WEBVTT 00:00:01.423 --> 00:00:06.293 Welcome Mercy Church family to week five of our new journey through the Bible series. 00:00:06.293 --> 00:00:11.191 We are currently reading the book of Acts and we are on chapter five this week. 00:00:11.191 --> 00:00:15.228 I'm going to begin by continuing to teach on the history of Israel. 00:00:15.228 --> 00:00:18.987 Today I would like to talk about the land of Israel itself. 00:00:18.987 --> 00:00:21.143 Let's begin in Genesis 12. 00:00:21.143 --> 00:00:28.905 Beginning at the top, the Lord had said to Abram go from your country, your people and your father's household to the land that I will show you. 00:00:28.905 --> 00:00:32.189 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. 00:00:32.189 --> 00:00:34.807 I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. 00:00:34.807 --> 00:00:41.786 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all the people on the earth will be blessed through you. 00:00:41.786 --> 00:00:46.170 So Abram went as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. 00:00:46.170 --> 00:00:49.368 Abram was 75 years old when he set out from Hurrayan. 00:00:49.368 --> 00:00:59.011 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Hurrayan, and they set out for the land of Canaan. 00:00:59.011 --> 00:01:00.222 And they arrived there. 00:01:01.159 --> 00:01:05.891 Abram traveled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moray at Shechem. 00:01:05.891 --> 00:01:08.587 At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 00:01:08.587 --> 00:01:13.230 The Lord appeared to Abram and said to your offspring I will give this land. 00:01:13.230 --> 00:01:16.308 So he built an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 00:01:16.308 --> 00:01:23.408 From there he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and eye on the east. 00:01:23.408 --> 00:01:26.727 There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 00:01:26.727 --> 00:01:28.864 That formed a covenant with Abram. 00:01:28.864 --> 00:01:31.647 He said I will make you into a great nation. 00:01:31.647 --> 00:01:38.141 All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and I will give you the land that I will show you. 00:01:38.141 --> 00:01:41.347 God took Abram to the land of Canaan. 00:01:41.347 --> 00:01:49.305 The land of Canaan encompassed Israel, palestine, jordan, the West Bank, gaza, southern portions of Syria and Lebanon. 00:01:49.305 --> 00:01:54.066 God even meets out the boundaries Genesis 15, verse 18. 00:01:54.066 --> 00:02:16.169 On the same day the Lord made a covenant, a promise, a pledge, with Abram saying to your descendants I have given this land From the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates, the land of the Canaanites and the Canazites and the Kadmonites and the Hittites and the Parazites and the Raphayim and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Gurgashites and the Jebusites. 00:02:16.169 --> 00:02:41.722 If you look at a map, the border begins at Cairo, at the river of Egypt, the Nile, and follows the coastline of the Mediterranean all the way up, past Syria and Lebanon, to the bottom of Turkey that touches the Mediterranean Sea, then it goes back down in a triangle to the Euphrates River and modern day Iraq and follows the Euphrates down to the Persian Gulf and then a straight line back to Cairo and the Nile. 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:45.810 Let's jump forward to Genesis 17, verse 3. 00:02:45.810 --> 00:02:56.092 Then Abram fell on his face in worship and God spoke with him, saying ask for me, but behold, my covenant is with you and, as a result, you shall be the father of many nations. 00:02:56.092 --> 00:03:15.830 No longer shall your name be Abram, exalted father, but your name shall be Abraham, father of a multitude, for I will make you the father of many nations, I will make you exceedingly fruitful and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you, and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you. 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:30.520 I will give you and your descendants after you the land in which you are stranger, moving from place to place, all the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession of property, and I will be their God. 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:35.060 Even though Moses promises Abraham that he will give the land of Canaan to the Israelite. 00:03:35.060 --> 00:03:37.459 It will be 400 years before it happens. 00:03:37.459 --> 00:03:38.764 God tells Moses this. 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:41.239 Let's go back to Genesis 15. 00:03:41.239 --> 00:03:43.000 Let's move up to verse 12. 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:49.406 Genesis 15, as the sun was setting, abram fell into a deep sleep and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 00:03:49.406 --> 00:03:58.933 The Lord said to him 400 years, your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 00:03:58.933 --> 00:04:03.831 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions. 00:04:03.831 --> 00:04:08.717 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 00:04:08.717 --> 00:04:15.185 In the fourth generation, your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:18.307 So who lived in the land of Canaan? 00:04:18.307 --> 00:04:21.536 You guessed it? 00:04:21.536 --> 00:04:21.839 The Canaanites. 00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:23.218 That was so easy. 00:04:23.218 --> 00:04:24.987 But really, who were the Canaanites? 