Podcasts about in egypt

The Blue Origin New Shepherd flight, with an all-female crew, launched on April 14, 2025. From launch to return, conspiracies exploded all over the Internet with claims that the rocket was fake, the return capsule was fake, it was all staged, space isn't real, and so on. Author and model Emily Ratajkowski made it political, saying: "It just speaks to the fact that we are absolutely living in an oligarchy where there is a small group of people who are interested in going to space for the sake of getting a new lease on life while the rest of the population, most people on planet Earth, are worried about paying rent or having dinner for their kids.” And she is correct in a way, additionallu since Kalpana Chawla and Sally Ride seem to be ignored as pioneers of women in space. Rather than discussing such things, perhaps we should look at the significance of the names, dates, and symbols involved instead.Preparations for the flight were lengthy, but pre-flight would have begun on Palm Sunday, with the actual launch and return occurring on Holy Monday. As with the return of spring and resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday, both relating to death, life, and rebirth, so too does the Blue Origin capsule and mission exemplify these characteristics - from the all female crew to the messages of unity and peace displayed from start to finish, and finally to the nature of the rocket itself, which resembles an erect penis with exaggerated head. This penis projectile penetrated the blue above with its white sperm-head load being returned to the ground below at the onset of spring. The capsule carrying the women was named New Shepherd, a moniker of Jesus Christ (“I am the good shepherd” - John 10:11) and various other deities such as Orpheus and Hermes-Mercury (guide of souls known as Good Shepherd), who held sacred The Path. These shepherds or civilizers included Quetzalcoatl, and Osiris, or the green god of Egypt. It was Osiris who presided over the Hall of Judgement in the underworld, a place where the deceased's heart was weighted against the feather (often blue) of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice. If the heart weighed more, being heavy with desire, it was consumed by the beast Ammit, but if the feather, or soul, weighed more, then it was set free with eternal life and granted passaged to the Field of Reeds. Although such Egyptian reeds to do not grow in Texas, similar plants and reeds do, which is a critical detail because this is where the spent white (sperm) capsule returned to earth. The logo of Blue Origin is also a blue feather, which shares something in common with the former Twitter-X logo and the alternative Blue Sky butterfly logo. One of the most famous people inside the capsule was Katy Perry, who had the nickname of “feather” since childhood, something not overlooked as she wore the blue feather on her suit during the mission. As seen in her Dark Horse video and in a 2019 social media post, Perry often references Egyptian mythology, and particularly that the heart should be lighter than a feather. Symbol dictionaries will tell us that a bird represents thought, imagination, synthesis, and sublimation. In Egypt, the bird was BA - the soul. A blue bird in particular is a representation of pure ideas. Blue butterflies represent transformation and new life, i.e., spring. In Greek mythology, the butterfly famously refers to the soul or mind, hence its name psyche.Perry is also on the New Shepherd video holding both a blue butterfly in one shot and a white daisy in another shot. These flowers represent much the same thing butterflies and birds symbolize, though they have a direct connection to the Norse goddess Freya, for whom Friday (Good Friday) is named. Furthermore, in Christian symbolism, a white daisy is the flower of the Virgin Mary, which historically has been a title and a surname of magdal-elder, meaning Watchtower of the Flock, the same flock the shepherd watches over. The Irish goddess Brigid (also Brighid) presided over the festival of Imbolc, an early spring holy day celebrating the end of winter. Known as the Exalted One, she was a goddess of healing, fertility, and birth. From The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology, authors Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm confirm this: “Brigid, sometimes known as Brigit, was a goddess of healing and fertility who was believed to assist women in labour.” Spring is, of course, when the earth is reborn. Some have pointed out that the NS-31 logo can be inverted to show not a spaceship but a goat head, which is perhaps one of the most misunderstood symbols in the western world. The goat is Capricorn, Pan, Cernunnos, and various other characters with horns and features that remind many of the Devil, largely due to the usage of goats for the relieving of sin - scapegoats (Leviticus 16:8-10). It is from the goat horns that we get the term “horny,” yet another reference to sexuality and reproduction.  It is therefore no surprise that Jack Parsons, the infamous rocket engineer, invoked the name of the Greek god Pan before most rocket tests. Pan is a fertility god, and his invocation provides fertility for the test, the sexual imagery of the rocket itself, and so on. *The is the FREE archive, which includes advertisements. If you want an ad-free experience, you can subscribe below underneath the show description.-FREE ARCHIVE (w. ads)SUBSCRIPTION ARCHIVEX / TWITTER FACEBOOKYOUTUBEMAIN WEBSITECashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-secret-teachings--5328407/support.

So 2024 was packed with wild archaeological discoveries that totally shook up what we thought we knew. One of the coolest? The "Blinkerwall" — an underwater structure in the Baltic Sea that's over 10,000 years old and might've been a reindeer trap built by ancient hunter-gatherers. Researchers also found an ancient Chinese city that was way more advanced than expected, complete with surprisingly modern-looking infrastructure. In Egypt, new tombs revealed some unusual burial practices and artifacts we've never seen before. And in South America, a strange network of stone lines turned out to be part of an ancient communication system. It's been a year of serious "wait, what?!" moments in archaeology. Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... Dodecahedron Aventicum: By Woudloper, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Pentdod gruen neu anim: By Lokilech, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index... Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music from TheSoul Sound: https://thesoul-sound.com/ Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD... Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook:   / brightside   Instagram:   / brightside.official   TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.of... Telegram: https://t.me/bright_side_official Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This video is made for entertainment purposes. We do not make any warranties about the completeness, safety and reliability. Any action you take upon the information in this video is strictly at your own risk, and we will not be liable for any damages or losses. It is the viewer's responsibility to use judgement, care and precaution if you plan to replicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fleeing the tyrannical dictatorship of Egypt, the Israelites voluntarily enter into a covenant with God to create a new nation, different from everything the world had ever known. In Egypt, like in many nations, power was concentrated into the hands of the few while the many were enslaved. But God calls us to embody a wholly different world, shaped by philosophical, political, theological and legal guidelines that create a just, good, and merciful society. The covenant at Sinai shaped ancient Israel and everyone who passed through on the way. The Sinai covenant shaped Jesus and brought him into conflict with the tyrannical powers of his day. Sinai is the birthplace of the politics of freedom. Freedom from tyranny and freedom for a worldwide good.

“40 Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years. 41 And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years-on that very same day-it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the Land of Egypt.” Exodus 12:40-41the great escape of Exodus was not a random event, but a prophetic declarative promise for our own salvation “12 But the more they (Egyptians) afflicted them, the more they (Israelites) multiplied and grew”. Exodus 1:12Moses was born in a time when the powers at be (Pharaoh) tried to extinguish God's promised people by killing every male infant (Exodus 1:15) Like Moses, Jesus was born in a time when the powers at be (King Herod) tried to extinguish the promised messiah by killing every male infant (Matthew 2:13-16)“11Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.” Exodus 2:11-12“24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.” Hebrews 11:24-26Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death-even death on a cross!” Phil 2:6-8“Moses tried to do the Lord's work in man's wisdom and power and it didn't work”- David Guzik“23Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 25 For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand.” Acts 7:23-25“In Egypt, Moses learned to be somebody; In Midian, Moses learned to be nobody”- David Guzik.“23Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. 24 So God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 And God acknowledged them.” Exodus 2:23-25“6Moreover He said, ‘I am the God of your father-the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.'” Exodus 3:6-10“1Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.' 2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: ‘I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name LORD I was not known to them….6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: I am the LORD; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 I will take you as My people and I will be your God. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.'” Exodus 6:1-2,6-7“Outstretched arms” means God's sovereign involvement to bring a complete deliverance and redemption“The plagues God brought against Egypt has a definite strategy and purpose. Each of them confronts and attacks a prized Egyptian deity. Not only did they bring punishment against Egypt, the plagues also answered Pharaoh's original question: Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? God used this series of plagues to glorify Himself (especially above the gods, of the Egyptians) and to give Pharaoh a chance to repent.”- David Guzik“An inscription by a Pharaoh on an ancient Egyptian temple gives the idea: ‘I am that which was, and is, and shall be, and no man has lifted my veil'. Pharaoh believed himself to be more than a man he considered himself a god, and the Egyptians agreed.”- David Guzik“ ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega', says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.'” Rev 1:8PLAGUES vs EGYPTAIN GODS1)Water turned to blood - Hapi (God of Nile)2)Frogs from the Nile - Heket (goddess of fertility; head of frog)3)Lice from dust of earth - Geb (god over dust of the earth)4)Swarms of flies - Khepri (god of creation; head of fly)5)Death of cattle and livestock - Hathor (goddess of love; head of cow)6)Ashes turned to boils and sores - Isis (goddess of medicine and peace)7)Hail rained down in form of fire - Nut (goddess of the sky)8)Locusts sent from the sky - Seth (god of storms and disorder)9)3 days of complete/felt darkness - Ra (the sun god)10)death of the firstborn - Pharaoh (ultimate power of Egypt)“Pharaoh is grieved at the consequences of sin, but not sin itself”- David GuzikIn this Passover, “The blood of the lamb was essential to what God required. If an Israelite home didn't believe in the power of the blood of the lamb, they could sacrifice the lamb and eat it, but they would still be visited by judgement. If an Egyptian home did believe in the power of the blood of the lamb, and made a proper Passover sacrifice, they would be spared the judgement. An intellectual agreement with what God said about the blood was not enough; they actually had to do what God said must be done with the blood.” -David Guzik“God was manifest in the flesh…” 1 Tim 3:16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” John 3:16“40...

Bible history; Hebrew source; Creative translating; Double letters in Hebrew; Strong's concordance; Hebrew letters have meaning; Overcoming confusion; Servants in the household; Arts of the Temple; Shepherds in Goshen; Storing grain; In Egypt, and in USA; Joseph's foresight; Gen 47:1; "Father" = "ab"; "Occupation?"; "Servant" ayin-biet-dalet+(yod+kof); Herdsmen; Learning lessons - to be Israel; The "Way" of Christ; "Sojourn" vs "Dwell" = "yod-shen-biet"; Pharaoh hiring Israel; "Ruler" = "shin-resh"; Long lifespans; Ruben's realization; Hearing the cries of your brothers; Listening with Holy Spirit; Social safety net?; "Temples"; Central treasuries?; Operating by faith, hope and charity; "Money" failed; "Dollar"; Barter?; Portable wealth; History of money; Commodity money; Lev 19:36; Just weights and measures; "Minting"; Stanley vs White; Debts; Natural Law; Promises to pay?; Cattle for bread?; "(vav+tav)+tav-mem"; Trading your body; Bodies and land as servants for Pharaoh; Cities?; Abraham's land?; Cemeteries; Precious metals; Clay money?; Temple of Juno Moneta; Civil law; "Pacta Servanda Sunt" [sic]; Pharaoh's accumulation of wealth; v24 - 20% tax on labor; Joseph's deal; Pharaoh's grain; Golden calves; Altars; Bondage of Egypt; Daily bread; "Leaven"; Metaphor; Jacob's age; Death of Israel?; Symbology; Joseph's understanding; Gen 13:2; Household inclusions; Dept of Agriculture; Gen 24:35; Gen 23:16; Present value; Ezra 8:25; Ex 20:23 "gods"; Prov 1:14 One purse; Ex 23:3 Golden calf; Prov 3:9 first fruits; Forced offerings; Welfare snares; Legal Charity; Continuous servants; Peace.

Luke 12:11 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of peoplehad gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say toHis disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees,which is hypocrisy. Today, before we begin looking into Luke 12, I want to giveyou a special invitation to join me and my son, Jonathan Grooms, the presidentof Global Partners in Peace and Development, for an unforgettable journeythrough Jordan & Egypt on a special tour we have planned for this fall, October14-25, 2025!  We will experience seeingand walking through the lands where Jacob wrestled with God, where Moses ledhis people out of Egypt and through the wilderness, where Mary, Joseph andJesus sought refuge.  Imagine exploring the ancient Pyramids, wandering throughthe lost city of Petra, riding through the stunning Wadi Rum desert, and beingbaptized in the Jordan River—all while walking in the footsteps of biblicalhistory!  Our tour highlights will include: In Jordan we will visit: Jerash, Amman Citadel, RomanAmphitheatre, view the Dead Sea Scrolls, Mt. Nebo, Tank and Automobile Museum,Jesus' Baptist Site, float in the Dead Sea, Petra, Wadi Rum Desert Tour, andrelax or swim at the Red Sea.In Egypt we will visit the Pyramids, Sphinx, Grand EgyptianMuseum, Nile River Cruise, old Cairo, Coptic Churches, Memphis, and much more! Beyond the incredible sights, you'll have the chance tomeet Iraqi and Syrian refugees, hear their stories, and encourage the dedicatedpeople serving them with love and hope.  This trip is about more than just seeing the world—it'sabout making a difference, deepening your faith, and experiencing God's work inpowerful ways. Are you ready to be a part of this life-changing journey? You can find all the details and sign-up at: www.gpartners.org/tour Now back to Luke! You might have noticed that we didn'tfinish the last two verses of Luke 11. After Jesus' scathing rebuke and condemnationupon the Pharisees and the Lawyers, it appears instead of repenting and seekingHis mercy, they were overcome with rage and anger. Hypocrites do not want theirsins exposed; it hurts their reputation. They deliberately began to attack Himwith "catch questions" in hopes they could trap Him in some heresyand then arrest Him. What a disgraceful way to treat the Son of God. Verse 53 says: “The Lawyers and the Pharisees began toassail Him vehemently”. I can only imagine that they are shouting andyelling at Him very loudly! There was already a crowd outside and maybe Jesusis trying to leave the house with His disciples, but the commotion is so loudthat the crowd grows larger so that, according to Luke 12:1, they are tramplingupon one another.  We are not sure where Jesus was at this time but according toLuke 9:51, He had set His face to go to Jerusalem and it appears that He wassomewhere in the region of Samaria that was between Galilee and the city ofJerusalem. Remember also at this time, Jesus has been ministering and healingpeople for over three years. Hundreds and most likely thousands of blind peoplehave received their sight, the lame and sick have been healed, and hungry peoplehave been miraculously fed! The crowds want to see more miracles and they arecurious with all the commotion going on. Yet with all this happening, Jesus turns His attention toHis disciples and warns them to “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, whichis hypocrisy”. Not only can the religious leaders have a problem with hypocrisy,but the close followers of Jesus can face the same temptation. If we are not careful,we can become “pretenders” trying to get people to think better of us than wereally are.  May the Lord help us today to heed His warning of hypocrisyin our own lives. God bless!

Fines of Favoritism - Incorporating DisenfranchisementWebsite: http://www.battle4freedom.com/Network: https://www.mojo50.comStreaming: https://www.rumble.com/Battle4Freedomhttps://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%202%3A8-9&version=CJBJames 2:8-9If you truly attain the goal of Kingdom Torah, in conformity with the passage that says, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing well. But if you show favoritism, your actions constitute sin, since you are convicted under the Torah as transgressors.Genesis 37:1 Ya`akov continued living in the land where his father had lived as a foreigner, the land of Kena`an.Genesis 37:2 Here is the history of Ya`akov. When Yosef was seventeen years old he used to pasture the flock with his brothers, even though he was still a boy. Once when he was with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father`s wives, he brought a bad report about them to their father. 3 Now Isra`el loved Yosef the most of all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a long-sleeved robe. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they began to hate him and reached the point where they couldn`t even talk with him in a civil manner.Genesis 37:5 Yosef had a dream which he told his brothers, and that made them hate him all the more. 6 He said to them, "Listen while I tell you about this dream of mine. 7 We were tying up bundles of wheat in the field when suddenly my bundle got up by itself and stood upright; then your bundles came, gathered around mine and prostrated themselves before it." 8 His brothers retorted, "Yes, you will certainly be our king. You`ll do a great job of bossing us around!" And they hated him still more for his dreams and for what he said.Genesis 37:9 He had another dream which he told his brothers: "Here, I had another dream, and there were the sun, the moon and eleven stars prostrating themselves before me." 10 He told his father too, as well as his brothers, but his father rebuked him: "What is this dream you have had? Do you really expect me, your mother and your brothers to come and prostrate ourselves before you on the ground?" 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.Genesis 37:12 After this, when his brothers had gone to pasture their father`s sheep in Sh`khem, 13 Isra`el asked Yosef, "Aren`t your brothers pasturing the sheep in Sh`khem? Come, I will send you to them." He answered, "Here I am." 14 He said to him, "Go now, see whether things are going well with your brothers and with the sheep, and bring word back to me." So he sent him away from the Hevron Valley, and he went to Sh`khem, 15 where a man found him wandering around in the countryside. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?" 16 "I`m looking for my brothers," he answered. "Tell me, please, where are they pasturing the sheep?" 17 The man said, "They`ve left here; because I heard them say, `Let`s go to Dotan.`" Yosef went after his brothers and found them in Dotan.Genesis 37:18 They spotted him in the distance, and before he had arrived where they were, they had already plotted to kill him. 19 They said to each other, "Look, this dreamer is coming! 20 So come now, let`s kill him and throw him into one of these water cisterns here. Then we`ll say some wild animal devoured him. We`ll see then what becomes of his dreams!" 21 But when Re`uven heard this, he saved him from being destroyed by them. He said, "We shouldn`t take his life. 22 Don`t shed blood," Re`uven added. "Throw him into this cistern here in the wilds, but don`t lay hands on him yourselves." He intended to rescue him from them later and restore him to his father.Genesis 37:23 So it was that when Yosef arrived to be with his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the long-sleeved robe he was wearing, 24 and took him and threw him into the cistern (the cistern was empty; without any water in it). 25 Then they sat down to eat their meal; but as they looked up, they saw in front of them a caravan of Yishma`elim coming from Gil`ad, their camels loaded with aromatic gum, healing resin and opium, on their way down to Egypt. 26 Y`hudah said to his brothers, "What advantage is it to us if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let`s sell him to the Yishma`elim, instead of putting him to death with our own hands. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers paid attention to him. 28 So when the Midyanim, merchants, passed by, they drew and lifted Yosef up out of the cistern and sold him for half a pound of silver shekels to the Yishma`elim, who took Yosef on to Egypt.Genesis 37:29 Re`uven returned to the cistern, and, upon seeing that Yosef wasn`t in it, tore his clothes in mourning. 30 He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy isn`t there! Where can I go now?"Genesis 37:31 They took Yosef`s robe, killed a male goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 Then they sent the long-sleeved robe and brought it to their father, saying, "We found this. Do you know if it`s your son`s robe or not?" 33 He recognized it and cried, "It`s my son`s robe! Some wild animal has torn Yosef in pieces and eaten him!" 34 Ya`akov tore his clothes and, putting sackcloth around his waist, mourned his son for many days. 35 Though all his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, he refused all consolation, saying, "No, I will go down to the grave, to my son, mourning." And his father wept for him.Genesis 37:36 In Egypt the Midyanim sold Yosef to Potifar, one of Pharaoh`s officials, a captain of the guard.Credits:https://unsplash.com/@sharonmccutcheon - moneyhttps://www.pexels.com/@gerhard-14620241/ - lightning storm

