The Mystery of Spiritual Babylon Revealed - SFC2223

SPEAKER A Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. SPEAKER B Would you like to better understand the Bible? How can you grow as a Christian and find personal peace? What happens at the second coming of Jesus? What is the relevance of Bible prophecy today? How do you identify a cult? What happens when you die? Here is your opportunity to find answers to these and many other questions by exploring 30 not only relevant, but life changing topics that await your discovery. Welcome to search for certainty. SPEAKER C I'm glad you could join us. I'm your host, Gayl Fong, and with me in the studio today is Hana Nakagawa. Welcome Hana. SPEAKER D Thank you, Gayl. SPEAKER C Our topic today, Hana, is the mystery of Spiritual Babylon revealed. God's call for today's people. Well, the book of Revelation portrays a great conflict between truth and error. It graphically describes two systems of worship in collision truth opposed by error, triumphs in revelations prophecies. A pure chaste woman represents the true church. And we will be reading that in Revelation twelve, verses one and two. And a harlot woman represents the fallen church, the bride of Christ. The true church radiates the glory of God, revealing his truth to the world. The Apostate Church, pictured as a harlot, offers her wine of false doctrines, confusing the mind and leading multitudes to destruction. In this lesson, we will especially notice the characteristics of this false system of worship so that we can keep from being deceived. We will also discover the characteristics of true worship so that we can embrace it. Well. Before we begin, Hana, would you invite the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us in prayer? SPEAKER D Sure, Heavenly Father, thank you so much Lord, that we can come to yes, open the scripture and learn from you. Father. We need your Holy Spirit to guide us, lead us and teach us, and I pray Lord, that you will give us understanding. We pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen. SPEAKER C Amen. Hana, to begin our study, spiritual Babylon Revealed. How does God describe the trig church? Revelation, chapter twelve, and verse one says. SPEAKER D Now a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with a sun, with a moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. SPEAKER C So God's church is here described as a woman, she's clothed in light by the sounds, with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head that garland of twelve stars. Beautiful. In each of the following texts, God describes his people as his bride. So we've got a few to look up here to confirm that the woman clothed with the sun truly represents the bride of Christ, of his church. So if we go to Isaiah, Hana, chapter 54, verses five and six to begin. SPEAKER D Yes, it says, for your Maker is your husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name, and your redeemer is the Holy One of israel. He is called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit like a youthful wife when you are refuted, says the God, says your God. SPEAKER C So there is portraying God's people like a woman. Okay. What about Hosea, chapter two and verse 19? Hosea is in the Old Testament. Hosea, chapter two and verse 19. SPEAKER D Chapter two, verse 19 it says I will betroth you to me forever. Yes. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and justice, in loving kindness and mercy. SPEAKER C Amen. So there again that being betrothed to you forever. To me forever. That relationship between his likening the relationship between a young woman and a young man. To how God is with his church. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C His bride. Two Corinthians, chapter eleven and verse two. Second Corinthians, chapter eleven and verse two. SPEAKER D The Bible says for I am jealous for you with Godly jealousy for I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a Chester version to Christ. SPEAKER C So he's jealous for us or he loves us. SPEAKER D That's right. SPEAKER C And he's betrothed us, but he's betrothed us with the Gospel so that when Christ comes, he can take his bride home. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C What about Ephesians, chapter five, verse 22 to 26? SPEAKER D It says, Wives, submit to your own husband as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Verse 25. Husband, love your wives. Just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word. SPEAKER C Beautiful. Would you also read verse 27, Hana? SPEAKER D Yes. That he might present her to himself a glorious church, nor having spot or winkle or any such things, but that she should be holy and without blemish. SPEAKER C Beautiful. So Christ is everything to the church in addition to being her bridegroom, he is the bride. Price paid for her when he gave himself for her? Yes. He's the one that administered that on her behalf. And his promise is his coming back for his people, for his bride. The woman clothed with the