00:04:29.610 --> 00:04:32.920 Genesis 9, verse 18, the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem Ham and Japheth. 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:34.677 Ham was the father of Canaan. 00:04:34.677 --> 00:04:39.350 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the entire earth. 00:04:39.350 --> 00:04:42.774 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 00:04:42.774 --> 00:04:47.334 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 00:04:47.334 --> 00:04:55.459 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 00:04:55.459 --> 00:04:59.639 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders. 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:03.233 Then they walked in backward and covered their father's naked body. 00:05:03.233 --> 00:05:05.439 Their faces were covered in blood. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:10.031 Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. 00:05:10.031 --> 00:05:18.048 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said Cursed be Canaan the lowest of slaves. 00:05:18.048 --> 00:05:19.331 Will he be to his brothers? 00:05:19.331 --> 00:05:22.749 He also said Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem. 00:05:22.749 --> 00:05:25.086 May Canaan be the slave of Shem. 00:05:25.086 --> 00:05:28.108 May God extend Japheth's territory. 00:05:28.108 --> 00:05:35.048 May Japheth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth. 00:05:35.048 --> 00:05:38.086 After the flood, noah lived 350 years. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:48.396 The Canaanites are the descendants of Noah, more specifically his son Ham and his son Canaan, so the descendants of Abraham. 00:05:48.396 --> 00:05:54.214 The Israelites make their way to Egypt eventually to avoid a famine and become enslaved over time. 00:05:54.214 --> 00:05:56.526 God has to rescue them from Egypt. 00:05:56.526 --> 00:06:02.732 400 years after God promised Abraham, the Israelites set out for the promised land. 00:06:02.732 --> 00:06:07.470 The Israelites get a glimpse of the land of Canaan for the first time in Numbers 13. 00:06:08.319 --> 00:06:16.245 Starting at the top, the Lord said to Moses Send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites From each ancestral tribe. 00:06:16.245 --> 00:06:17.348 Send one of its leaders. 00:06:17.348 --> 00:06:21.088 So, at the Lord's command, moses sent them out from the desert of Perian. 00:06:21.088 --> 00:06:23.826 All of them were leaders of the Israelites. 00:06:23.826 --> 00:06:25.043 Let's skip down. 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:30.800 When Moses sent them to explore Canaan, he said Go through the Negev and onto the hill country. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:35.382 See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. 00:06:35.382 --> 00:06:37.225 What kind of land do they live in? 00:06:37.225 --> 00:06:38.442 Is it good or bad? 00:06:38.442 --> 00:06:40.266 What kind of towns do they live in? 00:06:40.266 --> 00:06:42.105 Are they walled or fortified? 00:06:42.105 --> 00:06:43.249 How is the soil? 00:06:43.249 --> 00:06:44.684 Is it fertile or poor? 00:06:44.684 --> 00:06:46.745 Are there trees in it or not? 00:06:46.745 --> 00:06:49.927 Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land. 00:06:49.927 --> 00:06:52.567 It was in season for the first ripe grapes. 00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:59.024 So they went up and explored the land from the desert of Zin as far as Rahab toward Libo Hamath. 00:06:59.024 --> 00:07:06.646 They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron where Ahaman, shai Shai and Taumai, the descendants of Anak, lived. 00:07:06.646 --> 00:07:10.730 Hebron had been seven years before Zon in Egypt. 00:07:10.730 --> 00:07:17.122 When they reached the valley of Esh-Kol, they cut a branch off bearing a single cluster of grapes. 00:07:17.122 --> 00:07:27.702 Two of them, carried it on a pole between them, along with some of the pomegranates and figs that the place was called the valley of Esh-Kol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:31.548 At the end of 40 days they returned from exploring the land. 00:07:31.548 --> 00:07:37.151 They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite kingdom at Kadesh and the desert of Peran. 00:07:37.151 --> 00:07:41.490 There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 00:07:41.490 --> 00:07:43.264 They gave Moses this account. 00:07:43.264 --> 00:07:47.728 We went into the land which you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey. 00:07:47.728 --> 00:07:49.132 Here is its fruit. 00:07:49.132 --> 00:07:54.692 But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. 00:07:54.692 --> 00:07:57.346 We even saw the descendants of Anak there. 00:07:57.346 --> 00:08:07.048 The Amalekites live in the Nagev, the Hittites, jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan. 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:14.307 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said we should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. 00:08:14.307 --> 00:08:21.002 But the men who had gone up with him said we can't attack those people, they are way stronger than we are. 00:08:21.002 --> 00:08:25.824 And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. 00:08:25.824 --> 00:08:29.408 They said the land we explored devours those living in it. 00:08:29.408 --> 00:08:32.467 All the people we saw there were of great size. 00:08:32.467 --> 00:08:34.306 We saw the Nephilium there. 