This week for our Conflicted Community members, we have an interview with the Egyptian political activist Dalia Ziada, whose incredible personal story crosses so many of the major events in the modern middle east, from the Arab Spring, to October 7th. Dalia is an award-winning Egyptian writer and political analyst whose work focuses on governance, geopolitics, and defense policy. In Egypt, she co-founded the Liberal Democracy Institute in 2015, she is the Executive Director of the Center for Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean Studies and also serves as a board member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Egypt's National Council for Women. She's a frequent media commentator, advocating for women's rights and against female genital mutilation in the Muslim World, and she is the author of multiple books, including “The Curious Case of the Three-Legged Wolf - Egypt: Military, Islamism, and Liberal Democracy”, on the Arab Spring and its fallout in Egypt. In a wide ranging conversation, Thomas and Dalia discuss her story of liberal activism in Egypt, teaching herself out of antisemitism, the Arab Spring, October 7th, and more… To listen to the full episode, you'll need to subscribe to the Conflicted Community. And don't forget, subscribers can also join our Conflicted Community chatroom, where you can interact with fellow dearest listeners, discuss episodes past and future, get exclusive messages from Thomas and Aimen, ask future Q&A questions and so much more. All the information you need to sign up is on this link: https://conflicted.supportingcast.fm/  Conflicted is proudly made by Message Heard, a full-stack podcast production agency which uses its extensive expertise to make its own shows such as Conflicted, shows for commissioners such as the BBC, Spotify and Al Jazeera, and powerfully effective podcasts for other companies too. If you'd like to find out how we can help get your organisation's message heard, visit messageheard.com or drop an email to hello@messageheard.com! Find us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MHconflicted And Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHconflicted Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A recent study from Harvard and Montana Tech University has proposed that crypto-terrestrials may author much of the UFO phenomenon. These entities are unidentified inhabitants of earth, living in the ocean, deep underground, or in mountains and volcanoes. Be them more human-like, non-human primates, or reptiles, the mythos of such creatures pre-dates civilization. The fringes of science today are becoming more open to what otherwise would be considered delusional ufology or complete fiction. What the scientists, ‘believers', and even ‘skeptics' tend to overlook, however, is the immense archetypical pantheon comprising the whole of the UFO phenomenon, particularly as it relates to the serpent deity as the eternal predator. The recent former study was announced just a few days after archeologists discovered on the Colombia-Venezuela border a massive collection of art depicting giant serpents, giant centipedes, larger-than-life-animals, and ten meter-tall (32 feet) human-like figures. Found alongside were geometric engravings, grids, and dots, lending credibility to the idea that plant medicine allowed humans access to entirely new visual realms. Mainline academia has known, as these archeologists believe, that large serpents are not just random, they are part of a tradition that spans the world. China has the White Snake demon who lives under water, and the Lung Dragons; the Hopi have a famous snake dance to encourage rainfall; in India there is the seven-headed Naga, not unlike the Biblical Revelation Beast with seven heads; the Mesoamerican cultures have Quetzalcoatl; in Greek myth are Medusa and the Gorgons, and the Hydra, and Apollo defeats a serpent called Python living in the earth; in Norse myth is Jormungand; Japan has the Yamato no Orochi; Russia has the fire serpent; Korea has Eopsin; Mesopotamia has Ningishzida and Mushussu; and the Bible also has Leviathan from Job, and the Genesis serpent. Serpents are universal symbols of fertility, creativity, and rebirth, but also of - by default - temptation of flesh, poison, and death. Hence why the Egyptian guardian of youth was a cobra named Wadjet and the Australian creator was a Rainbow Snake. As for health, the serpent caduceus and Asclepius Wand are still in use today. The serpent is also directly associated with water, fire (salamanders), air (dragons), and earth. In Egypt it brings down Ra's sun barge, which crashes as a flying disc, and is then recovered later - this is the dying god motif and background for Roswell mythology.  Is it possible that just as we live alongside less developed tribes today, we could ourselves live next to more developed civilizations that go largely unnoticed? Could we develop technology, like a cargo cult, based on what we perceive to see in the skies, oceans, mountains, etc?-FULL ARCHIVE & RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-secret-teachings Twitter: https://twitter.com/TST___Radio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachings WEBSITE (BOOKS, RESUBSCRIBE for early & ad-free show access): http://thesecretteachings.info or http://tstradio.infoPaypal: rdgable@yahoo.com CashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tst-radio--5328407/support.

Revelation described Babylon as "the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Sounds sort of like Twitter. Maybe Elon Musk isn't really trying to free the Internet, restrict it or do anything else the left or right claim, but instead is more concerned with the data. On April 21st, Tesla announced their Optimus robot with updated AI will be ready soon after months of it not working. On the 24th, Musk confirmed that NeuraLink would begin human trials this year. On the 25th, the day of Twitter's sale, StarLink went active with a major airline. Perhaps Musk's actions are not malicious but instead coldly calculating and almost machine-like. The limiting of text on Twitter trims the edges off of our complex thoughts and provides only the 'thought' itself. Symbol dictionaries will tell us that the BIRD represents thought, imagination, synthesis, and sublimation. In Egypt, the bird was BA - the soul. A blue bird in particular is a representation of pure ideas. Since imagination, thought, and ideas are expressions of the bird then it is our soul's expression that is trapped in the Twitterverese. Likewise, the red T in Tesla is a TAU cross, a symbol of synthesis and perfection in Hebrew, and the human being and belly in Greek. Through synthesis, perhaps man and machine, perfection can be achieved through the human body by a process of transformation that occurs in the belly or womb. Merging active and passive forces generates a spark or electric bolt to spawn new life. A red cross is also rebirth and a gateway to somewhere or something else. In other words, merging man with machines, and accomplishing such ends through artificial intelligence and algorithms that are able to learn from the immense amounts of data generated by individuals in order to create digital replicas of the real world. The infrastructure is connecting StarLink with NueraLink's brain-computer interface, pumping data into the AI of Optimus robots. Man and synthetics merged together into the belly of transformation in order to reach the synthesis of perfection.-FULL ARCHIVE & RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-secret-teachings Twitter: https://twitter.com/TST___Radio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachings WEBSITE (BOOKS, RESUBSCRIBE for early & ad-free show access): http://thesecretteachings.info Paypal: rdgable@yahoo.com CashApp: $rdgable EMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/tst-radio--5328407/support.

We turn the page from Judah and Tamar to look at Joseph and Potiphar's wife. In Egypt... in prison... the Lord is with Joseph.

Bricks Without Straw (Exodus): When God told Moses to tell Pharaoh, "Let my people go," Moses did exactly what God told him to do. But the suffering of the Israelites got worse, not better! The truth is, in a broken world, obedience to God's word is no guarantee of short-term prosperity. But this doesn't mean that God has abandoned you or that no good will ever come from times of suffering. Our God is faithful to redeem. You'll see. Recorded on Oct 13, 2024, on Exodus 5:1-6:12 by Pastor David Parks. This message is part of our Exodus series called Journey to Freedom. Exodus is a story of liberation — of God working to rescue and redeem a people for himself, freeing them from slavery and leading them to the land he promised to the family of Abraham and Sarah. Exodus is also a picture of the gospel and the Christian life. In Christ, we, too, are freed from captivity to sin and death and led through the wilderness of life by God's Word and Presence as we make our way to the Promised Land of the world to come. Join us as we make this journey to find true and lasting freedom. Sermon Transcript We're working through a sermon series on the book of Exodus called Journey to Freedom. And we've said that Exodus is a story of liberation, of God rescuing and redeeming a people for himself. The first few chapters of Exodus describe the bitter suffering of the family of Abraham and Sarah (ancient Israelites) when they were slaves in Egypt, the most powerful kingdom in the world at the time. We're introduced to Moses, who would go on to be the mighty prophet and deliverer of Israel for Yahweh God. But his story was not this smooth rise into power. It didn't seem to go according to any sort of plan. But God was faithful, and he didn't abandon Moses even after his forty-year exile in Midian. But when the set time had fully come, God sent Moses, born in Egypt and adopted into the royal household of Egypt, back to Egypt to redeem his people who were still enslaved in Egypt. But this was a mission Moses didn't want. Maybe he thought he was too old. Or maybe after his first disastrous attempt at leadership, he doubted his leadership abilities. But Moses gave one excuse after another before asking Yahweh just to send someone else. But God was merciful (and patient) and provided miraculous signs to verify his message and calling. He also allowed Moses' brother, Aaron, to help him speak and lead. But the most important thing God promised was his own Presence. Yahweh would go with Moses. So Moses packed up his wife, Zipporah, and his two sons and went to Egypt to do this crazy thing God called him to do. In Egypt, Moses and Aaron spoke to the elders of the Israelites and shared the message God gave them: that Yahweh God, the God of their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, was going to deliver them from Egypt and would bring them out into the land he had promised them. They performed the signs, as well, and the Israelites believed and worshipped the God who had seen their suffering, heard their prayers, and had concern for them. Chapter 5 picks up the story in the courts of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. How would he respond to Moses and the message and miracles of Yahweh God? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Exodus 5:1. Exodus 5:1–9 (NIV), “1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.' ” 2 Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Now let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the Lord our God, or he may strike us with plagues or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their labor? Get back to your work!” 5 Then Pharaoh said, “Look,

Chatting With Sherri welcomes back Egyptologist and author;Dr. Colleen Darnell!   EXPLORING ANCIENT EGYPT with Dr. Colleen Darnell; Hieroglyph Update & Free Mummy Class-The introductory How to Read Hieroglyph class now starts October 14 and 16—see details below for times and how to register. Also, I am excited to share a free class in partnership with Varsity Tutors ALL ABOUT MUMMIES (best for grades 3-8, but fun for kids of all ages) on Wednesday October 9th at 6PM. Renowned Egyptologist Dr. Colleen Darnell's areas of expertise include Late Period uses of the Underworld Books, ancient Egyptian military history, the literature of New Kingdom Egypt, and Egyptian revival history. Her research in Egyptian military history has led to the first recreation of the tactics of the Battle of Perire, c. 1208 BCE and her study The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah "replaces all other earlier studies of the key historical narratives relating Merneptah's war against the Libyans." Her research on the military role that Tutankhamun might have taken on as pharaoh of Egypt contributed to Tutankhamun's Armies: Battle and Conquest in Ancient Egypt's Late Eighteenth Dynasty (co-authored with John Darnell) and was featured in the historical section of the documentary "King Tut Unwrapped." Through books and documentaries, Darnell has brought ancient Egyptian warfare and tactics to the broader public. In Egypt, she has made several important archaeological discoveries as the director of the Moalla Survey Project, an ongoing archaeological project.  

Send us a textJenna Martin is a Montana-based journalist who writes about resistance movements and politics and how the two intersect with each other. We spoke with Jenna as she was wrapping up her recent reporting trip to Egypt and the West Bank. In Egypt, Jenna spoke with families separated by the closure of the Rafah Border Crossing and their struggle to survive without documents as their loved ones remain trapped in Gaza. In the West Bank, Jenna traveled to Beita, where American activist Aysenur Eygi was recently killed by the Israeli army. Already tense before October 7, Jenna reports that a massive escalation has taken place in the West Bank. 

Egyptian authorities do not want Christians around the world to learn about the disturbing case of Abdulbaqi Saeed Abdo. Abdulbaqi is a fellow Christian who is languishing in an Egyptian cell. His crime? Being a Christian who converted from Islam. Abdulbaqi, a Yemeni, fled his home country after facing severe persecution once he converted to Christianity. In Egypt, Abdulbaqi lived out his faith and sought to help others come to know and follow Christ. It was these activities that ultimately landed Abdulbaqi in jail. Abdulbaqi has not been convicted of any crime. In fact, he has not even had his case tried in court. Yet for two and a half years, this husband and father of five has been kept behind bars. It is illegal under Egyptian law to hold someone indefinitely in jail like this. But authorities are doing so anyways. They hope no one notices or cares. Fortunately, some do care. One such person is Lizzie Francis, a British Christian who serves as an attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom International. She and others on the ADF International team are advocating for Abdulbaqi and seeking to have him returned safely to his family. Listen in to this episode of the Christian Emergency Podcast and learn not only about Abdulbaqi's case, but also how similar pressures are pressing forward in other countries. This is not an isolated phenomenon and Christians everywhere need to prepare for similar challenges in the days ahead. Also, learn how you and your church can champion Abdulbaqi and his family. If you find this episode helpful, please give us a positive rating and review wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also share this episode with a friend so they too can be blessed by these insights. To learn more about resources mentioned in this episode, see the following. ADF International (Website) Christian Emergency Alliance (Website) Christian Emergency Alliance (Twitter / X): @ChristianEmerg1 Christian Emergency Alliance (Facebook): @ChristianEmergency Christian Emergency Alliance (Instagram) The Christian Emergency Podcast is a production of the Christian Emergency Alliance. Soli Deo Gloria

Jeremiah says the Lord says “Don't go to Egypt.” So where does Jeremiah end up? In Egypt! How? Let's find out together as we read Jeremiah 42-45.

The Moon creeps up on the bright star Antares this evening. Depending on your location, you might see them pass less than a degree from each other – less than the width of your finger held at arm’s length. Because the Moon will be so close to Antares, it’ll wash out the star’s reddish orange color. Astronomers have been tracking that color for thousands of years. And they haven’t seen much change. Antares is a red supergiant – it’s many times bigger and heavier than the Sun, and tens of thousands of times brighter. Its surface is thousands of degrees cooler than the Sun’s, which is why it looks red. On the inside, supergiant stars are changing in a hurry – fusing lighter elements to make heavier ones. But the change isn’t always reflected at the surface. In a study a couple of years ago, a team of scientists found that the color of Antares has remained pretty steady for at least 3300 years. The team analyzed observations from Europe, the Middle East, and China. In China, the star was known as “Great Fire.” In Egypt, it was “red one of the plow.” And many records compared the star to Mars, which is known for its reddish color. In fact, the name “Antares” means “rival of Mars” – a comment on their similar appearance. The study said the star’s unchanging color could mean that Antares has a good run left before it explodes as a supernova – another million years or longer. Script by Damond Benningfield

"In Egypt" (Exodus 1:1-14)

The intense heatwaves sweeping across the Middle East this summer is taking a high toll on people. Temperatures have soared to unprecedented levels, causing widespread discomfort and significant challenges in many countries that might even be unequipped to face the impacts of climate change. During this year's Hajj season, which took place in mid-June, temperatures soared sometimes to almost 52°C in Makkah, leading to over 1,300 deaths. Many Arab countries are experiencing extreme heat this year. In Egypt, daily life has become uncomfortable and has also strained the country's power grid, leading to occasional blackouts. In Lebanon, many people are struggling to cope with limited access to electricity and cooling. And in Iraq, the government has taken an unprecedented step of cutting working hours to help citizens deal with the extreme temperatures. In this episode of Beyond The Headlines, host Ismaeel Naar looks at how life in some Arab countries has been affected because of the heat crisis.

A recent study from Harvard and Montana Tech University has proposed that crypto-terrestrials may author much of the UFO phenomenon. These entities are unidentified inhabitants of earth, living in the ocean, deep underground, or in mountains and volcanoes. Be them more human-like, non-human primates, or reptiles, the mythos of such creatures pre-dates civilization. The fringes of science today are becoming more open to what otherwise would be considered delusional ufology or complete fiction. What the scientists, ‘believers', and even ‘skeptics' tend to overlook, however, is the immense archetypical pantheon comprising the whole of the UFO phenomenon, particularly as it relates to the serpent deity as the eternal predator. The recent former study was announced just a few days after archeologists discovered on the Colombia-Venezuela border a massive collection of art depicting giant serpents, giant centipedes, larger-than-life-animals, and ten meter-tall (32 feet) human-like figures. Found alongside were geometric engravings, grids, and dots, lending credibility to the idea that plant medicine allowed humans access to entirely new visual realms. Mainline academia has known, as these archeologists believe, that large serpents are not just random, they are part of a tradition that spans the world. China has the White Snake demon who lives under water, and the Lung Dragons; the Hopi have a famous snake dance to encourage rainfall; in India there is the seven-headed Naga, not unlike the Biblical Revelation Beast with seven heads; the Mesoamerican cultures have Quetzalcoatl; in Greek myth are Medusa and the Gorgons, and the Hydra, and Apollo defeats a serpent called Python living in the earth; in Norse myth is Jormungand; Japan has the Yamato no Orochi; Russia has the fire serpent; Korea has Eopsin; Mesopotamia has Ningishzida and Mushussu; and the Bible also has Leviathan from Job, and the Genesis serpent. Serpents are universal symbols of fertility, creativity, and rebirth, but also of - by default - temptation of flesh, poison, and death. Hence why the Egyptian guardian of youth was a cobra named Wadjet and the Australian creator was a Rainbow Snake. As for health, the serpent caduceus and Asclepius Wand are still in use today. The serpent is also directly associated with water, fire (salamanders), air (dragons), and earth. In Egypt it brings down Ra's sun barge, which crashes as a flying disc, and is then recovered later - this is the dying god motif and background for Roswell mythology.  Is it possible that just as we live alongside less developed tribes today, we could ourselves live next to more developed civilizations that go largely unnoticed? Could we develop technology, like a cargo cult, based on what we perceive to see in the skies, oceans, mountains, etc?-FREE ARCHIVE & RSS: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-secret-teachingsTwitter: https://twitter.com/TST___RadioFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesecretteachingsWEBSITE (BOOKS, RESUBSCRIBE for early show access): http://thesecretteachings.infoPaypal: rdgable@yahoo.comCashApp: $rdgableBuy Me a Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/tstradioSUBSCRIBE TO NETWORK: http://aftermath.mediaEMAIL: rdgable@yahoo.com / TSTRadio@protonmail.com

