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The Decrees of God
Text: "...I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it." (Isaiah 16:11)
Premise: God made all things.
I. He either made things fur a purpose or He made them without purpose.
II. If God made all things for a purpose, He either provided for the certain accomplishment of His purpose or, He did not.
If God did not provide for the accomplishment of His purpose It was either because He was unwilling to do it, or, He was unable to do it.
IV. If God was unwilling to provide for the accomplishment of His purpose, it was either because His purpose was not important to Him, or because it required more trouble than His purpose would justify.
V. If God has unable to provide for the accomplishment of His purpose or will, it was either because He did not know how to –do it, or because He did not have the ability to accomplish it. (Note: The forger denies His omniscience; the latter denies His omnipotence.)
VI. If God provided for the accomplishment of His purpose, then it will be accomplished or it will not be.
VII. If His purpose will be accomplished, the means provided for this purpose will operate in the proper manner for its accomplishment.
Application:
If the actions of men are not such as God purposed, it must be because He did not know what men would do; or knowing this, He did not choose to prevent their existence.
A. If God knew what the actions of men would be, and did not choose to prevent their existence, then their actions are either agreeable to His purposes, or He chose them to exist although they are contrary to His purpose.
B. God could prevent the actions of wicked men by preventing their existence. To assume wicked men are upon the whole contrary to God’s purpose, and yet He chose that they should be born is to assume a contradiction.
Therefore, to deny the doctrines of Predestination and of Reprobation is to believe that God is limited, changeable, and dependent upon what men do. To believe this about God is to believe the purposes of God are not certain in their accomplishments.
-Timothy Dwight, President of Yale College (1795-1817),
and preacher of the Second Great Awakening-
"When Nations are to perish in their sins
‘Tis in the Church the leprosy begins."
-Cowper-
Part IV -- The Sons of Ham In the Old Testament
Several times in Scripture Egypt is called "the land of Ham."
(Cf. Gen. 14:5; Ps. 78:51; 105:23,27; 106:22) If, as Asaph wrote God "smote all the firstborn in Egypt; the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham," then Pharaoh and the people of Egypt were clearly Hamites. This is also the testimony of Herodotus, the reputed "Father of History." It may be added that Africa is called the "Dark Continent" not because of the dense undergrowth of its interior, but because Africans are dark people.
The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. (Gen.10:6) Cush, his firstborn and his descendants settled in the hinterland. The Greeks and after them the Romans called the land "Aethiops," hence Ethiopia, which means "the land of the people of burnt faces."
Havilah was the second son of Cush. He and his descendants colonized the adjoining territory, and it became known as "the land of Havilah." (See: Gen. 2:11-13) Raamah was the fourth son of Cush. He named his firstborn son Sheba. He and his descendants colonized an adjacent territory which later became known as "the land of Sheba."
Ephron: Ephron the Hittite sold Abraham a burying place for his wife. (Gen. 23:8-20) The Hittites were descendants of Heth, grandson of Ham.
Hagar: God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a multitude. When Abraham and Sarah were elderly and yet they had no child, Sarah attempted to take matters into her own hands and instructed her husband to go in unto Hagar her maid. Hagar was an Egyptian, and therefore a Hamite. Her child by Abraham was Ishmael, the father of the Arab people.
Shuah: Judah married Shuah, a Canaanite. She was therefore a Hamite. Moses calls her Judah’s wife. (See: Gen. 38:l, 12)
Asenath: Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife named Asenath. She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On, or the sun. (Gen. 41:45,50-52) It was from this Union that Ephraim and Manasseh were born.
Although contemporary Christians may treat the sons of Ham like the Pharisee treated the Publican, it was nevertheless the daughter of Pharaoh who rescued the son of Amram and Jochebed from the bulrushes and called his name "Moses." (Ex. 2:10) And, it was in Egypt, "the land of Ham," where Moses received his education.
Zipporah: Moses married Zipporah, an Ethiopian, and she bare him two sons: Gershom and Eliezer. (Ex. 2:21; 18:1-6; Numbers 12:1) It was this fact that caused Aaron and Miriam, Moses’ brother and sister, to rebel against his authority. God, however, defended His servant, judged his brother and sister, and vindicated the wife of Moses. Zipporah was to be respected.
God hates racial prejudice.
Jethro: Moses enlisted Hobab, an Ethiopian, to serve as scout in the wilderness. Numbers 10:29-32) (See: Judges 4:11 Undoubtedly Hobab was another name for Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law. The name "Hobab" means "Beloved," while the name "Jethro" and "Jether" mean "Pre-eminence" or "Excellence." (See: Ex. 4:18) But Moses’ father-in-law is also known in Scripture as "Reuel" and "Raguel" which means "the Friend of God" or "God in a Friend" (Numb. 10:29; Ex. 2:18)
Humanly speaking, Israel’s safety was entrusted to an Ethiopian scout. Moses called him a Midianite, while the writer of the book of Judges called him a Kenite --the Kenites being a Midianitish clan, and the Midianites were Ethiopians.
