Pathway to Victory

Guest (Male): Hey podcast listeners, thanks for streaming today's podcast from Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a non-profit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast.

Guest (Male): To support Pathway to Victory, go to PTV.org/donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Hi, this is Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to study God's word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You see, ladies and gentlemen, just as God has made some unconditional promises to the believing Jews, he's made some unconditional promises to you and me that we bank on every day.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: The same God who can be trusted to keep his promises to Israel, is the same God we are depending upon to keep his unconditional eternal promise to us.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffress.

Guest (Male): Genesis means the origin or the beginning, and in the Bible's very first book, the book of Genesis, we find plenty of beginnings.

Guest (Male): Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress shows us how the book of Genesis holds the origins of Bible prophecy. It all began with Abraham's family. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: By now, perhaps you've heard all this month on Pathway to Victory, I'm pleased to present a special teaching series on the End Times. It's called Perfect Ending. I love this topic, and I know you do too.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: As a pastor and Bible teacher, I've been researching the End Times for decades, and I want to share those years of study with you.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Not only through our teaching series here on Pathway to Victory, but also in the form of my brand new book, Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: I've been wanting to write this book for many, many years, because there's a common thread in the questions I receive. For example, here's a question that I hear more than any other. Do Christians really stand before God in judgment? The answer may surprise you.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In my book, Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times, I explain what the Bible calls the judgment seat of Christ, what it is, what it isn't, and why it should motivate every one of us today.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In addition to the book, I'm also offering my very popular Bible Prophecy Chart. This multi-folded brochure will help you visualize the chronology of God's timeline.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Both of these resources are yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Okay, more details later. But right now, it's time to take your Bible and turn not to Revelation, but to Genesis, for the study I've titled, It Begins and Ends with Israel.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You know, if you want to understand the Bible, you want to understand Bible prophecy, the place to begin is not at the end, in the book of Revelation. It's not in the middle in Ezekiel and Daniel. If you want to understand the Bible and Bible prophecy, you start where? At the beginning.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: The way to understand prophecy is to start at the beginning. So if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the book of Genesis. In fact, the word Genesis literally means beginnings.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And in Genesis, we find the beginning of everything.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, God's rescue plan for man, and his plan for the restoration of the entire world, all centered on one man, his name was Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And the remaining 39 chapters of Genesis have to do with Abraham and his descendants, the beginning of this plan of reconciliation.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And so, when we come to Genesis chapter 12, we are introduced to Abraham and to the specific promise that God made to Abraham, we call it the Abrahamic Covenant. It was the promise of redemption for mankind and for all of creation.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: God, out of his mercy, chose to save Abraham, and he gave this command. Look at verse one.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Genesis chapter 12, Then the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country and from your relatives, and from your father's house to the land that I will show you."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Remember, whenever God gives a command, that command doesn't always make sense, but it is always accompanied by a promise. That was true for Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And we find those promises that followed God's command in verses 1-3 of Genesis 12. Look at it with me.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house to the land I will show you. And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you, I will curse, and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, the promise to Abraham was a land and a blessing. Now, quickly, I want you to look at three characteristics of this promise that are key to understanding Bible prophecy.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: First of all, I want you to notice that God's promise to Abraham was a literal promise.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, there was certainly a spiritual component to it as we saw just a few moments ago, but God was actually promising to Abraham an actual piece of real estate, an actual land that would be his forever.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: This land, this new land, Canaan, is not just some metaphor for heaven in the future, it's an actual land that would belong to Abraham. How do I know that? Look at how Abraham responded to the promise, Genesis 12:4 and 5.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: As soon as he received the promise, Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran, and Abraham took Sarai, his wife, and Lot his nephew, and all of their possessions, which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and thus they came to the land of Canaan.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Abraham understood this was a literal promise. He said, "Family, it's time to pack up and move, we're headed to this land." If he thought this was heaven, why would he have gone to all of this trouble?

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It was a big deal in Abraham's day to move someplace. If you wanted to move in Abraham's day, you didn't call up Mayflower or Daryl Flood Moving Company and say, "Hey, come pack me up, we're headed to Canaan."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It didn't work that way. You had to do it yourself.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And notice, he had to pack up all the things he had accumulated in 75 years of living.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Do you have a lot of junk around your house?