Blessings Follow Sanctification (2) (audio) David Eells 6/2/24   I'd like to continue talking about how God's going to provide these awesome blessings in His Word to a sanctified corporate body of His people. Let's look again in (Isa.61:2) To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; (3) to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness... The corporate body of the Man-child is who this appointing “unto them that mourn in Zion” is referring to and we can see the same thing spoken in Ezekiel.   (Eze.9:2) And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen... That linen is the same thing as the bridal garments worn by those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which represents the righteousness of the saints, their righteous acts. But who is this man in linen who was in the midst of the six men with their slaughter weapons? We know the six men represent the Beast because, if you go back to the previous chapter, you see, (Eze.8:1) And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month.... And then you read on down and you find this is the third “6,” which makes “666.” This is the Beast that's going to destroy the Harlot and in the midst of them is this man in linen, Who is Jesus the Man-child, both in His day and is in the Man-child in our day.   (Eze.9:2) And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. (3) And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side. (4) And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem.   (This is both the people of unregenerate Jerusalem and regenerate Jerusalem and we will see the difference between the two people here.), and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof. There it is! Those who recognize the abominations that are being done in the midst of God's people, and are grieved over it are truly God's people. So who marks God's people? We can see the mark of the Beast is in the hand and the forehead.   (Rev.13:16) And he causeth all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the bond, that there be given them a mark on their right hand, or upon their forehead; (17) and that no man should be able to buy or to sell, save he that hath the mark, even the name of the beast or the number of his name. (18) Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man: and his number is Six hundred and sixty and six. And Exodus 13 talks about the mark of the Lord in the hand and the forehead. (Exo.13:9) And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the Lord brought thee out of Egypt.   But then it's explained even better here: (Deu.11:18) Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes (meaning on your forehead). The Israelites did this in the letter, literally. They wrote certain verses from the Word of God on parchment (Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21), which they put in little boxes called phylacteries. Then they tied them on their forehead and upon their hand. In type, it represents the Word of God manifested in your works and in your thoughts.   (Rom.12:2) And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (This is the Word of God in your mind.), that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And so, who does this? Jesus does this! Jesus is the One Who marks His people with the Word. He's the Sower Who goes forth to sow the seed. He's the One Who marks His people and He's the One Who sanctifies them.   (Heb.1:3) Who being the effulgence of his glory, and the very image of his substance.... Jesus is the image of God and the Greek word there for “image” is charakter, which is a tool for recreating itself. The character creates an eikon, or “likeness,” “representation,” “image.” And, of course, God uses Jesus to recreate Himself in our mind and works. Jesus is the One who marks His people with the mark of God. He does that by putting the Word of God in your forehead and in your hand. So Jesus went forth to mark those men who sighed and cried over the abominations that were done among the people, and then what did God do to the wicked? (Eze.9:5) And to the others he said in my hearing, Go ye through the city after him, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity;  (This is so clearly what the beast has done to those who have the mind and works of flesh that we know as the faction.) (6) slay utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark (that's of God): and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house. (7) And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and smote in the city. And this was among the people who were called the “people of God”! The Beast destroyed the Harlot who was among God's people and the only ones who were spared were the ones whom the man in linen with the ink horn had marked as righteous.   Once again, this is about to happen. The Man-child reformers have this same ministry to put the mark of God upon God's people. (Rev.14:1) And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads. “Name” is “nature, character and authority.” They have the image of Jesus! Praise God for His mark!  And the body is sanctified of the leaven. Now when Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and came out of His wilderness, He preached, (Luk.4:18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them that are bruised, (19) To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. (20) And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.   You'll recognize that as the first part of the Isaiah 61 anointing. (Isa.61:1) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; (2) to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor  (And that's where Jesus stopped, but the verse continues.), and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn (Who are these people who mourn?); (Isa.61:3) to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion (So Zion, who is the Bride, is mourning.), to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Amen! Remember Isaiah 61 was fulfilled in Jesus' day when He was the Man-child and it will be fulfilled again in our day with the corporate Man-child of Revelation 12, which is the first-fruits corporate body in whom Jesus lives.   We know Zion is the Bride, the most beautiful of all the fair virgins of the Kingdom, because John saw the city of Zion, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven. (Rev.21:9) And there came one of the seven angels …, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb. (10) And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.   Now we noticed in Ezekiel those people who mourned were the ones who escaped the Beast. (Eze.9:1) Then he cried in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause ye them that have charge over the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. (2) And behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lieth toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand (representing the Beast); and one man in the midst of them clothed in linen (representing Jesus in the Man-child of our day), with a writer's inkhorn by his side. And they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. (3) And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer's inkhorn by his side.   (4) And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry (This is the Bride whom we saw are mourning.) over all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof. (5) And to the others he said in my hearing, Go ye through the city after him, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; (6) slay utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house. (Who should have known better.) He marked the forehead of those righteous people who mourned over the sins that they saw done among God's people and, of course, they were the ones who escaped. He marked them with that writer's inkhorn on their forehead to identify them and it represents having the renewed mind of Christ by the Word of God. God uses the written Word to write upon our minds and upon our hearts. His very nature, character and authority. So we see once again that the Man-child's ministry is to raise up Zion, the Bride, as Jesus did.   Going back now to (Isa.61:4) And they (Zion, the Bride) shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations.... What is this talking about, the “old wastes”? Well, when God's people were taken into captivity, their Promised Land was destroyed; their cities, their houses and their crops were all destroyed. But the Bride has come out of Babylonish captivity and Babylonish religion. They have returned to their Promised Land and they have a job to do, just like Jesus, Who led the disciples in His day. When John the Baptist saw Jesus leading His disciples, he said, (Joh.3:29) He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.... The Bride that Jesus was raising up was the foundation of His new Kingdom. They went forth to bring God's people into all that God had for them and now that's going to happen in our day.   (Isa.61:4) And they shall build the old wastes (In other words, the Bride is going to restore that which the Beast has devoured and destroyed.), they shall raise up the former desolations (They're going to restore that which was taken away from them, taken away from their Promised Land.), and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. So this Bride is going to have a job to do for the rest of God's people, like Esther. Her job was to preserve and restore God's people. The Shulammite, the “perfect one” in the Song of Solomon, worked to prepare her little sister. The bride in Psalm 45 worked to bring the virgins before the king and we see the same parallel through the rest of the Scriptures.   The first of the waste cities they began to restore was Zion, which in type and shadow represents the Bride, the “heavenly Jerusalem” as Paul called it. (Heb.12:22) but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem… And the rest of the cities of Israel had to also be restored because not everybody is going to live in Zion! But notice that the rest of those cities are not as close to God as Zion, the Bride, who sits right next to the King. For example, when God's people came out of bondage to Babylon or Assyria, many of those people didn't go all the way back to Jerusalem. And today, spiritually speaking, not all of those who come out of bondage to the world, worldly religions, and so on, will go all the way to Zion. They are not going to come all the way to the Bride because many of them are content with less of God.   Zion had the Lord right in their midst. Their temple was in the midst of the city and they were very close to God. That's why Zion represented salvation and safety, because the presence of the Lord was there. You remember how the Israelites took the Ark of the Covenant with them and their enemies were conquered, and awesome miracles happened when they went through the wilderness or when they were protecting their cities, and so on. Well, it was the same with Zion because it was a place of protection, provision, safety, blessing and of holiness. Being inside the walls of Zion represented salvation from whatever difficulty you had, but some people were content to dwell in these other cities and so they restored them, too.   In the end times, there are people who are going to bear fruit 30-, 60- and 100-fold, and the Bride ultimately will represent the 100-fold as does their King David, a type of the Man-child. These are the people who are going to restore the cities that have been laid waste. Do you know that Christianity is the same way? Christianity is “the desolations of many generations.” What we had back there, 2000 years ago, we haven't had since. It was destroyed and God's people were taken into captivity to Babylonish religion, but that's all about to change. The Lord through the Man-child is going to raise up the Bride and She is going to begin to lay this foundation and restore their Promised Land. The benefits and blessings of our Land of Promise, and the way Christians are supposed to walk in the steps of Jesus, all these things are going to be restored.   (Isa.61:4) And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. We have another text that's so similar to this, it's almost a quote: (Isa.58:12) And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations.... The foundations have been destroyed for many generations. We're climbing up out of the Dark Ages now and what God gave to us was something He always wanted us to have and yet the wolves of Babylonish religion came in and divided the flock. The Church has been plundered for many generations.   (Isa.58:12) … and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach.... The breach, of course, is the breach in the wall that allowed the enemy to come in and conquer. They will restore the wall which represents sanctification! It represents separation, not only your separation from the world, but separation from your enemy, from the Beast who is of the world. They will repair the breach so the enemy cannot come through to destroy you. (Isa.58:12) … and thou shalt be called The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. Praise God! They are going to restore the highway of holiness, the right “paths to dwell in.”   Back in (Isa.35:8) And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for [the redeemed]: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err [therein]. (9) No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon; they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk [there]: (10) and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.   You know, the “judgment seat,” or “bema seat judgment,” is literally the “footprint tribunal.” The Greek word there is bema and it means “a step, a pace.” And that's exactly what the judgment is: Do you walk in the steps of Jesus? (1Jn.2:6) He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. Keep that in mind as we read on. (Isa.58:13) If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of the Lord honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.... Wow! If we keep the Sabbath, we will be those who restore the old waste places and raise up the foundations of many generations, etc.   Are we talking about the Old Testament Sabbath? No! Colossians 2 tells us plainly that the Sabbath is “... a shadow of things to come....” It's not the very image; it's the shadow; it's a parable. And this parable points to walking by faith and ceasing from our own works. Read this part again: (Isa.58:13) If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, and the holy of the Lord honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words.... In other words, the Sabbath represents ceasing from your own works. It represents ceasing from the works of the flesh, works of self-justification and all those things. God paid the price for us to keep the Sabbath and, if we don't keep the Sabbath, what happens? We come under judgment!   “Sanctification” is “keeping the Sabbath.” Through sanctification, we will be able, by the grace of God, to restore everything that has been taken from us. (Heb.4:2) For indeed we have had good tidings (the Gospel) preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. So if you don't believe the Gospel, the good news of what the Lord has done for you, then you're not mixing faith with it and it's going to be useless. Remember, the Lord has already healed you, already delivered you from sin, already delivered you from the curse, already delivered you from demons! The Bible says it's already been done, finished, accomplished.   So when you believe, when you mix faith with the Gospel, the first thing you do is cease from your works. You stop trying to do it because God's already done it. (Heb.4:3) For we who have believed do enter into that rest (The “rest” is ceasing from your works.); even as he hath said, As I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. God's already done the work, and that's why we can rest! He doesn't need our help; He wants our faith. He wants us to believe we have received. Jesus said, (Mar.11:24) Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive (The literal translation there is past tense, “received.”) them, and ye shall have them. By faith we enter into this rest from our own works in order to see God's works.   (Heb.4:9) There remaineth therefore a sabbath rest for the people of God. This Sabbath rest is not speaking about a Saturday rest. This is the only place in the Bible that this particular Greek word translated as “sabbath” is used. The word is sabbatismos and it means “a continual rest.” The “rest” is ceasing from our works! It's ceasing from doing our own pleasure on God's holy day. When is God's holy day? Every day is God's holy day; this is a continual Sabbath. (Heb.4:9) There remaineth therefore a [sabbatismos] rest for the people of God. (10) For he that is entered into his rest hath himself also rested from his works, as God did from his.   The Lord wants us to rest from our works and that includes our religious works, too. In order to keep the Sabbath, we have to cease from any kind of work that comes through self. And, as we just read, those who keep the Sabbath are the people who will be restoring everything that has been taken away from God's people.   Continuing on in (Isa.58:14) Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father (In other words, you will have the heritage that your great forefathers had!): for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (Isa.59:1) Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: (2) but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, so that he will not hear. What's the cure? It's keeping the sabbatismos! The cure is ceasing from our works! Our works are what God is calling “sin.” Doing your own will on His holy day is what God is calling “sin.”  We now must do His works as we are led by Him. Going back to (Isa.58:9) Then shalt thou call, and the Lord will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly. Do you know those who are judging other people, who are critical-minded, unforgiving and speaking about others behind their back? These people are “pointing the finger” and they don't have the authority of the Lord to do so. He said you have to take this “away from the midst of thee,” then He will answer you when you call upon Him.   (Isa.58:10) And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul: then shall thy light rise in darkness, and thine obscurity be as the noonday; (11) and the Lord will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Wow! All this is for the person who keeps the sabbatismos. They will be those who repair the breach and restore the paths to dwell in, etc.   This is the text that is very similar to what we just read: (Isa.61:4) And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. Joel's prophecy speaks of God's empowerment and discernment to do the works of God. (Joe.2:23) Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God; for he giveth you the former rain in just measure, and he causeth to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain, in the first [month] (or “in the beginning” or “at the first”). There is no word for “month” in the original text; that was added-in. At the very beginning of the move of God in our day, God is going to restore both the former rain and the latter rain anointings.   Three-and-a-half years into Jesus' ministry, Jesus took the “mantle” that was upon Him and in (Joh.20:21) Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (22) And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit. They received the former rain, or the first anointing, at the beginning of their solo ministry. And the power that's coming in our day is going to be far beyond what it was last time. (Joh.14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father.   (Joe.2:24) And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. This great blessing is going to be poured out because of the power of God's Holy Spirit. He enables people to walk a holy walk; He empowers people. The Lord said, (Act.1:8) But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you.... This is the power to do the works of the Lord and power to live a holy life. And because of that comes: (Joe.2:24) …and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil. (25) And I will restore to you the years (There it is! The “desolations of many generations” are going to be restored. A revival!) that the locust hath eaten, the canker-worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer-worm, my great army which I sent among you.   (Joe.2:26) And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied (During the tribulation and with great lack all over the world, God's Bride will have His provision! That's exactly what we've been reading.), and shall praise the name of the Lord your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you; and my people shall never be put to shame. Praise the Lord! You know, we need tribulation, persecution, and chastening to cause us to walk in the path. But if a people are walking holy before the Lord, by His grace and by His power, they don't need that, and God knows it. He knows how to make that separation and how to get people behind the broad walls of Zion.   Going back again to (Isa.61:4) And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. We have our own Book of Acts coming! God is going to restore many “generations. We're told of the generation of Jesus Christ: (Mat.1:1) The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. The word “generation” there is singular and it's actually the same word used further down for “birth.” (Mat.1:18) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise.... Now most people don't read the genealogy leading up to Jesus' birth. They might possibly read the names once or twice and after that they skip over them. But back when I was young in the Lord, we were reading this one day in our Bible study and we decided to start counting the names in the three paragraphs because verse 17 sparked our imagination.   It reads, (Mat.1:17) So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations. I thought, “Well, that's very interesting.” So we just started counting them and we thought we counted incorrectly, since we found 14, 14, and then only 13 generations. So we counted them again and we tried to be more careful because you can make a mistake counting some names twice.   Anyway, when you count each generation, you come up with 14, 14 and 13 every time, yet it states, (Mat.1:17) So all the generations from Abraham unto David are fourteen generations; and from David unto the carrying away to Babylon fourteen generations; and from the carrying away to Babylon unto the Christ fourteen generations. So we each scratched our head until we got the revelation, “Aha! He's talking about 14 generations unto the body of Christ! Praise God!” Notice it states, “the generation of Jesus Christ.” It couldn't have been unto Jesus Christ, physically, because that would have been only 13 generations “from the carrying away to Babylon.” But when you count His seed, about which the Bible speaks over and over, you come up to a total of 42 generations.   We are the body of Christ! We are a corporate body in whom the regenerated, born-again Spirit of Christ lives! This corporate body in whom, ultimately, the soul of Christ lives, in whom the nature, character, mind, will and emotions of Christ will be manifested. Also, “Christ” is the Greek word Christos which means “anointed.” Scripture speaks about us also being “Christed” or “anointed.” “Jesus Christ” means “Savior anointed” or “Christ Jesus” means “anointed Savior.” “Christ” was not His name; “Christ” was what He was. He was God's anointed King and God's anointed Savior.   And Scripture says the same thing about us: (2Co.1:20) For how many soever be the promises of God, in him is the yea: wherefore also through him is the Amen, unto the glory of God through us. (21) Now he that establisheth us with you in Christ (Christos), and anointed us.... That's the word, chrio, which is the verb of Christos. This is the same word translated “anointed” where Jesus said, (Luk.4:18) The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me.... When the Spirit of the Lord came upon Christ, that's what made Him the anointed. The Hebrew word mashiyach is translated “Messiah” and it means “anointed one,” so “Christ” and “Messiah” have the same meaning. It says, “He that establisheth us with you in Christ.”   We are all in this body called “Christ” and when you receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit, you truly do reflect what Jesus was because of the same Spirit God put upon Him. Then not only do you have the Spirit of Christ, but you have the Spirit of God. The Spirit of Christ, of course, is your born-again spirit and the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit that He puts upon you. Those are two different manifestations of God upon you. (1Co.1:21) Now he that establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; (22) who also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. This anointing is what makes you truly the body of Christos.   As a body, we should all be anointed. (Act.19:1) And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: (2) and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit was given. (3) And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism. (4) And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus. (5) And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.   I don't care what the religions say, they deny the Word of the Lord. When you get the Holy Spirit, you get the gifts of the Spirit, you get the power of God! Jesus said, (Joh.14:12) Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. Jesus didn't do one miracle until He was baptized in the Holy Spirit and, if you want to do what He did, and do what the disciples did, then you have to be baptized in the Holy Spirit, too. Ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and He will do it. To receive the Holy Spirit is to be “sealed.” (2Co.1:22) who also sealed us, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. The Greek word there for “sealed” is sphragizo, which means “to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation.”   When Christos lives in you, that makes you the body of Christ. (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ (Christos); and it is no longer I that live, but Christ (Christos) living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. And Paul also said, (Gal.4:19) ... I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you. So you see, you can be a Christian and have a born-again Spirit, but not have Christos being formed in you, if you're not walking by faith. In this particular example, the Galatians were seeking to be justified by going back under the Law and Paul was rebuking them for that. Christos can't be formed in you unless you walk by faith.   Another Scripture about the body of Christ is (Eph.1:10) Unto a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up (The word translated there as “sum up” is anakephalaiomai and it means “to gather together in one” or “to present as a whole.”) all things in Christ (There is no Greek word “things” in the original manuscript, so it should read “to sum up all in Christ.” And “all” is “all of God's people”: “to sum up all of God's people in Christ.”), in the heavens, and upon the earth.... Whether God's people are in the heavens or upon the earth, they all need to be summed-up in Christ. Nobody gets the credit but God. Christ is the One Who does the works because we have to cease from our works in order to keep the Sabbath.  (Eph.2:8) For by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of your selves, it is the gift of God; (9) not of works, that no man should glory. (10) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. You're just the body of Christ. He's the One doing the works and He gets all the credit. If they are the works of God and not the works of man, then Christ is doing the work through you and we can't take any credit for that. Can Christ in you walk a holy walk? Yes, He can! Can He cast out demons or raise the dead? Yes, He can! He can do all those things. The whole point is that we be a willing and yielded vessel through whom the Lord will, by His anointing, deal with this world. His plan from the very beginning was to do this.   So God wants (Eph.1:10 Numeric) ... to sum up all in Christ, those upon the heavens, and those upon the earth; in him, (11) in whom also we were made a heritage (In other words, your heritage, your inheritance, is only when you abide in Christ.), foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all after the counsel of his will; (12) that we be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in the Christ: (13) in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise. Wow! There it is again, another confirmation: you “were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise.” You were already in Him when you heard because (Eph.1:4) ... he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before him in love.   You were “in Him” when you heard, you were “in Him” when you decided to accept it and it was His gift of faith that caused you to repent, turn to Him and accept His salvation. That was His work. And also, (Gal.3:28) There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye all are one [man] in Christ (Christos) Jesus. (29) And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs according to promise. We are one in Christ; the word “man” was added-in. We are one in Christos, we are the anointed body. This is the generation that we're talking about here. This is the 42nd generation!   As a matter of fact, let me show you that in another place: (Isa.53:8) By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation (Again, that's one generation.), who [among them] considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke [was due]? We were the ones who incurred the debt because of our sin; He's the One Who paid it and bore our curse. (Isa.53:9) And they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.   (10) Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief (Actually, the Hebrew there is “made Him sick.” God put our sickness upon Him.): when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.... “Soul” and “life” are the same Hebrew word: nephesh. (Lev.17:11) For the life (or “soul”) of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh atonement by reason of the life. He poured out His soul, His life, unto death, and notice what happened when He died, when He made His soul an offering for sin:  (Isa.53:10) Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed (The “seed” are those who are the seed of Abraham, those who are one in Christ.), he shall prolong his days (He prolonged His days in His seed. The Christos, the “anointed One” is in His people.), and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.   If you remember, Jesus was not the “hand”; Jesus was the “arm” of the Lord. (Isa.53:1) Who hath believed our message? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? So Jesus is the “arm,” but who's the “hand” here? The “hand” is His “seed” and the “seed” is His people. We are the hand of the Lord in the earth. He is the arm Who gives strength to the hand to do the work. (Isa.53:11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by the knowledge of himself shall my righteous servant justify many; and he shall bear their iniquities.   And also, (Psa.22:30) A seed shall serve him; It shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation. But the actual wording is “counted unto the Lord for His generation” or “generations”; it's correct either way. “A seed shall serve Him; It shall be counted unto the Lord for His generations.” They are the generation of the Lord; they are the 42nd generation. (Psa.22:31) They shall come and shall declare his righteousness Unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it. Notice that. They're going to share the Gospel “that He hath done it!” That's not an Old Testament message. That's a New Testament message “that He hath done it.” The 42nd generation is going to preach the Gospel! We can keep the Sabbath now because He's already done it. And it says in, (Psa.24:6) This is the generation of them that seek after him, That seek thy face, even Jacob. Oh, praise the Lord!   Here's another one: (Psa.102:12) But thou, O Lord, wilt abide forever; And thy memorial name unto all generations. (13) Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion.... We're just going into that time right now. God is about to arise and show His mercy upon Zion. You know, He's basically left the Church to go its own way for 2000 years. (Hos.6:1) Come, and let us return unto the Lord; for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. (2) After two days will he revive us: on the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live before him. (3) And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is sure as the morning; and he will come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.  In what way has He left? In the mighty power of God, in the things that we have lost, in the things that we've been robbed of for 2000 years, He has left us, but now He is about to return. He has always had a small witness but the anointing is coming and He is going to stand up and fight for His bride, His Zion! (Psa.102:13) Thou wilt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; For it is time to have pity upon her, Yea, the set time is come. Praise God! I believe this is a Word for us today, “the set time is come.” God is going to have mercy on His Bride and His Bride is going to bring His mercy and His grace to the Church. The Bride is going to bring His restoration of all the old waste places and the “paths to dwell in” to the Church.   (Psa.102:14) For thy servants take pleasure in her stones (The stones represent salvation; they represent separation. The stones of Zion's wall separated the saints from the beastly world.),And have pity upon her dust. We mourn the fact that we are so weak, so unable, so incapable. Yet in our weakness, God is made strong and God is about to prove that. He wants to show His glory and the way He can do that is with weak vessels.   (Psa.102:15) So the nations shall fear the name of the Lord, And all the kings of the earth thy glory. (16) For the Lord hath built up Zion; He hath appeared in his glory. Notice that! God is coming in His Zion! (17) He hath regarded the prayer of the destitute, And hath not despised their prayer. God's people are crying out to Him as never before, but not like they're going to, either. (18) This shall be written for the generation to come (This is for our generation, the 42nd generation.); And a people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. (19) For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; From heaven did the Lord behold the earth; (20) To hear the sighing of the prisoner; To loose those that are appointed to death....   Do you suppose that some people are going to escape death? I believe the Bride is going to escape death in Zion because the Beast cannot touch them, as Paul said. Let this sink in: (Heb.12:18) For ye are not come unto a mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, (19) and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that no word more should be spoken unto them;  (i.e. Don't let us hear the voice of God lest we die. You go talk to Him, Moses, and let us know.) (20) for they could not endure that which was enjoined, If even a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned; (21) and so fearful was the appearance, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake: (22) but ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable hosts of angels, (23) to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, (24) and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.   (Psa.102:21) That men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion.... And, literally, the name or nature of the Lord is “Zion.” (Jer.3:17) At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. Jeremiah called God's people out of bondage in the north to repent and return to Zion. (Jer.3:14) Return, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am a husband unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion.   And Jeremiah said that returning to Zion was returning to the name of the Lord, that is the nature, character and authority of the Lord. (Psa.102:21) That men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion, And his praise in Jerusalem; (22) When the peoples are gathered together, And the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. Yes, God is gathering a people out of all nations to serve Him.   Now the Bible says that Christ is, (1Pe.2:8) ... A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. So notice that whoever Peter is talking to is not a people who stumbled at the Word by being disobedient. (1Pe.2:9) But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.... “Holy” or hagios means “separate,” “sanctified.” A “saint” is “a holy one.” And “elect” here is eklektos, meaning “chosen.” It's translated “chosen” many times in the Scriptures. And the word “race” here is genos, or “generation.” Well, who is this “chosen generation” he's talking about? Peter is talking to all generations of Christians since the crucifixion of Christ and he says they are “a holy nation,” “a chosen generation.”   So this 42nd generation speaks of a body of Christ in whom Christ lives and this I think helps us understand Isaiah a little better when he speaks of this chosen people. (Isa.61:8) For I, the Lord, love justice, I hate robbery with iniquity; and I will give them their recompense in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. (9) And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. (They are the separated seed that the Lord has blessed.) (10) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation.   Jesus was God's great reformer. He came to raise up in the New Testament a spiritual fulfillment of what the Old Testament was in the parable of the letter. Jacob's 12 sons, the patriarchs, were the forefathers of His Old Testament people. Jesus raised up the 12 apostles, who were the forefathers of His New Covenant people. Those men came out of the Babylonish religion of their day and followed Jesus. And Jesus said that He was coming again, in a repetition of history, as a little baby born to a woman.   (Joh.16:21) A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but when she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for the joy that a man is born into the world. (22) And ye therefore now have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from you.   We see this woman with man-child again in (Rev.12:5) And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne. Speaking about a company of first-fruits in our day when, once again, reformers are going to be raised up to restore the Church.   Jesus spoke of His reformer ministry then and now in (Isa.61:4) And they shall build the old wastes.... In other words, that which had been destroyed of Christianity in Jesus' day and that which has been lost to us for 2000 years is now going to be restored again through the Man-child ministry of our day, just like it was when Jesus came and restored all things. (Isa.61:4) … they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. (5) And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks....   Now He's speaking here of Zion, the Bride who is that holy people whom Jesus raised up and whom the Man-child in our day is going to raise up. And he says of them, (5) And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers. Well, that's very interesting! Who are these strangers and foreigners? You're looking at the letter here in the Old Testament, but the translation in the New Testament is spiritual because it's for a spiritual people.   God has hidden things in a parable so that He can hide them from the wise and prudent. So who are these strangers and foreigners who do the physical work of labor for the elect? If we want to answer that question, we need to first find out who are the elect, the chosen people for the Kingdom of God in the New Testament. We know in the Old Testament the elect were a literal, physical people. But in the New Testament, Jesus came to raise up a spiritual people. Adam came to raise up a physical people, but the last Adam, Jesus was the spiritual Father of the born-again man.   So again, once we know who these elect are, we should be able to find out who it is that serves the elect. Let's start in (Gal.5:17) For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would. The old man of flesh is totally contrary to the spirit man and is constantly making war on the spirit man, but who's the elect? The elect is the one who's going into God's Kingdom and we know, (1Co.15:50) … brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Flesh and blood is not the elect in the New Testament; the spiritual man is the elect in the New Testament. As a parable, the Israelite represented the spiritual man in the Old Testament. As a parable, the Canaanite or the Egyptian both represented the old man, but the Israelite represented the new man.   In the Old Testament, the Israelite was the one who was saved and was God's elect, according to the letter and according to the flesh, not according to the spirit man. (Rom.8:7) Because the mind of the flesh is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be: (8) and they that are in the flesh cannot please God. The “mind of the flesh” rules the flesh. It's not part of God's Kingdom; it will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We've now identified who the elect are in the New Testament.   The born-again man, the spiritual man, is the elect and the carnal man is his mortal enemy. The Israelite had to put to death the carnal man who lived in the land in order to take over his house and, of course, we are the house and our carnal man, that Canaanite, that giant Goliath, needs to be put to death because he's the enemy of God.   What we're seeing in Isaiah 61 is another parable of sanctification. Sanctification is what happens when the born-again man is no longer in bondage to the old carnal man. While the Israelites were in Egypt, they were in bondage to the Egyptians, but at the Red Sea, the Egyptian was the old man who went down in the water and the Israelite was the new man who came up. Paul called the Red Sea experience a “baptism.” (1Co.10:1) For I would not, brethren, have you ignorant, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; (2) and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; (3) and did all eat the same spiritual food; (4) and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.   Baptism symbolizes the death of the old man, so now you know to whom the Israelites were in bondage. They were slaves to the carnal man and their Red Sea experience is a type and shadow of our salvation in the New Testament when we're baptized. When we come up out of the water, the old man is dead. (Rom.6:11) Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. And the new man is (Col.1:27) ... Christ in you, the hope of glory, because (Gal.2:20) I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.   (Isa.61:5) And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers. What if you reversed this? Who is the “stranger” and the “foreigner”? It's the old man! It's the man who has no right to the Kingdom of God, the man who is not an Israelite, the man who is not a Christian. He's a member of the body of the Beast. “And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vine-dressers” is talking about the old man serving you! The old man, who is dead to his former dominion over you, is now serving you! This life, this physical life, now serves you!   All the blessings that follow sanctification are because this happened. This is the restoration of the days of the apostles when they served God with a fervor and were holy, when they didn't give in to the flesh, but instead, like Paul, ruled over the flesh.   Paul said, (1Co.9:27) But I buffet my body, and bring it into bondage: lest by any means, after that I have preached to others, I myself should be rejected. He buffeted his body; he brought it into subjection, lest he himself would be adokimos, or “reprobated.” He made his body serve him; he put it in bondage. Paul called himself “a bondservant of Jesus Christ”. So now it's no longer the spiritual man who's in bondage in Egypt; it's the carnal man who is in bondage in the Promised Land. This is the work of sanctification! We desire earnestly that this flesh would have no ability nor power of its own, but would simply be a vessel to carry the spiritual man and do the physical things to serve the spiritual man. In our Testament, in our Covenant, that's what this is talking about. (Joh.6:63) It is the spirit that giveth life; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life.   Back to (Isa.61:6) But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God: ye shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. Notice that they will be the priests! And the priests offered sacrifices. They offered burnt-offerings, for instance, and God promised Moses that we would be a kingdom of priests, if we would keep His laws. (Exo.19:5) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be mine own possession from among all peoples: for all the earth is mine: (6) and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.   In other words, God promised we would all be priests, we would all have sacrifices, we would all be offering burnt-offerings before the Lord. And those burnt offerings would be the Flesh! But who is the priest? The spiritual man is the priest. The carnal man is the offering; he's the beast that is burned up in the fiery trial. You see, in overcoming that old man, in crucifying the old man, we're all priests, and so the “strangers” will serve God's elect.   We can see this more clearly if we go back a few chapters in Isaiah 13. There we see that God's people are in bondage to Babylon and, you know, Babylon falls twice. The Lord showed me it falls spiritually and then it falls physically. (Rev.18:1) After these things I saw another angel coming down out of heaven, having great authority; and the earth was lightened with his glory. (2) And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons (Notice, he's not talking about the destruction; now he's talking about a spiritual fall of Babylon. The physical fall of Babylon comes a little later in this chapter.),and a hold (or a “prison”) of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird.   (Rev.18:4) And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. So now this is talking about the coming physical destruction of Babylon. Babylon can symbolize fallen DS America because Babylon was the “great eagle.” It can also be a spiritual revelation of apostate religion, which is called the “Harlot,” because it's receiving the seed of the world. Apostate religions are committing fornication with the world, instead of receiving the seed of their Husband, Who is the Lord. (Rev.18:5) For her sins have reached even unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. He's saying to come out so that you won't be destroyed with her. There is first the spiritual fall of Babylon into debauchery, into demon possession, into her churches being filled with demons instead of righteous people.   And then God says, “Now you come out of her so you don't partake of her destruction,” which is a physical fall. (Isa.13:19) And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldeans' pride, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. So there is a Babylon spiritually fallen and we have to spiritually come out of her. In our spirit man, in our spiritual life, we have to come out of her. You really can't leave worldwide Babylon physically because the whole world came from Babel. That's where the tongues were confounded and the people were spread out, and then God broke the continents up and separated the peoples by their languages. So you really can't leave larger Babylon, which is the whole world, but the day will come when Babylon will physically fall and by that time you need to be spiritually separated from her.   You're spiritually coming out of Babylon now, but there's coming a day when we are going to physically leave Babylon when the “ark” is going to lift off, so keep that in mind as we read this. (Isa.13:20) It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall shepherds make their flocks to lie down there. (21) But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there (In other words, the true shepherds and their flocks are no longer there.); and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and ostriches (An ostrich represents a very big bird in the world, but it can't overcome the world. It's earthbound, just like some very big “birds” who are in this world today. They can't overcome the world and they are unclean.) shall dwell there, and wild goats shall dance there. Goats are another symbol of apostate Christianity.   (Isa.13:22) And wolves (one more symbol) shall cry in their castles, and jackals in the pleasant palaces (Those castles and palaces are the apostate churches.): and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. Here comes the physical fall and you better get out! (Isa.14:1) For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land.... When we come out of Babylon, we are to go to Zion. We are to go to our spiritual Promised Land where we can live as Christians, where we can live by what God told Joshua: (Jos.1:3) Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, to you have I given it, as I spake unto Moses. And then God gave the boundaries of the Promised Land.   The Word of God is our land. The Word of God is where we dwell and how we walk. God is going to give you every place you put underneath the soles of your feet. In other words, every promise in the Word of God on which you stand is your Promised Land that God is going to give to you. He raised up Jacob and the 12 patriarchs of the Old Testament, just as He raised up Jesus and the 12 patriarchs of the New Testament, and He's about to do the same thing again. He's about to raise up the Man-child and the 12 multiplied patriarchs, too, and set them in their own land. God's people are leaving Babylon and going back to their own land. God is going to restore the waste places, restore the cities, etc.   (Isa.14:1) For the Lord will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the sojourner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. (2) And the peoples shall take them, and bring them to their place (What “peoples” took God's people to their Promised Land?); and the house of Israel shall possess them (That is, the house of Jacob shall possess the peoples that brought them to their place.) in the land of the Lord for servants and for handmaids.... Wow! You know, it is this physical man who brings us to our Promised Land, but then that man becomes the servant of the spiritual man.   When we are living upon our Promised Land, the Egyptian, or old man, is the servant and not the Israelite. The old man is simply a “vessel” for the spiritual man. The old man brings that spiritual man everywhere he goes, but the old man is no longer ruling. He's no longer the master; he's now the servant. When you go to your Promised Land, it means that old man is no longer ruling over you. You are ruling over him.   (Isa.14:2) … and they shall take them captive whose captives they were.... In Egypt, the Egyptian made captives of the Israelites, which means the man of flesh ruled over the spiritual man, and when that happens, we call it “sin.” (Rom.8:13) For if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live. If you walk after the flesh, you must die! Multitudes of people who call themselves Christians walk after the flesh; they are in bondage in Egypt. Serving the flesh is what caused the destruction of the Adamic race altogether. (Isa.14:2) … and they shall take them captive whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors. That's sanctification! There is a great blessing for this because now you can live in the Promised Land.   Now you can stand on the promises and the old man won't talk you out of them or cause you to walk in the flesh and lose your benefits. (Isa.14:3) And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow.... So you enter into the “rest”! Remember, the “rest” is ceasing from your own works. You keep the New Testament spiritual sabbatismos, which means “a continual rest.” (Isa.14:3) And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble (There's no lack of trouble and persecution to sinners, but a person who is walking a holy walk is finally free.), and from the hard service wherein thou wast made to serve.   We've all been in bondage to sin and to the old man, and we've reaped the bad fruit of that, which is the curse! The curse is the fruit of serving the old man. What's the benefit of the old man serving the new man? It's just the opposite; it's the blessings and great benefits that the Lord spoke about in Deuteronomy 28 and that we're reading in Isaiah 60 and 61. It's been about 2000 years since God's people actually walked that way, but now the Lord is going to raise up a Man-child to walk in the steps of Jesus and bring about restoration.   Jesus raised up apostolic forefathers to go forth and raise up the Church, and the Man-child is going to do the same thing, except this time both the Man-child and those forefathers are going to be multiplied. Glory to God! (Isa.14:4) That thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! (5) The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers; (6) that smote the peoples in wrath with a continual stroke (He's broken the power of the rulers to rule over their slaves. He's broken the power of the old man over the spiritual man.), that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that none restrained.  Glory to God! 

