- [Announcer] Welcome to the
Shepherd's Chapel Network Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Dennis Murray. Wisdom is understanding
God's Word. Pastor Murray's unique
teaching approach bring's God's Word
alive with meaning as he takes you on a
chapter by chapter, verse by verse study of God's
letter to you, the Bible. And now here is
Pastor Dennis Murray. - Good day to you. God bless you. Welcome to Shepherd's Chapel. Welcome to this Family
Bible Study Hour. Ready to get back
into our Father's Word here at the chapel. We invite you to get your Bible and join us if you care to. We're gonna pick it up
today, 2 Samuel 2:17. And in our last
lecture we saw David moved from Ziklag,
which was controlled. And originally
Ziklag was allotted to the tribe of Simeon, but the Philistines had
taken it away from Israel and Achish the king of Gath gave it to David and
his to reside there. But David in our last
lecture moved from Ziklag to Hebron, and he's the king of Judah only. And Ish-Bosheth,
the only remaining son of Saul has been set
up as king of Gilead, which is on the
east side of Jordan over Ephraim and over Benjamin as we learned in verse
nine of chapter two. But Abner, the general of Saul, basically set Ish-Bosheth up and I think Abner had
some ulterior motives in setting Ish-Bosheth up. We'll cover some of those and as we work our way
through today's lesson. But Joab, who was the nephew of David, and some of his
men ran into Abner and the general of
the Israel armies, Joab with Judah only, but they ran into each
other at the pool of Gibeon. And Abner suggested,
well, let's let the young men arise and play. This means let them practice, play warfare, in other words. And what they did, they
chose 12 from Israel, 12 from Judah, and said well, there shouldn't everyone fight. Let's just have these 12 fight and then that will
be the end of it. Well, the 12 of both sides clashed so ferociously that they actually
simultaneously ran each other through
with their swords and basically they all
fell dead at the same time. So what was supposed
to settle the matter with the 12 taking on 12, Judah versus Israel, didn't
settle the matter at all. In fact it gets way out of hand as we pick it up today. Let's ask that word of wisdom
in Yeshewa's precious name. Father, we ask you to open
eyes, open ears this day. We pick it up 2 Samuel 2:17, and it reads, "And there was a very
sore battle that day; "and Abner was beaten,
and the men of Israel, "before the servants of David." Abner recognized
that his soldiers were losing this
battle and Abner fled. "And there were three
sons of Zeruiah." Zeruiah being the
sister of King David. "There, Joab, and
Abishai, and Asahel: "and Asahel was as light
of foot as a wild roe." A roe is a deer. And Asahel was a fast runner
is what this is saying. And this is stated to
explain what happens in the next several verses. "And Asahel pursued after Abner; "and in going he turned
not to the right hand "or to the left from
following Abner." He was intent on catching Abner. Now Abner was a
seasoned warrior. Asahel probably not so much. He was fast, he
was a good runner. But as far as a warrior,
he was totally unproven. He's biting of a
little more than what he can chew. Verse 20. "And Abner looked
behind him and said, "Art thou Asahel? "And he answered, I am." Asahel being a member of
the royal family of Judah was probably well
known throughout both Judah and Israel. And Abner recognized him. "And Abner said to him, Turn
thee aside to thy right hand "or to thy left, and
lay thee hold on one "of the young men." Pick someone who is
less experienced, less of a combat warrior. "And take thee his armor." If you think you're
looking for spoil, to take someone's armor, I'm
not going to give you mine. "But Asahel would not turn
aside from following him." Pride can make a
young man do some pretty foolish things. Now Abner's trying
to talk some sense, to reason with Asahel. Pull off and he gives
him one warning. He's gonna give him two. Verse 22. "And Abner said again to Asahel, "Turn thee aside
from following me." The second warning. "Wherefore should I
smite thee to the ground? "How then should
I hold up my face "to Joab thy brother?" Abner and Joab knew each other and he's saying if
you make me kill you in self-defense, and
that's what it is, he warned Asahel
twice to pull off, to pull up and go find
someone else to fight against. But he knows that
Asahel is no match. There's probably only five men in Judah and Israel
that would be capable of even having
a chance against Abner. And Abner realizes
that and he's saying don't make me kill you. If I have to kill you, how
can I look your brother Joab in the eye? "Howbeit he refused
to turn aside: "wherefore Abner
with the hinder part "or hinder end of
the spear smote him "under the fifth rib, "that the spear came
out behind him." He ran him all the way through. "And he fell down there,
and died in the same place: "and it came to pass,
that as many as came "to the place where
Asahel fell down "and died stood still." They took a moment to reflect
