Study Desk

People filed out onto Solomon's Porch to see what was happening and saw the man with his arms around Pete and John.

The same God who Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob served has now brought honor and glory to his Son, Jesus Christ. This is the same Jesus who you had killed. The same one you shunned in front of Pilate.

A time is comin' fast where you will get your second wind in the presence of the Lord, and God is going to send him back to gather all his cowboys up and take them home with him.

The cattle barons of the earth prepare for war, and the governors gather to fight the Lord and his Top Hand.'

The head preacher and his cronies, who belonged the Sadducees, were jealous and completely frustrated because of what these cowboys were doing.

The cowboys rode through the gates of the main church at daylight and spoke loud and clear for all to hear.When the head preacher and his cronies arrived at work that day, they called for an emergency meeting of all the bigwig rulers of Israel. They told the guards to bring the cowboys in for a hearing.

"We gave y'all strict orders not to teach about Jesus. You have caused everyone to believe we were responsible for his death."

God raised him from the dead and gave him the best seat in his house. He made him Prince of the kingdom and Savior of all cowboys. Why would he do this, you ask? God did it so the people of Israel would turn from their sins and be forgiven.

Do y'all remember when Theudas was claiming to be someone important? He had about four hundred followers, but he and all his men were killed. It turned out they were nothing.

A little while later, that guy named Judas from Galilee came riding out during the census making a big ruckus, but he and his men were also killed. Everything they claimed they rode for came to nothing.

This is what he said, "Listen to me, all you. God, in all his glory, showed himself to our greatest of granddaddies, Abe. He did this while Abe still lived in Mesopotamia, before he moved to Haran.

So Abe did just that and stayed in Haran until his daddy had died. Then God led him to the land where we now live.

"But God didn't give him the land. Not even a small water lot to keep his horses. But God did say he would give all the land to Abe's descendants. This was ironic because Abe and his wife couldn't have kids.

God also told Abe his descendants would be in a foreign country as slaves for four hundred years.

"God also taught Abe the pickle-clippin' promise. When Abe's son, Isaac, was born, he clipped his little boy's pickle on the eighth day just like God told him to. The ceremony continued with Isaac's boy, Jake, and on down the line to his boys. And it is Jake's boys who would become the twelve patriarchs of Israel.

and saved his hide from a bunch of troubles down there. God helped Joseph become the second most powerful man in Egypt behind Pharaoh.

Jake heard there was still some food down in Egypt, so he sent his sons down there to trade for some.

They made two trips, and on the second trip, Joseph told his brothers who he was. Pharaoh even learned about Joseph's family and their struggles.

Joseph told his brothers to go and fetch the whole family—seventy-five in all.

"When the time got close to fulfill his promise to Abe about freeing all his descendants from slavery, there was a whole herd of people.