Y'all are going to have to wait
to eat now.
The only one not with us is Marguerite.
Y'all just remember her.
They've had kind of a tragedy today.
But she says she's going to be coming
back, and that would be really good.
I hate for her to miss this opportunity
for what we're going to be continuing to
enjoy.
Let's just pray for a second here, and
then we'll get back to these messages Arlen
has brought us.
Father, thank you so much for this weekend
and for every person who's here in this
room today.
Thank you for your grace to us.
Thank you for mercy to hear your word,
and to be here in an environment where
this message of your kingdom is being spoken
to us.
Lord, bless us with a hearing heart, that
we would receive this implanted word which is
able to save our souls.
We haven't come here today to have our
ears tickled, Lord, but we're here to have
our spirits quickened and enlivened in us, that
the word would operate in us effectively, and
you would speak to each one of us
in a personal way.
We thank you so much for this opportunity
and for the cleansing of your precious blood.
We give you the honor and the praise
that you deserve, and ask that you would
just be with Arlen as he comes to
your word and make this a living word,
and speak exactly what's on your heart to
us, Lord.
We love you and we want to take
full opportunity for this time you're giving us
to be in your word, which is a
living word.
Lord, bless this time and have your way.
In your name we pray this.
Amen.
Now we get to hear Arlen for a
couple more messages, and then we'll eat again
this evening.
We'll have a break in between.
We've got a long afternoon, but it should
be a really good time.
No build-up introduction?
It's all right.
I can back up and rewind that.
We've got another sooner sitting right here.
If anybody sees an NASB Bible, I could
use it.
Oh, there it is.
All right, be turning in your Bibles to
Genesis 19, 17.
All five messages have to do with this
verse.
There are five parts to the verse.
We've had two of them at the Lazy
Dog Ranch.
I was looking over to be sure I
had it right.
It's on Arlen's shirt over near Barksdale.
This will be the third one.
I'll be recapping some things we covered over
there.
Some of you were not there, and I
would probably recap anyway, even if we had
the same crowd.
I like to repeat.
After a while, people will get the message
if you repeat it enough.
Well, maybe I should rephrase that.
They should get the message if you repeat
it enough.
Sometimes, or maybe many times, they don't.
They just listen, and it goes in one
ear, out the other, and on we go
with that.
Genesis 18, 19.
We're right in the middle of an account.
Or 1918, I'm sorry.
1917.
I'll get it right in a little bit.
1917.
We're right in the middle of an account
dealing with Abraham and Lot, three men coming
down and meeting Abraham out in the high
country.
One of the men was the Lord Himself.
The other two angels that went on down
into Sodom.
We'll get into that in a little bit.
But we're picking up right in the middle
of this account when it's time to leave.
1917.
And it came to pass when they had
brought them forth abroad that He said, Escape
for thy life, or escape for thy soul.
You could translate it either way.
Don't look back.
Don't stay in the plain.
Escape to the mountain.
If you don't, you'll be consumed.
Those are the five parts.
I've somewhat ad-libbed a little bit, but
I've said the same thing as the text.
Let me just read it as the King
James reads.
Escape for thy life.
Look not behind thee.
Neither stay thou in all the plain.
Escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.
That associated with the plain has to do
with the present world system.
That associated with the mountain has to do
with the coming world system.
Present and the present age, the coming age.
Present time, coming time.
The day of man, the day of the
Lord.
Present era, coming era.
The present era, man's day.
The coming era, the messianic era.
The Lord's day.
And the contrast between the two, seen here,
between the plain and the mountain.
There are two major times that the Lord
called attention to.
One was during Lot's day, but a time
prior to that, during Noah's day.
As it was in the days of Noah.
As it was in the days of Lot.
Now I'm calling attention to these verses out
of Luke 17.
For the simple reason that during Noah's day,
we moved into the same era that we
see during Lot's day.
And that is a time at the end
of this present dispensation, moving on into the
tribulation and moving on into the messianic era
itself.
You didn't know all of that was back
in Genesis, did you?
Well, I know that all of you did.
I'm just somewhat stating a fact in the
form of a question that is so prevalent
within Christendom today.
They want to look for, say, the thousand
years in Revelation 20.
They say this is the only place that
the thousand years are mentioned.
Well, it's as Nathaniel West had to say
in his book on the thousand years.
If the thousand years are not in Moses,
the Psalms, and the Prophets, they have no
right to be in John.
Now when we talk about the thousand years,
of course, we're talking about the coming messianic
era.
You began a study on dealing with the
end time things, or dealing with the present
dispensation, leading into the end time events, leading
into the messianic era.
You began a study of this in Genesis,
not in the book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is a capstone.
It has a base.
Everything in the book of Revelation has a
base in the Old Testament.
So again, let me go back to as
it was in the days of Noah.
They did eat, they drank, they planted, built,
married wives, given in marriage, until the time
came when things changed.
I don't want an audible answer.
Someone might give the wrong answer.
Since we're talking about the days of Noah,
how long was Noah in building the ark?
