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00:15 ♪♪♪ 00:25 ♪♪♪ 00:40 Shawn Brummund: Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition 00:41 of the "Sabbath School Study Hour" right here in the 00:44 Granite Bay Hilltop Seventh Day Adventist Church. 00:47 We're located in the metro area of Sacramento, California. 00:50 It's always good to be able to have all of you who are joining 00:53 us on live right now across the country and around the world, as 00:56 well as, of course, many of our friends that are taking 00:59 advantage of this and join us, as you are watching from 01:02 different parts of the planet. 01:04 We also are always happy to be able to have those who are with 01:07 us locally in our Granite Bay Seventh Day Adventist family. 01:10 And, of course, we also are very welcoming 01:13 to those who are visiting. 01:15 And one of the blessings of having the Granite Bay Church 01:17 here associated with Amazing Facts media and ministry, and so 01:20 on, is that we always have a number of people that sometimes 01:24 travel great distances to come and be with us physically here 01:27 in person on a Sabbath morning. 01:29 So, special welcome to you, as well, as we come to study this 01:32 week's quarterly lesson, as we continue to make our way 01:35 through the book of Deuteronomy, and we continue to make 01:40 our way through lesson number 10 here today, which is 01:43 "Remember and Do Not Forget," "Remember and Do Not Forget." 01:47 We're looking at lesson number 10. 01:48 If you have your quarterlies, make sure that you 01:50 go ahead and grab those, open it up. 01:52 And, of course, the most important textbook that 01:54 we have for our lesson, as we do every week, 01:56 which is the Holy Bible itself. 01:59 And so, please go ahead and do that. 02:02 And before we open with prayer, before we worship in song, 02:06 I want to also invite you to take advantage of the 02:08 special gift offer that we have available today. 02:11 Now, this is a very helpful booklet that I have read in the 02:15 past, very well done, written by Doug Batchelor, as well as 02:18 Pastor Steve Wohlberg, and it's entitled "Spiritual Israel." 02:22 What does the New Testament speak on in concern to Israel? 02:25 What is the Israel of the New Testament era, 02:28 and are you involved? 02:29 We want to be able to make this--get this straight, 02:31 especially with a lot of different popular theories 02:33 that are going around today in regards to the 02:36 prophecies of the future, Israel's involvement. 02:39 And again what is Israel in God's eyes? 02:43 And so, go ahead and take advantage of that. 02:45 You just dial 1-866-788-3966. That's 1-866-788-3966. 02:54 You want to ask for free offer #174. 02:58 Now, this is available in person--or physically we 03:01 can mail that out to you, if you're in the United States, 03:03 Canada, and US territories. 03:06 If you want to get a digital copy of that, you can also go 03:09 ahead and text a special code to a certain number, and that 03:13 particular text code is SH062. 03:18 That's SH062, and you want to dial that to 40544. 03:26 Before we begin our study, let's open with prayer. 03:28 Father in heaven, we want to pray that Your Holy Spirit will 03:30 be with us, even as You have promised us that when we come to 03:35 You and by faith and ask by faith, that You would give us 03:38 Your Holy Spirit to be our teacher, to guide us into all 03:42 truth, and to be able to understand and discern and 03:45 rightly divide Your Word. 03:47 We want to pray, God, that You will fulfill that promise, 03:50 and we claim it by faith even right now. 03:52 We want to pray, God in heaven, that You will help us to see and 03:56 understand what you know is most important for us to see and 03:59 understand from Your Word today, each and every one 04:02 of us individually, as well as a group. 04:05 In Jesus' name we pray, God, amen. 04:09 I invite you to open your Bibles to Genesis, the 9th chapter, as 04:12 we look at the first Bible passage of this week's lesson 04:15 study, "Remember and Do Not Forget." 04:17 "Remember" is the key theme. 04:19 "Do not forget" is another way of saying "Remember." 04:24 And "remember" is another way of saying "Do not forget." 04:29 And so, it's basically saying the same thing in 04:31 two different ways, is it not? 04:33 And so "Remember," or "Do Not Forget," that is the main theme. 04:36 And the first remember that we're looking at here 04:38 goes way back to a very unique time in history, and 04:43 we're going to pick it up with verse 8. 04:47 So, we're looking at Genesis chapter 9, and we're going to 04:50 start with verse 8 and read through to verse 17. 04:53 Okay, so we're at Genesis chapter 9 and verse 8. 04:58 In verse 8 it says, "Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons 05:01 with him, saying, 'And as for Me, behold, I establish My 05:05 covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with 05:10 every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, 05:13 every beast of the earth with you; of all that go out of the 05:18 ark every beast of the earth. 05:20 And thus I establish My covenant with you, never again shall all 05:24 flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall 05:28 there be a flood to destroy the earth.' 05:31 And God said, 'This is the sign of the covenant which I make 05:35 between Me and you and every living creature that is with 05:38 you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in 05:43 the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the 05:46 covenant between Me and the earth. 05:49 And it shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the 05:52 rainbow shall be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My 05:56 covenant, which I made between Me and you and every living 06:00 creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become 06:05 a flood to destroy all flesh.'" 06:07 Do you see a theme there, a repetition? 06:10 "'The rainbow shall be in the cloud; and I will look on it to 06:13 remember the everlasting covenant between God and every 06:16 living creature of all flesh that's on the earth.' 06:19 And God said to Noah, 'This is the sign of the covenant, 06:23 which I have established between Me and all 06:25 flesh that is on the earth.'" 06:30 And so, here we have a very intriguing conversation that God 06:34 is having with His prophet, with His patriarch, Noah. 06:39 We find here that God is establishing a very 06:42 important and needful covenant. 06:45 And the central sign of that covenant is 06:47 a rainbow, is it not? 06:51 All right, now we're very much accustomed to a rainbow. 06:53 We've seen rainbows, and they've been in our planet, and we've 06:56 seen them through our lifetime, since birth, and we've seen them 07:00 for hundreds and hundreds of years now. 07:02 It's like this conversation took place about 2500 years ago, so 07:06 25 plus 2000 AD, we're talking about 4500 years ago 07:11 that this conversation took place. 07:14 So, a rainbow is old hat for us, is it not? 07:17 And it's a rainbow--old hat for the last generation, 07:20 and 300 years, 500 years, 6000-- I mean 600 years ago, it 07:25 was still even old hat back then, but it wasn't old hat 07:28 during Noah's time, during his generation. 07:32 And so, as it turns out, the Bible points out, and God makes 07:36 it very clear that he wants us to understand that the rainbow 07:38 is more than just a beautiful, coincidental occurrence 07:42 that takes place in nature. 07:45 God makes it very clear, and he goes out of his way, through his 07:48 Scriptures, and through his Bible to make sure that we 07:50 understand that the rainbow is more than just a special 07:53 refraction of light. 