Tag: canaan

Does God Keep His Promise? Genesis 17:8

Abraham lived about 3600 years ago! God made a promise to him then that he and his descendants would inherit the Land of Canaan! Remember Canaan was one of the son’s of Noah who was cursed by God for exposing his father’s nakedness! So what Empires occupied and controlled the Land of Canaan over the last 3600 years since Abraham? The Empires of Babylon, Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman (Muslims), French and the United Kingdom! Then in 1948 the Land of Canaan was declared the State of Israel. Since 1948 Israel has had to fight wars to secure her freedom! The still have to be vigilant as they are surrounded by their enemies! God does keep His promises and history and science defend the promises in our Bible! Let me be clear to Christian’s that if God were not to keep His covenant promises to Israel He would never keep His promises to you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Accursed Thing? Joshua 7:1

What is the accursed thing? Is it something I had for breakfast? My wife’s cooking? Fast food? It will help you to go back to the Hebrew root word to help understand this. I would suggest you get a Hebrew-Greek study Bible if you want to dig deeper in the Scriptures! According to the Hebrew word this is something devoted to religious use. Some consider this word to have a contradictory element because it can also be something devoted to destruction! So something accursed is either set apart for destruction or set apart to be devoted to God! During the conquest of Canaan the Jews set aside the spoils of war for religious use. That is the silver, gold, bronze, iron and the animals were devoted to religious use. The idea here is since God has given us the victory in war the spoils belong to Him! Much like the tithe and offering today is given to God because He has given us the victory over sin, hell and death! So after crossing the Jordan River in a miraculous way they defeated the first city Jericho in another miraculous way! A man named Achan from the tribe of Judah and his family got greedy and stashed some of the gold from the spoils in his tent! God got angry and in the next battle for the city of Ai Israel got defeated. Joshua went to the Lord and the Lord revealed to him there was sin in the camp! Joshua went through every tent and found the offender! Achan and his family were stoned, burned and buried in the Valley of Achor! Is your life set apart for God or for destruction? What you do with Jesus Christ will answer that question? If you accept Jesus Christ your life will be set apart for Him! If you reject Christ then your life is set apart for destruction! The choice is yours! God will not send you to Heaven or Hell without you deciding! He will not force His will on you! Love demands a choice! So it is up to you! Victory or defeat? Heaven or hell? Light or darkness? Wealth or poverty? Health or sickness? You choose! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Treeless Worship Deuteronomy 16:21-22

“Thou shalt not plant a grove of any trees near unto the altar of the Lord thy God, which thou shalt make thee. Neither shall thy set up any image, which the Lord thy God hateth.” We first need to look at the Hebrew root word for the English word “groves.” The Hebrew root word translates to the word “Asherah.” Astarte is a Phoenician goddess of fertility. She was the Canaan fertility goddess believed to be the consort of Baal. The noun is most often used for the carved wooden images of the goddess. The image was associated with high places and fresh green trees. The Israelites were commanded to cut them down and burn them! False worship was a problem even to the extent that Asherah’s image was erected in God’s Temple itself! There were no trees around the temple in Jerusalem!  I witnessed idol worship during the three years we spent in India. These idol’s were everywhere! Often these huge wooden images were parked along tree lines. In the Hindu Temples prostitution was a regular business! I was offered a teenage girl in one of these temples! If you are going to worship the goddess of sex then prostitutes come with the package! To look deeper into the root of idol worship we need to go back to the Book of Genesis. If God took a rib from the man and created a woman then when they are united in marriage there is a completeness. However if you are going to make an image of a woman and worship her through sex then this is self-worship because the woman was taken from the man! Let us look at Genesis 2:9. “And out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God warned them that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they would die! Why? God understood that they could not handle it! God knew that created beings with the knowledge of evil would sin! Let us look at Genesis 3:22. “And the Lord said, Behold the man is become one of us, to know good and evil, now lest he put his hand and take also the Tree of Life, and eat and live forever.” God had to block them from the Garden of Eden because to enter Heaven with the knowledge of evil for eternity would doom them forever! This was an act of Mercy by God! So what about the Tree of Life? This Tree represents Christ, redemption for man and eternity with God! So what did man do with Christ? They cut down a tree and crucified Him on it! This is what happens to all that eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil! You commit evil and then try to do good? However God’s plan was engaged by the evil of men and brought redemption to the world! Without Christ whatever God has given to man as a gift turns to evil! All the religions of the world whether Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, ect, try to find God through their own efforts! Eating from the wrong tree! We all have access to the Tree of Life through Christ and our knowledge of evil is atoned for by His blood sacrifice on Calvary and we can live forever not separated from God but joined with Him in peace and love forever! We cannot save ourselves even though the world religions since creation have and still try! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Swear! What Does It Mean? Genesis 21:23, Matthew 23:16-23

