Righteous Invasion of Truth

Dr. Abel Damina: Feel the park. Welcome to Righteous Invasion of Truth with Dr. Abel Damina. We are fed, we are, we are equipped, we are ready for the work of ministry. And so we thank you for the gift of God that is already in your life, which you have committed to in by the gospel. And so this morning we are ready to receive from you, the word that is able to build our souls. Are you ready? Lift your two hands above your head. Put those two hands together. Let's shout, a joyful shout, as we receive our papa, Dr. Abel Damina. Glory. Glory to God. Somebody excited, shout glory. Lift your right hands to heaven. Father, we rejoice that we have this another opportunity to come before your holy, precious, written word. Thank you that the mighty Holy Spirit lives on our inside. Revelation knowledge is gifted us in this service. And I declare that as your word goes forth with clarity, with meekness, we receive the engrafted word, which is able to save our souls. So I declare that whatever is not planted by God is rooted out. Bodily sickness are destroyed. That your people are built up, equipped, edified, and Jesus is glorified. So we rejoice that by the end of this service, we'll be the better for it. In Jesus' name, we pray. And every believer says a powerful Amen. Lift your right hands to heaven. Let's release our faith together as we say these words. I am born of God. I am born of the world. The word of God is my nature. I do not struggle to do the word. I do the word naturally. Therefore, today, I will understand the word of his grace. I will be built up. By the end of this service, I will never be the same. Never ever be the same again. In Jesus' name. And every believer says a powerful Amen. Glory. Are we excited to study God's word again this morning? Can we celebrate our fellowship with a shout? That's not a celebration. That's not a celebration. Glory. Help me walk around three, four, five people. Tell them, you will be blessed because I came. You will be. You will be blessed because I came. Oh, glory to the Lord. Glory, glory, glory. Glory to Jesus. Glory, glory, glory. Go ahead. Just greet somebody. Love somebody. Hallelujah. All right. Grab your pen, your notebook, your Bible. You can be seated with your sweet smart self this morning as we get into the word of his grace. We want to welcome all the citizens, different nations, different time zones again. What a joy to have all of you in 30 days of glory 2025 and Soteria season 12. My goodness, that's 12 is almost gone now. We start loading for season 13. But Soteria season 12, and it's been an exciting study as we kept examining in the light of scripture, the character of God in salvation. What a joy and honor to know that we have God's word given and made available to us. Can I have a powerful Amen? Also, this morning, we have some of our leaders already arriving for homecoming. So those of you in other parts of the world, we're waiting for all of you. Next Sunday is the beginning of homecoming 2025, and it's going to be very, very, very exciting. And it's a joy to have Pastor Tily all the way from Ghana. She oversees our work in Ghana. Pastor Tily, blessings. Glad to have you in Oyo finally. Also a joy to see Pastor Prisca. Pastor Prisca is with us again all the way from Abuja, and oversees our North Central Zone, Power City. And we're glad to have Pastor Jane Seller from Kenya, one of our national leaders in Kenya. Glad to have you in the service this morning. And all our people that have been here, Pastor Karl is still with us. You know, Pastor Nanai is still with us. Pastor, Pastor Fabrice, where is Fabrice? I've not seen Fabrice for since the first day I saw him, I've not seen him again. It's like he has disappeared in Oyo. He's around? Okay. Don't allow him disappear in Oyo. Okay. Glory to God. Second Timothy chapter 3 verse number 15, P.J. Second Timothy chapter 3 verse number 15, let's go.

Guest (Female): And that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Dr. Abel Damina: Next verse.

