2009 North American Bible Conference     December 27, 2009        To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;  Ephesians 3:8-9   The direction and angle of the sun’s rays upon the earth is different in the morning and afternoon. So there is a difference, even if only a slight one, in the distance between my eyes and the sun in the morning and in the afternoon. Also, as time passes and the sun that was high in the sky begins to set, even though it is the same sunlight, the colors are different. As dusk draws in, everything takes on more delicate hues. In the same way, when the morning sun shines, the same objects look different. Everything looks different, depending on the light.One evening when the sun began to set, one or two of the birds that were around in the morning turned up again. They had been busy flying here and there and they were bobbing their heads up and down as if they were eagerly searching for something. Then a little later, the others all suddenly turned up as well. It looked as though the first bird was calling to the others saying, “Everyone come now, the time is right to see our food.” Interestingly, the birds were able to see a veritable feast in that wilderness that to our eyes may appear to be overgrown with nothing but weeds. The crows were feeding on something and the smaller birds were hiding in a newly-growing grassy area from which they flew in and out. There was one bird, however, that was watching all of this. It was a hawk. I watched, wondering at how long the hawk was able to remain suspended in midair. The strong birds watch the weak ones, and the weak ones run away quickly when the strong ones appear. The smaller birds changed direction depending on where the hawk was hovering. As I observed all this, a verse from the Bible came to my mind: “From where then does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding? It is hidden from the eyes of all living, and concealed from the birds of the air” (Job 28:20-21). It occurred to me how remarkable, perfect, and amazing it is that all things created in this world continue in accordance with the laws that God has established. There are many coyotes, bears, and wildcats in this area. I thought it would have been nice to see a bear, but there were none to be seen during the day. As you walk through the vegetation, however, you come across holes here and there, about the size of a human head. These were definitely signs of animals coming and going. If you listen quietly at night, you can hear in the distance what sounds like a group of dogs fighting. This is the sound of coyotes. It seems that the coyotes gather and fight over their food in the middle of the night. During the day, however, none of these wild animals are to be seen. In the Bible, there is a verse that says, “You make darkness, and it is night, in which all the beasts of the forest creep about” (Psalm 104:20). Even in what appears to us to be an empty wilderness, there is the tremendous law of life which remains unchanging and undisturbed. The birds that flock in at daybreak are nowhere to be seen when the sun reaches its peak, but as the sun slowly sets they return to eat before disappearing once more. Then when it is dark and you cannot see anything at all, the animals come out of their holes in the ground or from the forest and they scramble for food. The power of life in everything in the heavens and on the earth is truly amazing. As I spent many hours surrounded by nature in this way, I felt that I was coming to understand a little more deeply the Bible that I have been reading for such a long time. I think this is why there is a verse in the Bible that says, “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20). I also thought that if a person spends time surrounded by nature, he will certainly end up thinking about God, and even a person who already knows the Bible will find himself taking a step forward in his knowledge of God’s word.   The Nation of Israel Distinguished by the BloodThe nation of Israel began with Abraham, who was called by God in a very arid region where there was little water and where there was a significant difference between day and nighttime temperatures, it being extremely hot during the day. Genesis chapters 9 to 11 contain a record of Noah’s descendants after the flood until the time of Abraham. Then from the time of Abraham the history of the Israelites began to unfold. The Israelites had something that the rest of the people of the world did not have. They had the special privilege of being entrusted with God’s word, and, through His word, God told them everything they needed in order to live in that arid land where the daily temperature range was so great. We call this the law, and, of course, this was not the only content of the law. When it comes to the laws, we usually think of the Ten Commandments, which include such laws as honor your father and your mother, you shall not steal, you shall not commit adultery and you shall not murder. Yet, amongst the laws that God gave to the Israelites, there are many requirements necessary for them to be able to survive in that land. The law became their life.There are many religious people in this world who mistakenly think that if they observe these laws, they will receive a great reward as righteous people before God, but the Bible clearly says, “For by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:2). The law mentions which type of animals are not to be eaten and it also raises sanitary issues to ensure the continuation of the tribe, such as the need for baby boys to be circumcised a certain number of days after their birth. From this perspective, those who claim that the law must be observed are already branded as sinners before God in regard to food and sanitary matters. The law also deals with issues regarding disease. It says what is to be done in the case of leprosy and discharges from the body. If such diseases affect those who try to observe the law and they do not observe the law in their treatment