Think about that a little bit.
Almost every time people give the wrong answer
to that question, they say, well, he was
120 years building the ark.
Well, the 120 years in Genesis 6 is
not connected with the building of the ark.
Noah's sons were grown and married at the
time God appeared to him and told him
to build an ark.
And you will find that they were very
close to the same age, and they were
in the vicinity of 100 at the time
of the flood.
Now, if they were grown and married at
the time God appeared to Noah and informed
him concerning the impending destruction, gave him instructions
concerning the ark, and, well, Noah was 500
years old, begat, and he was 600 years
old at the time of the flood.
How can you get 120 years to say
pigeonhole into that?
You see, some of this thinking, you have
to go back and take a look and
see what Scripture has to say.
And I'm calling that to your attention, because
later on, I believe it's in this study,
that I'm going to call your attention to
something in Genesis 8 that almost everyone seems
to be wrong on, and that is the
ark settling on Mount Ararat.
They're going over there looking for something that's
not there and so forth.
We'll get to that in a little bit.
But as it was in the days of
Noah, certain course of action followed during those
days, and the course of action given in
Luke 17 was just normal everyday activities like
is happening out there today.
Now, there was something special about the days
of Noah and the days of Lot, where
we had an intermarriage of, that is, during
the days of Noah, an intermarriage of the
sons of God.
These would be angelic beings.
They took wives from the female lineage of
Adam.
And the result of that intermarriage, which apparently
had gone on for centuries, it didn't start
during Noah's day.
It seemed to have started not too long,
well, during the days of Adam.
Adam lived 930 years.
The flood was, if you follow biblical chronology,
1656 years following the creation of Adam.
It began, apparently, far back in the early
years of man.
By the time of Noah, almost the entire
human race had been corrupted by this intermixture.
This appeared to be Satan's way of destroying
man whom God had brought forth to rule
the earth in his stead.
One attempt.
Another way of looking at that.
It would be an attempt to prevent Israel,
which was yet to appear on the scene.
It would appear through Shem.
I'll be talking about Shem in a little
bit.
I believe it's also in this study.
It would be a way to prevent the
Messiah from appearing through Shem.
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jacob's 12 sons appearing out
of the tribe of Judah.
The Savior.
It would be a way of preventing redemption.
It would be a way of all put
together, destroy man or prevent his redemption.
By all means, man must be stopped, else
man will eventually, ultimately replace Satan.
This is why Satan's attack is directed toward
Christians today, toward the nation of Israel.
He can't touch Messiah.
Messiah is at the right hand of God.
But he can touch those upon the earth.
I'm really getting a little bit away from
my study.
But we're talking about things that would be
of interest.
But things continued as they were until the
day that Noah entered into the ark.
And all at once things changed.
I mean, people have the idea that things
are going on and on and on.
And there'll be no change.
This is the ideology behind dating things through
different methods.
That they're uniformitarianism.
That there has never been a change.
And they carry this back.
But they fail to recognize that at the
time of the flood, conditions were entirely different
before that time.
And I believe we'll probably talk about that
a little bit as we work our way
on through.
In fact, I'm going to deal in this
study quite a bit with the first 11
chapters of Genesis.
Now, the days of Lot.
You had a little bit different situation aside
from the fact that normal everyday activity.
They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold,
they planted, they built.
Until a certain thing happened.
Two angels appeared.
Lot seated at the gate of the city.
And the two angels later, after men surrounded
the house that Lot had.
Let me say this first.
Lot had urged these two angels to come
into the safety of his house.
They said, no, we'll abide in the street
through the night.
He urged them to come inside his house.
He knew what had been happening on the
street.
He apparently knew that these were angels.
These men who had come around the house.
They were trying to break the door down.
They wanted these two angels in a bad
way.
In order that they might, as scripture states,
know them.
Which is a way to state that they
might have homosexual activity with these two angels.
Now, as I pointed out last night, I
believe it was.
They had one another.
Why would they want these two angels so
badly?
Well, you can only surmise.
You read in the book of Jude that
they had been going after strange, a different
type of flesh.
They had been having homosexual relationships with angels.
And you can only surmise that there was
something about that that far exceeded, say, a
homosexual relationship with another man.
And they so wanted to have relations with
these angels that they were going to break
the door down to get to them.
Now, that's all I'm going to say about
that.
We don't want to get off into that
type of activity and hear enough of that.
You can see enough of that in the
newspapers and so forth.
You're not going to see it on this
scale.
But if you carry the ideology of what
took place and brought about the flood.
What took place and brought about the destruction
of the cities of the plain.
On into the end time.
That is, as it was during the days
of Noah.
As it was during the days of Lot.
Apparently, there's going to be a repetition of
that on this earth in the end times.
And it seems, in fact, Scripture in so
many words states that the man of sin
will be of this lineage.
Those ruling with him will be of this
lineage.
Which means that it must already have taken
place or be taking place.
And it will reach its full fruition during
the coming tribulation.
But again, the days of Lot, just like
the days of Noah.
Life going on and on.