07:56 As it separated, and as it makes its way through 07:59 those different water droplets that occur and are 08:01 floating in the air when there are rain clouds, when it is 08:05 rainy and when it is raining outside. 08:09 God wants us to know that he had a plan, and all those laws of 08:13 nature that we've kind of unpacked and discovered, and can 08:16 explain to a large degree, did not come by coincidence, 08:21 but it was divinely, intelligently designed by 08:25 a loving God for our benefit. 08:29 Now, we still benefit from it, do we not? 08:33 Okay, we see the beauty of it. 08:35 It reminds us of a God behind it, especially if you read the 08:38 Bible record as we're looking and reviewing here this morning 08:40 and such, and so we understand that there is a hand of an 08:44 intelligent Almighty, loving Creator behind it. 08:46 It certainly is beautiful to look upon on a cloudy, 08:49 rainy day, which is usually a little bit more glum 08:52 and more depressing and maybe even for some of us 08:55 sometimes discouraging if we're having a hard 08:57 time, but there's that rainbow. 08:59 It's like God's smile to mankind. 09:02 But the rainbow in this record, in this conversation that we're 09:05 reading is not intended to be understood as some kind of 09:08 legend from the past. 09:10 You know, sometimes we think because we can scientifically 09:12 explain some of the different ways in which God uses these 09:15 laws of nature that He Himself formed and designed, that 09:19 therefore this is just, you know, a fable, 09:23 a legend, but that's not true. 09:25 It's not coincidence. 09:27 It's not just nature that happened to create this 09:30 beautiful phenomenon but rather it was something very 09:33 new for the first generations that occurred. 09:35 Noah and his family, when they first saw the rainbow it was 09:38 like, "Wow, that's amazing. 09:40 I've never heard of a rainbow. I've never seen a rainbow. 09:42 I've never experienced a rainbow. 09:43 What is all that about?" 09:45 And God tells us what it's all about, and he told that first 09:47 generation what that rainbow was all about. 09:53 We have to remember, though, let's look at the context of the 09:55 flood itself or at least the post flood, you know, when the 09:58 ark of Noah and his family finally settled down on Mount 10:02 Ararat, on solid ground after being in the ship for about a 10:06 year's time, you know, they put their feet on solid ground 10:10 for the first time, which I'm sure they were very 10:12 grateful to be able to do so. 10:15 But think of the contrast that took place. 10:18 You know, just envision, remember that the planet 10:20 before the flood was a global paradise. 10:24 You didn't have to say, oh, boy, I'd do anything 10:26 to live in San Diego. 10:27 If I could afford it, I'd love to live there, all right? 10:29 What I would do to be able to have a beautiful home on the 10:32 oceanside in Hawaii, or in Fiji, or in the Bahamas, 10:37 or Florida, or some of these other paradises 10:39 that we think of on our planet. 10:41 The whole planet was Hawaii. 10:43 The whole planet was a gorgeous paradise. 10:47 And so, we have to remember that for Noah and his family and then 10:51 for the stories and the conversations that the next 10:53 generations would hear, as the children were growing up in the 10:55 homes, and so on, was this massive loss that the planet 11:01 had experienced, that mankind had experienced. 11:04 Because when Noah and his family came down out of the 11:06 ship, and they started to be able to walk on solid 11:10 ground again, paradise was lost. 11:14 You know, it was just a giant global moonscape after that. 11:19 Some of us here in this part of the country, you know, we've 11:24 become more and more--because we've always been accustomed to 11:27 forest fires here in California. 11:30 But lately, you know, we're breaking records. 11:34 You know, we're losing more acreages and more buildings and 11:37 more lives than ever in the history of California, and this 11:40 is another subject and I believe one of the signs of the times. 11:44 But just up the road here--you don't have to go 11:47 very far north to Paradise. 11:48 Just a few years ago, two or three years ago, I think it was, 11:51 and we lost more lives and more buildings and more destruction 11:53 than ever in California history. 11:57 My wife and I went up in there and visited, I don't know, 11:59 about six months ago, and we'd never been to Paradise or 12:02 Chico, and so--we're newer to California. 12:04 We said, "Let's just take a day trip. 12:05 We'll go up and visit, take a look at the church. 12:08 Well, the church is no longer in existence, just the foundation, 12:10 but there ADRA and so on is doing a--making a factory. 12:17 There's a factory where the church used to be, 12:18 where they're actually reproducing and just producing 12:21 hundreds of storage sheds for residents that are still 12:24 healing and restoring their lives emotionally, 12:27 psychologically, physically, monetarily. 12:32 You know, so the town that was rightly called Paradise 12:37 was reduced to a moonscape. 12:41 And even though there's a number of houses that have been 12:43 rebuilt--and certainly they look nicer than the houses that were 12:46 burned, at least, you know, the post-fire house look, it's going 12:53 to take decades, you know, to rebuild that town. 12:56 And not only that, but it's going to take a couple hundred 13:00 years to be able to even start to reproduce the look of 13:05 what it was before the fire. 13:07 And so, we have some examples of that on a smaller scale, but we 13:11 have to take Paradise and its experience and expand it 13:14 globally around the entire planet. 13:17 Very challenging times in history, you know. 13:23 So, those first generations didn't have it easy. 13:25 I think we're fortunate that we're not in 13:28 those first generations. 13:30 So, it would take decades for the earth to be able to start to 13:35 heal and to regrow the beauty that was once around it, and we 13:42 never recaptured it completely, not even close, and we never 13:44 will until God makes the planet new again. 13:48 Not only that, but the concept of rain, sky, coming down from 13:53 the sky, you know, these rain clouds. 13:55 This was a new concept. 13:57 We have to remember that the Genesis record tells us in the 13:59 first chapters that indeed, you know, there was no such thing as 14:02 rain before the flood. 14:04 Rain didn't exist. 14:05 The rainbow is not the only new concept and new law of nature 14:09 that God introduced into the ecosystem and climate of our 14:12 planet, but rain was, as well, because after the flood 14:16 receded and the waters receded off the dry land and started 14:20 to expose the plains and the mountains and so on, 14:23 and valleys that were formed. 14:25 Because not only did rain come down and destroy all the planet, 14:28 but Genesis record tells us in the first chapters that God 14:31 originally used to water all and irrigate all plant 14:35 life from tables, massive tables of water that were 14:38 under the earth's surface. 14:41 And so, that water actually fed the roots that, of course, the 14:45 plants grew down to be able to drink from. 14:48 And so, those water tables burst up through the planet surface, 14:54 and at the same time that water was pouring down from the sky, 15:01 and so it wasn't just 40 days of rain, but it was 40 days of 15:03 these massive irrigation tables that were breaking 15:08 up through the earth's surface. 