on what happened there. The death of Asahel, maybe perhaps they
stopped and stood there a little bit in
horror at the site. Now a blow under the
fifth rib is right about where your heart is. They say blow to the fifth rib, below the fifth rib
would always be fatal. And so again Abner knew exactly what he was doing
and how to do it. Now the hinder end of his spear would actually be opposite of the business end of the spear where you would
find the spearhead. And it often times was sharpened because it was very
common for a soldier to stick his spear in the ground when he didn't need it. For example, if he
were gonna lay down and get some shut
eye, some sleep, he would take his
spear probably near to where he was laying
down in case he needed it, but would stick it in the ground with the hinder part
and the business end sticking up in the air. Verse 24. "Joab also and Abishai, "These are the two older
brothers of Asahel, "pursued after Abner: "and the sun went down
when they were come "to the hill of Ammah,
that lieth before Giah "by the way of the
wilderness of Gibeon." Now this is not to
be taken that Joab and Abashai were
pursuing Abner alone. They had the troops
of Judah with them. Abner had also what was left of the troops of Israel. And I would think
that Joab and Abashai probably had heard if not seen Asahel and what
Abner did to him. So what started off
was supposed to be 12 of Israel
playing practice war with 12 of Judah
with 12 of Israel turned out to be a lot
more serious than that, and it's not over yet. Verse 25. And what they're doing
is regrouping at Gibeon for a final battle. "And the children of
Benjamin gathered themselves "together after Abner," or behind Abner, Benjamin being
Israel, of course. "And became one troop, "and stood on the
top of an hill." A stand off for the final battle with the men of Judah. Verse 26. "Then Abner called
to Joab, and said, "Shall the swords
devour for ever?" How long is this going to go on? "Knowest thou not that
it will be bitterness "in the latter end? "How long shall it be then, "ere thou bid the
people return from "following their brethren?" Enough have died. Call your men off is the
encouragement of Abner. Now Abner's the one
that suggested that they allow the
young men to arise and play at the pool
Gibeon to begin with. So now he's encouraging
Joab to call the men of Judah off. Will Joab hear? 27. "And Joab said, As God liveth, "unless thou hadst spoken, "surely then in the morning
the people had gone up "every one from
following his brother." Joab is saying this
is all your fault. You're the one
who said let's let the young men arise and play. And if you hadn't done that, all of the young men
would be going home quite healthy,
including my brother, my younger brother Asahel. Verse 28. "So Joab blew a trumpet, and
all the people stood still, "and pursued after
Israel no more, "neither fought they any more." Finally some common
sense prevailed. You know, God does
not like brother fighting against brother. And that's in effect what
we had going on here. All of these men were
descendants of Jacob. They were all of the same flesh. They were all of the same bone. And here they are fighting
and killing each other. God made it clear in
Deuteronomy chapter two when Israel was
coming out of Egypt and they asked the king of Moab, "Can we cross your land?" And not only did the
king of Moab say, "No, you can't cross our land," Moab gathered his
troops and came out to pitch to make
war against Israel. Through the Urim and Thummim Moses inquired of the Lord, should we go against
the Moabites? And God said no. And the same thing
happened with the Edomites. And God said on both occasions they're of your blood, your
own bone and your flesh. You're not gonna make war
against your brethren. Verse 29. "And Abner and his men
walked all that night "through the plain," through the valley of Jordan, "and passed over Jordan, "and went through all Bithron, "and they came to Mahanaim." And I think this
was wise of Abner. He made them travel all night and we're gonna see
that Joab was doing the same thing, but in
a separate direction. They both know that
the heat of battle sometimes doesn't
cool off very fast. And had they encamped near
each other that night, it's possible that
they would've arisen the next day and said, you know, I don't really like
what happened yesterday, and go back at it
again against what they considered
to be their enemy. But Abner and Joab were giving the young men some
time to cool off a little bit from
the heat of battle and to get some distance
between the two groups. "And Joab returned
from following Abner." He called the men of Judah off. "And when he had gathered
all the people together, "there lacked of David's
servants 19 men and Asahel." 12 at the original
fight were killed. Eight more died pursuing after the armies of Saul. And... Asahel also killed. That will not set
well with Joab. And when we get
to chapter three, we'll see that Abner, excuse me, Joab is not finished with Abner as far as what he
