Redeemed

Well, it is nice when we have 48 hours of holy time and back-to-back Sabbath.

And when we're on a holy day time, or Pentecost is tomorrow when we're on this weekend, we can delve into God's plan a little more and a little more background in what we're celebrating tomorrow or observing tomorrow and why. I think everyone here probably knows that the Day of Pentecost pictures the first fruits of God. It commemorates the time when the Holy Spirit was given to the church for the first time en masse. But Pentecost is, as all the steps in God's plan, a very crucial part in it, and you and I have a piece in that plan. Now, some of the things that Pentecost will resolve or that Christ will resolve as a result of Pentecost and this step and his plan will be some of the things that we talk about today. Way back in the beginning, in Genesis, back at the beginning, before the world was recreated so man could live on it, we have God the Father, we have Jesus Christ, the angels, everything was in perfect harmony. Perfect harmony and unity. It's hard for us to even imagine perfect harmony and unity when we have those times in our life. It's just great and you never want it to end. But so much of the world is not in perfect peace and harmony. As God created the earth or recreated the earth so that man could live on it, man, the creation, and God were in perfect harmony. Everything was good. Everything that God created, he said, it was good. But then, as you know the story, Satan came in and everything changed. So today I'm going to go back and talk about some of the things that began back in the book of Genesis because I often say, and you've read it in other places as well, if we understand the book of Genesis, we can understand the world we live in today. One of God's plan is, of course, for mankind to achieve the potential that he has for them. You and I, of course, are part of that right now in what God is doing with us. But to get the world back into the unity of God, mankind, and the earth. And ever since Satan entered the plant into the earth, the world has been anything but. So you can turn back to Genesis. And I'm not going to turn to a lot of scriptures. I may reference a few chapters here and there, but I'm going to give you the story because tomorrow we're going to see and talk about Pentecost and its meaning. And there are Pentecost words that we are going to talk about today that you'll have to remember to tomorrow and see how all the pieces are put together. So we have Satan. We have Satan coming into this perfect creation with God, Adam, and Eve, and everything that's been created. And you know what happened is that Satan somehow connived and conceived to have Eve choose him over God.

And once that happened, division entered into the world. There was a separation that has never been healed since that time. It's one of the marks of Satan. Wherever Satan is, there is division, disunity, distrust. All things break down. There isn't the unity that needs to be there. So we have we have Adam and Eve now who have been ushered out of the Garden of Eden. They are in a divis.

They are in a divis. They're divided from God. They're in a state of defiance against God because even though they recognize what's happened to them, they never do repent. They may be sorry they were no longer in the Garden of Eden, but they never do repent of what it is that they have done and what they have brought on literally all of mankind. We see that division sharpen and into two sides of the world, if you will, two parties of the world, if you will, two spirits of the world in the first two sons of Adam and Eve that we meet in Genesis 4.

You know their names. It's Cain and Abel. And you know the story about Cain and Abel. Cain is defiant against God. Cain is not of the way of God. We see that. In fact, we're there in Genesis 4. Let's look at just the sacrifice that's there because here in this very first encounter that we have between these two young men, we find a Pentecost word, as I say it.

In Genesis 4, we see that Cain brought an offering, verse 3, the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock. So firstborn, firstborn is a Pentecost word. We'll talk about that more later today, tomorrow. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the eternal respected Abel in his offering, but he didn't respect Cain in his offering. Cain, resultantly, was quite upset. It led Cain to actually kill his brother. It irritated him so much that God favored Abel's offering over his.

So what did Abel do? Abel did what Cain didn't. He did exactly what God asked him to do. He came and brought his offering with the correct attitude. He brought the firstborn of his flock. We see that there. So we know God instructed him what to do because later on, as Israel comes out of Egypt, we see God talking about the firstborn and how those are offered to God.

So Abel came with the right attitude. God respected what he had did. Abel was of a different spirit than Cain. Two boys, both from the same mother and father, Cain, defiant. Cain, as he approached God, showed no respect to him at all. You know, went off and killed his brother. And even when God called him on it, he didn't repent, didn't acknowledge any kind of remorse whatsoever.

And so we have two young men, two ways of the world. The world is split. Two different philosophies, if you will. Two different ways of life. Two different outlooks on life.