And all at once these two angels appear
and they announce inside Lot's house.
You get out of this place.
We're going to destroy it.
And the impending destruction didn't take long.
I mean, it was that very, the very
day or the very next day.
They were at, during the night.
And they pulled Lot, his wife, his two
virgin daughters out of that city.
They took them out by force, set them
on the outside.
And the two angels destroyed that city.
And it also states that the Lord destroyed
that city because these angels were acting under
fixed laws.
And so acting, their actions became the Lord's
actions.
It's stated both ways.
So, you can reconcile through that means why
you have it stated as such.
This is the way the Lord rules the
universe.
He rules it through angels.
He governs an entire universe.
And these angels acting under fixed laws, their
actions become his actions because he's the one
who fixed the laws.
This is where Satan went wrong.
He sought to exalt his throne and himself
be as God.
Today he is the God of this age.
So what can you say about concerning
what's about to happen relative to this world?
We can only be living at one point.
We can be living very near the time
that these two angels appeared in Genesis 18
and 19.
We can be living very near the time
that Noah and his sons finished the ark.
They were about to enter.
We're just about at the point where he
entered the ark.
We're just about at the point where the
angels pull them out.
What happens after in either story?
It's destruction.
By a flood in the former, by fire
in the latter.
But the thing is the world system in
both instances was destroyed.
And then you have a new beginning following
the destruction of the world system.
You can see that in the account in
Genesis 18 and 19.
We'll get to that later when we get
probably to the last message.
You can see that very easy in the
account of Noah and the flood.
We'll get to that in this lesson.
Now the days of Noah, I'm going to
leave the days of Noah and Lot in
just a moment, but I want to point
this out.
The days of Noah have to do specifically
with Israel and the destruction of the nations.
See it's Noah, it's Enoch taken out before,
and then Noah goes through.
Enoch points to or typifies Christians being taken
out before the time of trouble.
Then Noah points to or typifies Israel going
through the time of trouble in a place
of safety.
All the rest destroyed.
He and his sons out on the other
side.
Then a new beginning in chapter 9.
Now the days of Lot are a little
bit different.
The emphasis are upon Christians.
Not Israel so much as seen in the
former, but upon Christians.
And when you put these two types together,
you have the complete story.
And as the destruction has to do with
the nations in the former, that is dealing
with the days of Noah, destruction has to
do with the nations in the latter, dealing
with the days of Lot.
In either case, the nations are destroyed.
Now I want to digress a little bit.
Not necessarily digress, but I had a little
bit of a lumpy mattress last night.
I slept only about half the night.
It's all right.
It resulted in a good cause.
When I can't sleep, I start running things
through my mind.
And what I did last night when I
couldn't sleep, the nearest thing I could run
through my mind was the previous study that
we had had and some thoughts out of
the book of Daniel.
So let's go back to something that I
was thinking about last night.
Turn to the book of Daniel chapter 4.
Since we're talking about the destruction of the
cities of the plain or the destruction of
the world outside of the ark in Noah's
day, I want to show you something from
the book of Daniel.
And we really dealt with this in the
study last night, but I didn't deal with
it in the respect that I want to
show you now.
In fact, I hadn't really thought that much
about this, but it's there in black and
white, and it's not something that we're just
saying, well, you're seeing something here.
No, no, I'm not seeing something.
The book of Daniel, now bear in mind,
the whole book of Daniel deals with the
times of the Gentiles from the days of
Nebuchadnezzar to the end of the times of
the Gentiles some 2,600 years later, right
out ahead of us during the days of
Antichrist during the tribulation.
It starts around 605 B.C., and you
want a date on the end?
Hey, you'd like me to give one, wouldn't
you?
We'll let that go.
It's somewhere right out ahead.
The church will be removed in Daniel's 70th
week, and the times of the Gentiles at
the end of Daniel's 70th week will terminate.
And it will terminate exactly as seen during
Noah's day and during Lot's day.
It's going to terminate suddenly, swiftly, and the
times of the Gentiles will be wiped out
of existence, but the Gentiles won't be wiped
out of existence.
And that's what I want to show you
here in the book of Daniel.
Now, in Daniel 4, in verse 23, we're
starting in the middle of a story.
Maybe I want to start a little bit
earlier.
Let me look back just a minute.
Let me read a couple of verses before
that.
Verse 17 will suffice.
This matter is by the decree of the
watchers, the demand by the word of the
holy ones, to the intent that the living
may know that the Most High ruleth in
the kingdom of men, and giveth it to
whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it
the basest of men.
Now, it has to do with a man
in low degree, not a base person, so
to speak, but a person of low degree
as opposed to a person of high standing,
so to speak.
Now, Nebuchadnezzar failed to recognize that the Most
High ruled in the kingdom of men.
Going down to verse 23, And whereas the
king saw a watcher and an holy one
coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the
tree down, destroy it, yet leave the stump
and roots thereof.
The tree has to do with a national
power in Scripture.
He's talking about the kingdom of Babylon.
In verse 24, this is the interpretation of
the king.