considers the murder of his brother Asahel. But it wasn't murder. Abner tried twice to
get Asahel to turn away and to find someone else
to engage in battle. Asahel would not. Abner really had no choice. It was self-defense. He knew he couldn't
outrun Asahel, as it explained in
that earlier verse that Asahel could
run like a deer. So Abner knew he
couldn't outrun him. His only choice was
to defend himself. 31. "But the servants of David
had smitten of Benjamin, "and of Abner's men, "so that 300 and
threescore men died." That's 360 of Saul's group. 20 of Judah. 380 young men senselessly killed with what began as sport, practice combat, turned into a lot
more than that. And this might seem a
bit disproportionate as far as the
number of those who followed Saul killed and
those who followed Joab. Abner, I should say, and Joab. And what we have
here is the fact that David's armies
were used to fighting, being outnumbered considerably. They had been run all
over the Middle East by Saul and his armies, greatly outnumbered. They were also
seasoned warriors, whereas what Abner had, although Abner was a very
seasoned warrior himself, what he had though
serving under him was what was left
after Mount Gilboa, where Saul and his
other three sons were killed and
a great number of the armies of Israel
were also killed. So I think that explains
the disproportionate number of loss. Verse 32. "And they took up
Asahel, and buried him in "the sepulchre of his father," this would be obviously
the husband of Zuriah, "which was in Bethlehem. "And Joab and his
men went all night, "and they came to Hebron
at the break of day." We see Joab had the
same thoughts as Abner. Put as much distance
between these two groups as possible so that the hatred isn't reignited in the morning. Zuriah's husband, I called him. I called him that because
he's not named in the Bible. It's a very unusual circumstance in God's Word where we have the wife mentioned by name, but the man is not
mentioned by name. I suppose that's because Zuriah was the sister to King David and the mother of the three sons that were David's nephews, and they were very
loyal to David for the most part. There'll be some change
to that in later years. Chapter three verse one. David's strength
continues to grow as the strength of Saul's house, which is now resting in
the hands of Ish-Bosheth, continues to decline. Chapter three verse one. "Now there was long war
between the house of Saul "and the house of David; "but David waxed or became
stronger and stronger, "and the house of Saul," which is said is now in
the hands of Ish-Bosheth and Abner, "waxed or
became weaker and weaker." Saul's house has been rejected as the king of Israel. David is now the
anointed of Israel. Verse two. "And unto David were
sons born at Hebron: "and his firstborn was Amnon, "of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess." In other words, Amnon was
the son of David and Ahinoam. Now, a son, proof that a house is strengthened, for
in children you see a continuation of the house. So proof is offered
here that David's house continues to wax
stronger and stronger. By the way, I meant to
mention in verse one where it said that
it was a long war between the house of Saul
and the house of David. Doesn't mean that it
was a continuous war for a long period. It means it covered a
long period of time, but there would be as skirmish and then no war and
then another skirmish would break out. That's about to end, though. Verse three. "And his second," his
second son, "Chileab, "of Abigail the wife,"
or better the widow, "of Nabal the Carmelite; "and the third son,
Absalom the son of Maacah, "the daughter of
Talmai king of Geshur." Geshur, small kingdom in
the northeast of Bashan. Now Absalom would cause David considerable
heartache and problems in his later years. Absalom killed his brother Amnon who raped his full sister Tamar. And he fled out of the
country for several years. But when he came
back to Jerusalem, he made amends or a pretense
of amends with David. But then he would hire young men to run before his chariot. Make way for Absalom. Make way for Absalom. Every time he was
going to the library or the post office. And always putting
on a big show. He would sit at the
gate of the city which was the judgment place, and as people would come and go, he would say, you there,
where are you from? And he'd say, well,
I'm James from Hebron. And what is your business here? Well, Benjamite
stole 10 of my cows. Well, it's too bad
that I'm not the king because if I were the king, if I were the judge, I would see things your
way and rule in your favor. And as it's written
he stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Absalom would lead a
rebellion against David that almost cost David his life. David fled Jerusalem
to the east side of Jordan to avoid a civil war. Verse four. "And the fourth, Adonijah
the son of Haggith, "and the fifth, Shephatiah
the son of Abital." In Deuteronomy 17:17
a king of Israel is not to multiply
wives to himself. In other words, an