15:09 And, of course, the crust of the earth was moving and developing 15:12 new continents and such, and mountain ranges, 15:15 and grand canyons and such. 15:17 And then when the water receded into the basins now that had 15:21 been developed by this completely distorted and changed 15:25 surface of the planet, the oceans developed, and the water 15:30 now receded into these huge basins that developed 15:34 what we now call the oceans. 15:36 Seventy percent of the earth's planet now was covered with 15:39 uninhabitable saltwater that we can't even drink, we 15:44 can't even use as life-giving water anymore. 15:48 And so, the planet was completely different. 15:51 The ecosystem was completely different. 15:53 Now these massive bodies of water called oceans began to 15:57 produce massive amounts of evaporation that the planet had 16:01 never experienced before either, and it began to develop these 16:04 massive cloud formations that the earth had never seen. 16:08 And as those clouds started to move off the ocean and onto the 16:11 dry land, as we see it even coming off of our western coast 16:15 here of the Pacific Ocean and such, it would hit the different 16:19 elevations and develop big enough and heavy enough that it 16:23 would either fall or hit the mountain ranges and be forced up 16:26 far enough that it just can't go any further. 16:29 And gravity overtakes it, and the water falls down and waters 16:32 the plants that God knew that would need watering in a 16:34 different way than it got its water before the flood. 16:40 And so, there was a lot of newness, but none of it outside 16:44 the flood was really all that positive. 16:47 I mean, outside of the rainbow part of it, outside of the 16:50 rainbow there wasn't really anything else that 16:52 positive in all of that newness. 16:55 It was a lot more messy. 16:57 Now we have to buy rain jackets, and umbrellas, and all kinds of 17:02 other kinds of inventions that we have to develop and so on. 17:06 And so, the planet experienced a major downgrade 17:09 permanently after the flood. 17:12 Well, you can imagine the first generations, you know, that not 17:15 only saw the continuous evidence of this massive, massive, 17:19 largest natural catastrophe and disaster that this planet had 17:23 ever experienced before that point, and ever has experienced 17:27 since that point, and ever will experience until Jesus Himself 17:31 comes in judgment and deliverance. 17:34 At that point, He does tell us that every mountain and island 17:36 will be moved out of its place. 17:38 There will be a reproduction on a global scale of that 17:41 which we see in the flood. 17:43 But the flood is, by far, the largest natural disaster 17:47 in all of human history. 17:51 And so, we could imagine the natural anxiety, the 17:54 apprehension that would come when the clouds would come off 17:58 of the ocean and start to float over the dry land, and then 18:03 began to drop that rain, it would bring back immediate 18:05 memories for Noah's and first family that actually experienced 18:11 it and witnessed it. 18:12 And then, of course, for the following generations of 18:15 children and grandchildren and great grandchildren that would 18:17 sit at the knee of Noah and of Mrs. Noah and hear these stories 18:22 firsthand and hear Noah's family, you know, talk about 18:25 those times, and there would be a natural apprehension, some 18:30 emotional negative challenges that would take place. 18:33 Is it going to happen again? 18:36 And so God, in His loving, kind, and typical merciful way, looked 18:42 down upon us with our vulnerable and fragile emotions and so on 18:48 and He formed a rainbow. 18:50 And He said, "Not only am I going to develop this new 18:52 ecosystem that will make sure that the lands are watered, and 18:56 the plant life is watered in a way that will meet in a new way, 18:59 but I'm going to make sure that the water particles is going to 19:02 be able to refract the light in such a special way-- 19:05 only when it rains. 19:07 The rainbow will only come at the exact time in which 19:09 we require it, in which we would benefit from it 19:12 and which we would need it. 19:14 So, those first generations would have this reminder that 19:17 God had made a covenant. 19:20 He had made a promise that He will never destroy all life and 19:23 distort the planet and destroy all the earth's surface in the 19:27 way that He did that one time during the flood. 19:31 And so, we learned a number of different, important truths 19:33 there concerning the character of God, concerning the 19:35 rainbow, concerning the needs that were there those 19:42 first generations after the flood. 19:47 I was just recently at a place that a lot of locals 19:51 have told our family, since we moved here, that we 19:53 really need to go and visit. 19:54 It's called Angel Island. Anybody been to Angel Island? 19:57 Beautiful place. 19:59 If you haven't been there, it's more than I expected, and you 20:01 can take a little ferry there from Marin County. 20:04 And I forget what the name of the town was that we--Sausalito? 20:13 Okay, so Sausalito was the little town there in Marin 20:15 County and just on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, 20:18 and it was like a ten-minute ferry ride. 20:21 And you get on this national park island, 20:23 just a small island, I think you can bike around it. 20:25 It's two or three miles around the whole peripheral. 20:27 But there's a small mountain range in the middle of it and 20:29 such, and so we just had a great, great time, 20:32 my wife and I, and my daughter--oldest daughter's 20:35 boyfriend, Alistair. 20:38 You know, we just spent the afternoon there one Sunday 20:39 afternoon, and seeing it for the first time, going hiking, and 20:42 had a little picnic on the beach there. 20:44 But one of the bonuses that we didn't plan was that 20:47 the air show was taking place that day, and we didn't 20:49 know that, but what a bonus. 20:51 So, we went up and we hiked one of the summits there, where we 20:53 could have a nice lookout and timed it when the Blue Angels 20:57 were going to come by and do all their air tricks and so on. 21:00 So, we got this million-dollar view, you know, and such. 21:05 It wasn't close to the shoreline, though, because the 21:08 shore of downtown San Francisco on Pier 39 and so on, that's 21:11 where I'm sure there was tens of thousands of people, 21:14 way more than Angel Island. 21:15 That's where they were a little bit closer, but there's this 21:18 large passenger plane, and I don't know what the novelty was 21:22 of a large 747 or whatever it was coming through, but anyway 21:27 it kind of came by and did a low, you know--he was 21:30 able to do some maneuvers that he would never be able 21:33 to do otherwise, the pilots. 21:34 And so, they came by. 21:35 And then as they came by along the shoreline, you know, and 21:38 gave a nice view to all the different, the largest crowds 21:41 there in San Francisco, they came to downtown 21:44 where all the high rises are. 21:46 And as that large plane kind of veered, it kind of 21:49 slowly made its way over and just barely missed, you 21:53 know, the high rises there. 21:58 And I'm not an American. I was born and raised in Canada. 22:01 I've been here for four years, and having 22:02 a good time, and loving it. 22:05 But, you know, even as neighbors of America, watching my 22:09 television, you know, and 9/11 when those Towers, you know, 22:13 just watching those large passenger planes come over and 22:16 then they didn't just do a close fly by like they did in San 22:20 Francisco, but they went right into those Twin Towers. 