This is the decree of the Most High,
which has come upon my Lord the king.
They shall drive thee from men, thy dwelling,
He's talking about Nebuchadnezzar because he failed to
recognize that the Most High ruled in the
kingdom of men, which I believe we're about
to read.
They shall drive thee from men, thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field.
They shall make thee to eat grass as
oxen.
They shall wet thee with the dew of
heaven, and seven times, seven years, shall pass
over thee till thou know that the Most
High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and
giveth it to whomsoever he will.
Now, let me stop right there.
Who placed Nebuchadnezzar in power?
The Lord did.
The Lord states specifically that He placed her
in power.
Let me give you something a little bit
far out.
If we have a president who's a lady
in New York State come into power, who
is going to put that woman in power?
God's going to put her in power.
And that has to be recognized, and she
has to be respected in that sense.
Now, let me go a little bit beyond
that.
She would be the Lord's anointed because she
occupies that position.
Satan's the Lord's anointed today.
I'm not comparing her with Satan.
Some would.
But you're not to speak evil of the
Lord's anointed.
So we're not to speak evil of Satan
and so forth.
But I'm just bringing that out as kind
of a far-out illustration of how the
powers that exist, they're placed there by the
Lord.
When the Lord sees fit to remove them,
He will remove them.
Now, pick up in verse 26.
We're going to do quite a bit of
reading.
In fact, I'll probably read the whole rest
of the chapter.
I assume we're in no hurry.
This may run a little bit over an
hour.
I hadn't planned on all of this, so
don't worry.
Nobody wants to get anywhere.
In verse 26, And whereas they commanded to
leave the stump of the tree, Note, the
roots and all are not going to be
taken out.
The stump's going to be left.
The tree roots.
Thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee.
After that thou shalt have known that the
heavens do rule.
I'll tell you, going down to verse 30.
Let me see if I'm...
No, let's just read continuous.
Let's not leave a part of the word
out.
Verse 27.
Wherefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable
unto thee.
Break off thy sins by righteousness, thine iniquity
by showing mercy to the poor, if it
might be a linking of thy tranquility.
All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.
At the end of twelve months, he walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.
The king spake and said, Is not this
great Babylon that I have built?
For the house of the kingdom, by the
might of my power, for the honor of
my majesty.
Boy, look at this man.
No wonder he's about to take a tumble.
Verse 31.
While the word was in the king's mouth.
Now note, he had ruled for years and
years and years.
He had been allowed to go over and
take the Israelites captive.
While the word was in the king's mouth,
there fell a voice from heaven saying, O
King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken.
The kingdom is departed from thee.
Exactly like in the days of Noah.
Exactly like in the days of Lot.
Exactly like it will occur out ahead.
It's talking about Gentile world power.
In the book of Daniel.
Bringing this to an end.
I want to talk a little about Gentile
world power before I get away from it,
to tell you why it even exists.
In verse 32.
They shall drive thee from men, thy dwelling
shall be with the beasts of the field.
They shall make thee to eat grass as
oxen, and seven times, seven years, are going
to pass over you until you know that
the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men and giveth it to whomsoever He will.
The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon
Nebuchadnezzar.
And he was driven from men, did eat
grass as oxen, his body was wet with
the dew of heaven, till his hairs were
grown like eagle's feathers, his nails like bird's
claws.
At the end of the days.
Note that expression, at the end of the
days.
Just hold your place there and look at
the last verse in Daniel.
See what that's talking about.
At the end of the days.
Daniel 12, 13.
But go thy way till the end be,
for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy
lot.
When?
At the end of the days.
We're talking about at the end of man's
day.
We're talking about out in the Messianic era.
At the end of the days.
In verse 34, At the end of the
days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes unto
heaven, mine understanding returned unto me.
Here's a Gentile leader.
He has been removed from power.
The power of Gentile world power, in other
words, has been broken.
It's been done away with.
He's been removed.
It's been obliterated.
That is, the Gentiles remain, but the power
broken, driven out into the field.
And after he is restored, note what he
says.
I blessed the Most High.
I praised and honored Him that liveth forever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom
from generation to generation.
And all the inhabitants of the earth are
reputed as nothing.
He doeth according to His will in the
army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and none can stay His hand,
or say unto Him, What doest Thou?
At the same time, my reason returned to
me, the glory of my kingdom, mine honor
and brightness returned to me, my counselors, my
Lord sought unto me, I was established in
my kingdom, excellent majesty was added to me.
Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor
the King of heaven, all whose works are
truth and all His ways judgment, and those
that walk in pride He is able to
abase.
What's this talking about?
Alright, let me tell you something.
Let me talk a little about Gentile world
power.
Why the Gentiles are in power and what's
about to happen out ahead.
The Israelites were called into existence to be
placed in a land within a theocracy, rule
over the nations, and the nations be blessed
through them.
God gave them a code of laws, rules,
regulations.
If they disobeyed, let's say if they obeyed
first.
If they obeyed, then He would do in
accord with that as He called them into
existence, in accord with His calling them into
existence.
