Bible Discussion Replies PAGE 134

Gen.18,13-16 "Within the tent"

"And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?/Is any thing too hard for the Lord? "

The voice of the Lord came from among the three men and even when they wended in the direction of Sodom the voice stayed back." And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord./And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" This voice is the spirit of Christ or the Angel of His presence at time is the still small voice we hear, convicting us lest we be entangled therein. Isaiah speaks of it, " And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left." . The prophet refers in the same passage of the blessing assured to all this who walk by faith and no by sight. "For the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him." As was with Abraham though designated as the father of many nations, he was to live as pilgrim and sojourner we are all heading towards heavenly city, "For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee."(Isa.30.18-21). This was the promise to Abraham in his Son.

Sarai was hidden inside the tent.Yet God heard her laugh, " Therefore Sarah laughed within herself,..." An insignificant detail is it not while a nation is being torched away from existence? No nations are anything to God as man cast after our image and after our likeness. "All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.:(Isa.40.17) Sarai may deny it, " I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh." Our murmuring is like whisper in his ears. God catches hypocrites in their Jesus talk.

Gen.18.11 A parallel narrative."

Mercy came from God. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. So we need take the Bible as a parallel narrative where action goes on at heavenly places as well as in human history. More of which we see in the mattar of nations how they are uprooted till God established=s the kingdom of his dear Son the mid-air in Rev.21. In the book of Daniel we have the king of Persia, a spirit. "Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words./ But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia. (Dan.10.12-13). This shall explain the war of five kings against four in Gen.14. War takes place on both fronts.

Gen 18.11 "The Annunciation"

"Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women." What does it mean? In terms of physiology she was a Virgin as Mary of Nazareth was. "Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?/And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."( Lk 1.34-35). Sarai was a clean slate on which the Spirit of God sets to work so Isaac shall be the heir of promise. God had settled the name for him. We shall come to the 'tempting' of Abraham (22.1) and it is how the Spirit sets Abraham and Isaac into the Father Son relationship. The basis is the everlasting Covenant now bringing in man into the fellowship of God with Man. In place of Angel Gabriel we have here the three men presented themself to the patriarch. "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;/And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them." (18.1-2). Having examined the Covenant bearing upon the body, soul and spirit of man we have the Trinity represented and the significance of it is explained in Rev.21.17 One single measurement of man angel and the spirit of Christ, collectively we call them Angel of His presence. Thus one or three the Annunication connects the promise of God as indeed as the truth. The word of God says, "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us."(2 Cor.1.20) God tells Hagar 'Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction."(16.11) Similarly with Mary, " And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus." God's Mercy finds home here.

Psalms 119:16

"I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word."

Blessings

Correction:

"On the other hand Abraham gave him the name of Ishmael. There is a lot of difference in this."

There is a factual error here.This should be ignored. Instead, "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, Behold, thou art with child and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the Lord hath heard thy affliction."(16.11)

Gen. 17 "Undivided" (2 of 2)

Soul addresses faith directly so Christ abides in us by faith. The body of Christ is after our likeness. The same Spirit given to us as an earnest, sets up a building of God, " For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens./For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven." (2 Cor.5.1-2) This house from heaven is not divided as the church in the world is riven by heresies. Where God made a living soul some have made den of robbers; some have left the birds of the air carry away the seed sown in them. "And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away."(15.11). Those who have vitiated faith by love of the world are marked 6-6-6 the same sign of the beast. We are to be like doves, " and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of the hole's mouth."(Jer.48.28). Before Jesus sent his disciples he exhorted them,"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."(Mt.10.26). While in our vile bodies we are to be as circumspect as serpents but our souls knit with the 'dove' after the likeness of the Son.

Finally the sign of dew on the fleece (Judg,6.36-40) explains how our individual souls shall transact with the glorified body of Jesus Christ. The light of Lamb makes the holy city of God seamless. "And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof."(Rev.21.23)

Gen.17." Undivided" (1 of 2)

This shall serve as conclusion to the first section. The book of Genesis began with the everlasting Covenant. God the Spirit renews the same Covenant with Abraham after our image and after our likeness. So his body spirit and soul must be brought as one undivided entity. The sacrifice He specified included " And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon./And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not."(15.9-10). Each item that divided referred to the physical body of His creation. Whereas what he left undivided referred to the body He had prepared for his Son."Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me."(Heb.10.5-7).