So at the end of chapter four, we see two lines of people begin to form on the earth. Down in verse 17 of chapter four, we see Cain. We see Cain. It says, he knew his wife. She conceived and bore Enoch. That isn't the same Enoch. That is of the other godly line, if you will. And he built a city, and he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.

And so he had other sons as well. In verse 19, this man Lamech is part of this Cain's line. And he says he took for himself two wives. And that gives you the two names there. So through this line of Cain, this way of Cain, as it's called in the Bible, the way of Cain that began back here in Genesis and all the way forward in the book of Jude before the book of Revelation, it talks about people who depart from God, remember?

And it says they've gone the way of Cain. They aren't going to follow God. They're defiant against God. They will not yield to God. And so Lamech introduces polygamy to the world.

We know that God didn't create two wives for a man. He created Adam and Eve, one wife, one man. But Lamech, in this line that he's in, this defiant of God, he introduces polygamy. Why not two wives? Why not three wives? That departure from what God's intent was permeated much of the Old Testament world. God never stopped that. But in the New Testament, he certainly did. And in the qualifications of kings and priests, which you and I are training for, it's one husband and one wife. God didn't intend polygamy. Introduced through the way of Cain, people who do things a little different, though, and a lot different than God. Later on, you know, we read about Jabel. We read about Dwelling Intense, Jubal, and the father of those who play the harp and flute.

Zilla, the instructor of every craftsman, and bronze and iron, as they're formulating the world and beginning to handle it in their way. And it looks all very innocent in there. And we don't know what all the background is, but Josephus has some interesting things to say about what these men did. So if you ever have the time, you might want to look back and see what it is. What it is is this way of Cain, this line of Cain did. But down in verse 23, we see the attitude of the way of Cain, this lineage that emanated from Cain on the earth. This Lamech said to his wives, Aiden Zilla, hear my voice. Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech. I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me. If Cain will be avenged sevenfold, Lamech, 77 fold.

Here he is, in essence, bragging about what he's done. Here's someone, a young man who hurt me. You know what I did? I killed him. And you know what? Wives, deal with it. And look at this. If it was, if God gave Cain and said, he will be avenged sevenfold, for me it's 77 fold. So we see in this line of Cain murder, sin, introducing things that are apart from what God intended and what God taught Adam and Eve, we see pride and all these elements that define Satan. And that's the lineage of Cain that was on the earth. Now the lineage of Cain stops there in 24. Verse 24. Now remember, back in those days, men were living for hundreds and hundreds of years. Why does the lineage of Cain stop at that time? Because the flood. Because the flood came. They were all killed in the flood. None of them were going to survive. They were part of the evil, violent, corrupt world that God destroyed as part of that flood. So his line ended there. But it doesn't mean evil ended there. Evil was going to appear in the post-flood world as well. So down in verse 25 then of chapter 4, we see this second line on the earth. Two families, if you will, two philosophies, two ways of life, two tribes, whatever we want to call them, that had developed on the earth. Not together, not in unison, but distinct, separate, divided. Adam, verse 25, knew his wife again. She bore a son, and she named him Seth, for God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed. And as for Seth, to him also a son was born. He named him Enush. And then note, then men began to call on the name of the eternal. Oh, through the Seth line, they began to call on God. Let's see, let's honor this God, just as Abel did. Abel, who was killed, but in Hebrews 11, we know he's listed among the faithful. God called him righteous and said, even though he's dead, his voice still speaks because he did what was right in God's eyes. So Seth, after years of no godly line on the earth, Seth is born. And then from Seth's line, we have people who were calling on the name of God. As you read through chapter 5, you see the lineage of Seth down through all the years. If we come down to verse 29, we see that Noah, Noah is from that line. Noah, righteous Noah, the only man on earth at the time of the flood that God said would survive that society that was extant on the earth at that time. Only Noah. It's hard to even imagine that of all the people on earth, how many people must have been on earth, only Noah, only Noah was calling on God. Only his family was going to survive. God was going to destroy, as you know, every other living thing on earth except Noah, his family, and those animals that were on the ark with him. That's how corrupt the world had begun, had become. Just completely violent, completely terrible, completely apart from God, so apart from him that God said they they're not even going to survive anymore.