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Just recently, we cleaned out our garage. Let me rephrase that. Recently, Amy cleaned out our garage.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It was amazing the junk we had in there just over these last six years we had accumulated. Some of it we had hauled from our last residence, that we had hauled from our residence before that, we just carried the junk around with us.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: But you know, I'm 57, I can imagine what it's going to be like at age 75.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: But Abraham had a lot of stuff. Why did he go to all that hassle of moving it himself? Because he was headed to a literal land.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Yeah, he was looking for heaven too. Hebrews 11:10 says, he was looking for that city with foundations whose architect and builder is God.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: But even though he was looking for a heavenly home, that didn't negate the fact that he was also looking for an earthly home as well.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Secondly, I want you to notice that this promise was eternal.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It wasn't just for a specified time. God said in Genesis 13, he reaffirmed, Abraham, this land is going to be yours forever. Look at Genesis 13:14 and 15.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And the Lord said to Abraham, after Lot had separated from him, "Now, I want you to lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, from all the land which you see, I will give it to you and your descendants for how long? Forever."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Let me tell you, forever is a long time.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: We have a hard time as mortal beings understanding what eternity is like.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: I came across these words from author Henry Will and Van Loom, who writes, "High up in the north, in the land called Smith's yard, there stands a rock. This rock is 100 miles high and 100 miles wide. Once every 1,000 years, a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: "When the rock has thus been worn away, then only a single day of eternity will have gone by."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Forever is a long time. God said to Abraham, "This land is going to be yours and your believing descendants forever."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It was a literal promise, it was an eternal promise, thirdly, and most significantly for Bible prophecy, it is an unconditional promise. It is an unconditional promise.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: The fact is, many Christians will concede, "Yeah, God made a promise to Abraham." God intended for this promise to be fulfilled, but Israel, Abraham's descendants messed up big time.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: They rebelled against God and they ultimately rejected Christ. And because Israel has rejected Christ, the Abrahamic Covenant has changed.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It's changed in two ways. First of all, the promises to Abraham have been transferred, these people say, from Israel to the church. And furthermore, these promises have not only been transferred from Israel to the church, they have been transformed from literal promises to figurative, symbolic promises.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And so they reinterpret the Abrahamic Covenant. They say, "No longer is there a promise of a land to Israel. That's been changed." Now the promise of a land is the promise of heaven for the church.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: They'll say, "The promise of a Messiah who would be the forerunner of a great nation. That great nation of Israel no longer is going to exist. The nation of Israel has now become the church of Jesus Christ."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And then they'll say, "Yeah, God did promise that a descendant of Abraham's, and the descendant of David would sit on the throne in Israel and Jerusalem and rule over the world, but that's been changed and transferred to the church." Now that promise means Christ is going to rule on the throne of your heart, in your life forever and ever.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And that's how people reinterpret the Abrahamic Covenant. God meant to fulfill this to Abraham, but when Abraham rejected Christ, Israel forfeited those blessings. They've been transferred to the church and transformed into symbolic promises.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, what are we to say to that?