sun, representing the bride of Christ, his church. What does the Lord call his church? In one? Timothy three and verse 15, it says. SPEAKER D But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. SPEAKER C So here it's the church of the living God. SPEAKER D Living God. SPEAKER C That's his bride. How's the false church pictured in Revelation 17, verses one through to five. SPEAKER D It says Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bows came and talked with me, saying to me, come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication. And the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, verse five. And on her forehead a name was written, mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abomination of the earth. SPEAKER C Wow. So the true church, Hana, is pictured as the bride of Christ. The false church is pictured as a harlot or as a prostitute. Wine affects the forebrain where conscience, reason and judgment are located. It signifies the confusion of false doctrine. Now, if we go to Psalm 116 and verse 13, this will help us in this understanding. SPEAKER D It says, I will take up the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord. SPEAKER C So, Hana, here God's word speaks of the cup of salvation, but Babylon's wine cup is full of life may be called the cup of death. Revelations babylon represents a false religious system which brings the principles of Old Testament Babylon into religious worship in the Christian era. An understanding of Old Testament Babylon. Lets us positively identify New Testament Babylon and flee its errors. Well, Hana, let's go to the Gospel of John John chapter eight and verse 44. Who is the author of all false doctrine. SPEAKER D Yes, it says you are Jesus talking here you are of your father the devil, and the desire of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. So the devil, devil is the liar and all the confusion that he's making amen, Hana. SPEAKER C Satan, the father of lies, counterfeits truth. He attempts to deceive us through religious deceit. He desires to capture the minds of thousands. Spiritual. Babylon passes her wine cup of false doctrines to deceive those who are blinded to God's truth. Well, we're going to look at some of the characteristics and characteristic number one of Babylon is rebellion. So let's go to Genesis, the book of beginnings. Genesis, chapter eleven, verses five through to nine. What is the origin of old testament babylon? SPEAKER D It says, but the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, indeed, the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do now, nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let us go down and dare confuse their languages that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they cease building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. SPEAKER C So the Tower of Babel was built by men in honor of man, was built shortly after God destroyed the Earth with a flood filled with rebellion. Proud people determined to build a monument to their own egos. God demonstrated their folly by confusing the languages of the workers. The Tower of Babel was a monument to their confusion. It reveals the folly of substituting human ideas for divine truth. Old Testament Babylon was built on the site of the Tower of Babel. It represents confusion or humanity's way, in opposition to God's way. Was Old Testament Babylon centered in God's way or humanity's way? We go to the book of Daniel. Daniel in the Old Testament, chapter four and verse 30. SPEAKER D Yes. It says, the king spoke, saying, it's not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty. Wow. SPEAKER C He's sounding like it's all about him. SPEAKER D Yes. Very proud. SPEAKER C Very proud. Hana, old Testament Babylon was established in direct opposition to the plain commands of God. It was a system of religion based on the traditions and authority of human beings rather than God. It was human centered rather than God centered. Any system of worship that places the word of human leaders above God's word is part of the Babylonian system. Any system that substitutes religious leaders for Christ is a false system according to the Bible, who is our only savior? Acts, chapter four and verse twelve says. SPEAKER D Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among them by which we must be saved. I love this verse. SPEAKER C There's none other, only Jesus. SPEAKER D Only Jesus. SPEAKER C What counsel does the prophet Isaiah give us? In the Old Testament? Isaiah, chapter 45 and verse 22, it. SPEAKER D Says, look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. SPEAKER C Very powerful. SPEAKER D Yes. Look to God. SPEAKER C Whether we're reading the Old Testament or the New Testament, the Bible is consistent. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C Salvation is not in the rites and ceremonies of the church. It comes from looking to Jesus. Salvation is a gift received by faith. It is based on Jesus'death, on the cross, not our good works. The false Babylonian system is based on human teachings, human works and human accomplishments. Characteristic number two is idolatry. How was Babylon's rebellion against the true God revealed? We go to the ancient book of Jeremiah written by Jeremiah, chapter 50 and verse 38. SPEAKER D It says, a drought is against our waters and they will be dried up, for it is the land of carved image, and they are insane with their idols. SPEAKER C There were so many idols. SPEAKER A Heather. SPEAKER C Modern Babylon is a system of religion that uses idols in its worship. Its statues, images and religious icons revive the idolatry of ancient Babylon. Any system that incorporates images into its worship service is part of spiritual Babylon. According to the Scriptures, what clear command had God given his people? If you would read for us, Hana, exodus, chapter 20, verses four and five. SPEAKER D Yes. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousand to those who love me and keep my commandments. SPEAKER C So God commanded his people to worship him directly? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C To worship God through idols or images is to give those images the holiness that belongs to God alone. Anything that we put in place of God can become an idol to us. SPEAKER D That's right. In modern society, we may not worship the image or carved things, but we may worship people. We may worship know. We can have a lot of idols in our life as well, that we need to be careful. SPEAKER C That's so true, Hana. Characteristic number three, immortality or ancestor worship. What was the ancient Babylonian concept of death in Ezekiel 814? For whom were the Jewish women weeping? So, Hana, if you'd read for us ezekiel, chapter eight, verse 14. SPEAKER D Yes. It says, So he brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house, and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping, for these. SPEAKER C Are this is God's people. The women are weeping for Tamus. And Tammuz was the god of vegetation, was one of the many deities of Babylon. The Babylonians believed that in the winter, Tammuz died. In the season of abundant crops, they believed he lived again. This worship of the dead was common in Babylon. The concept of the immortal soul was at the heart of Babylonian worship. The thought that the soul leaves the body at death comes directly from paganism. What does the Bible teach regarding death? We're just going to summarize it in the following texts. So, Hana, if you would read for us. Ecclesiastes, chapter nine and verse five. SPEAKER D Sure. Chapter nine, verse five. It says, for the living know that they will die, but that they know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. SPEAKER C So there. How much did the dead know? SPEAKER D Nothing. SPEAKER C Absolutely nothing. Well, what about Hana. Psalm 115 and verse 17. What does David write here in the book of Psalm? SPEAKER D Yes. It says, the dead do not praise the Lord, nor any foo go down into silence. SPEAKER C That's just the same as ecclesiastes. Dead know nothing. And here the dead do not praise the Lord. They cannot praise, they're not conscious. What about Psalm six, verse five? SPEAKER D Yes, six, verse five. It says, for in death there is no remembrance of you in the grave. Fool will give you thanks. SPEAKER C The dead there's no memory of God. Of God. The mind is at rest, the whole person has died. SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C Any system of religion that teaches the doctrine of the immortal soul is part of Revelations, Babylon, of confused religious doctrine. Well, we've looked at characteristic number one, which was rebellion. Characteristic number two, which was idolatry. Characteristic number three, immortality or ancestor worship. And characteristic number four, pagan son worship. Let's have a look at this. What Babylonian worship practice mingled with the worship of Israel for a time? We're going to the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel, chapter eight, verses 15 and 16. SPEAKER D It says, then he said to me, have you seen this, o Son of man? Turn again you will see greater abomination than these. So he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and there at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about 25 men with their bucks towards the temple of the Lord and their face toward the east, and they were worshipping the sun. SPEAKER C Towards the east, they were worshipping the sun. Instead of worshipping God. Sun worship was a part of pagan worship for centuries. The Edomites, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, the Persians and the Romans all revered or worshipped the sun. Well, what sign had God given his people? Ezekiel, chapter 20, verses twelve and 20. SPEAKER D It says, moreover, I also gave them my Sabbath to be a sign between them and me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Verse 20 hallowed my Sabbath, and they would be a sign between me and you that you may know that I am the Lord your God. SPEAKER C So he gave the Sabbath as a sign? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C The following historical quotations enable us to discover how the pagan day of worship gradually slipped into the Christian church. In lectures on the history of the Eastern Church, arthur B. Stanley says, constantine's coins bore on the one side the letters of the name of Christ, on the other, the figure of the sun God, as if he could not bear to relinquish the patronage of the bright Luminary. And that's on page 184. Absolutely amazing. On Constantine's coins were Christ on one side and the sun God on the other side. A wedding took place, a wedding between Christianity and paganism. A wedding between the church of Rome and the pagan emperors of Rome. Stanley also says the retention of the old pagan name of dear Solas, or Sunday for the weekly is in great measure owing to the union of pagan and Christian sentiment, with which the first day of the week was recommended by Constantine to his subjects, pagan and Christian alike, as the venerable day of the sun. Well, how did many religious leaders relate to this union of true and false religion in Bible times? Hana, if you would read for us Ezekiel, chapter 22 and verse 26. SPEAKER D Yes. It says, her priests have violated my law and profane my holy things. They have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean. And they have hidden their eyes from my service, so that I am profane among them. SPEAKER C My holy things have been profaned by her priests? SPEAKER D Yes. SPEAKER C They've also violated my law. Wow. And they have hidden their eyes from my servant. This is God talking about his people in olden times. Yes, in these ancient times. And this characteristic number four of pagan sun worship is another characteristic of identifying Babylon. Well, characteristic number five, self indulgence. Does the false religion of Babylon sense the significance that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Hana, if you would read for us from the book of Daniel. Daniel, chapter one and verse eight. SPEAKER D Sure. It says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with a portion of the king's delicacies, nor with the wine which he drunk. Therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuch that he might not defile himself. SPEAKER C So Daniel purposed in his heart made that decision, that he would not defile himself. So what comes into the body is important to God, because our body is a temple. Temple. What about in Daniel, chapter five and verse four? SPEAKER D Yes. Says, they drunk wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. This is the Belshazzar's feast. The people were just drinking and doing this party, but they were praising the gods. That is not the true God. SPEAKER C That's so true, Hana. Their minds were befuddled. This drunken feast is a typical example of Babylon's desire to gratify the physical senses. And if our mind is not clear, we cannot hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speak to the soul. What earnest appeal does the apostle Paul give? In Romans, chapter twelve and verse one. SPEAKER D It says, I beseert you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. SPEAKER C So God wants us to be a living sacrifice? Yes, he desires us to be fully committed to him spiritual. Babylon's principles run through many religious organizations today, and they include looking to a visible earthly head rather than Christ. And if you'd read the next point sure. SPEAKER D Any form of idol image worship, a. SPEAKER C Misunderstanding of what happens to people when they die. Prayers to saints, veneration of dead loved ones, etc. SPEAKER D Worship on Sunday. SPEAKER C A misunderstanding of the body is God's temple. The use of alcohol, tobacco and unclean foods. Well, Hana, what appeal does God give to those still in Babylon? Revelation, chapter 18 and verse four. SPEAKER D And I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people. Least you share in her sins, and least you receive of heart plagues. SPEAKER C God's call is not to stay in Babylon and reform it, but to come out of Babylon. And as we've looked through this study together today, we discovered that the inhabitants of Babylon, ancient times, they were idolaters, they had spiritualism, they were disobedient, they were rebellious, and they were also arrogant and revelations. Babylon, we've discovered, is a religious system disobedient to God's word worshipping idols, breaking his law, specifically His Sabbath and disregarding his commands. But God's call is not to stay in Babylon. Soon the plagues will fall on all inhabitants of Babylon in love. God has sent you a message to come completely out. Will you respond? And I pray that this may be your decision, something to think about here. And I love Jesus and desire to follow his truth completely. Today I choose to follow Jesus and turn aside from all teachings not in harmony with the Bible. Well, this is my choice, and I pray this would be your choice as well. Let us