Picking up with our last thought.
Genesis 33:18-20
"And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. (That is of Shechem.) And he bought (now watch this all carefully) a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for an hundred pieces of money. And he erected there an altar, and called it El-el-o-he - Israel."
In other words, a recognition of Yehovah the “el” signifies this. All right now, let’s jump over to the last verses of Joshua chapter 24. Now you can see why I left Hebrews when it spoke of Joseph’s bones because here it is.
Joshua 24:29
"And it came to pass after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old."
Now remember the history here. When Israel came into the land of Canaan, Moses had died and Joshua picked up the leadership. And Joshua, I think, ruled the Nation of Israel something like 26 years, if I’m not mistaken. Not a long, long time. But anyhow, at the end of Joshua’s life, then, he dies being 110 years old.
Joshua 24:30-32
"And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in mount Ephraim on the north side of the hill of Gaash. And Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that he had done for Israel.(now here it comes) And the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of silver: and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph."
Do you see why I stopped in Genesis 33. Same piece of ground. It’s still recognized as belonging to the children of Joseph the Hebrew and in that piece of ground they buried the bones of Joseph, see? It became the inheritance, then, of the children of Joseph. And there’s nothing, nothing to abrogate that. It’s still valid. It’s still their deeded property. They bought it, they paid money for it. All right, so that’s the present day city in Israel of Nablus. Watch for Nablus in the News. Every once in a while there’s another bombing. There’s another shooting. Whatever. Because it’s a point of controversy. Now, who is the progenitor of every point of controversy? The Devil. That’s Satan’s work. He works through the Canaanites, Ishmael, Esau and all those of mixed ethnicity who are descendents of those who were not destroyed as directed by God. All right so we’ve got two of them covered. Hebron, Abraham bought it. Nablus, Jacob bought it.
Now for Jerusalem. Let’s now jump all the way up to II Samuel chapter 24, and let’s start at verse 18. Now David is king. And of course, early in David’s reign, Hebron was his capital. Then he moved the capital from Hebron up to Jerusalem and this is the beginning of that.
II Samuel 24:18
"And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto the LORD in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite."
Remember the Jebusites lived in the area of what is now Jerusalem.
II Samuel 24:19-21
"And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as the LORD commanded. And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. And Araunah said, 'Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant?' And David said, 'To buy the threshingfloor of thee, to build an altar unto the LORD, that the plague may be stayed from the people.'"
Now of course, at this time there was a plague on Israel for its rebellious act. Now verse 22.
II Samuel 24:22-25
"And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king, (David). And Araunah said unto the king, The LORD thy God accept thee. And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the LORD was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."
First did you hear what David told Araunah? That he could not offer to his God nothing that he did not own or have possession of, he could not make use of the land because it to did not belong to him. All right, what spot is this threshingfloor? Well, it’s the Temple Mount, today. It’s where the Temple was built years later under Solomon. So here again, we’ve got a piece of property that was bought and paid for (by David in this case), which today is one of the disputed places in our everyday news – Jerusalem, the Temple Mount, the Mt Moriah of Abraham's day. And all these things just simply scream at us that if people would just simply know and believe the Word of God, we wouldn’t have any problems. But the world won’t do it. The Arabs won’t. The UN won’t. Western Europe won’t. Even the Religious of our society called "Christians" don't believe just as the many of Judaism don't. And so, it’ll just continue to deteriorate of course, until the King of Kings comes and you know, when you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, what are you praying for? For the Lord the Prince of Peace, come. Jerusalem will know no peace until Christ returns. It’s going to be a point of controversy and the releasing of God's wrath right up until the Second Coming itself.
Well, come back to where we left off in Hebrews chapter 11. Now we’ll pick up another one of our faith people in Moses. What a place of instruction again. Now, I’ve got to remind you. Why do we study these Old Testament things? They’re for our learning. I can’t take you back here in Genesis and show you the plan of salvation, no more than I can do it in Hebrews. But oh, you can sure learn a lot. How that all of the workings of God have been coming down human history bringing us to the time of Christ and His finished work of the cross. Where God judged humanity and found it and all Religion wanting and bankrupt because of idolatry. Then the appearance of the Apostle Paul and the revelations that give us the kingdom made manifest, through the Gospel of the Grace of God. The New Covenant though not labeled Grace is Grace's activity within the hearts of those who answer the call, in God's proper fashion. Those clothed in Christ made ready to receive God, as God. The gospel based on the work of the cross, the “it is finished!” with its hidden purposes and meanings for both us and the Hebrews.
You know, that reminds me - I’ve said, I won’t attack people. I don’t attack names, or groups or anything like that. But once in a while I read things that just curl my hair. And one of them was early this morning - I was reading from a gentleman that is no longer alive, a well-known highly respected Bible scholar and he was pointing out that Jesus and the Twelve preached the same Gospel of salvation that Paul did. And oh, my toes just doubled up in my boots! How can they say something like that when Paul’s Gospel says, "Christ died for you and rose from the dead." Could they preach that before it ever happened? NO! See that’s my question. How could they preach death, burial and resurrection back here in His earthly ministry? They couldn’t, and they didn’t! Even after His resurrection and ascension they had no idea of what the “It is finished” meant. Or how they were related to it, even after Pentecost they had no idea. Just as the worlds Religion and its related theologians don't to this very day!
Some people like to tell me, well, they must have known. No! They didn’t know. Luke 18 and others, are just as plain as day that they didn’t know. The Lord says in those verses, "We go up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets will be accomplished. He will be scourged. He will be beaten. He’ll be put to death and the third day He will rise again from the dead." So far so good. But what does the next verse say? Most of you know. "And they knew none of these things, because it was hid from them." So the Twelve didn’t know, and if they didn’t know what He was talking about in those verses, how could they have preached it?
See what I’m saying? How could they preach death, burial and resurrection when they had no idea that it was going to happen. And then they tell me that they preached the same salvation message that Paul preached. NO, they did not! You see why I get a little up tight? Common sense tells me they couldn’t preach Paul’s Gospel of salvation, because all of Paul’s Gospel was resting on that death, burial and resurrection. Now the “it is finished” of the cross. How can you preach something that hasn’t happened? Well you can’t. And they didn’t! They had NO knowledge of the things God was about to bring about by His judging of Israel's then defunct Religion and Israel Idolatries and indeed all Religious Idolatry! Now back to Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews 11:23
"By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment."
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