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It's true as you read through the scripture, there were some conditional promises made to Israel.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Over and over again, God promised Israel blessings and curses. Israel, if you follow my law, I'll bless you. If you disobey my law, I will curse you.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In fact, as Moses prepared the Israelites to enter the promised land, Canaan, we find these words in Deuteronomy 11:26-28. God said, "See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse. The blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding to you today, and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And all of Israel's history is a story of blessings and curses.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: When they followed God, they were blessed. When they disobeyed God, they were judged, they spent time in calamity and exile. That's all of Israel's history. But here's one thing to remember.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: These blessings and curses came through Moses. The promise came through Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Abraham lived 430 years before Moses.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And what God is saying is, the conditional promises I gave to Moses, in no way, in no way whatsoever, negate the unconditional promises that I made to Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now let me illustrate that for you.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: After our first daughter was born, Julia, Amy and I went to our attorney to make out our will.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And we made a decision at that time that we were going to leave our estate to our children upon our deaths. And we didn't know at that time how many children we would have, we sure didn't know what they were going to be like, but we made that decision.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: That was an unconditional decision we made. We were going to leave our estate to our children, whoever and how many they were.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, as our girls were born and started to grow up and mature, we established our own list of blessings and curses around our house.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: If our girls obeyed what we told them to do, they were blessed by us, they got their allowance. If they disobeyed us, they forfeited their allowance and experienced other expressions of wrath from their parents.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And so all the time they were in our home, Julia and Dorothy experienced their share of blessings and curses.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: But you know what? It doesn't matter and didn't matter whatever they did, and whatever temporary consequences they experienced, never once did it cause us to change our will. That was an unconditional promise we had made.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: They were our children and will be our children forever, and the promise of their inheritance has nothing to do with their actions, it's nothing that can be changed, it's an irrevocable decision.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now that is exactly what God is saying. Listen to Galatians 3:17 and 18.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Paul is making the same argument about the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant. He's saying, what I'm saying is this, Galatians 3:17 and 18, "The law, that's the Mosaic Law, which came 430 years later, does not invalidate a covenant, a will if you will, previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: "For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise, but God has granted to Abraham by means of a promise."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: This promise of an inheritance was an irrevocable promise God made to Abraham 430 years before the law. The law came along later. It was a temporary series of blessings and curses. But even though Israel disobeyed God, it in no way negated the promise that God had made to Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: By the way, that's what that passage is all about from Psalm 89. Listen to verses 30-37.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: God says, "If his sons, that is the Israelites, forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes." And the loss of their allowance. No, it doesn't say that, but that's what he's talking about, the temporary consequences of disobedience.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: They're going to suffer Israel if they break my law. But look at verse 33.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: "But I will not break off my loving kindness from Israel, nor deal falsely in my faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of my lips. Once I have sworn by my holiness, I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure how long? Forever, and his throne as the sun before me."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: "It shall be established how long? Forever, like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Perhaps the greatest evidence of the unconditional nature of the Abrahamic Covenant is in the way that covenant was ratified before Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You know, before Abraham got very far, he wanted to make sure that God was going to keep his end of the bargain in this promise. He asked for a sign that God was going to keep this promise and that he hadn't misunderstood it.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And so in verse 8 of Genesis 15, Abraham asked, "Oh Lord, how may I know that I'm going to possess this land?" "That you're going to keep your word."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In Abraham's day, when two kings entered into a covenant with one another, a treaty, a contract, in order to ratify the contract, according to the custom of the day, they would take some animals, they would split the animals in two, they would place one half of the animal in one line, the other halves of the animal in another line, leaving a path in between the animal parts.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And then the two monarchs would walk side by side, each carrying a torch through the animal pieces. And as they did so, they were signifying that the covenant was depending upon each party keeping his end of the bargain.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now that's how a covenant was ratified. That helps you understand God's command in verse 9 of Genesis 15.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Abraham wanted to know, "God, how can I depend upon you to keep your end of the bargain?" Look at what God said, verse 9. So God said to Abraham, "Bring me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon." And then he brought all of these to him and cut them in two and laid each one half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Normally, Abraham knew what was going on. He imagined that God was going to tell him, "Now that you cut the animal pieces, you get a torch, I'll get a torch, we'll walk through the animal pieces together to signify that this deal is really going to happen." But notice in verse 12, God does something very strange next.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Now, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and behold a terror and great darkness fell upon him. Abraham was put to sleep.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Verse 17, and it came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between the pieces. And on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It wasn't Abraham and God who walked through those animal pieces together, Abraham was over here asleep. It was God himself, God alone who walked through those animal pieces, signifying that this promise, this covenant had absolutely nothing to do with Abraham and Abraham's faithfulness. It had all to do with God and his faithfulness.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: This was an unconditional promise God made to Abraham. And to make sure nobody missed it, and the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 13, "For when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You say, "Pastor, what does all this have to do with Bible prophecy?" Simply this.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: God promised Israel a certain land. Since 1948, they've been a nation, they've been in the land, but they haven't been in all of the land yet.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: God has kept the nation of Israel. They've endured forever so far, but God's not yet finished with Israel, not all of elect Israel has yet been saved.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: It's true that God sent a blessing to all the world through Jesus Christ, and that he rules in the hearts of individual believers. That's true. But he's not yet sitting on the throne of David in Jerusalem, as God promised that he would one day.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: What I'm saying to you, folks, is God still has some unfinished business here on planet Earth.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: God is going to keep his promise to Abraham and Abraham's descendants, his unconditional promise.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You say, "Well, that's wonderful, Pastor, but I'm not a Jew, so why should I care?"

