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00:10 ♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪ 00:35 Rod Thompson: Good morning, everyone. 00:37 Welcome to the Granite Bay Hilltop Church "Sabbath School 00:40 Study Hour." 00:42 I want to welcome you whether you're here in the sanctuary 00:44 with us, whether you're watching online at home 00:47 or across the country or around the world. 00:50 We are continuing our study in "The Promise," and today's topic 00:56 is "The Everlasting Covenant." 00:58 That's study number 4, and Pastor Luccas Rodor is going 01:02 to lead us in that, but before he comes out I want to point out 01:06 our free offering for today. 01:08 It's called "The Name of God," and you can get that by going to 01:14 866-788-3966 and ask for free offer number 779. 01:22 Again, that's 866-Study-More, or you can text the number "SH145" 01:30 to number 40544. 01:33 Again, that is "The Name of God." 01:36 That's our free offering for today. 01:38 I hope you'll take advantage of that, 01:40 but before Pastor Rodor comes out why don't we have a word 01:43 of prayer. 01:46 O loving Father, we want to thank You for the Sabbath. 01:50 We want to thank You for the opportunity to open up Your 01:52 Word and study, and, Lord, we want to connect with You. 01:57 We want to learn, and we want to grow. 01:59 And Lord, we are asking that You will work powerfully in 02:03 our lives today. 02:05 We pray that You would speak through Pastor Rodor, 02:07 that You would show us, Lord, what You would have us do in 02:11 these last days. 02:13 And Lord, as we study the everlasting covenant, use 02:16 it to draw us closer to You and may You be glorified through us. 02:21 That's our desire, and that's our prayer, 02:24 in Jesus's name, amen. 02:28 Luccas Rodor: Thank you, Pastor Rod. 02:31 It's such a blessing to be here. Thank you for being with us. 02:34 As Pastor Rod said, wherever you are in the world, 02:37 we are praying here and hoping that you are blessed 02:40 by today's study. 02:42 We have so much to talk about, and this subject, 02:45 friends, is one of the core contents of the Bible, 02:50 of Scripture, and as we study this, I'm very sure that God 02:53 will be blessing us. 02:54 He will be guiding us. 02:56 There's a lot to learn not only in today's lesson 02:57 but in the study throughout the whole quarter. 02:59 This subject is one that has to be understood. 03:02 It is one of those cornerstone, foundational subjects. 03:06 So, thank you so much for being with us, 03:08 and thank you also for the local community, 03:11 for spending this time with us. 03:14 The title of this lesson, of lesson 4, 03:16 is "An Everlasting Covenant," and I love the title itself, 03:20 because all the way from the title we understand that this 03:23 isn't something just for a specific moment. 03:25 This was not something designed just for one person or for one 03:29 group of people. 03:30 This is a broad subject. 03:33 "The Everlasting Covenant." 03:36 What does the word "everlasting" mean if not forever? 03:39 Everlasting. Forever. 03:41 The memory verse for this week's lesson comes from 03:46 Genesis chapter 17, verse 7, and it says, 03:50 "I," God, "will establish My covenant between Me and you," 03:55 Abraham, "and your descendants after you throughout their 03:58 generations, for an everlasting covenant, 04:00 to be God to you and to your descendants after you." 04:05 Friends, when it comes to the covenant, 04:08 when it comes to the subject right here, 04:11 we have to begin at the very beginning, 04:12 and that's actually what we've been doing all the way here in 04:15 the study of the first three lessons. 04:17 We've been talking about what the covenant is, 04:20 what are the terms of the covenant. 04:21 On broad strokes we've seen what "covenant" means. 04:25 It's a deal, right, between God and humanity, 04:29 and so throughout the next few weeks, 04:32 and starting last week, we're going to be analyzing what the 04:35 covenant is for different people and in different 04:38 moments throughout the Bible. 04:39 So, really, that's the topic, that's the subject, here that 04:41 we're going to be talking about today. 04:43 We're going to be talking about the covenant according 04:46 to Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant. 04:49 But before we do actually get into the meat, 04:51 into the content, of what that means, 04:53 we're going to talk about a little few things that really 04:56 contextualize and really help us understand a little bit better 04:59 what this whole covenant with Abraham was. 05:02 Friends, regarding humankind, one of the first lessons that 05:05 we learn in Scripture, if not the first lesson, 05:08 is that humans are created beings. 05:11 We were created by God. 05:13 We were created in His image. 05:15 Truly, when you look at the first 11 chapters of the Bible, 05:19 there are three basic lessons that, really, go out to the rest 05:23 of Scripture and that we extract from these first 11 chapters. 05:28 In truth, if you want to summarize the entire Bible, 05:32 the entirety of Scripture, in three subjects, you could. 05:35 You could do that. You could do that. 05:37 The first subject, the first great category, of Scripture is 05:42 that God is a creator. 05:44 God made everything. 05:45 Everything that we see-- 05:47 the heaven, the earth, the animals, all of creation-- 05:50 comes from this omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being 05:54 that is a being of love and of power and of glory 05:57 and of majesty. 05:58 That's the first great lesson. 05:59 So, we find creation, we find conflict, 06:02 and the next and last great lesson--and this really-- 06:05 this is interwoven throughout the rest of Scripture. 06:07 We find covenant. 06:10 Creation, conflict, and covenant. 06:13 God is a God of covenant. 06:14 Not only did God create us, not only did He make us perfect, 06:17 not only did a battle, a war, a conflict, enter our planet, 06:22 but God reacted to that. 06:23 God decided that He wanted to do something, 06:26 that He wanted to provide a cure to that disease called sin, 06:30 and that's where we find the covenant, the agreement. 06:32 It's God reaching out, extending His hand, 06:35 and saying, "Look, I want to fix this problem. 06:37 I want to fix this mess." 06:39 And so, that's what we find here in Scripture. 06:41 We find, really, in the first 3 chapters of the Bible-- 06:45 in the first 11 chapters of the Bible-- 06:47 in the first 3 you'll find the first great problem, 06:49 which is a broken relationship with God, right? 06:51 We find that sin-- 06:53 it altered our relationship with God, 06:54 and as a consequence of that, we also find that that sin altered 06:59 our relationship with each other. 07:01 So, the broken relationship with God appears in Genesis chapter 07:04 3, and a broken relationship with each other appears in its 07:08 biggest form, all right? 07:09 And you see the traces from this all the way from chapter 3 of 07:13 Genesis, but you'll see it coming to a climax in chapter 11 07:16 with the Tower of Babel, where God, 07:18 in a preemptive strike, He comes down. 07:22 He confuses the languages, and people that at that time saw 07:25 themselves as one, in that one coalition building that tower, 07:29 then they become divided and separate, right? 