Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too
much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy
for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect
yesterday's portion of heavenly manna, the word of God to
keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are
going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words
today and receive the power we need to live healthy,
vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,
author speaker, Elle David Harris.
Speaker 2: Good morning, good morning, good morning. It is Sunday, April six,
twenty twenty five. Hello, my name is Elle David Harris.
I am your host, and this is your Daily Portion
where we give you God's Word every single day, and
today is no exception. We are continuing in our lesson
study series how to Study the Bible, and our caption
for today is the principle of first mention. The principle
of first mention. Before we get into that, I'd like
to say welcome to you and ask you to go
over to your Daily Portion dot com. Please join our
online community. And I know that some people are trying
to figure out when I say click the number seven,
what that means. It means go to your Daily Portion
dot com. That's a website, a short little website, and
then click the seven. You'll see a seven on the screen. Okay,
click that and also join that community. Let us know
where you are in the world at your Daily portion
dot com. This is one of the ways that we
continue to build faith and fellowship. Let's go ahead and
pray and then we will get underway. Father in Heaven,
thank you for giving us this new day, this new
work week, and I'm asking you to please fill us
with your holy spirit. Please teach us the principles of
Bible prophecy and help us not to get lost in
the details, but rather be found by you because of
the detail tales. In Jesus's name, I pray Amen and
Amen again the principle of first mention. Now the Bible writer,
the lesson writer talks about some things from university, and
I remember working in the university setting for about fifteen years,
and I agree. Most academic programs begin with a general
survey course, often given the number one oh one, and
I would add or one oh five, And basically that
is what govers a broad understanding of the principles of
what we will learn in subsequent courses. Okay. And so
the lesson writer also says, when you read through the
entire Bible, you quickly discover that God also has a
survey course in the book of Genesis, where it introduces
ideas that will be examined in more detail throughout the
rest of the Bible. Generally speaking, the first time a
concept or a symbol is mentioned in the Bible, particularly
if the opening chapters of Genesis, you will discover that
it establishes a general understanding of that concept, which will
help you understand how it's going to be used later.
And so what I did was to come up with
a few examples of this, a few examples of this.
So hopefully you have your Bible's handy, and we're going
to Genesis, chapter two and verse nine. Of course I
started this conversation yesterday, but let's continue, okay. So the
first mention of the tree of life in Genesis chapter
two and verse nine, and out of the ground God
made the Lord God to grow the tree of life
also in the midst of the garden. And what this
establishes is the source of eternal life. Really it's God,
but he has us to eat from that tree to
give us that longevity, God's provision and then access to immortality.
And it's in the center of Eden. Later we see
in Revelation chapter two and verse seven to him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of
the eat of the Tree of life. Of course, now
this is after humans decided to turn our backs on God,
to sin and to hide in the bushes and to
be naked and hide ourselves, and God having to now
implement the plan of salvation so we can be saved
and God will restore at the appropriate time our access
what to the Tree of life, just like we see
in the Garden of Eden. Number two, we have another
mention of the serpent in Genesis chapter three and verse one.
The Bible reads, now the serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made,
And he said unto the woman. So this establishes and
I'm pausing right there, this establishes deception. So we know
where the source of this deception is. We know that
the serpent is the devil. But we'll get back to
that in a moment. Opposition to God subtle working and
the serpent the devil is the enemy of truth. And
we see in Revelation chapter twelve and verse nine, that
old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world. You see, so we see him in living color.
In Genesis we see how he moves toward the woman Eve,
and then in Revelation chapter twelve, the church, the people
of God, the same serpent, that devil Satan is a
deceiver of the entire world. In Genesis chapter three and
verse fifteen, we see the seed the seed, I will
put enmity or hostility between thy seed and her seed.
Gods speaking to the serpent, or really the devil about
the hostility he would put between God's people and of
course the devil. This establishes conflict. It's appropriate promise and
the deliverance of God's people. Let's keep going, and the
Bible continues here in Galatians chapter three and verse twenty nine.
They that are in Christ, the people who are Christ's
will be the seed, the seed that is a part
of the beneficiaries. We are the beneficiaries according to promise, okay,
And so of course the Messiah is the key to this.
In Genesis chapter three and verse twenty one, the Bible
reads and Adam also and to his wife, did the
Lord make coats of skins? This gives us the first
mention of sacrifice. Of course, these coats of skins had
to have come from what an animal? The sacrifice? Okay,
covering for sin. Death is required because somebody has to
pay the penalty for sin. Divine provision and substitution. Later
we see in John chapter one and verse twenty nine,
Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sins
of the world. And so these principles show that the
foundation of meanings are given by God. Their basic concepts,
the symbols and the patterns, the frameworks of truth, prophetic keys,
and consistent usage, and these are designed by God. Well,
what are the benefits? God gives us clear understanding? Yes,
I know you're looking for application. I want you to
pick up the application guide at your Daily Portion dot com.
I think we're going to run out of time. The
benefits also are consistent interpretation. We don't have to guess
how many times have you been in church? Maybe while
we're even studying these lessons, you know, and people are
making up all kinds of different interpretations, and it's like no, no, no, no, no no,
It's right. In the Bible. There is a biblical foundation.
There is proper context, reliable patterns, safe guidelines, and of
course that equals sound doctrine, sound doctrine. The lesson writer
invites us to read several texts in the middle of
the lesson, from Isaiah chapter forty and verse seven, Malachi
three sixteen, and Hebrews thirteen and verse eight. Let me
give you three key principles that come from that reading.
I want you to read those and then come into
the community at your daily portion dot com and let
us know what your findings were. Okay, but here are
three principles that come to my mind. Number one, God's
word is permanent. God's word is permanent. The things that
we see on planet Earth as they are now, they wither,
they go away. But God's words stands firm. It's always
and eternally valid. It's a reliable God's word is a
reliable foundation and an enduring message. It is not a
Kindergarten view. It is not something that we read just
to get started. It is permanent. Number two, God's character
is consistent, and then Christ's nature is consistent. So we
want to be clear while we are looking at the
Book of Genesis and look for the key principles that
will drive our understanding through Bible prophecy. Take it a
great day, peace, Thanks.
Speaker 1: For joining us listening.
Speaker 2: Friends.
Speaker 1: Always remember we cannot live by bread alone, but by
every word that comes from the mouth of God. This
has been your daily portion with El David Harris. Make
it a great day. Yeah.