00:08:34.306 --> 00:08:37.107 The descendants of Anak came from the Nephilium. 00:08:37.107 --> 00:08:42.370 We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes and we looked the same to them. 00:08:43.061 --> 00:08:45.008 The Israelites told the partial truth. 00:08:45.008 --> 00:08:47.586 The land was everything God had said it would be. 00:08:47.586 --> 00:08:49.044 It was lush and fertile. 00:08:49.044 --> 00:08:51.386 However, the Israelites lied. 00:08:51.386 --> 00:08:53.043 Caleb told the truth. 00:08:53.043 --> 00:08:57.971 He said we should go take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it. 00:08:57.971 --> 00:09:00.826 The other men were evil and told a tall tale. 00:09:00.826 --> 00:09:03.908 They said we could not even begin to conquer the land. 00:09:03.908 --> 00:09:05.946 There are giants and the sons of angels. 00:09:05.946 --> 00:09:08.225 We are mere grasshoppers. 00:09:08.225 --> 00:09:10.125 Let's see what happens to them. 00:09:10.125 --> 00:09:12.145 Numbers 14, verse 36. 00:09:12.145 --> 00:09:19.568 So the men Moses had sent to explore the land, who returned and made the whole community grumble against him by spreading a bad report about it. 00:09:19.568 --> 00:09:26.527 These men who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land were struck down and died of a plague before the Lord. 00:09:26.527 --> 00:09:34.222 Of the men who went to explore the land, only Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, son of Jeppina, survived. 00:09:34.222 --> 00:09:36.886 The Israelites believed what these men said. 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:38.985 Move up to the top in Numbers 14. 00:09:38.985 --> 00:09:43.811 Verse 1, the night, all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. 00:09:43.811 --> 00:09:46.806 All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 00:09:46.806 --> 00:09:51.568 And the whole assembly said to them if only we had died in Egypt or in the wilderness. 00:09:51.568 --> 00:09:55.885 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? 00:09:55.885 --> 00:09:58.667 Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. 00:09:58.667 --> 00:10:01.988 Wouldn't it be better for us to go back to Egypt? 00:10:01.988 --> 00:10:06.269 And they said to each other we should choose a leader and go back to Egypt. 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:13.846 When Moses and Aaron fell face down in front of the whole Israelite assembly gathered there, god gets angry at the Israelites. 00:10:13.846 --> 00:10:17.168 They believed the word of man over him. 00:10:17.168 --> 00:10:30.767 They were expecting for the road to be perfectly paved for them and everything to be a cakewalk, and it would have been, even with the giant walls and warriors, if they would have just believed the words God spoke. 00:10:30.767 --> 00:10:32.604 Move down to verse 28. 00:10:32.604 --> 00:10:37.542 So tell them as surely as I live, declares the Lord, I will do the very thing I heard you say. 00:10:37.542 --> 00:10:40.005 In this wilderness, your bodies will fall. 00:10:40.005 --> 00:10:48.190 Every one of you, 20 years old or more, who has counted in the census and who has grumbled against me, not one of you, will enter the land. 00:10:48.190 --> 00:10:55.831 I swore with uplifted hands to make your home, except Caleb, son of Jeppina, and Joshua, son of none. 00:10:55.831 --> 00:11:02.504 As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you've rejected. 00:11:02.504 --> 00:11:05.390 But as for you, your bodies will fall in this wilderness. 00:11:05.390 --> 00:11:12.988 Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years, suffering for your unfaithfulness until the last of your bodies lie in the wilderness. 00:11:12.988 --> 00:11:17.250 For 40 years, one year for each of the 40 days you explored the land. 00:11:17.250 --> 00:11:21.870 You will suffer for your sins and know what is like to have me against you. 00:11:21.870 --> 00:11:29.605 I, the Lord, have spoken and I will surely do these things to this whole wicked community which is banded together against me. 00:11:29.605 --> 00:11:31.785 They will meet their end in this wilderness. 00:11:31.785 --> 00:11:37.831 Here they will die Because the people of Israel believed men rather than God. 00:11:38.293 --> 00:11:41.125 They were punished and would never see the promised land. 00:11:41.125 --> 00:11:43.145 They would never step foot in Canaan. 00:11:43.145 --> 00:11:50.827 Look at what happens when the Israelites try to take matters into their own hands to enter the promised land, despite God's words. 00:11:50.827 --> 00:11:53.326 Let's keep reading verse 39. 00:11:53.326 --> 00:11:57.028 When Moses reported this to all the Israelites, they mourned bitterly. 00:11:57.028 --> 00:12:04.423 The next morning they set out for the highest point in the hill country, saying now we are ready to go up to the land the Lord has promised? 00:12:04.423 --> 00:12:05.927 Surely we have sinned? 00:12:05.927 --> 00:12:09.649 But Moses said why are you disobeying the Lord's command? 00:12:09.649 --> 00:12:11.184 This will not succeed. 00:12:11.184 --> 00:12:14.048 Do not go up, because the Lord is not with you. 00:12:14.048 --> 00:12:22.009 You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and the Canaanites will face you there because you have turned away from the Lord. 00:12:22.009 --> 00:12:25.067 He will not be with you and you will fall by the sword. 