We've made it to the promised land! The people of Israel have left behind their victim identity and taken on a freedom identity. It's been quite the journey. In Egypt, we see them in a world of perpetual crisis and in need of salvation. In the Exodus, we see God get them through the tunnel of chaos. In the wilderness, we see them enroll in boot camp to tear down their old identity and learn their new one. And in Canaan we see them building maturity and living out of freedom. As we wrap up our final episode of the Lessons from the Wilderness Series, we hope you'll join us on the trail! P.S. After this week, the podcast will be entering Sabbatical mode for the rest of the summer. Whether you are new to the podcast or have been on the trail with us from the beginning, you might like the opportunity to revisit prior topics in a longer form. Over the summer we're collating the episodes from an entire series into one episode to release on our normal Monday schedule. Stay tuned for that, and we pray you have a blessed summer!Helpful Links:Breakthrough! Book: https://deeperwalk.com/breakthrough-5-essential-strategies-for-freedom-healing-and-wholeness  Deeper Walk Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/DWISignUp Deeper Walk Trailblazers: https://deeperwalk.com/trailblazers/ Podcast Mailbox: http://tinyurl.com/OTTMailbox 

The Top Men are intensely questioned after landing their stolen Soviet helicopter at a US airbase in West Germany, but are ultimately allowed to leave. Afterwards, the team boards a Greek steamer bound for Alexandria, but the ship is attacked in the night, and a furious gun battle erupts. In Egypt, Stew calls upon an old contact from his days at Yale.

