Well, good morning. It's a blessing
to be here in the house of the Lord today, and I appreciate
each one that's here. We pray that we'll receive a
blessing. And also those joining us by Zoom this morning, it's
so good to see you. And we look forward to those
who will join us through sermon audio. We're going to be in the
book of Numbers this morning, the book of Numbers chapter 20.
And we're going to read verses 14 through 21 of this 20th chapter
of the book of Numbers. And before I read that, I just
want to say this. At first glance, we may ask,
what is this section of Scripture about? Yet by reconsidering these
few verses, we can view the age-old controversy between the church
and the world. May we read and then see how
this passage is the results of an age-old hatred by Esau's against
Jacob's, the elect versus the non-elect, the church and religion,
God-given faith and human faith. So let's turn over here to the
book of Numbers chapter 20, I want to read verses 14 through 21. And we look at this incident
that took place in the lives of these Israelites, Moses and
Aaron, as they were about to enter into the promised land.
Now, at first glance, we think that Moses is asking for permission
to have a shortcut. And we will find out there are
no shortcuts. That's the name of our message
this morning. There are no shortcuts. All right, the book of Numbers
chapter 20, verse 14. And Moses sent messengers, or
ambassadors, from Kadesh unto the king of Edom. Thus saith
thy brother Israel, thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen
us, how our fathers went down into Egypt, We have dwelt in
Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians vexed us and our fathers. And when we cried unto the Lord,
he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us
forth out of Egypt. And behold, we are in Kadesh,
a city in the uttermost of thy border. Let us pass, I pray thee,
through thy country. We will not pass through the
fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the
water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway. We will not turn to the right
hand nor to the left until we have passed thy borders. And
Edom said unto him, thou shall not pass by me, lest I come out
against thee with the sword. And the children of Israel said
unto him, we will go by the highway. And if I and my cattle drink
of thy water, then I will pay for it. I will only without going
anything else go through on my feet. And he said, thou shall
not go through. And Edom came out against him
with much people with a strong hand. And thus Edom refused to
give Israel passage through his border. wherefore Israel turned
away from him." We're going to stop there in our reading this
morning and look at this passage of scripture. As we mentioned
at first glance, we might say, what is here? And then we're
going to find out that this is a conflict that's been going
on since the very beginning. It's going on between Cain and
Abel. It's going on through the between
the church and the lost, the church and the non-elect. And
we're down at this point in the book of Numbers, and we'll find
it going on even through today. Now, we might ask the question,
who are the Moabites? Well, we have two verses of scripture
in the book of Genesis that we want to read at this time that
will help us to identify who the Moabites are. In Genesis
chapter 25, Genesis chapter 25, and there in verse 30, we have
these words with regard to the Moabites, who they are. In the
book of Genesis chapter 25, verse 30, and Esau said to Jacob, feed
me, I pray thee. with that same red pottage, for
I am faint. Therefore was his name called
Edom. And if you'll look with me once
again here in the book of Genesis, in the book of Genesis chapter
36, in that passage of scripture, we find that Esau's name is also
Edom, and we find that here in Genesis chapter 36 and verse
one. Now, these are the generations of Esau. Who is Edom? Now, we have much said in the
scriptures about these twins, Jacob and Esau. We find out that
they had a problem. and this problem is identified. It's similar to what we read
in the book of Galatians. So let's go over there first
of all to the book of Galatians and chapter four. In the book
of Galatians chapter four, the Holy Spirit is leading the Apostle
Paul to identify a real problem that is among the saints or the
churches there in Galatia. And here in Galatians chapter
four, we have the Conflict between Jacob and Esau in the Old Testament
is much like what we read here, the conflict between Isaac and
his half-brother. In the book of Galatians, chapter
4, verse 28, we read these words. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was,
are the children of promise. but as then he that was born
after the flesh." Now, if we go back to the Old Testament
there, the book of Genesis, we find that Abraham went and in
a natural way produced this son from his wife's handmaid, Hagar
is her name. He was born after the flesh or
through the fleshly way of bringing children into the world. Now
him that was born after the spirit, excuse me, now we brethren, verse
28, now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him
that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. Now there
was a very intense persecution between him that was born after
the fleshly manner and him that was born after promise. Now,
what was this promise? Sarah was 90 years old when she
had this son. She's way past the time of having
children, and yet the Lord brought her this child, Isaac, and Abraham,
this child, Isaac, and he's the child of promise, the one that
God had promised. Nevertheless, verse 30 of Galatians
chapter four, nevertheless, what saith the scripture? cast out