excessive number of wives. Of course David didn't
have anything on Solomon. Solomon would, and these
aren't all the wives and children of David. We would take on
more wives as he moves to Jerusalem. In fact, none of these
will be the seed line through which
Messiah would come. Adonijah also rebelled against the anointed
king of God, that being Solomon,
the son of David. He tried to take the
throne from Solomon. That wasn't God's plan. So there was constant
strife in David's house. When we get to
chapter 12 of 2 Samuel we'll find out why there
was constant strife in David's house. Verse five. "And the sixth, Ithream,
by Eglah David's wife. These were born to
David in Hebron." And again, he would
take more wives when they moved to Jerusalem. Verse six. "And it came to pass
while there was war "between the house of Saul
and the house of David, "that Abner made himself
strong for the house of Saul." Abner was the strength
of Saul's house. Ish-Bosheth was more
or less a puppet king set up by Abner. Verse seven. "And Saul had a concubine, "whose name was Rizpah," and remember Saul is dead, "the daughter of Aiah: "and Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, "Wherefore hast
thou gone in unto "my father's concubine?" She was Saul's and if a concubine
or a wife belonged to the king and the king died, it became the next king's. And in fact is, if you
took one of the king, the former king's
concubines or wives, you were laying claim
to the throne yourself. Maybe we see a
little bit of Abner's ulterior motive in
setting up Ish-Bosheth as the puppet king. Verse eight. "Then was Abner very wroth
for the words of Ish-Bosheth, "and said, Am I a dog's head," this is a totally
contemptible statement, "which against Judah
do show kindness "this day unto the house
of Saul thy father, "to his brethren,
and to his friends, "and have not
delivered thee into "the hand of David, "that thou chargest
me today with a fault "concerning this woman?" If not for me, you wouldn't
be anything, Ish-Bosheth. And as I said earlier, there's like five
men in all of Judah and Israel that would dare
to even challenge Abner. Ish-Bosheth was
nowhere to be found when Saul and his
other three sons, the brothers of Ish-Bosheth, were killed at Mount Gilboa
fighting the Philistines. Where was Ish-Bosheth? I feel like he was
probably hiding. Verse nine. "So do God to Abner,"
Abner continues, "and more also, except,
as the Lord hath sworn "to David, even so I do to him." And this kind of loses it. What Abner's saying is that I am not going to support you as the king of Israel anymore. I recognize David
as God's anointed. The Lord has promised
the throne to David. I now throw my
support behind David. Verse 10. "To translate," or transfer, "the kingdom from
the house of Saul, "and to set up the
throne of David "over Israel and over Judah, "from Dan even to Beer-sheba." This phrase "from Dan
even to Beer-sheeba" means all of it. Dan being the further
north location. Beer-sheba the further south. What Abner's saying here
is bye-bye Ish-Bosheth, hello David. And I think Abner early on, if not from the very beginning, he recognized the incompetence of Ish-Bosheth. And perhaps he had
an ulterior motive that he was planning
on taking the throne from Ish-Bosheth eventually. If he set up this
incompetent wimp, if you will, who
was hiding while his father and brothers
were dying in combat, that the people
would soon recognize his incompetence and
they would make Abner, who was a lot stronger,
the king, perhaps. Verse 11. "And he," this is Ish-Bosheth, "could not answer
Abner a word again "because he feared him." He knew he had made Abner angry and he knew that there was no way
he could take Abner. Verse 12. "And Abner sent messengers
to David on his behalf, "saying, Whose is the land?" Or better, whom does
the land belong to other than you, David? "Saying also, Make
thy league or covenant "with me, and, behold my
hand shall be with thee, "to bring about all
Israel unto thee." I'll help join Israel under you as king. You give me a high-ranking post in your reign, your court, and I'll support you. I'll bring Benjamin and Ephraim and the tribes on the
east side of the Jordan under you as king. Verse 13. "And he," this being David, "said, Well," or good, "I will make a league with thee: "but one thing I
require of thee, "that is, Thou shalt
not see my face, "except though
first bring Michal "Saul's daughter, "when though comest
to see my face." I'll make an agreement
with you, Abner, but on one condition. And that is the next time
we meet face-to-face, you have my first
wife Michal with you. Saul gave Michal to David. There was a matter of
a dowery that was paid. More on that in a moment. But David had, I should say Saul then unjustly gave Michal
to another man. Phaltiel, by name. Verse 14. "And David sent
messengers to Ish-Bosheth "Saul's son." Now he's also
making his petition legal by going through the king or the acting king of Israel. Making his claim to Michal known to the king as well. "Saying, Deliver