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:34.230 Nevertheless, in their presumption, they went up toward the highest point in the hill country, though neither Moses nor the Ark of the Lord's covenant moved from the camp. 00:12:34.230 --> 00:12:42.288 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Horma. 00:12:42.288 --> 00:12:45.948 The Israelites rebelled and God had to put a stop to it. 00:12:45.948 --> 00:12:49.168 They ended up having to stay in the wilderness for 40 years. 00:12:49.168 --> 00:12:57.784 Only Caleb and Joshua, out of the entire generation that was rescued from Egypt, got to enter into the promised land of Canaan. 00:12:57.784 --> 00:13:06.206 Moses only got to see it from a distance because he got angry at the Israelites and didn't follow God's instructions correctly. 00:13:06.206 --> 00:13:10.269 God still shows him the promised land, numbers 27. 00:13:10.269 --> 00:13:18.106 Then the Lord said to Moses go up to this mountain, naboo, in the Abirim, range and look at the land I have given to the sons of Israel. 00:13:18.106 --> 00:13:35.729 When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people in death, just as Aaron, your brother, was gathered because, in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you were belled, against my command, to treat me as holy by following my instruction before their eyes at the water. 00:13:35.729 --> 00:13:40.469 These are the waters of Meribah and Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. 00:13:40.469 --> 00:13:46.018 This marks the end of day one, part two settling the Promised Land. 00:13:46.629 --> 00:13:58.796 The Israelites, who were over the age of 20, when they were rescued from Egypt, were never able to set foot in the Promised Land because they doubted God and believed the scouts' reports over his promise to take care of them. 00:13:58.796 --> 00:14:02.274 Sounds a lot like another couple who believed someone over God. 00:14:02.274 --> 00:14:05.999 Adam and Eve believed the lies of a serpent over God. 00:14:05.999 --> 00:14:09.019 They all exchanged the truth for a lie. 00:14:09.019 --> 00:14:13.537 Because of the sin, the Israelites were forced to wander the wilderness for 40 years. 00:14:13.537 --> 00:14:19.275 Until the generation that came out of Egypt passed away, they did not enter the Promised Land. 00:14:20.029 --> 00:14:28.494 Moses prepared the Israelites to enter the Promised Land Numbers 33, verse 50, on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, across from Jericho. 00:14:28.494 --> 00:14:36.499 The Lord said to Moses speak to the Israelites and say to them when you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. 00:14:36.499 --> 00:14:42.019 Destroy all their carved images and they're cast idols and demolish all their high places. 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:46.456 Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you to the land to possess. 00:14:46.456 --> 00:14:49.398 Distribute the land by lot according to your clans. 00:14:49.398 --> 00:14:54.138 To larger groups, give a larger inheritance and to a smaller group a smaller one. 00:14:54.138 --> 00:14:56.597 Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. 00:14:56.597 --> 00:14:59.719 Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. 00:14:59.719 --> 00:15:06.534 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your side. 00:15:06.534 --> 00:15:12.057 They will give you trouble in the land and where you will live, and then I will do to you what I plan to do to them. 00:15:12.057 --> 00:15:18.576 They divided the land of Canaan up among the tribes of Israel, numbers 24, verse one. 00:15:18.817 --> 00:15:26.955 The Lord said to Moses command the Israelites and say to them when you enter into Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance is to have these boundaries. 00:15:26.955 --> 00:15:32.195 Your southern side will include some of the desert of Zinn along the border of Eden. 00:15:32.195 --> 00:15:41.879 Your southern border will start in the east and the southern end of the Dead Sea, cross south of the Scorpion Pass, continue on to Zinn and go south of Kadesh Barnaya. 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:50.437 Then it will go to Hazar Adar and over to Asman, where it will join the wadi of Egypt and end at the Mediterranean Sea. 00:15:50.437 --> 00:15:53.595 Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 00:15:53.595 --> 00:15:55.556 This will be your boundary on the west. 00:15:55.556 --> 00:16:07.499 For your northern boundary, run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor and from Mount Hor to Libo Hamath, and then the boundary will go to Zedad, continue to Zafran and end at Hazar-Enan. 00:16:07.499 --> 00:16:09.316 This will be the boundary on the north. 00:16:09.316 --> 00:16:12.957 For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar-Enan to Shepham. 00:16:12.957 --> 00:16:20.119 Then the boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east of Ain, and continue along the slopes of the Sea of Galilee. 00:16:20.119 --> 00:16:24.275 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. 00:16:24.275 --> 00:16:27.558 This will be your land, with its boundaries on each side. 00:16:28.529 --> 00:16:32.837 The land of Canaan was divided up between the 12 tribes of Israel. 00:16:32.837 --> 00:16:38.554 The only tribe that did not get land were the Levites, for they were the priests and they didn't get their own land. 00:16:38.554 --> 00:16:44.274 I want to fast forward to the moment that the Israelites prepared to enter into the Promised Land. 00:16:44.274 --> 00:16:45.297 Joshua 1. 