What Has God Told Us?
Question: Is there a key passage for this overview of the Bible?
Answer: The Key is from the Bible's Book of Ecclesiastes 3:11:
“He {God}
●
has made everything beautiful in its time.
●
Also,
He {God}
has put eternity into man’s heart,
●
yet so that he
{humankind}
cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”
ESV
The message is unified and clear.
► “He
{God}
made
everything beautiful in its time.”
God's original creation was beautiful:
a beautiful world with beautiful plant and animal life,
a beautiful environment, and beautiful people.
► “Also, He has put eternity into man’s heart.”
God created humankind in
“The image of God.”
They were created to know God
and to reflect the glory of God!!!
God placed within many or His creatures specific instincts such as
migration and hibernation.
The greatest of all instincts is the human sense of eternality and a sense of a "higher"
power.
Some say that God even “wrote”
His moral code within the human conscience.
Could it be that ignoring God leads to emptiness?
► “Yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” ESV
God did not place within humankind an ability to know either the future
or to comprehend all of God’s purposes.
Therefore, a special, direct Revelation from God was/is necessary.
God provided His Revelation by inspiring authors, under the direction of His Holy Spirit,
to provide key information concerning things that humanity has no ability to determine
without God's divine Revelation.
Question:
Has God revealed all possible knowledge?
Moses spoke awesomely to this issue:
"The secret things belong unto the LORD our God:
but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever,
that we may do all the words of this law.”
(Deuteronomy 29:29)
KJV
Scripture quotations are taken from the
Authorized King James Version (KJV)
unless otherwise noted.
The KJV is in the public domain.
(Crown Copyright in UK)
Color Code:
Bible Text
God's words
Human words
Comments
References
Links)
"For thus saith the LORD
that created the heavens;
God himself that
formed the earth
and made it;
He hath established it,
He created it
not in vain (empty) ,
He formed it
to be inhabited:
'I am the LORD;
and
there is none else." KJV
Chapter One
is humanity’s
introduction to God.
"In the beginning God."
(beginning of time)
God was there,
and
He created everything:
time, space, matter,
energy
with the,
"after its kind,"
DNA molecules
for each life-form.
In Genesis One,
we can see God
as being
all powerful,
all wise,
all present
a God of order,
beauty, and love.
a planet, and a ”garden”
that was
perfect in every way.
There would only be
excellent, beautiful plants,
magnificent animals,
beautiful people,
ideal temperatures & humidity
with unbelievable landscapes.
The initial
rebellious devistation
Was from a
"beautiful" angel,
Satan.
Satan boasted five
defiant
"I WILL"
declarations.
(See Satan)
on the Bible’s credibility begin with
the devilish question:
"Yea, hath God said?"
("Did God really say that?")
In Genesis Chapter Three,
Satan entered
with his successful effort to question
what God had said and
to devastate God’s
perfect ecosystem.
From that moment
the perfect beauty and
ecological balance
has been/is being desecrated.
The totality of humanity
was/is devastated.
The question is answered
by God's Revelation,
The Bible.
The Bible records the
good and the bad
of human history,
as played out
by representaive people:
especially by the
Old Testament
Nation of Israel.
Why does God allow
bad things to happen?
Why does God
not stop a person
from jumping off a bridge?
Why is so much
violence and evil recorded?
Why does God seem to be
so judgmental?
We find answers by looking at
the Bible's overall message.
"The. Bible teaches that,
though man is hopelessly lost,
man is not nothing.
Man is lost because he is
separated from God
by true moral guilt.
But, man will never be nothing.
Therein lies the horror of his,
lostness.
For man to be lost,
in all his uniqueness
and wonder, is tragic."
Francis A. Schaeffer,
Escape From Reason,
ISBN:0-87784-538-7, p21 (Schaffer)
God Reveals
THE KEY
for release from guilt.
provides information
to the people who dare
to believe
what God clearly states.
The un-believer often judges
only selected passages to be credible.
Thus, The Bible is a Book for faith.
"The just shall live
by his faith."
(Habakkuk 2:4)
If God created
"all things beautiful"
and created humankind
"in the image of God,"
WHAT HAPPENED???
Why is everything in such a mess???
God's Revelation answers:
What happened?
Why such a mess?
What can be done?
God's Revelation presents
both
heartbreaking reality
and a dramatic
"rescue" plan
for humankind's
desperate condition
of helplessness.
information
is necesary
for fulfilled living
now and preparation
for a pleasant
eternal existence.
"The Scriptures
give the key
to two kinds of knowledge:
the knowledge of God,
and
the knowledge
of man and
of human nature.
[...] God revealed
His attributes
to man
in the Scriptures
and
that this revelation
was meaningful to God
as well as to man.
[...] It is an important
principle to remember,
in the
contemporary interest
in communication and
in language study,
that the
biblical presentation
is that,
though we do not
have exhaustive truth,
we have from the Bible
what I term 'true truth'.
In this way
we know true truth
about God,
true truth about man
and something
truly about nature.
Thus on the basis
of the Scriptures,
while we do not
have exhaustive knowledge,
we have true and
unified knowledge."
Francis A. Schaeffer,
Escape From Reason,
ISBN:0-87784-538-7, p21
The covenants and promises were
first promised to Abraham and
then to be conferred to Isaac.
And God said,
'Sarah thy wife
shall bear thee a son
{son of Abraham and Sarah} indeed;
and thou shalt call his name Isaac:
and I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him. [. . .]
Why The Bible on One Page?
How many people have identified
the common theme that permeates
the totality of the
God revealed Scriptures?
It is the goal of this
Bible on one Page
to trace this common theme,
following the time chronology
of the Scriptures themselves.
(See: Why so many translations.)
is complete
and it provides
KEY information
that can lead anyone
to a renewed life and
to joyful living now,
in the future and for eternity.
Key information is
the kind of information
that humankind has
no ability,
by reason,
by observation or
by any insight
to discover for himself/herself
without an external
revealed source.
Do most people realize
the continuity
and overall theme
of the Bible?
Would you be willing
to collaborate with us:
Time:
Proofread
for textual clarity.
Identify links
to other sites,
Talent:
Assist with improved
design and graphics,
Simplify the HTML.
(Convert to WordPress?)
Treasure:
Funds are needed
to maintain and
develop this web-page;
other projects.
Why so many English versions of the Bible?
The answer is twofold:
1) Greater opportunities for clarity.
2) Economic; "Is there any other book that
a new edition will sell 20 million copies???"
Thus: Most popularized English translations have
added significantly to the publisher's bottom line.
Note: It was the intent of this "Page" to utilize
various versions for added clarity
of some specific passages.
However, the restrictions of "fair use"
eliminated the possibility of other versions.
Thus, the Authorized King James Version (KJV)
is the primary text source.
Some links are provided to other sites.
Note: The KJV is in the public domain.
(Crown Copyright in UK)
Could it be that The Bible like
an infinite cross-word puzzle
with the "words" being
nuggets of Truth
that unify the entire Manuscript?
Truth nuggets can be found
by consistent Bible study.
Truths are revealed -
some as direct statements
from God,
some as isolated principles
or proverbs,
others by narrative
of events in the lives
of individuals and/or nations.
(Some accounts
are heroically godly;
many are disgustingly vile).
Truth nuggets can be extracted.
Grasp a nugget, meditate on it,
live by its principle and
life will be more sane.
However, grasping
only selected nuggets,
allows the puzzle's pattern
to remain obscured.
The Theme
unifies and decodes nuggets.
Thus to ignore the
Central Truth Theme,
is to remain
in a fog of questions.
Two sections comprise
the complete Bible:
the Old Testament and
the New Testament.
It is as if
The Old Testament
provides horizontal Keys,
The New Testament
the vertical Keys.
When woven together -
the focal TRUTH can emerge
with a matchless unified message.
This unity is one of the Bible's
authentications.
The purpose
of this Bible overview is
to help identify many
Key Truth nuggets,
when woven together point
to the Bible's
essential central TRUTH.
The nation constantly
drifted
from God and
for His Directives
for righteousness
and pleasant living.
The prophets warned
of the consequences
for rejection of God's
commandments,
statutes and ordinances.
The people would stray
from God,
and He would raise up a
prophet to attempt
restoration.
Note: There was always
a message of HOPE
if they would repent.
The HOPE messages
often included
the promise of Messiah.
information is necessary
for fulfilled living now and also
in preparation for
a pleasant eternal existence.
God provided
and preserved this
necessary information.
"He hath shewed thee,
O man, what is good;
and what doth the
LORD require of thee,
but to do justly,
and to love mercy,
and to walk
humbly with thy God?"
of the
Gentiles
With the entrance
of the
Babylonian Empire
and its conquest
of Jerusalem,
a new focus
is introduced
in God's
dealings with both
Israel and
all humankind.
The outline is
portrayed by
the image dream
in Daniel 2.
What's Next?
Daniel's Answers
by
William Colin Marris
What's Next #1
What's Next #2
What's Next #3
What's Next #4
What's Next #5
Would you be willing
to collaborate with us:
Time:
Proofread for textual clarity,
Identify any ambiguity.
Talent:
Assist with improved
design and graphics,
(convert to WordPress?)
Treasure:
Funds are needed
to maintain and
develop this web-page
and other projects.
Would you be willing
to help us?
This "page" is available
throughout the entire world.
Funds are needed
to maintain and
develop this web-page and
other projects.
(collaborate)
.
.
The Old Testament
"In the beginning
{time}
God created the heaven(s)
{space}
and the earth"
{matter}.
(Genesis 1:1) KJV, ASV, NKJV, NIV, ESV, and most other versions.
"And
said,
'Let there be light;'
and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good;"
(Genesis 1:3-4) KJV
God created time, space, matter, energy and life.
(Life: DNA's unique, "after its kind," codes).
When all was finished, it was very good.
"And
God saw everything that He had made, and, behold,
it was very good." (Genesis 1:31) ASV (1901)
Question:
Why did God create this universe?
God created all things: time, space, matter, energy and life for His own glory. In His creation, God
revealed "His eternal power and
Godhead."
Note:
The revelation of
"His eternal power and Godhead"
by His creation, is known as "Natural Revelation."
Humankind:
"And
God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him;
male and female created He them." (Genesis
1:27) ASV (1901)
This
"Image of God"
fact is so noteworthy that it is repeated a third time:
"In
the likeness of God made He him."
{both Adam and Eve}
(Genesis 5:1) KJV (Crown Copyright in UK
Humankind:
"And
God blessed them, and God said to them,
'Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl (birds) of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth.'
And God said,
'Behold, I have given you
every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every
tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for
[food]. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to
everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein
there is life, I have given every green herb for [food]';
and it was so."
(Genesis1:28-30)
KJV
Very Good
The Garden:
"And
the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
you shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'
(Genesis 2:15-17) KJV
The Companion:
"And
the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and He took one
of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the LORD
God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said:
'This is now bone of my
bones,
And flesh of my flesh:
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.'
(Genesis 2:21-25) KJV
Very Good
"He hath made
everything beautiful in its time:
also he hath set eternity in their heart,
yet so that man cannot find out the work
that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11) ASV (1901)
What happened?
De-Generation!
The de-generation of the human race was quick, fatal and has been
evidenced throughout history, including the human history recorded in the Scriptures!!!
From "very good" to very bad!
How could such a fall have occurred???
Why did God let it happen?
Free Will! Free Will! Free Will!
God's human creation was given both a
will and a choice.
Adam and Eve had been placed into a perfect environment,
The Garden of Eden.
They were
"to dress it and to keep it."
However, there was one other stipulation:
'Of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'
Why did they eat?
Enter:
Satan
(Lucifer)
The Test:
Now the serpent
was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And
he said unto the woman,
Yea hath God said, 'You shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?'
And the woman said unto the The Serpent,
'We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
hath said, 'Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die.'
Then the serpent said unto the woman,
'Ye shall not surely die: For God doeth know that
in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.'
(Genesis 3:1-5) KJV
.
Enter:
Sin
(God had said,
"Don't eat."
They ate!!!)
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of its fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her; and he did eat. (Genesis 3:6) KJV
Note:
Adam and Eve were in a fellowship with God but their sin drove a wedge between God
and Adam; between God and Eve; between Adam and Eve.
It changed the entire "course of human
events."
(See: Schafer.)
This human rejection of God's "good" resulted in greed, lust, violence, blood shed and hatred.Also, the human ego became primary evidenced
by conquests, domestic violence, personal goals of self-actualization
and the ultimate: self-destructive behaviors.
[1]
They both, Adam and Eve
{male and female: the parents of all humankind}, sinned against God's directive
by deliberately eating of the forbidden fruit.
Their conscience shouted to each, "You have sinned!!!"
And the eyes of both of them were opened,
and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God
amongst the trees of the garden.
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
'Where art thou?'