This word is interesting but not understood by most. As a child I was taught not to swear. What my parents meant was using bad words that would defame God. The old saying is do not let people swear by you or at you! So many advertisements in America use this word to try to sell their products. In the Bible the word has two different meanings depending on whether Old or New Testament. In the Old Testament the word first appears in Genesis 21:23. The Hebrew word is “Shaba.” It means to make an oath or declaration 7 times. Seven is the number of completeness. Seven days in a week, 7 years, 70, ect. I remember as a child my parents would say I am only going to tell you one time! If not all hell broke loose for me! The word is a short cut to say something 7 times. God swore to multiply and Bless Abraham’s descendants. God swore by His Holiness to lead Israel into captivity. (Amos 4:2) The Lord swears by Himself since there is none greater. Abimelech and Phicol asked Abraham to swear his kindness and integrity to them and their descendants. David’s men adjured him not to go into battle again. The Land of Canaan became the Promised Land gave to His people based on an oath. Thousands of years later the nation of Israel today stands as a testimony! Now let us look at the word “swear” as used in the New Testament. The Greek word is “Omnuo.” It means to stand up or establish. Jesus repeats this word to the Pharisees and scribes as follows in Matthew 23:16-23; Woe unto you who swear by the temple, by gold, altar, by the gift,ect. Jesus was telling them you cannot lift up or establish yourselves by these things! Actually, the one who they could be lifted up and established by Christ they rejected! I love my Pastor, family and friends but none of them can establish me before God! Jesus is interceding for us right now! We are to pray for one another bur remember no one can save you or others including your Pastor except Christ and Christ alone! Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com

Sermon On The Mount Series New Life Church

Matthew Chapter 5; The sermon on the mount is the most taught and least followed of all Jesus teachings! Jesus brings a new imagination ( image ) and a new people out of this sermon. Israel has a history of getting things wrong! They moved from holiness, sin, rebellion, repentance and back to holiness. The difficulty today is the church is just like Israel. Often we cannot tell the difference between the church and the world. Leviticus 18:1-4; God found us in Egypt! God did not want the Jews to be like Egypt or like Canaan. There are traps both in prosperity and bondage. Do not follow the practices of the world. The world is sinking sand. Build on the rock (Christ). The Jews wanted Samuel to give them a king. Why? Other nations had kings. We want to be like the world. God and samuel were greived. So they got Saul, David and a bunch of really bad kings out of forty. Ezekiel 20:6-8; It is possible not to lust, control your temper and live peaceably. Here is a summation of the sermon on the mount, “An invitation from Jesus to be like him and be set apart.” We are a covenant people serving a covenant God. As a mother feeds her baby through the umbilical cord so we are the branches attached to the vine. Moses could not follow the law! The sermon on the mount is not another set of rules. Jesus in you teaches you and enpowers you. John 15:5-6; Apart from me you can do nothing. Bare much fruit! Philippians 2:12; Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. God works in you! No individualism here but community. The disciples left the crowd but after Jesus changed their lives they went back to minister to the crowds! We are in covenant with God and the community. If we try by ourselves we will fail. Live with Jesus and others. No isolation from community in the covenant. The table of covenant is community. Together we servs the community. We serve each other and we serve Christ as He serves us! The Trinity of the covenant is serving community, each other and Christ! Source; Sermon notes, Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Sermon On The Mount Series, 28 April 2013. Thankyou. James Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com