22:24 And I have to confess that even though I wasn't there in 22:27 New York--I've never even visited New York City, yet-- 22:31 I felt a little uncomfortable. 22:34 You know, there wasn't large anxiety, but there 22:36 was some real anxiety there. 22:38 I said, you know, I just don't know if that was the best idea 22:40 for them to do that, you know, with our history and so on. 22:43 If I'm feeling uncomfortable, I can imagine people that are from 22:45 New York State or New York City that maybe are visiting. 22:47 I don't know. 22:49 But anyway, just, if I felt a little anxiety--I didn't have to 22:54 go see a therapist or anything after, you know, nothing of that 22:56 nature, but it's, you know, it's still, it was a little bit 23:00 uncomfortable seeing that scene. 23:02 So, you can imagine those first rain clouds, you know, for years 23:05 after the flood, and you would have a little bit of discomfort 23:08 with that and thinking, you know, we just came out of the 23:11 largest--I mean, it just makes every natural disaster that 23:14 we've had combined look like child's play compared to the 23:18 flood that took place back then. 23:23 And so, God gave that rainbow to remember. 23:25 This week, we're going to be looking at the great value of 23:28 remembering God's promises, His past actions, as well as the 23:32 warnings that He also gives to us, as He gave that covenant 23:37 with Israel, through the times of Moses, and so we continue to 23:43 study that covenant. 23:44 The context of Deuteronomy, once again, just in a quick review, 23:48 we have to remember that the Israelites are standing at the 23:51 promise, the border of the Promised Land. 23:53 They're on the east side of the Jordan River. 23:55 They can probably see the city and the walls of Jericho across 23:58 the river in the Promised Land. 24:01 They'd been there for a while now, for a number of days or 24:05 weeks, and Moses now is led by God to be able to give a series 24:09 of speeches before the children of Israel--before Moses goes up 24:13 on top of Mount Pisgah and meets his end and is buried by the 24:18 Lord, we find that he is called to be able to give these 24:21 speeches, and the Israelites were then to enter into the 24:23 Promised Land, finally, after 40 long years after leaving the 24:29 slavery and captivity that they had been in, in 24:33 the nation of Egypt before that. 24:37 Now, because the Bible tells us that God had, at one point, 24:40 because of the rebelliousness and the hardness of the hearts 24:44 of the first generation of Israelites that were delivered 24:47 out of Egypt, God finally said, okay, listen, enough is enough. 24:50 Any man or woman that is 20 years old or older will not 24:54 enter into the Promised Land. 24:56 You're going to wander through the wilderness for the next 40 24:59 years until everybody that's 20 or older is going to die. 25:03 And after you have met your end, then the next generation, those 25:07 who were under 20 years of age when God made this declaration, 25:11 will be able to have the opportunity to 25:12 enter the Promised Land. 25:14 Now, that brings up some very unique statistics that I never 25:17 thought of before I started studying for this week's lesson, 25:20 and that is the fact that not one Israelite was older than 60 25:25 years of age when they entered into the Promised Land. 25:28 When they crossed the Jordan River, there was no one older 25:30 than 60 years old; why? 25:32 Because everybody that was 20 or older, 40 years previous, God 25:35 said would die before they entered the Promised Land. 25:38 Now, they're just about to enter the Promised Land. 25:40 They do enter the Promised Land at the end of that 40th year, 25:42 and therefore we know for certain that everybody that was 25:45 20 years or older 40 years previous had died. 25:49 So, there's no retirees in the entire population of Israel. 25:53 Now, that's kind of fascinating. 25:56 Only those who are 40 years or older had even been in Egypt. 26:01 So, when they're about to enter and when they do cross into the 26:03 Promised Land, and when those who were listening to the 26:06 speeches of Moses, those who are 40 and older had 26:11 never even seen the land of Egypt. 26:14 They were born in the wilderness, and they were born 26:17 after they had escaped from the nation of Egypt. 26:21 Even those who were 35 to 40 years old when they 26:24 entered into the Promised Land were too young really to 26:26 have any memories of Egypt. 26:29 They were born in Egypt, the one, or two, or three, or four, 26:32 or five years before they left Egypt, but typically when we're 26:34 up to five years old, even during dramatic experiences, we 26:39 typically don't have a permanent memory of that. 26:42 Now, maybe the five-year-olds probably going to see 26:44 some of these different things, maybe there was 26:46 a couple that could remember. 26:48 But for the most part, those who were 35 and younger have no 26:53 recollection or experience with Egypt at all. 26:56 So, it's a much different generation, a much different 26:58 experience for the population that is about to enter 27:01 into the Promised Land. 27:03 Not only that, but these are fascinating and interesting with 27:05 some of these age statistics, but it seems to be another 27:09 testimony of the blessing or the curses that our choices 27:13 can bring us in this life. 27:17 You know, and, of course, that's one of the themes in 27:19 the last part of Deuteronomy. 27:20 "I have set before you a blessing and a curse." 27:24 Now, he had said that before the first generation, as well. 27:28 Now, sadly, most of that first generation that came out of 27:32 Egypt had chosen the curse. 27:34 And because of that, none of them lived past 60 years of age. 27:39 Now, 60 is not very old. 27:41 Now, you may say, "Well, in the old days they 27:42 didn't live as long," yes, they did. 27:44 Now, it's true that if you go back about 100 years, 27:46 they didn't live as long, or 200 years, because sanitation 27:48 and medicine advancements in healthcare and 27:51 so on that extend our lives. 27:53 But if you look at the bigger picture, and you go back to 27:55 Moses's day 3500 years ago, living to 100 was standard. 28:00 Living past 100 was normal, you know. 28:03 Moses lived to 120, and the Bible says that he still had 28:06 clarity of mind and eyesight. 28:08 His hair was just starting to go gray. 28:11 So, we know that living past 100 was not unusual 28:14 back in those days. 28:17 But sadly, because that generation had chosen the curse, 28:19 none of them made it past 60. 28:22 Now, it doesn't give us the details on how and why and so 28:24 on--disease, accidents, you know, plagues and so on I'm sure 28:28 was part of the picture, and we see some of those details 28:31 sometimes as God's judgment plague sometimes came upon them. 28:34 But we do know that they didn't live a very long life, did they? 28:38 Those who chose unbelief were not only robbed of entering into 28:41 an experience, the Promised Land, the paradise of Canaan, 28:45 but they also lost out on living a much longer life. 28:49 Now, this is not the fist time that the Bible reveals this. 28:53 But let's look at the context of the chapter that we're 28:56 introduced to in our study here today, 28:58 which is Deuteronomy chapter 4. 28:59 And so, you might as well get a head start and turn there. 29:01 We're going to spend some time looking at 29:03 some of the verses there. 