So we see that happen down in verse 8 of chapter 6. Well, now let's not go to chapters 8. Let's just divert for a moment here in verse 1 of chapter 6. We have these two lines. We have the line lineage of Cain. We have the lineage of Seth up to Noah that we see in chapter 5. And then immediately in chapter 6, it talks about people beginning to intermarry between these two lines. Verse 1 says, it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them that the sons of God saw the daughters of men. So there's one line. We know what line Seth is. Men begin to call on God. That's the line through which Noah came. Chapter 11, we'll take it from Noah all the way down to Abraham. We know how righteous Abraham was and the faith he had in God. So we see the sons of God, these young men. Look at the daughters of men, kind of these people from the other lineage. They don't believe in God. They have a different philosophy, a way of life than them, but they're beautiful. And so they intermarry. And what happens when they intermarry? The young men no longer follow God. The whole world becomes corrupt. They lose their way. You know, God watched all this go on before the flood. And so after the flood, when Israel was there and coming out of Egypt, do you remember what he commanded in Deuteronomy and in through the chapters there? He said, when you go to these other lands, don't intermarry with them. Marry within Israel. Marry someone of your own faith because if you go to them way too often, way too often, the other religion, the other way of life will dominate. It takes a strong person to stand against God, or to stand for God, and to stand against going the way of Cain, going the way of the world, going the way that's easier because it takes faith. We know that without God's Spirit, it can't be done. So we see this happen on the earth, and these lines intermarry, and all of a sudden we have a corrupt, violent world. So violent, God says, it's over. Only Noah survives. And so Noah, Noah who found grace in God's eyes, it says in verse 8 to chapter 6, and in verse 9, says he was a just man. He was perfect in his generations. Now, whatever perfect in his generations means, you know, we may not know exactly. Could mean that he was blameless. In his generation, he was the only man that followed God. Could be that throughout his line, his generations always married with the people who believed in the same line, married within the same belief system. Could mean that. Whatever it is, Noah stood tall. Noah stood in the gap. Noah in the face of the whole world against him, and the whole world in defiance against God, with the whole world laughing at him and jeering against him. He remained true to God, and he, God gave him salvation.

Salvation in a physical sense. The world that he knew was ending. Everyone in it would die.

But Noah, Noah, because of what, how he lived his life, God said you will survive into the next world. And we know the story. It was going to be the Ark. It was going to be the Ark that was going to deliver Noah through the flood and usher him into the post-Flood War. Noah had never built an Ark before. Noah had never built anything the size of the Ark before. God gave him detailed instructions. Now, I'm not a carpenter, and I would probably mess up a lot of instructions. Noah didn't. Noah built that Ark perfectly to every detail. Chapter 6 and verse 22 says, Noah did according to all that God commanded him. So he did. Now, that's a lesson for you and me. God delivered Noah from death. Noah did things exactly the way that God said. Every detail. Every word of God, Jesus Christ said. Every detail he did exactly the way God said.

So, here's a physical man in the pre-Flood world. The same applies to us. We have got to become people who learn to live by every word of God. Every detail. We're here, and we believe in the salvation of God, and he tells us what we must do. And like Noah, we are building that Ark.

So to speak, that temple that God talks about. And so we have Noah. And so Noah survives the flood. The one just man on earth. You would think that all the world would become very godly at that point. All the rest of the men died, but Satan was still alive and well. And Satan's influence, despite anything that Noah did, all the examples that Noah gave them, the way he lived his life, evil set in again. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Only one of those sons continued in the godly way of life. And through his line, we go down through the time, through Abraham, and in Matthew we read that it goes all the way down to Jesus Christ. Only one of those lines, only one of those sons had a godly line. The other two sons, Ham and Japheth, they went the way of Cain. They weren't the godly line. Satan has a tremendous influence. He can lead us away, even when we're surrounded by family and others that live God's way of life. It has to become personal. We have to do it. We're not saved by what our parents do. We're not saved by what our mates do. Every person, every person works out their own salvation in the fear of God.

Every person. So Noah, even though Noah made some mistakes, doubtless. But here he is, and he has three sons. We go over to chapter 9. We see the line of Shem here. And 926, well, it tells us that Shem is the one who followed God. It says, he said, blessed be the eternal, the God of Shem.