Let's put it that way.
I was kind of at a loss for
words there for a moment.
But, if they disobeyed, He would uproot them
from the land and do just the opposite.
In fact, they would be driven out among
those whom they were to rule over and
blessed.
The opposite would occur.
They would be uprooted from their land.
Their land would be desolated.
They would be driven out among the nations.
And He drove them out among the nations
for a reason.
That is, after they disobeyed.
I won't go into the whole story.
Israel didn't obey.
They disobeyed over centuries of time.
And finally, their cup of iniquity became full.
God allowed the Assyrians to come down and
take the northern ten tribes.
Nebuchadnezzar to come over and take the southern
two tribes, 8th and 7th centuries.
Take them into captivity.
That's where they've been since that time.
I know remnants have returned.
A couple of instances in history.
One in modern times, but neither form the
restoration spoken of in Scripture for a number
of reasons.
The reason that God has them out among
the Gentiles is to allow Gentile persecution to
bring Israel to the place of repentance in
order that He might restore them.
They might obey.
And He might bless the nations through them.
It's during the tribulation that Israel is going
to be brought to this place through the
extremity of Gentile persecution.
Cry out unto God.
God will hear.
Answer.
He will send a Deliverer, namely the person
whom Moses typified.
He will send His Son back to the
nation.
A nation will be born in a day.
He will regather the nation in belief, not
in unbelief.
He will gather the nation after repentance, not
before repentance.
That will tell you something about the remnants
that are back there today.
They are back in unbelief before repentance.
It can have nothing to do with the
restoration spoken of in Scripture and God removing
them from their land, placing them out among
the Gentiles.
Thus, God is using the Gentile nations to
effect His purpose.
Once His purpose has been accomplished, He is
going to destroy the Gentile nations.
One reason He will destroy the Gentile nations,
perhaps the main reason, will be because the
outworking of Genesis 12.3 cannot be voided.
The principles set forth in Genesis 12.3
will have to be worked out relative to,
say, the nations in Israel.
The nations mistreating Israel.
Therefore, what does Genesis 12.3 say?
I will bless them that bless thee, curse
them that curse thee.
Talking about Abraham and his lineage through Isaac,
Jacob, and Jacob's twelve sons.
But once God destroys the nation, it's exactly
as in Daniel 4.
This is what I was looking at last
night as I was lying there wondering why
I wasn't going to sleep.
I knew why I wasn't going to sleep.
The bed made kind of a curve, but
that's alright.
Again, I came on to some interesting thoughts.
The nations just exactly as seen in the
book of Daniel will not be wiped out
of existence, but Gentile world power will be
destroyed.
But after that, the nations will know exactly
who Israel is.
It's turned to a verse in Zechariah 8.
I want to show you how the nations
will look upon Israel in that day.
And then you can understand why Nebuchadnezzar said
what he said pointing to the Gentile nations
out in the Messianic era after Israel has
been restored.
In Zechariah 8, read verse 13 first.
And it shall come to pass that as
you were a curse among the Gentiles, O
house of Judah and house of Israel, so
will I save you, and you shall be
a blessing.
Fear not, but let your hands be strong.
Now go down to verse 20.
Is there any question about what verse 13
is saying?
God is talking about Israel, and He is
going to one day deliver Israel.
Go on down to verse 20.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall
come to pass that there shall come people
and the inhabitants of many cities.
And the inhabitants of one city shall go
to another, saying, Now this is during the
Messianic era after Israel has been delivered.
One shall say to another, Let us go
speedily to pray before the Lord and to
seek the Lord of hosts.
I will go also.
Yea, many people and strong nations shall come
to seek the Lord of hosts in Washington,
D.C., and to pray before the Lord.
That is what it says, isn't it?
Shall come to seek the Lord of hosts.
There's only one city that the Bible recognizes
in the respect of spiritual blessings.
That's the city placed at the center of
the earth.
All directions are relative to this city.
This is the city connected with Israel.
They'll come to seek the Lord of hosts
in Jerusalem to pray before the Lord.
Now here's the verse I want you to
see specifically.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those
days it shall come to pass that ten
men shall take hold out of all the
languages of the nations.
Now are we talking about ten men literally?
Note that ten is the number of ordinal
completion.
We're talking about all the nations of the
earth.
These Gentile nations.
Gentile world power has been destroyed.
Now Gentile world power, exactly like Nebuchadnezzar at
the end of Daniel 4, looks upon matters
a totally different way.
And here's the way Zachariah describes Gentile world
power in that day.
In other words, ten men, pointing to men
out of all the nations of the earth,
shall take hold, that is, take hold out
of all languages of the nations, even shall
take hold of the skirt of him that
is a Jew, saying, We will go with
you, for we have heard that God is
with you.
See, in that day, the Gentile nations will
know why Israel was taken into captivity.
They will know why God restored Israel.
They will know that Israel has been restored
in order that God might bless them through
Israel.
And in that day, things will be that
is the attitude toward the Jew will be
just the opposite of what it is today.
