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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Biblelineendment to continue on the air. You can reach us toll free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

But anyway, here we are and we’re studying great men and women of the Bible. We covered Abraham last week. So we’re going to look at a guy named Jacob. Jacob and he saw. Now take your Bible and turn there with me in the book of Genesis. And you know there’s a little continuing story about them going to have a young man. So we know that Isaac was going to be born. if you look there in Genesis in chapter 21, Genesis 21 tells us that Isaac is going to be born.

And so that happened. And God was working in people’s lives. But how would you like for the Lord to come and talk to you and say something to you and then you don’t hear from it for 13 years? And And then he says something else to you. And I’ll see you later in about 20 years. What have you been? Aren’t you glad you have the word of God? You can hear what God has to say all day long if you want.

You can read it anytime you want to. But to try to, now what did he say? I think he said this. You know, as we get older, sometimes we don’t recall everything the way it really happened. Sometimes I tell stories in video say, Nicotineblowposted That’s not the way that happened. It Aadhaar It’s not. No, this is what happened. Then she’ll refresh my mind. Yeah, no, I get it. Yeah, I remember. But man, I’ll tell you, as you get a littleı down the road, you can think you did some wonderful great things years ago and then somebody reminds you, you didn’t do it.

You know, you can tell something and if you do it evangelistically, you know, exrally exaggerate, but you keep telling that after all you believe it. So you’re supposed to tell the truth and so that’s even hard enough to do. Let alone without trying to make it look and sound even better. But here in chapter 21 he was born. Chapter 22 Isaac was offered and so Abraham was to take his son and I love this part of the verse. I want you to see this in verse two.

This is in Genesis chapter 22, look in verse two. And this is what God told Abraham to do. And he says, take now thy son, thine only son. Now he didn’t consider Ishmael part of this line, this family. Then he says, take thine only son Isaac gave his name to make sure you get the right one. You understand what I’m talking about because you know today in the religion of Islam, they say Abraham, he didn’t take Isaac, it was somebody else that he took.

He took Ishmael and it wasn’t Ishmael, it was Isaac and he says here, now get this part of the verse, whom thou loveth. Those are three wonderful words. God knew Abraham love his son. And he was to offer him and get where he says, for at burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell the of. And he says in the land of Moriah, we’ll see Jesus Christ was crucified on Mount Moriah. Jesus Christ was God’s only son.

Jesus Christ was greatly loved of his father. See the parallel? Just a coincidence? I don’t think so. So he He offered them and he had told them and the boy says, Dad, I see the wood, see the fire. Where’s this sacrifice? Got a surprise for you son. It’s you. So he. . . . . . . . . But the only altar raises his hand, knife in hand, did ready to come down. And the Lord says, wait a minute, say that verse seven.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and says, my father, he says, here my son, he says, behold the fire in the wood, but where’s the lamb for the burn offering? Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. So Abraham says that God is going to provide a lamb. God’s going to provide himself a lamb. See anything there. Not just going to provide a lamb. He’s going to provide himself a lamb.

Maybe he’s talking about, he will be the Lamb. Whenever Christ came and John the Baptist saw him, what did he say? Behold, the Lamb of God, which takeeth away the sin of the world. So there’s a lot of stories in the Old Testament that teach us New Testament doctrine so that you can understand it. So they were to understand these stories. And so it says down here that God was going to work this miracle. And lo and behold, there was a ram that was caught in the brush and God did provide a way out.

Now, as you go down through here, you see that, well, things begin to happen. But one of the verses I like you to see, look in verse 4, and verse 4, where it says, Then Abraham called the name of that place, Jehovah-Jared, which means the Lord will provide. Jehovah-Jared, the Lord will provide. I remember when we were going to block Bible college and everybody was always struggling. You were struggling all the time trying to make ends meet. And it just seemed like a constant battle, trying to have enough money to do things.

And there was times when my car broke down, I didn’t have money to fix it. I walked a mile to college every day with my books and back. And down in Miami, sometimes the humidity would just be unbearable. And then I had to walk a mile to work and a mile back. And so I walked about four miles a day. And full time job, full time college, and it seemed like it would never end. I thought, I’m going to die.

I’m going to die. And I couldn’t see down the road and I kept thinking, what’s the value of all of this? I’m just wasting my time. But was I really wasting my time? I was learning that Jehovah-Jahran, the Lord will provide. And in time, God provided, and it always worked out. It seemed like God would forget who I was. He forgot how much I needed, and He’d let me suffer a lot of times. And He didn’t always tell me how He was going to do it.

