Come Home to Bethlehem
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1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth-lehem-judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.
2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.
3 And Elimelech Naomi’s husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.
4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.
5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.
7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.
Introduction
Introduction
Come Home to Betlehem
When the going got rough in Israel, Elimelech had a decision to make. The Bible said he was “of Bethlehem-Judah”. That meant he had a possession and a place in the land of promise.
Joshua had divided the land between the twelve tribes of Israel, with Judah getting what would become Bethlehem.
The area was settled by Rahab and her husband.
She married Caleb’s son Salma, who was the father or founder of Bethlehem. (1 Chron 2:51)
Once land was allocated to a certain tribe, and a certain family within that tribe, title could never completely pass from that family.
23 The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.
24 And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land.
The land couldn’t be forever lost, it was redeemable, always.
That doesn’t mean the enemies surrounding Bethlehem would not attempt to take it by force, but it means if they would stay in the land, and defend it, it was theirs.
The same thing is true of our land, which is all the Promises of God for our day.
Elimelech was born in Bethlehem. That gave him certain rights and responsibilities as a Bethlehemite.
Bethlehem means “House of God’s Bread”.
Christ was born in Bethlehem, and became God’s House of Eternal Life Bread. He is the Bread of Life. He is our Bethlehem. Christ is our Bethlehem.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
He had to die to become bread.
Then if you can only live natural, by dead substance, something had to die so you can live natural, how much more did Something have to die so you live Eternally! Christ died, that we might live Eternally.
And He become the House of God’s Eternal Life Bread, that we catch, freshly, every hour of the day, coming down from God out of Heaven, in the form of the Holy Spirit, feeds our hungry souls as we set together in Heavenly places. He is our Bethlehem.
Then all true believing sons of God are born in Bethlehem with Him. If Christ had to become the Bread of Life, to be born in Bethlehem, which is Life’s Bread House, then every one of true believers in Christ is born in Christ, they are born in God’s Bethlehem. Amen.
Then, not only Jesus was born in Bethlehem, I was born in Bethlehem, you were born in Bethlehem. How did you do it? Right here in Phoenix, Arizona, this morning in the Ramada, you can be born again in God’s Bethlehem, House of Eternal Bread Life. Eat It and live forever!
Why little Bethlehem? That’s today, “Why a bunch of little holy rollers? Why this, that or the other?” The people don’t know what It’s all about.
But the Spirit reveals It. The Word shows It. It’s the manifestation of God’s Word. We have Life through Christ, and Him alone. Our organizations, our denominations, our differences, only separates us from God. We have one access to God, and that’s through Jesus Christ.
There’s not another way that we can come through, in by no priest, no preacher, no system, or nothing else, only Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
He’s God’s Bread of Life, and we are borned in Him. And if He is God’s Bread of Life, then He is Bethlehem. And being born in Christ, we are then God-born in Bethlehem, in Christ Jesus, sitting together in Heavenly places, eating of Him.
Eating of Him! Who is He? He’s the Word. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And when we can sit with one objective, the Word of God, and feed upon That, we are in God’s spiritual Bethlehem, eating God’s spiritual Bread, and our souls punctuating every Word that He spoke, with an “Amen!” We enjoy this Heavenly angel Food.
When It says, “These signs shall follow them that believe.” The creed or denomination says, “Oh, It isn’t so.” But the real man who’s born in Bethlehem, says, “Amen!”
“The works that I do shall you do also.” The denomination says, “It’s a bunch of work-up emotion.” But the real Bethlehem dweller says, “Amen,” because he is satisfied, That’s angel Food.
“If ye abide in Me and My Words in you, ask what you will, and it’ll be done for you.” Amen.
Oh, the high and prudent will never see it. We hold so much to our traditions of the elders, so much that we have to pack cards and everything else to get in some pulpit. That ain’t it.
You can get in God’s pulpit by humbling yourself. Come into the House of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ, and live forever in His Presence, and lifted up in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, feasting on the Word. That’s God’s Bethlehem. 63-1214 - "Why Little Bethlehem"
Come home to Bethlehem!
Elimelech left Bethlehem.
Note: Bethlehem is not a church.
There is a spirit in the Message today that if you are associated with certain ministries or churches or pastors you are “in the Message” and if you leave you are backslidden.
This is nonsense.
We are not a gang, a cult or a denomination, we are a body.
I want everyone to come here who wants to be here, but a person who leaves this church should be treated just the same as when they were here.
Bro. Branham had people leave his church, for the wrong reasons. They could not take correction on the gifts. Bro. Branham even called them illegitimate children.
