he was showing to God. There were many blessings, and you know the story. Abraham said, Lot, you choose first. You know, I'll go, you choose whatever you want. Lot chose the choice's land, and Abram took the leftovers. Of course, there was humility in that choice, and there was also great faith. Abram knew that it didn't matter. It didn't matter, because God was going to bless him and be with him every step of the way. And that is what will allow you to make good choices in the future. When you are challenged by a choice that you have to make, be humble. Be humble. Respond in humility. And watch what God will do for you. Watch the blessings that he will give you. So, Abram sets us a wonderful example in allowing Lot to choose. Lot didn't set the best example, because Lot chose the choicest of the land.

There are many lessons that we can learn if we study the Bible carefully, if we think about it, and consider it. Let's go to verse 14. And the Eternal said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are. He says, Look where you are, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, For all the land which you see I give to you, and your descendants forever. It didn't really matter what Lot chose, because God was giving it all to Abraham anyway.

For all the land which you see I give to you, and your descendants forever. Of course, Lot was a part of the family. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants could also be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you. Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron. And he built an altar there to the Lord. Wherever Abram went, he worshipped God. He built an altar to worship God. So there are greater blessings promised to Abram and his descendants. If we go on to chapter 15, and again, these are prophecies that are still in effect upon Abram and his descendants. Chapter 15, verse 1. After these things, the word of the Eternal came to Abram in a vision, saying, Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, I am your exceedingly great reward. But Abram said, Lord God, what will you give me, seeing I go childless? In the air of my house is Eliezer of Damascus, a servant. Sarai and Abram had no children. God had not blessed them with children. Then Abram said, Look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my heir. Again, he was speaking of, I believe, Eliezer here. That Eliezer was the heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir. This is a promise, this is a prophecy. Then he brought him outside and said, Look now toward heaven, count the stars if you are able to number them. And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And not only that, they are going to come from your loins, and from Sarai's loins. They're not going to come from a servant. They're going to come from your loins. And he believed in the Eternal. Abram believed God, and he accounted it to him for righteousness. When we believe God, and we have faith in God, and we trust God, we are being righteous. We're doing the right thing. We're following through and doing that which is right and pleasing to God. Then he said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, how shall I know that I will inherit it? And then he goes on and tells him what to do and sends a sign. There would be a sacrifice, and Abram would have to keep the vultures away. And you can read about it here. I don't want to take the time. But it says in... well, there's some prophecy in here as well. Verse 14, And also the nation whom they serve I will judge. Afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace. You shall be buried at a good old age. Again, a prophecy that Abram was going to live. Abram lived to be 175 years old. He lived a good long time after this. But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete. So these are prophecies. And it came to pass when the sun went down, and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the pieces, the carcass, the sacrifice. On the same day the Eternal made a covenant with Abram, saying to your descendants, I have given this land from the River of Egypt to the Great River, the River Euphrates, the Kenites, the Kenazites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Raphaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, Gershites, and the Jebusites. So he was increasing the blessings. He was increasing the land. He was giving him more and more as Abraham showed his faithfulness and showed his obedience to him. God was blessing him with even more.

Now, in Genesis 16, in the first few verses here, we see that Sarai and Abram take matters into their own hands. They weren't perfect. Hagar enters the scene. He has a child through Hagar. Ishmael is going to be born. But there's a prophecy in all this, if we look at verse 7. Now, the angel of the eternal, the messenger of the eternal, found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur, because Sarai found out she was pregnant, that she had this baby, and then cast her out. And Hagar, Sarai is made.