the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall
not be heir of the son of the free woman. So then brethren,
we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. And we go back
here and we find that in verse 29, but as then he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit,
even so it is now. Now, turn with me, if you would,
going back to the book of Genesis. As we look, what is the problem
here? What was the problem between Jacob and Esau, or the problem
between Ishmael and Isaac? Here it is. captured in a very
few verses in the book of Genesis chapter 27. In Genesis chapter
27, we read these words about this relationship between Jacob
and Esau, but we can see this relationship between Christ and
his church and those that are not the church. We're going to
see this between the elect and non-elect. In Genesis chapter
27, verse 41, we have these words recorded about the very issue
that is being brought up here when the children of Israel desired
to go through the land of Moab. and they are rejected and refused
from going through, even though they pled, we are your brethren,
we will not eat of your food, we will not drink of your water,
we will stay on a single line, we will go directly to the promised
land, we will not interfere with you or anything like that. we
find that they are directly stopped from going through. First of
all, by words, and second of all, by an army. Well, here in
the book of Genesis, chapter 27, verse 41, and Esau hated
Jacob. Esau hated Jacob because of the
blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in
his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then will I slay my brother Jacob. And we find that this is the
issue, Jacob was hated by Esau. Now we find this issue brought
up today. It's been this way always, but
let's just turn over here to the book of 2 Thessalonians chapter
two. as we find this problem that
has come up constantly through the ages as people that know
the grace of God and are saved only by the grace of God and
not by works of righteousness which they have done, which we
have done. We're not saved that way. We
are saved by the grace of God and we'll see that it was the
grace of God that appeared unto Jacob. Jacob have I loved, Esau
have I hated, and we find that the Apostle Paul brings this
up in the New Testament in the book of Romans, and he says,
before they had done any good or evil. Well, this was done
before the foundation of the world, that God had a love for
Jacob, He intended and purposed in the covenant of grace to lay
down his life, a ransom for Jacob and not for Esau. And here we
have the issue brought up in 2 Thessalonians 2, 2 Thessalonians
2, and there in verse 13. But we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren and beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. This is the difference. This makes all the difference,
and this is the dividing point between the church and those
that are not the church. This is the dividing point. What
is it? God is involved with the church. God hath from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief in the truth. This is God's way of doing His
business. God has performed this from the very beginning. He gave
faith to Abel, he did not to Jacob. We find that even among
national Israel, in the book of Numbers here, we find that
God did not give many of them faith, even though the gospel
was preached unto them just as well as it is unto us. They did
not have it mixed with faith. God did not give them faith.
And we read in the book of Deuteronomy chapter 29, that he did not give
a heart to believe. So this is the rankle. This is
what's come up here between Israel and with Moab. Now we
find that this follows through as we turn over here to the book
of Ephesians. Just turn back to the book of
Ephesians and the same issue is brought up in Ephesians chapter
1 verses 4 through 7. We have the dividing point. Now,
it's interesting that Moses and the children of Israel desired
to go, it was no doubt a shorter route, to go through Moab and
to reach that land that God had promised them, the land that
they had left when there was that great dearth, that great
famine, and Jacob and his children went down to to Egypt and there
they lived under Pharaoh and under that son that we so often
think of. He said, God, you meant it for
evil, but God meant it for good for the deliverance of these
much people. Well, we find here in the book of Ephesians chapter
one, the same thing is brought up. According as he has chosen
us in him, Israel was chosen. They're a type of the church.
Now, most of them didn't know a thing about the gospel, We
do find that the gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us,
but it was not mixed with faith, and that faith must be given
by God. And there are going to be many
people among Israel that are going to be in the same camp
as we find that the Moabites were in. It says here in Ephesians
again, chapter one, verse four, according as he has chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted into beloved, in
whom we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness
of sins according to the riches of his grace. Now we find here
that absolutely everything was done by Almighty God and it was
purposed before the foundation of the world. It was carried
out through the covenant of grace and Jesus Christ came and laid
down his life a ransom for all that he had chosen that were
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, all that the Father
gave him will come to him. Now, there's an issue here, and
that is Esau hated Isaac. Edom hated Israel. There was
this constant bringing up. You know, we think about And
I've heard many people, I'm not prejudiced. I'm not prejudiced.