The God of Shem. We know, we know what the line of Ham did. In chapter 10, we read some things that give us some Pentecost words here, right in the post-Flood era. If we look at chapter 10 and verse 5, in the descendants of Japheth, yes, the sons of Japheth, he lists them there. But in verse 5, it says, from these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles. Gentiles. We all know Gentiles, right? They're all over the New Testament. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. You believe like I do. Our family believes this. We're moving off because we all want to be together. We want to do the same thing and whatever. They were called Gentiles. First time in the Bible that word is translated Gentiles. It means other nations, other nations that aren't of God. So here we have a word that, as we get into the New Testament and Pentecost, we'll be looking at again. And as we look down into the sons of Ham, we see a name down there in verse 9 who really was defiant against God. In fact, he was so defiant and so mighty and so, so I guess famous on the earth, maybe infamous is on the earth is a better word for Nimrod, that many of the customs and what he did today still exist in our society now. You can still see the trappings of what Nimrod did in our society around us. That's how permeated, that's how set against God he was and the traditions of the people back then that just just came down through history. And if we, you know, a few years ago I talked about Nimrod and those things and how they have just descended down through history. So in verse 8 we find Nimrod. He's a mighty one on the earth. He was defiant against God. He was all about himself.

He wanted people to follow him. And in chapter 11 we see the Tower of Babel, the beginning of Babylon, a system that has permeated the earth from that time all the way up until the end time when God talks in Revelation 18 about Babylon the Great, Babylon the Great is fallen. It's the same system that started back here in Revelation. It's a system and a religion and a way of life apart from God. There's a godly way of life and there's another system of life. The two systems that coexist down through the ages. That God is working and Christ died so that eventually the two were brought back together. That unity would again be on the earth. That people would be in one accord, in one faith, in one spirit. Still a ways off for the world, but for those of us in the church we work toward that. As Paul says, we endeavor for the unity of the faith, the unity of the spirit, the oneness that God wants for us. But here's Nimrod. He makes the tower, builds the tower of Babel. You talk about the ultimate defiance against God. Why did Nimrod build that tower? Well, Josephus fills in some of the blanks for us, I think, and it was in defiance of God. I will build a tower so high, so high that no matter how God floods the earth, he will not be able to reach the top of that tower. Can you imagine the stupidity of anyone to think that they could build something so tall that God would never be able to reach them? But that's what happens when your mind is apart from God. You do become fools, right? Just as it says in Romans 1, think you're very wise, think you're very smart, but you become foolish.

Cain, or not Cain, Nimrod, who's living the way of Cain, had that thought. And here at the tower of Babel, God confuses language. Again, Satan's way of life, division, separation, and all of a sudden people move off into directions of the land, no longer together as one. Some move this way, some move that way, and it goes on, on and on. So we could go through the rest of Genesis. You know the story of Abraham. You know that he is eventually born through the line of Noah, and God sees in him a faithful man who will do whatever God says. And God says of Abraham, if you'll do what I say, go here, move there, follow me wherever I have you go. I will make a great nation. And Abraham did it. Abraham followed everything God said. Abraham was completely faithful to God, believed him, followed him. If God said do it, he did it, even to the extent that he was willing to sacrifice his own son, because he knew if God said it, God knew what was best for him. There was nothing he would withhold from God. And God did make of Abraham's descendants a great nation. It's known as Israel. They became large and mighty on the earth. They found themselves in Egypt after a famine occurred. And in chapter 48 of Genesis, we find the time when Jacob is about to die, and he's going to give the blessing to Joseph's two sons. A very moving account here is you picture what was going on as Jacob, who had been separated, divided from Joseph for so much of his life because of the jealousy of his brothers.

And here he is now. He's about to die. He's got Joseph's sons with him, and he's about to give them the blessing. In chapter 48 in verse 15, it says, He blessed Joseph, Jacob did, 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.

The angel who has redeemed me from all evil. It's a Pentecost word, redeem.

First time we see it in the Bible. The God, the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, the God who brought me out from the way of the world, the God who has given me the, who has given me life, who has given me purpose. All those things that God has redeemed us from as well. We talk about those things, and when we read these things in the Old Testament, God redeemed them. God redeemed Jacob. God's redeemed us. He took them out of evil. God has taken us out of evil, and He will bless us too if we follow, if we follow what He has to say.

