Some people view hearing from God as the clouds parting and the sun shining through on you and a deep booming voice telling you something
That’s not normally how it looks
Today we’re going to explore what it actually looks like when God “talks” to you
How many people have ever heard from God?
Two extremes of people hearing from God
Some people God talks to all the time
Woke me up
Eat oatmeal
Wear your old shoes today
He only speaks through His word
My stance:
God still speaks.
He does not give new revelation on par with the words of Jesus or the apostles, but he still speaks.
Why is it important to hear from God?
Relationship with God
He will seem distant and unrelatable
It makes your faith “real”
You can direction
Helps ensure you are in His will
Moses Meets God
Scriptural Context
The Pharaoh made a declaration that all Jewish male children would be killed
Moses sent down river
Found by Pharaoh's daughter
At 40 decided to go to his people
Moses killed a man
Got married at 40
Living in his father-in-law’s house
He’s now 80
Ministry started at 80
Key Scripture
Exodus 3:1-6
Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Mose’s Identity
“I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham”
God solidified Moses’ identity by acknowledging Him as one of His chosen people
Knowing God’s Name
Later on God told Moses His true name
When you know someone’s name you know them at a deeper level
Example: Mc Hammer
“I call him Stanley”
Angel of the Lord
Who was Moses speaking to at the bush?
God
Angel of the Lord
An angel
Why was Mose afraid to look at God?
They believed you would die if you saw God
Not “an” angel of the Lord but “the” angel of the Lord
The angel of the Lord shows that when God wants to draw near someone without destroying them
The angel of the Lord is the form of God‘s presence when he can be among sinners and not destroy them
Characteristics of the Angel of the Lord
Speaks in first person
Speaks the word of God in the first person
Gabriel only spoke in the 3rd person
Preincarnate Jesus Christ
Theophaphony
Christophany
God Spoke Through Unusual Circumstances
God spoke to Moses through unusual circumstances
He Spoke when Moses turned aside
Story: Starting my company Stories
Start a company after layoff
Preachers on the radio
Worship
Dream sister died
Answer someone else's prayer
How God Speaks to Us
What are some ways God speaks to us today?
Bible
Unusual circumstances / coincidences
Fleece
Prayer
Pastors / teachers
Prophetic words
Tongues / Interpretations
Dreams / Visions
Peace
Closing doors
Bringing things to your memory
Voice
Inspired thoughts
Prompting of the Holy Spirit
Draw your Attention to something
Nature
Worship / music
Emotions
Angels
We also need to listen to God. We need to believe that he answers us.
Bible
The Scriptures are the ultimate authority
Reading the Bible is what trains you to hear
Will you feel something inside when it first is specifically for you
Connecting your heart to what God has said enables you to hear what God is saying
Example: flip a page open Stories:
Anger, layoff peace
Verse of the day
Bible opened to a verse
Head and not the tail
Russel Wilson
Unusual circumstances/unusual coincidences
Stories:
Job ex-team lead
Fleece
Judges 6:36-38
36Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken,37behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.”38And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water.
Stories:
Communion
Job away from San Diego
Girlfriend at comedy show
Prayer
Don’t just talk
Sitting and listening is part of prayer
Preachers / Teachers
Stories:
Trip to Africa
Distinct by Design
Take the job at HP
Migraine cured
[to be continued … ]
Conclusion
After Adam fell, He heard the sound of God walking in the garden. The Bible never said that He saw God again.
What was the first thing God said to Adam after the fall? …”where are you?”
There was a separation.
Sin separates us from God’s presence
But Adam could still hear God
The first step to reestablishing our relationship with God is being able to hear Him.
Jesus said:
He who has an ear let him hear
Paul said:
Faith cometh by hearing
Hearing by the word of God
Faith cometh by hearing
Salvation cometh by faith
Therefore salvation cometh by hearing
John the Baptist was the forerunner of Christ
He was the “voice crying in the wilderness”
The voice that prepared the way of Jesus
Hearing the voice precedes the encounter
What’s the most important commandment?