And he {Adam}
said,
'I heard Thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked;
and I hid myself.'
And He {God}
said,
'Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou should not eat?'
(Genesis 3:7-11) KJV
The
Human Condition
Enter:
SELF
Key:
The new human response was blame-shifting.
'It's not my
fault.'
'I am not guilty because she {Eve}
made me eat!
'The woman that You {God} gave me - she
made me eat.'
And the
man {Adam} said,
'The woman whom Thou {God} gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.'
(emphasis added)
And the LORD God said to the woman,
'What is this that thou hast done?'
The woman said,
The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.'
(Genesis 3:7-14) KJV
Eve's response: "I am not guilty because the serpent deceived me!"
Key:
Actions have consequences!
The result of their disobedience:
they both lost their innocence and consequently,
their offspring (the entire human race).
All of humanity would no longer be in harmony or fellowship with their Creator.
God then addressed each participant: Eve, Adam, and the Serpent - Satan, stating the penalty for humanity's rejection of His command.
(more)
Note: This passage continues with a statement that many scholars identify as the first promise of The Messiah, The Redeemer. [2]
So the Lord said to the serpent,
And I will put enmity
between thee {Satan}
and the woman,
and between thy seed and her Seed {Messiah} ;
He shall bruise thy head, {Satan's}
and thou shalt bruise His {Messiah's} heel.
(Genesis 3:15) KJV
Note:
The meaning of bruise was
veiled for
thousands of years.
Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden and never allowed to return. [3]
From this point in history, until the final conclusion of the last
prophetic utterance, is the record of God's efforts to rescue humankind
from the despair of ultimate self-destruction.
The Bible records many of humankind's attempts to fulfill the
inward drive of self fulfillment, while resisting God's
attempts to fill the void of "life without God."
The
Human Condition
Enter:
Rebellion
Eve gave birth to two sons. The recorded events in their
lives, center on each individual's faith in God's promises and on their
obedience or disobedience to God's directives.
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.
The following account is simply stated
but the implications are of life or death issues.
And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the
ground. And in 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 was very
wroth, and his countenance fell.
and the LORD said to Cain,
'Why art thou wroth?
And why is thy countenance fallen?
If thou doest well, shalt thou {your offering} not be accepted? And
if thou doest not do well, sin lieth at the door.
And unto thee shall be its
{sin's}
desire, and thou shalt rule
over it'
{sin}. (Genesis 4:1-7) KJV
This is the first record of individuals bringing an offering
to God. Abel's offering was by faith (a blood sacrifice)
and was accepted. However, Cain's offering
(vegetables - fruit of the ground)
was judged as being unacceptable.
Therefore, God warned Cain that if he refused to offer a proper sacrifice, he would be
allowing sin to have the rule over him. Also, God stated that Cain should rule over his sinfulness.
Cain did not heed God's warning; he was unwilling to yield to God's warning and ultimately murdered his brother!
The
Human Condition
Enter:
Murder
Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when
they were in the field, {They were away from any witnesses.} that Cain rose up against Abel his
brother and killed him.
Then the LORD said to Cain,
'Where is Abel your
brother?
He said,
'I do not know. Am I my
brother's keeper?'
And He {God} said,
'What have you done? The
voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are
cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's
blood from your hand.
When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A
fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.'
And Cain said to the LORD,
'My punishment is greater than
I can bear!' (Genesis 4:1-13) KJV
Cain's unwillingness to yield to God's plan for offerings and his rejection
of God's council resulted in a jealous rage that he did not control. Result:
the first recorded murder.
Interestingly, Genesis 4 documents the genealogy of Cain's
descendents. There were musicians and workers in brass and iron.
{An iron age?}
The
Human Condition
Enter:
"universal"
Wickedness
Question:&nbap;
Why a moral decline? Was it inevitable?
Over the next 1500 years, the Old Testament records
humankind's subsequent moral decline into a culture of irreversibly vile wickedness.
Key:
The irreversibility of wickedness
was/is the key factor that resulted/results/will-result,
in God's past, present and future final summative judgment.
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 grieved 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'. (Genesis 6:5-7) KJV
Note:
Not every individual was caught up in that wicked culture!
One man stood out from the crowd.
But Noah
found grace in the eyes of the LORD. (Genesis 6:8) KJV
Enter:
Judgment
Question: Why a judgment?
The earth also was corrupt before God,
and the earth was filled with violence.
And God looked upon the earth,
and behold, it was corrupt;
for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
And God said to 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.
Make thee an ark of gopherwood;
rooms shalt thou make in the ark,
and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of;' (Genesis
6:11-15) KJV
It is interesting to note
that the Flood Account consumes nearly three entire chapters,
reporting the year-long, world wide flood of water. (Genesis 6-8; c2400 BC)
And the flood was forty days upon the earth;
And the waters increased and bare up the ark, [. . .]
And the waters prevailed,
and were increased greatly upon the earth; [. . .]
And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; [. . .]
And the mountains were covered. [. . .]
All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
And Noah only remained alive, and they that
were with him in the ark.
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days. (Genesis 7:17-24) KJV
[4]
Note:
All air-breathing land animals
died-except those in the ark.
Noah and his family, with the animals emerged into an entirely different world.
The year-long flood waters resulted in world wide geological and hydrologic changes to the entire planet.
The earth's basic topography, that we now see and know, was initially a result
of those changes.
Note: (See:The Genesis Flood.)
There are numerous passages that relate to the initial creation and
of this catastrophic event. The prophet Jeremiah, references God Himself,
describing His own authority, power and judgment:
Enter:
Covenant
When Noah emerged from the year long confinement, he demonstrated
his faith and gratitude for his deliverance from the catastrophic event.
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD;
[. . .].
(Genesis 8:20-22) KJV
God's response was a clearly defined covenant with the entire
human race:
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. [. . .]'
(Genesis 8:21-22) KJV
The covenant that God pronounced for the
human race also included a command to replenish the earth's population.
Thus, God restarted the human race (a single race with a single language).
Also, this covenant
included some new rules:
And God blessed
Noah and his sons, and said unto them,
'Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth. [. . .]'
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you;
even as the green herb have I given you all things.'[6]
Key:
It is here that God clarifies the
essential function of blood. God had introduced a significance of
blood when He said to
Cain, 'Your brother's
blood cries to me from the ground.'
Now, God
moves the significance of blood to a higher level:
'But flesh with the life thereof,
which is the blood thereof,
shall ye not eat.'
Key:
God continues His covenant statement by instituting a human
form of governmental authority. This authority was intended to help
restrain human violence. It was violence and unrestrained wickedness that had
resulted in the flood.
'[. . .]
Whoso sheddeth man's blood,
by man shall his blood be shed:
for in the image of God made he man.'[7] (Genesis 9:5-6) KJV
Note: God's covenant went beyond Noah
and reached to his descendants. This covenant is sealed by a perpetual sign.
And God spoke unto Noah and to his sons with him, saying:
'And I, behold, I
establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every
living creature that is with you [. . .]
And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off
any more by the waters of a flood; [. . .]'
And God said,
'This is the token of the
covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature [. . .]:
I do set my bow in the cloud, [. . .].
And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember
the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh
that is upon the earth.' (Genesis 9:8-16) KJV
(Interestingly, we humans see a bow
as a half-circle, but looking from above, God sees a double bow, a full
circle, a complete reminder to Him, of His "no more universal flood of
water" covenant to humankind.
Note:
Because of the death of all the persons not on the ark, it was
Noah's three sons who became the fathers of all the human race. (See: One Blood)
These
three were the sons of Noah.
And of these was the whole
earth overspread. (Genesis 9:19) ASV (1901)
As the population began to spread, once again humankind's wicked
nature evidenced itself.
(at least 150 years
later)
Enter:
Languages
It was more than 150 years later that the next earth changing
event was documented. The account of this momentous event begins with a simple
focusing statement:
And the whole
earth was of one language and of one speech. (Genesis 11:1).
KJV
Question:
Did the destruction of all human life and then the
rebuilding of humanity from the one righteous man and his family cure the human
sin problem?
God had commanded the race to disperse and repopulate. But they
congregated and built a "city" and a "tower" for their own ego. The people
began to cooperatively build a tower {a monument to their
pride?}, thus defying God's revealed plan for humankind. It was at this point
that God again intervened in the natural course of human de-generation.
And the
LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
And the LORD said,
'Behold, the people is
one,
and they have all one language;
and this they begin to do:
and now nothing will be restrained from them,
which they have imagined to do.
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language,
that they may not understand one another's speech.'
So the LORD scattered them
abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build
the city.
Therefore is the name of it called
because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from
thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis
11:6-9). KJV
Thus, by confusing the languages,
God forced the people to scatter
"upon the face of all the
earth."
(Genesis chapter 11, concludes More than 2000 years of human history.)
The next recorded event takes place at least 300 years after the
confusion of languages. It is the "call" of Abram (Abraham) approximately 2100 B.C.
Key: The "call of Abraham" is the key to understanding the remainder of the Old Testament Scriptures. Thus the remainder of the Old Testament, beginning with Abraham in Genesis 12 and ending with the final Messianic promises in Malachi,is focused on God's covenants with this people group, a specific family, often labeled as a house." Secular history identifies this house as being The Hebrew Peoples.
Note:
Genesis 12 records The Call of Abraham.
Now the
LORD had said unto Abram,
'Get out of thy country,
and from thy kindred,
And from thy father's house,
Unto a land that I will show thee:
And I will make thee a great nation,
And I will bless thee,
And make thy name great;
And thou shalt be a blessing;
And I will bless them that bless thee,
And curse him that curseth thee:
And in thee shall all families of the earth shall be blessed.'
(Genesis 12:1-3)
KJV
It is with these statements that God announced both a call and a covenant with Abram
(Abraham) and his descendants.
The statement gives the impression as being a one sided covenant (promise) to Abram's
&nsp; house. Later we find that God did place many specific requirements on a select portion of Abraham's family.
Enter:
Covenant
God appeared to Abraham at various times and in unique ways
restating His covenant with Abraham.
'And I
will make my covenant between Me and thee,
and will multiply thee exceedingly.'
And Abram fell on his
face: and God talked with him, saying,
'As for Me, behold, My
covenant is with thee, [. . .]
thy name shall be Abraham;
for a father of many nations have I made thee. [. . .]
And I will establish my covenant [. . .] for an everlasting covenant,
to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. [. . .]
and I will be their God.'
And God said unto Abraham,
'Thou shalt keep my covenant
therefore, thou, and thy seed [. . .].'[10] (Genesis 17:2-9) KJV
Comment:
God did not reveal His Name: Jehovah
to Abraham. (See Exodus 6:2-4.)
Note:
God had promised a land, but the keyis
that his descendants could not occupy the Land until 400 years later.
Why?
The occupants of the land were wicked,
but evidently not wicked to the point of no possible repentance.
God told Abraham that this land grant would have to wait for more than 400 years, until the
inhabitants' wickedness reached a point of no repentance and no return
(irreversible wickedness).
(See Genesis 15:16-21 and
Joshua 1:1-9)
The covenants and promises were to be
conferred to Isaac.
And God said,
'Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son
{son of Abraham and Sarah}&
indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
And as for
Ishmael (son of Abraham and Hagar)
I have heard thee: Behold,
I have blessed him,
and will make him fruitful,
and will multiply him exceedingly;
twelve princes shall he beget,
and I will make him a great nation.
But my covenant will I establish with Isaac,
which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.'
And He left off talking
with him, and God went up from Abraham. (Genesis 17:19-22) KJV
Isaac: The account of Isaac's life is minimal. However, the most significant event relates to Abraham offering his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God.[13] Also, it was to Isaac that God restated the Abrahamic Covenant:
'[. . .]And
will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 26:4).
Isaac and his wife, Rebecca, were blessed with twin boys:
Esau and Jacob. Through a series of events, the birth-right was conferred
upon Jacob instead of the firstborn, Esau. The granting of the birth-right
to Jacob had been ordained of God and as a result, the scriptural account
of Abraham's line throughout the remainder of the Scriptures, follows the
family and line of Jacob.
Enter:
Jacob
(Israel)
Jacob:
God also appeared to Jacob (name changed:
And God
said unto him,
'Thy name is Jacob:
thy name shall not be called any more Jacob,
but
and He called his name
And God
said unto him,
I am God Almighty:
be fruitful and multiply;
a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee,
and kings shall come out of thy loins;
And the
land which I gave Abraham and Isaac,
to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee
will I give the land.'
And God went up from him
in the place where he talked with him. (Genesis 35:10-13)
KJV
Note:
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived in the land of Canaan but only as nomadic sojourners.
Joseph: God sent Joseph (10th son of
Jacob; about 1900 B.C.) into Egypt to prepare
the way for Jacob and his family (The Israelites) to move into Egypt and to sojourn there
for 400 years until the "iniquity" of the
Canaanites became irreversibly wicked.
