P.O. Box 640109

El Paso, TX 79904

24 May, 1998

Dear Children,

Well after that very controversial ending of Vampires In The Church (a lot of people didn’t agree on what I said the Word of God has to say) I think we’ll tone it down just a tad and teach on something that most can agree on. But then again, just that one statement "something that most people can agree on" is pretty dangerous to say the least. You see, when it comes to the Holy Bible there are many religious things that people have been taught and that people believe in that aren’t even in the Scriptures. And even though what they believe in was taught to them by their church, or their parents, or whomever, it really doesn’t hold water if it didn’t come from the Word of God. And that’s why I try my very best every week to give you everything that I give you straight from the Holy Bible. Because then if you disagree with what I‘ve had to say, and what I’ve had to say comes from the Word of God, then you will be disagreeing with the Word of God instead of me.

But anyway, this week we’ll try our best to present a message that won’t go against most peoples beliefs. Because it was only several weeks ago that the wife of a very close friend asked me (in so many words) to tell her why God was allowing certain things to happen to her and her husband. And the one thing that was bothering her the most was her inability to have a baby. You see it’s not that she can’t get pregnant but she just can’t carry the baby long enough for it to fully develop. Because for three consecutive times now she and her husband have started the process of becoming a parent only to be disappointed with miscarriages and the loss of the child.

Now this lady and her husband do love the Lord, and they do trust in His ability to work great and mighty miracles, but they just don’t understand why they continue to lose baby after baby after baby. And to be honest with you I really can’t blame them. I mean just take a look around you at all the females who have gone through a full pregnancy, with healthy babies inside of them (ready to be born), only to do the most unnatural thing of killing them (abortion). So why in the world does God allow some who don’t want a child to become pregnant while seemingly not allowing those who really want one to have one?

Well before I even attempted to start this sermonet, at the request of my friends (why can’t we have children), I sincerely asked God to give me His answer through His Word. Well that’s what I did, and I believe that’s what He did, and the following journey through the Word of God will be our answer.

And what better place to start looking for the answer to such a very in depth question than "in the beginning". So picking up the story in Genesis chapter 1, and reading, " In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth... And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth... And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

Now I realize that some of you probably get very tired reading this account of the Garden of Eden over and over and over again, but I don’t! And the reason why I don’t get tired of reading Genesis 1-3 is because each and every time I read it I learn a whole lot more. You see the Word of God LIVES! It’s not only a book with words but it’s The Living Book with Living Words. And because the Word of God lives, each and every time I read this Glorious Book I get more information out of it. You see It grows as I grow. The more I seek the Lord the more the Lord gets into me. And one of the big ways He gets into me is through His Living Word. Understand?

OK, so let’s get back to the message. In the beginning God created man in His own image (shape, form, or shadow of). And after creating this man (Adam) from the dust of the ground He made (built) the woman (Eve) from one of Adam’s ribs (see Genesis 2). Now notice that God didn’t create woman (Eve) from the dust of the ground but He made her from a piece of Adam’s very own body. God created man, then He made woman from the man, and then He "blessed them, and... said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it".

So without a doubt God wanted the man and woman (Adam and Eve) to have babies, and lots of em. They (Adam and Eve) were all that there was (as far as people were concerned) and it was their responsibility to fill the earth back up with em. Now I don’t know about you but that’s what I call a mighty tall order; one couple repopulating the earth. But that’s what God wanted, and that’s exactly what was just about ready to happen when Mr. Slithering Slimy Serpent came in on the scene. And of course the rest of the story should be very familiar history to most but just in case some of you might have missed it let’s review it again. You see it was Satan who used the serpent to talk Eve into doing what she shouldn’t have done, who talked Adam into doing what he shouldn’t have done, who brought down this whole mess called sin on everybody’s head. And the everybody I’m talking about not only included the serpent, the woman, and the man, but also the baby.