Well, we are prejudiced. We're prejudiced by birth. We're
prejudiced by birth against the grace of God. We're prejudiced
by birth against God doing all the work. We're prejudiced by
birth against God getting involved and not allowing our free will
to take free course. We're prejudiced by birth against
the church. We're prejudiced by birth against
God and his ways, against his word, against what he has to
say. We'll pick out a few verses of scripture and say, that's
what I believe, but we will not go to Ephesians chapter 1. We
will not go to Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11. We will not go
to the Old Testament and see how God dealt with his people.
We are so prejudiced and left in our prejudice, left to ourselves,
we would go out of this world prejudiced against the ways of
God. We would be just like those Moabites. We would not have this man rule
over us. We will not have his people pass
through our country. Even though they said very plainly,
we will not bother anything that's in your land, but they refused. We find this is carried out through
the scriptures so often. These great truths that all salvation
is because of God go straight at this family relationship.
Did you notice? Let's just go back over there
to the book of Numbers. The book of Numbers chapter 20.
And we find the first thing that Moses brings up when he sends
his ambassadors in to talk to the King of Moab. The first thing
he brings up in this passage of scripture is the family relationship,
that we are related. Now, it doesn't take us very
long to go back and find out that all of these folks, Moabites
and Israelites, go right back to Abraham. They go back to Isaac. We find that the division is
made in Jacob and Esau, the children of Isaac. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. Well, this principle has been
found throughout the previous history of natural man, that
there was Jacob's and there were Esau's. We find that there was
Isaac and there was Ishmael, the son of Hagar. Well, we can
trace our line, this line right back to Adam. We can go from
Adam to Noah. We can go from Noah to Abraham.
and we can go from Abraham to Isaac, and we can go from Isaac
to Jacob and Esau, and there's where the division is made, and
God uses this to picture the division between the church and
the ones that are non-elect. The elect and non-elect are identified
here. Well, we read here in the book
of Numbers chapter 20 and verse 14, and Moses sent messengers
from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother
Israel." No, we are family. We have a family relationship. We can go right back and find
out where we began. There is our great, great, great
grandfather, Abraham, and I probably didn't put enough greats there.
And then there's Isaac, and we all think so highly of both of
them. And then we have Jacob and Esau,
We find that it is written in the scriptures that Esau hated
Isaac, hated Jacob, excuse me. And this is carried down here
right to this passage of scripture in the book of Numbers. There
is no way that God would permit those Moabites to allow the children
of Israel to go through that land because they had nothing
in common. They did not have the God of
gods. They did not have the savior
of saviors. They did not have the king of
kings. They were only in a fleshly relationship
and they did not have a spiritual relationship with God. Jacob
have I loved, Esau have I hated. Esau hated Israel. You know, we read in the scriptures
nowhere that Esau ever rested would you turn with me to the
book of Genesis again chapter 25 Genesis chapter 25 in Genesis
chapter 25 beginning with verse 27 It tells us about these twins
They're as different as daylight and dark It tells us here in
verse 27, and the boys grew, and Esau was a cunning hunter,
a man of the field, and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents. Well, we find out from this passage
of scripture, we could just say that Esau is a worker. He's one
that works hard work, sweat of his brow. And we find that Jacob,
he's just a dweller in tents. He just doesn't look right. We admire workers. And you know,
when it comes to religion, religion admires workers. They want people
to work. In fact, It's in a religious
sense, it's by works of righteousness, which we have done, that we're
made accepted in the beloved. But we find out from a spiritual
standpoint, it's not by works of righteousness, which we have
done, that we're in Christ. So here's the problem. And it
goes on to tell us here that Isaac loved Esau because he did
eat of his venison. He went out and hunted for him.