And by do you talk about hurt sometimes? I had big old tears at times. But Jehovah Jara, you ought to underline those two words during your Bible. Jehovah Jara, the Lord will provide because the Lord provided a sacrifice on this mountain for the sins of the whole world. And so this is why this is so, well now Sarah, she died, look at chapter 23, verse one. Sarah was 107 and 20 years old. Now remember, she was 90 year old when she had this kid and she was already old and well stricken in age.

And then God let her live another 37 years. Not bad. She lived another 127 years and then she was 90. So that means another 10 on the bat. She lived a long time after she had that kid, didn’t she? Not bad. But what about Abraham? Oh, he got to live a lot longer. You know, after his wife died at 127 years of age677, Abraham got married again. But Isaac now had been born and in chapter 24, look when verse 1, Abraham was old and well-stricken in age.

Well, he was too long time ago when he was a hundred years old, he was well-stricken in age. Now, look at all these years and he says, and Abraham was old and well-stricken in age, and the Lord blessed Abraham and all these things. And so God says, I want you to get a, you know, you got to get a bride for your son. In those days, it was the, you know, the parent that they would find a bride for their son.

Today we don’t do it that way. We want, hey, well, I want to choose who I want. I got to live with that person for their, I want to, and you know, there’s still people today in different countries that they match them up. And they say, you’re going to marry this one, you’re going to marry that one. And some of them, they don’t even see them until the day they get married. Couldn’t that be a devastating thing? Or you might say, wow.

That would be a scary moment if you didn’t have a clue because they keep their faces veiled and you couldn’t see them. And that would be hard to live with, but there’s a lot of places. That’s what they do. But anyway, he did. He said, I want you to go back to where my brother-in-law and all of them lived back there with Laban. and I want you to find him a bride from there. So they did and they brought her and Rebekah.

Well, if you look there in chapter 24, Louis says in verse 64, Rebekah lifted up her eyes and when she saw Isaac, she smoked a cigarette. She lighted off a camel. Now that she really didn’t light a cigarette. She just got off her camel. Okay. So you do understand. I don’t want you reading into the scripture. something is not there. But anyway, in chapter 25 you’ll notice there in verse 1, then again Abraham took a wife and her name was Katur.

So his first wife is dead now and they were together for a long time. So Abraham gets married again and then look at all the kids that he had. He had six more sons after that, but none of them was the heir. It was Isaac was the heir. But now notice what he says in verse 5, and Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. The Isaac. Verse 7, and these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, he lived a hundred, three score, and fifteen years.

He lived to be a hundred and seventy-five years old. Now he was well stricken in age when he was a hundred, and then God led him to live another seventy-five years. And he got married and had more kids. Now there’s a man’s man. And so he says here in verse eight, Abraham gathered up his feet and died good old age and he says he was gathered to his people. So that means his people are somewhere and he went to where his people are.

So we know that you are going to see your people after you leave this earth and they are someplace and it is them and you will know who they are because it is your people. You will recognize them. People often want to go, are we going to recognize each other in heaven. Well why have them be my people if they’re, I don’t know who they are. So you do know who they are and you will see them. And so I think it’s a good thing.

So then he says here he has these two sons, Isaac and Ishmael. Now turn your page and you’ll notice that the Lord promised something there in verse 19, the generations of Isaac. So Isaac, it says in verse 20, Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebecca to wife. And so he had a wife and next thing you know, they have some children. She is now pregnant with two kids in her womb, verse 22, the children struggle together within her.

And she says, if it be so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire the Lord, hey, what’s going on? I don’t know if they had twins back in those days, but she has two of them. Must have been some fighting going on in there. In verse 23, and the Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, two manner of people shall separated from the bowels. And the one people shall be stronger than the other people.

And the elder shall serve the younger. So does God know what’s going on? I mean before they were ever born, God knew who they were. That she’s going to have two sons and they’re going to struggle and one’s going to be different, totally from the other one. So here you have Israel and you have the religion of nations of Islam, the Arabs of today. And they struggle in here before they were ever born. Are they still struggling? And isn’t it true that they are still trying to kill Israel?