Exit:
Genesis
Genesis,
the first Book of the Bible, covers
nearly 2000 years of the earth's history. Genesis concludes as Jacob
(Israel)
and his entire clan move from the land of Canaan into the land of Egypt.
(c.1875 B.C.)
Key:
It would require 400
years for the iniquity of the inhabitance of the promised land to become so
wicked and vile that there would be no repentance and no hope. Thus, the
descendants of Jacob
(Israel) must remain outside the land for 400
years.
Enter:
The
Nation of
Beginning with the book of Exodus, the remainder of the Old
Testament records accounts of God's dealings with the Israelites, God's chosen people. These
accounts include both their successes and their failures. Success as the people
followed God's directives, but failures and devastation as they rejected God's
plans and His protection. Other nations and peoples are cited in various
sections of the Old Testament, but only as those peoples had specific dealings
with the Israelites.
Key; Key; Key
God had chosen this specific family to be the people of
God. Their generations were to be founded on God's covenant promises to Abraham and on Abraham's foundational FAITH in God.
God's intent was
to display His power and perpetual provision to the entire world, through His workings with the Israelite Nation.
However, Israel
as a nation, persistently failed to follow God's directives. Although throughout the centuries, some
individuals and times were marked by obedience and of God's promised blessing for that obecience. It was through
these times of obedience and blessings that God did show His awesome power,
protection and provision for His people. Later, even the Queen of Sheba came to see Solomon's majesty and God's blessing on His people.
Exodus is the second Old Testament Book and begins
its narrative with Israel's bondage as slaves in Egypt.
God allowed their bondage as they waited for the iniquity of the
inhabitants of the Promised Land to become irreversibly wicked. God's
promise to Abraham had included this 400 year delay. God had stated to Abraham:
'And thou shalt go to your fathers in peace; thou
shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall
come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.'
(Genesis 15:15-16) KJV
Key: Irreversible wickedness!!!
It was only after the wickedness in the Land
became so irreversibly corrupt and vile that God would decree the
destruction of the wicked peoples who were occupying the promised land.
Enter:
Moses
Moses was born to slave parents in
Now there
arose up a new king over Egypt which not know Joseph.
[. . .]
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their
burdens. [. . .]
And
the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour. [. . .]
And the king of Egypt spake unto the Hebrew midwives, [. . .]
'If it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a
daughter, then she shall live.'[14] (Exodus 1:8-22) KJV
Miraculously, Moses was saved from death
by Pharaoh's daughter; she rescued him from the river and returned him to his mother
during his early childhood. He spent 40 years as a Prince in Egypt. He ultimately was "educated in all the learning of the Egyptians."
(Thus, God prepared Moses to write and to keep records and leadership protocol.)
(See: Early Writing.)
After Moses spent 40 years as a prince in Egypt, he had to flea into the desert wastes for another 40 years where he became a simple, humble leader and keeper of sheep.
(Thus for an additional 40 years, God also humbled Moses as he cared for helpess sheep.)
The Burning Bush:
God met Moses at the burning bush when Moses was 80 years
old. (approximately 1450 B.C.) During this encounter with God, Moses was called, commanded and
commissioned to deliver the Israelite's from their slavery in Egypt.
Moses asked God,
'Who shall I say sent me?'
The answer:
And God said unto Moses,
'I AM THAT I AM:
and He said,
Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel,
'I AM hath sent me unto you.' (Exodus
3:14) KJV
The Name,
"I AM," revealed God's attribute of self-existent eternality.
Later, God revealed His Name to Moses as,
JEHOVAH [LORD]
JEHOVAH (YHWH: the tetragrammaton).
And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty,
but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.'
(Exodus 6:3) KJV
The Israelites were miraculously allowed to make their exodus from Egypt.
(c.1446 B.C.)
The Israelites encamped at Mt. Sinai. It was at Mt. Sinai that God revealed the
pattern for a godly, pleasant life, for a civil society, for worship and for a system of sacrifices symbolizing
the ultimate atonement for
humanity's rebellion. This ideal pattern was clearly and redundantly recorded for the chosen people.
(See: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.)
The divinely given directives became known as The Law
of Moses. The giving of the Law marked another divine intervention in the
"course of human events." Moses' Law consisted of three parts:
the Commandments,
the Statutes and
the Judgments.
Now
these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD
your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye
go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD
thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee,
thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy
days may be prolonged. (Deuteronomy 6:1-2) KJV
The foundation for the entire law and a pleasant lifestyle
was the Moral Law. God wrote it in stone with His own
"finger." The Moral Law was summarized by The Ten Commandments.
. These were so foundational for a civil
society that they were written on stone
tablets by God Himself.
The remainder of the law: civil and religious, was given directly to Moses by
God: Jehovah God, Almighty, The LORD.
Thus, The Law of God,
was given to His chosen people, Israel.
Here are the Ten Commandments:
And God spake all these words, saying:
I am the LORD thy God,
which brought thee out of the
► Commandments:
1-3
● Thou shall have no
other gods before Me.
● Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image {any idol}
[. . .]
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
For I the
LORD thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me,
but showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,
and keep my commandments. [16]
● Thou shalt
not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, [. . .]'
► Commandment: 6
● Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. [. . .]
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and
hallowed it.
► Commandments: 7-9
● Honor thy father and thy mother, [. . .]
● Thou shalt not kill, {Do not murder.}
● Thou shalt not commit adultery.
● Thou shalt not steal.
● Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
{Do not lie}
►
Commandment: 10
● Thou shall not
covet [. . .] anything that is your neighbor's.'[18]
(Exodus 20:1-17) KJV '
Note: Again in Exodus 34, God spoke through
Moses to the people. The covenant with Abraham was restated; however, now there were added stipulations: the people were to follow
God's commandments and would be blessed by obedience to those
directives.
And He
{God} said:
'Behold, I make a covenant: before all your people I will
do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation:
and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD:
For it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.
Observe thou that which I command thee this day. [. . .]
Take heed to yourself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the
land whether thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee.
But you shall destroy their altars,
break their images, and cut down their groves:
for thou shalt worship no other god: [. . .])
You shalt make thee no molten gods.' (Exodus 34:10-17) KJV
Key: God provided laws, both moral and civil which would develop and sustain
a successful, godly society. Israel was to be the example of God's mercy to undeserving peoples. The surrounding
nations would look in awe at Jehovah's provision for His people.
The nations would want to know the TRUE God, JEHOVAH, who was awesomely good
and protective of His chosen people.
However,
the people did NOT
follow God's laws. For centuries most of them seemed to do the exact opposite
of what God had commanded and the result, rather than demonstrating great
blessing, there was almost perpetual disaster through many centuries.
(Someone has well said, "Life without God is the pits.")
Also, central to the entire set of moral and civil laws were
laws dictating the ceremonial worship of Jehovah God. This worship centered in
The Tabernacle.
Following King David's reign, Solomon's Temple was built in the city of Jerusalem.
All formal worship involved the Levitical Priesthood with scores of specific ordinances governing the
sacrifices and offerings that symbolically predicted a complete and final atonement for the sins of the people.
(See: The Feasts of The Lord)
(The entire Law of Moses: Exodus 21-40 and the entire book of Leviticus.)
The
Human Condition
Enter:
Faltering
Faith
(Lack of
Faith)
The Law was given at Mt. Sinai. Also, the Tabernacle was built. The Tabernacle with its furniture, was
to be a reminder of the continual presence of Jehovah-God.
The Tabernacle was to be the center for worship. It was designed to be portable
and was carried as the people moved toward the Promised Land.
As they neared the Land, twelve spies (one representing each tribe) were sent into the land.
They came unto the brook
of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one
cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought
of the pomegranates, and of the figs. [. . .]
And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. (Numbers 13:23-25) KJV
The report: And they
told him {Moses}, and said, We came unto the land
whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.
Nevertheless the people be strong [. . .]
And Caleb {Caleb with
Joshua} stilled the people
before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well
able to overcome it.
But the men {the ten} that went up with him said, We be not
able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. [. . .]
And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept
that night. (Numbers 13:27-14:1) KJV
The Lord God, Jehovah, was displeased with
their unbelief and of His promise and ability to give them the Land.
Note: Their
unbelief in God's commandments, in His covenants and in His ability to fulfill
His promises failed to recognize God's triple statement: 'The Just shall live by faith.'
The judgment: God pronounced judgment on their
unbelief: forty years in the wilderness because of their lack of faith.Each man who was older than 20 years at the
time would perish in the wilderness.
(There were two exceptions: Caleb and Joshua, the
two faithful reporters.)Moses, himself was able to view the
land but was not permitted to enter the promised land.[19]
(See Numbers 20:7-12.)
The Land
Under Joshua's
leadership, (c1405 B.C.) Israel was miraculously allowed to possess most of the land. The land was divided
among the twelve tribes, with the priestly tribe of Levi receiving no specific portion
but they were to be provisioned by the tithes and offerings of the other
tribes.
Unfortunately, as the
older generation, who had seen the works of God began to pass away, the new
generations drifted
from God.
And the people served the LORD all the days
of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen
all the great works of the LORD, that he did for
And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose
another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which
he had done for
God had intended His people to be models of righteousness to
display His provision for His people. But, after the death of Joshua, the
people again turned away from God.
Enter:
The Judges
The book of The Judges begins after
Joshua's death and covers another 400 year time span. It was/is a dark blot in
the history of
And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the
LORD, and served Baalim: And they forsook the LORD
God of their fathers, [. . .] and provoked the LORD to anger.
And they forsook the LORD, and served Baal and Ashtaroth.
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into
the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, [. . .] so that they could not any
longer stand before their enemies. [. . .]
Nevertheless the LORD raised up judges, which delivered them out of the hand of
those that spoiled them.
And yet they would not hearken unto their judges, [. . .]
And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and
delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: And
it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted
themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and
to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their
stubborn way. (Judges
2:11-19) KJV
Throughout this 400 years period, the people fell into a
cycle of straying from God to false gods
(idols). God would then withdraw His hand of protection.
As the enemies oppressed them, the people would repent and call upon God for
mercy and deliverance. God did show mercy when they repented of their
wickedness and He raised up a deliverer, a judge.
The most famous judges were Gideon, Samson and Deborah with the last being
Samuel.
The Book of Judges is twice summarized:
In those days there was no king in Israel,
but every man did what was right in his own eyes.
(Judges 17:6; Judges 21:25) KJV
Some of the accounts of self will are nearly as graphic as
our modern movies, video games and TV entertainment.
There were many individuals and families who remained true to Jehovah, God.
One bright spot during these dark 400 years in which ("everyone did that which was right in his own eyes") is the account of Ruth, the Moabitas. See the Book of Ruth.
Throughout the remainder of the Old
Testament, the Record accounts God's continuing attempts to direct His people
back into the true worship of God and into safe cultural life-styles. There are
multiple promises stating that a return to faith and obedience would bring a
return of God's blessings.
Enter:
Samuel
Nearly 400 years after the death of Joshua, God raised up
the final judge: Samuel. Wickedness had also invaded the priesthood. Eli, the
priest had failed to convey to his sons the reality of God and obedience to His
law. Thus, Eli and his sons were rejected as priests and were themselves judged
by God.
Samuel:
However, God had not abandoned His people; God began to speak
to the young boy, Samuel. The first revelation to Samuel concerned the house of
Eli.
Then the
LORD said to Samuel:
'Behold, I will do a thing
in
For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which
he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile,
and he restrained them not. (1 Samuel 3:11-14) KJV
Samuel served as judge for many years. One of his messages:
And Samuel
spake unto all the house of
and prepare your hearts unto the LORD,
and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
Then the children of
"We want a king!" The problem: Samuel's
sons were also corrupt. Thus, the people were not content with a judge. They
had seen the peoples around them; they all had a king. The people wanted a
king, too.
And it came to pass, when
Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took
bribes, and perverted justice.
Then all the elders of
'Behold, thou art old, and
thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the
nations.'(1 Samuel 8:1-5) ASV (1901)
Samuel warned the people of a king's demands.
And Samuel told all the
words of the LORD [. . .].This will be the manner of
the king [. . .]
He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, [. . .]
And he will take the tenth of your seed, [. . .].
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, [.
. .] That we also may be like all the nations; [. . .]
And the LORD said to
Samuel,
'Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. [. . .].'[20]
(1 Samuel 8:10-22) KJV
Enter:
The Kings
The period of the kings
also spans more than 400 years. The Old Testament records the lines of the
kings beginning with three, forty year reigns: Saul, David and Solomon.
God would be the one who would choose the king. The first king would be
distinguished and kingly.
Saul:
Saul was a tall, stately man and should have done well as
king.