And then we see this word, redeem, prominent. Over and over and over, a hundred sometimes in the balance of the Old Testament. God redeemed Israel. God rescued Israel. God gave Israel life back. We know their station in Egypt. We know that they were dead men. They would live their lives as slaves. They had no hope of ever being free. All they were going to do was work hard and die. No future, no hope. But God redeemed them from death. He redeemed them from slavery. If we look at Exodus 4, and let's look at Exodus 6. I'll come back to Exodus 4 in a few minutes. Exodus 6.

And verse 5. I've heard the groaning, God says, of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. I said I would bring them into the Promised Land. Therefore, God says, say to the children of Israel, I am the Eternal. I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments.

I'll redeem you. I said I would. Christ came that men could be redeemed. God redeemed Israel. Now, that was his physical nation on earth. There was Israel, the people of God, and then there was the rest of the world. The people of God and the rest of the world. The Bible commonly calls them Gentiles. And so in verse 7 of Ezekiel 6, when God says, I will redeem you, he says, why?

I will take you as my people. I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will bring you into the land which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And I will give it to you as a heritage. I am the Eternal. This is what I'm doing. You're going to be my people, my own special people. In Deuteronomy 7, he goes, you're my own special people, a holy people to me. I want to give you everything, but you have to do it my way. You're godly people, you're holy people. You've been set apart for a special purpose. Ancient Israel was that special people in a very physical sense.

We know that they failed. They couldn't live up to what God had asked them to do because they were missing something so key that in this day and age, the people that God is called can live up to his expectations, but only when they rely on his Holy Spirit. Only with God's Spirit in us, as you heard in the sermon, only with God's Spirit, his power in us, his might in us, are we able to do what Israel couldn't.

He has redeemed us, too, as he redeemed Israel to be his own special people set aside for his purpose. That's what our calling is. Not to just play games and kind of do what we want to do. And oh, by the way, we got this thing with God, too. The special purpose that he has given us, the calling he has given us, it surpasses everything else.

It trumps all of our desires. It trumps all of what we want to do. It makes us, causes us, and should drive us to choose God's will over ours if we have the vision that we need to have. God painted the vision for ancient Israel, this land flowing with milk and honey.

I'll take you there. You were slaves in Egypt. You had no future. I'll give you the land that's there. God tells us, I'll take you out of this existence you're in. Give yourself to me. I will give you eternal life. What you will do and what you will be part of, your eyes have not ever seen. Your mind has never even gone in that direction. You have never heard of it. You have vast eternity and infinity in front of you if, if you will let God, if you will let God make him your people once he redeems us, once he calls us, once he frees us from the bondage of this world.

And so we see, let's go to Exodus 13, this concept of redemption, redeeming throughout the Old Testament about ancient Israel in chapter 13 and verse 12. Now you'll note that some of these verses here we were reading at the days of Unleavened Bread. There are Unleavened Bread verses in here, but there's Pentecost concepts in here as well. Remember, as we will tomorrow when we go through Leviticus 23, Pentecost is directly tied to the days of Unleavened Bread.

It descends from the days of Unleavened Bread, and so when God was bringing Israel out of Egypt, he gave them these concepts of what he would do. Of course, we know about eating the Unleavened Bread for seven days, but in chapter 13 in verse 12, chapter 13 in verse 12, well, let's read verse 11, not break into the middle of the sentence, it shall be when the eternal brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers and gives it to you, that you shall set apart to the Lord all that opened the womb.

That is every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have. Now, we saw firstborn way back in the very with the very first son of Adam and Eve, that you will you will give to the Lord all that opened the womb every firstborn that comes from an animal which you have. The males will be the eternals. Every firstborn of a donkey you can redeem it with the land with a lamb. And in verse 13, in verse 13, and all the firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

So, firstborn and redeem are there in those scriptures. Firstborn has a place in the Old Testament. Firstborn has a place in Pentecost. Keep firstborn in your mind. Let's think about redeem and all the places that it occurs in the New in the Old Testament.

In a little short book of four chapters, the book of Ruth, the word redeem appears 40 or 21 times. 21 times in a little book of Ruth. And you know the story of Ruth, a very famous story, a beautiful story where Ruth, who is a Moabite, her husband dies, her father-in-law dies, her mother, Naomi, is going back to Israel from where she came. And Naomi tries to urge Ruth to just stay behind, make your life here in Moab, get married again. But Ruth, in memorable words, says, no, wherever you go, I will go. Where your God will be my God. Where you live, I will live.