And he said, Hagar, Sarai is made. Where have you come from and where are you going? She said, I'm fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai. The angel of the eternal said to her, Return to your mistress, submit yourself to her hand. And the angel of the Lord said to her, I will multiply your descendants exceedingly. So now, God is promising a blessing upon Hagar and upon Ishmael, who is to be born from Abraham and Hagar. I will multiply your descendants exceedingly so that they shall not be counted from multitude. And the angel, the messenger of the eternal, said to her, Behold, you are with child. You shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael. Obviously, the child hadn't been born yet because the eternal has heard your affliction. He shall be a wild man. This is a prophecy. This Ishmael is going to be a wild man. His hand shall be against every man, every man's hand against him, and he shall dwell in the presence of his brethren. Then she called the name of the eternal who spoke to her, You are the God who sees. For she said, Have I also seen him who sees me? Therefore the well was called Ber-Lah-Hoy-Roy. Observe it is between Kadesh and Bered. So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. And Abram was 86 years old at this time when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. So again, the eternal, the messenger of the Lord, this was actually the eternal who was there as God's messenger, as the Father's messenger, the one who became the Father, the eternal, the angel of the Lord, appeared here and spoke to Hagar. And a blessing was placed upon Ishmael. Again, a prophecy and a blessing. And it also talks about Ishmael being a wild man. And we'll talk more about that as we go along in this series on prophecy. Who was, who were the descendants of Ishmael? You know, they're revealed in history, and we can see that as well. So, Abram is 86 years old at this time when Hagar bore Ishmael to him. Now, in chapter 17, let's read a little further here. When Abram was 99 years old, okay, so this is several years later, 13 years later, Abram is 99, the eternal appears to Abram and said to him, Now, I would imagine he had probably appeared to him many times in the interim. It doesn't tell us about all the times that the eternal appeared to Abram and spoke with him. And, you know, it doesn't give us all the details. But 13 years later, the eternal, the one who became Christ, appears to Abram and says to him, I am Almighty God. Okay, Almighty God. Now, Almighty God can refer to the Father. He can also refer to the Word, the Logos. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was Almighty as well. They were both of the God kind. They were all powerful. They were all mighty. So this is referring to the one who became Christ, the Messiah. He says, Okay, now he's talking about being a father of many nations. He'd said many descendants as the sand of the sea, but now we're talking about nations, a conglomeration of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham. Let's see. Abraham...

Let me just... I'm just looking... In the result, it means literally, Father of a multitude of peoples. Your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. These are prophecies. Abram, throughout history, was to become a father of many nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I will make nations of you and kings shall 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 to be God to you and your descendants after you. Also, I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession. And I will be their God. And God said to Abraham, as for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant which you shall keep. Between me and you and your descendants after you, every male child among you shall be circumcised. So this was to be a sign of the covenant, physical circumcision. And Abraham acquiesced. Abraham was circumcised at a very old age. You know, he was what, 99 years old when he was circumcised and the whole household was circumcised?

And it goes into that covenant. Of course, we know that that covenant is now circumcision of the heart. It applies to both men and women. It's circumcision of the heart that's most important. Is it that we truly love God and we love His ways and we're dedicated and committed to Him and convicted of His truth? And do we have God living in our hearts and in our minds? Are we circumcised in the heart? That's the important thing. So, let's drop down to verse 15. Genesis 17 verse 15.

Then God said to Abraham, As for Sarah, I, your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. Sarah means princess. She was to be a princess and I will bless her and also give you a son by her. She's quite old by this time. Abraham's 99. She's quite old. I will bless her, I will give you a son by her, then I will bless her. And she shall be a mother of nations, kings of peoples, shall be from her. Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, Shall a child be born to a man who is 100 years old? And Sarah, who is 99, or Sarah was, he was 99 years old, but by the time the baby was born, I guess he was going to be 100. And shall Sarah, who is 90 years old, 10 years younger, shall she bear a child? So Abraham laughed, you know, that's probably the reaction all of us would have. I think I'd laugh if God came and told me Barbara was going to have a child. I mean, if God came to me, maybe I wouldn't, you know. But Abraham did laugh, and Abraham said to God, Oh, that Ishmael might live before you. He thought he might have misunderstood. Surely you mean Ishmael. Ishmael is already born of a much younger woman. Hagar was much, much younger.

Verse 19, then God said, No, Sarah, your wife shall bear you a son. Your 90 year old wife is going to bear a son. That is a prophecy. That is a promise. She will bear a son. Get ready. It's coming. It's going to happen. Nine months, it's happening. And I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant with his son Isaac, the fruit of his loins and with his descendants after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes. This is also a promise. This is a prophecy. Ishmael shall beget twelve princes.