07:32 And so, this is all the backdrop and the context of what's going 07:36 on in the beginning of this whole subject of covenant. 07:41 Now, so, the first lesson that we are going to talk about here 07:44 is that humans are created beings. 07:46 We were created by God uniquely, beautifully. 07:49 However, the second lesson that we find regarding humanity is 07:54 that this creature became enslaved to sin. 07:58 We fell into the bondage of sin, and from that point onward our 08:02 primary, natural orientation without God-- 08:06 our primary nature without Him is to be against His will. 08:10 That's one of the core elements of sin. 08:13 Sin is this rebellion against God's will, 08:16 against God's personality. 08:18 Just like a ship whose rudder is tied in a wrong angle, 08:22 that is the human nature without God. 08:24 We're crooked. 08:26 Sin is just this state of rebellion. 08:28 It means to belong to the enemy's camp. 08:31 It is the spiritual inclination that makes it impossible-- 08:35 again, devoid of God's grace and His strength it makes it 08:39 impossible for humans to see correctly, to feel correctly, 08:42 to think correctly, to behave correctly, 08:45 and to act correctly. 08:47 Sin became, in itself, a pandemic, and I really believe 08:51 that now more than any point, at least in the last hundred years, 08:54 we can truly relate to what it means to be caught in the midst 08:57 of a pandemic. 08:59 Sin became a pandemic affecting all of us, 09:02 affecting every aspect of natural human nature. 09:05 People became centralized in themselves. 09:08 According to the Bible, human nature became debased, 09:11 became blinded, futile, alienated, dark, and ignorant. 09:16 It became a wicked enemy. 09:18 It became deceitful, vain, puffed up. 09:22 And friends, the prognosis of this disease is haunting. 09:25 It's terrifying. 09:26 The Bible provides at least 12 words that define and describe 09:31 sin as this disease, and none of them are synonyms. 09:34 All of them describe a different aspect of what this disease is. 09:38 Each of these terms emphasize a certain aspect of this malady 09:42 that has infected and infected-- 09:45 affected and infected all of us. 09:48 Sin is a leprosy that according to Isaiah 16 has disfigured 09:52 God's beautiful creation, but what we find and what I find 09:55 marvelous in the Bible, that in the middle of this chaos, 09:58 in the middle of this conflict, God was never taken by surprise. 10:03 God wasn't caught by surprise. 10:05 You can never catch God by surprise. 10:07 You can never surprise Him. 10:09 God is never overwhelmed. 10:11 From the first day of the Fall all the way up to today, 10:15 history is the story of divine intervention in rescuing the 10:20 fallen race, in rescuing us, and in the final resolution of this 10:25 whole problem created by sin. 10:27 And so, friends, this divine plan initially involved the 10:30 choice of one man, of one family, and of one nation: 10:34 Abraham, the patriarchs, and Israel, 10:37 who were the depositories of God's revelation, 10:40 from whose very lineage the Messiah, 10:42 the Anointed One, would come, the one who would ultimately fix 10:48 the problem of sin, the Redeemer. 10:50 And so, what we find in the Bible-- 10:51 and this is really the introduction 10:53 to this week's lesson-- God called Abram. 10:57 He planned to establish, through this man, a people to whom He 11:01 could trust the revelation of Himself and of His plans, 11:04 because God is a transparent God. 11:06 I hope you know that by now. 11:07 God is a transparent God. 11:08 Friends, God could have created our world like this, 11:12 in a snap of His fingers. 11:13 God could have done that easily. 11:15 Why didn't He? 11:16 Why did He create the world in six days, 11:18 resting on the seventh? 11:19 Why did He decide to go that route? 11:21 Because He wants us to understand His process. 11:24 God wants us to know Him. 11:26 He wants us to relate to Him. 11:28 He wants to be transparent, and so in the act of saving 11:32 and redeeming us from this disease, from this horrible 11:35 situation, God decided to be transparent and to teach us. 11:40 And so, this way God entered into a covenant with Abram and 11:44 with his posterity-- 11:45 a covenant that emphasized the divine plan 11:47 to save humanity from the very results of sin. 11:51 And so, this week's lesson, "An Everlasting Covenant," 11:55 emphasizes and focuses on the development of the promises of 11:59 this covenant to Abraham, right? 12:01 And that's what we're going to talk about. 12:02 So, when we enter the lesson and we start, 12:04 you know, from the true content, the first day there with Sunday, 12:08 the title here is "Yahweh and the Abrahamic Covenant." 12:12 And the main verse that we're analyzing is Genesis 15, 12:15 verse 7, that says, "And He said unto him, 12:19 I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, 12:23 to give thee this land to inherit it." 12:25 You know, usually the first piece of information that we 12:29 have on any person is their name. 12:32 That's how we introduce ourselves. 12:34 You'll come up to someone, "Hi, my name is--" right? 12:38 I lived in Brazil for a very long time. 12:40 My family is from Brazil and, you know, in Brazil, at school, 12:46 the school teaches the students English, right? 12:48 It's the second language that they'll teach you in-- 12:50 at school, and the first thing that every child learns 12:53 all the way from when they start English classes is "my name is." 12:58 "Hi, my name is--" 12:59 And so, that just reveals that names, 13:01 for us, have this context of identity. 13:05 When we tell people our name, we're just telling them, 13:07 you know, how they can address us, who we are. 13:10 In Western culture, names are sort of 13:13 a cultural etiquette, right? 13:15 You'll be polite. 13:16 You'll tell someone your name, and so they'll be 13:18 able to address you in that way, and it's used to distinguish one 13:20 person from another. 13:22 However, in the biblical times we find a completely 13:25 different mentality. 13:27 Names represent details that reveal personality, 13:30 that reveal expectations, or part of the history of either 13:34 the person receiving the name or what the expectations for their 13:37 life is, or the history of the person that is giving the name. 13:41 In the book--there's a very interesting book called 13:44 "The Names of God." 13:45 The author is a man called Ken Hemphill. 13:48 He lists 19 names that are frequently used to describe 13:52 God in the Old Testament. 13:53 Now, these names, they're more than designations. 13:56 This is what's beautiful about God in Scripture. 13:58 You'll find that in the Bible God is absolutely 14:01 multichromatic, and what that means is that whichever way that 14:05 you look and you see God, you'll see Him in a different way. 14:08 I remember when my family and I, we went-- 14:12 I was a lot younger. 14:13 We went to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 14:17 Washington, D.C, and I got to see the Hope Diamond. 14:20 At the time, it was the largest diamond in the world. 14:22 I don't know what it is now, but it's this big diamond. 14:25 And they had many lights shone into that diamond, right? 14:29 They were just shining in, and from whichever way that you 14:32 looked, the prism made it seem as though-- 14:34 you know, you looked in one angle and it was yellow. 