Guest (Female): All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

Dr. Abel Damina: All scripture given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine. The word doctrine, there is the word Didaskalia. It means teaching or explanation. Now, when the scriptures are taught and explained, that's where the profit of scripture begins to come from. Teaching and explanation that will produce a second profit, which is reproof. Reproof there is evidence. Same word used in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 1. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence, the evidence. So, the scriptures are given to us for evidence to build evidence on the subject, salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Just like we have established, the message of the scriptures is salvation through faith. Brother Paul reduced all of scripture to give you wisdom in salvation, wisdom in salvation, through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So there's something that you must experience when you meet Christ, and that is salvation, salvation from sin and its consequence. The word soteria in the Greek. Now, for you to have a soteria, there must be a sotar. A sotar is the savior of soteria. Matthew 1:21, she shall bring forth his son, and thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. So we are examining the scriptures. Now, we've said the Old Testament, which is Genesis to Malachi is, you know, written in Hebrew. The New Testament, which is Matthew to Revelation is written in the Greek. So we have Hebrew and Greek as the two major languages of the scripture. Of course, there's a part of Matthew, Mark that is written in Aramaic. But majorly, Greek and the Hebrew language. Now, we've been looking at the, you know, the, the, the, the writings of scripture, what we call Bible interpretation. And the reason why Bible interpretation is critical in Bible teaching is because God's revelation to us is communicated via words. So if you do not understand words and the premise in which the words were written, you will never come to the knowledge of the truth. The knowledge of the truth is only arrived at when scriptures are rightly divided, rightly divided. And in order for us to rightly divide scriptures, we must be able to understand the context of scriptures. So we've established that in Bible interpretation, context is king. And we said it doesn't just refer to the immediate context of a text. It doesn't refer to the immediate context of a text. It has to also include the historical context in the narrative of the writer. Again, we've said that when the Bible was written and when the authors of scripture were communicating, they were not communicating to us. We were not their immediate audience. So we must sit where they sat, hear what they heard, understand what they understood, then travel to our world and look for grammar, verbage in our world that best gives description to what was communicated in order for you to really understand the message that the authors of scripture communicated to us. So it's critical to know that when the context is known or identified, then you can apply that context. You've got to know it and identify it, which means you cannot understand the context of scriptural writing without understanding the historical context, the historical context in the narrative of the writer. You must understand the historical context in the narrative of the writer. And this morning we began to look at history. We looked at customary beliefs. We looked at culture, and we took time to lay quite some foundation as it regards our faith in Christ Jesus. So we are still looking at understanding historical and cultural context of scripture, understanding historical and cultural context of scripture. We're going to examine another example. In the first service, we took time to look at the Sabbath or the Shabbat. And I will encourage you to listen to the service, the first service, because that will help you situate a number of things in context. In this service, we're going to be looking at the historical and cultural context of other scriptures. For example, we're going to examine right now what the Bible calls firstborn, firstborn. All right. Exodus the fourth chapter, the 22nd verse, P.J. Exodus chapter 4 verse 22.

Guest (Female): And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn.

Dr. Abel Damina: Israel is my son, even my firstborn. Please, I need you to pay attention because from tomorrow, we're going to be looking at the plagues in Egypt and all of those disasters that happened in Egypt. As we start laying some foundations, we're still laying foundations, I hope you get. As we start saying laying some foundations. We will still be laying foundations until Soteria is over. Then we will build on the foundation Soteria 13. Okay. So, yeah, you need to know that. Because in the, in this Soteria, I have not even entered any killing. And my whole destination was the killings. But I can't get to the killings without all of this historical, cultural, use of words and all of that. It is this permissive, causative tenses, all of this put together that will help you when we look at a killing in the Bible. Even before I explain, with this understanding, you will have already know what happened there. How many of you understand what I'm saying here? So, this foundation for me is even more important than examining the circumstances. You can take it and go and examine it yourself and begin to mark the script. Yeah. You just apply the formula and you know exactly who killed who, why the killing happened, causative, permissive, historical, cultural, definition of biblical words, the worldview in that day, all of that and how it's, it's, it becomes easy for you. So I wouldn't have to be defending the character of God. You will defend it because you will know what it is by yourself from the scriptures. Somebody shout, I hear you. All right. So, in today's world, the term firstborn simply implies the first child that a man and his wife gives birth to. That's what it is in today's world. First child. However, the writer here referenced to a whole nation, Israel as God's firstborn. The whole of Israel as God's firstborn. Therefore, one will be in error to horridly interpret the term firstborn in the writings of Moses, and in the writings of the prophets, to their own audience in their own world. As the first child that a man and his wife gives birth to in today's world. And if you begin to examine firstborn in the understanding of today's view, where the firstborn is the first child of a husband and a wife, you will miss out on the truth communicated by the writers in scripture. Now, in context of the writer's explanation, God instructed Moses to go and speak to Pharaoh, who had that, who at that time, was the king of Egypt. Exodus the fourth chapter, the 21st verse, P.J. Exodus chapter 4 verse 21.