I said, “Just let it alone! They’re babies. We can’t judge it, but watch when it really comes to pin down to the Word.”
Now, Brother Junior Jackson had a right to disagree with that. He wants his church…The people all want to speak with tongues and things in the audience. That’s Brother Junior’s troubles; that’s up to him.
But Junior Jackson believes this Message the same as the…any of the rest of us does. He’s one of us. And it’s not a “dead bird” to go there. Junior Jackson is a man of God that I love with all my heart. And is not here tonight, so I can really pour it on the way I want to.
And Don Ruddell…I don’t think Don’s here tonight, ’cause they got church of their own. But if I seen every person come to this tabernacle, walk out and go to Don Ruddell, or Brother J. T. Parnell, or Brother…any of these brothers here that’s our brothers here and fellow citizens of the Kingdom, I’d be so happy I wouldn’t know what to do.
I’d say, “Lord, fill this one back up again. Let’s pour it out and fill up another one.” I’d love it. I’d love to see those boys…They’re my children. 64-0823E - "Questions And Answers #2"
Are we edifying the body or are we building kingdoms?
1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
If the devil can keep us separated, he’s got us shooting at one another, so he’s got a open target anywhere he wants to shoot. And what’s the use of shooting, we’re shooting one another? See, see? So he can just set back and relax.
If I have found grace in your sight through God, you take my word for this, brethren. If you want to be a blessing, and get a blessing, when a man has done you wrong, and he has absolutely justly, he…
I mean he has done you wrong and you know that he’s done you wrong; he’s done you evil. Don’t mention that; you take him to prayer before God.
And don’t take it in a way of just a selfish and say, “Well, I’m supposed to do this.” But stand with your shoulder to his shoulder, and stand in the Presence of God our Father, way a prayer should be made in the Presence of God, say, “Father, here’s my brother, and he is justly; he deserves punishment because he’s done me evil. And I don’t see why he did it.”
Then let God go to talking to you. And you’ll see maybe, what that man’s been through. The devil has twisted him up somewhere and caused him to do that. Though he’s absolutely wrong, before you leave the throne of God you’ll be feeling sorry for that man.
You’ll be sympathizing with that brother. And when you get back down to earth again, you’ll go over to that brother and shake his hand, ’cause you know what he’s been through. You can’t stand with a mortal in the Presence of God and condemn anybody, I don’t believe, no, sir, even if he is a rank sinner.
And what about a brother that has made a mistake? Though I say he’s wrong. Sometimes he’s accused wrong when he’s not wrong.
But if he is wrong, well, if we will take him to the throne of God, stand there shoulder-to-shoulder with our brother, knowing he’s a mortal, and maybe his destination rests upon our attitude towards him, when we come back from the throne of God, we’ll realize that we’re every one guilty, and we all need help one from the other. And the best way to do is pray. 58-0301B - "The Great Commission"
We must stand for truth. We must preach the Word. But we must not treat people like objects. They are not pawns in our Machiavellian games. They are the purchase of God’s blood.
My friends, I don’t want to hurt feelings, but I am responsible for a Message, and, that Message is, “Come out of this mess!” And if I ask you to come out, where am I going to take you to? Would I take you to the Branham Tabernacle? It’s as much fault as any of the rest of them.
But there’s one place I can take you to, where you’re safe and protected from death, that’s in Jesus Christ, God’s place of worship.
That’s the place I’m introducing to you, tonight, where God put His Name. Where He promised He would meet every person that come in there, He would worship with him and feast with him, that’s in Christ; not in no church, no tabernacle.
But, in Christ, He is God’s Tabernacle. He is the place that God came into, Himself, and dwelt in Him. “This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am pleased to dwell in.” 65-0220 - "God's Chosen Place Of Worship"
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Let me cry with all my heart, Hear ye Him!
Come Home to Him! He is our Bethlehem.
There was a famine in Israel.
During the time of the judges, when the first thing, there come a time when Israel got away from God. And when they did, the water supply was withheld.
And when people get away from God today, the water supply is withheld. All other blessings will be withheld. 55-1119 - "Redeemer, Redemption"
Naomi means “pleasant.” Elimelech was her husband, means “worship.” “Pleasant worship” was her family. They had a son, Mahlon, one that means “sickness.” And Chilion, the other, meant “weary, gloomy, sadness.” There was the family.
And there come a famine in the land of Israel. And the first mistake a Jew ever makes, is, leave that land. God gave them that land.
When Abraham was given that land, God told him not to leave that land. And he made a mistake when he went down into Gerar, got in trouble. A Jew is never to leave Palestine. That’s his lotted place.