The mention of “heavens” carries a massive piece of luggage with it labelled Spirits, and not the liquor variety. The idea of spirits may not have shocked ancient readers, but modern readers may laugh and shrug at the idea of immaterial beings, yet are still afraid to descend the stairs into a dark basement. Ancient people believed in spirits, but today we feel that we know better. “The age of magic is over,” we say, and then spend millions on New Age crystals and cards. “The age of superstition is dead,” we say, and then we proceed to ask for help from AI software treating it like the oracle at Delphi. “Prayers are useless” we say and then pray for the field goal to clear the uprights. Today, the “spiritual but not religious” crowd grows in numbers, without any understanding exactly which spirits they have opened themselves up to. The spirits are real and ever eager to locate the indifferent. The inversion here is the one that may scare you. Really, it should produce awe and wonder. Like a healthy fear of swimming in the ocean, this can keep panic at bay and thereby help you breathe. The culture's suppression of supernatural things has smothered the unseen realm. Images of cartoon devils in tights, wall-art of chubby baby cherubs smoking cigarettes, platitudes at funerals about uncle Joe getting his wings, and the reduction of all demons to psychological issues - all of this misdirection has had a blinding impact on us to what is real. But angels exist, and they are present now. They are reading or listening to this with you. Over your shoulder, whispering messages, they are present. If we accept the inversion that angels are real, we should spend some time considering what they are, while not obsessing over it, because we must be aware of this reality, without seeking to fly too close to the sun. What are angels then? Let's use a list of 12 things to know on angels from Peter Kreeft:* They really exist. Not just in our minds, or our myths, or our symbols, or our culture. They are as real as your dog, or your sister, or electricity.* They're present, right here, right now, right next to you, reading these words with you.* They're not cute, cuddly, comfortable, chummy, or “cool”. They are fearsome and formidable. They are huge. They are warriors.* They are the real “extra-terrestrials”, the real “Super-men”, the ultimate aliens. Their powers are far beyond those of all fictional creatures.* They are more brilliant minds than Einstein.* They can literally move the heavens and the earth if God permits them.* There are also evil angels, fallen angels, demons, or devils. These too are not myths. Demon possessions, and exorcisms, are real.* Angels are aware of you, even though you can't usually see or hear them. But you can communicate with them. You can talk to them without even speaking.* You really do have your very own “guardian angel”. Everybody does.* Angels often come disguised. “Do not neglect hospitality, for some have entertained angels unawares”—that's a warning from life's oldest and best instruction manual.* We are on a protected part of a great battlefield between angels and devils, extending to eternity.* Angels are sentinels standing at the crossroads where life meets death. They work especially at moments of crisis, at the brink of disaster—for bodies, for souls, and for nations.Accepting they are real may require a willingness that is difficult, yet it is essential to this inversion, to see the world right-side-up instead of upside down. One stumbling block comes from the Bible itself, because they are not explicitly mentioned as being created in the six days. The lack of mention about the creation of angels and demons stands out in Genesis. Did Moses just forget to write that down in the Torah? Where are the ghosts, Moses? On which day were the watchers, archangels, and guardians created? If the writers of sacred scripture were inspired by God, or literary geniuses, how could they possibly have missed mentioning the timing of the creation of angels and the fall of the demons? This seems a gaping hole in the creation story. Surely it seems impossible that this could be missed…unless it is omitted on purpose or for quiet reasons. There is much here to consider. This omission is one of the great conversation starters about the opening book of the Bible, because we often talk so much about what is there, but in this case we must discuss what is not there. The standard answer is that when God created the heavens, he created the angels, and a third of the angels fell with Satan when they turned their will against God. This is alluded to in places, particularly in the last book of the Bible, in Revelation, and in Daniel. In terms of timing on when they were created, we have a short answer from the Catechism stating that angels were created before human beings. The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God "from the beginning of time made at once (simul) out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, the angelic and the earthly, and then (deinde) the human creature, who as it were shares in both orders, being composed of spirit and body." (CCC 327)Now, if you are Catholic, like I am, this answer to “when were angels created” is sufficient. ‘Tis enough. The faith provides an answer, which satisfies my curiosity and saves me from tilting at windmills in long thought-quests of “which came first, the spirits or the atoms?” The spirits and the stuff were created at once, out of nothing, and we came after. Was it a day, an age, an eon, a billion years? It really doesn't matter. But truly, even in light of modern science, this is hardly a shocking concept, as even our scientific models has all matter and energy there at the beginning, and we come long afterward. Angels and demons are created, therefore God created them, and it happened before he breathed a soul into Adam. The details are not terribly important for my wrestling with faith on how to live for God and others today. In fact, thinking about such things too much detracts from exactly those two commandments of Christ, to love God and to love others. He didn't command us to spend a lifetime contemplating the exact construction of time, space, matter, and angels. Accepting the mystery of this is liberating. As for the fall of the angels, or how they became demons, we know it happened. How do we know that? Because Jesus said he witnessed “Satan fall like lightning.” If you have a first principle of believing that Jesus is the second person of the Holy Trinity, and that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life…then it follows that all that he says is true. Then he means exactly what he said: “I saw Satan fall like lightning.” Conversely, if you don't believe that Jesus was fully human and fully divine, then nothing that he says would matter anyway, because he would then be lying. This is why the first principles of belief matter so much, as every line of the Apostles' Creed then forms the foundation of all that you do, say, and believe. So if you believe in Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, this is a statement from Jesus that should make our jaw hit the floor, because if Jesus saw “Satan fall like lightning” then he can only be declaring himself to be the Creator, a.k.a. God. This also means he has always existed, before all ages, and that through him all things were created. This declaration of seeing Satan's fall is as wild and radical as when Jesus forgives the paralytic's sins, because only God can do that. (No wonder his contemporaries hated him. Imagine a neighbor making such a claim. But then your neighbor can't walk on water or multiply bread, so it's a bit different.) This fall of Satan seems to happen instantly, abruptly, and all at once, without any kind of grand battle. Lightning is instant, perhaps the most instant thing we can imagine as humans, as anything beyond the speed of light becomes difficult to fathom. Thus, it seems that upon creation, Satan fell immediately in rejecting God, and it doesn't sound glamorous or valorous, it sounds kind of pathetic, like he got drunk and drove off a cliff after closing time at the local bar. Angels are said to be locked into their choice without the ability to repent, thus upon creation perhaps he fell immediately. But we don't know that, nor do we need to know. The whole idea of “when” only makes sense to us living in time, whereas God is eternal, and the concept of time in aeveternity (angel time) is a mystery beyond our understanding. So we know that Satan fell, and hard. He goes by other names, such as the ancient dragon, the serpent, Lucifer, the Devil, et al. But whatever the name he began as an angel. He fell and then we fell because he planted the temptation to question God in our first parents. We fell for it. One fall leads to another. In that fall of the angels, we have much speculation on how and why it happened. Unfortunately, we have John Milton's Paradise Lost which skews the fall of Satan and paints the devil as a mafia boss. Milton made an error, it seems, in his Puritan gnosticism of light versus dark. It seems that Milton started us on the path to this cartoon devil idea that we have today, and while the poem might be interesting, it misleads. We are better off with Dante and the medieval view, which has sadly been replaced by so much Protestant shedding of sacraments, angels, and saints, and more recently from the Enlightenment and scientific materialism. In Dante's Inferno, the devil is miserable and encased in ice at the bottom of hell. His existence truly blows - literally, it blows because he's flapping his wings in angry desperation forever, causing the very ice that forms around his torso. Cold, isolated, miserable, alone. That's hell. Neither of these books are considered sacred scripture, but Dante's worldview makes far more sense than Milton's, for if you reject the Highest Good, which is God, the result is a miserable hell. And hell is not a good time where any ruling happens, it's a lonely place of death in the abyss. After the death on the cross, Jesus descended into hell and not all souls were brought out of it, only some. Yet the devil remains. Why? Why didn't the paschal mystery of the passion, death, resurrection, and ascension finish off the devil and fallen angels once and for all? This too is a mystery. The cliffhanger continues until the Second Coming. In the meantime, the devil is permitted by God to operate in the world to guide men toward salvation and to carry salvation history forward. But the fallen ones are not in any sense enjoying the experience. Jesus showed the way to life; it is through trials that we find it, and trials come in the form of crosses, but if we carry them, they become gifts. This is a hard thing to accept. Yet we must. The book of Job is the graduate level class on the idea that God allows suffering to bring about a greater good. In Egypt, Joseph states the answer of why evil is allowed by God: “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” One verse that has stood up on the page for me is the moment that God sends an evil spirit to put Saul into a state of depression and self-loathing. God seems to push it onto Saul. Read this verse slowly:“Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.” (1 Samuel 16:14)To me, this is another jaw-dropping moment, because the good spirit leaves and God sends an evil one to Saul. This is God sending the evil spirit to Saul, the first king of the chosen people. What does this mean? Does this mean that God is evil? No, it means that God uses the evil spirits to bring about salvation history. He uses all of creation to bring about his will. This is why we must wrestle with God, like Jacob. This is why he wrestles with us, each of us. God is teaching us with life, with trials, and hopefully we realize, like Jacob, that the angel of the Lord is stronger and we eventually must submit (but like Jacob we should also ask for his blessing once our hip socket gives out and we accept surrender). If this sending of an evil spirit happened to Saul, there is no reason to think we may not also be given this kind of treatment. But the difference is how we respond to it. Do we react like Job, or like Joseph in Genesis, accepting our struggle? Or do we act like Saul, and seek out the witch of Endor? Do we try to take control by other means, or do we surrender to his will? Obviously the ultimate instance of the trial is described in Jesus' fasting in the desert, where after his baptism he goes into the wilderness for forty days. At the end, at his weakest moment, the devil tempts him. This of all things should help us see that we are in for a test, or multiple tests, as the fully human and fully divine Jesus showed us how to suffer and serve. It is this full dying to self that we see in Christ's life. After all, hell is choosing the self over God, the ego over the Creator. Thus, the fallen demons are lost, wailing and gnashing their teeth forever in the nothingness and “fires” of hell. This “fire” of hell may be a freezing place, where fire is so hot that it feels like ice. Anyone who has had to jumpstart a car in a Minnesota winter, fiddling with battery posts and cables at minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit, knows well how cold can feel like burning fire. Whatever the fire, the takeaway here must be only this: that it is awful. Thus, the idea that Milton's Satan said, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” is absurd, because he is in hell. There is no enjoyment there. It is a constant jumpstarting of a car in a poorly lit parking lot at minus 35 five degrees Fahrenheit during a blizzard - but much worse. Reading the Gospel without acknowledging the glaring fact that Jesus considers demons and angels to be real will make for a disappointing read. Worse, dismissing angels and demons without serious reflection will make for a disappointing eternity. Yet the intro of Genesis lacks this seemingly all-important element. But why? We first meet the serpent in Genesis 3, and the cherubim with the flaming sword who guards eden comes shortly after that. So the angels are mentioned early on, but the details are light. How can this be? There's no mention of the creation of the serpent-demon, but suddenly he's there. God created all “out of nothing” so clearly the serpent-demon was created. It seems this is not mentioned so as not to lead us astray. There are several inversions needed here to get us focused on what is important.First, there are books that are not in the Bible that go into the fall of the angels, such as the book of Enoch, and much ado is made of that online today. Many strange religions have a fixation on the book of Enoch, and the book of Enoch is truly fascinating. Yet it was not selected by the Israelites as part of sacred scripture. It is not in the Septuagint, the first Greek version of the canon. Genesis would have been the most logical place to write about the creation of angelic beings, yet it was left out, or covered under the umbrella of “God created the heavens…” which includes all things that exist in the heavens. Allusions to the book of Enoch appear in a few places, so why wasn't it included? We are not forbidden to read it, but it is clearly not critical for our salvation, otherwise it would have been included in the canon. Sacred scripture provides only what we need for salvation, not all the gory and exciting details we would like to know. St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine listed good reasons why the creation of angels is not covered in detail. Resting in the mystery is one answer, but perhaps this angelic creation story was not made clear to Moses and therefore was not written. But Aquinas' most convincing argument is that when humans focus too much on angelic beings, they are prone to falling into worshipping them, a.k.a. idolatry. In fact, Hollywood has little interest in Abraham or David or the Eucharist or the Mass, but throws gobs of money at making movies about demons. This alone is telling. Those who spend too much time thinking about angels and demons forget the purpose of sacred scripture, which is to help us live as humans, not anywhere above our place in the hierarchy of created beings. This would be like a rabbit attempting to ponder Plato instead of foraging. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the angelic doctor, has this sensible reason as to why Genesis begins the way it does. Although Thomas believes that angels, like everything else in creation, actually do contribute to the greater glorification of God, he does recognize some dangers. In Ia 61, 1 ad 1 he responds to the objection that, because angels are not mentioned in the Biblical account of creation, God did not create them. He says God created everything that exists, and the fact that angels are not mentioned in Genesis 1 is no indication that God did not create them. Aquinas attributes their omission to the danger posed by knowing about them and too much attention being paid to them. Indeed, it seems as though the Israelites in the Old Testament were in constant danger of worshiping something other than God as God. So rather than mention them, Aquinas says that Moses sought to remove an occasion of idolatry from the people. This shows that there is a danger in focusing too much on angels as opposed to God without whom they would not exist, and without whom their existence is unintelligible. Angels are, after all, messengers, and one ought not attend too much to the messenger while neglecting the message, which is God's Word. (Dr. Joseph Magee, from AquinasOnline.com)We must not become too focused on angels and demons, lest we take our eyes off of God. St. Paul said in Colossians, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.”What an interesting comment. Paul says that to be interested in angels to the point of worship is to be unspiritual. This feels like an indictment on Hollywood and the YouTubers obsessed with exorcisms. As it turns out, the spiritual combat is really a steady prayer life, keeping the commandments, wrestling with God and then surrendering your will and intellect to Jesus and his established visible Church, and putting all your trust in God. What are we not to do? Obsess over angels and demons. The Divine Mercy quote of “Jesus, I trust in you” kind of sums it up. More than a few people become obsessed with the messengers, the angels, instead of the Trinity. Entire denominations go astray and conflate angels with God or Jesus (Jehovah's Witnesses, LDS, a thousand New Age cults). The “worship of angels” is fool's gold. Thus, consider only Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael, the sainted archangels of scripture, who are highest in rank for our concern, that is, of human concern. Praying the “St. Michael the Archangel” prayer is far more important than the Pledge of Allegiance, as the nation will pass away but God will not, nor will his Church, the new Israel.As for your personal concern, the guardian angel assigned to you is enough, but do not name the guardian, just let it be “my guardian angel.” The Angel of God prayer can and should be said daily as a basic devotion. This is like brushing your teeth. It's for your health, too, your eternal health. Focusing too much on angels and demons instead of God leads to irrational fears and concerns, to the point that you have more of a relationship with the demons than if you didn't believe in them in the first place. The atheist living by “reason alone” is shielded against errors like this one (even while making the worst possible error, which is the total rejection of God). But they are real. To comfort our modern sense of security, we assume all that old chatter about demons was mere superstition and mental illness. Right? But it scares us to think of it. When we feel scared, we have our coping strategies. Perhaps we sign in to our 401K account to check the balance and sigh in relief. Or we check our security system and insurance policy. Another reaction to the terror of angelic beings is to start cleaning the house, or to scold someone online, or to scroll porn and news, or space out on a video game. We find some worldly thing to control (like writing/pontificating on a blog, as I do, or judging others, as I do). What we should do is kneel to pray and invoke the name of Jesus and the Trinity, and pray for the intercession of the saints and angels, trusting in God's will in humility. Call to mind our own sins and recognize our weaknesses and need for a Savior. The most important prayer that we do, of all prayers, is the one we do without even knowing it's a prayer: that prayer is called The Sign of the Cross. The idea of demons has been made comical by horror films and Halloween costumes, which is what the devil would like us to believe. As for angels, they have been wall art and figurines for so long that we assume at everyone's funeral that a human turns into an angel at death, automatically. This universal salvation is mentioned nowhere by Jesus, nor is there any mention of giving of angel wings to humans. Humans are embodied souls, without wings. Both angels and demons have become cartoons to us. But the meaning of the word “angel” is messenger. Your mailbox might receive a message sometime in the night, in the small hours, when the eyes open and the radar of conscience pings a spiritual presence. We can ignore or acknowledge it. Truly, it should terrify you a bit because if you are not on the right side of the battle, you will ultimately lose. The great trick of spirits is to guide your actions with suggestion and misdirection, and if you live unaware of their influence, you are a sitting duck. Rather, you are already on the side of demons if you don't think they exist. But to know they exist is one thing, and to think about them is another. Keep your mind clean by turning your thoughts to God, always back to one of the persons of the Trinity. Your guardian angel is always ready to help. For many, the person most accessible is the person of Jesus, which makes sense, because like us he was fully human, and unlike us, he was fully divine. The assertion of scripture, tradition, and the teaching of the Church is that spirits matter for your life, death, and judgment. Spirits are real. What is not real (or healthy or useful) is the denial of spirits. Worse yet is obsessing over them. New Age religions dabbling in spirit invitations is directly problematic, because summoning, channeling, manifesting, and opening ourselves to spirits comes with consequences. Plenty of spirits are happy to join in, and they will devour you. Spirits will indeed take you up on an invitation to enter you, but it won't work out the way you expected. If a demon enters you, perhaps you will perceive a benefit, similar to how taking supplements allows you greater gains in the weight room. But whatever “gain” you receive, the fallout of possibly dying in a state of mortal sin far outweighs the trifling, short-term benefit you gain here. This is serious business, not a game. You are a low-ranking participant in the spiritual war, not a captain or admiral. To assume a higher rank is to fly too close to the sun, and much of life is discovering where you fit in this world and the next (Hint: for a kickstart, start discerning like St. Therese of Lisieux).Any spirit you invite into your life will be real, so it's extremely important to consider what you are engaging in when dallying around with the unseen realm. In fact, the only spirit you should ever ask into your life is the Holy Spirit, and you do so with a three-word prayer. “Come Holy Spirit.” Say it now. Say it three times, but just say it. There is no magic in it. This is simply the one spirit that you need to align your will with God's will, because the Holy Spirit is God Most High. Actions matter. Speaking matters. Prayer matters. Doing a thing with your body and soul is a natural and supernatural interaction. So if you channel demons on a Ouija board, you have done an action invoking demons with your body and soul. If you say, “Come Holy Spirit” you are turned toward God. Turning is repenting. Turning to God is what all of the inversions are about, and belief in the Holy Spirit and the angels of heaven is part of submitting your will and intellect to the maker of all things. Further reading:Peter Kreeft on AngelsSt. John Damascene's De Fide Orthadoxa, book II. (An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith)St Thomas Aquinas and AngelsAquinas 101: Angels and DemonsCatechism of the Catholic Church paragraphs 325-336, 390-395 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit whydidpetersink.substack.com

In Egypt. By far the largest one in the ancient world. Thank you for listening! Please leave a 5 star review, share and subscribe!

