Audio
Video
Audio
Notes
FPC
Starkville, Martin Lifer – Wednesday Night Bible Study
September 8, 2021 - Bible Study
Martin
Lifer, FPC Starkville
OT
Message (cont.) of God’s Gift of Promised Land to Israel, &
Israel as Agent of Judgment via Holy War v. Canaanites
Other
Dispositive Judgments OT & NT
OT
Message re The Feasts of the LORD, with a Focus Tonight Summarizing “The
Fall Feasts”/ “Days of Awe”
___________________________________________________
“Enough
Already!” – God’s Justified Dispositive
Judgments on:
(i) almost all humanity [and
creation] via Flood in Noah’s days [Gen. 6-8] -> almost
a “re-start” of humanity & creation under covenant(s) of peace &
renewal of creation mandate [Gen. 8-9];
(ii) Sodom & Gomorrah via Sulfur & Fire from the LORD out of Heaven -> final, absolute destruction [Gen. 19];
(iii) Canaanites/Amorites via Israel!
& Holy War חרם – devoted to destruction/ the
ban -> almost a new people devoted to God
and his glory, Name & light to be displayed to the world.
Gen.
9:18-27 including
Ham’s
sin -> curses on Ham’s youngest son, Canaan,… & blessing of Seth’s God,
YHWH.
Gen.
15:16 “Then in the fourth generation they shall
return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite(s) is not yet complete
[Heb. lit. here].”
Num. 21:1-3 When
the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was
coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them
captive. And Israel vowed a vow to the LORD and said, “If you will indeed give
this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to
destruction.” And the LORD heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the
Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to
destruction. So the name of the place was called Hormah [“destruction”].
Deut. 7:1-4 “When the LORD
your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of
it, and clears away many nations before you – the Hittites, the Girgashites,
the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven
nations more numerous and mightier than you – and when the LORD your God
gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to
complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no
mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to
their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away
your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD
would be kindled against you, and He would destroy you quickly.
Deut. 20:15-18 “Thus you shall do to all the cities
that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. But in
the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an
inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction –
the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the
Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites –
as the LORD your God has commanded, so that they may
not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have
done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.”
Deut. 9:4-6 Do
not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you,
‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess
this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the
LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the
uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but
because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them
out from before you, and that He may confirm the word that the
LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
“Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not
giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are
a stubborn people.”…
… “Enough Already!” These OT Judgments Foreshadow
the Day of the LORD & Final Judgment.
Rom. 2:5-8 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you
are storing up wrath for yourself in the Day of Wrath and revelation of the
righteous judgment of God –
Who will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory
and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life; but for those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be
wrath and indignation.
Note: God’s judgments
on Israel, Judah, and multiple nations
– conveyed in/through
Isaiah and other prophets –lead to ->
New Covenant &
New Creation gospel promises conveyed in/through Isaiah (esp. Isaiah!) & other
prophets.
Also, note re
Judgment & History Now:
Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and test
the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of
his deeds.”
Jer. 18:5-11 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as
this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my
hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that
I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns
from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom
that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then
I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord,
Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return,
every one from his evil way, and amend
your ways and your deeds.”
_____________________________________________________
7 “Appointed Times of
YHWH” [the
literal Hebrew mo’ed] a/k/a “Feasts of the LORD” - “Holy
Convocations.”
– Lev. 23:2,23:4,
23:37, etc. See
also Exodus 12ff. re Passover, Numbers 28-29 re Offerings, etc.
Leviticus
23
1 The LORD spoke again to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD’s
appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy
convocations – My appointed times are these:
3 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day
there is a sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall not
do any work; it is a sabbath to the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy
convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them.
5 In the first month, on
the fourteenth day of the month at twilight [lit. “between the 2 evenings”] is the LORD’s Passover.