00:16:45.297 --> 00:16:51.918 Verse one after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun Moses is aid. 00:16:51.918 --> 00:16:53.895 Moses, my servant, is dead. 00:16:53.895 --> 00:16:59.957 Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I'm about to give them to the Israelites. 00:16:59.957 --> 00:17:02.599 I will give you every place where you set your foot. 00:17:03.129 --> 00:17:12.219 As I promised Moses, your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon and from the great river, the Euphrates, all the Hittite country to the Mediterranean Sea in the West. 00:17:12.219 --> 00:17:15.253 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. 00:17:15.253 --> 00:17:17.778 As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. 00:17:17.778 --> 00:17:20.518 I will never leave you nor forsake you. 00:17:20.518 --> 00:17:26.257 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 00:17:26.257 --> 00:17:28.296 Be strong and very courageous. 00:17:28.296 --> 00:17:32.019 Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you. 00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:34.877 Do not turn from it to the right or to the left. 00:17:34.877 --> 00:17:39.116 That you may be successful wherever you go, keep this book of the law always on your lips. 00:17:39.116 --> 00:17:45.817 Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything written in it, then you will be prosperous and successful. 00:17:45.817 --> 00:17:47.355 Have I not commanded you? 00:17:47.355 --> 00:17:53.898 Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go. 00:17:53.898 --> 00:17:59.673 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people go through the camp and tell the people get your provisions ready. 00:17:59.673 --> 00:18:07.336 Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here and go in and take possession of the land the Lord, your God, is giving you for your own. 00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:19.019 The Israelites entered the promised land and go to war against the inhabitants, and, after defeating a lot of kings and a lot of tribes and people, they finally settled into the promised land. 00:18:19.019 --> 00:18:25.536 The Israelites, with God's help, defeated 35 enemy kings upon settling in the promised land. 00:18:25.536 --> 00:18:27.936 Joshua 14, verse one. 00:18:27.936 --> 00:18:38.219 Now, these are the areas that Israelites received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar, the priest Joshua, said of Nun, and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel allotted to them. 00:18:38.219 --> 00:18:44.576 Their inheritances were assigned by lot to the nine and a half tribes, as the Lord had commanded through Moses. 00:18:44.576 --> 00:18:56.194 Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan, but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest, for Joseph's descendants had become two tribes, manasseh and Ephraim. 00:18:56.194 --> 00:19:02.335 The Levites received no share of the land, but only towns to live in, with pasture lands for their flocks and herds. 00:19:02.335 --> 00:19:06.696 So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 00:19:06.696 --> 00:19:10.977 I wanna show you real quick where Caleb gets his inheritance. 00:19:10.977 --> 00:19:12.093 Let's keep reading. 00:19:12.609 --> 00:19:20.517 Joshua, now leader of the Lord's people, and Caleb were the only two of the spies that entered into Canaan that were truthful. 00:19:20.517 --> 00:19:22.756 Joshua 14, verse six. 00:19:22.756 --> 00:19:33.657 Now, the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgau, and Caleb, son of Jebuna the Kenazite, said to him you know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God at Kadesh Barnea, about you and me. 00:19:33.657 --> 00:19:46.816 I was 40 years old when Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land, and I brought him back a report according to my convictions, but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. 00:19:46.816 --> 00:19:50.298 I, however, followed the Lord, my God, wholeheartedly. 00:19:50.298 --> 00:20:01.378 So on that day, moses swore to me the land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the Lord, my God, wholeheartedly. 00:20:01.378 --> 00:20:10.676 Now, then, just as the Lord promised, he has kept me alive for 45 years since the time he said this to Moses while Israel moved about in the wilderness. 00:20:10.676 --> 00:20:13.097 So here I am today, 85 years old. 00:20:13.097 --> 00:20:16.358 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out. 00:20:16.358 --> 00:20:20.292 I'm just as vigorous to go out to the battle now as I was then. 00:20:20.292 --> 00:20:23.516 Now, give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day. 00:20:23.516 --> 00:20:28.336 You heard yourself that the Anikites were there and their cities were large and fortified. 00:20:28.336 --> 00:20:32.416 But the Lord helping me, I will drive them out, just as he said. 00:20:32.416 --> 00:20:38.178 Then Joshua blessed Caleb, son of Jebina, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. 00:20:38.178 --> 00:20:45.776 So Hebron belonged to Caleb, son of Jebina, the Kenazite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly. 00:20:46.690 --> 00:20:48.537 Isn't Caleb's faith amazing? 00:20:48.537 --> 00:20:51.898 He believed God said he could conquer the land, and he did. 00:20:51.898 --> 00:20:57.657 He was 40 years old when he scouted for the Israelites in the land of Canaan. 00:20:57.657 --> 00:21:03.416 He had to wait 40 more years for God's promise to come to fruition. 