The Book of Joshua and the history of the nation of Israel in the Old Testament were written to teach us some spiritual lessons about our spiritual journey. Today as we continue our introduction to the Book of Joshua, we want to look at the four geographic locations seen in the history of Israel and learn how they illustrate four aspects of our own spiritual experiences.   Israel in Egypt was the place of death and bondage from which they needed to be delivered. They were delivered from death by the blood of the lamb and from bondage by the power of God who opened the Red Sea and took them across safely. This illustrates the salvation we have through faith in Jesus Christ, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29) Through His death and resurrection, Jesus Christ delivers the believing sinner from bondage and judgment.   The wilderness experience of Israel depicts believers who live in unbelief and disobedience and don't enter into the rest and riches of their inheritance in Christ, either because they don't know it's there or they know and refuse to enter. Like Israel, they come to a crisis place (Kadesh Barnea), but refuse to obey the Lord and claim His will for their lives (Num. 13-14). They are delivered from Egypt, but Egypt is still in their hearts; and like the Jews, they have a desire to go back to the old life (Ex. 16:1-3; Num. 11; 14:2-4; see Isa. 30:3; 31:1). Instead of marching through life as conquerors, they meander through life as wanderers and never enjoy the fullness of what God has planned for them. It's this crowd that is especially addressed in the Epistle to the Hebrews.   Canaan represents the Christian life as it ought to be: conflict and victory, faith and obedience, spiritual riches and rest. It's a life of faith, trusting Jesus Christ, our Joshua, the Captain of our salvation (Heb. 2:10), to lead us from victory to victory (1 John 5:4-5). When Israel was in Egypt, the enemy was around them, making their lives miserable. When they crossed the Red Sea, Israel put the enemy behind them; but when the nation crossed the Jordan River, they saw new enemies before them, and they conquered these enemies by faith.   The victorious Christian life isn't a once-for-all triumph that ends all our problems. As pictured by Israel in the Book of Joshua, the victorious Christian life is a series of conflicts and victories as we defeat one enemy after another and claim more of our inheritance to the glory of God.   According to Joshua 11:23, the whole land was taken; but according to Joshua 13:1, there remained "very much land to be possessed." Is this a contradiction? No, it's the declaration of a basic spiritual truth: In Christ, we have all that we need for victorious Christian living, but we must possess our inheritance by faith, a step at a time (Joshua 1:3), a day at a time. Joshua's question to his people is a good question to ask the church today: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord...has given you?" (Joshua 18:3)   The fourth geographic location on Israel's "spiritual map" is Babylon, where the nation endured seventy years of captivity because they disobeyed God and worshiped the idols of the pagan nations around them. (See 2 Chron. 36; Jer. 39:8-10). When God's children are willfully rebellious, their loving Father must chasten them until they learn to be submissive and obedient (Heb. 12:1-11). When they confess their sins and forsake them, God will forgive and restore His children to fellowship and fruitfulness (1 John 1:9; 2 Cor. 7:1).   It only took God one night to get Israel out of Egypt, but it took Him 40 years to get Egypt out of them. Where are you on your spiritual journey: In Egypt? In the wilderness? In the Promise Land?  Or in captivity in Babylon?     Today it is my prayer for you, “that through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures you might have hope.”   God bless!

Many queer people struggle to reconcile their religion with their sexuality. There just aren't many accepting and inclusive religions. Queer Muslims are no exception. In Egypt, even though there is... LEARN MORE The post Egypt: religion and discrimination against queer people appeared first on World Wide Wave.

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/islamic-studies

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/middle-eastern-studies

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/geography

Capitalism is not only an economic system but also a system of production and allocation of hope. In Egypt, a generation of young men desire fulfilling employment, meaningful relationships, and secure family life, yet find few paths to achieve this.  In The Labor of Hope:: Meritocracy and Precarity in Egypt (Stanford UP, 2023), Harry Pettit follows these educated but underemployed men as they struggle to establish careers and build satisfying lives. In so doing, this book reveals the lived contradiction at the heart of capitalist systems - the expansive dreams they encourage and the precarious lives they produce. Pettit considers the various ways individuals cultivate distraction and hope for future mobility: education, migration, consumption, and prayer. These hope-filled practices are a form of emotional labor for young men, placing responsibility on the individual rather than structural issues in Egypt's economy. Illuminating this emotional labor, Pettit shows how the capitalist economy continues to capture the attention of the very people harmed by it. Harry Pettit is Assistant Professor in Economic Geography at Radboud University Nijmegen. His research is on emotional politics and late capitalism. He has published articles on the emotional politics of precarious labour in Cairo in the International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Environment & Planning D: Society & Space, and Emotion, Space, and Society. Yadong Li is a PhD student in anthropology at Tulane University. His research interests lie at the intersection of the anthropology of state, the anthropology of time, hope studies, and post-structuralist philosophy. More details about his scholarship and research interests can be found here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In January 2024, a Coptic Christian woman was kidnapped and forcibly converted to Islam in Egypt. Irene Ibrahim Shehata, a 21-year-old medical student at Asyut National University disappeared between her mid-term exams. Her frantic family sought help from the police, but none was provided. Why? What was going on? Sadly, Irene's case is neither isolated nor rare. In Egypt, and other countries, Christian women are “disappeared,” kidnapped by Muslims, forcibly converted, married off and enslaved. How does this happen in the 21st century? Who is driving this trafficking of Christian women? What can be done to combat this evil? “Lindsay,” an associate with Coptic Solidarity, joins the Christian Emergency Podcast to shed light on this evil pattern playing out. She answers these questions and more as she brings this issue to light; an issue many would rather leave concealed in darkness. As you learn about the plight of these Christian women and girls, please pray for them. Pray for their families. Pray for their release and return. And pray for their abductors, that in their hearts they may be convicted of their actions, repent and come to faith in Christ.   If you find this episode helpful, please give us a positive rating and review wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. Also share this episode with a friend so they too can be blessed by these insights. To learn more about resources mentioned in this episode, see the following. Jihad of the Womb: Trafficking of Coptic Women and Girls in Egypt (Report) Coptic Solidarity (Website) Christian Emergency Alliance (Website) Christian Emergency Alliance (Twitter / X): @ChristianEmerg1 Christian Emergency Alliance (Facebook): @ChristianEmergency Christian Emergency Alliance (Instagram) The Christian Emergency Podcast is a production of the Christian Emergency Alliance. Soli Deo Gloria

Presented by Lisa Bishop Most of us recognize the importance of developing patience, we're just not in a hurry to grow in it; and patience has been said to be a test of our Christian authenticity and character. One example of patience is the story of Joseph told in Genesis 37-50. I encourage you to read the story on your own but here's the gist. Joseph was a favored son of Jacob, betrayed by his brothers and sold into slavery in Egypt. In Egypt he finds favor with one of Pharaoh's officials, Potiphar, and is given charge of Potiphar's household. Potiphar's wife unjustly accuses Joseph of trying to sleep with her and as a result he is thrown into prison. After years in prison, Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams, and is finally freed and put in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then a famine strikes and Joseph's brothers, who did not recognize him, come to ask him for food. Joseph provides for them and eventually reveals his identity. His brothers are afraid expecting him to seek revenge. But Joseph responds patiently: Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children (Genesis 50:19-21). Joseph's faith in God gave him the patience to persevere from pit to prison and ultimately being elevated to the palace. His story shows that patience begins with knowing God is sovereign and in control. When you find yourself enduring hardships, setbacks, betrayal or uncertainties, this is the time to trust and lean into God. I will be the first to say it's not easy, especially when suffering is involved. But you must have the patience and perseverance to know God will work all things out—most likely not in your timing or liking, but according to his love and sovereignty. And God will use the time to produce something in you as you cling to him. Patience is learning to accept the things we cannot change as we lay them down at the foot of the cross, placing our trust in our heavenly father. In difficult seasons, I want to encourage you to surrender to God's timing and embrace waiting as a time of growth. Allow God to shape your character and deepen your faith during these times. And remember the words of Proverbs 3:5-6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

How much can one person take, and still choose to offer kindness?   In Genesis Chapter 37, verses 12–36, 17-year-old Joseph is sent by his father to visit his brothers, who were tending the family's flock of sheep in the countryside.   Rather than the friendly check-in he expected, Joseph's brothers initially plotted to kill him out of jealousy, but instead sold him into slavery to a group of Ishmaelites heading for Egypt. Among the brothers, only Reuben wished to leave Joseph unharmed, attempting (but failing) to set up a situation where he could rescue his brother and return him to their father.   In Egypt, Joseph was falsely accused of a crime, thrown into prison, became an interpreter of dreams for Pharaoh, and eventually attained a seat of power over Egypt.   When famine hit the land where his brothers lived, they came to Egypt to buy grain. They didn't know Joseph was not only alive, but was now the governor of Egypt. To their surprise, Joseph wasn't angry at his brothers, but showed them compassion when he saw them again. Instead of taking revenge, he took them in and cared for them. Joseph knew everything that had happened was part of God's plan, and what his brothers intended for harm, God intended for good.   Ephesians 4:2 says, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”   The story of Joseph teaches us that humility, patience, gentleness, and love are not just qualities to be saved up for those who we think deserve it; God asks us to approach others with love even if they have offended or caused us harm.   Let's pray.   Lord, sometimes the people in our lives are disappointing, frustrating, or downright hurtful. God, help us to love those who fall short and need our forgiveness the most, and to bear with each other with patience and with grace. In Jesus' name, amen.

①Chinese Premier Li Qiang is leading a delegation to the World Economic Forum in Davos. What's on his agenda? (00:53) ②In Egypt, the first stop of his four-nation Africa tour, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the situation in Gaza and China's ties with the Arab world with Egyptian and Arab officials. What are the details? (12:55) ③In a phone call with Yemen's Houthi officials, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the U.S. air strikes on Yemen.(25:12) ④The latest customs figures show that China's foreign trade expanded by 0.2 percent in 2023.(34:00) ⑤Our exclusive interview with Wang Lixin, Chinese Ambassador to the Maldives.(43:15)

Have you been experiencing a season of continual disappointments and setbacks? In this powerful morning prayer, Pastor Sean shares how Joseph was thrown down into the pit by his brothers, then he was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites and taken down to Egypt. In Egypt, he was sold to Potiphar, and he began to experience some success. But Potiphar's wife lied on him, and Potiphar threw him down into Pharaoh's dungeon. Everything seemed to be going down for Joseph, but God was working all things together for good. In prison, Joseph met the Pharaoh's butler, who mentioned him to Pharaoh. In one night, Pharaoh promoted Joseph, and Joseph went from being a prisoner to the prime minister of Egypt. Learn how God is working everything out for your good and how to trust in His timing. Get ready to go from the pit to the palace and experience supernatural favor in your life.

Faith and Courage— Two Sides of the Same CoinThe Biblical story of Abraham is profoundly human— a narrative full of twists and turns, triumphs and failures, poor decisions and their unintended consequences, and, of course, drama— much like a Netflix mini-series. Yet, throughout the trials of his faith, we see Abraham continually return to a place of trust in God's promises. And the trajectory of his life models for us the possibilities and pitfalls of our own spiritual journey.The Call and the PromiseIn Genesis 12, Abraham, then called Abram, receives a divine call from God to leave behind the only land and people he's ever known and travel to a place yet unknown, so that through him, God would bless all the families of the world. Pretty tall order. Yet, this inaugurates the covenant— God pledging to make Abraham a great nation, to bless him abundantly, and to give his descendants the land of Canaan. The promise must have seemed improbable to Abraham, a nondescript man from an obscure country, but he obeyed nonetheless.Abraham's faith wasn't one-dimensional— the Genesis account shows it being refined through tests and trials, success and failures. In Egypt, fearing danger, Abraham lies to Pharaoh about Sarah being his wife. Not one of his better days. Later, anxious about lacking an heir, Abraham and Sarah take matters into their own hands, leading to the birth of Ishmael through Hagar. Probably one of his worst days. Yet even after these failures, Abraham returns again and again to faith in what God has spoken, as he is learning to trust in the timing and provision of the Promiser.Courage and the ClimaxUltimately, Abraham's faith journey crescendos in the test of the binding of Isaac, where God asks for the unthinkable— to offer up his son, through whom the covenant blessings were to flow, as a sacrifice to Him on Mount Moriah. Abraham obeys, demonstrating remarkable courage and trust that God could fulfill His promise even through death.Lessons for the JourneyWhat lessons can we apply from Abraham's life? And how can we learn to have the courage to follow God into the unknown and do the unthinkable, even after a history of faith that may be less than stellar?• Face the Unknown with Faith – Like Abraham, God often calls His followers out of their comfort zones into uncharted territory that requires faith and courage. Abraham's “leave your country” first step models the courage to obey God, even when the destination is uncertain.• Grow through Failures – Our mistakes need not define us. Like Abraham, we can let them deepen our reliance on God. Need more proof? Remember David's moral failure with Bathsheba and his restoration, and Peter's denial and later reinstatement by Christ. They are pictures of Divine grace— and of the blessings of second chances.• Wait on God's Timing – The years between promise and fulfillment were Abraham's training ground in patience. God frequently calls His people to endure patiently as His purposes simmer below the surface, or years of obscure preparation before emerging leadership, pleading in prayer before a longed-for miracle, or decades struggling with wounds before finding healing. May we likewise learn to wait on His timing, in all things.• Cling to God's Promises – When famine descended on Canaan, Abraham clung to God's covenant promises despite being surrounded by doubt and discouragement. We, too, can hold fast to the many promises in Scripture, even when the road gets tough, and we can't see our way forward.• Act with Everyday Courage – While few undergo anything close to Abraham's...

Hundreds of thousands of people have demonstrated globally in outrage at Israel's genocidal bombardment of Gaza. In the Middle East in particular, protests have been massive, faced state repression, and evoked memories of the Arab Spring revolutions. In Egypt, for example, protestors marched to Tahrir Square for the first time since 2013. In Jordan, protestors faced regime and security forces preventing them from reaching the border to show solidarity with Palestinians. The liberation of Palestine has long resonated throughout the Middle East and North African region. This connection is deeper than just sympathy: the settler-colonial project of Israel, its backing by US imperialism, and the complicity of the Arab regimes with Zionism reflect on the oppression of the people of the region more broadly. Because of this, one of the long-held slogans of the Palestinian left has been that the road to Jerusalem flows through Cairo, Damascus, and Amman, that Palestinian liberation will have to be achieved through regional revolt and revolution. This panel of revolutionaries from around the region will talk about the inextricable ties between Palestinian liberation and liberation across the region, and its special relevance in this crucial historic moment. Speakers Hossam el-Hamalawy is an Egyptian journalist and scholar-activist, currently based in Germany. He's also a member of the Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists, and was among the organizers of the 2011 uprising in Egypt. Soheir Asaad is a Palestinian feminist and political organizer and a human rights advocate. She received a Master's degree in international human rights law from the University of Notre Dame (US). Soheir is the advocacy team member of Rawa, for liberatory, resilient Palestinian community work. She is also the co-director of the “Funding Freedom” project. Previously, Soheir worked in legal researcher and international advocacy in Palestinian and regional human rights organizations. Dr. Banah Ghadbian (they/them) holds a Phd in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, San Diego. Their PhD dissertation, "Ululating from the Underground: Syrian Women's Protests, Performances, and Pedagogies" looked at the ways women and children in Syria utilize theatre, protest, graffiti, and freedom school spaces in the Syrian Revolution. Dr. G has taught using theatre and social justice curricula at the Syrian Women's Association in Amman, Jordan and with displaced Syrian and Palestinian youth in the Arab Youth Collective of San Diego, among many other places. Dr. G holds a masters in Ethnic Studies and a BA in in Comparative Women's Studies and Sociology. Banah is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Women's Studies at Spelman College where they also serve as faculty advisor for the Students for Justice in Palestine. Banah is a member of Palestinian Feminist Collective. ————————————————————— This event is sponsored by Haymarket Books and is part of Until Liberation: A Series for Palestine by Haymarket Books cosponsored by Palestinian American Organizations Network, Mondoweiss, Spectre, Dissenters, Tempest, Palestine Deep Dive, The New Arab, and more. Watch the live event recording: https://youtube.com/live/FYFWQjjm7ac Buy books from Haymarket: www.haymarketbooks.org Follow us on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/haymarketbooks

Not knowing much about farm animals, I once asked someone if there was a difference between a sheep and a lamb. To my surprise, there is! A lamb is a sheep who is one year of age or less. A farmer will tell you that, unlike a sheep, a lamb is young, small, innocent, and docile. Jesus is called the Lamb of God. In the fourth Gospel, John the Baptist proclaimed: “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (v. 29). Just as a shepherd, or a farmer, owns and cares for lambs, John proclaimed that this Lamb belongs to God. Also, notice the singularity of the word “Lamb.” Jesus is not one of many lambs, but the one and only Lamb of God. In Exodus, God commanded Moses and Aaron to tell the Israelites who were being held captive in Egypt to choose a lamb for each family and slaughter it on a specified day. Regarding those sacrifices, God said, “The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect” (Ex. 12:5). A portion of the blood of the lamb was to be placed upon the sides and tops of the door frames (Ex. 12:7). That night the LORD struck down all the first-born in Egypt except in the houses where the blood was on the doorposts (Ex. 12:12–13). In Egypt, the Israelites were responsible for providing their own sacrificial lamb for the Passover meal and the saving of blood. John the Baptist realized that God Himself had provided Jesus as His own sacrificial Lamb. This Lamb had the power to take away the sin of the world. >> John the Baptist later stated, “I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One” (John 1:34). Let's follow John's lead. This Christmas season let somebody know that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God Who will take away their sin, if they will put their faith in Him.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Upside Down Kingdom Pt. 9 Dealing With Your Word Matthew 5:33-37   Swear to the God ABOVE In most ancient cultures, to invoke a god's name was to say something about that god's character (Deut. 18:20). In Egypt, taking an oath in a god's name was binding, but as those gods didn't exist, breaking it had no divine consequences. Israel was allowed to take oaths in the LORD's name (Heb. YHWH, Ex. 3:14) but never falsely, rendering Him as also non-existent (c. 1440 BC; Lev. 19:12; Deut. 6:13-15; 20:10). Names are a picture of a person's personality, position, and power. Israel was to be a light to the nations about the true God (Deut. 26:18, 19). So, Israel wasn't to use God's name as profanity, which was blasphemy (‘to treat with irreverence or as common'). When God's name was uttered, especially in business or in reference to the truth of a matter, it was to guarantee authenticity and integrity. To use YHWH to lie (‘in vain') in business or in a legal matter, caused the harmed person to dishonor the true God and brought judgment on the violator (Ex. 20:7; Matt. 12:36, 37). Names represent the character of families, teams, cities, nations, and ultimately God. God's family is to represent their family Name well! Represent the God WITHIN By the time of Jesus (30 AD), Jews were using God's name in a way that devalued His character. To correct this, Jesus tells his disciples not to swear an oath by God at all. But they were to have such godly character that their words could be believed without an oath. Christians are ‘small-Christ' versions, in that they represent Jesus both in name and in action. Christians are the most like Christ when they resemble Christ the most! As believers have the true God living in their heart, they should be acting that way in the world. The God of integrity on the inside should produce believers of integrity on the outside (John 14:23; Eph. 3:17)! Words are an extension of a person both for good or for evil (Luke 6:45). Christians are to be ambassadors to a lost world that needs to experience the true Jesus through true believers (2 Cor. 5:18-20). True believers are the truest example of the true God when they truly act in truth (John 8:31, 32)! Lying and manipulation aren't from God. For Christians, their word should be their bond and their promise should be their guarantee—at home, at work, at school, and at play. For the Christian, what gets said is what gets done (Ps. 15:1-5; Prov. 12:22)!