me my wife Michal, "which I espoused
to me for an hundred "foreskins of the Philistines." Remember, Saul made it
known that he wanted David to be his son-in-law. And David said, who am I? I'm a poor man. I can't come up with
the dowery suitable for the king's daughter. And they got word back to Saul of what David had said, and Saul set the dowery at a hundred foreskins
of the Philistine, the uncircumcised. David brought 200 foreskins back and obviously the
Philistines didn't line up to make a free will
donation to David. He had to kill the 200
to collect the foreskins. Verse 15. "And Ish-Bosheth sent and
took her from her husband, "even from Phaltiel
the son of Laish." Now Phaltiel no doubt was a wealthy man, being of the house of Laish, and able to pay a
suitable dowery to Saul. And she was David's wife first. David not doing Phaltiel wrong. David has been wronged. "And her husband,"
this is Phaltiel, "went with her along weeping
behind her to Bahurim. "Then said Abner
unto him, Go, return. "And he returned." Now obviously
Phaltiel was not much of a man, either. Here he's following
along behind Michal weeping as he goes. And what happens
when Abner sees him? He tells him to go back home. He ran him off. Verse 17. "And Abner had communication
with the elders "of Israel," with the
tribes other than Benjamin, "saying, Ye sought for
David in times past "to be king over you." In this times past
and the Hebrew is both yesterday
and the third day, meaning for a long time now. You've been expressing your desire for
David to be the king for quite awhile now. One more verse and
we'll stop for the day. Verse 18. "Now then do it." Abner's word to the
northern tribes. "For the Lord hath
spoken of David, saying, "By the hand of my
servant David I will "save my people
Israel out of the hand "of the Philistines, "and out of the hand
of all their enemies." David was anointed by Samuel to be the king of all of Israel. That's what God's plan was. David will be the
king of all of Israel. Well, we'll see how
this all turns out. Joab is not gonna be real
happy with this league that Abner is making with David, and he's gonna
voice that opinion in our next lecture. We got a short message. We'll ask you to
listen a moment. Won't you please? The book of Deuteronomy. The law was given
as our schoolmaster. Have you been to
school on God's Word? Certainly one way to
go there is to study the book of Deuteronomy. Probably the most exciting thing that Deuteronomy
has to offer for you is that great song of Moses, that those that overcome
the false Messiah in the in-generation
will be singing. The law itself, being
the schoolmaster, that keeps us out of trouble
in these flesh bodies. Again, an education in taming that part of you that oft times needs taming through the old schoolmaster, that great book,
Deuteronomy, the law. And its set ways of keeping you from harms way even
in this generation. You're gonna enjoy it. Welcome back. I'm glad you could
join back with us. Let's have the 800
number, please. 800-643-4645. That number good
throughout Puerto Rico, the United States and Canada. If you have a biblical question that you'd like to
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write and they say I'd like a written
response to this question. Well, we just don't
have the time or staff to offer written responses to everyone who would like one. And if we can't do it for one, or all, I should say, we're not going
to do it for one. So don't ask for
written responses. Please don't ask questions about a specific individual
denomination or
organization by name. We try to teach God's
Word in a positive format, throwing out negative
about others by names serve no purpose. We simply won't do it. We'll let God's Word
do the teaching, the correcting, and the healing. If you're studying
somewhere around the world via the Internet and not able to use
that 800 number, your announcer at
the end of the hour will give you our
mailing address. Quite all right to
mail your questions in, being the point. Got a prayer request, you don't need a
telephone number. You don't need a
mailing address. Talk to your heavenly Father. He created all things
for his pleasure. Revelation 4:11. That includes you, my friend. Have you done
anything to pleasure your Father lately? And you might say, well
how can I pleasure God? By being his child, by telling that you love him, by thanking him for
the many blessings that he bestows upon you daily. Develop your relationship with your heavenly Father. It makes his day. When you make his day, the blessings start
flowing in your life. We do have these prayer
requests, Father. We come united as one. In the name of your
son, Jesus Christ. Father, you know
the needs of these. Father, we have drug
addiction, alcoholism. Father, you know
people need help. Father, if it is your will, a special blessing
on each of these. Father, we also lift
up our military troops who are in harm's
way around the world. Father, we ask
you to watch over, guide, direct, touch, heal. In Jesus precious name. Amen and thank you, Father. All right, let's get