And I will make him a great nation. Does that nation still exist today? Are there descendants of Ishmael today on the earth? We'll talk more about that. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year. In due time, Sarah is going to have a baby. Then he finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

So again, it shows that Abraham was 99 when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin and so forth. So now let's drop down to chapter 18, verse 9, where we read a prophecy of Isaac. Chapter 18, verse 9. There's a lot of prophecy in the book of Genesis, isn't there? Genesis 18, verse 9. Then they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? So he said here in the tent, And he said, I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, And behold, Sarah your wife shall have a son. Now Sarah was listening in the tent which was behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. She had gone through menopause. She wasn't capable of having a child. Physically, she's going to need some help. Because she is not ripe, or she's not capable. She's too old. So Abraham and Sarah, they were old, they were well advanced. Therefore, Sarah laughed when she heard this. Again, probably a reaction many of us would have. Saying, After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also.

This is what she said within herself. After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord. I mean, there was probably a lot of angst in Sarah. She had wanted a baby. She had prayed for a baby. All these years she had prayed for a baby. God did not give her a baby. Abraham has other children, but they're not Sarah's babies.

So there was a lot of angst, a lot of frustration in Sarah. She laughed when she heard this. Yeah, right.

And the Eternal said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old? Is anything too hard for the Eternal? That's a good question. Is anything too hard for the Lord? Anything too hard for the Eternal?

I hope you know the answer to that. No. God is all-powerful. Nothing is too hard for the Eternal. He can make a woman 99 years old, 90 years old, he can make her have a baby. You have a baby? You have a baby, even if you were a man. Because God can do it! Now, I don't think he's ever done that, and Arnold Schwarzenegger has never had a baby.

Nothing is too hard for God. Whatever is God's will. It has never been God's will for a man to have a baby. I don't expect that to happen anytime soon. But, again, nothing is too hard for God.

Okay, where was I? Okay, here we are. So Sarah denied it. She denied lying. I did not laugh, for she was afraid. Of course. Common reaction. She was afraid, and he said, no, but you did laugh.

He knew what had happened. He knew she had laughed. But he didn't hurt her. He didn't do anything to her. He understood. But he was also calling her on it. Yes, you did laugh.

All right, so now we have the story of Solomon Gamora. And I think it's interesting to note the relationship that the Eternal, the one who became Christ, has with Abraham now. It says, Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom. These were no doubt angels. The Eternal was there with a couple of angels that were with him. And the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to send them on the way. And the Eternal said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing? Since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I have known him in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord the Eternal to do righteousness and justice, that the Eternal may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him. And the Eternal said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gamora is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to me, and if not, I will know. So they turned toward Sodom, and this is when Abraham bargains with the Eternal. So the Eternal was not going to hide this from Abraham. They had a relationship, a close relationship. He felt he ought to tell Abraham what was going to happen. Of course Lot, his nephew, was living there. And so there's a bargaining that goes on, and again, God allows it. God allows Abraham to speak to him in this manner. I'm sure Abraham was doing it very respectfully. He was showing honor to God as he bargained with him, and God allowed it. God is a wonderful, merciful, loving God, and we need to get to know him. We really, really need to get to know him. God cannot lie. He will not lie to you. You can trust him. You can have faith in him. You can believe in him. He'll never let you down, but you have to believe that. So I see it's 4.29, and if I'm to keep my promise, I have to stop right now. Well, we covered a lot of ground. We didn't make it through the book of Genesis. I didn't really think we would. There is a lot more prophecy in the book of Genesis. So I look forward to going further into prophecy and going into a lot of things in the weeks and months and years ahead. I plan to stay here quite a while. I'm not leaving any time soon. If you want to pick up some books on prophecy, you can understand Bible prophecy at the back table. We have the United States and Britain in Bible prophecy. And believe me, we've been talking about that quite a bit already in the book of Genesis, about the United States and Britain in prophecy. This book shows where many of these scriptures in Genesis apply to the United States and to Britain in prophecy. And then we have another booklet, Are We Living in the Time of the End? So feel free to pick up a booklet. If we run out of them, we'll get more. So there is a great deal to learn from prophecy. I hope you found this beneficial. We're just getting started.