[Leif Anderson] Leif Anderson. You probably have guessed, I've got a little Scandinavian blood in me. I'd like to introduce you to a Scandinavian word skol, S-K-O-L. Skol. In modern parlance, it is a toast to good health. It's similar to the Brit's "cheers," the German “prost," or prosit the Jewish “L'Chaim." And according to my Polish teammate, Howard Putchko, "Na Zdrowie." Good health. Good health.

Now, it's currently a part of the 5-0 Minnesota Viking's cheer. It's always been a part of their song, but now it's part of the fan-based cheer in the new stadium, $1.1 billion stadium. Best that money can buy. $1.1 billion goes quite a ways in Minnesota, by the way. But when they do that, it literally shakes the building. So, it’s the Skol Vikings. Skol Vikings. We'll see how far that takes them this year.

But for those who are wondering, the historical derivation of skol as used by the original Vikings is decidedly less friendly. Big surprise there. But since this is a family show, we'll stick with the modern parlance of good health. But I was thinking that right after the Millennium starts, I might approach the leaders of Naphtali, my tribe, and maybe discuss creating some kind of tribal motto or chant or cheer. I think you all realize in the Old Testament that each tribe had their symbol, maybe a crest type thing. So, I thought to myself, "Well, if I got with the leaders of Naphtali, we could come up with a tribal cheer and right after the Millennium starts is we, well, know everybody's going to need to be cheered up." So, it'd be a perfect opportunity to do precisely that.

But then it hit me, "Uffda." That's another Scandinavian term. Uffda, I think I'll wait until the second resurrection when I can join up with my namesake, Leif Erikson, the original Viking, and maybe try to put together some non-offensive, copyrightable uses of skol in that period of time. We'll see. We'll see. I'll get back to you on that one in a little over a thousand years. How about we'll see how that goes. At any rate, skol to you all, to your very best health, physical, mental, and more importantly, spiritual as we go through the feast days. And I've just dropped my... Derek, I'll get it on. I'll get it. I promise you.

Okay. The last 12 chapters of the book of Ezekiel are some of the more remarkable in all of God's Word. We've already heard references to this fascinating section of Scripture and probably we'll hear more as we move through the Feast. They present to all who will read or listen special, dare I say unique insights into the Millennium and the second resurrection as we know. I'd like for us to take a brief journey using a couple of obscure Scriptures to me, not to our Father or elder Brother. In this section of Ezekiel, as a jumping-off point, we'll look back, we'll look forward, and also consider the present along the way. We'll test Winston Churchill's famous script, "The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." As spiritual sojourners, we shall not feel too uncomfortable in this journey through time. So, let's first move to the future in Ezekiel 47.

Now, the setting is post-Christ return. Israel, the regathered 12 tribes who have received their land allotment, are resettled into their God-ordained respective regions in Palestine as are all the nations into there, as much as we can tell. Christ is on His throne and the world is at peace, finally. In short, much of prophecy has been fulfilled. Now, to gain additional context here, notice verses 13 through 14, again, Ezekiel 47. "Thus says the Lord God: ‘These are the borders by which you shall divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two portions. You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised…’" Am I fading in and out here? I'm getting blowback to myself here. "You shall inherit equally with one another; for I raised My hand in an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance."

So, yes, Israel and Judah will finally be reunited after 3,500 long, painful years. You can see that substantiated in Jeremiah 3:8 and other scriptures, of course. But this pronouncement is quite similar, of course, to the instructions God gave through Moses recorded in Numbers 34. In short, our God, as we know, does not forget His promises. Skipping down to verses 21 through 23 in the same chapter. "It shall be that you will divide it” that is, the land, “by lot as an inheritance for yourselves." Yes, God is still very much into private property ownership. In fact, you no doubt heard whole sermons based around the economics of the Millennium before. And notice He says, "And for the strangers who dwell among you and bear children among you. They,” the strangers, “shall be to you as native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel. And it shall be that whatever tribe the stranger dwells, you shall give him his inheritance," says the Lord God.” This is a millennial setting. I found this to be quite interesting. Fascinating, actually. It opens up a whole series of questions, but we'll focus primarily on one of these in this brief message here for the remaining time.

