So, back to the Seder: Why are we doing what we're doing? Why is Christianity doing what it's doing? Why is nobody saying 'What's going on here?' Why is nobody saying 'What is it that's of the Lord … see, I'm not saying 'nobody's saying' because there are some. But I'm laying forth the challenge. We need to ask the big questions. God is not afraid of the answers. He is the God of truth and reality. He is the God of truth and reality. Psychology is bogus: there are demons. They do influence peoples' lives. Satan is not in hell. Satan is in the earth. Let's get it straight. Satan inhabits people. They fulfill his manifestation by committing murder and all kinds of other violent, vile things. Things aren't getting better, they're getting worse. So let's clarify the issues right up front. If it's the church's responsibility … this is "Kingdom now" thinking, if it's the church's responsibility to make everything perfect before Jesus comes, we've got thousands of years left (laughter), and we don't; and we don't. And while all the "televangelists" are talking about all the reasons for why they think Jesus is coming right now, the biggest one is right in front of their face and none of them are saying it. Now you're looking at me like 'What is it?' Thank you. Romans chapter eleven: 'When the people of Israel have returned to the land of Israel what can this mean but life from the dead.' Nobody's saying it. I can't stand to watch "Christian television." It's worse than pagan television. I'm sorry, most of it is. Not all, we're on there too (so) we can't say that (laughter). It is very difficult, very difficult to find too much on there that's really worthwhile.

So, let's take a look at chapter seventeen and I'm gonna highlight some really specific things here. Right in the beginning … let's just go through the first few verses:

"The Lord spoke to Moses saying 'Speak to Aaron and to his son and to all the sons of Israel and say to them 'this is what the Lord has commanded saying 'Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, or a lamb, or a goat in the camp or who slaughters it outside the camp and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, blood guiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people.'''"

It did not say he was to be stoned to death, it said he's just cut off from his people. The hope is that when he's standing outside the camp going: 'what did I do?' lightning will strike and he'll go: 'I was foolish. Let me go back and bring an offering and be atoned.' The Lord does not rejoice in the death of anyone. That's important to see, however, also see … 'cause as we get a little further along He keeps saying things like: 'I'm going to appoint a place where these things should happen, and when I've established that don't do it anywhere else. Don't do it anywhere else.' And He's kind of saying that right here. Did you get that? Yes. (Question from a member of the congregation-I got a quick question. When it talks of … I've seen before where it talks about 'they will be cut off' … if you're cut off could you go back in?) I'm gonna assume based upon what's happened here that if you did what was necessary to be atoned for you could reenter, yes. That's the way the Lord deals with us. We blunder all the time. Well, hopefully not all the time (laughter). "The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them into the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest." You know, every time I go through one of these torah portions, as often as we've done this and gone through this, I find something else. " ... and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall … now, notice that was not a sin offering. He's not talking about your everyday meal with a sin offering, but this is the everyday meal. This is slaughtering something and not bringing it before the tent of meeting as a peace offering: as recognizing that the Lord made provision. "And the priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord, and the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord." He likes the smell. Verse seven: "And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons." I really like that because there's very few places in the scripture where it really calls the pagan gods demons, and He nailed it there. It's kind of a subtle statement but it's right there … bold … "with which they had played the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations." He reiterates that: verse eleven, "for the life …" let's hit ten, "And any man from the house of Israel or from the aliens who sojourn among them who eats any blood I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement."

The life is in the blood. The life is in the blood. Science has tried to tell us that your soul must be in your brain. The life is in your blood. Thank you, (I'm) making you think. I love that. (Question from congregant about blood transfusions) I don't think that the Lord has a problem with that, honestly, because He loves life and He loves for us to give the gift of life and that's not eating blood. (Comment from a congregant) Right. No. Again … I think, you know, so many people get caught up again in the structure of the law and looking to put barriers around the law. The Lord is the giver and the sustainer of life, and He wants us to do likewise with one another. So if we have an opportunity to help another person remain in life by a blood transfusion, that's doing what He does. That's being His vessel through which He continues to sustain life. I don't see anything wrong with that at all. Scott-(another comment from a congregant) Only you , Scott … very good … very good.

"Therefore I said to the sons of Israel 'no person among you may eat blood nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood. So when any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens who sojourn among them in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with 'dirt,' with earth. For, as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life.' Therefore I said to the sons of Israel 'You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood.'" He keeps saying this. "'Whoever eats it shall be cut off.'" And notice He keeps saying it again. He talks about an animal found who's been torn up by another beast or something and again its: 'Don't eat it with the blood in it.' And again what the Lord considers to be important He says over and over again 'cause we're just not too swift and He knows He has to do that. So maybe we got the point by the end of the chapter. Don't eat the blood. O.K. Let's move on.

This is an important perspective for us and I'm risking sounding like Mr. Klein right now but we're gonna turn to Genesis chapter three, not one. You know, we keep going back here and you can't get away from it because our problem is identified in Genesis chapter three, and what God does to fix the problem is identified in the rest of the scripture, and what God does to complete the clean up is identified in the book of Revelation, right there. So, stay with the whole thing and we'll get the whole picture eventually. In Genesis chapter three … and we're gonna go through the first part of this thing. John often says to me that he's concerned that because he teaches this thing year after year after year, that you're going through the first five books over and over and over again and he's constantly looking for something new to bring out, and although that's very valid there often are some folks here that haven't been here as long as John has, or I have, and others, and so sometimes we need to dig up some of those things and restate them again. And that's not a bad thing because for all of us we can step a little too far away from this sometimes.

"Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made, and he said to the woman 'indeed, has God said: 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?''" Boy was that a leading comment. You can just see him in some night club sucking on whiskey and smoking and turning to some girl next to him and saying 'Did God really say that to you? And you really believed Him?' "And the woman said to the serpent: 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat, but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said 'you shall not eat from it or touch it …''" He didn't say that, that's what she said. He didn't say 'you can't touch it.' 'You can climb it, you can swing on it, you can live in it, but don't eat from it' "'lest you die.' And the serpent said to the woman, 'You surely shall not die, for God knows that in that day …'" (paraphrase) 'see, He's keeping something from you. There's something really important here that you missing out on. He doesn't want you to have it.' See, lest you think that not in … that's in every single one of us. You know, my kids, their greatest fear in their early teens was that Jesus would come and they would not drive. That was the first one. Alright; isn't that true? They would miss out on driving a car, 'cause to a young teenager that like "omh," can't wait, yeah, and all the stuff that goes with it. The whole picture of being an adult because we're behind the wheel, you know? Then once they got past that obstacle, the next one was that they will not live long enough to marry and have children and have all of the things that we consider precious. And you know, that's not a … that's a valid concern, and it's very hard for us to say to them 'Yes, but what Jesus has for you is so much better than all of these things.' And we know that it is, we know that it is, but in your soul at some point something stirs and says 'Oop, He's hiding something from you. You're missing out on something that you could … and we all kind of …(wonder). I have kids at school, they blame Adam and Eve. That's what the … that's what was meant by the statement 'we were in the loins of Adam and Eve when they committed sin.' It's in us too. We respond in exactly the same way. In fact, if the choice was before us right now, we'd of made it faster than they did. Here it is. "For God know that in the day that you eat from it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Now we're gonna make a bold statement here. It's not just knowing good and evil because they understood good and evil, they understood good and evil and they measured it all according to God's perspective. God said this is good (and they said) 'yes Lord, it's good.' 'This is evil, stay away from it.' 'O.K., O.K.' You may want to click "Pause" on your media player. To go on to page 3 click HERE.