The Law of the Spirit while framing the Covenant set the tripartite aspect of the physical body 'after our image.' Seven days went into giving this body its volume where blessing coming from the divine Will covered both heaven and earth. Circumcision only went as far as the body was applied. God sent his 'only begotten Son' the Word becoming flesh suffered the sign He imposed on Abraham as the Father of many nations. But the body that his Father had prepared for him encapsulated the soul so Jesus in his prayer says, "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was./I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." ( Jn 17.5-7) This body is the soul the spiritual body, and it is not divided. In short cicrcumcison addressed only 'after our image" Soul addresses faith directly so Christ abides in us by faith. The body of Christ is after our likeness. The same Spirit given to us

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Blessings

Gen.17.8-9 "Everlasting possessions"

"The land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God./ Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations." God referring to the Covenant makes the land for an everlasting possession. 'I will be their God. So the land is not a certain land with geographical boundaries but earth that abides forever. So he who has the Son has the Father as well. Thus circumcision is instituted as a covenant, a sign for the body. Thy seed after thee in their generations includes Ishmael as well.

God specifies the heir of promise,"And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him."(v.19) On the other hand Abraham gave him the name of Ishmael. There is a lot of difference in this. Abraham and Isaac fill the Father Son relationship and the basis of the Covenant is not circumcision but faith. The land therefore has a different ephasis. The worlds framed by the word of God has faith as the DNA. So God is specific: "But my covenant will I establish with Isaac." In the case of Ishamel, "And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation." (v.20) Where faith is insisted upon entering into the rest of God constitutes as the works. Abraham undergoes circumcision as the token of the father many nations. v.10 "This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you."God renews it third time with regards to the Body. In Ch.15 we have the Covenant where Soul is the emphasis. Melchizedek, the high priest of God validates the Covenant in terms of the Spirit.

Jesus Christ the Word born of flesh has made circumcision superfluous. His "perfect sacrirfice" (Heb.10.14)

Gen,15.17-18 "Smoking furnace"

And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces./In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram"

Notice 'when the sun went down' or the evening has spiritual significance. God set evening as the time He set his will into motion to which the Spirit begins at the end of the first day,"And the evening and the morning were the first day. (Gen.1.5) Next the Spirit sets the evening when the dove presents the proof of a new earth: "And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."(8.11)/ In renewing the everlastiing Covenant with Abraham, the Spirit points out the burning lamp in token of confirmation while the smoking furnace for the first time, the consequence of breaking the covenant. The same smoking furnace we find when God gave the Decalogue to Moses. "And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace."(Exod.19.18) "As the smoke of a furnace' and Abraham sees the cities of the plains as God has warned. "and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace."(Gen.19.28) The Spirit uses the tag,'behold' in order to emphasise the word of God.

Finally we have this passage, "and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit./And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit./And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power." Rev.9.1-3. With God rests the power to cast souls into hell. "But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him." (Lk.12.5)

(Revelation Part 3e):

Revelation 1:3 Continued

The last line of the introduction says, for the time is at hand, literally, the time is near. The end time is near. And if you follow the teachers of prophecy, you'll know that we are getting closer and closer to that time that is mentioned for us in the future tribulation in Revelation 4:1. But until Christ comes, we as believers are to heed to the teachings in the book of Revelation. It comes straight from Jesus Christ. And we are not to add to it or take away from it.

If a person comes along and claims to have a prophecy from God that's not in scripture, a prophecy or a message from God, that person is putting his prophecy and message equal to the bible if it's true, because if he received this message from God, then it's the word of God.

And that's where God says no! God is through speaking, as far as adding to and revealing further things, more than what the scriptures reveal. Revelation Chapter 22 says don't add to the prophecy of the book. It's the last book of the bible. That's why it is there.