There was
a man of Benjamin whose name was
Saul failed to obey God's directives. When given an
opportunity to repent, he refused. Therefore, God rejected his continuing
kingship.
And Samuel
said to Saul,
'Thou hast done foolishly:
thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, [. . .]
But now thy kingdom shall not continue:
the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart,
and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, [. . .].'
(1 Samuel 13:13-14) KJV
Rather than repenting, Saul became paranoid and ultimately
suffered death by suicide.
David:
David was the "man after God's own heart."
He killed a giant, was employed in the
king's court and married King Saul's daughter. However, David's jealous,
paranoid father-in-law wanted to kill him; thus, for many years David was
hunted like a dog.
Many Psalms were written by David during his periods of
fear, despair and of victory. The Book of the Psalms includes many of David's
songs that were written throughout his lifetime.
Psalm 1 contrasts the righteous person with the
ungodly person.
For the LORD
knoweth the way of the righteous:
But the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1:6) KJV
Psalm 2 speaks of God's greatness and of human
responsibility.
Be wise
now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the
LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. (Psalm 2:10-11) KJV
Psalm 3 declares dependence on God.
I laid me
down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me. (
Psalm 3:5) KJV
Psalm 9 pronounces God's judgment on the ungodly.
The
heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made:
in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.
The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth:
the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. [. . .].
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9:15-17) KJV
Psalm 22 is referenced later in the Scriptures as having been prophetic.
My God,my God,
why hast thou forsaken Me?
Why art thou so far from helping Me,
and from the words of My roaring? (Psalm 22:1) KJV
(Note: This Psalm was written by David, about
1000 B.C.)
All they that see Me laugh me to scorn: they
shoot out the lip, they shake the head saying,
He trusted on the LORD that He would deliver Him:
let him deliver Him,
seeing He delighted in Him. (Psalm 22:7-8) KJV
I am poured out like water,
and all My bones are out of joint:
My heart is like wax;
it is melted in the midst of My bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and
My tongue cleaveth to My jaws; and
Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed Me:
the assembly of the wicked have inclosed Me:
they pierced My hands and My feet.
I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me.
They part My garments among them, and
cast lots upon My vesture. (Psalm 22:14-18)KJV
They shall come, and shall declare His
righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done this. (Psalm 22:31)KJV
Key:
It was David's desire to build a
Then David
said to Ornan,
Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, [. . .]
I will verily buy it for the full price: [. . .]
so David gave to Ornan the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight.
And David built there an altar unto the LORD, [. . .]
and He (God)
answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering.[21](1 Chronicles 21:21-26) KJV
(See also: 2 Samuel 24:24, 25)
David wrote more than 40 psalms and he
stated that these writings were God directed:
Now these be the last words of David.
David the son of Jesse said,
And the man who was raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,,br>
And the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
The spirit of the LORD spake by me,
And His word was in my tongue.
The God of Israel said the Rock of Israel spake to me, [. . .]
2 Samuel 23:1-3 KJV
(See: God's Kingdom Plan)
Solomon:
Solomon also reigned for 40 years. He ascended to the throne
as a youth and when asked of God what he would like to receive, Solomon wisely,
chose wisdom. He also wrote three Old Testament books: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and The Song of Solomon.
And God
gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much,
[. . .]. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the
east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. [. . .]
(1 Kings 4:29-33) KJV
Solomon's most important accomplishment was the building of
the Temple of the LORD that his father David had planned. It was
patterned according to God's plans of the original Tabernacle. Solomon's Temple (c.966 B.C.)rejuvenated and centralized the worship of Jehovah
in the city of Jerusalem.
While wise in mind, in spirit he drifted from God by being
caught up with multiple marriages to pagan women.
Ultimately, his son, Rehoboam, displayed great lack of wisdom.
Note: The passage from Moses Law where God is quoted as saying:
'[. . .] visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children [. . .]' (Exodus
20:5). KJV
Solomon was entrapped by multiple marriages and their pagan idols.
His son, Rehoboam, was caught up with the pagan idols that his father had tolerated.
Rehoboam:
Solomon's son followed his mothers' idols that Solomon had tolerated. Rehoboam
also unwisely threatened to increase taxes. The result was a major revolt so
that the northern ten tribes established a separate kingdom under King Jereboam.
Therefore,
the kingdom was split into two sections:
● TheKingdom of Israel in the North under Jeraboam,
● TheKingdom of Judah in the South under Rehoboam.
The period of the Prophets covered nearly 500 years. During
this time, each prophet proclaimed a similar message. The time from Elijah to
Malachi covered a period of nearly 500 years. God had chosen
●
● The enemies are at hand and will flood in to pilfer, plunder and
slaughter the nation if God does not hinder them.
● The people must repent and follow God's law and directives in order to
experience God's blessings.
● If the people will repent and follow God's plan for His people, God
will revive His promises, protection and provision.
● If the nation will not repent, God will withdraw His hand of protection
and the enemies will be permitted to come in as a flood of devastation.
The prophets' had great ability to proclaim their messages through poetic
imagery and redundancy. It is the intent of this overview to select a few key passages
from representative prophets that establish the certainty of their predictions
for both the past and the future.
Today, God's expectations for all of humanity have not changed. His
expectations and promises are still valid for His people.
During the
reign of the kings, all the kings in the Northern Kingdom were wicked idol worshipers and egotistical
tyrants, such as Ahab with his wife Jezebel. Even though many of the kings of
the Southern Kingdom were also wicked ungodly idol worshipers as
Jehoram, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Zedekiah.
There were some godly such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, Uzziah, Hezekiah and Josiah.
During the reign of the kings, God continually spoke through
His prophets, such as Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Hosea, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel
to call the people to repentance and a return to obedience and a
pleasant life under God's protection. Each of the prophets brought warnings
that required repentance. Repentance (turning from idol worship-back to
God) would result in Jehovah's provision for both national and individual
redemption, salvation and protection.
However most people, both South - Jerusalem and North - Samaria, continued their idol worship with its vile evils.
Elijah:
Elijah was prophet in the Northern
Kingdom (About 100 years after Solomon's Temple was built). The kings were wicked,
worshiping idols and leading their people into idol worship and pagan practices
such as burning their children as sacrifices to an idol.
Elijah confronted King Ahab (wife Jezebel) and warned him of
God's impending judgment. Elijah contested with 400 prophets of Baal and
challenged them to a test:
Is Baal (a stone idol) the
god or is Jehovah the TRUE God?
Baal's prophets could do nothing!
Jehovah displayed His
reality and authority by sending fire to consume the offering.
Then the
fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the
stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said,
'The LORD, He is God!
The LORD, He is God!'(1 Kings 18:38-39) KJV
The chanting and emotion of the moment did not produce true repentance
and God's blessing remained at a distance from the nation. Although, it was at this
time that God assured Elijah by saying:
'Yet I
have left me seven thousand in
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal,
and every mouth which hath not kissed him.'(1 Kings 19:18) KJV
Elijah was a great prophet and the second of two men (Enoch
and Elijah) who were taken to heaven without dying. The account is unique:
And it came to pass, as they still went
on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of
fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into
heaven. (2
Kings 2:11) KJV
Elijah's life and ministry were so significant that one of
the later prophets identifies the LORD as proclaiming a promise:
'Behold, I
will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. [. . .]' (Malachi 4:5) KJV
Even though Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Micah and other prophets
continued to warn the people of God's call to repentance and of
impending judgment, the
The Southern Kingdom did experience a few righteous kings
who attempted to bring the people back to the true God, Jehovah, but most
people simply joined the culture's decline.
About 250 years after Solomon, God commissioned Isaiah to call the
people to repentance.
Isaiah: Isaiah was a prophet to the Southern
Kingdom (Judah, centered in
Thus, Isaiah spoke of both judgment and hope with a constant
call for the nation to repent, to turn back to God. Isaiah spoke
against empty worship and warned of impending judgment but his messages always
proclaimed God's forgiveness and protection if Judah would repent.
During his prophetic ministry, King Hezekiah and
'He shall
not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there [. . .]'
(2 Kings 19:32; Isaiah 37:33).KJV
Summary of the Book of Isaiah by Marvin Rosenthal:
"The first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah present a tragic and dismal message of sin,
judgment, and darkness - of inward personal corruption and outward national
defeat. Only on rare occasions are the clouds lifted to reveal fleeting
glimpses of messianic glory: a righteous King who will be Virgin-born (7:14);
that the government will be on His shoulders (9:6); and a wondrous glance at
His glorious reign (11:1-12). However, beginning with Chapter 40, the scene
morphs from a history of
Key: Isaiah proclaimed Messiah's kingdom:
Of the
increase of His government and peace there shall be no end,
Upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom,
To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with
justice
From thenceforth even forever.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
(Isaiah 9:7)KJV
Numerous passages looked forward to the coming of Messiah (a
KING) and of the restoration of Israel's
earthly kingdom, centered in Jerusalem.
Key:
Isaiah revealed another view of Messiah.
This seemed to be veiled from the eyes of the people, even from the
priests and scholars. These words speak of a Servant rather than
of KING.
'Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently,
He shall be exalted and extolled,
and be very high.
As many were astonied at Thee;
His visage was so marred more than any man,
and His form more than the sons of men: [. . .]' (Isaiah 52:13-14)KJV
These words lead to two questions:
Who hath believed our
report?
and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? [. . .]
He is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: [. . .]
He was despised, [. . .]
Surely He hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows: [. . .]
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities: [. . .]
And with His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; [. . .]
and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, [. . .]
He shall see of the travail of His soul,
and shall be satisfied: [. . .]
By His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many;
for He shall bear their iniquities. [. . .]
because He hath poured out His soul unto death: [. . .]
and made intercession for the transgressors.[26] (Isaiah 53:1-12) KJV
Question: What effect did the kings have on the nation?
Hezekiah:
King Hezekiah was a bright light in a sad
line of evil working kings. Isaiah's words fell on deaf ears. Hezekiah was an
exception. It was Hezekiah's prayer that brought the prophet's statement, "He
shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow here."
God delivered Hezekiah and
Manasseh:
Hezekiah's son King Manasseh was extremely
wicked, but God allowed even more time for national repentance. Tradition indicates
that Manasseh ordered the execution of Isaiah.
Josiah:
Josiah was great-grandson of Hezekiah and as king, turned
the nation back to God for a few brief years. The Book of the
Law (The Law of Moses)
was read before King Josiah and the people.
As a result they commemorated the festivals of Passover and of
Unleavened Bread. God honored Josiah's repentant heart and continued to spare Jerusalem from its
predicted destruction.
The remaining kings of Judah could be considered as "puppet" kings,
first to Egypt and then to the Babylonians.
Enter:
The
Babylonians
Prophets, such as Micah, Isaiah, Habakkuk,
and Zechariah had warned of impending doom if Judah and Jerusalem
did not repent by turning from their idols and back to
obedience and worship of Jehovah God.
Another rejected warning is recorded in 2
Chronicles 24:18-21:
And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and
served groves and idols: and wrath came upon
Yet He (God) sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD;
[. . .]
But they would not give ear.
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, [. . .] and said unto them,
Thus saith God,
'Why transgress ye the
commandments of the LORD,
that ye cannot prosper?
Because ye have forsaken the LORD,
He hath also forsaken you.'
And they conspired against
him (Zechariah),and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the
court of the house of the LORD.KJV
The Babylonian Captivity:
The Babylonian army laid siege to Jerusalem and conquered it.
(605 B.C.)
Many citizens were taken as captives to Babylon. Daniel and his three friends were
among the captives. The "kingdom" of Judah continued with puppet kings who
were appointed by Babylon and were required to pay homage and tribute to Nebuchadnezzar.
There were three conquests and three
deportations from Judah to Babylon. The last deportation resulted
in the total devastation of Jerusalem and complete destruction of the Temple.
(586 B.C.)
Jeremiah:
Jeremiah was of the priestly house but
there is no record of him actually serving in the office of priest. He was
present in Jerusalem during the three sieges. Jeremiah continually warned Judah and Jerusalem of
impending judgment (mostly after the second siege).
Covetousness and gross wickedness had
gripped the entire nation. The pastors and prophets of Jeremiah's day were false pastors and false prophets.
They spoke from the deceit of their own hearts, not from God. However, as with
Isaiah, there were always promises of hope for the future: God's judgment will
be turned into blessings if the people would turn back to God.
'Woe be
unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!'
saith
the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of
'Ye have scattered My
flock, driven them away,
and have not visited them. [. . .].' (Jeremiah 23:1-2) KJV
Many of his messages were to the final puppet king,
Zedekiah. Zedekiah heard the warnings, spared Jeremiah's life, but refused his
council to repent. Jeremiah continually warned of impending destruction by the
Babylonians and of a 70 year captivity.