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Because as we're going to see in the weeks ahead, that Abrahamic Covenant, although it was to Abraham and his believing descendants, it has ramifications for you and me as well.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: But even more importantly, the reason it is important for God to keep this promise to Israel is, it's our way of knowing that God is going to keep his promises to us as well.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You see, ladies and gentlemen, just as God has made some unconditional promises to the believing Jews, he's made some unconditional promises to you and me that we bank on every day.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In John 10:28, Jesus said, "I give eternal life to them and no man shall snatch them out of my hands."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In Hebrews 7:25, it says, "In as much, Christ is able to save forever those who come to God through him, and he lives to make intercession for them."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: In Hebrews 13:5, Jesus promised, "I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: The same God who can be trusted to keep his promises to Israel, is the same God we are depending upon to keep his unconditional eternal promise to us.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: If God changes this covenant with Israel, if God revokes this promise he made to Israel, how do we know he won't do the same to us?

Dr. Robert Jeffress: How do we know one day when we stand before him in judgment, how do we know God won't say to us, "Well, you know, I told you one time I was going to save you by grace, but I've changed my mind."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: "It's going to be on the basis of your works, and guess what? You don't have enough."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: What's to keep God from doing that? It is the character of God himself.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Romans 11:29 says, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And just as we can depend upon the character of God to secure the unconditional promises he made to us, we can depend that God is going to keep his unconditional promise to Abraham and his descendants.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: A promise that has great ramifications for the world in the years ahead, as we'll see in this series, Perfect Ending.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: God always keeps his promises. And over the next few weeks, we'll discover other great promises in the Bible that relate to Christ's second coming and our eternal future in heaven.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And to help you learn more, I've created two exclusive Bible prophecy resources. The first is my brand new book, Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: I've been studying and teaching Bible prophecy for decades, and I've never felt a greater urgency to get this message into people's hands than I do right now. Don't navigate these days without it.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: And the second resource is my multi-folded Bible Prophecy Chart. This is one of the most popular and helpful resources ever produced by Pathway to Victory.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: You can tuck this convenient brochure into your Bible, and it's sure to become your personal at-a-glance timeline that links scripture with the key events that foretell the return of Christ.

Guest (Male): David will repeat these details and give you our contact information.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: But first, let me say thank you in advance for your generous giving that makes this ministry possible, not only on your local radio station, but on hundreds and hundreds of stations around the world.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: Together, as financial partners, God is using our collective gifts to pierce the darkness with the light of his word.

Guest (Male): Here's David with all the details.

Guest (Male): When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, we'll say thanks by sending you Dr. Jeffress's brand new book, Ask Dr. Jeffress About the End Times, along with the Bible Prophecy Chart. To request your copy, call 866-999-2965 or visit online at PTV.org.

Guest (Male): You can also support this ministry by texting PTV to 78800.

Guest (Male): And when you invest in this ministry with a gift of $125 or more, you'll also get the complete Perfect Ending Teaching series on audio and video disc and the stunning full color resource, The End Times Illustrated, a panorama of Bible prophecy from Genesis to Revelation. To make your request, call 866-999-2965 or visit PTV.org.

Guest (Male): You could write to us if you'd like, PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

Guest (Male): Again, that's PO Box 223609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

Guest (Male): I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us again next time when Dr. Jeffress continues his study on the End Times with a message called Getting the Big Picture. That's Friday, here on Pathway to Victory.

Guest (Male): Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.

Guest (Male): Join us on the Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska. I can hardly wait to show you Alaska.

Dr. Robert Jeffress: I've been there before and every time I witness those massive glaciers and towering mountains, I'm reminded of how incredibly creative our God is.

Guest (Male): The world class service means you can truly relax and focus on what matters. So reserve your cabin today, call 888-280-6747 or visit PTV.org.

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Guest (Male): To become a Pathway Partner, go to PTV.org/donate or you can follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast from Pathway to Victory.

Guest (Male): Oh, and one last thing before we go, have you reserved your spot yet for the 2026 Pathway to Victory Cruise to Alaska? You've been hearing me and Dr. Jeffress mention it, so what are you waiting for?

Guest (Male): Just picture yourself on the deck of Holland America's elegant Koningsdam and stepping out on deck to witness nature's grandeur. It's beautiful. These moments in God's creation will deepen your faith in powerful ways. It really will.

Guest (Male): Experience five-star dining, luxurious staterooms and visiting iconic ports like Juno, Ketchikan and Skagway. We're also bringing along our own Christian entertainment, you'll love it. Seats are filling up, so book your spot today at PTV.org.