Guest (Female): And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thy hand. But I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

Dr. Abel Damina: I will harden his heart that he shall not let the people go. Of course, we have already dealt with who hardened the heart of Pharaoh. How many of you remember? We've taken care of that, right? So now you know exactly what they're talking about here. Okay, good. He says, I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. And this was the same Pharaoh that Moses spoke about earlier in Exodus chapter 1 verse 8, 9 to 11, P.J. Exodus chapter 1 verse 8 to 11.

Guest (Female): Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.

Dr. Abel Damina: Nine.

Guest (Female): And the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty, and the land was filled with them.

Dr. Abel Damina: 10.

Guest (Female): And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.

Dr. Abel Damina: 11. I mean, 10.

Guest (Female): Come on, let us deal wisely with them. Lest they multiply, and it come to pass that where there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.

Dr. Abel Damina: Verse 11.

Guest (Female): Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.

Dr. Abel Damina: So there was a Pharaoh before this particular one. There was a Pharaoh before this particular Pharaoh that we are reading about, that Moses spoke about in Exodus chapter 4 verse 22. This Pharaoh that was there before this Pharaoh was kind to Joseph. He was kind to the entire nation of Israel. For example, Exodus chapter 47 verse 1. Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh and said, My father, my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have are come out of the land of Canaan, and behold they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them unto Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said unto Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers. They said, Moreover, unto Pharaoh, for to sojourn in the land that we come, for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is so in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spoke unto Joseph saying, Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee. The land of Egypt is before thee. In the best of the land, make thy father and brethren to dwell. In the land of Goshen, let them dwell. And if thou knowest any of men of activity among them, make them rulers over my cattle. Now, upon the demise or the death of this Pharaoh, a new king afflicted and oppressed the nation of Israel. A new Pharaoh that did not know Joseph arose and stripped them of everything that the previous Pharaoh had given unto them. So in that Exodus chapter 1 verse 8 to 11, there arose a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. In verse 11, Therefore, they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens, and they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. It's vital also to take note that the writer, Moses, was born in this era. Exodus chapter 2 verse 1 and 2, P.J. Exodus chapter 2 verse 1 and 2.

Guest (Female): And there went a man of the house of Levi and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

Dr. Abel Damina: Next verse.

Guest (Female): And the woman conceived and bare a son, and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

Dr. Abel Damina: Verse 3.

Guest (Female): And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bullrushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein, and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.

Dr. Abel Damina: So hold on, P.J. I don't know if you remember last year we dealt with the ark. You remember? That the ark of Noah was not a mystery. Building arks in Bible days was normal. There was no big deal about Noah building an ark. We looked at all the cultural, right? And we looked at all the implications of the word ark, just like we're looking at the word firstborn, and just like we looked at in the first service, Sabbath. There was nothing unique about Sabbath. It was normal among them. That's what they use for idol worship. But God will always accommodate human language in communicating eternal treasures. How many of you get the point we're making here? All right. So, it's critical to remember that Moses was born, and he was hid in an ark of bullrushes. So arks were not new, all right? Arks were part of the culture of that time. P.J. Read for me that Exodus chapter 2 verse 8 to 10.

Guest (Female): And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." And the maid went and called the child's mother.

Dr. Abel Damina: Nine.

Guest (Female): And Pharaoh's daughter said unto her, "Take this child away and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages." And the woman took the child and nursed it.