Mark 12:29-31
29Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD; 30AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’ 31“The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Jesus answered, “The foremost is, Hear, O Israel!”
We need to prioritize hearing from God
The enemy fears those who hear from God directly
It’s harder to deceive someone if they’re connected directly to the source
Hearing from God changes your religion to an encounter
Hearing from God changes your religion to a relationship
Hearing from God let’s you know you’re on the right path
Allows God to fine tune your GPS to navigate through life
Your biggest desire and most constant prayer should be to hear from God
20 "It was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and he was nurtured three months in his father's home.
21 "And after he had been set outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her own son.
22 "Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds.
23 "But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel.
24 "And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian.
25 "And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.
26 "On the following day he appeared to them as they were fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, 'Men, you are brethren, why do you injure one another?'
27 "But the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying, 'WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND JUDGE OVER US?
28 'YOU DO NOT MEAN TO KILL ME AS YOU KILLED THE EGYPTIAN YESTERDAY, DO YOU?'
29 "At this remark, MOSES FLED AND BECAME AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he became the father of two sons.
30 "After forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING THORN BUSH.
31 "When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, there came the voice of the Lord:
32 'I AM THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS, THE GOD OF ABRAHAM AND ISAAC AND JACOB.' Moses shook with fear and would not venture to look.
33 "BUT THE LORD SAID TO HIM, 'TAKE OFF THE SANDALS FROM YOUR FEET, FOR THE PLACE ON WHICH YOU ARE STANDING IS HOLY GROUND.
Paul went to Jerusalem to meet with the leadership of the Christian movement to discuss:
His call to preach to the Gentiles
The debate on whether Gentile converts needed to be circumcised
James, Peter and John were the leaders of the church at that time
James, Jesus’ brother, was the bishop of Jerusalem
They agreed that Gentiles didn’t have to be circumcised
Paul and Barnabas then continued to Antioch
When Peter came to Antioch he socialized and ate with the Gentiles
When some of James’ people came Peter didn’t want to be seen fellowshipping with the Gentiles
Even though Peter had been the first one that God told to witness to a Gentile
Paul confronted Peter about this
We then discussed the conflict between Paul and James
This is seen to be the conflict between “grace vs the law” or “faith vs works”
Paul’s writings emphasize salvation by faith and James’ book emphasizes works of law
Paul’s view is seen as salvation by grace alone
James’ view is seen to be salvation that is dependent your obedience to the law
Scholars have proposed many explanations for the apparent contradiction
One view says that Paul wrote to the Gentiles whereas James wrote to the Jews
This implies that Jews and Gentiles have different requirements to be saved
Another view says that the books are applicable at different dispensations or times
Paul’s writings are applicable now
James’ writings will be applicable during and after the rapture/tribulation
Another view says that they don’t contradict at all
They were written for different purposes
Paul is telling us how to get saved
James is telling us how to live once we are saved
We’ll look at two more views at the end of this lesson, and revisit the subject as the conclusion of the book of Galatians.
Galatians 3:1-4
Galatians 3:1-4
You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? 2
This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the
Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 5So
again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you
by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?
Did you receive salvation from works of the law or by believing?
If you got saved through grace why do you think you need the laws to stay saved?
No one has received the Holy Spirit by the works of the law
No matter how righteous you are you can’t be saved by your righteousness
And it won't keep you saved
Faith Cometh By Hearing
They received the Spirit by hearing with faith
Romans 10:13-17
13for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”
14How
then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will
they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear
without a preacher?15How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSEWHOBRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”
16However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OURREPORT?”17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ
“Word of Christ/God” here is not referring to the bible
This verse talks of the sequence of what needs to happen for you to be saved
In order to believe you have to have heard the gospel
In order to hear there needs to be a preacher
In order for one to preach they need to have been sent
So hearing the gospel is what triggers your faith
You got saved by hearing the good news about Christ
If someone never hears the gospel they cannot be saved
Hearing the gospel is what saved you
To be saved, you have to believe
To believe you have to hear the gospel
You didn't receive the Spirit by:
Saying a prayer
Being baptized
Joining a church
Confessing your sins
Confessing Jesus in front of men
You received salvation because you heard the gospel and believed it
Salvation occurs as soon as you hear the gospel and believe that the gospel applies to you
Getting someone to pray “the prayer” is good, but that’s not what saves them
Many people who live in countries without evangelists say that Jesus Himself came and proclaimed the gospel to them
Example: African who Jesus appeared to
Galatians 3:6-9
Galatians 3:6-9
6So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture
foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the
gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through
you.”d9So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
Notice that those who rely on faith are blessed
What about those who rely on their works?