00:21:03.416 --> 00:21:05.496 Caleb didn't even ask for help. 00:21:05.496 --> 00:21:11.557 He said I am 85 years old and, just as God said, I will drive them out with his help. 00:21:12.529 --> 00:21:18.038 This is how the Israelites first came to settle in the land of Canaan, known as the land of Israel. 00:21:18.038 --> 00:21:22.153 So the Israelites settled in the land of Canaan, as the Lord promised. 00:21:22.153 --> 00:21:26.217 Moses led them out of Egypt and then Joshua led them into the promised land. 00:21:26.217 --> 00:21:34.896 Before Joshua passes away, he assembled the tribes and had them take an oath to serve God Joshua 24, verse 14. 00:21:34.896 --> 00:21:37.798 Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. 00:21:38.269 --> 00:21:43.378 Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River in Egypt and serve the Lord. 00:21:43.378 --> 00:21:56.075 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the God your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites and whose land you are living. 00:21:56.075 --> 00:21:59.578 But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. 00:21:59.578 --> 00:22:04.477 Then the people answered far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods. 00:22:04.477 --> 00:22:13.057 It was the Lord, our God himself, who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from the land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. 00:22:13.057 --> 00:22:23.458 He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled, and the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. 00:22:23.458 --> 00:22:26.157 We too will serve the Lord because he is our God. 00:22:26.157 --> 00:22:29.836 Joshua said to the people you are not able to serve the Lord. 00:22:29.836 --> 00:22:31.174 He is a holy God. 00:22:31.174 --> 00:22:32.655 He is a jealous God. 00:22:32.655 --> 00:22:35.038 He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 00:22:35.038 --> 00:22:42.938 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster upon you and make it end of you after he has been good to you. 00:22:42.938 --> 00:22:46.695 But the people said to Joshua no, we will serve the Lord. 00:22:46.695 --> 00:22:51.076 Then Joshua said you are witnesses against yourself that you have chosen to serve the Lord. 00:22:51.076 --> 00:22:53.036 Yes, we are witnesses, they replied. 00:22:53.036 --> 00:22:57.420 So the tribes of Israel settled into the land of Canaan. 00:22:58.049 --> 00:23:04.296 After Joshua died, the Israelites began to live life in Canaan themselves and it really doesn't go so well. 00:23:04.296 --> 00:23:12.836 The Israelites enter into a period of judges, which is a continual cycle of how the Israelites would begin to worship other gods. 00:23:12.836 --> 00:23:14.414 They would sin against God. 00:23:14.414 --> 00:23:16.777 God would lead them to their own devices. 00:23:16.777 --> 00:23:18.875 These devices would get them in trouble. 00:23:18.875 --> 00:23:22.499 They would become enslaved by the people of the area. 00:23:22.499 --> 00:23:33.935 Then they would cry out to God and turn from their wicked ways and God would supernaturally raise up a judge and the judge would supernaturally deliver the people, most often by the Holy Spirit. 00:23:33.935 --> 00:23:38.736 The people would celebrate and then, after a certain time, go back to their own influences. 00:23:38.736 --> 00:23:44.434 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 00:23:44.434 --> 00:23:52.875 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. 00:23:52.875 --> 00:24:04.555 Joshua's son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 and they buried him in the land of his inheritance at Timnath-Herez in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gash. 00:24:05.069 --> 00:24:12.818 After the whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 00:24:12.818 --> 00:24:17.095 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the balls. 00:24:17.095 --> 00:24:21.936 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of slavery of Egypt. 00:24:21.936 --> 00:24:25.294 They followed and worshiped various gods of the people around them. 00:24:25.294 --> 00:24:30.178 They aroused the anger because they forsook and served ball and the asterisks. 00:24:30.178 --> 00:24:34.798 In his anger against Israel, the Lord gave them into the hands of the raiders who plundered them. 00:24:34.798 --> 00:24:39.596 He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 00:24:39.596 --> 00:24:49.450 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them, and they were in great distress Judges too. 00:24:50.224 --> 00:24:54.115 Then the Lord raised up judges who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 00:24:54.115 --> 00:24:59.336 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. 00:24:59.336 --> 00:25:03.355 They quickly turned away of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord's command. 00:25:03.355 --> 00:25:09.252 Whenever the Lord raises up a judge for them for he was with the judge and saved them from the hands of their enemy. 00:25:09.252 --> 00:25:15.175 As long as the judge lived, for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who opposed and afflicted them. 00:25:15.175 --> 00:25:23.555 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. 