close in prayer our loving Heavenly Father, as you have revealed to us in Your word Babylon and what it means and what it means to us today, that we would choose Jesus, that we would choose to follow you in all your ways. We pray that as we have been made aware today through Your Word of the characteristics of Babylon, that we would listen to Your Holy Spirit guide us into all truth. Thank you for teaching us through Your Word. Thank you, Lord, that wherever you find us, Lord, if we are in Babylon, if we are in spiritual confusion, that we are your children, hearing Your voice today, we thank you that you love us and you're drawing us into all truth. Guide us and teach us always. Bless our listeners, Heavenly Father, may you grant them a special blessing that they may know you and love you and trust you in all your ways. We thank you for hearing our prayer in Jesus name. Amen. SPEAKER D Amen. SPEAKER C It's been lovely to have you on board today, Hana. Thank you, Gayl, and enjoyed studying this very big topic together and been great to have our listeners joining in as well. We pray that God bless you and go in peace. SPEAKER A Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. You're the light unto my path. SPEAKER E If you have questions or comments about any of the programs you've heard, you can call three 3ABN Australia Radio within Australia on 024-97-3456, or from outside of Australia on Country Code 612-497-3456. Our email address is [email protected] that is radio at the number 3abnaustralia.org.au Our postal address is 3ABN, Australia, Inc. PO. Box seven five two. Morisset, New South Wales 2264, Australia thank you for your prayers and financial support. SPEAKER A Standing by a purpose true. Heeding God's command. Honor them, the faithful few I'll hail to Daniel's Band. Dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm. Dare to make it known. Many mighty men are lost daring not to stand who forgot had been a host by joining Daniel's band dare to be a Daniel dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm dare to make it known many giants great and tall stalking through the land headlong to the earth would fall if met by Daniel's Band dare to be a Daniel dare to stand alone dare to have a purpose firm dare to make it known hold a gospel banner high onto victory grand Satan and his host defiant shout for Daniel's Band dare to be a Daniel. Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm. Dare to make it known. SPEAKER F New hearts for Christ sang dare. To be a Daniel. Coming up next, Marleta Fong will sing as we sail. SPEAKER A May rise on seas unknown while we draw it towards our home surely we'll learn what grace is for as we say to heaven send us drink o. Pilgrim guide sin would drown out in its time. Be close at hand and go before as we say to heaven show. Holy Spirit, lead us on give us courage. Bring the song lord, we trust your father's care will convey us safely there open or see off every door as we say to heaven show with every breath let heaven breath and breath of the mo as we say to heaven close, sanest friend from dawn's light to evening's end each passing day. We love you. As we say to him as we say to heaven show you Sam. SPEAKER F The Nebblett family will now sing. The pen is yours. SPEAKER A The sun is rising. The day is new. A child is stirring in heaven's view. This day is different. The world is new. Your father watches. What will you do? The page is turning the chapter start. It has no title, no written mark. The road behind you is just a start. And God, your father says from his heart close. I promise every need. Tomorrow I provide it for today. The way you choose to walk with me will do more than I can say to bring you in possession of the gifts I want to lay. The page is open. The pen is your recall. I've spoken. I've opened doors. I've opened doors. Sometimes it's easy to see his hand, to sense his pleasure, do his command. Sometimes the darkness makes things unclear. Yet heaven listen. The father hear. The road holds promise, the future's bright go from your knees to walk in the light. There is no limit, there is no end, there are no barriers. For God has said I promise every need tomorrow I provided for today the way you choose to walk with me will do more than I can say to bring you in profession of the gifts. I want to lay the pages open. The pen is your recall. I spoke, I've opened doors. I've opened doors. The sun is rising. The day is new. A child is turning in heaven's view. This day is different. The world is new. Your father watches. What will you do? SPEAKER G We hope you enjoy the short presentation of how God led his people after the Reformation from lineagejourney.com. SPEAKER H There were many new discoveries in the word of God at this time as God was forming his church. And whenever a truth is discovered, a counterfeit is not far behind. Another phenomenon that was sweeping the northeastern part of the United States at this time started with the Fox sisters. In the late 1840s, the Fox family of John and Margaret