The Jew is looked upon in the same
sense as certain other races that people talk
of in a low degree.
They're somewhat all classed together.
The Jew classed among them.
In other words, there's racism.
The Jew is looked upon in a low
sense.
Jews are prohibited from entering into certain areas,
banned from certain groups today.
The Gentiles, in many respects, don't want to
have anything to do with them, on and
on and on.
But in that day, conditions will be just
the opposite.
The Gentile can't get to the Jew fast
enough.
They will know who the Jew is.
They will know from which blessings flow.
And that's what's seen in Daniel 4, by
Nebuchadnezzar being driven out.
And it's interesting that he was driven out
for seven years to eat grass, because seven
years yet remain.
But again, seven is a complete number just
as ten is a complete number.
There may be no correlation between the two,
but like I say, it's an interesting thing
that you have seven there and seven right
out ahead.
The Gentiles, during the coming seven years, will
experience, in a respect, things very similar to
that which Nebuchadnezzar experienced.
Being driven out, awaiting, they're being brought to
the point where they recognize that the most
high rules in the kingdom of man recognize
the Jew, etc.
Let me say this before we go on,
something of a little bit light note.
Leonard Ravenhill, who died a number of years
ago, he was an evangelist that lived in
East Texas.
For some reason, and I don't even know
the start of it, he and I began
corresponding a little bit.
Leonard Ravenhill was, at that time, oh, this
was maybe 20, 25 years ago, it would
be about 20 years ago.
He was in his near 80 years old.
He died not too many years after we
were corresponding.
And Leonard Ravenhill, in one letter, he would
ask me kind of somewhat of a question,
not really expecting an answer.
Sometimes I would respond, sometimes I wouldn't, just
kind of a light-hearted question.
He was kind of a jokester in a
way.
I sent him a question one time, and
I said, I asked this, and I didn't
expect him to answer, but he did.
And the question was, if God treated Christians
today as He treated Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel chapter
4, and drove them out into the fields
for failure to recognize that the most high
ruled in the kingdom of men, how many
of them you think would be driven out
in the field?
And his response was, quote, there wouldn't be
enough grass in the world.
That was it.
That's all he said.
Just like A.
Edwin Wilson, just a one-liner.
Wouldn't be enough grass in the world to
feed them.
Now we have salvation or destruction associated with
our study.
Salvation is seen on deliverance from the plain,
destruction on staying in the plain.
Now we have two instances we dealt with
over in Barksdale.
With a deliverance from the cities, a destruction
from the cities, we're still dealing with that.
But I call attention to that because I
pointed out a lot being delivered along with
his wife, his two virgin daughters.
And one of the commands in Genesis 19,
17 is, don't look back.
Now Lot's wife looked back.
You see, and no man having put his
hand to the plow and looking back is
fit for the kingdom of God.
Now the command which follows that is, don't
stay in the plain.
That's what we're looking at today.
Don't look back.
Lot's wife forms a perfect example of what
happens when a person looks back.
They're delivered from the destruction, but that associated
with the mountain.
They have nothing to do with it.
They're told to escape to the mountain.
Lot forms an example of what we're dealing
with today.
He looked over and he saw a little
city by the name of Zor.
Lot, that is the Lord, had told him
to escape to the mountain.
Go out to the high country.
But he looked over and saw this little
city.
It's one of the cities of the plain.
Four other cities were destroyed.
The Lord spared this city for Lot.
Lot said, can I go over there?
Now Lot's still in the plain.
What was he commanded?
He was commanded to get out of the
plain, but he wanted to stay in the
plain.
Therefore, his wife forms one example of an
individual overthrown.
Lot forms another example of an individual overthrown
relative to these five parts of the verse.
The part we're looking at now, looking at
during this study.
Get out of the plain.
Don't stay in the plain.
But Lot stayed in the plain.
The Lord allowed him to go to Zor.
Now when Lot got to Zor, he started
looking around and he was afraid to dwell
in Zor.
He saw all of this, the smoke going
up from these other cities.
And he was afraid to stay there.
You would have to draw an inference.
Apparently the same thing was happening in Zor
that brought about the destruction of these other
cities.
And then Lot got out of there and
headed for the mountain.
But where do you find Lot out on
the mountain?
You don't find Lot standing before the Lord.
You find Lot in a cave and you
also find Lot in a place of shame,
later having his two daughters bearing children by
their father.
Now if a person remains in the plain
and gains the whole world, where is the
prophet?
That's out of Matthew 16.
The world and all that is therein is
going to pass away.
The only prophet is connected with getting out.
That is true prophet.
Now there is prophet on both sides.
Bear in mind that you can profit through
gaining the best of what this world has
to offer.
But what is going to happen to that
prophet out ahead?
In 1 Corinthians 3, there are two types
of fruit.
Gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and stubble.
That is, fruit is described the form of
fruit or an individual can bring forth profit,
bring forth fruit relative to this present world.
But what is it likened to in 1
Corinthians 3?
It's not likened to gold, silver and precious
stones.