00:25:23.555 --> 00:25:26.933 They refused to give up their evil practices in stubborn ways. 00:25:26.933 --> 00:25:40.730 Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel and said Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordain for their ancestors and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left before he died. 00:25:40.730 --> 00:25:46.952 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did. 00:25:47.944 --> 00:25:53.356 God raised up 12 judges in the book of Judges that judged Israel over a span of 400 years. 00:25:53.356 --> 00:25:57.035 God raised up each of these judges and they rescued the people. 00:25:57.035 --> 00:26:01.931 Let's look at the first judge to get an example of the process Judges 3, verse 7. 00:26:01.931 --> 00:26:04.613 The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. 00:26:04.613 --> 00:26:08.756 They forgot the Lord, their God, and served the balls and the asherahs. 00:26:08.756 --> 00:26:20.117 The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of cushioned risen Thame king of Aram Naharim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. 00:26:20.117 --> 00:26:28.536 But when they cried out to the Lord, he raised up for them a deliverer, othno, son of Kenas, caleb's younger brother, who saved them. 00:26:28.536 --> 00:26:33.435 The spirit of the Lord came on him so that he became Israel's judge and went to war. 00:26:33.435 --> 00:26:39.156 The Lord gave cushioned risen Thame king of Aram into the hands of Othno, who overpowered him. 00:26:39.156 --> 00:26:43.836 So the land had peace for 40 years until Othnian, son of Kenas, died. 00:26:43.836 --> 00:26:46.593 The spirit of the Lord came upon each judge. 00:26:46.593 --> 00:26:56.435 The judges are as follows Othnian, ehood, shamgar, deborah Gideon, tola, jahir, jephthah, ibn Zayn, elon, abduin and Samson. 00:26:56.435 --> 00:27:01.971 The last sentence of judges sums it up pretty well Judges 21, 25. 00:27:01.971 --> 00:27:04.313 In those days Israel had no king. 00:27:04.313 --> 00:27:06.525 Everyone did as they saw fit. 00:27:06.525 --> 00:27:12.959 Now we have caught up to where we were last week, where the Israelites asked for a king. 00:27:12.959 --> 00:27:17.372 This marks the end of day two, part three offering. 00:27:18.026 --> 00:27:20.534 I'm now going to dive into the topics of the passage. 00:27:20.534 --> 00:27:24.015 Acts five is actually a continuation of Acts four. 00:27:24.015 --> 00:27:27.570 Let's begin in Acts four, acts four, verse 32. 00:27:27.570 --> 00:27:30.133 All the believers were one in heart and mind. 00:27:30.133 --> 00:27:35.051 No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 00:27:35.051 --> 00:27:46.877 With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. 00:27:46.877 --> 00:27:57.173 From time to time, those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. 00:27:57.173 --> 00:28:07.924 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas, which means son of encouragement, sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles feet. 00:28:07.924 --> 00:28:10.565 Let's continue into the next chapter, acts five. 00:28:10.565 --> 00:28:12.150 Now. 00:28:12.190 --> 00:28:19.237 A man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property With his wife's full knowledge. 00:28:19.237 --> 00:28:23.924 He kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles feet. 00:28:23.924 --> 00:28:34.164 Then Peter said Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart, that you lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 00:28:34.164 --> 00:28:37.356 Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? 00:28:37.356 --> 00:28:39.684 And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? 00:28:39.684 --> 00:28:42.085 What made you think of doing such a thing? 00:28:42.085 --> 00:28:45.125 You have not lied just to human beings, but to God. 00:28:45.125 --> 00:28:51.125 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died and great fear seized all who heard what happened. 00:28:51.125 --> 00:28:55.984 Then some young men came forward and wrapped up his body and carried him out and buried him. 00:28:55.984 --> 00:28:58.525 About three hours later his wife came in Peter. 00:28:58.525 --> 00:29:00.933 His wife came in not knowing what had happened. 00:29:00.933 --> 00:29:05.496 Peter asked her tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land? 00:29:05.496 --> 00:29:08.054 Yes, she said that is the price. 00:29:08.054 --> 00:29:12.055 Peter said to her how could you conspire to test the spirit of the Lord? 00:29:12.055 --> 00:29:18.057 Listen, the feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door and they will carry you out also. 00:29:18.057 --> 00:29:21.233 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. 00:29:21.233 --> 00:29:32.257 Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband and great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. 00:29:33.226 --> 00:29:35.153 There's a lot to this passage. 00:29:35.153 --> 00:29:40.778 In order to unpack all that goes into it, I would like to begin with a discussion on offering. 00:29:40.778 --> 00:29:42.671 What is an offering? 00:29:42.671 --> 00:29:46.957 The word offering means bring to or to furnish or to give. 00:29:46.957 --> 00:29:52.678 Simply put, in our context, an offering is a gift or act of gratitude to God. 00:29:52.678 --> 00:29:58.472 Let's begin by looking at the first offering Genesis 4, verse 3. 00:29:58.472 --> 00:30:08.958 In the course of time, cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. 00:30:08.958 --> 00:30:13.492 Let's look at the next one in the Bible Genesis 8, verse 18. 00:30:13.492 --> 00:30:26.711 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives, all the animals and all the creatures that moved along the ground and all the birds everything that moves on land, came out of the ark, one kind after another. 