to some questions. See what's on the mind of folks. First up today, Chris from North Carolina. "I'd like to say I've
been watching your "father and you since 1992. "You've been studying
a long while. "Thanks for that
everyone there has done." Well, thank you
for remembering all the volunteers and workers here. "When we die our spirit returns "to the Father in Heaven. "Some," I guess, "on the
good side of the gulf, "some on the bad. "But your soul
does go to Heaven, "one side of the
gulf or the other. "How then are there
spirits around us on earth? "Are we allowed to
leave to and from earth? "I would like to think not. "All spirits here on
earth are bad or evil. "Why do some spirits
try and take over "the living bodies
here on earth?" Well, they are
a-lookin' for a home, such as Jesus
taught that when he ordered and evil
spirit out of a person and the spirit left,
but then came back, and brought six more
evil spirits with him. And he found the
house swept and empty, meaning that the
person hadn't filled their life with Jesus Christ. And that's what you need to do is be in Jesus,
in Jesus, in you. The evil spirits do
not want anything to do with you if
Jesus is in you. And they know Jesus very well. You remember they
recognized him immediately. Michael in Kansas. "Are we going to be
responsible for people "that don't know God?" Well, in Acts chapter 20, verses 26 and 27, Paul said, "I am pure from
the blood of all men." In other words, I am innocent of the blood of all men. Why? Because in verse 27 he says, "For I have not
shunned to declare "unto you all the
counsel of God." And what someone does, that's our job, is to share with our
brothers and sisters the counsel of God. In other words, the Word of God. Now what our brothers
and sisters do with that counsel is
entirely up to them. You are not responsible for the souls of your
brothers and sisters. Everyone stands on
their own merit. When it comes down to
that white throne judgment in Revelation chapter 20, there's not gonna
be anybody standing between you and the Lord. You're gonna be
judged on your works and your works alone. But if we have any
responsibility, it's to share God's Word with our brothers and sisters who are willing to listen. You don't have to try and share the Word with those
who don't care. They're totally
spiritually dead. They don't have a live spiritual bone in their body. They could care less about God. You certainly
don't have to waste your time on them. That's like casting
pearls before swine. Roxanne in Texas. "If the Devil is going
to be blotted out, "is the Word going to change "or is he still
going to be in it?" And I think you're
thinking about Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31 that state, "The earth shall pass away "but my words shall
not pass away." What it's talking
about there is that the earth is not going anywhere. It's here forever
into the eternity. This is where God's
throne is going to be. Revelation chapter 21, the first few verses. But what it's
talking about there is that though the
earth age passed, which that is going to happen when this period of time, the second earth age ends and the third begins, but the Word of God
will not change, whether the Devil's
still here or not. The Word of God is
the Word of God. You follow with,
"When the Devil is "released from the
pit for a short while, "is he still going
to try and pretend "and look like Jesus, "or since the truth
will be known by then, "will he just appear
and look like himself "and see who is
stupid enough to still "follow him into
the lake of fire?" I think you've got it right. We learn in Revelation 19:20 that the beast and
the false prophet, that's the one world
political beast, the first few verses of
chapter 13 of Revelation. The false prophet
is the anti-Christ. So he's not gonna have
the power structure that he has when he appears on earth claiming to be Jesus. And I think it's like you said. There'll be some that are just so stupid and evil and wicked. More importantly
that they're gonna follow him right in
to the lake of fire. And will there be
some that do that? Yes, there will. It's written. Randy in West Virginia. "My name is Randy and I
am from West Virginia. "My husband doesn't see
much sense in tithing. "It bothers me to not give, "especially to a
church were I'm fed "such as Shepherd's Chapel. "We have the means
financially to give, "but he makes all of our money. "Can you make a suggestion
on what I could do? "He is now allowing me to order "study materials which
makes me very happy." Well, you should
thank your husband for allowing you to
order study materials. Give your husband time. God has a schedule and everything happens
on that time frame. Perhaps if you'll be
a good example to him, he'll start studying with you and he will come around. But if he's the
breadwinner for the family and you don't bring
in any income, I'd leave it alone
as far as wanting to tithe with the
money he brings home. Let that be his
decision or not to. Lee in Washington. "Please explain the white