Ruth has tasted, even though she's not of ancient Israel, even though she's not of Israelite descent, she's tasted the goodness of God. And she wants that to sustain in her life.

Remember, we read a verse just last week. If you've tasted the graciousness of God, do this. If you've tasted it, cling to it. Hold to it. And that's what Ruth did.

So she left Moab. She went over to Israel. And there she gleaned the fields, lived the life of a poor lady, until Boaz, until Boaz came along and took a shine, if you will, to Ruth. It didn't bother him that she wasn't in Israelite. What he saw in her was a heart of God. What he saw in her was, look at who she is. She is the epitome of everything a godly woman should be, even though her descent is different. So he wanted to unite with Ruth. And throughout the book, redeem shows up over and over and over again. So in that time, without going through the whole details of the story, there was a kinsman redeemer. Boaz was his second in command, or second in line, to the redeemer who could take the land, but along with the land that he would redeem from her dead husband, he would have to take her as wife. Boaz went to the man. Long story short, he said, I can't take Ruth as a wife. I want the land. Can't take her as a wife. You can have her. Boaz and Ruth marry. He's her redeemer. He's a picture of Jesus Christ. He takes a wife. He takes a wife of Moabite descent. And then she appears in the lineage of Jesus Christ, even in the Old Testament. She begets through her line David, and ultimately Jesus Christ. God is showing his will. Anyone who turns their heart to me, anyone who does what I say, if you follow me, salvation is open to everyone, even in the Old Testament, but in a limited way, or the Old Testament, but in the New Testament. Of course, we know what Jesus Christ opened the way to. So we see that word redeem, and often you will hear, as you approach Pentecost, read the book of Ruth. Read the book of Ruth. Look at the kinsman redeemer. Get the analogies of what God is showing there, because it's a picture, a spiritual picture as well. As we go through the Old Testament, we see the word redeem appear many times. 21 times in Ruth, 24 times in the book of Isaiah, more times in the book of Isaiah than any place else. So let's go to the book of Isaiah and look at a few places where the word redeem is that pertains to ancient Israel. First place, let's go to who is Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35 is the chapter you probably remember, because probably every Feast of Tabernacles you've ever been to, you have heard. Rightly so. Isaiah 35 quoted and read. It is certainly a millennial scripture, a picture of what will happen when Jesus Christ returns, and he brings ancient Israel, physical Israel, back to the land he promised them. He redeemed them, took them out of slavery, gave them their life back, and he will take them back to the promised land, physical Israel, we're talking about here in the Old Testament. Chapter 35, verse 8.

Leading up to it, of course, is this millennial picture. The deserts will bloom. The animals will be at peace with one another. Verse 8, A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the highway of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it will be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray.

When you walk God's way, you don't go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go upon it. It shall not be found there.

But the redeemed, but the redeemed will walk there. The ones who have been brought back to life or given their life back, that have been called out of the miserable existence they were, the hopeless existence that they were, they'll be there.

In Isaiah 63, Isaiah 63 and verse 4, you know, let's begin in verse 2. Isaiah 63 verse 2, Why is your apparel red and your garments like one who treads in the wine press?

I have trodden the wine press alone, and from the peoples no one was with me.

I have trodden them in my anger and trampled them in my fury. Their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my robes, for the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come. Future, the year of my redeemed has come.

You don't have to turn to Job 19 verse 25, but Job says, I know my Redeemer lives.

I know my Redeemer lives. He will stand on earth. My Redeemer, the one who will impart life, the one who will rescue me from where I am. Jeremiah 31. Another time ahead of us yet chapter.

Jeremiah 31. I think verse 7. I'm looking at my verse 7. Jeremiah 31. Thus says the Eternal, Sing with gladness for Jacob. We know who Jacob is. Israel. Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations, Proclaim, give praise, say, Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel. Remember who the remnant of Israel is? We talked about it last week when we were in Isaiah 1 and 6. Save your people the remnant of Israel. Behold, I will bring them from the north country. I will gather them from the ends of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child, the one who labors with child together. A great thong, throng, shall return there. They will come weeping. With supplications, I will lead them. I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way in which they will not stumble. For I am a father to Israel. Ephraim is my firstborn. My firstborn. Verse 11. Verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord, O nations. Declare in the aisles afar off, and say, He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock. For the eternal has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he. Then they'll come and sing in Zion, My firstborn, I'll redeem them. And so the Bible talks about redeeming Israel, redeeming the firstborn of God.