00:30:26.711 --> 00:30:35.472 The Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed, burnt offerings on it. 00:30:35.472 --> 00:30:39.796 Now let's turn to Genesis 35, verse 14. 00:30:39.796 --> 00:30:46.172 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him and he poured out a drink offering on it. 00:30:46.172 --> 00:30:47.770 He also poured oil on it. 00:30:47.770 --> 00:30:51.154 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel. 00:30:51.826 --> 00:30:53.884 There are different types of offerings in the Bible. 00:30:53.884 --> 00:30:56.565 I'm going to divide them up for simplicity's sake. 00:30:56.565 --> 00:31:01.837 There are offerings according to the law and offerings out of the abundance of the heart. 00:31:01.837 --> 00:31:04.244 First, there are offerings according to the law. 00:31:04.244 --> 00:31:07.684 These are found in the Old Testament, according to the First Covenant. 00:31:07.684 --> 00:31:09.365 They no longer apply to us. 00:31:09.365 --> 00:31:11.444 We are covered by a greater offering. 00:31:11.444 --> 00:31:18.243 However, in order to understand offering, I want us just to look at it quickly Leviticus 1, verse 1. 00:31:19.371 --> 00:31:21.525 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of the meeting. 00:31:21.525 --> 00:31:30.999 Speak to the Israelites and say to them when anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either herd or the flock. 00:31:30.999 --> 00:31:35.765 If the offering is a burnt offering from the herd, you are to offer a male without defect. 00:31:35.765 --> 00:31:40.805 You must present it at the entrance of the tent of the meeting so that it will be acceptable to the Lord. 00:31:40.805 --> 00:31:46.157 You are to lay your hand on the head of the burnt offering and it will be accepted on your behalf. 00:31:46.157 --> 00:31:56.240 To make atonement for you, you are to slaughter the young bull before the Lord and then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall bring the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar. 00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:00.545 At the entrance to the tent of the meeting, you are to skin the burnt offerings and cut it into pieces. 00:32:00.545 --> 00:32:05.765 The sons of Aaron the priest are to put fire on the altar and arrange the wood onto the fire. 00:32:05.765 --> 00:32:12.519 Then Aaron's sons, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, including the head and the fat, on the wood that is burning on the altar. 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:19.505 You are to wash the internal organs and legs with water, and the priests just to burn all of it on the altar. 00:32:19.505 --> 00:32:24.565 It is a burnt offering, a food offering an aroma pleasing to the Lord. 00:32:25.430 --> 00:32:32.124 God asked the Israelites to give burnt offerings as sin offerings, an animal in place of their sin, leviticus 1711,. 00:32:32.124 --> 00:32:42.865 For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 00:32:42.865 --> 00:32:48.164 There are also grain offerings and peace offerings, and sin offerings and trespass offerings. 00:32:48.164 --> 00:32:58.325 The books of Exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy, the books of the law supplies us with many rules on how to specifically prepare each offering. 00:32:58.325 --> 00:33:06.964 Throughout the span of time, there have been many other offerings by God's people to God that were not required by the law. 00:33:06.964 --> 00:33:10.164 These are offerings out of the abundance of the heart. 00:33:10.164 --> 00:33:15.605 A true offering to God could be anything a person wants to give out of the goodness of their heart. 00:33:15.605 --> 00:33:25.815 Hebrews 1315 says Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. 00:33:25.815 --> 00:33:29.694 Often these offerings come in unexpected forms. 00:33:30.144 --> 00:33:30.788 Matthew 2. 00:33:30.788 --> 00:33:42.192 Verse 1, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem and Judea, during the time of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked when is the one who has been born king of the Jews? 00:33:42.192 --> 00:33:45.990 We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him. 00:33:45.990 --> 00:33:50.653 When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 00:33:50.653 --> 00:33:59.270 When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born In Bethlehem and Judea. 00:33:59.270 --> 00:34:01.932 They replied for this is what the prophet has written. 00:34:01.932 --> 00:34:11.416 But you, bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people, israel. 00:34:11.416 --> 00:34:21.192 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared, he sent them to Bethlehem and said Go and search carefully for the child. 00:34:21.192 --> 00:34:25.532 As soon as you find him, report to me so that I may go and worship him. 00:34:25.532 --> 00:34:34.153 After they heard the king, they went on their way and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 00:34:34.153 --> 00:34:38.065 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed On coming to the house. 00:34:38.065 --> 00:34:42.452 They saw the child with his mother, mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. 00:34:42.452 --> 00:34:47.731 Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 00:34:47.731 --> 00:34:52.152 Let's look at another example John 12, verse 1,. 00:34:52.706 --> 00:34:58.271