6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the
Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD; for seven days you shall eat
unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you
shall not do any laborious work. 8 But for
seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh
day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’”
9 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the
land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring
in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He
shall wave the sheaf before the LORD for you to be accepted; on the day
after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 Now on
the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb one year old
without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD. 13 Its
grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with
oil, an offering by fire to the LORD for a soothing aroma, with its drink
offering, a fourth of a hin of wine. 14 Until
this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you shall
eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual
statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
15 You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the
sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there
shall be seven complete sabbaths. 16 You
shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh sabbath; then you shall present
a new grain offering to the LORD. 17 You
shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave
offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked
with leaven as first fruits to the LORD. 18 Along
with the bread you shall present seven one year old male lambs without defect,
and a bull of the herd and two rams; they are to be a burnt offering to the
LORD, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering by fire
of a soothing aroma to the LORD. 19 You
shall also offer one male goat for a sin offering and two male lambs one year
old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The
priest shall then wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave
offering with two lambs before the LORD; they are to be holy to the LORD for
the priest. 21 On this same day you shall make a proclamation as well; you are
to have a holy convocation. You shall do no laborious work. It is to be a
perpetual statute in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.
22 When you reap the harvest of your land, moreover, you shall not
reap to the very corners of your field nor gather the gleaning of your harvest;
you are to leave them for the needy and the alien. I am the LORD your God.’”
23 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
24 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, In the seventh month on
the first of the month you shall have a [Heb. lit. “sabbath”] rest, a
reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You
shall not do any laborious work, but you shall present an offering by fire to
the LORD.
26 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
27 “On exactly the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of
atonement; it shall be a holy convocation for you, and you shall humble
your souls and present an offering by fire to the LORD. 28 You
shall not do any work on this same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make
atonement on your behalf before the LORD your God. 29 If
there is any person [Heb. lit.
“soul”] who will not humble himself on this same day, he shall be cut
off from his people. 30 As for any person who does any work on this same day, that
person I will destroy from among his people. 31 You
shall do no work at all. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your
generations in all your dwelling places. 32 It is
to be a sabbath of complete rest to you, and you shall humble your souls; on
the ninth of the month at evening, from evening until evening you shall keep
your sabbath.”
33 Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
34 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying,
‘On the fifteenth of this seventh month is the Feast of
Booths for seven days to the LORD. 35 On the
first day is a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work of any kind. 36 For
seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the
eighth day you shall have a holy convocation and present an offering by fire to
the LORD; it is an assembly. You shall do no laborious work.’
37 These are the appointed times of the LORD which you shall
proclaim as holy convocations, to present offerings by fire to the LORD — burnt
offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each days matter
on its own day – 38 besides those of the sabbaths of the LORD, and besides your
gifts and besides all your votive and freewill offerings, which you give to the
LORD.
39 On exactly the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you
have gathered in the crops of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the
LORD for seven days, with a rest on the first day and a rest on the eighth day. 40 Now on
the first day you shall take for yourselves the foliage of beautiful trees,
palm branches and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you
shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 41 You
shall thus celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It
shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you shall celebrate
it in the seventh month.42 You
shall live in booths for seven days; all the native-born in Israel shall live
in booths, 43 so that your generations may know that I
had the sons of Israel live in booths when I brought them out from the land of
Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”
44 So Moses declared to the sons of Israel the appointed
times of the LORD.
__________________
Also note Leviticus 25 re Sabbatical Year
AND Year of Jubilee to YHWH
… & Exodus 23:11, Lev. 25, Deut. 15
Numbers 29:1ff.
1 ‘Now in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you
shall also have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It
will be to you a day for blowing trumpets.
2 And you shall offer a burnt offering as a soothing aroma to
the LORD: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without defect;…
___________________________________________________________________
“Rosh HaShanah” & “Yom HaDin” [for liturgy, see Psalm 81]
See Isaiah 27:13 And in that day a great trumpet will be blown, and those who
were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of
Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Zechariah 9:14 Then the LORD will appear
over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord GOD will sound
the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south.
& Matthew 24:31 And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and
they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to
the other.
“Yom Kippur” –
Leviticus 16 (instructions for High Priest) 23:26-32 (for
the people) & Numbers 29:7-11 (re sacrifices/offerings)
Cf. Daniel 7, 9 & 12 & Revelation 11, 12, etc.
and, esp., Zechariah 12:10ff. & 14:9, Isaiah
43:25 & 66:8, Psalm 2, etc.