14:36 In another angle it was blue and purple and red and orange. 14:39 It was beautiful. 14:41 God is the same way, and His names describe these different 14:45 aspects of who He is. 14:46 I'll give you an example of this. 14:48 In the Bible, we find that Jesus is described as the Lamb that 14:50 takes away the sin of the world. 14:52 Jesus is described as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, 14:54 and He's also described as the Good Shepherd. 14:56 So, which is it? 14:57 Is He the Lion, is He the Lamb, or is He the Shepherd? 15:01 He's all three of those, and so much more, 15:03 so you see that in Scripture, God is multichromatic. 15:06 You can see Him in so many different ways, 15:08 and these names are a description 15:11 of God's personality. 15:12 God's names in the Bible are sermons about who He is. 15:17 They're messages about who He is. 15:20 The names of God are, in fact, 15:23 complete sermons about His personality. 15:26 Now, during these biblical times, 15:28 people in the Near East, they attached a great importance to 15:32 the meaning of names. 15:33 The Hebrews always thought that a name-- 15:36 they always thought of a name as something special, something 15:38 that indicated either the personal characteristics 15:41 of the person being named or the person giving the name, 15:44 the emotions of the one giving the name at the time. 15:48 When God enters into this covenant with Abram, 15:50 He introduces Himself as, "I am the Lord." 15:54 He introduces Himself as Yahweh. 15:56 "I am the Lord, the self-existent one." 16:00 That's powerful. 16:03 When translated to English, the word "LORD," we'll find it in 16:07 the English versions printed all in capitals. 16:09 When you see that in the Bible-- 16:11 all in capital letters, know that in the manuscript, 16:14 in Hebrew, the word appearing there is "Yahweh." 16:16 It's God's personal name. 16:19 Another very common name for God is Elohim, 16:21 and that's normally translated in English as "God," and this is 16:25 more of a generic name for God in contrast 16:28 to the personal name Yahweh. 16:30 The meaning of Yahweh-- 16:32 and this is the holy tetragram as they call it in-- 16:34 called the sacred, like, YWHW, and it usually 16:44 is understood as "the self-existent one." 16:46 As it appears here in this verse, 16:49 we understand it as the one who brought Abraham out of Ur. 16:52 That's verse 7, and it refers back to the beginning of God's 16:55 covenant with Abraham. 16:56 It's the beginning of God's relationship with Abraham in 16:59 Genesis chapter 12, verse 1 through 3. 17:01 What we find is that God, He kind of segments His covenant 17:04 with Abraham throughout different chapters, right? 17:06 So, you have chapter 12. 17:08 You have the beginning of that covenant. 17:09 Chapter 15, you'll find the continuation, the middle part. 17:11 And then, in chapter 17 you'll find another part of this, 17:14 and so God is truly trying to help Abraham understand what 17:18 His plan is, because look. 17:19 It's really easy-- 17:20 actually, let me say it this way. 17:22 Hindsight is always 20/20, right? 17:23 That's what we say. 17:25 So, as we look at Scripture through the lens of time, 17:28 it's easier for us to understand, 17:30 but for Abraham living in the moment, 17:32 it was hard. 17:33 Sometimes understanding God's plans for us in the moment, 17:37 it's difficult. 17:38 It's a matter of faith, of sometimes even blind trust. 17:42 Later on, when we see the development of the story, 17:45 then we understand a little bit better. 17:47 I'm sure that anyone here can relate to that reality, 17:51 but in this case the meaning of Yahweh as the one who brought 17:55 Abraham out of Ur, it refers back to God's relationship 17:59 with Abraham. 18:00 And so, Genesis 15, verse 7, it literally means, 18:03 "I am Yahweh, the one who brought you out of," right? 18:06 The lesson tells us here-- and this is on Sunday's lesson-- 18:09 there's a few sentences here that are extremely 18:12 interesting, and they say that the name "Yahweh," 18:16 though appearing 6,828 times in the Old Testament, 18:20 is somewhat shrouded in mystery. 18:22 It seems to be a form of the verb "hayah," to be, 18:26 in which case it would mean "the eternal one," the existent one, 18:30 the self-existing one, the self-sufficient one, 18:33 or the one who lives eternally. 18:35 And so, the divine attribute seems to be emphasized by the 18:40 title, and those are of the self-existence and 18:43 the faithfulness of God. 18:45 And continuing here in this paragraph, 18:46 it says, "They point to the Lord as the living God, 18:49 the source of life, in contrast with the gods of the heathen, 18:53 which had no existence apart from the imagination, 18:56 the imagination of their worshipers." 18:59 And God Himself, He explains the meaning of Yahweh in Exodus 19:02 3:14, when God says, "I am, I am who I am." 19:07 And so, this meaning expresses the reality 19:09 of God's unconditional existence, while it also 19:12 suggests His rule over the past, the present, and the future. 19:16 Friends, when we understands God's-- 19:18 when we understand God's personal name as Yahweh, 19:21 we are understanding God as the self-existent being. 19:25 God is far removed from this reality 19:27 of time and space that we-- 19:29 as we know it, because God created time and space 19:31 as we know it. 19:33 And so, in that sense, God is the self-existing one. 19:37 Here, God's call for Abraham to leave Ur, 19:40 one of the oldest civilizations of the world, 19:42 it's really interesting. 19:43 When you really go down and look at the details of what the-- 19:46 of what Scripture is presenting here and compare it to the 19:48 history of what's happening, it's extremely interesting, 19:51 because by calling Abraham, or Abram at this point, 19:55 to leave Ur, God did not only fulfill His promise that he 19:58 would be the father of many nations, 20:00 but He also placed him in a location in which this nation 20:04 would have the most impact and influence. 20:07 So, Canaan was this land bridge between many empires. 20:13 Canaan was the natural geographical choice for 20:16 the people of God. 20:17 From Canaan, they would interact with the Egyptians. 20:20 They would interact with various Canaanite nations such as Amnon 20:23 and Moab and Edom. 20:25 They would interact with the Mesopotamian kingdoms to the 20:29 east, with the Assyrians to the north, 20:31 and so here we see that God put them 20:33 kind of in the middle of everything. 20:36 They were in the middle of all the drama and the wars 20:40 happening, and God just placed them there so that they could 20:43 impact and influence these nations to a greater extent. 20:48 But what I find really interesting is that there 20:52 is perhaps here an even deeper reason, 20:55 a more personal reason as to why God called Abraham and his 20:58 family to leave Ur at the end here of the 3rd millennium B.C. 21:02 At the time, Abraham didn't know this, 21:05 but he didn't know that this flourishing kingdom, 21:08 this flourishing city of Ur would have a very 21:11 short-lived existence. 21:13 Ur's third period came to an end in around 2004 or 2003 B.C., 21:18 when the city was completely destroyed 21:21 by the Elamites. 