For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at
Jeremiah's messages demanded repentance and declared
impending judgment. They were clear and repetitious. Yet, Jeremiah, as
did all the prophets, included messages of hope for the future of Israel under God's hand of restoration.
'Behold,
the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth.
In His days
Jeremiah's message of hope became a
message of future certainty:
'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,'
saith the LORD,
'thoughts of peace and not
of evil, [. . .]
Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me.
And ye shalll seek Me and find Me,
when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found of you, [. . .].'
[27] (Jeremiah 29:11-14) KJV
Key: Seventy years later, King Cyrus read this
and other passages, then issued a decree:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of
Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia [. . .].
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia,
'The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of
the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, [. . .]
Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem [. . .], and
build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (He is the God,) [. . .].'[28]
(Ezra 1:1-3) KJV
Key:
Under Jeremiah's ministry,
'Behold, the days come,'
saith the LORD,
'That I will make a new covenant with the House of Israel
and the house of Judah:
Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers; [. . .]which My covenant they break although I was
an husband unto them,'
saith
the LORD: [. . .]
'I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. [. . .] For I
will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.'
[29]
(Jeremiah 31:31-34) KJVKJV
As with Isaiah, Jeremiah continued to
proclaim the coming of Messiah:
'Behold, the days come,'
saith the LORD,
'That I will perform that
good thing which I have promised to the house of
'In those days and at that time will I cause the Branch of righteousness to
grow up unto David; and He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the
Lane. [. . .].'[30]
(Jeremiah 33:14-15) KJV
During Jeremiah's 40 years of prophetic
ministry, there were three deportations of the Jews into
the Babylonian empire. The third deportation saw the complete destruction of Jerusalem and
of Solomon's Temple. (586 B.C.) A few poor people did
remain in the devastated Land.
Ezekiel: Ezekiel was also a
priest but there is no indication that he was able to fulfill any
"priestly" duties in the
Ezekiel
was carried into the Babylonian captivity and all of his visions were
experienced while he was physically outside of the
Now it came to pass, [. . .] as I was among the
captives by the
The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, [. . .]
and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.[31]
(Ezekiel 1:1-4) KJV
Ezekiel recorded his messaging visions
while he was a captive in a foreign land. Ezekiel's first vision was an awesome
view of the glory of God. This vision was an encouragement
to him, knowing that God's purposes were being fulfilled.
Isaiah had told of the impending judgment if the nation did not repent.
Question:
The glory of Jehovah God had been
manifest in both the Tabernacle and the in
Ezekiel witnessed its departure!!! (The Glory departed)
Ezekiel's
visions demonstrated that God was still alive and His throne was powerful,
glorious and eternal.
Probably
the most significant and famous of Ezekiel's visions were those relating
to the dry bones.
'Can these bones live?'
Thou knowest. (Ezekiel
37:3) KJV
Also,
Ezekiel pronounced God's judgment on the wicked nations surrounding
Conclusion: This is future.
'Thus will I magnify Myself, and
sanctify Myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they
shall know that I am the LORD.' (Ezekiel
38:23)KJV
The
Human Condition
Enter:
Daniel
Daniel:
Daniel was probably less than twenty years old when taken captive to Babylon in the
first deportation. (605 B.C.)
It is in Daniel's prophecies that we find the
outline of world history as "The Times of the Gentiles" with focus on
the four world powers that would affect Israel. Many of Daniel's prophecies have already taken
place, but the most dreadful are yet future.
In
the first six chapters of Daniel, God miraculously confirms Daniel as a true prophet. Even the queen of the
empire stated:
'There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom
is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and
understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and
the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, (I say), thy father, made him
master of the magicians,
[. . .] forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding,
interpreting of dreams, and showing of dark sentences, and dissolving of
doubts, were found in the same Daniel, [. . .]
Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.' (Daniel 5:11-12) ASV (1901)
Daniel's
amazing encounters with three kings have become famous and taught as children's
stories - often without any connection to Daniel's message. The first king,
Nebuchadnezzar, had three encounters with Jehovah God over a 30 year time span.
Nebuchadnezzar's alienation from Jehovah God was so unyielding, that it took three
dramatic encounters for this egotistical king to see himself as a repugnant sinful man and to repent and realize
that Jehovah God was/is GOD. After his third encounter, Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed to the entire empire:
'Nebuchadnezzar the king,
Unto all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:
Peace be multiplied to you.
It seemed good unto me to show the signs and wonders that the Most High God has
wrought toward me.
How great are His signs!
And how mighty are His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And His dominion is from generation to generation.' (Daniel 4:1-3) ASV (1901)
Beginning
with chapter seven, Daniel recorded his own visions which outline the remainder
of human history (as that history would
affect God's redemption plan and Israel's end-times design).
These visions focused on four kingdoms as originally outlined by Nebuchadnezzar's image dream.
Note: This is the Outline of World History as it would/will affect Israel throughout the centuries.
Daniel's
Prayer: One of the most amazing features of Daniel's writings was Daniel's own intercessory
prayer. Daniel studied books - especially the book of Jeremiah. He realized that one of Jehovah God's revelation to Jeremiah
was of a 70 year captivity.
In the first year of Darius' [. . .]
reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of
the LORD cam to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would
accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.
(Daniel 9:1-3) KJV
The
prayer is recorded in chapter nine.
And I prayed unto the LORD my God,
and made my confession, and said,
O Lord, the great and dreadful God,
keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him,
and to them that keep his commandments;
We have sinned, and have committed iniquity,
and have done wickedly,
and have rebelled,
even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments.'
(Daniel 9:4-5) KJV
The
Future of Humanity
Key: Daniel's
prayer also resulted in another KEY revelation: that of the seventy weeks of
years for the nation of Israel. Included in this revelation was an identification of the
time of Messiah's arrival.
Seventy weeks are determined
Upon thy people and upon thy holy city,
To finish the transgression,
And to make an end of sins,
And to make reconciliation for iniquity,
And to bring in everlasting righteousness,
And to seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy. (Daniel 9:24-25) KJV
The final chapter of the Daniel displays events leading up to the termination of
human history. Also, the "sealing of the Book" is
declared.
And at that time shall Michael stand
up,
The great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that same time: [. . .].
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words,
and seal the book, even to the time of the end;
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. [32] (Daniel 12:1-4) KJV
Daniel's outline of world history.
It was
Jeremiah who prophesied that the captivity by
Enter:
The Return
Ezra:
Ezra recorded the proclamation of Cyrus
(538 B.C.) that permitted the Jews to return to their land and to Jerusalem.
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, [. . .]
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia,
TheLORD God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at
Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
[33] (Ezra 1:1-2) KJV
Jerusalem was in ruins with the Temple
completely plundered and totally destroyed by the Babylonians following their
third siege of the city.(586 B.C.)
As
the people returned to
Also
Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which
Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of
Worship in
They
kept also the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the daily
burnt offerings by number, [. . .] and of every one that willingly
offered a freewill offering unto the LORD. (Ezra 3:4-5) KJV
Work
on the
And this house was finished on the
third day of the month Adar, [. . .] kept the dedication of this house of God
with joy. (Ezra 6:16-17) KJV
The
feasts of Passover and of Unleavened Bread were celebrated.
(See: Feasts of the Lord)
And the children of the captivity kept
the passover upon the fourteenth day of the first
month. For the priests and the Levites were purified together, [. . .] as had
separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land,
to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, And kept the feast of unleavened bread
seven days with joy: [34] (Ezra
6:19-22) KJV
Ezra's
prayer of confession and dedication marks the beginning of a new era for the
Jews. There is never any record of the Jews worshiping idols after their return
from the Babylonian captivity.
Ezra set the pattern.
For
Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to
teach in
Nehemiah: Nehemiah remained in exile and became
King Artaxeres' cup-bearer. In the twentieth year of Artaxerxes reign, Nehemiah was called of God to rebuild the
walls of
Then the king said unto me,
For what dost thou make request?
So I prayed to the God of heaven.
And I said unto the king,
'If it please the king,
and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my fathers'
sepulchres, that I may build it.' (Nehemiah 2:4-5) KJV
The
rebuilding of the walls was opposed by
So the wall was finished in the twenty
and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.
And it came to pass, that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the
heathen that were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their
own eyes: for they perceived that this work was wrought of our God. (Nehemiah 6:15-16) KJV
The
celebration was awesome.
And all the people gathered together as
one man into the street that was before the Water Gate; and they speak unto
Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, [. . .]
And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation both of men and
women, and all that could hear with understanding, [. . .]
And he read therein before the street that was before the Water Gate from the morning
until midday, [. . .]; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the
Book of the Law. [35](Nehemiah
8:1-3)KJV
Key:This was a time of joy, of rejoicing and
of experiencing Jehovah God's blessing. It marked the truth that obedience
brings blessing from the hand of God.
Enter:
Esther
Esther: Esther is the only Book that does not reference
God. However, God's intervention and direction is evident throughout. The book reccounts another of Satan's efforts to destroy the remnant
of God's people, the house of Jacob. A wicked conspirator, Haman, in a jealous
rage plotted to kill all the Jews throughout the entire kingdom and the
executioners could size the property of their victims.
God had placed Esther in a critical position as Queen in order to thwart the
plot. Speaking to Esther, the servants
relayed Mordecai's message.
'For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [. . .]but thou and thy father's house shall be
destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?'
Esther sent this reply to Mordecai:
'Go, gather together all the Jews who
are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me; [. . .]
And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish!'
[36] (Esthier 4:14-16) KJV
Ultimately the Jews were able to destroy
their enemies and Haman was hanged on the gallows that he had built for the Jew
(Mordecai). It is interesting to note that the Jews did not confiscate any of
their enemies' property.
Again, God preserved both His people and
the Messianic line.
Question: Why have there been dynamic attempts
throughout history to persecute and even to destroy God's people?
Enter:
The Final Prophets
Zechariah:Zechariah was an encourager to those rebuilding
the
It is almost as though his visions portray two functions of Messiah.
Thus saith
the LORD;
'I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem:
and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.'(Zechariah 8:3) KJV
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Behold, thy King unto thee: [. . .]
He is just, and having salvation;
Lowly and riding on a donkey, [. . .].[37](Zechariah 9:9)KJV
'And I will pour upon the house of
David, and upon the inhabitants of
and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, [. . .]'(Zechariah 12:10-11)KJV
In that day there shall be a fountain
opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of
'And it shall come to pass in that day,'
saith the LORD of hosts,
'That
I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, [. . .]
And
one shall say unto Him,
What
are these wounds in Thine hands?
Then
He shall answer,
'Those
with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.' (Zechariah 13:1-6) KJV
And
it shall be in that day,
that living waters shall go out from
And the LORDshall be king over all
the earth: [. . .]. (Zechariah 14:8-9) KJV
Malachi:Malachi
was the last of the Old Testament prophets. (Some say near the last.)
This
final prophet ushers in nearly 400 years of scriptural silence. Malachi warned
the people of spiritual lethargy. In this final Book, Malachi proclaimed the
promise of Messiah's coming, three times.
'Behold, I will send My messenger,
and He shall prepare the way before Me:
and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple,
even the Messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in:
behold, He shall come,'
saith the LORD of hosts.
(Malachi 3:1) KJV
But unto you that fear my name shall
the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings; [. . .].' (Malachi 4:2) KJV
'Behold, I will send you Elijah the
prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
And He shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers,
lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.' (Malachi 4:5-6) KJV
The
Old Testament Revelation ended with those three proclamations (promises) of
Messiah's coming.
Post-
Old Testament
It was nearly 400 years
after the writing of the last book of the Old Testament before any additional written
revelation from God would be given. These years of scriptural silence have been
labeled as the 400 silent years. However, during the 400 years, there were
writings from various dominates: the Jewish community, the Medo-Persian
empire, the Greek conquers(332
B.C.),the Syrian oppressors(301-142 B.C.),from the Jewish-Maccabean-Hashmon
era(142-63 B.C.),and from the Roman occupation (beginning 63
B.C.),The most significant writings
were four books of the Maccabeus. These, and all other writings during the 400
year period, were never accepted by Jewish scholars as being God-given or
revelatory; however, they do shed historical light on the period.
The entire Old Testament was written by the descendants of Abraham: the
Hebrews.
It traces the history of the human race and then after the "call of Abraham,"
total focus was on the Israelite peoples. Other nations and peoples were
referenced as they related to
Note:
Twenty-five of the twenty-seven New Testament Books were
also written by Jews.
The New Testament
New Testament Summary
[NT]
God,
through His prophet, Jeremiah, had promised a new covenant to
Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD,
'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel [. . .]
My covenant which they broke, [. . .].
I will put My law in their minds,
and write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people.'
(Jeremiah 31:31-34) NKJV
Since
both the Old and New Testament were Hebrew written, we begin this New Testament
overview with a passage from the New Testament Book that was
written specifically to the Hebrews of the First Century A.D.
Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom He also made the worlds.[. .
.] and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.' (Hebrews 1:1-3)KJV
This passage continues by quoting from Psalm 2:7.
I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
'Thou art My Son: [. . .].' (Hebrews 1:5). KJV
Question:
Who is this individual that
God declares:
'You are My Son'?
The New Testament book of Matthew begins the answer to this question by listing a genealogy, beginning with Abraham and following through the royal line of King David to Jospeh, Jesus' legal father: "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. [. . .]" (Matthew 1:1). KJV
Luke's gospel traces Jesus' genealogy from Adam, through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David to Mary, Jesus' mother. Thus, Jesus was/is entitled to the kingly line of David through both His mother, Mary, and Joseph, the legal father of Jesus.
Matthew records angelic announcements to both Mary and Joseph. These and other supernatural events establish the credibility of Jesus Christ as being the Messiah.
Note: The Old Testament prophesied that there would be a Messenger who would precede Messiah.
'Behold,
I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before Me:
and the Lord, whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come to His temple,
even the messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come,
saith the LORD of hosts.'
(Malachi 3:1)
KJV
The
Gospel of Mark links this prophecy of a messenger to
John the baptizer:
As
it is written in the prophets,
'Behold,
I send My messenger before thy face,
which shall prepare Thy way
before thee.'
The
voice of one crying in the wilderness,
'Prepare
ye the way of the Lord,
make his paths straight.'
John
did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance
for the remission of sins. [. . .]; and he did eat locusts and wild
honey; And preached, saying,
'There
cometh One mightier than I after me, the latchet of Whose shoes I am
not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with
water: but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.'
(Mark 1:1-8)
KJV
The Gospel of John identifies John the Baptizer as the person that was/is the fulfillment of Old Testament Scriptures.
(The writer of the Gospel of John was John the disciple, later identified as John the Apostle.)
The
next day John {John
the Baptizer} seeth
Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
'Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.'
(John 1:29)
KJV
Question: Can we be certain that this person identified by John was actually the prophesied Messiah?
The answer is obviously, "Yes," and the evidence is clearly recorded for all humankind to hear that, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 1:29) KJV
Key:
Three Messianic Signs
Question: How could the people identify the true Messiah?
The Bible specifies three signs to confirm the identity of the Messiah:
► Sign One: Stated by a Prophet, Isaiah.
The birth sign: Messiah would be virgin born.
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;
Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
(Isaiah 7:14)
KJV
► Sign Two: Stated by an Angel.
The identification sign was announced by the angel to the shepherds.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Jesus was the only baby, that night, in a manger, in Bethlehem.
► Sign Three: Stated by the Messiah, Himself.
The resurrection sign was thrice proclaimed by Jesus Christ, Himself. The resurrection sign is recorded in four passages. (Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:4; Mark 8:12; Luke 11:29)
Jesus Christ, Himself, defined this third sign for the skeptical crowd that asked:
'Master, we would see a sign from thee.'
He answered and said unto them,
'An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign;
and there shall no sign be given to it,
but {except
for} the sign of the prophet Jonas:
For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly;
so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.'
(Matthew 12:39-40) KJV
Those skeptics did not comprehend what He was saying. The skeptics of today also fail to comprehend the implications of these three signs, especially the third.
Enter:
Jesus of Nazareth
The account is begun by the Apostle Matthew in the first Book of the New Testament.
Now the birth of
Jesus Christ was on this wise:
When
as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph,
before they came
together,
she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
(Matthew 1:18)
KJV
Matthew's account includes an angelic announcement to Mary [39] and an angelic message to Joseph that the baby was conceived by the Holy Spirit of God. The angel stated to Joseph: 'That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost' (Matthew 1:20). KJV
►Sign One: This angelic announcement confirmed that the birth of Jesus fulfilled the first of the three Messianic Signs: a virgin birth. [40]
It is the physician, Luke(Luke 2:1-20) who gives us the specific birth details, even listing a sign so that all the world would know which baby, born in Bethlehem, that night was actually the Messiah.
The prophet(Micah 5:2)had stated that Messiah would be from Bethlehem. Interestingly, Joseph and Mary were forced to Bethlehem due to an edict by the Roman Emperor.
(Note: God's providence extended into the edict of the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus.)
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. [. . .]
And
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into
Judaea, unto the city of David, [. . .] (because he was of the house
and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife,
being great with child.
The birth was in Bethlehem.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
The account shifts from the birth to the fields of Bethlehem.
And
there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field,
keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the
Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about
them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them,
Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of
David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a
sign
unto
you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a
manger.
And
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men.
Angels were the first to announce the birth of Messiah. The shepherds reacted to the spectacular news by going into Bethlehem and finding the baby, uniquely born that night.
How did they know which baby was Messiah?
Jesus was the only baby that night in Bethlehem, in a manger.
And
it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven,
the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem,
and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made
known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and
Joseph, and
the
babe lying in a manger.
(Luke 2:1-16)
KJV
The
shepherds verified
His identity and
proclaimed His arrival:
And
when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was
told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it
wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.
(Luke 2:17-18)
KJV
The significance of the manger SIGN seems to be missed by most who repeat this account.
Questions:
Who was/is Jesus?
What did Jesus teach and say about Himself?
It
is difficult to read Jesus' statements about Himself and then ignore
the implications.
The following passages, mostly from The Apostle John's Gospel, clearly
reveal the reality of Jesus' claims.
Jesus Christ:
The Eternal One
John
1:1-5
In
the beginning was
the
Word,
and
the
Word
was
with God,
and
the
Word
was
God.
The
same was in the beginning with God.
All
things were made by him;
and
without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and
the
life
was
the
light
of
men.
And
the light shineth in darkness;
and
the darkness comprehended it not.
Matthew
3:1-2
In
those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of
Judaea,
And
saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
John 1:29 The
next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
‘Behold
the
Lamb
of God,
which
taketh away the sin of the world.’
Matthew4
:17 From
that time
Jesus
began to preach, and to say,
'REPENT:
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
John
2:18-19
Then answered the JewsThe Religious Officials}
and said unto Him,
What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Jesus
answered and said unto them,
'Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'
'But he spake of the temple of his body.'
John
3:3
Jesus answered and said unto him,
'Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.'
John 3:14-17 'And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:'
Note: Jesus is speaking of being 'lifted up' on the Cross (of His death). These are Jesus’ own words: 'That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.'
'For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten Son
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. [. . .]'
John 3:20-21 'For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.'
John 3:36
'He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life:
and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life;
but the wrath of God abideth on him.'
John
4:
25-26 The
woman saith unto him,
I
know that
Messias
cometh,
which
is called
Christ:
when
He is come,
He
will tell us all things.
Jesus saith unto her,
'I that speak unto thee am'
he.
Note:
This is the first of many statements, saying,
'I AM.'
The people understood that He was saying:
"I AM" God.
Also note:
The "he" is in italics showing that the translators added he.
Jesus clearly said: 'I AM.
(Also see: John 8:58)
John
5:24-39
'Verily,
verily, I say unto you,
he
that heareth my word,
and
believeth on Him that sent me,
hath
everlasting life,
and
shall not come into condemnation;
but
is passed from death unto life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The
hour is coming, and now is,
when
the dead shall hear the voice of the
Son
of God:
and
they that hear shall live. [. . .]
Search the scriptures;
for
in them ye [believe that] ye have eternal life:
and
they are they which testify of Me.'
John
7:37 [At]
that great day of the feast,
Jesus
stood
and cried, saying,
'If
any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.'
John
8:12 Then
spake
Jesus
again
unto them, saying,
'I
am
the
light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the
light
of life.
[. . .]'
John
8:34 Jesus
answered them,
'Verily,
verily, I say unto you,
Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant
(slave)
of
sin. [. . .]'
John
8:58 Jesus
said unto them,
'Verily,
verily, I say unto you,
Before
Abraham was,
I
am.
'
Note:
Jesus is stating that He IS the: "I AM."
God defined Himself to be the: "I AM" in Exodus 3:14 when
God said: I AM, that I AM.'
John 10
:1
'Verily,
verily, I say unto you,
he
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but
climbeth up some other way,
the
same is a thief and a robber. [. . .]'
John
10:7-11 Then
said
Jesus
unto
them again,
'Verily,
verily, I say unto you,
I
am
the
door
of
the sheep.
All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep
did not hear them.
I am the
door:
by Me if any man enter in,
he
shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
The
thief cometh not, but for to steal,
and
to kill, and to destroy:
I
am come that
they might have life,
and
that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the good shepherd:
the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. [. . .]'
John
10:26-28 'But
ye believe not, because ye are not of My sheep, as I said unto you.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.'
John
11:25-27
Jesus
said unto her,
'I
am
the
resurrection,
and the
life:
he
that believeth in Me, though he were dead,
yet
shall he live:
And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me
shall
never die.
Believest
thou this?'
Yea,
Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
John
12:46-48 'I
am come
a
light
into
the world,
that
whosoever believeth on Me
should
not abide in darkness. [. . .]
I
came [. . .]
to
save the world.'
He
that rejecteth Me, and receiveth not My words,
hath
one that judgeth him: [. . .]
the
word that
I have spoken,
the
same
shall
judge
him
in the last day.'
John
13:19
'[. . .]
I tell you before it come,
that,
when it is come to pass,
ye
may believe that
I
am' he.
Note:
Jesus is stating that He IS the: "I
AM."
God
defined
Himself to be the:
"I
AM"
in Exodus 3:14 when God said: 'I AM, that I AM.'
John 14:6 Jesus
saith unto him,
'I
am
theway,
the
truth,
and
the
life:
no
man cometh unto the Father,
but
by
Me.'
John
15: 5-6 'I
am
the
vine,
ye
are the branches:
He
that abideth in Me, and I in him,
the
same bringeth forth much fruit:
for
without Me ye can do nothing.
If
a man abide not in Me,
he
is cast forth as a branch,
and
is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire,
and
they are burned.'
John
17:3 (Jesus Prayer:) 'And
this is life eternal,
they
might know Thee the only true God,
and
Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.
I
have glorified Thee on the earth:
I
have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.
And now, O Father,
glorify thou Me with thine own Self with the glory which I had with
Thee before the world was. [. . .]
I have given them Thy word;
and
the world hath hated them,
because
they are not of the world,
even
as I am not of the world.
Sanctify
them through Thy truth:
Thy
Word is Truth.'
Jesus Christ:
His Trial as The Lamb of God
John
18:5
'Whom
seek ye?'
[. . .]
Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus
saith unto them,
'I
am'
he.
And
Judas also, which betrayed Him, stood with them.
As
soon then as He had said unto them,
'I
am' he,
,
they
went backward, and fell to the ground.
Jesus
answered,
'I
have told you that
I
am'
he:
'If
therefore ye seek Me, let these go their way:'
Note
again: The
"he"
is in italics, meaning the translators added the word,
"he."
(Jesus said,
‘I AM.’
)
(See: Exodus 3:14.)
John
18:37
Pilate
therefore said unto Him,
Art
Thou a king then?
Jesus
answered,
'Thou
sayest that I am a king.
To
this end was I born,
and
for this cause came I into the world,
that
I should bear witness unto the truth.
Every
one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
'
John
19:4-6
Pilate
therefore went forth again, and saith unto them,
Behold,
I bring Him forth to you, that ye may know that I find
no
fault in Him.
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe.
And Pilate saith unto them,
Behold the Man!
When the chief priests therefore and officers saw Him,
they
cried out, saying,
Crucify Him, crucify Him.
Pilate
saith unto them,
Take
ye Him, and crucify Him:
for
I find
no
fault
in
Him.
III. Re-Generation
Jesus Christ:
His Death
as
The Redeemer
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
He
said,
'It
is finished.'
Finished: Christ's work of redemption was completed.
John
19:31-35 And
He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. [. . .]
But when they (the
Roman soldiers) came
to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs:
But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came
there out blood and water.
And he
(John, the writer)
that
saw it bare record,
and
his record is true:
and
he knoweth that he (John)
saith
(is) true,
that
ye might believe.
Jesus' body was placed in a unique grave, and remained there (three days) until the of the First Day of the Week.
(For that week, the First Day of the Week was the Jewish Feast of Firstfruits).
Jesus Christ:
His Resurrection
From The
Dead
Note: Each of the four Gospels records events of the resurrection of Jesus Christ; each includes details that are not stated by the others.
Matthew
28:1-7 In
the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of
the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the
sepulchre.
And
behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the
door, and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
And
the angel answered and said unto the women,
Fear
not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He
is not here: for He is risen, as He said.
Come,
see the place where the Lord lay.
And
go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead;
[. . .]
lo,
I have told you.
John
20:3-8 Peter
therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the
sepulchre. So they ran both together: and the other disciple did
outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying;
yet went he not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre,
and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin, that was about his
head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a
place by itself.