If you rely on your works you could be missing your blessing
God pronounced the gospel to Abraham.
Abraham was credited as being without sin because of his faith
Announced the good news in advance
What good news was announced to Abraham?
Genesis 15:3-6
3And
Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my
house is my heir.” 4Then behold, the word of the LORD came to him,
saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth
from your own body, he shall be your heir.” 5And He took him outside and
said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are
able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
6Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as
righteousness.
Abraham was declared righteous because he believed in God
Abraham didn’t do any works to obtain his righteousness
All other nations were following other gods
Abraham’s Family was following other gods
Abraham was rewarded for choosing to follow God
All nations will be blessed because of Abraham
Genesis 22:15-18
15Then the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven, 16and
said, “By Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done
this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son,17indeed
I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the
stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your
seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. 18“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Is the word “seed” singular or plural?
All nations of the earth will be blessed because Abraham obeyed
Is this works?
This could be what James was referring to when he said Abraham’s works saved him
But this isn’t pertaining to salvation though
Abraham was already declared righteous 7 chapters ago
But this does say that Abraham was blessed because of his righteousness
Old Testament vs New Testament Blessings
In the Old Testament, they were blessed because of their righteousness
In the Old Testament your works were rewarded by physical blessings
In the New Testament our faith is rewarded by spiritual blessings
In the Old Testament you had to earn your blessings
In the New Testament your blessing is a gift that you don't deserve
The
good news that was announced to Abraham was that Abraham would have
many offspring and that all nations would be blessed through him.
Through Jesus all nations can be blessed
Angel of the Lord(?)
Who was talking to Abraham?
The Angel of the Lord
Who is the Angel of the Lord?
Jesus
We saw that the Angel of the Lord was the angel that accompanied the Children of Israel when they went through the wilderness
1 Corinthians 10:1-4
For
I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters,
that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed
through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.
Christ accompanied the Israelites
Jesus was The Angel of the Lord
So not only was the good news announced to Abraham in advance, it was announced by Jesus Himself.
10For
all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is
written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything
written in the Book of the Law.”e11Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.”f12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.”g13Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for
it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”h14He
redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to
the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the
promise of the Spirit.
The righteous “live by faith”
Those under the law “live by the law”
The law was made to reveal sin
Those who rely on the law are not justified by God
They are justified by their works
We saw that those who rely on their faith are blessed
Now we see that those who rely on their works are cursed
Cursed because you're because you're being held to a standard that you can't meet
The Curse
To live under the law is to live under a curse
Deuteronomy 27:26
"Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"
If you broke a single law you were cursed
Therefore everyone who lived under the law was cursed
They could atone by sacrifices
This is the verse Paul is referring when he says “everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed”:
Deuteronomy 21:22-23
22
"If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death,
and you hang him on a tree, 23 his corpse shall not hang all night on
the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is
hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which
the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.
Criminals were executed by being hung on trees
Someone is considered a criminal when they break the law
They are cursed because they are criminals
Not specifically because they are hanging on a tree
Criminals were the only ones who hang on trees (back then)
Jesus died the death of a criminal for us
Galatians 3:15-18
The Law and the Promise
Galatians 3:15-18
15Brothers
and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one
can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established,
so it is in this case. 16The
promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say
“and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,”imeaning one person, who is Christ. 17What
I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside
the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the
promise. 18For
if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the
promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.