21:24 It appears that not only did God want to establish a great nation 21:27 through the seed of Abraham, but He also personally sought 21:30 to bring him out of a city that was going 21:33 to be destroyed very shortly. 21:35 There's no way that that-- 21:36 that the family would flourish there, because the city would be 21:40 destroyed, and that's other than being a very heathen-- 21:43 a very vile city. 21:46 And here we find, friends-- 21:48 and I found this resonance in the Bible. 21:51 So beautiful, because right here we find an echo of the call that 21:56 is found in Revelation to come out of Babylon, 21:59 the condemned city. 22:00 Here, we find God calling Abraham to come out of Ur, 22:05 to follow His will, to hear His call, and we find-- 22:08 in a similar fashion we find the same call in 22:11 Revelation, when God calls His people to come out of Babylon, 22:14 the condemned city. 22:16 Ur, the city where Abraham was ordered to leave, which is-- 22:19 and that you'll find that in Genesis chapter 12, verse 1. 22:21 It was located in what would become a Babylon, 22:25 whereby the testimony of Joshua chapter 24, 22:28 verse 2, Abraham's very forefathers served other gods. 22:32 And so, this idolatrous Babylonians, 22:35 these idolatrous Babylonians, they worshiped fire. 22:38 They worshiped the sun. 22:39 They worshiped the moon and the stars, 22:41 the forces of nature. 22:42 They worshiped metals. 22:43 From ancient times, the Babylonian pantheon of gods 22:47 included an incredible quantity of divinities, 22:51 many, many, many gods. 22:53 Nimrod, for example, that we find in the Bible in Genesis 22:57 chapter 10, verse 9, that exalted himself against God 23:00 and to whom the project of the Tower of Babel is attributed to, 23:04 he later on became known as Marduk, 23:07 the main Babylonian divinity. 23:10 Shin, the god of light, was the most important divinity in Ur, 23:15 the city of Abraham. 23:17 His wife, Shin's wife called Ishtar, 23:21 was the deification of sexual passion, 23:24 the patron of sacral prostitution, 23:27 and she was promoted in her temples by priestesses. 23:33 It's no surprise that God called Abraham to leave the city, 23:37 as it is no surprise that God calls His people in the end time 23:40 to leave Babylon. 23:43 Throughout Scripture, friends, and culminating with the book of 23:46 Revelation, Babylon is described as this force that opposes God, 23:51 that opposes the God of heaven. 23:53 In the context of the final collapse of spiritual Babylon 23:56 in the very end, just as it was in the beginning when God called 24:02 Abraham to leave Ur, God has called His followers to leave 24:08 the spiritual Babylon. 24:09 Just as it was in the times of the exile that God asked His 24:15 people to leave the literal Babylon, 24:20 He's calling us today, because there are many of God's people 24:24 that are found in spiritual Babylon, a great multitude. 24:30 And God's call us to come out of her, 24:31 lest they share in her sins 24:34 and lest they receive of her plagues. 24:38 Those that literally left Babylon at that time, 24:40 at the time-- 24:41 at the postexilic moment, they came out in the direction of the 24:45 Promised Land and of Jerusalem. 24:49 And now, friends, what is at stake is our entrance to the 24:52 New Jerusalem. 24:54 Babylon will find herself before the divine court of 24:59 the universe, accused of pride, of arrogance, 25:02 of lust, of spiritual adultery, of deceitfulness, 25:04 of violence, of corruption, of idolatry, 25:07 of blasphemy, and a plethora of more of accusations. 25:10 And so, my dear friend, if you still find yourself in spiritual 25:14 Babylon hear God's call. 25:16 Just as He called Abraham, just as He called his people, 25:20 hear God's call. 25:21 Come out of her. 25:23 Come out of her. 25:26 The lesson continues with another beautiful segment 25:30 of this study with Monday's lesson, and the title's 25:32 "El Shaddai," one of God's names. 25:35 This focus is on Genesis chapter 17, verse 1, 25:39 where we read, "And Abram was-- 25:40 Abram was ninety years old and nine. 25:45 The Lord appeared to him, and said, 25:46 "I am the Lord-- 25:48 I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect." 25:52 Friends, when Abraham was 99 years old, 25:55 Yahweh appeared to him and identified Him as-- 25:58 Himself as the Almighty God. 26:00 And this identification is found-- 26:02 you'll find that this word, this term for God, this name for God, 26:05 the Almighty God, El Shaddai, it appears mainly in two biblical 26:09 books, in two books of the Bible. 26:11 You'll find this in the book of Genesis, 26:13 and you'll find this a lot in the book of Job. 26:16 This designation, the Almighty God, 26:18 it's translated into English from El Shaddai, 26:21 from the Hebrew El Shaddai. 26:23 El is a--it's a generic Semite name that is used for deity, 26:29 and it's used in the majority of the Old Testament as a synonym 26:31 for Yah, for Yahweh, right? 26:33 For the personal name of God. 26:35 And there are multitudes of examples of this. 26:36 If you were to look, you would find this in the book 26:39 of Numbers, in Psalms, in Isaiah. 26:40 You'll find this in multiple places, 26:42 this definition of "el" signifying and meaning Yahweh. 26:49 The exact origin, on the other hand 26:51 of Shaddai, that's more of a mystery. 26:54 It's kind of uncertain. 26:55 However, the translation that-- 26:56 for Almighty that we find in the King James Version, 26:59 it's very appropriate. 27:00 It appears to be the very best translation for Shaddai, 27:02 for Almighty. 27:04 The emphasis, friends, here is placed on God's might in 27:06 contrast to Abraham. 27:07 God appears to Abraham, and He says, 27:09 "Look, Abraham. I am the Lord God Almighty." 27:13 Who is He talking to? He's talking to Abraham. 27:16 Ninety-nine years old, an old man, 27:20 still awaiting a promise, so it's very significant that God 27:23 says, "I am the Almighty God," because at this point, Abraham 27:27 needed an Almighty God. 27:29 To fulfill that promise, Abraham needed an Almighty God. 27:35 God had promised Abraham a son almost a quarter 27:38 of a century before. 27:39 It was already ridiculous then, 27:42 a quarter of a century before 99, 74 years. 27:46 I don't know a lot of people that at 74 are thinking of 27:49 having a child. 27:51 Maybe someone here does and there's nothing-- 27:54 I won't be against that, but it's not something normal. 27:57 And so, that was already something strange, 28:01 but 25 years later, at 99, Abraham needed an Almighty God. 28:08 At this point, Sarah and Abraham, 28:11 they still found themselves without a child, 28:14 and so they decided to take matters into their own hands, 28:17 and so Ishmael was born. 28:20 Almost a decade and a half after that, 28:23 when Abraham now at 99, 28:25 God appears to him to reaffirm His covenant. 28:28 He appears to Abraham. 28:29 "Let's do it. Come on. 28:30 Let's fulfill this promise. 28:33 In one year, you will have a son." 28:36 But think about it. What did Abraham do? 28:39 At this point, Abraham, he's, "O Lord, all right? 28:42 Here's the son. Here's Ishmael." 28:44 I can imagine God, in that context, going, 28:46 "Wait, wait, wait, wait. 28:49 That's not what we talked about here. 28:51 This is not what we talked about." 28:53 And here we find that Abraham-- 28:57 Abraham here, he manifested-- 29:00 he revealed a very human emotion, the emotion of 29:02 wanting to be in control. 