and their two daughters, Margaret and Katie, moved into the little town of Hydesville, New York. And although the original home is no longer standing, it would have stood just behind me. The Fox sisters are known as the founders of modern spiritualism. In 1848, Margaret and Katie were 15 and twelve years old and lived in a house that had a reputation as being haunted, making rapping or knocking sounds with their knuckles, mimicking sounds they had heard in the house to give the impression that it was haunted for the purpose of scaring their mother. Questions were asked, and soon she would ask questions and the answers would come back in the number of raps or knocks that they heard. She was convinced the neighbors were called, and it wasn't long before the girls were acting as mediums, communicating with the spirits and taking questions. Some said that it was a hoax, while others claimed that it was real and that there really were mediums communicating directly with the spirits. Whichever way you look at it, few can ignore the phenomenon known as spiritualism, the belief that the spirits communicate with the living. This would grow over time and become an established part of society. It's fascinating that Hydesville, New York, is only about 15 minutes away from Hiron Edson's Farm, the theological birthplace of the 7th day Adventist Church. It's only about 20 minutes as well from Camura Hill, where Joseph Smith claimed the angel of Moroni descended and gave him the golden plates, which were translated as the Book of Mormon. Thus, three significant movements all came from the same area. A key figure to bring the biblical view of the state of man in death would be George Stores, born in Lebanon, New Hampshire in 1796. As the youngest of eight children. As a child he felt afraid of God and alienated from Christianity due to the sermons he would hear preach on the wicked tormenting in hellfire. At the age of 17, he made a decision to study out the goodness of God and under this influence and the prayers of his mother, he gave his life to Jesus at the age of 19 under conviction. He felt a call to preach and started doing this in 1825 and would often preach against slavery, even ending up in prison once for mentioning this in his prayers. One day, whilst travelling by train, he read a track by Deacon Henry GRU from Philadelphia on the subject of the state of the dead. This led him to study his Bible and after several years of study, correspondence and conversation, he came to the settled conclusion that man does not possess inherent immortality, that it is a gift from God, and that the wicked are exterminated by fire at the second death. Due to the significant difference from the common view that the dead go straight to heaven, he experienced a lot of persecution and isolation from the various churches. However, this could not stop the printed press. In 1843, Stores six sermons were published and 10,000 copies were distributed with a further 200,000 over time. This would have a significant impact on the Millerite movement, and although William Miller himself did not accept this teaching, many others would. And it would go on to be a mainstay of the Sabbath, keeping Adventists as they sought to be true to the Bible as they developed their doctrinal beliefs. Although George Storz did not accept the Sabbath or the sanctuary, he nonetheless made a significant contribution to a key doctrinal belief. Storz considered the idea of an eternally burning hell to be a blot on the character of God. And contrary to the reality that God is love, the love of God needs to be at the centre of every doctrine that we hold and teach from. The Bible. And Stores restored the love of God back to this teaching and showed his character in its true light. May we seek to do the same anytime we share God's word with others. SPEAKER G To view more episodes in this series, visit Lineagejourney.com Raph, a collection of 39 short stories rounding out the lives of mainly lesser known Bible characters, with many of the stories ending with a short quiz. Listen now to the author of God's favored shepherds, Bill Ackland. SPEAKER F Today's story is about Enoch, the man who could not be found, and the scripture references are from Genesis five and 22, hebrews, chapter one, and Jude, verse 14. My name is Enoch and as I tell my story, I am still in a state of wonder. It must be thousands of earth years since God took me to heaven. I now live in eternity. There is no such thing as time here as on earth. I did not stay in heaven where God dwells but have been living on another world far out in space. I could see its sun when I was on Earth, just a faint, shimmering star. But of course, this world was invisible from Earth. I cannot explain how I traveled here. When I arrived in heaven, God commissioned an angel to explain so many things to me that are not known far away on Earth where I was born. God also gave me the power to travel through the universe. How it happens I do not know. It is just God's power that takes me wherever