But secondly, even if you don't go by that, every single person that might tell me that they are a "modern day prophet," I would tell them that everything they say is equal to the bible if it's the word of God. For some reason, they will not go that far!

But that's what they're doing. If they have a "message from God," then it's God's word. They'll present it as God's word, but not equal to the bible. Well, that's what the bible is. The bible is God's word! So, you have to be careful. God has given us a safeguard. He's given us the inspiration of His truth in written form so that we can know what is of Him and what isn't.

(Revelation Part 3d):

Revelation 1:3 Continued

So, he says there's a warning there. If you take the words, and if any man shall add to these things, God shall add the plagues that are written in it. But if you take away from it, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

I've heard of professing Christians in the past who have been told by their church that the bible has created more division and more confusion among Christians than anything. And they are told that you need to put the bible away and just trust on prophets who will be within the church. And they will get messages from God, and then they will stand up and give the messages from the Lord for our day, and for our church. But just stay away from the bible!

According to the book of Revelation, this is the final prophecy of God. Don't let anybody fool you, or deceive you, or kid you. When prophets come along after John delivers the book of Revelation, and they claim to have a prophecy from God, and it is not in the scripture, it is false!

And many are being deceived today by the deceptive persuasion that "It's the same today that it was in Paul's day, except in Paul's day, he only knew a little bit. His understanding was limited. And we have better revelation today, so don't worry about what Paul said."

Or, "Don't worry about the fact that what I just taught you was opposite of what Paul said, because he really didn't have that much information. We have better revelation in our day." But what did Paul say? He said if anybody preaches any other gospel than that which I have preached, let him be accursed.

So, there will be persuasive prophets, and persuasive people coming along in order to cause people to listen to "their message that they're getting from God," vs. what the scripture says. We have to be careful about those things!

(Revelation Part 3c):

Revelation 1:3 Continued

And so, it's very interesting. Blessed is the one who is reading, those who are hearing, and those who are guarding the things that are written in this book. And again, this is a continuous habit, a continuous practice of reading and hearing. But notice that it's called prophecy, they that hear the words of this prophecy.

Now this is very important. The book of Revelation is called prophecy. Words is plural, but prophecy singular. But this book is called prophecy. The word prophecy comes from the word prophet that just means to be a spokesperson for God. Not on your own, but rather to speak God's word. Like the prophets of old, they would foretell. They would tell about the future.

But the prophets of the New Testament, especially around the time of John in the mid 90's A.D., it wasn't foretelling, it was forth-telling, telling forth the word of God, taking the book and ministering the word of God. But it's interesting that as we get into the end of Revelation, the last Chapter, there's actually promises and warnings.

In Revelation 22:18-19, he says for I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, and again, Revelation is called prophecy, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

That's pretty serious! As I mentioned at the beginning, the book of Revelation is God's final prophecy and His final message to His church before He comes back. He wants the church to be focused on His message to them. We get that message in Chapters 2 and 3, His instruction to the church before He returns.

(Revelation Part 3b):

Revelation 1:3 Continued

Now the great thing about it was Tychicus, and some of the others that took dictation from Paul, whoever took the dictation, they were the ones who delivered the letter to these churches so that the leaders in the churches could take the letter and read it.

And you've got the amanuensis, the person who took the dictation right there if you had any questions. "What did Paul mean by this? What did he mean by that?" You see, you've got someone there to explain it. Well, when Tychicus and the others, when they go back, and they leave the letter, they now have an explanation as to what the letter means.

But that church has one letter. They didn't have bibles to go home and read the letter when they got home. The only way that you could hear the word of God is to go to the fellowship and have the person read the word while people listened. And I think it's interesting that in those days, they didn't have bibles, and they were limited to whatever letters Paul or anybody else sent that particular church, or letters that were circulating in that area.

They didn't have the whole New Testament like what we have, so they would get together and they would read the letter, over, and over, and over again. They would receive testimony from traveling itinerate preachers who Paul and Timothy, and the others would send out, with some of the messages and teachings about Jesus Christ.