And they have been drove out, all over the world. And now they are returning back again. Oh, it’s such a beautiful story we have here, this morning. They are returning back. 60-1002 - "The Kinsman Redeemer"
That explains a lot about the current situation in Israel.
Moab is a type of organization.
They left the freedom of the Word for an organization that promised food, but it wasn’t God’s bread, it was Moabite creeds.
There was a price to pay for their backsliding. Elimelech died, and their two sons died.
When you trust in a church, instead of Christ, worship dies.
That cycle of revival and death has never failed. All you have to do is recall this last move of God in the Spirit when men and women dressed like Christians, went to church, prayed all night, took to street corners and weren’t ashamed of the manifestations of the Spirit.
They left their old dead churches and worshipped in homes or old store buildings. They had reality. But it wasn’t too long a time until they began to get enough money to build fine new churches.
They put in a choir instead of singing unto God for themselves. They put gowns on the choir. They organized a movement and ran it by man. They soon began to read books that weren’t fit to read. They let down the bars and goats came in and took over.
The cry of joy was gone. The freedom of the Spirit was gone. Oh, they kept on with a form; but the fire had died down and the blackness of ashes is about all that is left. An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages (3 - The Ephesian Church Age)
When we leave the Word we lose our worship. We might shout, dance, speak in tongues, but the connection is gone.
If you want to keep worship alive, stay in Bethlehem.
Every Word of the Bible is breathed out by God.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
Eve misinterpreted one Word, and lost her worship.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
People want relief from the famine but they don’t want to stay in the land.
The church cries today, “O Heavenly Father, will You please send Jesus to us? Will You please?” And when the Holy Spirit begins to move in, “Oh, that’s…We don’t want that.” See? Well, you be, “Oh, oh, we won’t have this man rule over us. Oh, I don’t want to hear That.
No. My…I couldn’t accept That, my denomination won’t believe That.” Then you don’t want a Messiah, you don’t want the anointing. If God sent a Messiah, He’d be exactly Word by Word of the Bible, exactly what He was at the first time. 62-1216 - "The Falling Apart Of The World"
Coping with the Word.
(Cope means to deal with effectively even through difficulty. To contend or wrestle with)
When this takes place, the thing you’ll do then, you’ll find out that the Spirit that comes in you, from the new Birth, you will believe and do everything that God says in His Word is for you to do. And everything that the Bible quotes for you to do, you’ll punctuate it with an “amen.”
And you’ll not stop, day and night, until you receive it. That’s right. That’s right. And in all this time, you’ll certainly, above everything, bear the fruit of the Spirit.
You say, “Will I speak with tongues?” You might do that, and you might not. “Will I shout?” You might do that. You might not.
But there’s one sure thing you will do. You will bear the fruit of the Spirit. And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, faith, longsuffering, meekness, gentleness, patience.
Your temper will not be, “Oooh!” Just remember, when you got that, that poisons the Holy Spirit away from you. See? When you get to a place that you want to fuss with everybody you come along to, there’s something wrong.
When you get a place where the…a minister will read from the Bible, that it’s wrong to do a certain thing, and, you’ll…Just remember, there’s no Christianity there at all. That’s now, that, “By their fruits you shall know them.” That’s what Jesus said.
If it’s the Word, and God said so, that Spirit in you will cope with that Word, every time. Cause, genuine Holy Spirit will cope with the Word, ’cause the Word is Life and Spirit.
Jesus said, “My Words are Life.” And if you’ve got Eternal Life, and He is the Word, how can the Word deny the Word? See? What kind of a person would you make God? That’s one thing to know, that you’re a Christian, when you can fully agree upon every Word of God.
And you find yourself in love with your enemies. Somebody say, “Well, he’s nothing but a holy-roller.” And you start to get…Ah! Be careful. Um-hum. Be careful. But when you really find, yourself, that you love him! Regardless of what they do, you still love them. 63-0630E - "Is Your Life Worthy Of The Gospel?"
Does your life cope with that?
Can you be like Jacob wrestling with that Word until it changes you?
4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: He wept, and made supplication unto him: He found him in Beth-el, and there he spake with us;
For sin and sickness:
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.
Have you wrestled with that? Come home to Bethlehem.
What about Assembling yourself together? What about how we treat one another? Can we cope with every Word?
When someone tells us what the Word says do we get mad? Come Home to Bethlehem.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We don’t know how Naomi heard there was a revival going on in Bethlehem, the Jews say an Angel told her. In our day a Messenger came to tell us, there is a Bride Revival! Lets come home to Bethlehem.