29:05 But in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 40 it says, "You shall 29:08 therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command 29:12 you today, that it may go well with you and with your children 29:17 after you, and that you may prolong your days." 29:23 In the margin, you might have the Hebrew experts and 29:26 translators tell us that literally means to live longer, 29:29 just to make sure that it clarifies-- 29:31 "that you may live longer in the land which the 29:33 Lord your God is giving you for all time." 29:36 And so, God here is telling us that the Israelites 29:41 had the opportunity to live long, if they 29:44 only choose belief and faith. 29:45 And so, faith extends life. 29:47 Now, we even research today that verifies that, do we not? 29:50 Some of you have been exposed to that, different Christian 29:51 researchers, non-Christian research projects and so on 29:55 have revealed that those who have a faith, those who follow 29:57 God, those who pray, and attend church, and study their Bible, 30:01 they heal faster, they heal more often, and they live longer. 30:06 The Bible here is verifying that for us, as well. 30:09 God said, "Yeah, I'm behind that. 30:11 That's Me. Yeah, that was My idea." 30:16 Exodus chapter 20 and verse 12, in the heart of the Ten 30:18 Commandments, we come to the fifth Commandment, and we find 30:20 that principle revealed again. 30:23 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be 30:27 long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you." 30:31 And so, God is telling us, when we find ourselves 30:34 giving ourselves over to God in obedience, 30:37 He gives us longevity. 30:38 He says there's longevity that's connected to that. 30:41 Part of the blessing is that you get to live longer. 30:44 Okay, Joshua chapter 24, verse 29 tells us--now, Joshua and 30:50 Caleb are the only two exceptions. 30:52 When God condemned that first generation that came out of 30:54 Egypt, and he said, "Listen, none of you are going 30:57 to enter into the Promised Land. 30:58 Anybody that's 20 years or older, just forget it. 31:00 You're not going, except for Joshua and Caleb." 31:04 Some of you know the story, okay. 31:06 So those were the only two faithful. 31:07 Now, you know the story of the spies that went in and checked 31:10 out the land of Canaan, and came back, and ten were unbelieving. 31:15 They were unfaithful. 31:16 They did not trust or want to follow God. 31:19 And so, they said, "There's no way we 31:20 could take the Promised Land." 31:21 Two were faithful: Joshua and Caleb. 31:25 And so, God says, "Those are the only two exceptions. 31:28 They will enter the Promised Land." 31:30 And so, Joshua and Caleb went in. 31:31 They lived well past 60. 31:34 So, everybody else, can you imagine, all your colleagues, 31:37 all your schoolmates, your neighbors, friends that used 31:40 to--all of them die by the time they're 60. 31:43 The luckiest ones make it to 60. 31:46 Some of them I'm sure died before they reached 60. 31:51 But Caleb--I mean, Joshua is on record in Joshua 24, verse 29. 31:54 It says he lived 110 years. 31:57 Now, friends, round numbers, that's as long. 32:00 So, Joshua outlived all his fellow generation, and 32:03 neighbors, and colleagues, and school mates by two. 32:06 And we can assume that Caleb also did, as well, 32:10 lived well past 60. 32:13 Makes me wonder, what were some of the last words of the parents 32:16 who rebelled and died in the wilderness? 32:19 Because as they looked at their children, and they're on their 32:20 death bed, disease, pestilence, whatever it is that eventually 32:25 took them prematurely, and they knew why. 32:31 It makes me wonder if any of them came around and confessed 32:34 to their children and said, "Listen, you need 32:36 to do better than we did. 32:37 You need to put your faith in the Lord. 32:39 We really blew it." 32:40 I'm sure some of them did. 32:42 Sadly, a lot of them would go to the grave very obstinate, 32:45 very stubborn, very proud, as many of us do. 32:49 You know, many of us have been around the death bed of too many 32:51 people that, you know, just, you know, they just stay, they stay 32:58 stubborn right to the end. 33:00 But God doesn't want that for you and I. 33:03 God wants us to be able to be faithful, to soften our hearts, 33:06 to follow after God, amen? 33:08 Well, here we have this new generation. 33:10 They're standing on the eastern border of the Promised Land by 33:12 the Jordan River, right across from Jericho. 33:16 They're about to possess the land that is steeped in false 33:19 religions, and these false religions include idols. 33:25 You know, idolatry was the standard of the day back then. 33:29 It didn't matter what nation you went to, what city and so on. 33:31 You could travel far, east, west, north, 33:34 south, doesn't matter. 33:35 All the religions had some kind of visible representation of 33:37 their god called an idol. 33:39 They would carve it out of stone, or wood, or metal for the 33:43 wealthier cities, and nations, and so on. 33:46 And so, they would have this large, impressive-looking, 33:49 you know, well-crafted representation of 33:52 their god or their gods. 33:54 For many of them, they had plural gods. 33:56 And in the land of Canaan where Israel was about to go 33:59 and inhabit, God knew that it was steeped in these 34:04 false religions that included idolatry. 34:07 But God was calling the Israelites to be completely 34:11 different and unique from those same nations 34:15 and from their religions. 34:17 Now, the Jews had a very unique--and for the rest of the 34:20 nations would be very odd for them because if they were to 34:23 walk into the Jewish temple, their sacred temple of 34:28 religion, they would find no idol, no representation 34:31 of the God of Israel. 34:33 There would be a sacred art there, or there would be the 34:35 worshiping cherubim over the ark representing the angels of God, 34:40 but God Himself is nowhere to be seen, the form of 34:43 God, you can't touch Him. 34:46 You can't hear Him. 34:50 There's no audible voice, very unique. 34:53 And so, God knew that they would stand out, that they would be 34:55 very different, and the rest of the nations would kind of look 34:58 at them with their head cocked and sideways and saying, "What 35:01 kind of weird religion is this? 35:04 So, you have to remember that the Israelites were the 35:06 exception, and God knew that when He was sending them 35:08 into there, and He knew the dangers that 35:10 came with the cultural norm. 35:12 They knew how dangerous it was and how readily the Israelites 35:15 could find themselves being assimilated by the norm of the 35:18 culture, which is idolatry, having a visible representation 35:22 of your god, and of course a lot of the different immoral and 35:26 perverted ethical codes that came and practices that came 35:30 with those different idols and false gods, as well. 35:35 You know, it is interesting that the Israelites, even though 35:38 their God is invisible, at least for now until Jesus comes, that 35:43 even though the God of the Israelites was invisible, they 35:46 did hear their God once, did they not? 35:49 At Mount Sinai when God spoke to them the Ten Commandments out of 35:53 the fire and the thick darkness, and the earthquake, and the 35:55 thunder, and the lightning, and everything else that God had 35:58 during that very impressive milestone in which he was 36:02 sealing a covenant with Israel, with the testimony of 36:05 the Ten Commandments, the government of God at its 36:08 very base and foundation. 36:11 They heard God speak to them the greatest and most important 36:15 ethical code that mankind has ever received. 