Hobab, chief of the Kenitas, joined himself to Israel when Moses led the people of God from Horeb to Canaan. (Numb. 10:29-32) When Judah began the conquest of Southern Palestine, he joined with Judah dwelling among the people. (Judges 1:16) Eventually, the Kenites were recognized as an integral part of Judah. (I Chr. 2:55)
The Court System
Jethro, otherwise known as Jether, Hobab, Reuel or Raguel, gave Moses the basis for what has come to be our inferior, superior and supreme court system. (Ex. 18:19-26)
"And Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and did obeisance and kissed him." (vs.7) It was at his suggestion that Moses set up "rulers of tens; rulers of fifties, rulers of hundreds and rulers of thousands." It served as the prototype of Municipal, County, Circuit, and Appellate courts.
It Was Jethro who declared judges or "rulers" should be qualified
men being "both men such as fear God, men of truth hating covetousness." (Ex. 18:21)
As the United States Supreme court is presided over by the Chief Justice and in England the Judicial system is presided over by the Lord High Chancellor, so before them, in Israel, Jethro made the "rulers" subservient to Moses, the man of God.
Jael: Years passed, and in the days of the Judges, when Sisera fled before Deborah and Barak, and the children of Israel, he who had defied God Almighty sought refuge in the tent of Heber the Kenite. Here, by the hands of Jael, the wife of Heber, Sisera was killed. (Judges 5:24)
When God told Samuel the time had come for Saul to smite Amelek, the king of Israel remembered how the Kenites had "showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt." (I Sam. 15:6) Saul sent word for the Africans to remove themselves from the Amalekites. Approximately 400 years had elapsed, but the Israelites were yet respectful of the kindness shown to them by the Kenites.
The Kenites "came of Hemath, the father of the house Rechab" (I Chr. 2:55) whose family characterized themselves by total abstinence from wine.
When Jehu would execute the judgment of God upon the house of Ahab, he took Jehonadab with him into his chariot. (II Kings 10: 15,16) Jehonadab was a Rechabite; the Rechabites were Kenites, who in turn were Ethiopians; and I have early shown that the Greeks and after them the Romans called them "Aethiops" because they had "burnt, i.e. black, faces." Jeremiah asked, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin?" (Jer. 13:23) This cannot possibly mean "sun-burned," since all that would then be needed to "change his skin" would be to stay out of the sun!
When David would bring the Amalekites to account for their destruction of Ziklag, he was able to put them to flight after an Egyptian gave him information.
: King David married Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite. While Uriah was a descendant of Heth, the grandson of Ham, so was Bathsheba, whose name means "Daughter of Sheba", and Sheba was the great-grandson of Ham.Bathsheba
From this union, Solomon was born. Although his mother was a Hamite, Scripture records, "AND THE LORD LOVED HIM." (II Sam. 12:24) This may also help explain the visit of the Queen of Sheba.
"And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into the city of David. (I Kings 3:1) "Solomon also made an house for Pharaoh’s daughter whom he had taken to wife." (I Kings 7:8)
In the Song of Solomon, also known as the book of Canticles, the wife of Solomon declares, "I an black but comely, o ye daughters of Jerusalem;" and her explanation is "because the sun hath looked upon me." (1:5,6) Some have attempted to explain away the passage by interpreting the word "black" to mean "sunburned Caucasian." Reader, be honest: can you tell the difference between someone who is sunburned, and someone who is black?
Three Kinds of Glands
God has provided 3 kinds of glands to protect our skin. Sudoriferous glands are sweat glands, and are designed to moisten the skin as well as to excrete refuse from the body.
Sebaceous glands are oil glands and are designed to lubricate the skin.
By the wise design of God, the purpose of Pigmentary glands is to protect the skin from heat. As has already been stated, Africa is known as "the Dark Continent" because of the pigmentation of the skin of the people who live there.
The Temple
Elijah’s life is preserved.
Sidon was the oldest city of Phoenicia. The people of Phoenicia were Sidonians. They sprang from Sidon, the firstborn son of Canaan, son of Ham. The Sidonians became renown for their skill in woodworking. Solomon requested that Hiram, king of Tyre, provide him with workers to help him build the Temple. (I Kings 5: 6,18; See: chapters 5 and 6) It should be noted that Tyre was the major Phoenician seaport –a distinction it shared with the city of Sidon.
When God would preserve the life of His prophet Elijah, He passed by the widows in Israel, and sent him instead to the house of a Sidonian widow. (I Kings 17:8-24) Many years later, crusaders built a church on the traditional site of the widow’s guestroom.
The Life of Jeremiah is Preserved.
When the prophet Jeremiah was thrown into a well, it was Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian who pleaded with King Zedekiah for his life. (Jer. 38:7-13) The king gave his permission, and, told the Ethiopian to take 30 men with him. He did so, and rescued the man of God.
The Word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, and the prophet went to Ebedmelech and said,
Thus smith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, "Behold, I will bring My words upon this city for evil, and not for good; but I will deliver thee in that day ...and thou shalt not be given into the hand of men of whom thou art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee ...because thou hast put thy trust in Me," saith the Lord. (Jer. 39:15-18)
The sons of Ham played a significant role in the history of the Old Testament.
Next month: Part V -- The Sons of Ham in the New Testament