Now, there are a number of Hebrew words that apply to stranger, alien or foreigner. In this case, the Hebrew word is ger, G-E-R, and it means sojourner. Sojourner. Yes, the same noun Abraham, David, and other of our spiritual heroes used to describe their perspective, their place in this world, and how we are to view our relationship to this society as Christians, as described in Hebrews 11, 1 Peter 2:11, and elsewhere. In the Greek, it is parepidemos. Parepidemos and it simply means "residing in a strange place away from one's own people." I think a classic example of that, of course, is the father of the faithful Abraham, which we've heard so much about. Now, during the Millennium, though the nations by and large are settled into their preordained areas on this earth, God makes an exception for these Gentiles, these Gentile families, who desire to settle among Israel's tribes. I believe these verses speak volumes about our loving Father and elder Brother. We'll come back to this section toward the end.

Now as we move through this message, please keep in mind that God describes Himself, among many other ways, as the God of the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger. In other words, the most vulnerable of society, the most vulnerable. As we heard, compassion is one of the traits of our Father and elder Brother. Those who appreciate the title, title of my message is "And the Stranger," subtitle, "The Sojourner." Let's move back briefly in time into the Old Testament. In three passages in the Pentateuch, God through Moses makes it clear, very clear actually, to Israel how He expected them to treat a stranger or sojourner. Again, as the Hebrew word ger, G-E-R, signifies.

In Exodus 22:21, you don't need to turn there necessarily, I'll read it for you, but you might want to put it in your notes, Exodus 22:21, "You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." God makes this point while it is fresh, very fresh in their minds. Actually, this edict was rare in human history as was everything else God instructed Israel at this particular time. Actually, unique. Those who had the misfortune of migrating to other areas of the world could expect less than favorable treatment, to say the least. He then extends this directive in Leviticus 19:34. You want to turn there with me. Leviticus 19:34, when He says, again through Moses, "The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you, as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

So, He kicks it up a notch as Emmeril would say in terms of the importance our Father and the Word at that time put on how His people were to treat those who came into their midst peacefully.

Now, the Hebrew word for love here is aheb, A-H-E-B, the same word used to describe Abraham's love for Isaac in Genesis 22:2 and the love we should have for our God in Deuteronomy 6:5, of course, the first and greatest commandment of them all. Then, finally, in Deuteronomy, just before they are to enter the Promised Land, again, after 40 years of being sojourners in the wilderness themselves, God restates His position in no uncertain terms, Deuteronomy 10:18-19, where God says, "He administers," that is, God, "administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing." Physical sustenance, as we know. "Therefore," He underscores in verse 19, "therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

So, God expected Israel to have sympathy. No more than sympathy, empathy. No more than empathy, love. Love for those foreign families that wanted to be a part of their society, embrace the religion. The commentaries make this pretty plain and I believe godly logic if you think about it, underscores it as well. We're reminded of Ruth really as a prototypical example of this. As you recall, Ruth abandoned her people, came into Israel at that particular time with her mother-in-law and she proved to be more diligent than native Israelites in embracing God's way of life, and in so doing became part of the lineage of the King of kings, king David as well. You can see that in Matthew 1:5, Luke 3:32. So, she was both a shining example, Ruth, as a sojourner amongst physical Israelite at that time where God looked upon her quite a bit differently as we know. And she became a part of the actual lineage of our savior, Matthew 1:5 and Luke 3:32.

But she was also a type of what was to come. And God, of course, protected her along the way. She was, after all, one of his strangers, one of his sojourners. A couple of questions for you. How many here have had to move to another city, another state, another country? Can I have a show of hands? Lots. Lots. Okay. Or as a child or young adult began attending a new school where you knew virtually no one, where everyone was a stranger to you and you to them, or you had to leave friends, close friends perhaps and perhaps close relatives? Children? Anybody? I'm also a little curious, do we have any… You don't have to raise your hands here. Maybe I can assume this, but I'm also curious, do we have any refugees here? I mean, real refugees forced to leave your country, perhaps leaving family behind for economic, political or religious reasons? Now again, I don't mean to bring back bad memories, but do you remember how you felt? Can you think back and do you remember how you felt? Perhaps still feel when somebody like me is so impolite to bring up that and raise the question about it.