It would be likened to wood, hay or
stubble.
But a person looking out away from this
world, looking out to the mountain, bearing fruit
in an entirely different sphere.
You see, not likened to wood, hay or
stubble, but likened to gold, silver or precious
stones.
You have these contrasts, these two different places,
two different spheres.
There is no middle ground.
You have this all through Scripture.
A person can save his soul, he can
lose his soul.
It has nothing to do with his eternal
life.
Abraham, already out in the high country, every
lot delivered from the cities, they're all removed.
One loses his soul, the other saves his
soul.
But both saved individuals.
Now let me change gears just a little
bit and talk about something directly related.
Turn to Romans 12.
I want to read a verse there.
I want to talk about the metamorphosis and
the metaschema.
Those are two Greek words.
The metamorphosis has to do with an inward
change.
The metaschema has to do with an outward
change.
Now I can break down the word metaschema
for you so you can perhaps understand it
metamorphosis.
I'm not going to try to break that
down.
Both start with the Greek word meta, which
means with.
The schema has to do, our English word
schematic comes from it.
It's with a schematic.
You put these words together.
And within context, it's talking about outlining, diagramming,
schematizing, I guess that's a word, I'm not
sure, but outlining, allowing your life to be
conformed to this present world.
It's an outward change.
You see these people that put on the
fake smile.
I've never liked people that do that.
In fact, you go back some, oh let's
see, 1970, that takes you back 35 years.
Some of you would be old enough and
attended a funeral back in that era.
And you could remember that even the funeral
homes were putting smiles on the corpse, pulling
their lips up and making the guy, can
you imagine that?
Here's a guy, here's a guy just stretched
out there in a cough and he's dead.
I mean there's nothing there but a body.
The guy's gone.
I mean his soul and spirit are gone.
They're not there.
It's just the body.
Blood's been drained from the body.
They pumped all of this fluid in there,
this embalming fluid.
And the guy is sitting there smiling.
I mean that is weird.
But they did that for a while.
And I guess people may have complained, I
wouldn't have wanted a family member done that
way.
I wouldn't want, I just didn't like it.
I imagine they got away from it pretty
quick.
But that's a little different in a respect
than some of these fake smiles you get
these days.
People putting on, this is what's called a
metaskema, an outward choke.
On the inside they're probably saying I want
to kill that guy but I'm going to
smile anyway.
You know, there's one lady here, I won't
call attention to who she is, but she
does live up kind of on the other
side of the river.
It's what you see from her is what
you get.
You don't necessarily, you may not get a
smile.
She's not going to put on a fake
smile.
I know that.
You might get a little bit of a
smile.
But now, you sit down and talk with
her a little bit, and she'll smile.
You see something a little bit different.
You're seeing the inner coming out and that's
the metamorphosis that I'm talking about.
And in Romans, I said Romans.
Yeah, it's Romans.
Actually, let me get over there.
I've been talking and haven't turned.
Acts, Romans.
Romans 12.
Note the first two verses.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service.
That's verse 2 I want to get into.
Verse 1 has to do with a living
sacrifice.
Your body is to be placed on the
altar.
It's not to be placed there and then
taken from, placed there, taken from.
It's to be placed there and left there.
That's the idea behind a sacrifice.
In other words, I believe it's in the
Baptist circles.
I know they do it probably in other
circles.
They talk about rededication of life.
Well, there's no such thing, really.
If you're talking about rededication, if you transfer
that over to sacrifice, you're talking about taking
the sacrifice back and placing the sacrifice back
on.
No, you dedicate.
You place the sacrifice.
And there's really no such thing in Scripture
as removing that sacrifice or rededication, so to
speak.
You might just tumble that around and give
it some thought.
In verse 2, but be not conformed to
this world.
Now, this is a word from Metaskema.
It's an outward show.
Don't be conformed to this world, but be
ye...
Now, here's the word metamorphosis.
The first is an outward change.
The second is an inward change.
Forget the outward change.
Don't pattern your life after this world.
But be ye transformed.
Something the world knows nothing about.
It's an inward change.
And how is it done?
By the renewing of your mind.
Well, what's that talking about?
We'll get to it in just a minute.
Scripture doesn't leave you in the dark to
self-interpret what is meant by that.
I'll call your attention to a verse in
Colossians 3.
We'll look at it in just a minute.
That you may prove that it is really
learned by experience as this process takes place,
what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
Now, go to Colossians 3.
Let's see how the renewing of the mind
occurs.
Colossians 3.9 I'm reading verse 9 for
a reason.
The way this is worded in the Greek
text, it should literally read, stop lying to
one another.
He's talking to Christians.
Well, if a person lies, doesn't that show
that he really has never been saved?
Christians are not supposed to lie.
Stop lying to one another.
Seeing you have put off the old man
with his deeds and have put on the
new man.
Now, many of you, I think the New
American Standard may capture this verb better than
the King James.
It should literally read, have put on the
new man, which is being renewed unto a
mature knowledge after the image of Him that
created him.