Bringing them back to the place after Christ returns, where they will be, and they will become the nation that he wants them to become at that time. If we fast forward all the way to Revelation 7, we see a group, well, one of two times a group of 144,000 are mentioned.

In Revelation 7, we have a group of 144,000 that before the seventh seal is opened, God says something about them. Revelation 7 and verse 4. I heard the number.

Verse 3, Don't harm the earth, don't harm the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed. And then it goes down through the tribes and talks about 12,000 of each of them, Dan, notably not included in there, but Manasseh and Joseph are. Who are those 144,000 of Israel?

I'll leave that question open.

Well, let's go back. Let's go back and look for a moment. Oh, no, let's not go back. Let's go forward. Let's go forward into the New Testament and look at a few things on those who are redeemed. Let's begin in Galatians 3.

Galatians 3 and verse 13.

Christ.

Christ. Earlier... Well, get back to the New Testament. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Having become a curse for us. Well, he paid the price for us. He paid the death penalty for us. We've all earned that death penalty. He has redeemed us from the curse of the law. He paid it for us. He gave us our life back. We were all dead. We all earned it. We didn't deserve what he did, but he did it out of agape for us. He redeemed us. He gave us our life back.

No one else could have done it, but he redeemed us just as he redeemed ancient Israel. Not you and me we're talking about here. Not anyone that is necessarily of just the physical descendency of Abraham. Everyone that God calls, as we know in the New Testament, he's redeemed us. In Titus 2, Titus 2, verse 11, says, For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. That's what God's plan is about. It's his plan of salvation. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, because all men will have the opportunity of salvation, some now, some at a later time, but all men ultimately.

His salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. There's a requirement of salvation.

Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts.

My own special people dedicated to God count the riches of God and the blessings that he's given us far more important than any temptation, anything on earth that could befall us.

If we kept our calling in mind, if we knew it, if we remembered what God had, no matter what temptation came our way, we would, if we knew what we were doing, if we were conscious of it, we would think, no, that doesn't compare to what God has offered. No matter how much pleasure, no matter how much comfort, no matter how much whatever it is, it's not worth it. It's not worth it if it's apart from what God's will. Why would I forfeit everything God has offered for some momentary whatever? Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed, gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works, zealous to do His will, zealous to live His way, zealous to do things exactly the way He said, zealous to build the temple, spiritual temple He called us to build, zealous to overcome self and become who He wants us to be, zealous. If we understand and appreciate God's redeeming mercy on us, we would find the zeal, we would find the zeal to do what He wants to do in our lives, we would find the zeal to do what He wants done in His work, to get everyone ready for the return of Jesus Christ and to get the gospel message out to the world in exactly the way that He wants it sent to the world. And that requires us having a zeal to become pure. Everyone who has this hope and everyone who has this hope purifies Himself, it says in verse John 3.

In 1 Peter 1, 1 Peter 1 and verse 18, I'll break into the middle of the sentence there. In verse 18, He says, Know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers. But you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot. He was for ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you and me, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are not in the world, not in self, not in whatever the leaders of whatever government are looking at. Your faith and hope are in God, since you have purified your souls. Notice that past tense, since you have purified your souls. What are we doing?

Are we in that process? Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, agape one another fervently with a pure, with a pure heart.

The firstborn.

Trying to think what time we started here, so okay. If we started at 2.30, sorry, but I don't think we did, so okay. Let's go back in conclusion here, a section of conclusion. I'll wrap it up pretty quickly here, to the other Pentecost word. We've had a few Pentecost things that I want to remind you of. We have two ways of life on the earth that began way back at the beginning of time. The way of God, the way of Cain. We have redeeming. God redeems. He provides salvation. We can't do it on our own. We have Gentiles that we read about in the New Testament, that were a thorn in the side to the Jews of the New Testament. We have firstborn.