36:20 And so, that's one that the Israelites and you and I can 36:22 chalk up, that the false religions can't. 36:25 They've never heard their god. 36:26 You know, the Israelite--God spoke through 36:28 the prophets over and over. 36:29 You know, they're worshiping these idols, 36:31 these gods, these false gods. 36:33 They don't talk, they don't speak, they don't move, they 36:36 can't smell, they can't eat, they can't do anything. 36:39 They just sit there. 36:42 Isaiah used to make fun of them and say, "You know, you 36:45 carve--you get a great big old tree, and you take half the 36:48 tree, and you carve it into one of your idols, and you worship, 36:51 and you believe it's alive, and you take the rest, 36:53 and you make it into firewood." 36:56 Said, "What is that? That's illogical." 37:00 But when we're looking to escape God and His voice and 37:03 His ethics and His obedience, we'll grab onto anything, 37:07 no matter how ludicrous. 37:10 I mean, the most honest of unbelieving atheists and 37:13 evolutionists will tell you that, you know, 37:17 evolution has huge holes. 37:18 It takes massive faith, and you have to turn a 37:20 blind eye to massive holes in the theory of evolution 37:23 to be able to accept it. 37:25 Massive holes that evolutionists can't even come 37:29 close to explaining on a logical objective basis, 37:33 but that's not the point. 37:34 The point is that it's a popular escape route; because if I 37:37 accept evolution, I don't have to accept God. 37:41 Same with idolatry back then, but that's a sideline. 37:44 "Come out of them and be separate," says the Lord, 37:48 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 17. 37:50 "Come out of them and be separate." 37:53 And so, Paul here, he's speaking to the Christian generation. 37:57 He says, "Listen, even as the Israelites were called to be-- 38:00 come out and be separate, so are the Israelites also called to 38:05 come out and be separate." 38:07 God was calling a special people out of the nations back then to 38:12 be different, to represent the truth. 38:15 That's what we've been doing over the last 38:17 few weeks, have we not? 38:19 We've been giving presentations night after night and helping 38:21 people to understand that God has called us as Christians to 38:25 be different from the world. 38:27 And as we're learning from the Bible, as I did as a new 38:30 Christian when I came to a prophecy seminar like this, it 38:33 was like, you know, I'm learning that God has called me to be 38:35 much more different than I thought He did when I first came 38:38 to put my faith in Him. 38:41 You know, Christianity has been watered down, and we have 38:43 abandoned so much of Bible teaching that we're not nearly 38:45 as different as God wants us to be from the world. 38:49 "Come out of them and be separate," says the Lord. 38:53 Be different, be unique. It should be obvious. 39:00 Some of us have had neighbors for ten years and-- 39:02 I'm not speaking to you. I know you're different, 39:05 but some of us outside of our crowd here today that 39:08 have neighbors for ten years, and they still don't 39:10 even know that we're Christians. 39:13 They should know you're Christians within a week. 39:18 God calls us to be separate, to come out from among them. 39:21 Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 32. 39:23 We're going to run out of time far before we get through 39:25 all this, but that's okay. 39:26 There's always more material than we'll ever cover 39:29 in Sabbath School lesson. 39:32 That's why we do our Sabbath School lesson study 39:34 as well at home, right? 39:36 Right? Okay. 39:40 Deuteronomy chapter 4, verses 32 to 35. 39:42 We're not reading the whole passage from that day in the 39:44 lesson, but we're going to look at the key verses. 39:46 So, Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 32, it says, "For ask now 39:49 concerning the days that are past, which were before you 39:52 since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from 39:55 one end of heaven to the other whether any great thing like 39:57 this has happened or anything like it has ever been heard." 40:01 He says, "You go back to the very beginning from Adam and Eve 40:03 all the way to you and I today," Moses's day, okay, 2500 years 40:08 later and all those 2500 years of earth's history. 40:11 When Moses is making the statement, when God is speaking 40:13 to the Israelites, "Has anything this great ever happened? 40:17 Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the 40:20 midst of fires you have heard and live? 40:23 Or did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from 40:26 the midst of another nation by trials, by signs, wonders, war, 40:31 a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and by great 40:33 terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in 40:37 Egypt before your eyes? 40:40 To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord Himself 40:44 is God; there is none other besides Him." 40:48 God is speaking to the Israelites and saying, "Listen, 40:51 through the last 40 years and especially in the years that are 40:54 going to follow after you cross that Jordan River, and you find 40:57 yourself surrounded and tempted to assimilate into the religions 41:01 and the idolatry and the false doctrines and beliefs that are 41:06 being practiced there--as all that is taking place, I want you 41:09 to remember and know that there is no other God besides Me, that 41:14 all of it is counterfeit, all of it comes up empty, and the only 41:19 hope that you have is to put your faith in Me and believe 41:22 that I am the One who made heaven and earth, and I have 41:25 given you a boatload of evidence to be able to understand 41:29 and accept Me as the true God of heaven. 41:33 A boatload of evidence. 41:36 The sea was parted supernaturally 41:38 from one side to the other. 41:40 And not only that, but then I dried the ground on the bottom. 41:44 You didn't have to put your mud boots to get across like you 41:45 would think we would have to once that was freshly departed, 41:49 but no, then I went ahead and, phoo, I blew on the 41:51 ground, and I dried it up. 41:53 Solid ground as you walked across that 41:55 ocean or through that ocean. 41:59 The fire, the cloud of fire that led you day by day, through the 42:02 night when you traveled, and the cloud by day that protected you 42:06 from the hot, scorching sun during the daytime, as 42:10 you traveled, all of it supernaturally. 42:13 The manna that supernaturally, miraculously appeared day by day 42:16 on the ground before you." 42:19 God had given them a boatload of evidence to accept Him as the 42:23 true God, the only reason that they ever would've--ever, ever, 42:27 ever, ever choose to reject God is because they didn't want God. 42:30 They wanted to harden their hearts. 42:32 They loved sin more than God, and that's why God condemned 42:36 that first generation in the first place. 42:39 They had this boatload of evidence. 42:41 There was absolutely no logical, rational, objective reason that 42:46 they could even come close to grabbing onto to be able to 42:49 reject God, the God of Israel as the true God of heaven, except 42:54 for the fact that they wanted to do things their own way. 42:57 They didn't want God in their life. 42:59 They did not want to acknowledge God in their heart, as Paul had 43:01 written in Romans chapter 1. 43:04 Hebrews chapter 3 and verses 15 to 16, it says, 43:08 "While it is said, 'Today, if you will hear His voice, 43:11 do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.'" 43:14 What rebellion? "For who having heard rebelled." 