But if you think about it and if you've been in that position, perhaps you can relate to this. It's tough enough for an adult, but a child or a young adult, it can be devastating, particularly if they feel they'll always be on the outside looking in. Some of the hallmarks of psychological impacts, of course, being a sojourner or a stranger. I think some of us can relate to this. Before we became members of the Church or even after, when you have the Spirit of God, it does mitigate the fear, the anger, the despair, even depression. But I think a lot of times when you first go through that experience, it's the intense vulnerability that you feel, particularly if you're in a foreign land where a few, if any, speak your language, share your culture or religious beliefs. Our ancient forefathers should have understood this. So should we.

Back to God's directive. Now, the words in these Scriptures, the three that I gave you from the Old Testament, and there are others, but these three I think are sufficient, these have striking new covenant overtones. So, there is more, as is almost always the case with God, to these passages that meet the eye, as we'll see. God is always looking into the future. In this case, way, way into the future. First, for physical Israel's sake, before they were destined for captivity again, but even more for His Church, spiritual Israel, His called-out ones, His saints, His strangers, His sojourners. In short, you and me. So, just how important was this to God and the Word of that particular time that His people, physical Israel, treat sojourners, not foreigners who didn't buy into the culture, but sojourners who had settled amongst them and wanted to be a part of what Israel was given by God? We get a hint of this in Deuteronomy 27.

Deuteronomy 27, where we read of an unusual ceremony that occurred shortly after the 12 tribes were brought across the Jordan in a miraculous fashion, of course. They had been, again, in the wilderness as sojourners for 40 years, and God had instructed them before that, "I wanted you to go to two mountains." And this is perfect because we're surrounded by mountains here. The name of the one was Mount Gerizim, six tribes were to go there, as you recall. And then six tribes, including Naphtali, were on Mount Ebal's side. The ones on Mount Gerizim, six tribes, were to pronounce blessings. The six tribes on the Mount Ebal's side were to pronounce curses. So, I hope that isn't reflective of the tribes because Naphtali, like I said, was my tribe, was on the Mount Ebal's side.

But notice in Deuteronomy 27:19 where God simply says, “'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due to the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, “Amen!”’" Pretty serious stuff. In fact, how these tribes treated the most vulnerable in their society, violating the second of the two great commandments as well as God's Sabbath, the Sabbath Command was a reason initially for Israel's split, north and south. And then, eventually, of course, both going into captivity. They violated the Sabbath Command, but they also violated these pronouncements on Mount Ebal.

Let's fast forward to today. As was the case with our ancient forefathers, this nation, our peoples, United States of America and modern Israel, in general, today isn't in tune with living God's way of life. I think that's an understatement. I don't know how many have caught any of the debate last night such as it was, but I think it pretty well exemplifies where we're at as a people. So, again, we know they're not living God's way of life for the most part. And they barely tolerate anyone who does, native-born or foreigner. And as we recall, God's people had a very hard time under the reigns of people like Ahab and Jezebel in the north and Manasseh in the south, to name just two periods. Now, as we know, as Church of God members, we've been in congregation for a few years or many years. In my case, this is my 46th Feast, something like that. Prophecy indicates that in the days ahead, God's strangers, God's sojourners, that means you and me, will not be treated very well by fellow citizens or, very sadly, my family. Again, a pattern that has been repeated down through, unfortunately, thousands of years of history of our people.

In Micah 7:6, this is kind of underscored. When you read that in the Old Testament, it's hard to visualize what this was like then. It was prophetic, but it also had taken place as a type of the future back in the ancient days, as we call it. But this is what Micah was inspired to write in Micah 7:6. "For son dishonors father, daughter rises against her mother, daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own household." And that was an Old Testament statement of fact, but also a prophecy of what was to occur in our time in the days ahead. Christ also made it clear that our society would turn from mere tolerance to hatred towards those who dare live the truth, walk with God in the end times. And we see that in Matthew 10:21-22 and Matthew 10:36. "A man's enemies will be those of his own household." And I don't want to dwell on that. That's not my purpose here, but it's coming and that's the reality of what God pronounced thousands of years ago in terms of how Israel would treat those who would dare to embrace his way of life. And, of course, we have Matthew 24:10-12, very famous.