It’s not Israel trying to kill all of them. It’s they’re always trying to kill Israel. They say, well, if see, if the Arabs would lay down their guns. There would be peace. But if Israel lays down their guns, they’d be annihilated. So that’s why they can’t do it. So it’s interesting. But way back here in the Old Testament, you’re talking about almost 4,000 years ago, 3,800 years ago, a long time. So he says here in verse 24, and when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her wounds.

the first came out red all over like I hairy garment. That reminds me of the day when I was born. Cute little baby I was. Okay, nobody likes that. Anyway, it says all over like I hairy garment. And they called his name Esau. After that came his brother out. And his hand took hold on Esau’s hill. And his name was called Jacob. In the words, hey, not so fast there. I was supposed to come out first. And his name was called Jacob.

And Isaac was three score years old when she married them. So he was 60 years old when he bothered these two children. And so in verse 27 the children grew. The boys grew and he saw, well, he was macho. He was a man’s man. He was a cunning hunter, man of the field. was a plain man, dwelling in tents. So one like the hunt, one just, you know, raise a herd of goats or something and raise some sheep. So two different styles altogether, two different kinds of interest.

But who was the first one? Well, it was Esau. The first born is the one who got to inherit everything from the father. So here’s Isaac and Isaac’s going to die one of these days. And so Isaac is is going to bless the firstborn and he will inherit everything that he has and become the leader of their clan, of their families. And so he gets to be the boss. And that’s just the way it was. That was their custom.

But anyway, it’s amazing how the story goes. Now I want to stop right here just for a second. Hold your place here. I want to turn all the over there to the book of Hebrews, the book of Hebrews and chapter 12. Hebrews and chapter 12, when you hear about obeying God and serving God and doing what God wants and how that God will bless you and if you don’t, how God is going to chase in you. Well, this is what he’s talking about.

So none of us like to be chastened. We just don’t like chasing. I never liked my dad to punish me. Well you usually punish you for doing something wrong but I didn’t have to do anything wrong. He would just do it for general principle. He knew that you did something wrong but you just didn’t get caught. So I get whipped anyway. And somebody, my sisters, said that I did something wrong. I got whooped in two. Then afterwards I’ll quote my sister.

But anyway, you’ll notice down here in verse 9, look at verse 9, gives you an illustration of how a father who loves their children, seeks to discipline the children. So he says in verse 9, furthermore, this is in Hebrews chapter 12, verse 9, furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us and we gave them reverence. In other words, Yankee, take out the trash. I will not. He pulled off that razor strap and hit me and come and I’m like, yes or yes or yes or yes or see how I gave him reverence.

So sometimes you got to learn how to discipline. But notice what he says, shall we much, not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits and live? So here’s the Lord who is our heavenly Father, and we have been born spiritually into God’s family, and our heavenly Father is going to chasten and discipline us. And the reason that’s because the Bible says he loves us, and whom he loves it, he chasteneth. That’s what he says. But now notice in verse 10, for they referring back to our family, our parents, they’ve And for a few days, chastened us after their own pleasure.

But he for our prophet, but not noted. They for a few days. So in referring to this life, it’s only for a short period of time. But what God does for us is for eternity. When God corrects you, it’s because He wants to bless you, not only here, but for eternity. Because He’s going to reward you when you get to heaven for what you did here in this life. parents can’t do that for you. You see, they can only be a blessing temporarily and chasing temporarily.

And it’s only for a short period of time. But God, our heavenly Father, We’re never going to die. He’s our father. So he chases us for a different reason, a different motive, a higher purpose. So he says here, but for our profit, not just our profit here, but also our profit forever. Give what he says, that we might be partakers of his holiness. See, God wants us to live now that would honor him as our Father. So does God want his children to live a holy righteous life?

Yes. And if you do, God says in chapter 10, and just look there in chapter 10 real quick, in chapter 10, and look there in verse 34, where he says, for ye had compassion of me and my bonds and took joyfully the spallen of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have where? In heaven a better and enduring substance. Down here it’s temporary. There it’s forever. So when your heavenly Father has to chasten you, it’s for your good, but it’s for some good prophet down the road, not just in this life, but it’s forever.

Now look what he says in verse 11. He says in verse 11 of chapter 12, now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous. I’ve never met a child yet that really enjoyed getting a whooping, except the other day when this lady was taking me and about three or four others, her husband was taking us to the airport And she says, my grandson had never been spanked.