43:18 The question is asked, 43:19 "Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses?" 43:22 And so, Paul here in Hebrews, in the New Testament, is testifying 43:25 and clarifying, confirming indeed that the only reason that 43:29 that generation was condemned that was 20 years or older, "The 43:31 only reason," God says, "you're going to die in the wilderness a 43:34 premature early death and never enter the Promised Land is 43:37 because you hardened your heart. 43:40 You refused to accept the God of heaven in your heart. 43:44 Not only did I give you physical evidence to be able to accept Me 43:48 and know that I am the only true God and there is none besides 43:51 Me, but I have given you a boatload of evidence that I am a 43:54 God of kindness, and of mercy, and of love, and I have nothing 43:58 more than your best interest in mind." 44:01 Can you say amen? 44:03 And so, God is calling to us again today. 44:06 And we need to close. 44:08 Revelation chapter 12 and verse 11, it says, "They overcame him 44:11 by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony." 44:16 And at the end of that same chapter in verse 17, it says 44:20 that, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and have 44:23 the testimony of Jesus Christ." 44:25 Friends, we want to be part of that last day people that have 44:28 the testimony of God, and keep the commandments of God, and 44:32 have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 44:33 Revelation chapter 14, in the last verse--or verse 12. 44:38 Revelation 14, verse 12, it says, "Here is 44:41 the patience of the saints. 44:42 Here are those who keep the commandments of God and 44:46 have the faith of Jesus Christ. 44:49 That's the part that we want to be in. 44:51 May God bless you. 44:52 We look forward to having you again next week. 44:54 We're going to come together for our Bible study, and the Bible 44:58 study--"Sabbath School Study Hour," I should say. 45:01 And if you haven't taken advantage of our free offer, 45:03 please take advantage of that, even today, and it's entitled, 45:07 "Spiritual Israel." 45:08 What does the New Testament teach concerning Israel? 45:11 How are we involved in that, and how should we be involved in it? 45:13 Very important in these last days. 45:15 Free offer number 174. This is the number you ask for. 45:19 1-866-788-3966. Please take advantage of that. 45:23 Call in if you're in the US territories 45:26 or in continental USA or Canada, 45:29 and we'll be happy to send that out to you. 45:31 Until next time, God bless you. 45:35 announcer: Don't forget to request today's 45:37 life-changing free resource. 45:39 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 45:41 download a digital copy straight to your 45:43 computer or mobile device. 45:45 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 45:48 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the 45:52 web address shown on your screen. 45:54 And be sure to select the digital download 45:56 option on the request page. 45:58 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 46:01 Amazing Facts wherever and whenever you want. 46:05 And most important, to share it with others. 46:13 announcer: Amazing Facts, changed lives. 46:21 Brian: It was ongoing with me. I would get up and drink. 46:25 I would go to work and drink. 46:27 I would come home and drink. 46:28 And that was--that was my way of life. 46:31 I had an older sister, and in 2008, we received a phone call 46:36 from her husband saying that she was involved in a very serious 46:39 home accident. 46:41 She had fallen outside on her patio. 46:44 It was a concrete patio, and she hit her head because she was in 46:49 a drunken stupor. 46:51 And she needed emergency brain surgery because of the trauma 46:54 that she had suffered. 46:56 And so, they were able to stop the bleeding in her brain, but 47:00 her organs started shutting down one by one. 47:03 So here I was, you know, hadn't had a drink, being a full blown 47:07 alcoholic myself, hadn't had a drink in probably a full day, 47:12 which was, you know, a lifetime for me. 47:14 And during the time we were watching there and they said 47:16 that she wasn't going to make it, and we had made the decision 47:19 as a group, you know, with her children present and her husband 47:21 that they were just going to go ahead and pull the plug. 47:25 During that time, watching her fade away, God forgive me, but I 47:28 sat there asking her to die fast so I could go get a drink. 47:35 And you know, I didn't even see it then, I didn't see how bad I 47:39 was at that time. 47:40 But you know, I look back at it now and it just tears me up. 47:46 Alcohol, that's what it does to you. 47:49 I was walking out to go to work one morning with my breakfast, 47:52 which was a six pack of beer. 47:55 And as I was climbing into my truck, it just hit me that it 47:59 was enough. 48:02 So I turned around, I took the six pack of beer, and I threw it 48:05 in the trash can, and I went and told my wife I needed help. 48:09 And there's two things I never do, ask for help and throw 48:11 away beer. 48:14 And you know, thank God I was able to do both. 48:17 Well, when I finally got to the hospital, and they came and got 48:21 me and took me in. 48:24 And when they did a blood alcohol on me, they had to do it 48:26 twice because they weren't quite sure it was right, but it 48:29 was 0.38. 48:32 They were all amazed I was even able to walk in there, let 48:34 alone, you know, being conscious. 48:37 It was about two months after I'd got out of treatment and 48:39 starting my fresh life. 48:41 I had left home, left my wife, and I was going to start my new 48:44 life of sobriety, and she wasn't going to be a part of it. 48:47 So I moved out and I was on my way to the store one morning 48:50 when I was T-boned, broadsided by an oncoming SUV on the 48:56 driver's side door of my truck. 48:59 And this driver was doing an estimated 65 to 70 miles 49:02 an hour. 49:04 And he smacked on my side of the door. 49:06 I woke up in the passenger seat of the truck. 49:09 And I remember coming to and hearing people standing outside, 49:13 "Look, he's still alive." 49:15 There was hairline fractures in my pelvis and there was a 49:18 compression fracture in my spine. 49:20 And so, on all intents and purposes, I walked away from an 49:23 accident I had no business living. 49:26 Well, with a broken back, I wasn't allowed to be vertical 49:28 for but very short periods of time. 49:31 And I wasn't very mobile with a fractured pelvis, so I was 49:35 forced to move back home. 49:39 And you know, thank God I've got a stubborn wife who was willing 49:42 to take me back and put up with all this. 49:46 During my recovery, the only thing I could really do was 49:48 watch television. 49:50 And so, as I was thumbing through the channels, I noticed 49:53 a gentleman. 49:55 And I happened to stop because he was proclaiming that you 49:58 can't prove biblically that the Sabbath was changed from 50:01 Saturday to Sunday and that it's not biblical. 50:04 I thought, "Well, you know what, I think I can do this." 50:08 You know, so I took up my Bible and I did something strange to 50:11 me, which was actually study. 50:14 You know, and over the course of several months of watching this 50:17 man, who I would later discover was Pastor Doug Batchelor, I 50:21 started trying to disprove everything he was saying. 50:26 And the more I read and the more I studied, the more I found out 50:30 that not only could I not disprove it, I was believing it. 50:36 I realized it was the truth. 50:38 Then I started soaking up everything that "Amazing Facts" 50:41 had--I was at their website, you know, doing all the reading, 50:43 I was looking at the Sabbath truths. 