throne of judgment." And we kind of talked
about that a moment ago, Revelation chapter 20, verses 11 through 15. We find there that
the books are opened and everyone is judged
according to their works. Some will be judged to the
lake of fire with Satan. Some will be judged
into the eternity. In other words, to be with God forever and ever. Dalton in Texas. "I want to let
you know that I am "a retired Air Force veteran." Well, thank you for
serving our country. "I was wanting to know how long "have you been
teaching God's Word?" Oh my, the first
time that I taught the Bible I think
I was 15 years old and it was at one of our
Wednesday night Bible studies. Arnold Murray, my father, had been called out of town for one reason or another. It escapes me at the moment why, but he asked me to take
over the Bible study while he was out of town, which I did. We were studying in
Ezekiel, I remember that. "Where in the Bible does it
talk about capital punishment?" You'll find that in
Numbers chapter 35 pertaining to
pre-meditated murder. You can also find
in Deuteronomy 19 pre-meditated murder
brings capital punishment. And then in Deuteronomy 22 there are cases where rape also brings on capital punishment. God said if that's the case, you let the near kinsmen cast the first stone and you send them to me. And you'll see those that are criminals will see
how this happens and these things will cease to happen among you. We don't do what God says, these things have not ceased to happen among us
for that reason. Percy in California. "Where does it say in the Bible "that children do not pay for "the sins of their fathers? "I think it might be
in the Old Testament." Well you had a 50/50
chance of being right and you were right. Jeremiah 31:29. It states there that
they will no more say that the fathers have eaten a sour grape and
the children's teeth are set on edge. That means that the
father bites a sour grape and the children wince
and go, oh, that's sour. That doesn't happen. But there is no such thing
as a generational curse. Although some people
think that there are because of Exodus chapter
20, verse five and six. That's where the 10
Commandments are. And the Lord says there visiting the iniquity,
that's the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and
fourth generation. Then they stop
reading right there and they go, ah-ha! It says that there are
generational curses. The children are
gonna pay for the sins of their fathers until the
third and fourth generation. You need to keep on
reading and it says, "Of them that hate me." That's the difference. You see, those that
hate God continue in the sins of their fathers, and therefore they
receive the same thing that their fathers do. Then it follows in Exodus 20:6, "And showing mercy unto
them that love me." And that's the
explanation that people fail to see when they think that there are
generational curses. John in Texas. "Is it wrong to have a
tattoo on your body?" "Some folks teach
that Leviticus 19:28, "which states, 'You shall have, "make no cutting in
your flesh for the dead "nor print any marks on you.' "That the marks on
you means tattoos. Does that mean that? You could read that
verse either way. You don't put any
marks on you, period? Or you don't put marks
on you for the dead, such as those who
make cuttings in your flesh for the dead. Both of those were
practices of the heathen and that's the reason God forbid Israel from doing so. Shirley in Arkansas. "Where in the Bible
does it talk about "wars and rumors of wars?" Well, you can find
it in Matthew 24:6 where it reads,
"And you shall hear "of wars and rumors of wars. "See that you not be troubled." Also in Mark 13:7. Reads basically the same. Christopher in North Carolina. "If everyone has changed to "a spiritual body
when Jesus returns, "what is the purpose
of accepting Christ "and being reborn if everyone "is being changed anyway?" Well, Revelation chapter
20, verse five and six, only the elect take part in the first resurrection. That means that those
who don't accept the anti-Christ are accepted into the eternity, the kingdom of God at that point in time. The second death, the death of the soul, has no power over
them at that point. Everyone else is
spiritually dead. Even though they
changed when Jesus returned into a spiritual body, it's still a mortal
spiritual body, meaning liable to die. And when is it decided
whether that soul will die? The great white throne judgment. However, those who participate in the first resurrection, the great white throne judgment won't be condemnation,
it'll be rewards. You also follow, "If
I'm on social security "and the anti-Christ
comes into existence, "does this mean I
can no longer receive "my SSI unless I were to accept "that he is who he says he is, "but is the false Christ?" If you have direct deposit and they put the
SSI in your account and you spend that money, there's absolutely
nothing wrong with that. Why? Because you haven't
worshiped the anti-Christ. The key is don't