But Rebecca loved Jacob. Jerusalem, which is above, is
the mother of us all. Jacob sawed pottage, and Esau
came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob,
Feed me, I pray thee, with that red pottage, for I am faint. Therefore was his name called
Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this
day thy birthright. Now we may think that Jacob,
and he was a scoundrel, You want her to watch your wallet
when you're around him. He's the guy that had the fish
on his card. He's the guy that had the fish
on his license plate. He's the guy that had a fish
tattooed on his arm. He's smooth, but you better watch
your wallet. He's gonna steal from you. He's
gonna be a crook. He's gonna be just like these
nominal Christians that we see today that wanna prove themselves. Well, he says, sell your birthright.
Well, the problem here is Esau. Esau had no consideration of
his birthright. A mess of pottage was worth his
birthright. And you know, that's just like
people who leave the gospel for a mess of pottage to go someplace
that there's nothing being preached and nothing is being said positive
about the Lord. So he sold his birthright. It
just happens all the time. They went out from us because
they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they
would have continued with us. Here he sold his birthright. Jacob said, sell me this day
thy birthright. And Esau said, behold, I am at
the point to die. What, a worker about to point
to die? He can't go out and kill his
own food? My goodness. Well, Annie, what
profit shall this birthright do to me? The birthright was
he was first born. He could have all the inheritance.
It belonged to him. Well, when we look at it from
a spiritual standpoint, we find out he gave up everything for
a mess of pottage. He gave up Christ. He gave up
God. His free will was only towards
a mess of pottage, and we find out free will will never choose
Christ will never choose the gospel will never be of a benefit
It's always in the wrong direction because it is part of the fall
Jacob said swear to me this day and he swear unto him and he
sold his birthright unto Jacob then Jacob gave Esau bread and
pottage of lentils and he did eat and drink and rose up and
won his way and thus Esau Despised his birthright. He despised his
birthright now. It's gonna happen again And we're
gonna find out that Esau hated Jacob. We read that in chapter
25 and verse 41, that Jacob hated Esau. Esau hated Jacob. Esau hated Jacob. Well, turn
with me to the book of Genesis chapter 28, for in Genesis chapter
28, we find that Esau Jacob did something that we never
find record of in the life of his brother Esau. And this is
just the way it's going to be. There will never be this record
among the Esauites. They'll never have this relationship,
even though they are scoundrels. Jacob's are scoundrels. They
start that way. We have it by nature. We're born
dead in trespasses and sin. We're born hating God. We're born enmity against God. And yet we discover by the new
birth that God has had an everlasting love towards Jacob's. He never
had that towards the Esau's. He had it towards the Jacob's.
The Jacob's he loved with an everlasting love. Jacob have
I loved with an everlasting love. And here it says in chapter 28,
verse 10, and Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward
Haran. And he lighted upon a certain
place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. And
he took up the stones of that place and put them for his pillows
and lay down in that place to sleep. This is something we don't
read about with Esau. We never find them at peace. We never find them at rest. They're
always working. And this is something that we
find with Jacob's. Now, he set his head down on
the stones of that place and he lay down in that place and
went to sleep. Now we find that God did something
for him. He sent him. How this happened,
how it took place, He said, he dreamed and behold a ladder set
up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold
the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold,
the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God. of Abraham
thy father, and the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest,
to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, and thy seed shall
be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad
to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the
south, And in thee and thy seed shall all the families of the
earth be blessed. Now it's not because we're gonna
find that Jacob is called a Jew. It is because this is sharing
with us a spiritual reality of how God does his business. He's talking about the church
here. He's talking about, there are gonna be many people that
are gonna be born unto him, related to him. Related to Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. There's gonna be many, many people,
but we're also gonna find in that whole host of people that
not all Israel is of Israel. Who is the true Israel? The true
Israel are Jacob's that I have loved with an everlasting love.
The true Israel is the church, and it has been from the very
beginning. And behold, I am with thee. This
is God speaking to Jacob. Behold, I am with thee, and will
keep thee in all places, whether thou goest, and will bring thee
again into this land, for I will not leave thee until I have done
that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his
sleep and said, surely, Jehovah, the Lord is in this place and
I knew it not. And he was afraid and said, how
dreadful is this place? This is none other but the house
of God and this is the gate of heaven. Who's the gate of heaven? Who's the ladder to heaven? It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not a process of works.