of such matters, they are going against God’s word and this is a sin. When Noah came out of the ark after the great flood, mankind multiplied on the earth through Noah’s three sons and their wives. As the waters above the firmament poured down during the flood, the layer of water that had blocked the harmful rays of the sun was removed and the sun’s rays that reached the earth’s surface changed as did the food that man ate. At the same time, the lifespan of man gradually decreased. Today, a person only lives for a hundred years at the longest, as the Bible says, “The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years” (Psalm 90:10), but before the great flood, people lived for more than 900 years. As the environment was changing in this way, the nation of Israel was formed out of one family. This nation had a particular physical characteristic, and in the law God included the conditions necessary for them to live in that region. The law definitely does not deal only with religious and moral matters, as is supposed by the people in this world. The Israelites were given the Ten Commandments and the laws that they needed in order to survive, but there was a very unique characteristic to the law and this was that it dealt with the matter of blood. This is greatly different from the thoughts of many people in the world. Those who accept the theory of evolution as truth reject any laws regarding blood and genetics, arguing that these things change. Worldly fields of academic study teach people in such a way as to turn their hearts away from God, drawing them every further away from Him. This is the reality in which we live. Yet, the nation of Israel has dealt with the matter of blood ever since its genesis. This is truly extraordinary. Genesis tells how Abraham, Isaac and Jacob all offered sacrifices at various times. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt into the wilderness and when they came to Mount Sinai, they received the law, but before Moses related the words of the law to the Israelites and they were written down, the Israelites had been through the incident called the Passover. The Israelites had been living as slaves in Egypt, and then God had told Moses to take His people out of Egypt and into the wilderness. Having received this command, Moses went immediately before the pharaoh and told him what God had said, but the pharaoh did not listen to Moses request. So God sent various plagues upon the land of Egypt. The water turned into blood, there were swarms of frogs, lice covered the land, flies came swarming in, a severe pestilence broke out, the people broke out in boils, and darkness covered the land, but still pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. Then God told Moses that He would bring one last plague upon Egypt and only then would the pharaoh let them go. (See Exodus 11:1) Let’s turn now to Exodus chapter 11 and read from verse 4.   Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt; and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals. Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as was not like it before, nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue, against man or beast, that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.’”  Exodus 11:4-7Now let’s turn to chapter 12 and read from verse 1.   Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, “This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying: ‘On the tenth day of this month every man shall take for himself a lamb, according to the house of his father, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the persons; according to each man’s need you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats. Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted in fire ? its head with its legs and its entrails. You shall let none of it remain until morning, and what remains of it until morning you shall burn with fire. And thus you shall eat it: with a belt on your waist, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. So you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.’”  Exodus 12:1-14   When we think of the law, we tend to think that the Ten Commandments were given first and, of course, when God spoke to Moses in the wilderness, He did first give him the Ten Commandments and the stone tablets. Yet, the Israelites as a nation were under God’s protection and they were distinguished from the rest of the world, not as a tribe but as a nation. God told them that the day that marked the beginning of this distinction was to be observed as an eternal statue. This was the day on which the blood of an animal was put on the doorposts and lintels of the houses of the Israelites. In Exodus chapter 11 verse 7, it says, “That you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.”The events that these Israelites went through were particularly unique; they related to blood and the Israelites lived their lives separate from the rest of the people in the world, not mingling with them. What happened on the first day of the creation? God divided the light from the darkness. On the second day, the waters were divided from the waters, and on the third day, the waters were divided from the dry land. As God was creating an environment suitable for man to live in, He first made divisions when everything was without form and void, and when God first established Israel as nation, He divided them from the rest of the world. He made a complete separation between them and the world. The first event that occurred in this process involved blood. Also, from the broader perspective, the fact that they had the law which was God’s word, and the fact that it was their responsibility to observe the law, made them different from the rest of the world.What does it mean to us to “see”? When we see birds flying in the distance, we simply regard them as small, black birds, but if we look at them through binoculars, we can see that some of them are red, some blue and

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