29:05 Humans want to be in control, don't we? 29:07 We don't like being out of control, 29:11 but when it comes to God, friends, 29:12 God is not a tame God. 29:15 God isn't this little lamb that we can just guide. 29:18 God is a ferocious God, and here Abraham had to understand that 29:23 this God would not be coerced, would not be controlled, 29:26 would not be commanded. 29:27 However much he wanted to be in control, 29:29 God is always in control. 29:32 God is always in command and at that crucial point is when God 29:37 introduces Himself as the Almighty God, 29:40 to whom nothing is impossible. 29:44 Friends, hard-pressed men and women wavering in faith-- 29:47 just as did Abraham-- 29:49 you know, I find it the greatest irony that Abraham is called the 29:52 father of faith, but in many points of Abraham's life we 29:56 find him failing with faith. 29:58 This is one of those moments. 29:59 He wavered. 30:01 He questioned. He doubted. 30:03 He tried to take matters into his own hands, 30:06 and this just reassures me that the covenant God is truly an 30:10 Almighty God, Who brings about the fulfillment of His covenant, 30:13 of His promises in His own time without human assistance. 30:18 God doesn't need us, friends. 30:20 God doesn't need us, but we have the privilege. 30:24 Because of His love we have the privilege of participating in 30:27 this journey, in the spiritual journey. 30:32 What God has promised to do, He can perform at any time through 30:36 whichever means of divine providence that He sees fit. 30:39 In the New Testament, the apostle Paul, 30:41 he quotes this moment here of Abraham and Sarah, 30:44 and he says that they were already dead in their flesh, 30:48 since he was about a hundred years old, 99, 30:50 and Sarah was 90 years old. 30:53 It's interesting that Sarah laughed when she heard this. 30:56 And to be very honest, I would probably laugh too. 30:59 It's comical. 31:00 Who had ever heard of a lady at 90 years of age giving birth to 31:04 a child? 31:06 What this means here is that they were beyond any biological 31:09 possibility of bearing a child. 31:11 However, friends, the promise was not based on human 31:14 possibilities, and this is something that we have 31:16 to understand. 31:17 God's logic is not illogical. 31:20 It's merely supralogical. 31:22 It's above our powers of observation, 31:25 or our powers of logic. 31:28 God is supralogic, 31:30 not illogical but supra-, above. 31:34 Other texts in the Bible with similar promises are found in 31:37 Genesis 35, Genesis 43, 49. 31:40 You could see here that God, He makes some ridiculous promises. 31:43 Ridiculous, at least for us humans. 31:46 You see, friends, God is just-- 31:48 the Almighty God that we're seeing here, 31:50 this is a God that-- 31:53 think of the children of Israel leaving Egypt after 400 years in 31:58 Egypt, 200 years in bondage as slaves. 32:01 They're leaving, the Exodus. 32:03 There's an army, the most powerful army of the known 32:06 world, behind them, mountains surrounding them, 32:11 and a sea dead ahead. 32:15 What could they do? What was their escape? 32:19 What options did they have? None. 32:23 But who could have guessed that the sea parting ways 32:27 was an option? 32:30 I find this kind of comical. 32:32 Who could ever have imagined that the sea opening up and 32:35 having a dry walkway, a dry path for them, 32:38 who could ever have imagined that that was a possibility, 32:41 that that was an option? 32:43 Joshua fighting, warring for the children of Israel, 32:47 he needs more time. 32:48 He cries out to God. 32:50 Who could ever have imagined that the sun 32:51 stopping was an option? 32:55 That is our God, friends. 32:57 That's what and that's who the Almighty God is, 33:01 the God of the options that we could never imagine, 33:06 options that we could never imagine. 33:10 El, the God of power and authority; 33:14 and Shaddai, God of inexhaustible riches 33:17 is willing to bestow upon those who seek Him in faith 33:20 and obedience the limitless bounties of His power. 33:26 The next portion here of the lesson on Tuesday we find from 33:29 Abram to Abraham. 33:31 You know, the concept of names, as we've already mentioned, 33:34 with theological and spiritual meanings, 33:37 it's not something limited only to God. 33:38 We don't only find God having various names in the Bible. 33:43 The names of various people are often changed 33:45 throughout Scripture. 33:46 Nowadays, names don't really mean all that much, right? 33:49 "I mean, oh, I think the name Mary is a beautiful name. 33:51 I think the name Luccas-- my name is-- 33:53 you know, it's a great name, so--" 33:55 but it doesn't-- I mean, my name was almost-- 33:57 I think it was Samuel that my parents told me 33:58 or something like that. 34:00 Or Daniel, I don't know, but names, 34:02 they're kind of chosen on that basis, 34:04 but in biblical times it was very different. 34:09 Names were full of meaning. 34:10 The lesson says that all Semitic names of people have meaning and 34:14 usually consist of a phrase or short sentence comprised of a 34:18 wish or an expression of gratitude on the part 34:22 of the parent. 34:23 For example, Daniel means "God is my judge." 34:25 Joel means "Yahweh is God." 34:27 Nathan means "gift of God." 34:29 And so, since these names were frequently tied to meaning, 34:33 they were subject to change, in reflection to radical changes on 34:37 the lives of people. 34:38 Do you remember Naomi? 34:41 She changed her name to what? Do you guys remember? 34:43 Mara, bitter, because of the circumstances of her life. 34:48 This is something normal in the biblical narrative. 34:51 Remember, also, another example, the new name promised to those 34:55 who persevere in Revelation. 34:59 It's not difficult to understand why God changed the name of 35:01 Abraham, Abram, which means "father is exalted." 35:06 God changes to Abraham, the father of a great nation, 35:09 or the father of a multitude. 35:12 You know, at a first glance, to Abraham this might have sounded 35:16 as a joke. 35:20 Imagine Abraham 99 years old; Sarah, 90. 35:26 They have one son that's not really the son, 35:31 and God comes about, and He says, 35:32 "Your name now will be father of a multitude." 35:35 It sounds like a bad joke. 35:37 Little did Abraham know, 35:41 God promised Abraham that he would be the father 35:44 of many nations. 35:46 Chapter 17:6, "I will make nations of you, 35:49 and kings shall come forth from you." 35:51 And this is where we enter 35:52 the covenant aspect of the lesson--right?-- 35:54 the Abrahamic covenant. 35:56 We find that God, He makes a covenant with Abraham in three 35:58 individual stages. 36:00 We find the first in Genesis 12:1 through 3, 36:02 the second stage Genesis 15:1 through 21, 36:06 and the third in Genesis 17:1 through 4. 36:08 And unfortunately, because of time, 36:10 we can't go into each one of them, 36:12 although each one of these stages are rich in details 36:15 and nuances, that if we were to really dive deep into them, 36:19 our understanding of who God is and what His plan for our life, 36:24 for our world is, we would be amazed. 36:27 But we can go into a few things. 36:28 You know, chronological information in the narrative 36:31 reveals that God engaged in this three-part covenant throughout a 36:35 period of about 24 years, and these stages, 36:38 as the lesson tells us, it can be summarized into 36:40 three different subjects, right? 