And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that
he had put for his pillow and set it up for a pillar and poured
all on the top of it. And he called the name of the
place Bethel. But the name of that city was
called Luz at the first. Here is Bethel. He found Bethel. He named it Bethel. This is where
the Lord met him. This is where the Lord dealt
with him. This is where the Lord spoke to him. This is the Lord
promised him. And how we find that in the Lord
Jesus Christ to us today. Oh, Jacob, it tells us in the
book of Malachi, chapter one, verses two and three, Jacob have
I loved, Esau have I hated. We find that is brought up by
the Apostle Paul, he's led by the Holy Spirit. And we find
that this hatred has continued on between the Jacobs and the
Esaus, between Esaus and Jacob, forgive me. This has continued
on. You know, we find that there
was a whole bunch of Jews in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ
that were actually Esau's they hated Christ They hated him They
did not want him coming through their land They refused to have
him come through their land and we've read this so often in the
scriptures the in the Gospels About their hatred and they would
bring up the pettiest of things We will not have you changing
our religion. The Pharisees perform works for
show. That's what the Lord brings out. The Pharisees view Jesus
as a threat to their position and religious works. That's what
he does when he comes. He just reveals that to us. And it's no wonder that people
that are never chosen in Christ have a hatred for him because
he does not recognize their works. He does not recognize their baptism. He doesn't recognize their gospel.
doesn't recognize their family, doesn't recognize anything about
them. The only people that he recognized are those that belong
to the church, those that he has promised to save, those he
has saved and promised to save today and tomorrow, those he
has died for on the cross And we find this goes on and continues
on even until today. Well, let's just read a couple
of verses found here in the book of Matthew chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Join me in
Matthew chapter 12 when we find that these Esau's, they could trace their line back
to Abraham. They could trace their line back to Isaac. They
could trace their line back to Jacob. And yet in reality, they're
nothing more than Esauites. They're Moabites. They will not
allow, even though there is this relationship, they will not allow
the Lord Jesus to interfere with them. Now, he's gonna interfere
with whoever he wants to interfere with. The rest we find, he just
leaves them there. They've already been put into
their place. Well, in the book of Matthew
chapter 12, we find some of these, oh, some of these things that
are brought up against the Lord and against his disciples by
the religious people of the day. These are the true Esaites. They don't know grace. They never
will. They don't know the gospel. They
never will. They don't know God. They never
will. We're thankful that among what appears to be Esauites are
Jacob's. We're so thankful. We have one,
his name was Saul of Tarsus. Others that are picked out through
the scriptures that didn't seem to have any interest, God caused
them to have an interest. Well, in the book of Matthew
chapter 12, beginning with verse one, we have that at that time,
Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the corn. You know, we're
going to find the Lord dealing with the Sabbath day so often
during his ministry. Please don't think that this
was just happenstance. This is on purpose. The Lord
is going to upset the apple cart time and time again of these
Esauites. He's going to bring to their
consideration how foolish they are, but they will not change
their ways unless the Lord changes them. That time Jesus went on
the Sabbath day through the corn, they went through a grain field,
and his disciples were a hungered. And they begin to pluck the ears
of corn or the grain and to eat. They grab those, they're ripe,
they break them up in their hand, they blow out the chaff, throw
that grain in their mouth and they eat. Well, what's wrong
with that? But when the Pharisees saw it,
We're not going to have you go through our land. When the Pharisees
saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is
not lawful to do on the Sabbath day. You're breaking the rules. We will not believe what you
have to say because you keep breaking the rules, the traditions
of the fathers. Well, the Lord brings up an Old
Testament incident about David and those that were following
him who were hungry. They went into the tabernacle
and ate of the showbread. And the priests, they break the
Sabbath every time. And you know what? If a baby
boy is born and eight days after he's born you know what the priest
has to do to him he has to be circumcised turn with me to the book of Matthew
chapter 15 if you would Matthew chapter 15 verse 1 Matthew chapter 15 and
verse 1 we read here Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees,
which were of Jerusalem, saying, why do thy disciples transgress
the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands
when they eat bread. These Moabites have their traditions. You know, we can't harvest grain
on the Sabbath day. You don't eat with washing hands. We just can't have that around
here. We won't have that. We won't let you pass through
our land because you're breaking the tradition of the fathers.
But he said unto them, why do you also transgress the commandment
of God by your tradition? They're breaking the tradition
of the elders. You're breaking the commandment
of God. For God commanded, saying, honor thy father and mother,
and he that curseth father and mother, let him die the death.