Now, the word being renewed here is the
same word from Romans 12 having to do
with the renewing of the mind.
How is the mind renewed?
It's being renewed here unto a mature knowledge
after the image of Him that created him.
It is renewed through the intake of this
written word as the Spirit of God takes
this word and over time works a metamorphosis,
works an inward change in your life.
It's not something that takes place overnight.
It's not something that takes place over a
week or month.
It's something that takes place over years of
time, slowly, gradually.
Some will experience it faster than others.
People are not alike.
But it occurs as an individual takes in
the word and allows the Spirit to take
this word and over time bring about this
inward change.
And the inward change should result in some
type of outward show.
It may not.
Now, here's an interesting thing.
Many of the old Bible teachers, if you
go back and look at them, A.
Edmund Wilson was this way.
A.
W.
Pink was this way.
M.
R.
D.
Hahn was this way.
A lot of them I've run across were
this way.
They almost go out of their way to
be a little bit mean to you to
keep from putting on a metaschema, to keep
from putting on an outward show.
But if you sit down and talk with
them, you begin to see this metamorphosis, this
outworking.
They don't want to put on an outward
show.
And that's good.
I sometimes go out of my way and
I'm a little rude with people.
Sometimes, perhaps.
I don't know.
But I get to talking with them and
we get it all ironed out.
Perhaps I shouldn't be that way, but maybe
I'm somewhat like them and I just don't
want to put on a metaschema.
I don't want to put on a show.
We moved to Minnesota in 1962.
I wanted to go to school up there.
And our landlord, oh, she smiled.
She spoke rosy.
And I knew that woman was going to
stab us in the back.
And sure enough, she did.
It's people like that that you have to
watch.
But if you take people that come at
you, they're sincere, honest, they don't put on
the front, you'll usually get the same thing
from them.
You'll get an honest hand in return, so
to speak.
But we're not necessarily talking about that.
We're talking about the difference in, say, metaschema,
patterning.
I'll get that word in a minute.
Patterning.
You know, I got tied up like this
down in Australia.
I couldn't pronounce a word.
It was a simple word.
To pattern.
Let me not try to even say it.
To pattern your life after this present world
system.
It has to do with the metaschema.
We're talking about that on one hand.
And we're talking about allowing the Lord, through
His Spirit, through His Word, to work an
inward change on the other hand.
Note the tabernacle, for example, in the wilderness.
The outward show of the tabernacle, it was
just a drab building.
Covered with skins.
Nobody would have thought anything about that.
The Lord, when He was here the first
time, just a normal looking Jew.
Looked like any other Jew.
But back to the tabernacle, a type of
Christ, it was on the inside that the
beauty was seen.
The priests allowed to go inside.
The wood overlaid with gold.
And you either had wood overlaid with gold
or solid gold items on the inside.
The beauty was on the inside.
And that's the way it is with the
metamorphosis.
And of course, the metaschema is connected with
the natural.
The metamorphosis is connected with the spiritual.
The metaschema, that is the outward change, would
be connected with Satan in this present world
system.
I believe it's 2 Corinthians 11.
I can find it right quick if it's
not.
Take a look at that section.
It is 2 Corinthians 11.
In verses 13, 14, and 15.
This will give you an idea of how
the word metaschema, that is an outward change,
is used in Scripture.
In 2 Corinthians 11, 13, For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the
apostles of Christ.
I'll stop and take a drink.
Maybe I'll stop stumbling over some words.
And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light.
Therefore it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness, whose end shall be according to their
works.
Now note, the word transformed in verses 13,
14, and 15.
Do you suppose that might be an outward
change?
Or did you think it might be an
inward change?
Note, the inward change is wrought one way.
It's wrought through the intake of the Word
and the indwelling Spirit taking that Word and
bringing about a change.
This couldn't be the case here.
It's the word metaschema that's used throughout.
It's an outward change wrought through the power
of the individual himself.
The messengers of Satan appear this way.
And people, apart from spiritual perception, that is,
that lacks spiritual perception, can be easily misled,
deceived.
You might say the inward change or the
outward change has to do with the man
of flesh, the inward change of the man
of Spirit.
Now the idea is, allow, as you take
in this Word, study this Word, as you
take in this Word, allow the Spirit to
work the metamorphosis.
Forget about the metaschema.
Allow the Spirit to work the metamorphosis.
In this respect, as you do this, don't
stay in the plane.
Fix your eyes on the mountain.
And really, as you take in this Word,
you'll begin to see more and more the
direction in which the Lord leads all of
His people.
It's out of the plane and toward the
mountain.
It's the only alternate of true escape.
Oh, there's all kinds of escapes in this
world.
But the Lord only has one relative to
the plane, and that is escape to the
mountain.
The Lord can be found in the mountain
alone, not in the plane.
And I'll close with this sentence.
A little short sentence.
It's either or.
No in-between ground.
Our Father, we're thankful once again You've allowed
us to look into Your Word.
I would ask that You might take Your
Word, use Your Word for the purpose intended.
For it's in Christ's name, Amen.