And for a church to get a hold of one of the gospels, wow! That was feasting to them. They might have their own letter that Paul gave to them, but to get Luke's gospel, or the book of Acts, wow! You have to realize that as generations went on of believers, they didn't even know these books existed. They didn't even know those things happened. How are they going to know unless the letter is circulated in their area?

(Revelation Part 3a):

Revelation 1:3 - Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

First of all, to the one who's reading, and I want to point out three things:

Number 1: It is singular. To he that readeth. It's the one who is reading. And the word reading is a Present Participle which means continuously as a habit, not just one time.

Secondly: And the ones hearing the words of this prophecy. Notice two things. It's plural. And the word hearing is a Present Participle, continuously hearing the word, and the words of this prophecy.

Thirdly: These same ones who are keeping those things which are written therein. The word keeping is one of those guard terms, prisoner terms. PHULASSO is the guard who's guarding the prisoner from getting out. And there's another type of guard, TEREO, who is guarding influences coming in from the outside to take the prisoner.

This is that last one, TEREO. It's the person who's continually guarding against things coming in from the world, and from their life, to take them away from the influences and the meaning of the things in the book of Revelation. It means we're constantly on guard concerning things that would take us away from the things of Christ.

Now it's interesting, and I'll mention this first before I talk about the word prophecy. In the early church days, even some 60 years after the death of Christ and His resurrection and ascension, the churches met in homes, anywhere from 10 to 15 people per home.

And they would read the letter that was sent to that church, or any other writings that they could get their hands on from Paul. There was only one copy per church. And they would have somebody reading this letter to everyone.

(Revelation Part 2):

Revelation 1:1 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, that's Christ, to show to His servants things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John:

There are actually 4 steps mixed in there:

God gave it to Christ, Christ gave it to His angel, which is very interesting. The angel gives the revelation to John, in order for John to give it to the servants of God. The reason for it was to show His servants what things must shortly come to pass.

The word must in the Greek text (DEI) means divinely bound. These things are designed by God, and they must happen.

Secondly, the word shortly (TACHEI). This is not shortly as far as it's coming up quick, but rather when happens, it is going to happen quickly. It's going to take place in a short time.

And He sent and signified it. The word signified means to express or present something in symbols and signs. So, God gave it to Christ, Christ to His angel, the angel to John, and from John to the Lord's servants who are serving in these churches.

Biblical Greek Perspectives:

(Revelation Part 1):

The Author is the apostle John (Not John the Baptist). John was the only original apostle not to die a martyr's death. John wrote the Book of Revelation to the churches of Asia Minor. Most of the recipients of his letters were Jewish believers. But the letters were written for all of the believers in the churches. It is written for Gentiles, but Gentiles have to understand it through a Jewish perspective.

Revelation was written around 95 A.D. to encourage the believers who were under extreme persecution from Rome. John wrote to encourage them to endure and to wait for the victory, that the victory is yet to come, maybe not seeing it in our day, but it will come. The book of Revelation is God's final prophecy, and final message to His church before He comes back.

John uses a heptadic (Series of 7) system of writing for the book of Revelation.

Examples in the book of Revelation:

There are seven blessings, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, seven lampstands, seven spirits, seven stars, seven promises, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, seven plagues, seven mountains, and seven kings.

John was told to write in symbols what spiritual truth he saw. And so, he used the number seven. The number seven in scripture represents completeness or perfection. Whenever the number seven is used, he's talking about the fullness and complete blessings.

There are seven churches that are going to receive seven messages. If you put all those seven messages together, you have the complete message of Christ to the church until He returns. So, everything is in its fullness and its completion.

Brother Spencer,

Thank you for those words of encouragement. "Report cards in advance!" I've never heard that before but I like it! To those 7 churches, I can see how that would be like a report card. Also, I think that every church today, no matter what church it is, has at least one thing in there that God specifically pointed out that needs repentance over. So, like you said, early report card.

God Bless!!!

Gen.15.18 "the Gentiles"

" Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." In his Son the Gentiles also shall be called out. The Hosea quote is the lynchpin about which the nations are determined either they are with Christ or are against him. Jesus declares ,"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." So we shall place it as the truth. Jesus would not jest with what his Father has willed so he says,'verily, verily'. Thus the notion of nations and giving Israel pre-eminence, as imposter churches would take great pains to teach is from bad faith.

