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A weekly podcast focusing on stories of Teshuva, or repentance, in the Bible.
Return to Christ is brought to you by:
Wesley G. Shaw, Ph.D.
B.A., Wheaton College (Economics)
Ph.D. California Coast (Economics)
President, Shaw Corp., Morris, IL (retired)
Co-Founder, Winners Ministry, Inc.
Biblical Economist
Adjunct Professor, International Biblical College, Jerusalem, Israel
American Conservatory of Music, studied under James Dutton for marimba & Leo Sowerby for composition
We're turning to Genesis twelve and four to learn how to become a Hebrew.
Music:By my holy name will humble themselves and see my face. If they pray, if they pray, if they pray and seek my face, I will hear.
Esther:So Abraham departed as the Lord has spoken unto him and Lot went with him and Abram was 70 and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Wes:He departed out of Haran and what he did was he crossed over the River Euphrates. The Hebrew word for Hebrew is ibrit and ibrit means one who crosses over. Now, studying the life of Abraham, he crossed over from the civilized area, the urban area, so to speak, over to the land of Canaan. Abraham and his father had been makers of idols. They had made a fortune in making idols.
Wes:He knew perhaps every idol that people could worship. And he made them and made a lot of money. But at age 75, he was tired of a lifestyle, of making money and something that he knew was not right. When Abraham crossed over, he crossed over from a prior life that was devoted strictly to materialism, making money, creating idols. And this is the way our world is today.
Wes:The world is filled with idols. People make idols out of cars and houses and boats and businesses. And, they even make idols out of singers and athletes and they worship their idols. But, God wants us to worship Him. And, Abraham at 75 said, I'm sick and tired of idols and materialism, and he became a God seeker.
Wes:He went from total materialism and total self indulgence to seeking the face of God. God called him out of there and perhaps God is calling you out of wherever you're at and wanting you to cross over because when you cross over from your past into a life of serving God and loving God and obeying God, you become a Hebrew. You've crossed over. You're on a journey of Teshuvah and Abraham began seeking a city whose builder and maker is God. He wanted to commune with the people of God.
Wes:He wanted to commune with God. Let's turn to another chapter in Genesis chapter 14 verse 16.
Esther:And he brought back all the goods and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and of the kings that were with him at the Valley Of Shavu, which is the king's dale. And Melchizedek, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God.
Wes:We see here that Abraham was doing a righteous thing. What has happened here is his nephew Lot got caught and captured by enemies that were going to enslave him And, Abraham goes after to save Lot. Now, Lot didn't treat Abraham with great respect when the two of them had much cattle. Abraham had his cattle. Lot had his cattle.
Wes:They each had people that worked for them. Abraham told Lot, he said, look, our people are fighting over the land. You take your choice of what land you want and and I'll take the other portion. And so Lot, instead of deferring to the elder and giving him the option of the first choice and the better choice, Lot chooses the best area for himself. He was selfish.
Wes:But, in the end, God told Abraham, Abraham, all of this is yours anyway. This is this is all yours. But, Abraham, even though he got mistreated by his nephew, went to risk his life to save his nephew. He was able to fight off these people that had captured him and he came back with spoil from the enemy's camp. And, he told the people from Sodom, I'm not gonna take any of this spoil.
Wes:But he did have an encounter there with Melchizedek, which is an interesting character. In Hebrew, it's called Melchizedek or king of the righteousness. And so Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek. Melchizedek ministered the word of God to Abraham and it was a spiritual epiphany for Abraham in that he gave him tithes. He was in a sense surrendering his life by giving these tithes.
Wes:The tithe is a representation. It's like giving the top profit or 10% to God and it means you're giving God everything ultimately. And this is what God wants from us is for us to cross over from the past life into a new life with him for us to give him everything. Our lives, our money, whatever talents we have, we're gonna give them to God. We're gonna turn to Hebrews chapter seven verses one through four.
Wes:For this
Esther:Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God
Wes:Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God.
Esther:Met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him.
Wes:He met Abraham as Abraham was doing this righteous act to save his nephew. And Melchizedek blessed him. He blessed him with the word of God.
Esther:To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation, king of righteousness and after that also king of Salem, is king of peace.
Wes:So, we see that this is a priest of the Most High God. It's an archetype and the thing is that's important here is that this Melchizedek is a type of Christ. The Bible says that the people of the Old Testament are types and shadows of what we find in the New Testament. Melchizedek, it says he's first the king of righteousness. And in Hebrew it's called Melech Sodok.
Wes:Sodok is somebody who operates in righteousness and Melech means a king. So he's first king of righteousness. Everything that he does is righteous. His word is righteous. His actions are righteous.
Wes:Everything that Christ did was righteous. Even and especially his work on the cross. We see that he is first the king of righteousness and then he becomes the king of peace or melek shalom. In Hebrew the word peace is shalom. And Shalom is a multifaceted blessing.
Wes:It means comfort. It means help. It means purity. It means holiness. It means happiness, contentment, joy, integrity.
Wes:All of the things that you would like to be and like to do are incorporated in that word shalom. Jewish people today, it's a greeting. Shalom. Shalom alaikum. Peace be unto you.
Wes:And so, God is saying that as we do these correct things, as we obey His word, then we become righteous in His eyes. And then he adds comfort. He adds peace to our life. One of the things that the people of the way in the book of Acts, the important characteristic, they were people that were at peace with themselves. The Bible says that the people that are lost are contending with themselves.
Wes:They wanna do right, but they can't do right. They They wanted to do this but they did the other thing. And even the Apostle Paul talked about it. He said, When I wanted to do the right thing, I didn't do it. I did the wrong thing.
Wes:And when I didn't want to do the wrong thing, that's what I did. And he said, Who can help me out of this? And that is the Lord Jesus Christ. But we have to become a Hebrew. We have to give up the past and move on to the high prize and calling in Christ Jesus.
Wes:But he will take our desire, our walk in righteousness as we obey his word and he will apply peace to our soul. We're turning to John chapter fourteen and one verse, verse 27.
Esther:Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Wes:Jesus is expressing his desire to give us his peace, his Shalom. As we become a Hebrew and we cross over from our prior life into a life that is ordained of God, a life that is subjected to his word and seeking to do the right thing As we go on this journey, we just seek to do the next right thing. And that's what righteousness is. He said, The peace that I give, the world cannot give. People look for peace.
Wes:They're looking for the Shalom, but they're looking in the wrong places. You can look for it in the comfort of alcohol or drugs or the things that money can buy. Nothing compares to the peace that Jesus gives. If you pass over from the life of serving yourself over into a life of serving God, serving Jesus, Peter said that you're gonna have the peace that passeth all understanding. Thank you and God bless you today.