I decided to go. I sense the indescribable speed only by watching the suns and the worlds flash by. I often think of my life on Earth when that world was still so very beautiful, even though sin had entered and set it on its downward course. Today I am inspecting my flock of sheep. The pasture is luxuriant in this area as it is everywhere. Even though there are marked signs that sin has affected God's wonderful world of nature, it has also affected humanity for the worse and made many people very evil. My father's name is Jared. I was born only 622 years after Earth was created. So I was able to speak with Adam for over 300 years before he died. My father lived even longer than Adam 962 years. It was from him and other God fearing people that I learned about the Creator. I spent a lot of time with Adam, the father of the human race and with great great great grandmother Eve. Though she was 622 years old when I was born, she was still very beautiful. Her hair had some gray strands and there were hints of lines on her lovely face. I remember thinking when I was a boy growing up that if I had a daughter, I would want her to be as lovely as Eve. The more I learned about Adam of the perfect world as it was before sin entered and caused such devastation to the human race, the more I wanted to have been a part of that amazing time before sin. I realized that was impossible in one way, but possible in another. I determined to resist the evil one when he tried to entice me to go against God's will. I lifted up my voice in prayer and praised to God as I looked toward heaven. Then I knew that God would keep me close to Him. Early in my life, I made a covenant with God that I would always be his child and I knew that I would need Him to keep me in his way. I kept in my mind all that Adam told me of what God had explained to him in Eden. He told how things were in heaven and the reason why he had made this world and especially our first parents, Adam and Eve. Adam explained how God came down to visit them in Eden at the end of each day to tell them more of his ways and his will for them. Adam was also able to tell God of his progress in naming all the animals, birds, trees and plants and the flowers of every kind that decorated the earth. He also told me of that fateful day when he and Eve disobeyed God bringing sin into this world. This beautiful world could now only be saved by the death of the member of the Godhead who became known as Jesus Christ. When I was 65 years of age, two wonderful things happened. First, a son was born to us whom we named Methuselah. From that age, my walk with God deepened. I had his presence continually with me for 300 years, during which time my wife and I were blessed with many sons and daughters. It was during this time, too that I preached God's message of warning and love to all who would listen. I told them of a flood that would cover the world and only those would survive who took advantage of God's way to escape. In his mercy, God sent his angels to reveal many things to me and to explain what I could not understand. Then, on a day that I shall never forget, the angel who was with me at the time took my hand and told me that God had told the angel that he was to bring me with Him when he returned to Heaven. A thousand thoughts flatter in my mind. I knew that God would care for my wife and children. And who was I to thwart God's plan for me? In a moment we had left Earth and after a miraculous journey that took in so much but passed so quickly, we were at Heaven's gate, where the gatekeeper angel beckoned with a smile for us to enter. This told me that word of God's plan for me was known to everyone here, as I am now living in eternity in the place where God dwells. I have learnt and experienced so much. My special angel instructor tells me that there is so much more for me to know that even eternity will not be long enough to know it all. So I wait. Perfectly content. I wait for the time when Earth's history will be wound up, the reign of sin will be ended and I will see my family again. Since God took me to his heavenly world, I have realized more fully that my decision to walk closely with Him was the best decision I ever made. It meant that God could trust me in his great eternity and I would never be far from Him at any time. A walk with God I did not realize how far that would take me. I now have a quiz for you. How old was Enoch when he died? Did Enoch live during Adam's lifetime? What happened to Enoch when he was 65 years of age? What age was Enoch when God took him to heaven, did Enoch worry about a family he had left behind? SPEAKER G You've been listening to God's Favored Shepherds, a book with 39 short stories rounding out the lives of mainly lesser known Bible characters. If you have any comments or questions or to obtain a copy of this book, give us a call within Australia on send an email to Radio at threeABN, australia.org au. We'd love to hear from you. SPEAKER C You have been listening to a production of Three ABN, Australia radio.