36:44 The first is the approach of God to man. 36:46 God appears to Abraham. He approaches him. 36:49 I can just imagine Abraham at that moment. 36:51 He's not a young man anymore. 36:55 God appears to him and says, "Look, 36:56 you got to leave your land, leave your family, 36:57 leave your people." 36:59 If it were me and I were, like, 70 years old and I was listening 37:01 to a voice telling me that I got to leave everything that 37:03 I already know, I'd be thinking, 37:05 "Well, it's time. I'm going crazy." 37:09 Maybe Abraham thought that. 37:10 Look, I'll tell you, if I hear a voice today tell me, 37:14 at 30 years tell me, "You got to leave everything, 37:17 leave your family behind and leave your--all your-- 37:20 everything you know," if I heard a voice saying that, 37:22 I would think that'd be going nuts. 37:25 But here you see something different in Abraham. 37:29 This is where you see the greatness of this man, 37:31 at least the beginning of it, because while anyone else would 37:33 have looked for some help, Abraham, 37:36 he says, "Yes, I will go." 37:41 "Leave your land. Leave your family." 37:44 The second stage is the call for human obedience, 37:47 and the third is the divine promise. 37:50 The second stage is particularly interesting, important. 37:54 We find a very solemn ritual, where God appears to Abraham 37:57 and He hovers between these carefully placed animal parts. 38:03 Now, I will admit that the first time that I read this-- 38:10 this sequence of events, I'll tell you that I was a little 38:13 bit confused, because it seems a bit arbitrary to me. 38:16 God appears--so, because this is what happens. 38:18 If you read there in Genesis 15, I believe it's verse 8, 38:22 Abraham, he's hearing God promise all these great things. 38:26 "I will do this. 38:27 I will do this. I will do this. 38:29 I will make you a great nation. Kings will come from you." 38:31 And God is promising all these marvelous things, 38:34 but years had gone by. 38:37 And in verse 8, Abraham, he comes out, 38:38 and he says, "Lord, how do I know that these things 38:42 are going to happen? 38:44 How do I know?" 38:47 But instead of answering him, instead of saying something, 38:51 God tells Abraham to get a few animals, 38:54 cut them in half, why? 38:58 And then, Abraham falls into a deep sleep, 39:00 and he has this dream about that right there, 39:03 and God is hovering in between these animals. 39:06 I'll admit that the first times that I read this, 39:08 this is one of those texts that you read in the Bible that when 39:10 you've read the Bible enough times, 39:12 you kind of skip over automatically, 39:13 because you're like, 39:15 "Well, I have no idea what's going on here." 39:16 I don't know if that's what it is with you, 39:18 but I know that that was-- it was that way with me. 39:20 But this is a very beautiful symbol. 39:22 So, basically, what this means right here, 39:25 in those ancient times this was like a handshake. 39:28 This was normal, right? This wasn't something strange. 39:30 This was, like, a normal handshake when two parties 39:32 came together and they made a covenant. 39:35 They made a deal, a bargain. They would do this. 39:37 They would get these animals, they would split them in half, 39:41 and both parties would walk between those animals. 39:43 And basically, what they're saying is, 39:46 "If I do not fulfill the terms of my covenant, 39:49 the terms of my deal with you, let what happened to 39:52 these animals happen to me." 39:54 You understand? 39:56 That's what that symbol means. 39:57 "If the terms of my covenant with you don't come to pass, 40:01 then may what happened to these animals happen to me." 40:04 Now, what's interesting in this whole story 40:07 is that God hovers between-- 40:10 He goes between the animals, but Abraham does not. 40:16 And what's even more interesting is that later on, 40:18 throughout the development of Scripture, 40:21 we find that God did suffer the consequences of a broken 40:26 covenant, although He broke no covenants. 40:30 And those who broke the covenant were substituted. 40:35 Do you see the beauty in this symbolism? 40:38 God goes through, God doesn't break covenant, 40:43 and yet God is the one who pays the consequence. 40:48 What all this means is that the covenant is all about 40:52 God's promises that are made through His grace. 40:56 Friends, sometimes we have this expectation 40:58 that "you know, I'm going to promise God this, and I will 41:00 make this deal with God." 41:01 It's not about us. 41:04 We have this mania sometimes of making all of this about us, 41:08 about me. 41:09 "I need to do this. I need to do that. 41:10 I need to do this." 41:12 That is such a big misunderstanding, 41:13 because what you see in Scripture is God fulfilling 41:16 His promises in spite of our inability of fulfilling 41:19 our promises. 41:23 I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep our promises to God. 41:26 I'm just saying that we have a really hard time, 41:28 and God understands that. 41:30 God did not make Abraham walk through that path of animals. 41:34 I find that beautiful. 41:36 It was God, who has a smoking oven and a burning torch, 41:39 that passed between those pieces. 41:41 It was God, who guaranteed the execution of the promise that 41:44 was made, and today we know that the covenant of grace is today 41:49 fulfilled with all those who have the faith of Abraham, 41:54 those who trust in the mercies of-- 41:56 and the promises of God. 41:58 Galatians chapter 3, verse 7 says, 41:59 "Therefore know that only those who are of faith 42:03 are sons of Abraham." 42:04 Only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham, 42:06 but a few verses later, in verse 29, 42:11 we read, "And if you are of Christ," or if you are Christ's, 42:14 "then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according 42:17 to the promise." 42:19 So, we can claim these promises not because we are of Abraham's 42:22 physical seed, but because we are of Christ. 42:27 And because we are of Christ we partake in the promises 42:31 that were made to Abraham and his seed. 42:33 These are no longer his physical descendants. 42:35 We are no longer the physical descendants, 42:38 but the people of the Messiah that have the faith of Abraham. 42:42 An important part here of covenants are the covenant 42:45 obligations, and that appears on Thursday. 42:48 One important thing for us to understand here, 42:49 friends, is that from God's side the covenant is unconditional. 42:54 The covenant on God's side is unconditional, 42:56 because what was promised will happen, will come to pass. 43:01 What was God's ultimate promise in the context of the covenant, 43:04 God's ultimate promise? 43:06 That one day someone would come. 43:09 Someday, a messiah would come, because God was extending from 43:14 the beginning to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, 43:16 to Isaac, to Jacob, to the children of Israel, 43:18 to the kings, to the patriarchs, to the prophets, 43:20 God was extending His hand, the covenant of grace. 43:25 But the problem is that on the other side, on the human side, 43:27 no human was able to latch on to the divine hand. 43:31 You'll see that Adam failed. Noah failed. 43:33 Abraham, to an extent, failed. 