The encounter of Melchizedek we have dealt with earlier so what does king of Sodom's promise to reward Abraham tells us? Abraham is conscious of his nation consisting of both heaven and earth. In this context God blessing him with these word,"and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."(12.3). Here in vv.19-21 we have all these families mentioned by name." With this as a context the Spirit continues with the narrative and in Ch.18 we just follow the Spirit lead and judgement of nations towards the end is a nation, The Babylon of the worst excesses, where the unholy nexus of State and church into which all the ungodliness, -heresies each could inspire in the other find home. So God tells Jeremiah, " For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men./ As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich."(Jer.5.26-27) What ails Israel you find in Babylon as well. ", Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."(Rev.18.2-3) In the final battle Gog and Magog are from these nations,"and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her...",

.

John 16:27

"For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God."

Blessings

Correction in the last para.

"So abiding with Christ and producing fruits is the only direction for us in the Way that Christ took. Armageddon is not a literal place but in the mid-air, the promised land mentioned in 15.18-21 that is Up and Down and Across. Otherwise there would be no need for drying up the great river of Euphrates. The ungodly nations are there while Satan and his angels are up in the air. (Rev.20.8-9) "and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Gen.14.1-17,21-24 "Abraham into the fray"

"And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain./And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.

/12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed."

The fight of five kings against four tells us "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." and for Abraham came in the manner he rescued Lot.(2 Tim.3.12)

Falling in the valley, it must be an open valley as we find in the Vision of Ezekiel. These dry bones tell a story of these skirmishes and where the ungodly end up. Combine this skirmish of kings, what does falling into slime pits mean? Is it relevant to the narrative? The Spirit does not leave any loose ends. The pride of Lucifer and the slime pits connect."I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High./Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."(Isa.14.13-15) Valley of Hinnom is where two oher valleys meet. The king who held monopoly over the slime pits enabled the builders of Babel to coceive the grand building programme. So the valley of Himnnom is one name and where does it lead to?it was often the site where people of Judah sacrificed their children to Baal( 2 Kings 23:20; 2 Chron. 28:3,4.) Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with spiritual wickedness in high places. Thus' there is war in heaven while Archangel Michael fights we also feel its consequences in our own lives. So abiding with Christ and producing fruits is the only Way Christ took. Armageddon is not a literal place but in the mid-air, the promised land mentioned in 15.18-21 that is Up and Down and Across. Otherwise there would be no need for drying up the great river of Euphrates. (Rev.20.8-9) "and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them."

Hi Brother Jesse.

Chapters 1 through three we get our report cards in advance!

There is nothing particular Brother Jesse that I would like you to focus on!

I believe you are doing a great job and you have been a blessing throughout these studies!

God bless

Correction: Please read it as Generation of Jesus Christ instead of Generation of God. Thank you.

Gen.15.13-18 "Four Hundred years"

"Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."

Four is the tag for Jesus Christ so Four Hundred is made up of 4x100 signalling the generation of God. It is not Across geographically from Egypt to the river Euphrates. But is Up and Down. The vv.19-21 includes the Gentiles that shall be included. There is also a mountain to validate this mingling of nations. Ministry of reconciliation is the result of single sacrifice of his Son. The word also says, "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined./Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him./He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people./Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice./And the heavens shall declare his righteousness." (Ps.50.2-6)

Also this from Isaiah:

" And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it./And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem./And he shall judge among the nations,." (Isa,2.2-4)

Gen.15.13-18 "Four Hundred years (1 of 2)

" But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full."

In v.18 'in the same day' refers to the day decreed for the Son. (Ps.2.6-7) While we study subsequent narrative the Spirit uses several variations on this single word 'Day'. Unto this day for example. This day is Person specific. "For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever."(13.15)

" In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land,.." The everlasting Covenant is merely fit to Abraham whose faith is now aligned with that of his Son. So in the generation of Jesus Christ he is the son of Abraham. Similarly we have the story of Ruth, a Moabitess woman into the narrative so thy seed is not merely that Israel but also of the Gentiles. This explains the opening sentence in the Matthew gospel. Jesus Christ is the son David. " The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham."