Now, for me personally, this is extremely difficult to process. Very difficult to process. In fact, it may be the toughest challenge to wrap my mind around and prepare for, but you need to prepare for it. However, as we know, our God will see us through this as well. After all, again, we are His strangers, His sojourners. And like He took care of Ruth and many others down through the centuries and millennia, He will take care of us. But how about the Church, spiritual Israel? How are we fairing in this department? After all, God's edict 3,500 years ago was more for His church than for physical Israel. The spiritual always takes precedent over and overrides the physical. For us, the challenge has not been so much how we treat the sojourner as it been, but how we treat fellow sojourners who walk among us. Now, again, I realize this is a sensitive subject and it's been well documented over 45 years. I've been in the Body of Christ, but with well over 100 divisions in the Church of God today and at risk of stating the obvious, I think it's safe to say we, generally as a church, could have done better. But in truth, I know we are doing better and will in the future. It's just one of the reasons we're here and to be more fully conformed to the image of His son who decidedly is not divided.

Now, as we know, our God is on a great character behavior modification. No, make that transformation program. And the vision we're given here and have been so magnificently for the first four days, three and a half, so amazing in its depth and breadth and width and height should drive changes needed in us to be ready as the bride of Christ. That vision should drive the necessary changes. And we all look forward to the day when the Body is united. And it will be. And it will be. Oscar Wilde once observed, “Nowadays people know the price of everything but the value of nothing.” It describes our nation, physical Israel, very well. And for you and me, we do know the value of unity, don't we? God's definition of unity, not man's. God's definition of unity. Treating our fellow sojourners the way our Father and elder Brother demand. We sing about it, do we not? Page 132, "How Good and How Pleasant." It's one of the Songs of Ascents of David. My pastor, Mr. Shaw, covered these beautifully on the weekly Sabbath. But let's just look at this a little bit because we're talking about the value of unity, the value that comes with treating fellow sojourners the way our loving Father and elder Brother want us to.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for our brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It's like the dew of Hermon," another mountain, "descending among the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing— life forevermore." So, the value of unity, which wasn't a part of ancient Israel in their psyche and certainly isn't a part of our peoples today, physically speaking, but it should be for us. Very clear, the value of unity with God and each other is eternal life. We know that. That is the value we hold to. That is what we hold on to. And that's what we want eventually for every human being who has ever lived. Do we not? That's why we're here.

On the other hand, and I don't speak for you, I'm not sure I know the price of unity, the price of fulfilling Christ's final request in John 17 for unity, for his younger brothers and sisters. Again, treating our fellow sojourners the way our Father and elder Brother expect us to, the way they expected physical Israel, ancient in today, to do so. And, again, that's why we're here. That's one of the reasons why we're here, to learn how to do that in a more perfect way, the way our Father and elder Brother treated each other throughout eternity. But, again, we know one of the things we take from the Feast days beginning Passover, Unleavened Bread, right on through the Eighth day is God, our great God, will address this in His way and in His time. And these days we're observing now are advanced proof of this coming reality. And we can take great comfort in that. And I certainly do, for sure. Let's go back briefly into the Old Testament and then finish in the book of Revelation.

Back to Ezekiel 47. Again, those same passages verses 22 through 23. Again, and it interesting that God would allow, interspersed the stranger or the sojourner amongst his established tribes at this particular time. Again, like I said at the beginning, it raises all kinds of questions. But I think one thing is patently clear, at least I'd like to think so, that physical Israel is given yet another chance, another opportunity to fulfill their responsibility given to them in the Old Testament to be that model nation exemplifying God's way of life, living in God's zone, including loving the stranger, to finally recognize something they couldn't fathom anciently or even today, that the sojourners among them, God's sojourners, were potential sons and daughters of the God who blessed them into existence in the first place. In this beautiful passage in Ezekiel 47:22-23, it's a mere physical type of a magnificent spiritual reality that is occurring frequently throughout a 1,000 years where God is birthing children into His family. Just like our desire and our goal is.