43:35 Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs, Israel, the kings, they all-- 43:40 none of them were able to really latch on to God's hand. 43:43 And so, the beauty of the story is that God, 43:45 He divests Himself, and that's-- 43:48 and this is the point where, really, theologians, pastors, 43:50 we just--it's really like a blah-blah-blah because 43:53 we cannot describe this. 43:55 This is truly a mystery, how the God, 43:58 the Almighty El Shaddai, He divests Himself. 44:02 He steps around this curtain of glory, 44:07 and He appears on a manger, helpless, 44:15 and Jesus keeps covenant. 44:18 From the moment He's born, Jesus keeps covenant. 44:22 And so, here we have the divine hand reaching out, 44:26 the human counterpart never able to fully latch on, 44:30 but here comes one who does latch on from the human side 44:35 for the human side. 44:38 However, from the human side, from the human point of view 44:43 of Abraham's physical descendants, the covenant 44:46 is, or was, conditional. 44:49 God fulfilled what He promised, but the object 44:52 of the fulfillment is not with Abraham's physical seed anymore 44:56 but with those that belong to the people of the Messiah, 44:59 those who have the faith of Abraham. 45:03 The covenant, friends, is based on God's grace, 45:06 where He does for us what we could never do for ourselves. 45:10 We could never do any of this for ourselves. 45:13 In His grace, God chose Abraham, who appears in the biblical 45:16 narrative without any merits, without any qualifications 45:19 for this choice. 45:20 God's choice of Abraham-- 45:23 and I find this absolutely astonishing. 45:26 God's choice of Abraham was not based on any inherent 45:29 superiority that called for a reward. 45:33 Of course, Abraham was a faithful man, 45:36 uncorrupted by the prevailing apostasy, 45:39 one who steadfastly adhered to the worship of the one true God. 45:43 You'll find that in "Patriarchs and Prophets," page 125. 45:46 However, his faithfulness cannot be construed as any kind of 45:49 merit that earned him the right to be chosen by God. 45:53 God's choice is always grounded in divine grace, 45:56 always in His love and in His mercy. 46:01 Deuteronomy 7:6 through 8, "For you are a holy people to the 46:04 Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people 46:08 for Himself, a special treasure above all peoples on the face of 46:11 the earth. 46:12 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you 46:15 were more in number than any other people, 46:18 for you were the least of all peoples; 46:20 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the 46:22 oath which He swore to your fathers." 46:24 Then verse 9, "Therefore know that the Lord your God, 46:27 He is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy for a 46:33 thousand generations with those who love Him and keep 46:36 His commandments." 46:37 Unfortunately, the Jewish nation, 46:39 they began to commit idolatry by worshiping their own virtues. 46:43 According to the rabbinical tradition, 46:46 Abraham was so important that God, 46:47 when He went to create the world, 46:50 He first consulted Abraham. 46:52 Imagine that. 46:56 The biblical record of Abraham's experience reveals a number of 46:59 actions totally unworthy of someone chosen to become 47:03 God's counterpart of God's covenant. 47:08 Here, at the conclusion of God's covenant making with Abraham, 47:10 God gave him a new name. 47:14 The new name changed from "father is exalted" 47:17 to "father of multitudes." 47:19 He is the first person in the Bible to receive a new name 47:22 coming from God, and this new name indicated the new covenant 47:26 relationship that was sealed with a divine promise that was 47:29 made certain, "No longer shall your name be Abraham-- 47:32 Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made 47:36 you a father of many nations." 47:38 And here we find a biblical example of spiritual maturity. 47:41 Do you want to know in the Bible what is spiritual maturity, 47:44 what is wholeness, what it means to be blameless and upright? 47:48 It's this: observe the people in Scripture that are called 47:51 blameless and upright, like Abraham, like Noah, like Job. 47:57 We don't find these people with this presumption of arrogance, 48:00 or of being fine just as they are, 48:03 or of having reached this position where they don't 48:06 need Jesus anymore. 48:08 You don't find that in these people. 48:11 In Job 9:28, we see that even the patriarch of pain and of 48:14 suffering, he didn't dare consider himself righteous. 48:17 He says that "I know that God would not hold me innocent if 48:22 I did such a thing." 48:23 No, friends, true spiritual maturity, 48:25 as we see in Abraham, true blamelessness is an attitude 48:32 of integrity, not of arrogance. 48:35 Otherwise, in this sense, this maturity, 48:38 this blamelessness would have the same effect as sin, 48:41 which is removing us and separating us from God. 48:46 We will always need God. 48:51 You know, to finish this lesson, throughout the history of the 48:59 children of Israel, you will see God reaching out and extending 49:02 His hand. 49:05 And like I said, no human counterpart was fully able 49:08 to ever do that. 49:10 Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, 49:16 the children of Israel, they just got worse and worse as 49:18 the kings came. 49:20 And finally, throughout this period of history, 49:22 we find that they find themselves in Babylon, 49:24 and I'm sure we're going to get to this point. 49:26 I'm not going to talk too much about it because we're out of 49:28 time and because someone will talk about it in the future, 49:30 but I just can't not mention this. 49:32 We find them in Babylon, and Daniel, 49:37 Daniel chapter 9, one of those beautiful chapters in Scripture, 49:41 Daniel falls before the Lord. 49:42 And if there's a man that the Bible doesn't attribute to him 49:45 any sin or unrighteousness-- he was a man just like us, 49:51 human, but the Bible doesn't attribute to him any blame, 49:55 any actions of sin. 49:57 He falls before God in sackcloth, 50:01 and he says, "O my God, O my Lord, we have broken 50:06 your covenant; we have sinned." 50:10 But then, Daniel, he said something that is truly 50:12 beautiful, and you'll find this in Daniel chapter 9. 50:18 Daniel chapter 9, verse 1 through-- 50:23 look at what it says. 50:25 Verse 2 onward. 50:26 "In the first year of his reign I, Daniel, 50:28 understood by the books the number of years specified by 50:31 the Word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that 50:34 He would accomplish seventy years in the 50:36 desolations of Jerusalem. 50:37 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by 50:40 prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 50:43 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, 50:45 and said, 'O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps,'" what? 50:51 Who keeps His covenant. 50:55 "Who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, 50:57 and with those who keep His commandments, 50:59 we have sinned and committed iniquity, 51:02 we have done wickedly and rebelled, 51:04 even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments." 51:08 And then, he starts in one of the most beautiful 51:10 prayers of Scripture. 