Quantum Healing with the Angels - Episode 13 - The Real History of Planet Earth   ⁠All my links (website, social media, podcast, etc): https://beacons.ai.beyondquantumhealer **To enter our drawing for a free Beyond Quantum Healing session, here are the instructions! Just do the following:  1. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts, per the instructions in this episode. 2. Once you leave the review, email me at bqhsarahwebb@gmail.com and let me know which review is yours, and make sure to include a way to contact you (I will never share your information with anyone else).   3. I will put your name in the drawing for a free BQH session! Remember, BQH sessions can be done from anywhere in the world - you just need a laptop or computer (a phone or tablet may work if you don't have either of those), a headset with a mouthpiece in front so I can hear you well, (the one I recommend is less than $30 on Amazon) and a good Internet connection. I do them via Zoom.

Host Scott Fisher opens the show with David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and AmericanAncestors.org. They begin Family Histoire News with the story of a dog that served on both sides of the Revolutionary War! David explains. Then, how would you like to have access to over 59,000 dissertations on countless subjects? Dave will tell you where to find them. Who knew that pants were so controversial in Roman times? David will tell you how pants went from banned to required! In Israel, those caves that brought us the Dead Sea Scrolls have now given us more ancient treasures. Hear what they are. In Egypt, 19th century graffiti, where Europeans left their mark on ancient edifices, is being researched to learn who those people were. And finally, DNA work on 1,100 skulls is tying these dead people to their descendants. Hear who is doing the work. Next, over two segments, Fisher visits with Matamba Austin of Frisco, Texas. Matamba was born and raised in New York City. He also saw the world in travels with his mother, a worker at the United Nations. Hear how a dream and a revelation from his mother changed his life and sent him on a decades long journey to identify his freedom-fighter father in Africa. Then, David returns for more of Ask Us Anything. That's all this week on Extreme Genes, America's Family History Show!

It looks like Roman calendar makers just ran out of gas. They named the first eight months of the year for gods and goddesses, or for emperors with godly ambitions. But after that, all they could come up with were numbers indicating a month's position in the year. September, for example, means “seventh month.” We know that Star Date listeners are pretty bright, so you've no doubt noticed that September is actually the ninth month of the year. But in the original Roman calendar, the year began in March, and lasted only 10 months. January and February were added later. In other cultures, the calendar year began at different times. In Egypt, for example, it started in July, when Sirius returned to view in the morning sky. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Just as important to the Egyptians, it returned to view about the same time as the Nile's annual life-giving floods. Using Sirius as a marker, the Egyptians established the first known 365-day calendar. Later, they added leap days to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. Much later, the Romans were fussing with a calendar that was a mess. Its months didn't add up to a full year, so extra days or months were added at whim. So in 46 B.C., Julius Caesar ordered up a new calendar. Rome adopted the 365-and-a-quarter-day year — perhaps influenced by the Egyptian calendar. But it kept the Roman names for the months — including September.  Script by Damond Benningfield Support McDonald Observatory

27 seals with the name Jacob-El discovered In Egypt! Thanks for listening! Please leave a five star review, share and subscribe!

Showing asiatics arriving In Egypt during patriarchal times. Thank you for listening! Please leave a five star review, share and subscribe!

Audio Transcript:This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your holy scriptures. We thank you for the Book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, we come to the end of it today. A book that begins with a garden and perfect peace, with Adam and Eve walking with you in the cool of the day. It ends with two deaths. It ends with two coffins. And we pray that today you remind us that because of our sin, because of our rebellion, we are sinners by nature and by choice. Death is in the world and death will come to each one of us if the Lord should tarry. And Lord, I pray you make us the people that meditate upon death. As hard as it is, it is an important spiritual discipline to think about. How do we want to be remembered? What kind of legacy do we want to leave? And Lord, we thank you for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank you that your son lived the perfect life, walked with you perfectly, never sinned, fulfilled the law of God from the heart. You loved God, and you love neighbor, Jesus, so much so that you offered yourself up on the cross in order to redeem us. And we thank you Jesus that you did not stay dead and we thank you that through your resurrection, you have conquered Satan, sin, and death. And in your death, we see the death of death itself. And make us a people who trust in your word and recognizing that when we believe in you, repent of sin, we are granted eternal life. It's eternal life that begins now and continues through all of eternity. And Lord, we thank you for the lessons that we have learned from the life of Joseph, from the life of Jacob, as we remember their faith and their faithfulness, we also recognize that there were times when they were faithless. And still because they were yours, because they were your elect, you remain faithful to them. And Lord remain faithful to us. We trust in that promise and give us grace. Grace to have our sins forgiven and grace to then extend forgiveness to others when they sin against us. We thank you for the reminder of how important unity is in the church of God and I pray that you unite us, recognizing that the blood of Jesus Christ and the unity that he gives us triumphs over anything that could potentially divide us. We pray that you bless our time, the Holy Scriptures, Holy Spirit, we love you, we welcome you, and we pray that you deepen our love for you as we meditate upon your word. And we pray all this in Christ's holy name. Amen. We're continuing our sermon series called Graduate Level Grace, actually ending it today. A study in the life of Joseph. Today we're in Genesis 50. Next Sunday is our annual vision sermon. So if you are looking for a church, if you are church shopping, definitely come back next week and we, by the power of God, hopefully will show you of the importance of a gospel proclaiming church, a faithful church in a place like Boston. And then after that, we will start a brand new sermon series through the Gospel of Mark. We're calling it Kingdom Come: The Gospel of Mark and the secret of God's kingdom in which we'll meditate. And what it means is that Jesus is king and what it means that we are part of his kingdom, that we have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son, and what it means to be kingdom minded. Today the title of the sermon is Forgive from the Heart. The Book of Genesis, the book of beginnings, begins with life. God creates life and he creates humanity and everything is perfect and shalom. And then the Book of Genesis ends with death, two deaths actually, the death of Jacob and the death of Joseph. And you say, what happened? It started in such a promising way and such a promising note and it ends with death. And the answer is sin. The answer is, rebellion and rejection of God's reign and rule ushered in death. And Jacob here we're told is buried in the Promised Land as a testimony to the promises God has made in the past. And Joseph's body is put in a coffin in Egypt as a testimony to the fact that he believed that God would bring his promises to pass in the future via the Exodus. And both these godly men die in the Lord, which is a great blessing. Revelation 14:13 says, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Blessed indeed," says the spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them." Blessed is to die in the Lord. To die as a believer. Blessed is to die well and to have your funeral be a celebration of your life. Blessed it is to live in such a way where people do want to come to your funeral, and people do have many a good thing, a blessed thing to say about your life. My wife and I, we took a vacation, a trip last summer to Vail, Colorado. And my goodness, it was incredible. Vail is so beautiful. And we're sitting on the porch outside of the hotel room and we have this incredible mountain view and everything's perfect, the food was perfect, the views were perfect, everything's perfect. And when everything's perfect, the Slavic in us, we come from a Slavic background, the Slavic in us wants to be reminded that there is pain in the world. And we decided it would be wise to partake in one of the most painful exercises you could possibly partake. And my wife asked me, she said, "And when I die, what will you say at my funeral?" And then I was like, hold on, I got to think about it. And then as I'm thinking about it, I'm like, okay, what would I say? Many a good thing. I'm going to save it till her funeral. And then I said, "What are you going to say about me at my funeral?" And it was so beautiful and so heart-wrenching, heartwarming, we're just weeping. We're just sitting here and beautiful, weeping. But it was a wonderful reminder of the fact that we will die. And then if you reverse engineer how you want to live in order to be remembered in a positive way, well, how should you live? And I've done many a funeral and I will tell you it's a world of difference when the person that dies dies in the Lord, than a person that had nothing to do with God or there was no evidence of faith in God. People kind of say the same stuff, but you know it comes from a different place when the person was truly a believer secure in the hands of God. What do people say at funerals? Well, the person is now in a better place. If you're a believer or not, everyone says the same thing, even at an unbeliever's funeral. No one wants to say, "Yeah, this person was a pagan and wicked had nothing to do with God." No, they say, "They're in better place." Well, we are to prepare in life for death in order for those words to be true. In the Book of Numbers, Balaam was hired by Balak to curse Israel, but he ends up blessing them, and this is what he says in Numbers 23:10, "Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his." Let me die the death of the upright. In chapter 48, we saw Jacob's greatest act of faith, as singled out in the Hall of Faith Hebrews 11, when he blessed the sons of Joseph, when he crossed his hands, which is an incredible example and actually prophecy of the cross of Jesus Christ. But in Hebrews 11:22 in the Hall of Faith, it says that what Joseph does in this chapter was Joseph's greatest act of faith. Hebrews 11:22 says, "By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones." Joseph, on his deathbed, spoke of the exodus, of the promises of God concerning the exodus, and he demanded to be buried back in the land of Canaan, although he realized it's going to be centuries before the people of God are led out of Egypt. From all appearances, Joseph had at this time by the end of his life, already been an Egyptian through and through. He was an Egyptian from the day of his captivity when he was 17 to when he was elevated to prominence in the Egyptian court at age 30 and he married an Egyptian woman, followed Egyptian laws, carried an Egyptian name. But his dying words show that he had been a stranger in the midst of it all. His citizenship was not in Egypt, it was in heaven. Though he ruled in Egypt, Egypt did not rule in him. He was in the world, but he was not of the world. No worldly influence or power or authority or success distracted him from his faith in God. And as truly as his fathers who would dwell in tents, he too felt like he had no continuing city here. He continued to believe in God and his promises, and he continued to look by faith into the future. Before we look at Genesis 50, just one verse right before to set the context. Jacob on his deathbed blessed his sons, and then Genesis 48:33, it says, "When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and he was gathered to his people." Jacob's body was still in the room, but his soul was gathered to the people of God and he was reunited with his fathers. As Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am." And then the Pharisees were like, what are you talking about? That's blasphemy. And he said, "Have you not read? God says I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living." Three points to frame up our time as we walk through the text, a father celebrated, a family reconciled, and a promise believed. So first of Father celebrated. Genesis 50 verse one. "Then Joseph fell on his father's face and wept over him and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Forty days were required for it, for that is how many are required for embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him for seventy days" Before Jacob took the trek to Egypt with all of his family, he asked God, "God, are you going with me?" And God met him and said, "Fear not. I will go with you and I will bless you. And your son Joseph is going to close your eyes in death." The other brothers were certainly present at the deathbed of Jacob and they too grieved the death of his father. But Joseph's grief is highlighted here. His love for his father is highlighted here. His affection for his father. He's weeping over him. Why? Because first of all, he stood closer to his father than the other brothers. And also he is experiencing a pain accentuated by the fact that he had lost years of relationship with his father. There's grief, but then there's restrained, godly grief. Joseph is weeping, and after he is done weeping, he then goes into action. Why? Because his grief is like that of a believer. We grieve but not like those without hope. Joseph knows that he too will go to be with his father in the presence of God, just like Jacob did. Joseph here is 56 years of age when his father Jacob died. If you remember, he was 17 when he was sold into captivity by his brothers. And then he was 30 when he rose to prominence in power and in Pharaoh's Court. And then there were seven years of plenty and then two years of famine. And at age 39, his family moved to Goshen. And then Jacob spent 17 years, the last 17 years of his life, with Joseph, just like Joseph had spent the first 17 years of his life with his father. It says that the Egyptians wept for Jacob for 70 days. And this is really important because the Egyptians wept for Pharaoh. When a pharaoh would die, the king of Israel, the Egyptians would weep 72 days. So here we have a feeble shepherd who was revered almost as highly as royalty. Why? Because of his son. Because his son saved the people. And the people recognize that apart from Joseph and his wisdom that God gave him, they would've ended up dead. And sometimes fathers provide for their children early on and sometimes children ended up providing for their parents. I tell my girls this, I have four daughters. I remember when my oldest for the very first time, she was like nine, she washed my car. And I was so pumped and I was like finally, a little ROI. A little return on investment. But we do. We pour into our kids and as we raise the children and recognize the children by God's grace will care for us in our old age. There is no burial recorded in scripture quite as honorable as this with such a wealth of detail. And Joseph commands the physicians, it says, to embalm his father. Not the mortuary priests. His wife was part of the priest cast in Egypt, but it's not the priest that come in and do the embalming. No, it's the doctors, the physicians. Why does Joseph do this? First of all, he wants everyone to know we're not doing this for religious purposes. There's a practical purpose here. The practical purpose in embalming Jacob is to transport his body into Canaan, the Promised Land, just like Jacob had commanded Joseph and the son. So the pagan embalming procedure is used by the Lord God here. So Jacob and Joseph are the only two Israelites of whom the scriptures tell that they were embalmed, not for religious value, but strictly for feasible transportation. Genesis 50 verse 4, "And when the days of weeping for him were past, Joseph spoke to the household of Pharaoh, saying, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, please speak in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, "My father made me swear, saying, "I'm about to die: in my tomb that I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me." Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return. And Pharaoh answered, Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear." Joseph being the wise administrator that he is, he understands how the political court works. Although he's second in command to Pharaoh, he understands authority. He understands he's in authority, and he understands he's under authority. So he doesn't want to pull rank. And he understands that Pharaoh would be apprehensive about letting such a trusted official go with his whole tribe, his whole family back to the land of Canaan. Especially given that Joseph knew sensitive information about Egypt and the inner workings, and such clandestine information would be very valuable to the enemies of Egypt. So Joseph understands he needs Pharaoh's clearance, so he asks. Joseph is given his request to go back, and on top of that, he's given a large entourage to escort Jacob for the internment. It's a massive funeral entourage. Hundreds of people made up the retinue. In verse 7 it says, "So Joseph went up to bury his father. With him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his household, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, as well as all the household of Joseph, his brothers, and his father's household. Only their children, their flocks, and their herds were left in the land of Goshen. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen. It was a very great company. The text emphasizes that the children, the livestock, were left in Goshen, to emphasize the fact that they felt so secure in leaving the children, the little ones in Goshen. That's how much God had blessed the people of Israel. He'd given them security, he'd given them land. And we see the entourage led by Joseph, and it's almost a mini rehearsal for the ultimate homecoming of the children of Israel out of Egypt via the exodus. And actually the route they took was the same exact one as Israel would take centuries later after the Exodus. In verse 10, "When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they lamented there with a great and grievous lamentation, and he made a mourning for his father seven days." The Egyptian custom of those days were where when you get to the place of burial, the point of burial, you take another seven days of lamentation. So we're up to 77 days that people lamented the death of Jacob. And this is important. I think this is important for us because we live in a society that idolizes youth and we don't respect people in their older age and we don't think about honoring them and their death. We don't think about honoring them after their death. And this morning my dad, he sent me a text message, iMessage from Estonia, he's in Estonia right now, my country of origin, and he's there with my mom. And he takes a pilgrimage almost every single year. And every time he goes to Estonia, he goes to the cemetery where his mom is buried and where his grandparents are buried. And they take care of their little plot of land, put flowers there. And I remember when I was younger, I was like, that's kind of silly because they're in heaven, right? We believe that they're in heaven, their souls are in heaven. But he's doing it as a way to honor them. Honor their remembrance, and honor their sacrifice for him and for us. And this is important, I think it's important for us to really celebrate those who came before us and to honor them and their death and honor them after their death and the memory of them. And this is what the Lord Jesus told us in the celebration of the last supper. He said, "Do this for what purpose? Do this in remembrance of me." Every time we take the cup and the bread, we're remembering the death of our Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice and resurrection. Verse 11 of chapter 50, when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning on the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a grievous mourning by the Egyptians," and therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim. Abel-mizraim means mourning of Egypt. Verse 12, "Thus his sons did for him as he had commanded them, for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Efron the Hittite to possess as a burying place. After he had buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt with his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury his father." So Jacob's sons take over here in the very final and most intimate part of the service. They are the ones that bury their father. They are the ones that lay him in his final resting place for his body. And the emphasis in the text is his sons, all his sons are unified in that. They obey the commandment of their father. Perhaps for the first time, all 12 of them are unified in obedience of their father. We see them as submissive, dutiful, faithful. They're truly changed men. And then that whole family goes back to Egypt, goes back to Goshen. And now the question is, well, how then will they live? Now that Jacob's influence as the patriarch, as the loving father on all 12 sons. Are they going to live in unity and reconciliation? And the text says yes. Point two is the family reconciled. Verse 15, "When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him." So they sent a message to Joseph saying, "Your father gave this command before he died: Say to Joseph, please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you." And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. So the brother is realizing their father is dead, understandably they're worried. And they're wondering, was he nice to us just because of dad? He's been benevolent to us, but is the benevolence just a mask for malevolent intent? Was he really just harboring resentment and biding his time? So they sent a message to Joseph. They don't go personally just yet. First they want to test the waters. Who do they send? Most likely they sent the youngest son Benjamin because he was loved by both sides of the family. And when Joseph hears this message, he weeps. Why does he weep? Because if these words are true, that Jacob said this, then he's weeping over the fact that his father Jacob did not trust him, did not trust his intentions, did not trust his words. If it's not true, if Jacob did not say this, then Joseph is weeping over the fact that his brothers still don't trust him. And there was no ground for mistrust. Joseph's forgiveness had been without condition. To have his sincere motives questioned was painful, especially after 17 years of care and provision. And you got to stop and you got to wonder, why would they question Joseph after 17 years of his love toward them and word indeed? Well, most likely they're projecting their own guilt on him. Most likely they haven't dealt completely with their guilt and their sin. And most likely they're thinking, okay, if we were sold into captivity by Joseph, and if we were in power over him, and now that dad's not here to protect him, what would we do? And in their sinfulness, they think, you know what? We would probably make him pay for his sins. And that's why it's so important in this message. They say, "Please forgive the transgression." They use the word transgression. They use the word sin, and they use the word evil. They recognize that they've transgressed, not just against God, but against his brother. They've sinned, not just against God, but against their brother. They've committed evil, not against just God, but his and their brother. And what do they call themselves? Forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father. For the first time the text tells us that they confess allegiance to the God of the universe. He's our God, not just the God of our Father. They repent and Joseph is weeping. So they got the message that Joseph is weeping. In verse 18 it says, "His brothers also came and they fell down before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." But Joseph said to them, "Do not fear for am I in the place of God. As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones." Thus he comforted them and he spoke kindly to them. Their sorrow and their repentance is genuine. It's sincere. That's why they come on the heels of the messenger and they offer themselves to Joseph as slaves. And we got to pause and just say it's incredible how God worked in this family, how he's been growing this family. We see spiritual growth and maturity. We see the brothers humble themselves before their younger brother, a sibling they once hated. And they confess their sin and wrongdoing and they prostrate themselves before their brother just as Joseph once dreamed. Why is this emphasized in the last chapter of the book? Well, because finally this family is healed. Finally, this family is united. Finally, this family understands the grace of God. I don't know about your family situation, your family of origin, your current family. But I will tell you this, that apart from grace, you cannot have a true united loving relationship that's going to last the test of time. We need grace. Why? Because we're all sinners and we sin against one another. The forgiveness of Joseph gives is a full forgiveness, and it reminds us of the forgiveness of Joseph's antitype, the greater Joseph, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we can be assured of this, that when we repent of our sins and trust in Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven completely. The forgiveness is permanent. And we are forgiven for the penalty of our sins forever. For those who are in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. And when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and he bore the sins of sinners, he satisfied the divine justice for those for whom he died. Consequently, heaven can bring no new charges against those for whom the Lord has paid a full debt. God does not require the debt to be paid twice. The saved are safe and secure thanks to the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are seasons when we doubt this, are there not? Are there seasons in your life, dear believer, when you wonder, did Jesus completely forgive me? Am I truly secure in the hands of God? Or have I lost my relationship with God? And those seasons, for the true believer, those seasons are helpful, because those seasons cause us to wonder, why? Why do I have these doubts? The scriptures are clear that those who believe in Jesus Christ have eternal life immediately. It begins now and continues through return. Most likely we have those doubts because there's current sin in our lives. And then we've got to pause and say, what do I do? Well, you've got to repent of that sin and turn from it and turn back to the Lord. Go back to the cross of Jesus Christ. And we through our life of obedience of faith are to confirm that our election is true. And Joseph says, "Do not fear for am I in the place of God." Do I have the right to judge you? I'm not God over you. I have the power to judge you, but I don't have the right to judge you. And he reminds them that God is the ultimate judge and all wrongs are to be righted by him. Friend, when you are wronged by someone, what is the first inclination of your heart? Most likely it's to seek vengeance. And the Lord says, "No, no, no. When you're sinned against, remember vengeance is mine. I will repay," said the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5:15," See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. "Joseph continues says, "As for you, you meant evil against me. But God meant it for good." And here we have a classic statement on the doctrine of providence and specifically God's concurrence. And that doctrine means that God can override, he chooses to override the evil consequences of the wicked to bring about a blessing. And the holy God overrides our sin while simultaneously remaining unsullied by it. One commentator says that God handles sin sinlessly. What could I do to interfere with God's plan even if I desire to do so is Joseph's sentiment. God is the ultimate governor of the universe. And it was the similar sentiment of Joseph back in chapter 45 when the brothers started the process of reconciliation in Genesis 45:5. "And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and the ruler over all the land of Egypt." You sold me, but it was God who sent me. God is a holy God, he's not the author of evil. He's holy, and therefore no holiness proceeds from him. But God does determine that evil exists in the universe in order to accomplish a greater good that would exist if he had not determined that evil should exist. Why? To manifest His glory through justice and grace, god determines that sin exists in the universe. And to really grasp this, it's important to meditate on the question, who crucified Jesus Christ? Who crucified our Lord and Savior? If you look at John 18 where Jesus is in the garden in Gethsemane, he told his disciples to pray, stay awake, be watchful. The flesh is weak but the spirit is strong. And the disciples fall asleep and then the soldiers are there. And then Judas points out who Jesus is. And Peter out of nowhere is awakened. And then Peter takes out a sword and he attempts to cut off the head of one of the servants that came. And he was still asleep, a little groggy. He missed the head and only nipped the ear. And then Jesus healed the guy. And then Jesus said in John 18:11, "Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into its sheath. Shall I not drink the cup that the father has given me?" Well, who crucified Jesus Christ? Oh, it was the father's plan. The Father gave him the cup to drink. What was the cup? Is the cup of suffering and the wrath of God. But then in Acts 2 after the day on the day of Pentecost when Peter gets up and he preaches the first evangelistic sermon, 3000 people got saved. But this is what Peter preached. He said, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it." And then later in the text it says that the people heard this and they recognized their responsibility. They were cut to the heart and they say, "What do we do?" And Peter said, "Repent and believe in Jesus Christ. There's no question about the responsibility of wicked men who put our Lord to death." They're responsible for their actions, but it's simultaneously true that God predetermined that this wickedness should take place. So God's providence is over everything, even over evil, and he has the power to turn the greatest evil into the greatest good. How do we know this? Well, because what was the greatest evil in the history of the universe? The greatest evil was wicked men putting the son of God to death. And then that greatest evil God transformed into the greatest good through the resurrection of our Lord so that anyone who trusts in the Lord will be saved and preserved and given life, just like the good that came out of the evil of Joseph's brothers selling him was the preservation of God's people. Third is a promise believed. This is Genesis 50 verse 22. "So Joseph remained in the Egypt, he and his father's house. Joseph lived 110 years." Now, this is important because between verses 21 and 22, 54 years intervene of the brothers living together. They all remained in the Egypt, he and his father's house.And again, the emphasis is on the whole family. They've been healed, they've been united, they're living in shalom. They're living in complete reconciliation. Why is this important? Because of so many brothers and family members that couldn't get along in the Book of Genesis. Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel, couldn't get along, couldn't get reconciled, and Cain kills his brother Abel. Abraham has two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, who did not dwell together. Isaac has two sons, Esau and Jacob, and they parted forever. So the book of beginnings ends with Jacob's 12 sons, who are mired in conflict, in a personal relational conflict, and now they're living together in unity. There's no disunity, there's no division, there's no dissension. They've forgiven one another. They saw healing and now they're loving one another and loving neighbor as self. Psalm 1:33 says, "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity. It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes. It is like the do of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore." We know what it means to not get along with others, to be at odds with others, even with Christians. Especially Christians, dare I say. We've sinned against others and others have sinned against us. And that's why it was so important, at the Last Supper, Jesus Christ, this is his final charge to his disciples before the crucifixion. What does he do? He gets on his knees, he takes a basin on water, he takes a towel, and he starts washing the feet of his disciples. What is he doing? He's saying, this is love. Love is getting on your knees and washing the filth of your brothers. Recognize there is filth and recognizing that it needs to be cleansed and recognizing there needs to be humility for this to happen. For true love and true community and true spiritual family to be established. And then he says the following in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." Jesus is saying, this is how important love in the Christian community is. The watching world wants to know, do you believe? Do you truly believe what you say you believe? Do you truly believe in grace? Do you truly believe that your sins are forgiven? Is your heart transformed, so now you forgive one another? This is the greatest apologetic. The world sees this. The world is moved by this. Because there's nothing outside of the Christian Church that comes even close to this kind of community. And that's why this is the greatest point of attack of Satan. If Jesus is saying that unity is the greatest apologetic to the watching world, when brothers and sisters love each other in the church, what's Satan want to do? He wants to kill that apologetic, he wants to kill that testimony, by causing disunity in the church. And we are to be reminded that the blood of Jesus Christ, which unites us, has a unifying power that is stronger than anything that will pull us away from God or pull us away from another. And I say that because there are seasons in life where our love for one another is put to the test. I don't like watching the news. It's all terrible. I've unplugged from the matrix. I'm not on social media. And I'm hearing rumors of another lockdown coming. I don't know, rumors. When I heard that recently, it just took me a flashback back to 2020 and 2021 and the strife within the church. And I just want to say to you, dear church, just recognize that the unifying power of the blood of Christ, which washes us from all sins, which recognizes that we are all degenerate and we're all disgusting before God, we're all depraved in our sin. We are all wrong somewhere. And just putting down our own ambition, our selfish ambition and saying, you know what? My love for my brothers and sisters is a bond that is greater than anything else that could divide us. And the watching world, I'm telling, the watching world finds that incredibly meaningful and powerful. In Genesis 50 verse 23, "And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own. " The age to which Joseph attain shows us how the span of human life was slowly shortening. Isaac lived 180 years, Jacob, 147, and Joseph here 110. Perhaps it's the hardness of life. Perhaps something was already changing because of sin in the world, changing in the environment. But during these years, he was blessed with seeing his grandchildren. In verse 24, "Joseph said to his brothers, "I'm about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of the land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." And then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, "God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here. So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin In Egypt." I die, but God will visit. Joseph doesn't expect his brothers to bring him, as soon as he dies, to bring his coffin or his sarcophagus back to the land of Canaan, most likely because he realized that the political circumstances have changed. When Jacob died, Joseph was in a position of influence to bring him out. And by the end of Joseph's life, Israel doesn't have the same influence in the court of Egypt. He was put in a coffin in Egypt. This is how the Book of Genesis ends. The book opens with life and it ends with death. It opens with a garden and ends with a coffin. Why? Because of sin. Sin entered the world. And as the decades and centuries wore on, the became heavier and the mummy case must have begun to symbolize the futility of the hope. Joseph promised us that we will leave. Abraham was told that we will leave the captivity and land of Egypt, and there he lay for over 300 years until the last day finally when his hope and confidence long deferred was vindicated. The God who makes promises, fulfills his promises. And scripture says that Moses, as he's leading the people of Israel out of Egypt, he remembered the words of Joseph and they carried out his coffin. And then actually for 40 years, the coffin accompanied the people of Israel wherever they went until finally in the days of Joshua, the bones of Joseph were buried in Shechem. Each of the testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament, ends in hope, with reference to the future. The Old Testament ends with the hope of the Messiah coming, the king of kings, the one that will save, the one that will redeem. The New Testament begins with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the king of kings, and the New Testament ends with the second coming of the Messiah.  Scripture speaks of the death of a believer as sleep. When a person sleeps, they are alive, they're resting, and they expect to wake up. But scripture doesn't teach soul sleep, it teaches body sleep. The body is in place, wherever it's buried or cremated, and the spirit goes to be with the Lord. So the person is alive, resting from his labors, awaiting and awakening. Body left here, soul in the presence of God. And then those who sleep will be awakened, that's their bodies being resurrected with Christ in a glorified sense. Perfect bodies that will not die. 1 Thessalonians 4:13 comments on this, "But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this, we declare to you by the word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not proceed those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words." So the body shall be raised from the dead. It shall be made like the Lord Jesus Christ's own glorious body, and shall rejoin the spirit in the resurrection. How can we be sure of this? How can we be sure that there is a resurrection? How can we be sure that our bodies will be resurrected and we will spend eternity with God? Well, we can be sure of this because we have no idea where Jesus Christ's body is now. Actually we do. It's not buried here. If Jesus Christ's glorified body is in heaven, now see it the right hand of God. And this is profound. If you study any other world religion, you realize that the followers of that world, they know where the founders are buried. They know where the body is. Just like Abraham and Jacob, they wanted their descendants to know where the bodies are so that they will be remembered. Jesus didn't leave his body. And this is the beauty of Christianity. And this is one of the great proofs for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus truly remained dead, then his followers would do everything possible to know where his body was buried to revere him. No, thankfully we don't have Jesus' bones. We have an empty tomb. The tomb is empty. And I love the fact that the tomb of Jesus Christ was where? What was the location of the tomb? It was in a garden. I love how God does that. Genesis begins with a garden and it ends with a tomb. And then when Jesus Christ comes, he fights Satan in the garden Gethsemane, where he's tempted to not take the cup of God's wrath. And then he finally says to the Lord, "Father, not my will but yours be done." And then he goes in the arduous journey of the cross and the Via Dolorosa and he takes the cross upon himself and on the cross he takes our sins upon himself. He suffered. He was crucified. And he was buried in a tomb, in a garden. And God is saying that there's a place of death, but it's a place of resurrection and it's in a garden.And I love when Mary goes to see Jesus on the resurrection Sunday. She sees him, but she mistakens him for what? She mistakens him for whom? She mistakens him for a gardener. I love that. I love that. A resurrected Jesus, he's mistaken for a gardener. Why? What's he doing? I don't know. He's probably weeding the garden around the tomb and he's like, oh, no one's taking care of this place. But it's a sign to us that God, through his resurrection of his son, that's the validation. That's the proof that we too by faith in Christ will be resurrected. Jesus Christ says to the disciples, "I go and I prepare a place for you, a truly Promised Land for you," in John 14. And he says, "Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I'm going. Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes through the Father except through me." This is an implacable truth of the universe, that the only way we can go to God, be reconciled with God, is through Jesus Christ. He is the way, he is the truth, and he is life itself. Joseph looked to the exodus. He looked forward to the exodus. And why was that important? Because the people of God were redeemed out of captivity and they were saved from the angel of death because of the blood of the Passover lamb. On the night before they were redeemed and brought out of the exodus, they took a lamb and they slew the lamb, and then by faith they painted the blood of the slain lamb over their door and were delivered from death and then from Egypt. And all of this was to point to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God. Jesus Christ is the one that leads us out in the new Exodus. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." So the people of Israel, they had to act upon their faith. Do we believe the words of God when he says that you have to kill a lamb and you have to paint your doorway with the blood? Do we believe it? Then you have to act on it. We have to do it. And then they were saved. In the same way, how can we be redeemed from our sin through the blood of the lamb of God? You have to believe it, and then you have to act upon it. How do we act upon it? We repent of our sin. Lord, we have transgressed. We have committed evil. We have committed sins. Lord, that sin, that evil, the penalty for all of that was laid upon you. That's why you were slain. So we believe and then we reorder our life around that belief. Bible trivia question, did Moses ever see the Promised Land? Oh, look at you good Bible scholars. God prevented him from seeing the Promised Land because of his stubbornness and sin. But then on the Mount of Transfiguration in Luke 9, it says, "Moses met with Jesus." Where? In the Promised Land. And what do they talk about? Luke 9:28, "Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem." And the word for departure in the original is Exodus. What did Moses want to talk about with Jesus? He wanted to talk about the Exodus. Moses, the great Moses who led the people of God in the exodus through the Red Sea that was parted, wanted to talk with Jesus Christ about the new exodus that was going to be accomplished in Jerusalem where on the cross, that we are led from the captivity to our sin. From condemnation for our sin, we're led through the Red Sea of the blood of Jesus Christ that was poured down on the cross and by grace through faith. When we repent of sin, the Lord forgives us and he frees us. Praise be to God. And as we await in faith and hope of our exodus to the Promised Land, we too, by God's grace, are reminded from this text that we are to seek to live in harmony and peace with one another, forgiving and being forgiven. Matthew 6:14, Jesus says some incredible things. He says, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." It's incredible because he's saying, this is how fundamental forgiveness is in the Christian life. If you truly believe that you have been forgiven by God, a holy God, an eternal weight of penalty, well, how will you not then forgive those who sin against you? Matthew 18, it says that Peter came to Jesus and he said to him, and I'll close with this because these are some weighty words. He said, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times? And Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times." Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master awarded him to be sold with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, "Have patience with me and, I will pay you everything." And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him saying, "Pay what you owe." So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you. He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. And when his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, "You wicked servant. I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you? And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." If you truly understand how much you have been forgiven by God at the cross, how could you withhold forgiveness from another? So meditate on the words of Christ from the cross. Father, forgive them, for they do not what they do. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for a blessed time in the Holy Scriptures and the Book of Genesis, the book of beginnings. Lord, we thank you that because of your son Jesus Christ, we have access to grace. And Lord, I pray that we never take your grace for granted. And as we receive your grace, I pray it transforms us to be a people who are quick to forgive when others sin against us. And Lord, continue to bless this church, continue to unify our hearts, to bring us into cohesion around your will for us. And we do pray that as we love one another, because you have first loved us, the watching world will be mesmerized. How is it that these people truly love one another? And I pray that you give us grace to then deflect all the glory and honor to you and say, it's only because of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and whose name we pray. Amen.