Dr. Abel Damina: 10.

Guest (Female): And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses, and she said, "Because I drew him out of the water."

Dr. Abel Damina: So Moses means because I drew him out of the water. Now, after he was nursed by his biological mother, he was actually raised by the daughter of Pharaoh. So Moses was educated in the language and the culture of Egypt. Moses was educated in the language and the culture of Egypt. P.J. Acts chapter 7 verse 20 to 22. Acts of the Apostles chapter 7 verse 20 to 22.

Guest (Female): In which time Moses was born and was exceeding fair and nourished up in his father's house three months.

Dr. Abel Damina: Next verse.

Guest (Female): And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son.

Dr. Abel Damina: Next verse.

Guest (Female): And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds.

Dr. Abel Damina: He was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in words and in deeds. Therefore, when he said in Exodus 4:22, And thou shall say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. Note that Moses mentioned that term again in subsequent narratives. Exodus 11:5. And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die. From the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maid servant that is behind the meal, and all the firstborn of the beast. Then you will see the use of the word firstborn again in Exodus chapter 12 verse 12 and 29. P.J. Read for me. Exodus 12:12.

Guest (Female): For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments, I am the Lord.

Dr. Abel Damina: Then verse 29 of Exodus 12 says, And it came to pass that at midnight, the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne, unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. Take note of the word throne. Firstborn that sat upon the throne. It implies position. Throne means position. Throne means authority. Throne means rulership, position, authority, rulership. In other words, that phrase, firstborn of Pharaoh that seated upon his throne, means the child, male, the male child of Pharaoh will be one whom Pharaoh will transfer his position, his authority, and rulership to. That is, the child who will reign and rule in the stead of Pharaoh. The child who will reign and rule in the stead of Pharaoh. So the context of Moses' explanation in Exodus 11 and 12 with the phrases firstborn, that seated upon his throne, firstborn of the maidservants, all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, were in reference to the nation of Egypt. So it suffices to say that both Moses and Pharaoh understood what Moses meant by Israel is my firstborn. Israel is my firstborn. In essence, what Moses implied was that the nation of Israel was ordained by God to carry out his mission in the earth and to serve him. The nation of Israel was ordained by God. Israel is my firstborn, that the nation of Israel was ordained by God to carry out his mission in the earth and to serve him. That was why he further explained in Exodus 3:12, P.J. Exodus chapter 3 verse 12.

Guest (Female): And he said, Certainly I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee. When thou has brought forth the people out of Egypt, he shall serve God upon this mountain.

Dr. Abel Damina: When you have brought out the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God upon this mountain. Then Exodus 7:16 says, And thou shall say unto him, The Lord God of the Hebrews has sent me unto thee saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. And behold, hitherto, thou wouldst not hear. Exodus chapter 8 verse 1, P.J.

Guest (Female): And the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go that they may serve me.

Dr. Abel Damina: Then give me Exodus 8:20. Exodus 8:20.

Guest (Female): And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh. Lo, he cometh forth to the water, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Dr. Abel Damina: Let my people go that they may serve me. Not let them go and do their businesses. Not let them go and marry their wives or marry their husbands. Let them go that they may serve me. So the freedom is for a mission. The freedom is to an end. He didn't just say, let them go and enjoy liberty in Christ. No. Let them go that they may serve me. There is an end to why God will go all out to bring them out. That they might serve me. Exodus chapter 9 verse 1, P.J. Exodus chapter 9 verse 1.

Guest (Female): Then the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh and tell him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Dr. Abel Damina: Let my people go that they may serve me. Verse 13, P.J. Exodus 9:13.

Guest (Female): And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Dr. Abel Damina: Did you see that repeated over and over? Let my people go that they may serve me. Look at Exodus chapter 10 verse 3, P.J. Exodus chapter 3, I mean, chapter 10 verse 3.

Guest (Female): And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long will thou refuse to humble thyself before me? Let my people go that they may serve me.