51:12 Friend, this here resonates with Abraham, 51:15 who through a multitude of hard knocks of life came to 51:19 understand that the God of the covenant, 51:23 He is the one who fulfills the promises. 51:26 I don't know how your life has been going. 51:28 I know that it has not been an easy year, 51:33 and sometimes it might seem as though the promises that 51:36 we claim from God, they're not panning out, 51:41 but, friend, understand that God always fulfills His promises. 51:45 Perhaps not the way that we would expect, 51:49 but the way that God fulfills His promises are always better 51:52 than what we would ever expect. 51:55 I hope that God may bless you. 51:56 I loved studying the lesson with you this week, 51:58 and I hope that you have a blessed study of lesson 5. 52:03 Join us again next week for another 52:05 "Sabbath School Study Hour." 52:06 Understand that God is the God of the promises, 52:08 and I'd like to close this moment with a word of prayer. 52:11 Dear Lord God, thank You so much because in your Word we know 52:13 that You are the God of promises. 52:15 You are the God that fulfills His promises. 52:18 Lord, as we face a new week, help us implement this reality 52:22 in our life, that You are the God of promises. 52:24 Help us not only keep our promises to you but keep our 52:27 promises to everyone around us, because that is a reflection of 52:32 our children, of us being the children of God. 52:35 Please give us a great day, a great rest of this week, 52:38 and I ask in Jesus's name, amen and amen. 52:40 May God bless you and may He bless you. 52:45 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 52:47 life-changing, free resource. 52:48 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, 52:51 you can download a digital copy straight to your computer or 52:53 mobile device. 52:55 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, 52:57 simply text the key word on your screen to 40544, 53:01 or visit the web address shown on your screen, 53:04 and be sure to select the digital download option 53:07 on the request page. 53:08 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 53:11 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want, 53:14 and most important, to share it with others. 53:17 ♪♪ 53:27 ♪♪ 53:30 Heather Shurtliff: We can do nothing without God, 53:31 and sometimes He lets you get to that place where you realize 53:35 there is nothing left, and you're just wondering if you 53:38 want to live because it hurts and life is dark. 53:42 When He lets you get to that place, 53:43 then that's when He can break through to you and let you know 53:45 He's there, and then He can work with you to bring beauty out of 53:51 ashes and hope out of darkness. 53:53 My mom, when she was pregnant with me, 53:56 was diagnosed with bipolar, and the times when my mom would be 54:00 struggling, they might be trying her on different medications to 54:05 help her with the mood swings. 54:08 I kind of had a savior complex and had, 54:10 like, a guilt complex that somehow that all my family's 54:13 problems were my own fault, or I'm the one that was supposed to 54:16 try to help or fix it, which is impossible for any human to do. 54:20 Only Jesus can do that. 54:21 But I believe all-- 54:22 stuffing all of those emotions and for so long, my world just 54:26 started to crumble around me. 54:27 I started having a nervous breakdown. 54:28 I could not stuff any longer everything that I'd grown 54:30 up with. 54:31 I just slowly but surely just started to withdraw completely, 54:34 and it got to the extent where I was like a prisoner of my own 54:38 house, of my own fears. 54:40 And if it wasn't for my mom making me come out of the 54:42 basement and sometimes, you know, 54:44 making me eat, I would just stay down in my room in the basement, 54:47 and I remember how awful the darkness was and how terrible 54:53 it is to live without hope. 54:55 I can still feel that in, like, my throat, in my heart. 54:59 I remember what that feels like. 55:03 I had been still contemplating suicide on and off for several 55:06 months, and I knew that it was getting worse and that I was 55:10 going to be successful unless something happened. 55:13 And you know, just trying to talk to yourself out of it every 55:15 day, but still just it just always being there, 55:18 haunting me, and I just went to bed feeling really, 55:20 really sick, and just told myself, 55:24 "In counseling they'll tell you, you know, 55:26 to always--don't do--make any impulsive decisions. 55:29 It will always be brighter in the morning. 55:31 You know, just see it through the night." 55:33 Sometimes the night are the longest, 55:34 darkest hours, and I just went to sleep telling myself that 55:39 and when I woke up in the morning there was no relief. 55:42 It was worse than it was. 55:43 It was just like knew what was waiting for me when I woke up 55:45 in the morning. 55:47 And so, then I went to class, and as soon as the class was 55:51 getting going I asked the teacher if I could go get 55:53 a drink of water, and I went into the kitchen and I started 55:57 drinking some of the different cleaners. 55:59 And as I was there drinking the cleaners, 56:01 choking on the cleaners, just such an awful place to be in. 56:09 The chaplain, we have a very kind chaplain. 56:10 He flipped on the kitchen lights, 56:12 and he comes in with his bright smile, 56:14 and he's like, "Heather," he's like, 56:15 "how are you doing today?" 56:17 And I'm like, "You know, I'm killing myself." 56:22 And I look at his face, and I cannot lie to him. 56:25 He's such a kind man. 56:26 I just look at him, and I just start sobbing. 56:28 And he just-- he doesn't make a big deal. 56:31 He just kindly and sweetly helps pick me up off the floor and 56:35 walks me to his office, and so he just-- 56:37 he talked to me. 56:39 I told him what I had drank, and he got the ambulance. 56:42 After that hospital stay, you know, 56:43 everybody was so scared for me, 56:44 because it's not expected at all. 56:46 But after that, somehow, I knew that suicide was not an option 56:50 anymore, that I'd closed that door. 56:52 Even though I still had that same pain and fear and I had 56:54 no idea how God was going to pick up the pieces and I still 56:57 had to be honest with God, I was like, 56:58 "Okay, God, obviously You care. 57:00 Obviously, I know that You spared my life, 57:02 and I don't have any idea how You're going to help me fix this 57:06 mess in my life." 57:07 But it was the beginning of me trusting Him again and just 57:10 shutting that door to suicide. 57:12 It's not ever being an option again. 57:15 God used Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug in a powerful 57:19 way to make His love for me, He's soon coming for me, 57:24 and that He was calling me to share that with others real. 57:28 And it was making it personal, God's love for me, 57:31 and that was, really-- that's a seed that I will-- 57:34 I'll never forget. 57:35 And that I'm so grateful that my family didn't have to go through 57:38 the pain and the tragedy of me taking my life 57:41 and that I have the joy of being able to encourage other people 57:44 that there's always hope. 57:47 Amazing Facts changed my life. 57:49 I'm so grateful for their ministry. 57:53 It's a precious blessing. 57:56 ♪♪ 58:06 ♪♪ 58:16 CC by Aberdeen Captioning 1-800-688-6621 abercap.com |
Revised 2021-04-14