Israel was in Egypt' and it was according to the word of God which has a Command number Four. This number is in direct frame of reference to Jesus Christ."When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt."( Hosea 11.1) This is the mother of days, so unto this day or 'in that day' a fountan opened' must be understood the context: "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."(Zec.13.1)

"Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Compare this with the Rev.16.12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared" God shall not surely promise a river that is going to be dried up in order for the great battle of the Lord?

Please read this line in the first para as follows:

"Considering the manner Abraham rescued his nephew from the hostile kins and their hordes, possessing the land on which was not in the impossibie realm but a womb as dead as that of Sarai being capable of fecundity was indeed mind-boggling for the patriarch. "

corrected line:

Considering the manner Abraham rescued his nephew from the hostile kings and their hordes, possessing the land on which he was standing was not in the impossibie realm but a womb as dead as that of Sarai being capable of fecundity was indeed mind-boggling for the patriarch."

Gen.15.7-10 The Covenant"

And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it./And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" From the context it is clear that God is comparing his seed to the stars.

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be./And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (vv.5-6) Considering the manner Abraham rescued his nephew from the hostile kins and their hordes, possessing the land on which was not in the impossibie realm but a womb as dead as that of Sarai being capable of fecundity was indeed mind-boggling for the patriarch. Yet he believed and it was counted to him for righteousness.

Abraham built an altar and called on the name of the Lord. (13.3-4). Another one he erects in Hebron.(13.18). Abraham was increasing in wisdom as his Son," And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."(Lk.2.52) Melchizedek blessing in him validated the everlasting Covenant, and giving him bread and wine shows that the blessing was shaping Abraham in terms of Jesus Christ who is according to the flesh, the son of Abraham. God specifies the sacrifice to renew this covenant, Compare with Lk.2.22-25) " And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord." In this case the Spirit repeats the Command number Three so there is no mistake the same Covenant where Israel is blessed in his Son." And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon."( Gen 15.9-10) Parents of Jesus could only afford ", A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."(2.24)

Gen.13.16-17 "Blessing in his Son"

And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered./Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee."Blessing of a believer according to the Covenant is established. Here God shows Abraham his inheritance in his Son after our image and we have confirmation of it in Ch.15 where God demands a covenant from him in the form of a burnt offering according to his specifications. His seed shall have their upper limit as well as on the earth framed by the word of God. Thus the righteous as stars and immeasurable as the sand fix the world of the Spirit and of the body. Their vile bodies shall have a building of God not made by hands, "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens./For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven."

Where are we positioned from the above verses? We are in high places while we are hidden from the world, busy with our mundane everyday lives. We abide in Christ while Abraham chose to live under the oak tree in the plain of Mamre. For us Christ is the true Vine.

"Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it." The Spirit instructs this as to how we should walk. "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:/(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" (2 Cor.5.1-7)

Gen.13.14-15 "Look up"

And theLordsaid unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:/For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever."

It is similar to what God commands Moses before building a tabernacle in the wilderness."According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it."( Exod. 25.9) When God is showing, you may be certain that it is where He is at rest. In the case of Moses he was to build accordingly along their way, so they would walk with God rather. His Son as a spiritual rock moved so did God dwell among them so to speak. Can two walk together unless agreed upon? ( Amos 3.3) The Covenant between the Father Son relationship followed the pattern,'even so shall ye make it' set symbolism of instruments delineate the Son.

Notice the context in which God promises 'all the land which thou seest' is from where he stood. His faith let his nephew make his choice, trusting that the Lord was his portion. He says, "And look from the place where thou art' and God does not thrust second choices on anyone who in His eyes is double for his Son. All along it was heavenly Zion and it shall never change. His promise is to his seed 'forever' Faith was the DNA on which the Covenant worked and his seed shall all have this quality. The expression 'forever' referred to the Son.