worship the anti-Christ. And those who that are
going to be called up are God's elect. And you can be assured that God is going to make
sure that the elect have what they need to do what he wants them to do. You can be assured of it. Look on history. He wanted Israel to
come out of Egypt. What did he do? He parted the Red Sea,
for goodness sake, so that they could walk
across on dry land. Do you know anybody
else that can do that? He gave them manna from Heaven. If you're hungry and
you don't have SSI, he can bring manna from Heaven. Do you believe that? Well, I sure do. Do you know anybody
else that can do that? I sure don't. Becky from Oregon. "My question: where
in the Bible do I find "where it says if you disrespect "your parents your
life will be shortened? "I thought I heard
you say that." Well, it's in Proverbs 3:1. It states there,
wisdom speaking, "Forget not my law and
keep my commandment." Verse two, "For length
of days and long life "and peace shall add to thee. "Honor your father and mother "as one of his commandments." Exodus 20:5 where we
find that commandment. "Honor thy father and thy mother "that thy days may be
long upon the land." You want to live a long time? Honor your mother and father. Do the best you can to follow
his other commandments. "Is there a portal
between Heaven and earth "so our loved ones
can come to see us?" No, there is no portal and I don't believe that they, those who have passed on, have the ability to
see into this dimension any more than we
have the ability to see into that dimension. Having said that, though, I do know of
instances when someone passes away and the
person who's left in the flesh is having a very difficult time with it. That God will allow
the spirit of the one who passed to come back for a brief period of time. It's not like a portal
where it's Jacob's ladder, people goin' up and
down all the time. It's a one time deal. But it's all it
takes for the person who's left in the flesh
to know it's all right. That person isn't dead. Their spirit lives on and that's the reason
God allows that. My wife experienced that. Joe in Kansas. "When our loved ones pass away "and go to Heaven, "then you pass away,
will we know each other?" Yes. Ezekiel 44:25. The Zadok, you have to
understand Ezekiel 44, there is no flesh. We're in the millennium. And the Zadok can leave
the millennial temple and go to their father,
mother, brother, sister who's not married and help them. And of course to go
to them to help them, they'd have to recognize them. Michael in Nevada. "Why does my Bible
state in Genesis 4:1 "that Adam knew Eve, his wife, "and she bear Cain?" Well, that's true. That's what happened, Michael. Excuse me, Adam
knew his wife Eve and she bear Cain. But she had already
conceived of the serpent. Genesis 3:!6. God speaking to
Eve after she had intercourse with the serpent. He said, "I'm gonna greatly
multiply thy conception." She had already conceived. Adam did know his wife then and she conceived
Abel at that time. When then in verse two
it says she bear Abel, excuse me, in verse
one, she bear Cain and then she again bear Abel. And if you check out that word, it's she continued in labor. What happens if a
woman gives birth to one and then
continues in labor and gives birth to another? You got twins. But they were of
different fathers. I'm out of time. I love you all a great deal. Why? Because you enjoy studying
God's Word in depth. You enjoy reading the letter that your Father wrote
to you, the Bible. You do the best
you can to follow his instructions. You do the best you can
to be pleasing to Father. Blessings follow. We are brought to you by
your tithes and offerings. If we've helped you, help
us keep coming to you and to reach out
to others who are lost in this world of darkness. One thing most important
though, and it's this. You stay in his Word every day. Every day. And your Father's
Word is a good day, even with trouble. You know why? It's because Jesus
is the living Word. - [Announcer] Hearing God's
Word with understanding will change your life. We hope you have enjoyed
studying God's Word here on the Shepherd's Chapel Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Dennis Murray. If you would like to
receive more information concerning Shepherd's Chapel, you may request our
free introductory offer. Our introductory offer contains the Mark of the Beast CD, our monthly newsletter with a written Bible study, a CD catalog, and
a list of written reference works available
through Shepherd's Chapel. To request our free
introductory offer by telephone, call 800-643-4645, 24 hours a day. You may also request
our introductory offer by writing to Shepherd's Chapel, PO Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas, 72736. Once again, that's
Shepherd's Chapel, PO Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas, 72736. We invite you to
join us for the next in-depth Bible study each
week day at the same time. Thank you for watching
today's program, and God bless you. (church organ music) ♪ He's got the whole
world in his hands