Then went in also that other disciple
{John}
which came first to the sepulchre,
and
he saw, and believed.
Compare John the Baptist's words in John 1:34
‘And I saw, [. . .] that this is the Son of God.’
Luke
24:36-40
And
as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and
saith unto them,
'Peace
be unto you. [. . .].
Why
are ye troubled?
And
why do thoughts arise in you hearts?
Behold My hands and My feet,
that
it is I Myself:
handle
Me, and see;
for
a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have.
And when He had thus
spoken,
He
shewed them His hands and His feet.
John
20:26-31 And
after eight days again His disciples were within, and Thomas with
them:
Then cometh Jesus, the doors being shut,
and
stood in the midst, and said,
'Peace
be unto you.'
Then
saith He to Thomas,
'Reach
hither thy finger, and behold my hands;
and
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into My side:
and
be not faithless, but believing. '
And
Thomas answered and said unto Him,
My
Lord and my God.
Jesus
saith unto him,
'Thomas,
because thou hast seen Me,
thou
hast believed:
blessed
are they that have not seen,
and
yet have believed. [. . .]'
These are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through His name.
Jesus Christ:
His Ascension into Heaven
Acts 1:9-11 And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
And [. . .] behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said,
‘Ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This
same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven,
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven
.’
Jesus Christ:
His Return
Revelation
1:7-19 Behold,
He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, [. . .]
'I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending,
saith the Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
I am
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, what thou seest, write
in a book, [. . .]'
[I,
John saw] one like unto the Son of man, [. . .]
and out of His mouth
went a sharp two edged sword:
and His countenance was as the sun
shineth in His strength.
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet
as dead.
And He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me,
'Fear
not; I am the first and the last:
I am He that liveth, and was
dead;
and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;
and have the
keys of hell and of death.'
Write the things which thou hast seen,
and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; '
Jesus Christ:
His Return as Judge
Revelation
20:10-15 And
the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, [. . .]
And
I saw a great white throne, [. . .].
And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the
book
of life:
and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works.
And
the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them:
and
they were judged every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
This
is the
second
death.
And
whosoever
was
not
found
written in
the
book of life
was
cast into the lake of fire.
___ __
Jesus Christ
His Promise to Return
Revelation
22:7-20
'Behold, I come quickly:
blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. [. . .]
And, behold, I come quickly;
and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work
shall be. [. . .]
He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly.'
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Enter:
The Acts Of The Apostles
The Acts of the Apostles: The fifth book of the New Testament, written by Luke to his friend Theophilus, certifies the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the account the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven.
The former treatise (the book of Luke) have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen: To whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
And,
being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should
not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father,
which, saith He,
'Ye
have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.'
It
is almost shocking: the disciples were still thinking of an earthly
kingdom.
When
they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying,
'Lord,
wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?'
And
He said unto them,
'It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.'
And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight."(Acts 1:1-9) KJV
Jesus Christ ascended into heaven.
But
what about His disciples?
They
had been devastated by His death,
astonished
by His resurrection and now,
amazed
at His departure.
They
were left, gazing upward.
Two
angels appeared and answered:
And
while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two
men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said,
'Ye
men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like
manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.' (Acts
1:10-11) KJV
The
angel's statement of His return
(See: the second coming of
Christ) placed
a whole new light on the recent events and even on the Old Testament
Scriptures. It would be only a few more days until the coming of the
Holy Spirit and the
opening
of the Old Testament
Scriptures to their understanding.
Jesus
had made this promise to His disciples, even before His death:
John 14:26 'But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.' (KJV)
One
of those memories would be recounting the time that Jesus had read
from the Scriptures in His home town of Nazareth.
This reading had
been another Key
that no one
understood. He read from Isaiah 61. Amazingly, He ended His reading
in the middle of a phrase. (See
note: Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:17-20)
The
Holy Spirit was needed for these avid follower of Jesus Christ to
grasp the magnitude, message and mission that Jesus had left after
His short three year ministry.
Luke records the coming of the
Holy Spirit and the first evidence of the Holy Spirit's enabling.
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one
accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of
a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were
sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of
fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave
them utterance."
(Acts 2:1-4) KJV
The result of this "filling" and the "speaking with other tongues" was amazing. This event, on the Jewish Festival of Pentecost, was just 50 days after the third Messianic Sign was manifest: The resurrection of Jesus-the Messiah-the Christ.
There were tens of thousands of people from all over the known world who had gathered for this yearly Festival of Pentecost. (See: The Jewish Feasts.)
And
there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every
nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the
multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man
heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and
marvelled, saying one to another,
Behold,
are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
And how hear we every
man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?’
(Acts 2:5-8)
KJV
The Key
to
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
The proclamation of
The Key
begins with
a miracle of empowerment,
a miracle of communication and
a miracle of message.
► The Empowerment: "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost."
► The Communication: "Every man heard them speak in his own language."
► The Message: “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;"
What was the New Testament message?
Peter's sermon was the first public
declaration of the Gospel message.
It linked the Gospel of Jesus
Christ to the Old Testament Scriptures.
It evidenced how the birth,
ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilled the Old Testament
Scriptures.
Thus, it is Peter's message to the Jewish masses in
Jerusalem on Pentecost; proclaimed under the direction of the Holy
Spirit that defines the
key
linking the New Testament
Gospel to the Old Testament events, messages, and prophecies.
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them,
'Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto
you, and hearken to my words: For these are not drunken, as ye
suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
And it shall come to pass in
the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh: [. . .]
And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a Man approved of God among you
by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him in the midst
of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by
wicked hands have crucified and slain:
Whom God hath raised up,having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He
should be holden of it.
For David speaketh concerning Him,
I
foresaw the Lord always before my face,
for He is on my right
hand,
that I should not be moved:
Therefore did my heart
rejoice,
and my tongue was glad;
moreover also my flesh shall
rest in hope:
Because Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither
wilt Thou suffer
Thine Holy One to see corruption. [. . .]
Men
and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David,
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto
this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn
with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the
flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this
before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul was not
left in hell, neither His flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
Therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the
Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which
ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but
he saith himself,
The LORD said unto my Lord,
Sit thou on My
right hand,
Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly,
that God hath made
that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified,
both Lord and Christ.'
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
Then
Peter said unto them,
Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying,
Save yourselves from this untoward generation.'
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:14-41) KJV
Peter's message was the first proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Interestingly, the message was proclaimed by a Jew, Peter, about a Jew, Jesus Christ, to a massive Jewish gathering (Pentecost). Peter’s message was the foundational declaration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the founding "document" for the establishment of the Church[42] .of Jesus Christ. Noteworthy is the fact of a continuation of unique miracles that also helped establish the credibility of the Gospel's message.
Peter, once again was the "key" person to open the gates of understanding to the Jewish people.
So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47) NKJV
Peter message focused on the word, REPENT and in message 2 he restated, REPENT, but also added the word, Converted. REPENT had been a common theme to the Old Testament peoples who persisted in the drifting from God. When Jesus Christ began His ministry, repent was the foundation of His message:
(Matthew
4:17) From
that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,
'Repent
: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'
Jesus
also used the word, CONVERTED:
And
{Jesus} said,
'Verily
I say unto you, Except ye be converted , and become as little
children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.'
(Mattew 18:3).
Peter’s second message proclaimed both demands: 'repent' and 'be converted.'
And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also
your rulers. But those things, which God before had shewed by the
mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so
fulfilled.
Repent
ye therefore, and be converted
that your sins may be blotted out,
when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; [. . .].'
(Acts 3:17-19)
KJV
Amazingly,
another five thousand converts were added to the church within a few weeks.
(It should be noted that there is no hint of any Gentiles in the statistics.)
Inclusion of "Gentiles" will appear later in the Book of Acts and then in many of the Apostle Paul's Epistles (letters).
Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. (Acts 4:4) KJV
Question: What does it mean, to be converted?
To convert is to change from one to another as in “repent..” To “repent” is to do a “turn around,” to do a 180o turn around. It means to turn from a love of sin and sinning to God, asking for forgiveness. (The availability of "forgiveness" was/is provided by the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.)
Questions:
► What does the Bible's Message mean for me?
(See: Keys )
► Is your name written in the Book of Life?
God is RIGHTEOUS, HOLY.
The nations and people of the Old Testament did not measure up to God's HOLINESS.
It
is impossible for any person to measure up to God's RIGHTEOUSNESS.
God has said concerning all people:
'There is none righteous, no not one.'
and
'For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.'
(Romans 3:10, 23)
The
Gospel is God's Good
News .
In
His statements, that you just read, Jesus clearly states who He is and why He came.
Jesus said:
I am come that they might have life.
Jesus Christ died to provide a free gift of forgiveness, righteousness and
eternal life to all who will repent, that means to turn to God, and by faith receive His free gift.
Jesus not only died, but He rose from the dead and now lives to provide
this new life for any person who will receive His gift. By faith, the
gift can be yours.
► How can a person become righteous?
God said concerning Jesus and Jesus' death,
"
For He hath made Him
(Jesus Christ)
to be sin for us,
Who
(Jesus Christ)
knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
Because
of Jesus' sinless life and death,
God
will grant
forgiveness
of sin
and
impart righteousness.
The
process is simple:
Jesus said,
REPENT.'
(Matthew 4:17)
To
repent,
means to do a 180;
to turn to God;
away
from sin by faith (trust)
In Jesus Christ
and
asking God's forgiveness for your sin.
God will forgive because of what Jesus Christ has done
for
you on the cross.
You will be
given Christ's righteousness,
eternal
life and your name will be written in
The
Book of Life.
To
do this is to this to receive God's promise:
"As
many as received Him (Jesus Christ), [. . .] gave He power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name."
(John 1:12)
There is another key passage that describes a new life in Christ Jesus:
"If any man (person) be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature, behold all things are become new."
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
What
you do with Jesus Christ is the most important decision that you can
ever make;
because
this decision determines your final destiny.
If you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you have a new life.
The question then becomes: "How should this new life show that I am a new person in Christ Jesus?"
Many books of the New Testament were written so that we might have a godly consistent, generation after generation manner of life.
The books by the former Jewish Rabbi, Paul, as well as others such as Peter and James provide, guides for godly living for
the true followers of Jesus Christ.
Throughout the ages, people have committed vile acts and lived vile lifestyles in the name of "Christian."
But a Christian is one who has received Christ
and through the empowering of the Holy Spirit of God Himeself, follows the writings of the Holy Scriptures.
A Christian is an individual who has been "born again" and has become a follower of Jesus Christ.
jmh
I. Generation (Creation)
Time, Space,
Matter, Energy,
Life (DNA),
God's image in humankind (male and female).
"He [. . .] made
everything beautiful [. . .]."
II. De-Generation
Fall,
Failure,
Fracture,
Frustration,
Fatigue,
III. Re-Generation
Love,
Atonement,
Eternal Life
Resurrection
IV. Restoration
Return,
Relief
Retribution,
Restoration
"He [. . .] made
everything beautiful [. . .]."
(back)
Question:
Do most people realize the continuity and overall theme of the Bible?
Would you be willing to collaborate with us:
Time:
Proofread for textual clarity.
Identify links to other sites,
Talent:
Assist with improved design and graphics,
Simplify the HTML coding. (convert to WordPress?)
Treasure:
Funds are needed to maintain and
develop this web-page and
other projects.
____________________________________ ____________________________________
Begin End-Notes: A
Question:
Is the Bible like an infinite crossword puzzle with the "words" being nuggets
of Truth that unify the entire Manuscript?
Truth nuggets are found by consistent Bible study. Truths are revealed:
some as direct statements from God, some as isolated principles or proverbs, others by narrative
of events in the lives of individuals and/or nations (some heroically godly, many disgustingly vile).
Truth nuggets can be extracted. Grasp the nugget, meditate on it, live by its principle and life will be more sane.
However, grasping only selected nuggets, allows the puzzle's pattern to remain obscured. There is a central theme. The theme
unifies and decodes the nugget. To ignore central Truth, is to remain in a fog of questions.
Two sections comprise the complete Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is like the
Old Testament provides the horizontal Keys and the New Testament the vertical Keys. When woven together - the focal TRUTH
can emerge with a matchless unified message. This unity is one of the Bible's authentications.
The purpose of this Bible overview is to help identify many Key Truth nuggets, when woven together point
to the Bible's essential central TRUTH. (back to top)
Past, Present, Future
If God created
"all things beautiful"
and created humankind
"in the image of God,"
WHAT HAPPENED???
Why is everything in such a mess???
God's Revelation answers these questions:
What happened?
Why such a mess?
What can be done?
God's Revelation presents the reality of wickedness, but also includes a "rescue" plan for humankind's condition of hopelessness.