And we have one more that I'll reserve for a moment. Let's go back to Genesis 49. Genesis 49, verse 3. Again, as Jacob is blessing his sons, the first one he talks about is Reuben, his firstborn. And in verse 3 of chapter 49, he tells us how important the firstborn is. Jacob is talking about his firstborn son, Reuben. God is talking about his firstborn son, ancient Israel. And we'll see he sees us as his firstborn as well. Chapter 49, verse 3 says, Reuben, you're my firstborn. You're my might. You're the beginning of my strength. You're the excellency of dignity, the excellency of power. That's what God sees as the firstborn. You're my might. It's not my might. It's his might, right? You're the beginning of my might, God says. You're the beginning of my strength. When you and your weakness become strong in me and look to me, my firstborn, you are the excellency of dignity. You are full of integrity, your skill. You work hard. You abide by everything in God. You are a person that everyone appreciates and loves, maybe not for what they believe, but for who you are and how they can rely on you and the way you live your life. You are the excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Not because we have power, because God has given us the power, the spirit of power and love and a sound mind.

His firstborn. His firstborn. If we move over to...

Well, let's move over to Numbers 3. We read earlier in Exodus 12 about redeeming the firstborn. And God talks about that in Numbers 3 as He claimed all the firstborn of Israel. He said, they're mine. Your firstborn are mine. They belong to me. In Numbers 3 and verse 12, He says, Behold, I've taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore, the Levites shall be mine. They are my people, because all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be mine, God says. They belong to me. They will serve me. They will be this own special people sanctified. Remember what the word sanctified means? We talked about it not too long ago when we talked about holy ground. And as God introduced Moses to the concept of holy, holy ground, holy convocation, holy Sabbath, all the holy instruments, the word holy, what it means, sanctified, the word he used to set apart the Sabbath day from all the other days of the week in the commandments, sanctified the Sabbath day. They're sanctified. They're set apart for God. That's what God said the firstborn in ancient Israel would be. It sets a standard for what he sees you and me as, the firstborn in this age. If he calls us when he redeems us, he sees us as firstborn, first fruits, if you will.

I will, you know, God accentuates some things. In Numbers 8, he says basically the same thing we read in Numbers 3. But when we're talking about Jesus Christ, we see that he refers to Jesus Christ as his firstborn. Let's go to Romans 8. Romans 8 and verse 29.

For whom he knew, verse 29, for whom God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. The firstborn among many brethren, sanctified by God, set aside for God's purpose the people he says they're mine, they're mine.

Colossians 1 verse 15.

He, Jesus Christ, he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

By him all things were created, and in heaven and earth, verse 17, he is before all things, and in him all things consist. Verse 18. And he is the head of the body, the head of the body, the church. That's you and me. That's us sitting in this room today. That's us who are listening in on the web. That's us who are God's people around the world who are part of that body.

His church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, God has redeemed us from death.

For us the world has their time coming. They'll be redeemed too. For you and me, it's now.

Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.

Jesus Christ, the firstborn. You and me, the firstborn. The church, the firstborn. Hebrews 12.

And verse 22. It's probably not verse 22. It's probably a for you verses before that. Let's get there. Hebrews 12. Yeah, let's start in verse 18. Hebrews 12, 18.

You know, as God was working with ancient Israel, ancient Israel was his firstborn physically. He brought them to Sinai, and it's commonly believed that it was near or on the day of Pentecost that Israel was at the base of Mount Sinai, and God gave them the Ten Commandments. And you remember, as Israel was gathered there, Moses was commanded, get them clean. Get them clean and get them ready to appear before me. And then God thundered out, and Israel was afraid, and God and Moses said that fear that you have of God is good because it will cause you not to sin. You will realize what you're doing when you see the power of God. You and I haven't seen that power of God that was demonstrated to Israel in so many ways, but we should feel it, and we should recognize it, and we should appreciate it because it's the power in our lives. And that's what he's talking about here in Hebrews 12, 18. He says, you haven't come to the mountain that may be touched and burned with fire into blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. Verse 21, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.

But you, Church of God in the 21st century, you, Church of God in Orlando, Jacksonville, and wherever you're listening, you and the one Church of God, the true Church of God, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of just men, made perfect, becoming blameless, becoming complete.

That's what we're here for. That's what we are doing.

I'm going to stop there, but we'll continue tomorrow as we talk about the day of Pentecost and all the miraculous things that God did then and all the things that changed as His Holy Spirit came to earth.