Because picking up the story in Genesis 3: 14-16, we will find, "And the LORD God... Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

Now before Adam and Eve took that earthshaking bite of the fruit from The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil, the process of a woman giving birth to a child would have been a piece of cake. That was before sin. But after that first little seemingly insignificant bite (sin) everything changed pretty quick. You see the sin of Adam and Eve not only produced a curse that would affect the woman during her pregnancy, but also at the birth of the child and through the child’s lifetime. And now that sin had entered into both the man and woman, their lives, along with their children’s lives, were going to be full of sorrow and pain. So this once joyous God given responsibility of repopulating the world had suddenly turned into a not so joyous event. Because of the sin of their parents (Adam and Eve) every child from then on out would be born with the curse. Satan had won a major victor in his rebellion against God and the end results would be sickness, disease, and death.

And just as predicted this curse of sorrow and pain didn’t take too awful long to show up. Because reading from Genesis 4:1-8 we find, "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell... And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."

Now this is not what most parents would consider happy times with the family. Adam and Eve had just witnessed the horrible sight of their very first son (Cain) committing the very first murder, and the victim of this killing just happened to be their second son Abel. So it looked as though Satan’s promise of "ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" wasn’t too far from the truth. In the Garden of Eden (before they got kicked out) Adam and Eve knew only peace and tranquillity; they only knew good. But after that first bite they suddenly became bombarded with problems, pain, and sorrow. They were now experiencing evil, and they were experiencing it through their first child, and I’m sure it didn’t make them feel any too good. So Satan jumped on their son Cain with both feet and the results were much pain and sorrow for the entire family.

You see each and every child born into this world is fair game for Satan. And because of that first original sin of Adam and Eve, Satan’s influence in every child’s life now starts before they are even born. Satan now has a very unfair advantage and he uses it to the best of his ability to try and convince every child to follow him. And seeing how Satan had successfully done this with Cain he went right on and used this new convert to do his dirty work. Now it’s a known fact that Satan wants to be totally in control; he just can’t stand the thought of anyone worshipping God. And there was one named Abel who he couldn’t convince to follow him, so he just took care of him another way; he had him snuffed out.

Now even though Cain was in rebellion against God he was allowed to continue on with his life on earth. God did not destroy him, but He let him go on out and build a nation of his own which ever so slowly became more and more evil. Because as we read in Genesis 4:17-17, "And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch; and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."

Are you starting to see the reason God said "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children". You see it wasn’t God causing this curse to grow bigger and bigger. All God did was to create man, make woman from man, and then bless them to fill the world with children. And if Adam and Eve would have obeyed him in the beginning, I would like to think that every one of them younguns would have been serving the Lord. But they didn’t do what they should have done and their God designed blessing became a Satan designed curse. Satan had successfully initiated sin into the human race and it seemed as though almost all of Adam and Eve’s children had a bad case of it.

So right off the bat Adam and Eve lost two sons; one to Satan and one to death. But Adam and Eve continued to have children so that by the time they were about 130 years old, their children, and grandchildren, and great grandchildren made up a total of several hundreds of thousands of people. You see Adam and Eve had lots of children, but from the looks of things none of them were like the one they lost (Abel). So they continued making babies and replenishing the earth until one day, reading from verses 25-26, "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God , said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD."

It appeared as though everything was on a downhill run until Enos (Abel #2) was born. And Enos (the good) was grossly out numbered by the rest of them (the bad). But he followed the Lord and he taught his children to do the same until one day (several generations later), reading from the 6th chapter of Genesis, "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."

Now what I’m about to tell you is probably going to blow your mind, but it’s necessary that we cover it so that we can get to where we need to go. And of course the title of this message (the place we need to go) is Why It’s Difficult For Some Women To Have Children. And since we are researching the children part of the Scriptures please pay close attention to what we have just read. You see the daughters of men being spoken about were the daughters of the man Adam, and they weren’t at all bad looking. But even though they were good looking they weren’t following the Lord, because that’s not the way their papa (Adam) had raised them. So once again things were in a mess, and all because of Adam, but God gave him 120 years to clean up his act.

But that’s just part of the story, because it was these so called sons of God who took these loose living daughters of Adam and made them their wives. And the wild and crazy thing about it was that these sons of God were not human beings, they were angels (the no good fallen kind). So what we have here is Satan’s rebellious angels marrying Adams rebellious good looking daughters and ending up with some very unusual and unnatural children. Satan had gone just a little too far in his attempt to take control, he had done something he wasn’t allowed to do, and as we will see very shortly God was very upset about the whole stinking mess.