But ye say, whosoever shall say to his father or his mother,
it is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me. Whatever,
we're gonna not take care of you, we gotta give this tithe
to the Lord. Well, the Lord deals with that,
and we follow this through. Let's just look at another place
or two here. Mark chapter three, Mark chapter three, another sign
of why you can't come through our property. You don't have
the banner, we'll not work on the Sabbath, we're not going
to, We will wash our hands and on and on the tradition goes
in the Mark chapter 3. We have some more, Mark chapter
three, and he gathered again into the synagogue, verse one,
and there was a man with a withered hand, and they watched him, whether
he would heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him. One
more incident as the Sabbath. Will you heal on the Sabbath?
This is against our tradition. It's against the law, if you
please. You know, there's always somebody
making up rules. And these Moabites made up rules. You're not going to come through
our land. We have this prejudice against you. We have this prejudice
against your God. We have a prejudice against your
grace. We have a prejudice against what God is doing with you. He's
taking you out of Egypt. He's taking you to the promised
land. We have a prejudice against that, and we will not stand for
it. You must go another way. How
this affects God's people, and you know for the good, It affects
them for good. We will not take a shortcut.
We cannot take a shortcut. We will not be able to have a
shortcut to the promised land. It must always go through grace. It must always go through Christ.
Let's read another passage here in the book of John chapter 5.
John chapter 5 and verse 9. John chapter 5 and verse 9. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And the same day was
the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said unto
him that was cursed or cured. It is the Sabbath day. It is
not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. We're not gonna permit
that, you will not come through our land because of that. He
answered them, he that made me whole, the same said unto me,
take up thy bed and walk. And they asked him, what man
is this that said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And
he that was healed was not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed
himself away, a multitude being in that place. On and on the
accusations go. This warfare is not against nations. It's against God's choosing.
Remember God's grace was revealed to a woman of Moab. Her name
was Ruth. The same nation of people that
did not want Israel to go through their land. God dealt with a
woman of Moabitish nationality by grace. Now, he's not held
by nations. He's not held by Israel or Moab. He has people, he has lost sheep,
he has saved sheep, and every kindred, nation, people, and
tongue. We can go over to the book of
Ruth and find out that this Moabitish woman, this lady by the name
of Ruth, told her mother-in-law, as her mother-in-law headed back
to Israel, Your God is my God. What a difference that is than
these Jews who said, we will not have you rule over us, and
by the way, we'll not have you incorporated into our religion
because you're so foreign to it. Well, we find the blessings
of the Lord are given to his people out of every nation, every
kindred, and every tongue. And we find, as we go back to
the book of Numbers for just a very short reading there in
chapter 20, Numbers chapter 20, we read these words, Numbers
chapter 20 again, we find out there in verse 14, that Moses
said to the messengers, tell him that we're your brethren.
We've traveled a long ways and we've had a lot of problems along
the way. And verse 17, let us pass, I pray thee, through thy
country. We will not pass through the
fields or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the
water of the wells. We will go by the king's highway.
We will not turn to the right hand or to the left until we
have passed thy borders. And Edom said unto him, thou
shall not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.
And if we go down a couple of verses farther, verse 21, verses
20 and 21, he said, thou shall not go through. And Edom came
out against him with much people and with a strong hand, thus
Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border. Wherefore,
Israel turned away from him." Refused grace, refused God's
choice, refused God's way, refused God's word, refused God and everything
about him. We will not have you pass through
our land. Well, there is no shortcuts. They went on to the place appointed
by God. But we have this wonderful illustration
of the constant battle and warfare between Ishmaelites and Israelites,
between the lost and the saved, between those chosen in Christ
and those not chosen in Christ. We have this constant reminder
given to us. And even in our own families,
even in our own children, no doubt, our brothers, our sisters,
our mothers, our fathers, our grandparents, whatever, our aunts
and uncles. We may wish to say, I'd like
to say a few things about the Savior that saved me. And the
word is, I don't want to hear about it. Just take it somewhere
else. That's the way it is. But God
is merciful and all that he chose in Christ before the foundation
of the world will be as Saul of Tarsus. He will change them. He will turn them. He will appear
to them. He will bless them with his great
salvation. And then they will say, my Lord
and my God. Thank you for joining us today.