God’s promise to Abraham didn't have conditions
Paul explains that Abraham’s seed wasn't the Jews
The ‘seed’ was Jesus
And therefore us through Jesus
The Promise
God couldn't just break the promise to Abraham’s seed
The law couldn't break the covenant God had already made
The law came 433 years after the promise
God made a promise to Abraham before the law existed
As Christians, we are qualified to receive the blessings of Abraham
Not following the law can’t disqualify you from the promise
Jesus’s death eliminated the need for us to satisfy the law in order to receive the blessings of God
It also allowed us to be heirs of Abraham which qualifies us for the promise
Galatians 3:19-20
Galatians 3:19-20
19Why
the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been
ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator, until the seed
would come to whom the promise had been made. 20Now a mediator is not
for one party only; whereas God is only one.
The law was given because of our transgressions
Mediator
Was it an Angel Who Gave Moses the Law?
Did God give Moses the law directly or through angels?
The Greek word translated as “angel” is aggellos
It literally means “messenger”
YLT (Young's Literal Translation) bible seems to be the only one to get this right
Moses is the “messenger”
“ordained through angels by the agency of a mediator”
Should be: “ordained by messengers by the agency of a mediator”
Meaning ordained by “messengers” acting as mediators
The messengers held the office of mediators
Moses was the “messenger” (aggellos) through whom the Jews received the Law.
18
All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the
sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw
it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, "Speak unto us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die."
Initially God gave the law directly to the people
Since the people were afraid of God, He used Moses as a mediator
Galatians 3:21-27
Galatians 3:21-27
21Is
the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a
law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness
would indeed have been based on law. 22But the Scripture has shut up
everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might
be given to those who believe.
23Before the coming of this faith,j we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.24So the law was our guardian [tutor / school teacher] until Christ came that we might be justified by faith.25Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
The Law Was Our Guardian
When a child receives an inheritance they are often given a guardian to steward the money until they come of age
The law was our guardian for our blessings
The guardian determines how you’re blessed
The guardian also has the authority to discipline you
Now that we are of age, We no longer have a guardian determining whether or not we get blessings
The Jews earned blessings based on whether they followed the law
Our blessings are now given by grace
We are no longer blessed based on whether we are bad or good
We receive salvation through faith by grace
Galatians 3:28-29
Galatians 3:28-29
28There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
All Christians are equal in God’s eyes
God only sees 3 groups of people
Christians
Lost Israelites/Jews
Lost Gentiles
We can indeed qualify for the blessings of Abraham since we are now made righteous through Jesus.
Who is a Jew?
There are many problems in determining who is a Hebrew/Israelite/Jew
All Israelites aren’t necessarily called Jews
The term Jew is from the tribe of Judah
The tribes of Judah, Benjamin and (some of) Levi are referred to as Jews
In 922 BC Israel split into 2 houses:
Israel in the North (10 tribes)
Judah in the South (2 tribes)
At one point the two houses became 1
So it’s unclear to me if “Jew” refers to all of the original 12 tribes or not
All of Abraham’s descendants aren’t Jews
Ishmael
Esau
Abraham wasn't Jewish
Abraham was a Hebrew
He's the patriarch of the Jews
Hebrew means a descendent of Eber
Eber was 6 generations before Abraham
Eber was 4 generations from Noah
There were many many Hebrews in Abraham’s time
He and his family are the only Hebrews who worshipped God
All the other Hebrews were pagans
Are they Jews or Gentiles?
Are they under the promise?
Conclusion
The purpose of the law was to show us that we were sinners and we needed a savior.
The
system of rewards based on faith was not a new system created by Jesus
or Paul. It was put into place by God at the establishment of the Old
Covenant with Abraham. Because of Abraham’s faith, he was called
righteous.
Some
people try to use the law to earn favor with God. They believe that
because they follow the law God owes them a reward. They see how
people in the Old Testament were promised blessings for following the
law and assume that God still operates this way.
They ignore Paul's warning in Galatians 3:10 where
he says: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse”.
Because the law says "Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words
of this law by carrying them out." You are cursed because you are
choosing to gain merit based on your own righteousness. You are
choosing a standard you can never live up to.