You see even though Satan’s rebellion against God ain’t right, God still allows it. But even though He allows it, in order to keep everything on the up and up God has drawn up a set of do’s and don’t’s that both He and Satan follow (the rules of the game). And one of the best places in the Bible to see this first hand is in the book of Job. So reading from chapter 1, verses 6-12, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?"

So let me set the stage by explaining what we have just read. As the Scripture begins we see God Almighty sitting on His throne in Heaven while Satan and the rest of the angels (sons of God) walk up and humbly stand before Him. And it’s these same angels (sons of God) who were all made by God to serve Him, but because of Satan’s overthrow attempt against God they didn’t. And ever since that very fateful day so long ago, when Satan took one third along with him, the angels have become two opposing teams; good angels and bad angels. And seeing how God wants us all to have a choice (including the angels) He allowed them to either follow Him or Satan. So the way it worked out was instead of this very large group of angels working for the same purpose, they became bitter enemies. And even though these bad angels were enemies of God, they still came under His control. Because no matter how much Satan wanted to be God, he wasn’t, and furthermore he will never be. And because of the fact that he ain’t God, he, along with the rest of his fallen angels, still have to follow the rules of God Almighty.

And it was on that day, as they stood before God in Heaven, that they had to tell their Commanding General all the details of what was going on with their life on earth. And of course since it’s Satan’s only desires to kill, steal, and destroy everything he can get his hands on, he gets very upset when he can’t do exactly that. And seeing how God loves to see His children stand up against this big bully Satan, He questions Satan on why he hasn’t tried to do his dirty works on Job. And it’s right about then that the rest of the story unfolds: "Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."

You see this is a very clear example of God setting up the rules of the game. There are things that Satan and his angels are allowed to do and then again there are things that they aren’t allowed to do. And it was in this situation with Job that God gave Satan the go ahead to do a little more. Because reading from verse 12 we see, "And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD."

Satan was given the right to cause problems in Job’s life but he wasn’t allowed to touch Job. And that’s the way God works; certain things he allows and others he doesn’t. But going back to the Scripture in Genesis, this thing about bad angels taking earthly women to be their wives was a definite no-no. Because reading on we find, "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it greaved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

Now keep it in mind that we are still talking on this very important subject of children. And as you should be able to see by now, this blessing that God put on mankind so many years ago ("be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it") is still in effect, and to be used for His glory, but of course Satan is trying his best to use it for himself. So with all of that having been said, what do you get when you cross one of them nice looking daughters of Adam with an evil angel of Satan? You get a great big mean and nasty baby, who grows up to be a great big mean and nasty giant, who’s determined to do the exact opposite of what God wants him to do. And that was Satan’s plan, and it was working very nicely, until God said enough is enough... And then came the flood!

You see the reason God brought on the flood was to kind of put things back in their proper perspective. Satan and his angels had overstepped their boundaries and broken the rules of the game, with the end results being half human half angel creatures (giants) walking around on the face of the earth. Things were in a mess. And it seems as though every person on this earth, except Noah and his children, fit into the category of being bad. So in order to get rid of the bad and keep the good Noah and his family had to be the ones to build the boat that would survive the flood and save those very few people God considered good enough to continue on with His plan.

And likewise that’s why we find starting with Genesis 6:8, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD... And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation... And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth... And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth... And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died."

Now ain’t it amazing just how much trouble God has gone through in order to keep us poor old sinful people going. So now that the flood is finished let’s see what happens next. Reading on, "And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry... And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done... And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

Well are you starting to see the picture a little better now? It has always been God’s desire to bless us with children, but Satan just keeps right on trying to make them our curse. So after the flood, now that there were no more half human half angel people running around, it looked as though Noah and his family were about ready to do it again..."Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."

And since this is as good a place as any to shut this thing down until next week, I think that’s exactly what we will do. So tune in again at the same time and same place when we will continue on (if the Lord’s willing) with Why It’s Difficult For Some Women To Have Children part II.

So until then, be wise to the Devil, don’t take any of his wooden nickels, and keep the faith!!!

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)