This week on The Literary Life Podcast our hosts, Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks, continue discussing P. G. Wodehouse's Code of the Woosters together, covering chapters 5-9 today. They share some similarities in Wodehouse's work to Shakespearean and Roman comic characters. Some of these stock characters are the couple, the helpful servant, the unhelpful servant, the irritable old man, and more. Angelina shares her take on Wodehouse's ability to complicate the comedic form. Cindy makes a comparison between the ease created by habits in life and form in stories. Delighting in Wodehouse's skill to turn a phrase, our hosts share many humorous passages throughout this episode, so be sure to stay tuned to the end to catch it all. Find annotations for the slang, quotes, etc., for The Code of the Woosters here. To find out more about Thomas' summer class on G. K. Chesterton and sign up for that, go to houseofhumaneletters.com. To register for Cindy's summer discipleship session, visit morningtimeformoms.com. Commonplace Quotes: The gentleness and candour of Shakespeare's mind has impressed all his readers. But is impresses us still more the more we study the general tone of sixteenth-century literature. He is gloriously anomalous. C. S. Lewis He wrote to Sheran: What do you find to read these days? I simply can't cope with the American novel. The most ghastly things are published and sell a million copies, but good old Wodehouse will have none of them and sticks to English mystery stories. It absolutely beats me how people can read the stuff that is published now. I am reduced to English mystery stories and my own stuff. I was reading Blandings Castle again yesterday and was lost in admiration for the brilliance of the author. P. G. Wodehouse, as quoted by Frances Donaldson You notice that popular literature, the kind of stories that are read for relaxation, is always very highly conventionalized…Wodehouse is a popular writer, and the fact that he is a popular writer has a lot to do with his use of stock plots. Of course he doesn't take his own plots seriously; he makes fun of them by the way he uses them; but so did Plautus and Terence. Northrop Frye …when you go to his residence, the first thing you see is an enormous fireplace, and round it are carved in huge letters the words: TWO LOVERS BUILT THIS HOUSE. Her idea, I imagine. I can't believe Wells would have thought of that himself. P. G. Wodehouse, in a letter to William Townend Fashion's Phases by P. G. Wodehouse When first I whispered words of love,  When first you turned aside to hear,  The winged griffin flew above,  The mammoth gaily gamboll'd near;  I wore the latest thing in skins  Your dock-leaf dress had just been mended  And fastened-up with fishes fins –  The whole effect was really splendid.  Again – we wondered by the Nile,  In Egypt's far, forgotten land,  And we watched the festive crocodile  Devour papyrus from your hand.  Far off across the plain we saw  The trader urge his flying camel;  Bright shone the scarab belt he wore,  Clasped with a sphinx of rare enamel.  Again — on Trojan plains I knelt;  Alas! In vain I strove to speak  And tell you all the love I felt  In more or less Homeric Greek; Perhaps my helmet-strap was tight  And checked the thoughts I fain would utter,  Or else your robe of dreamy white  Bewildered me and made me stutter.  Once more we change the mise-en-scene;  The road curves across the hill;  Excitement makes you rather plain,  But on the whole I love you still,  As wreathed in veils and goggles blue,  And clad in mackintosh and leather,  Snug in our motor built for two  We skim the Brighton road together.  Books Mentioned: English Literature in the Sixteenth Century by C. S. Lewis P. G. Wodehouse, A Biography by Frances Donaldson The Educated Imagination by Northrop Frye Arabian Nights trans. by Burton Richard The Renaissance Studies in Art and Poetry by Walter Pater Unnatural Death by Dorothy Sayers Support The Literary Life: Become a patron of The Literary Life podcast as part of the “Friends and Fellows Community” on Patreon, and get some amazing bonus content! Thanks for your support! Connect with Us: You can find Angelina and Thomas at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, on Instagram @angelinastanford, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ANGStanford/ Find Cindy at morningtimeformoms.com, on Instagram @cindyordoamoris and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/cindyrollins.net/. Check out Cindy's own Patreon page also! Follow The Literary Life on Instagram, and jump into our private Facebook group, The Literary Life Discussion Group, and let's get the book talk going! http://bit.ly/literarylifeFB