In Matthew 7 Jesus tells us
1“Do not judge so that you will not be judged.2“For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
Jesus
is saying that we'll be measured by our own standards. This tells us
that we have an influence on how we are judged. Similar to how Paul
says if someone thinks eating a certain food is sin then it is sin to
them.
You
have the choice whether you want to live under the law or whether you
want to live under the grace of God. That doesn’t mean that we don't do
our best to follow the law, but it means that we don’t rely on the law
for our salvation. Jesus died so that we would no longer need to
perform to attain salvation. This is the good news that we have
heard...all you need to do is believe that Jesus died and was
resurrected as atonement for your sins. You can choose the law or you
can choose Jesus. You can choose to accept Jesus’ gift or you can
choose to try to earn your own righteousness through your works.
Deuteronomy 30:19
"I
call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set
before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life…”
Paul and James were talking about 2 different laws
There is a “Law of God” and a “Law of Moses”
Paul meant that we don’t need to follow the Mosaic laws
James meant that we need to follow the Laws of God
The law of God is the 10 commandment and was written by God Himself.
The other six hundred something laws are the “Law of Moses”.
Jesus’ death abolished the “Law of Moses”
Jesus’ death didn’t eliminate the 10 commandments.
In many churches this is implied when:
We assume that it's a sin to murder, but it’s okay to eat shrimp
We assume that we are still supposed to follow the 10 commandments
… to be continued …
Fool
Paul called the Galatians “foolish”. Is this appropriate?
Matthew 5:22
22“But
I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be
guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You
good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever
says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.
Luke 12:20
20“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
1 Corinthians 15:35-36
35But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” 36You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies;
Angel of the Lord
Exodus 23:20-22
20“Behold,
I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way and
to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21“Be
on your guard before him and obey his voice; do not be rebellious
toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since My name is
in him. 22“But
if you truly obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an
enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.
The Angel of the Lord has the ability to forgive sins
This is the angel that travelled ahead of the children of Israel
Sheol
Hebrews 11:4-7
4By
faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which
he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about
his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. 5By
faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT
FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before
his being taken up he was pleasing to God. 6And
without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. 7By
faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence
prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he
condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is
according to faith.
Abel, Enoch,and Noah attained righteousness through faith
Enoch never died
What is Sheol?
Ancient Hebrews had a belief that all people went to Sheol when they died
Both the righteous and the unrighteous go to Sheol
Souls stayed in Sheol awaiting judgment on Judgment Day
In the Old Testament, Sheol is referenced as the permanent place for the dead
The New Testament refers to it as Hades
Sheol was not hell
Ancient Hebrews believed God would take the righteous out of Sheol
The Greek word gehenna is used in the New Testament for “hell”
There was a deeper part of Sheol called “the Abyss”
The Abyss is where the fallen angels are being held in bondage by Michael until Judgment Day
Note: so they aren’t the demons on earth today
Some think the demons today are the Spirit part of the half angel half human Nephilim of Genesis 6
Psalms 16:10
For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
David believed that God would rescue him from Sheol
Psalms 49:15
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me.
Abraham’s Bosom
During the 2nd Temple period (time between Old Testament and New Testament) the concept changed
“Abraham’s bosom” was a comfortable place in Sheol where the righteous await judgment
Ideas formed of righteous dead as being separated from unrighteous in the fires by a river or chasm
The righteous side was called “Abraham’s bosom”
This is where Lazarus was in the story of Lazarus and the rich man
The souls of the righteous, at death, go directly into the Presence of God
Mark 12:26-27
26“But regarding the fact that the dead rise again, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, and the God of Jacob’?27“He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
Jesus also taught that the righteous were in Heaven with God
Curse
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
26 "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; 28
and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD
your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today,
by following other gods which you have not known.
Those living under the law who disobeyed the law were cursed by God
The specific sin He names is idolatry or following other gods
Mediator
Deuteronomy 5:25 - 27
25‘Now
then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear
the voice of the LORD our God any longer, then we will die. 26‘For who
is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking
from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27‘Go near and hear
all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our
God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’