Now, notice the clear prophetic statements regarding this. Isaiah, specifically referring to physical Israel but I think we can take a look at this regarding spiritual as well, Isaiah 14:1, Isaiah 14:1, where it says, "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land." And, of course, we've just read that. "The strangers” or sojourners “will be joined with them and they will cling to the house of Jacob." What a tremendous contrast. They're beginning to reverse the curse of Mount Ebal. And in Isaiah 55:3-5, similarly, "Incline your ear, and come to Me." Isaiah 55:3-5. "And nations who do not know you..." That's why people who… as we know from Isaiah and many other prophecies, will look to the model nation and they're finally doing things right, finally exemplifying to the world what God originally designed for them to do. Notice this, "Nations who do not know you will run to you… for He has glorified you." I don't know how many times people run to you, but usually, it's to ask for money or to collect money.

So, here is a situation where Israel obviously is doing something right, something right and the whole world is looking at them. And they will actually run into physical Israel because they want to be a part of God's way, God's zone. Once more in Isaiah. Isaiah 56:6-8. Isaiah 56:6-8. "Also the sons of the foreigner” the sojourner, “who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him," and this is clearly a millennial setting, "and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants— everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath, and holds fast to My covenant— even them I will bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices…" as we know, that will be reinstituted in the Millennium for physical Israel to bring them, just another way as teaching mechanism, to bring all the nations to God and His great plan. “'Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.’ And the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says, ‘Yet I will gather to him others besides those who are gathered to him.’"

So, here we see laid out and in many other Scriptures what the scientists seek as the great universal unifying principle. And this is God's great unifying principle, universal: total submission to our Father and elder Brother leads to eternal life. No matter where you're from, no matter what your past, no matter what you've been through, no matter where you've come from, the great universal unifying principle, that if you submit to God our Father and Jesus Christ, it leads to eternal life for all who do so. Simply amazing. It's hope-filled, these Scriptures we read every year at the Feast, our hope-filled energizing prophecies like Mr. Miller brought to us yesterday. And the closer we get to the reality, the more meaning they have for us because we're living it, brethren. We're living it, understanding the importance of why we're here, what God has in mind for us as spiritual Israel, modeling His way of life for those around us. But also physical Israel will have that chance again.

For you and me, by the time these Scriptures are fulfilled, we will, of course, have discovered the price of unity as God ordained it. And we all have lessons to learn, we know that. But we'll also at that time have the enormous privilege of an opportunity to assist all the world's sojourners in their paths to sonship. A greater privilege we could not envision, of course. Result of our joint effort with Christ is summarized picturesquely in several Scriptures in the book of Revelation. Revelation 21. These will probably be read again, but I'll keep it focused here. Chapter 21 verse 6 and 7. "And He said to me, 'It is done!’" That is, Christ said to John. "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I'll give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son." No ifs, ands, or buts about it. No lawyer's fine print here. Simply, it's done. It's finished. It's perfected.

In verse 27, "But there shall by in no means enter it," that is, the new Jerusalem, "anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." At this time, there'll be no more strangers, no more sojourners, only family. Only family. And then in Revelation 22:3-4, God says, and this has got to be a joyful thing when He inspired John to write this down, "And there shall be no more curse." That's right. God will have removed the Mount Ebal curse and all others. All others. "For the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads." A pretty familial setting described here, remarkably inspiring, and hopefully, marvelously motivating.

Brethren, God's family gathered here in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Thursday, October, 20th, 2016. Our heavenly Father is the God of the fatherless, the widow, and the stranger, the sojourner. It's His and Christ's nature to take care of the needy, the vulnerable, including you and me, especially you and me. This is a service they take very seriously, at least as we've seen, and one they expect the same from us along the way. As sojourners, pilgrims, and strangers ourselves in this world, we can and should identify with those whose physical security has been stripped from them by no fault of their own, how much more those fellow sojourners seeking the truth, however imperfectly.

Now, we are exceedingly blessed, exceedingly blessed to know the outcome of all this. As Mr. Armstrong used to say, that the final book and the final chapters and we win. And we look forward to the day. We look forward to the day where there'll be no more separation and anxiety, feeling of vulnerability, loss of place, no more sojourners. In the end or rather the new beginning, there will be no strangers. All who exist will be a part of God's joyous family, as we know, and have an eternity to get to know one another as, whereas Paul was inspired to phrase it, to know as we are known. To know as we are known. This is priceless knowledge we are sharing with mankind now, and we'll be during the Millennium and beyond. And I'm convinced more and more with each other as we move toward our eternal destiny.