Dr. Abel Damina: Let my people go that they may serve me. It's not just let my people go. Uh uh. Let my people go. This is why you must let them go. And you that will be let to go, this is why you are going that you may serve me. You are saved to serve. Let them go that they may serve me. Wow. Pharaoh also acknowledged this fact. Pharaoh himself. Exodus chapter 10 verse 7. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this man be a snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Knowest thou not yet that Egypt is destroyed? Why are you still keeping them? Their God is finishing our town. Let them go and serve their God. Uh. Exodus 10:8. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh, and he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go? Pharaoh's question. Who are they that shall go? Give me verse 9, P.J. Verse 9.

Guest (Female): And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go, for we must hold a feast unto the Lord.

Dr. Abel Damina: We will go with our wives, our children, both young and old, our cattle, our flocks, our herds. Even our bank account, we will empty it. It is when we get there that we will have a feast unto the Lord. Somebody say, I, and all that belongs to me will serve God's purpose. Say it again, I will serve God's purpose. Say, I am delivered from darkness to light for a mission. I am God's vessel on the earth. I am here on an assignment. I didn't hear a powerful Amen. Let them go. Why? That they may serve me. Let them go. That they may serve me. Give me that Exodus chapter 10 verse 10 and 11.

Guest (Female): And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you as I will let you go and your little ones. Look to it for evil is before you.

Dr. Abel Damina: 11.

Guest (Female): Not so, go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord for that ye did desire. And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence.

Dr. Abel Damina: Pharaoh said, okay, since you guys are all insisting, finally I have agreed. Only the men go and serve God. Women, children, flock, money, stay at home. Go and serve God alone. That demonic negotiation still holds in many places today, where the women are not allowed to do ministry, only the men are doing ministry because Pharaoh is holding back the women and the children and their prosperity at home. It was a demonic negotiation. Only the men can go. Pharaoh said, I don't have a problem with the men going because he knows that the men cannot go without coming back, since their wives and children are here. And the men cannot go without coming back because their treasure is back home, and where your treasure is, your heart is. But God has said, let them go. Why? That they may serve him. Again, remember, Genesis is Moses' message to an Exodus congregation about God's freedom and God's promise to Abraham to set free his children from captivity. Look at that same scripture again. Exodus chapter 10 verse 24, P.J. Verse 24.

Guest (Female): And Pharaoh called unto Moses and said, Go ye, serve the Lord, only let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you.

Dr. Abel Damina: Okay, Pharaoh said, no problem. Husband, wives, children, go and serve God. Leave your money behind. You cannot serve God with money. Go empty-handed. Let your herds, your businesses, your investments, your flocks. Let them stay. You can even carry the little ones. All of you go. I'm sure by this time he'll say, all of you are useless to me. So you can as well go. But your treasures, your economy must stay back in Egypt. We cannot allow you empty Egypt of the treasures. And that negotiation is still going on between the devil and many people today. Many people serve God with everything minus their money. Once it comes to money, a demon just comes alive suddenly. Spirit of stinginess. But God has saved you to serve his purpose with all of you. You, your resources, and everything. I didn't hear a powerful Amen. Look at that Exodus again, chapter 10 verse 31.

Guest (Female): And he called for Moses and Aaron by night and said, "Rise up and get you forth from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. Go, serve the Lord as you have said."

Dr. Abel Damina: So, the writer of the book of Hebrews also referred to Abel as righteous. You can write down for further studies, Hebrews 11:4. So, the issue was Abel's faith. The issue was Abel's faith in God's voice. Abel's faith in God's voice and the issue was Cain's unbelief in God's voice. Abel's faith in God's voice, Cain's unbelief in God's voice. So, observe the narratives that we have studied. Number one, Abel instead of Cain, Isaac instead of Ishmael, Jacob instead of Esau, and Joseph instead of Reuben. None of them were the first child of their parents. Also notice a key phrase in what Moses wrote, Exodus 2:24, P.J. Exodus 2:24.