50:45 I was, you know, downloading, streaming everything they had, 50:48 and I was really, really getting it, and it helped me so much. 50:52 Over a process of about three months while studying, you know, 50:57 with Doug Batchelor and the "Amazing Facts" team and then, 51:00 you know, of course my Bible. 51:02 But over that three months, I had fallen in love with Christ 51:06 like I had never had before. 51:08 And not only was my back and my pelvis healed, but my soul 51:11 was healed. 51:13 And I experienced an emotional and a mental healing that, you 51:19 know, I had been longing for, for years. 51:24 I've got to do something. 51:26 What do I do next? 51:28 So, I looked up in the phone book and I found the number for 51:29 the local pastor. 51:31 I called him and I said, "Hi, my name is Brian, I've just 51:33 been converted. 51:34 Where do I go?" 51:36 And the poor guy was like, "Brian, it's nice to meet you. 51:39 Converted from what and go where?" 51:42 I said, "That's what I want to know." 51:44 But we had a little laugh over that and he thought it 51:46 was funny. 51:47 And before we knew it, I was, you know, heart and soul into 51:50 this little church. 51:52 And I was studying with the pastor and decided, you know, I 51:56 want to be baptized, I want to be rebaptized. 51:59 And we thought, "Great." 52:01 So, I did some study, and we agreed that I was going to be 52:06 baptized on this date. 52:08 Well, the next morning, my wife asked me and said, "You realize 52:10 what day this is?" 52:12 I said, "Well, it's Sabbath." 52:14 And you know, Sabbath was amazing in itself, but she said, 52:17 "Look at the calendar." 52:19 And when I looked at the calendar, on that day was my one 52:21 year anniversary of my sobriety. 52:24 I was being baptized one year after being sober. 52:27 And I just thought, you know, there's no such thing 52:29 as coincidence. 52:31 That was just amazing God would work that for me. 52:33 God has done amazing things with my life, and I have to give Him, 52:36 you know, all the credit because short of just responding, you 52:43 know, I've done nothing. 52:45 And it's been Him, and it's just pleasure, absolute pleasure be 52:48 called a child of God. 52:52 I am really thankful that God used "Amazing Facts" television 52:55 program and Pastor Doug Batchelor to make a change in 52:58 my life. 53:04 announcer: Together, we have spread the gospel much 53:06 farther than ever before. 53:09 Thank you for your support. 53:19 announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. 53:27 Daryl: I live in a neighborhood in northwest DC in 53:29 a neighborhood called Petworth. 53:31 I went to a private school, and I didn't fit in well at school 53:33 because I was from an inner-city neighborhood. 53:35 I didn't fit in well at home because I 53:36 went to a private school. 53:37 I've always been a people pleaser, so I 53:39 would do what they did. 53:41 And if they started drinking, I started drinking. 53:44 They started smoking marijuana, I smoked marijuana. 53:47 Once I became aware of girls and what male-female relationships 53:52 were all about, I was off to the races with these guys. 53:54 So, we started partying every weekend, and we'd stay out 53:57 until all hours of the evening. 53:58 My homework didn't get done. 54:00 My grades suffered because of it. 54:02 As soon as I went to college at a Catholic university 54:05 here, I started smoking hashish, and back in those 54:09 days you could smoke in class. 54:11 I loved the way it made me feel. 54:13 I didn't have to worry about how I fit in. 54:16 It was fun. People liked to hang with me. 54:19 I was kind of the life of the party. 54:21 I came out of my shell. 54:22 And shortly thereafter, in my mid-20s, I was working at one of 54:25 the biggest computer companies. 54:27 After graduating college, I was at one of the biggest computer 54:29 companies on the planet at the time. 54:31 And I had money, I had women, I had, you know, 54:36 a car every two years. 54:37 My job performance started to suffer. 54:40 Nothing else was the same in my life. 54:43 I started missing work. 54:44 I would get hired, maybe even be promoted. 54:48 I did really well. 54:49 Three or four months in, five months in, say, four to six 54:53 months, I would lose a job. 54:54 I've forgotten more jobs than I can remember. 54:57 I needed to smoke on a daily basis all day, every 55:01 day, and that cost money. 55:03 So, then, I started getting into stealing. 55:07 I'm stealing from family and friends. 55:09 And when that ran out and people were not trusting 55:12 me anymore, I started to rob people. 55:16 My family didn't want anything to do with me. 55:18 My friends didn't want anything to do with me. 55:19 When I called people, they didn't answer the phone. 55:21 When I knocked on the door, they didn't answer the door. 55:23 I purchased a house, and a young lady and I purchased it 55:26 together, and we were going to move in together, and that fell 55:29 by the wayside because I started smoking, and I started taking 55:33 things from the house and selling them. 55:35 I started taking her personal items and selling them. 55:37 I started stealing from her purse. 55:40 I started stealing from stores. 55:44 Pizza delivery guys were like an ATM. 55:47 Nothing mattered. 55:48 I've been homeless about four or five times in my 55:51 life, and each time was drug related. 55:54 Each time, I chose to do drugs rather than to live with this 55:58 person, whoever it was I was dating. 56:02 During all this time, my sister and her family, they would 56:05 engage me, they were taking me to church. 56:07 I met this woman who happened to be going to my church, and I 56:10 didn't even know it, and she was taking Bible studies from her 56:13 brother-in-law and her sister, who were church leaders. 56:16 They heard about a seminar by Doug Batchelor and Amazing Facts 56:19 called "The Prophecy Code." 56:21 I learned about the true meaning of the Sabbath. 56:24 I learned about my health issues and how diet and exercise can 56:30 positively affect my health and my well-being. 56:33 I learned about forgiveness from God. 56:37 For me, I took to Pastor Doug right away because of the way 56:41 he spoke, his cadence, the way he talked was so-- 56:45 it was just like he was talking to me. 56:48 He gave out his book, "The Richest Caveman." 56:51 And when I read that book, I was astonished, 56:54 all the things he had been through. 56:57 His story was not exactly like mine, but it 57:00 was a lot like mine. 57:01 I just identified with it right from the start. 57:04 I thank God that I went to the Prophecy Code Seminar. 57:08 It was my introduction to the truth, and I even go to 57:12 YouTube and catch some of the other seminars that 57:15 they've had, you know, over the years. 57:19 And I do it because I still feel a connection. 57:21 It's like my roots. 57:22 It's like my foundation was built on Amazing Facts. 57:25 And I like the free offers they give. 57:27 I can imagine the call-taker on the other end when 57:29 I call the 800 number. 57:31 "Hi, Daryl, how are you? 57:33 Which free gift would you like today?" 57:35 I can't imagine life without getting those free offers 57:38 because those books are so well-written, 57:40 just like they're written for me. 57:41 I really do appreciate Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug 57:43 Batchelor because they brought-- they helped bring me 57:45 to where I am today. 57:47 My name is Daryl. 57:49 You and Amazing Facts have changed my life. 57:53 ♪♪♪ 58:03 ♪♪♪ 58:13 ♪♪♪ 58:22 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2021-11-24