Audio
Video
Audio
Notes
FPC Starkville, Martin Lifer – Wednesday Night Bible Study
September 1, 2021
Review of the Promise, Further Covenants & Specifications/Promises – re Big Picture of OT, Isaiah & NT;
Issues with the Promised Land & the Canaanites
___________________________________________________
Acts 26:6-7 “And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king!” [Apostle Paul to King Agrippa]
Romans 4:13,16-20 For the promise to Abraham or to his offspring [Gk. spermati – lit. “seed”] that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith….
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in Whom he believed, Who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.
Hebrews 6:13-18 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by Himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.
For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
Abrahamic Covenant Mosaic Covenant Davidic Covenant New Covenant
Curse, Sin, Consequences & Timing re Canaanites/Amorites … and re Promised Land
Genesis 9:18-27 including Ham’s sin -> curses on Ham’s youngest son, Canaan,… & blessing of Seth’s God, YHWH.
Genesis 10 – Table of Nations from Noah (Shem, Ham & Japheth).
Genesis 15:16 “Then in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite(s) is not yet complete [lit. here].”
Genesis 18-19
Deuteronomy 7:1-4 & 20:10-18
“When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you – the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you – and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and He would destroy you quickly.
20:10-18 10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction,[a] the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that He may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
“Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.”…
Jeremiah 17:10 “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Romans 2:5-8 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Who will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and indignation.
Jeremiah 18:5-11 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. 9 And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. 11 Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.”
Audio
Video
Audio
Notes
FPC Starkville, Martin Lifer – Wednesday Night Bible Study
August 25, 2021
The 1st Recorded Group-Prayer in the Early Church and 1st Recorded Sermon by Paul
Return Us to Several Key OT Covenant Promises & Prophecies from Our Big-Picture OT Overview
___________________________________________________
The 1st Recorded Group-Prayer in the Early Church
Acts 4:24-30
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said,
“Sovereign Lord
- Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
- 25 Who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit:
‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’ —
27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.
29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while You stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
God the Creator - “Who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them”
Psalm 146:6/ 146:3-9 / Acts 14:15 & 17:24
God the Author of the Scriptures (by His Holy Spirit)
Jesus as Messiah, God’s Son, and Holy Servant
Messianic Prophecy re the nations’ doomed rebellion v. YHWH (in Heaven) & “His Anointed” & “Son” (in Zion)
Psalm 2:1-2 (2:6-9ff. & 2:12)/ Hebrews 1:5
Isaiah – YHWH’s Servant 42:1-4, 49:1-7, 50:4-7 & 52:13-53:12
“Davidic Covenant” – God’s Promises re David’s House & Son
2 Samuel 7:4ff/ Psalm 132:11 -> Isaiah 55:3/ Jer. 33:17ff.
Exodus 6:1-8, 7:3/ Deuteronomy 6:20-22ff. – God’s outstretched hand -> signs & wonders, judgment
Zephaniah 1:4 – God’s hand of judgment on Judah
See Isaiah 53:5 – God’s hand stretched out for healing through the Servant’s atoning suffering
Acts 13:16-41
16 So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said:
“Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. 17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm He led them out of it. 18 And for about forty years He put up with[a] them in the wilderness.19 And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, of whom He testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised. 24 Before his coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.25 And as John was finishing his course, he said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But God raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, 33 this He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’
34 And as for the fact that He raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken in this way, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.’
35 Therefore he says also in another psalm, “‘You will not let your Holy One see corruption.’ 36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption,37 but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him everyone who believes is freed[b] from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:
41 “‘Look, you scoffers, be astounded and perish;
for I am doing a work in your days, a work that you will not believe, even if one tells it to you.’”
- Acts 13:18 Some manuscripts he carried (compare Deuteronomy 1:31)
- Acts 13:39 Greek justified; twice in this verse
God’s gracious election & deliverance of Israel (and their rebelliousness) – Deuteronomy 4:37-38; Isaiah 1:2ff.
God’s Choosing of & Covenant with David, including the promise of the ultimate Messiah & Son – see Page 1
All above & ALL the promises fulfilled in Jesus