And she had to get on his case. And she says, if you don’t watch it, I’m gonna take a stick to you. He says, oh, great grandma, I’ve never had one of those, can you do it now? He’d never been spanked. He wanna know what it would feel like. She says, he found out what it felt like. She didn’t say if you ever asked for another experience like that, I don’t know. But I’ve never had a child that says, hold that, that felt so good.

But he says in verse 11, now no chasing for the presence seem to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterwards it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness. In other words, God chases us so that we will do right. It’s not because he hates you, but because he loves you and he wants you to do right. Now not everybody will. And so he says here in verse 15, when you don’t do right, you’ll resent God’s correction in your life. Because sometimes God uses people to rebuke you.

God works through people. So sometimes God uses people to rebuke you. Now if you don’t handle that being rebuked well, then you’re going to get bitter. And look what he says in verse 15, looking diligent lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many beat if out. Not only do you get troubled, you’re going to trouble a lot of other people. And so he says, now, let me give you an illustration.

Here’s a good illustration in verse 16. lest there be any fornicator or profane person as he saw, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. One little morsel of meat, some food to eat, he sold his birthright, look what he could have had, but he forfeited it because he was hungry. He despised, the Bible says he despised his birthright. and was willing to give it away. Look what he says there in verse 17. And says, for ye know how that afterwards when he would have inherited the blessing, he would have inherited the blessing.

He would have. He was the firstborn, but God knew in advance what he would do and said that the elder will serve the younger. And there’s a reason why. Because God knows the end from the beginning. God didn’t have to make it happen, but God knows what happens and can tell us in advance what will happen. When He would have inherited the blessing, He was rejected. Not salvation. Rejected from being the first born that would inherit it all the blessings.

But it’s used to teach you and I something. Look at the last part of it. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Now Isaac couldn’t change his mind after he had given the blessing to his brother Jacob. And once it was done, all the tears in the world is not going to change his mind, it couldn’t change your decision. You see, whenever we trust Christ as our Savior and God says that He will save me if I trust Him, God can’t change His mind.

He can’t say, no, I changed my mind. You can’t do that. You’re God. You’re perfect. You can’t do that. I made a mistake one time in an Indian camp and I said, look, God’s not an Indian giver. And then I realized what I said and they really He just perked up and listened and heard what I said. And I had to talk and talk and talk and try to get him on something else. I tried to tell a few jokes, but I think I’d already done the damage.

But even by the time of the week was over, they liked me a little bit. I thought he was going to scout me while I was there. But he said, though he saw it carefully with tears. Now, this is written here to us as his children, God’s children. See, there’s things that you and I have because of our birthright. We’ve been born in the God’s family. Did you know that a lot of God’s children despise their birthright? Dispise being a child of God by not serving God and reaping the blessings that we could have when we could have, and the rewards for eternity that we could have, and we thought all the way for a little morsel of temporary food here in this life.

See the parallel? God uses that story in the Old Testament and puts it over here to God’s people how to live by faith. And so therefore because you are a chalice, don’t don’t don’t all that away. You’re a child of the king. He’s not dead. He knows everything that’s going on in God can work in your life in ways that you never dreamed before. So go back there to the book of Genesis. So he says that that I’m going to bless you.

God renewed His covenant. Did you know it says in verse 17 of chapter 26 that Isaac, the part of that, and pitched his tent in the so forth and in verse 18 Isaac digged again the wells of water. Digged the wells of water. You know my daddy dug wells. I remember standing on the edge of the thing and watching my daddy down there digging a well. Now he did a lot of other things too, but he did do something good once in a while and they dug wells.

And I used to wonder how, I never got to see how deep because where I saw he was still on dry ground. But he would go down until they got down into the water and he’d go down there and that well, that water would start filling up in there. But I remember watching him. Well it’s a new month and that means a new offer to those who support Bibleline. And this month we have something really special for you, the brand new book by Greg Steer, the founder of Dare to Share Ministries called Gospels.

What a fabulous book written about the model for evangelism according to the book of Acts. Greg is a way of teaching some profound truths in simple and easy to understand ways with practical examples that you can use immediately. I could not put the book down, and when I finished it, I wanted to stop everyone on the highway and tell them of the free gift of salvation. And this life-changing book is yours for a gift to Bibleline in any amount.

Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us. The address for Calvary Community Church is 4081 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound, and we will be changed.

Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believing that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.