The Bible sometimes uses sordid detail to identify humankind's inability to renew either itself or the environment.
However, The Revelation is complete and provides KEY information that can lead anyone to a renewed life and to joyful living: now, future, and eternal.
This key information is the kind of information that humankind has no
ability, either by reason or by observation to discover without a revealed source.
Revealed information is necessary for fulfilled living now and also for preparation for a pleasant eternal existence.
(back)
Bible Timeline:
For a good overview of sequence of major Bible events and of key persons, see:
(Bible Timeline)
(back)
Very Good
"And
God saw everything that He had made,
and, behold, it was very
good." (Genesis 1:31) KJV
It is difficult to imagine a planet and
a ”garden” that was
perfect in every way. There would only be excellent, beautiful
plants, magnificent animals and unbelievable landscapes.
It is interesting to note that the description "very good" is stated seven times in the biblical account of the creation.
The number seven is often evidenced as being the number of completion.
(The creation was completely - very good.)
Note also: A Truth nugget uniquely stated three times can be identified as a "triple," meaning God wants humankind to have no excuse - this Truth nugget is a Key Certainty.
(See: Clearly spoken 3 times)
& (back to Very Good)
Adam was “created in the image of God.”
Humans were designed to reflect God’s
characteristics, including a will. Human will included a reasoning ability with an ability of choice.
God had made Adam from the same elements all other creatures
(earth-dirt). The human body is not dis-similar to those of the
animal kingdom, being of the same elements and with the same
foundational DNA life code.
It was the
"Image
of God"
that
set humankind apart from the totality of the
animal kingdom.
Key: All the animal creatures had a mate.
However,"but for Adam, there was not found an help meet for him."
Therefore, God made for him, a woman, from the same substance as Adam.
"And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept:
and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:
And the rib which the LORD God had taken from man, made He a woman,
and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said,
‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: She shall be called
Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.”
(Genesis 2:20-24) KJV
KEY KEY KEY
Free Will; Free Will; Free Will
God’s human creation was given both a will
and a choice.
Adam and Eve were placed into a perfect environment,
The
Garden of Eden. Yet, it was their choice to disobey God's simple commandment to Not Eat of one specific tree.
(back to Free Will)
The Fall of Humanity
Adam
and Eve were created
"in
the image of God,"
and enjoyed a special, unique and transcendent relationship with God, Himself.
God walked with them in the cool of the day.
However, one evening they hid themselves from the presence of their awesome Creator.
They had been placed in a perfect environment with a perfect climate and perfect food.
The garden was spectacular in its totality. Only one fruit was forbidden.
That forbidden fruit appeared both
"pleasant to the eyes:" and "good for food."
They both chose to do that which God had said,
"Don't eat."
But, they did eat!!!)
(back to Not Guilty)
Adam and Eve were confronted by a temptation that neither resisted. The events
surrounding their rejection of the "very good" environment
and its era of perfection changed the course
of humanity’s path and existence:
from delight to dilemma;
from perfection to predicament;
from tranquility to tribulation,
from peace to plagues,
from fellowship with God,
to being foes of God.
They had disobeyed God’s directive!!!
They now knew both good and evil and their evil evoked a frightful fear of their Creator
with whom they had worshipfully walked.
Since that event, humankind can only speculate:
”what might have been.”
Theirs/ours was/is truly a ”Paradise Lost.”
Sin brings adversity!!!
Judgments were imposed on the serpent, on Satan, on Adam, on Eve and even on the environment in which they lived.
Note: Throughout the Old Testament account of humanity's sinfulness, the irreversibility of wickedness is the key factor that often resulted in God’s judgment.
(back to "The entire human race")
The serpent was subjected to God's judgment.
And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
‘Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle,
And above every beast of the field; Upon thy belly shalt thou go, And dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.’
(Genesis 3:14) KJV
(back to unwillingness to yield)
Key:
God’s love always brings a promise!!!
With the pronouncement of judgment upon humankind, there was a promise of a deliverer.
Question: Did Adam and Eve comprehend the magnitude of this promise?
No, because the implications were not clearly revealed;
it was a veiled promise.
Note: The words veil and veiled become key words throughout the entire Scriptures.
(See: The Tabernacle)
Question: What was obscured beyond the veil?
Satan was addressed by a judgment: animosity was pronounced.
Note specifically: animosity between seeds:
between the seed of Satan and the Seed of the woman.
Interestingly, throughout Scripture the seed of procreation is spoken of as being from the male. This Seed of the woman was not the seed of procreation but this key will be "un-veiled," as referring to a Person, a Child of the woman.
For Adam and Eve, this was a veiled promise;
a promise that was later identified more clearly as being The Messiah.
Hundreds of years later, the veil was opened for all to view the reality
of God's wrath against sin,
of His loving justice and
of the fully completed substitutionary ("once for all") atonement for humankind's inborn sinfulness.
This document, this one page overview, The Bible on One Page is intended to show the lifting of the veil from the longing eyes of a searching humanity.
The human race had become so irreversibly
wicked, that the solution was to destroy the entire perverted
society.
To begin again!!!
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
These are the generations of Noah:
Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations,
And Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:8-9) KJV
Noah
was the only named person to find
grace.
Noah
and his sons, probably with some hired help, spent 120 years building
a huge unpowered boat.
The vessel was built at God’s command
and to His specifications.
(See: The Genesis Flood.
Interestingly, those who have studied the dimensions of this ship have concluded that the design was extremely stable. Stability was needed because the catastrophic flood of water that would encircle the earth. (Note: There is sufficient water on the earth to cover it to a depth of about 2 miles.) We are told that the mountains were covered to a depth of at least 45 feet (probably the draft of the ark).
(See: The Genesis Flood
It would require far more than 2 miles of water to cover the mountains of today. However, it was, no doubt, the catastrophic events on the earth’s crust that caused the current mountain uprisings.
(See: The Genesis Flood.
Why human authority?
God restated that He was the ONE who made humankind and that both, male and female were “created“ in the mage of God.”Therefore human life was not to be terminated by any human, except for a capital crime. To emphasize the need for civility and the sanctity of life, God instituted the concept of government and gave government the authority to execute the person who was guilty of murder.
Note:
The generic word, man, is used throughout Scripture to denote the human race (Both male and female).
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Why Confusion of Languages?
What are past and present human capabilities?
“Humankind has made great knowledge breakthroughs and can even blow up
lots of stuff with a single boom. We have learned how to
synthesize life-saving chemicals that later contaminate the planet.
It was these types of breakthroughs that some think God delayed by
the Tower of Babel incident. God confounded the human language into
many language families. It brought the potential expansion of
knowledge to a standstill for more than four millennia.”
God’s
analyzing statement is revealing:
'Now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.'
"Why the concern? It was not the height of the tower but the potential of
a sinful, united human effort that could develop into a threat to the
very existence of the human race.
Are
we at that point now? […].
The
building of the 'tower' ended as did any significant
increase of human scientific knowledge – until now; current
knowledge expansion began about 400 years ago. […]
When
will God again”come down to 'see' and ultimately to judge?
No one knows, but the world seems on the edge of self-destruction
unless God intervenes again!”
(J. Mark Holland,
Thrice Trumpeted
Truths , WestBow
Press, P 32-33)
Linguists
have identified about 70 language
families.
No evolutionary conjecture has been able to explain these language
families.
Also,
can we conclude that most of the clan migration throughout the world
dates from the tower event?
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Abraham:
The ”call” of Abram (Abraham), now focuses upon God's workings with, and His special Revelation to a specific family (a house), descended from Abraham, via Isaac and finally through Jacob. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. Key: The Israelites then become the focus of the remainder of the Old Testament with its Law of Moses and all the implications of The Law. (back to Abraham)
Question:
Why did God choose Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
(Israel) to
be His
chosen people?
This is answered in the book of Deuteronomy.
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God; the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be special a people for Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. (Deuteronomy 7:6-11) KJV
The Abrahamic Covenant
The Abrahamic Covenant involved multiple aspects:
A land, (Canaan and its surrounding areas)
A great nation with a great name, (Israel)
A promise to bless those that bless Abraham’s house,
A curse to those who curse Abraham’s house,
A promise to bless all families via a descendant of Abraham.
(by The Messiah).
The Offering of Isaac
God told Abraham to offer his son, Isaac:
And He said,
‘
Take now thy son,
thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah;
and offer him there for a burnt offering
up on one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.’ (Genesis 22:2) KJV
The Call of Moses
Moses was 80 years old when God”called” him to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Moses’”burning bush” experience is recorded in Exodus, chapters 3 and 4. God not only identified Himself as the “I AM” but He also referred to Himself by the name: Jehovah. It was the name, Jehovah, that Moses used before Pharaoh.
And
afterward Moses and Aaron came, and said unto Pharaoh,
Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel,
‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the
wilderness.’
And Pharaoh said,
‘Who is Jehovah, that I should hearken unto his voice to let Israel go?
I know not Jehovah, and moreover I will not let Israel go.’
(Exodus 5:1-2)
ASV (1901)
Evidently God, Jehovah, considered the question,
”Who is Jehovah?”
to be a question that needed to be answered. Each of the ten plagues was
a direct affront to one of Egypt’s gods.
Jehovah was/is superior to each god.
Not one of those ten were capable of obstructing any plague.
(See Exodus, chapters 6-12.)
The Law of Moses consisted of three elements: The Moral Law, The Civil Law, and the Ceremonial Law. The Ten Commandments and other foundational laws were given to Moses, by God at Mount Sinai.
And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings,and the
noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people
saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. […]
Then they
said unto Moses,
‘Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us,
lest we die.’
And
Moses said to the people,
’Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be
before your faces, that ye sin not.’
And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness
where God was. (Exodus 20:18-21) KJV
The revealing of these laws, through Moses, follows the pattern of God’s Revelation through His authors. The information topics are presented in brief segments, not in linear style as our western culture employs today. When reading through the Books of the Law, we find a passage relating to the moral, then to the civil, then to the ceremonial, etc.
Key Question: If God is Holy, loving, just and all powerful, why does He allow so much evil, destruction, and death?
Answer: He gave basic directives – that if humankind would follow and obey these – the situation on our planet would be much better!!!
The Moral Law:
The moral law was introduced by the
Ten Commandments with various moral directives added throughout the books of the law.
Note: these laws were written in Stone by the
Finger
of God.
It is this moral law as stated by these Ten Commandments that modern
secularists seem to despise. Laws such as:
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.”
“Thou shalt not
steal”
“Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
(Not lie)
“Thou
shalt not covet.”
(Not want what you
neighbor has)
Question: If people followed these laws, would current civilizationsbe more civilized?
Question:If obedience to these laws would result in less crime, corruption, and conflict-why hate them?
The Civil Law
The Civil Law’s foundation is the Ten Commandments. But it relates more directly to family life, personal responsibility, societal functioning, property rights, personal liability and responsibility, etc.
The Ceremonial Law
It
was the Ceremonial Law that provided for the forgiveness of sins,
both nationally and individually. It identified a mode for the
worship of God, Jehovah. It provided a Tabernacle, for a priesthood,
for a
Sabbath,
for seven
Feasts
of the Lord
and
for a sacrificial system to deal with the human sin issue.
The
Ceremonial Law was harsh in its penalty for sin and rich in its
provision for atonement.
The Tabernacle
The
Tabernacle
was
patterned by God, Himself and is probably most symbolic structure
ever designed and constructed.
Then
the LORD spake unto Moses, saying:
‘Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,
And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats' hair,
And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood,
Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,
Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.
And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.
According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.’
(Exodus 25:1-9) KJV
See: The Tabernacle in the Wildereness
See: What is the Tabernacle
(back to The Tabernacle)
Throughout the Old Testament, God used numerous concrete symbols and illustrations to display both
His character and of His unique plan for the redemption of repentant, sinful people. The Seven Feasts of the Lord were/are matchless in their symbolism. Why
were there each of the three Spring Feasts to all be observed within less than a single week? Why were only two specified to be observed on the first day of the week while the
remaining five were scheduled according to the phases of the moon? Diligent study of the Seven Feast of the Lord finds that each exhibits
God's redemptive plan.
See: The Seven Feasts of The Lord
(back to Feasts of the Lord)
Ruth:
The
Book of Ruth is a bright light during the 400 years of the Judges. It
is a "Venture of Faith" in which the names of individuals
play an important part in the message of the narrative. The Book
traces the head of the family, Elimelech
(name: God is King),
his wife, Naomi
(Pleasant),
and their two sons who lived in Bethlehem
(house
of bread).
Bethlehem was stricken with a severe famine so Elimmelech moved his
family to the despised land of the hated Moabites-where there was
bread. While in Moab, the sons each married Moabite women, Orpha and
Ruth.
Then tragedy struck: Elimmelech and both of the sons died.
Naomi (Pleasant) returns to Bethlehem, leaving Orpha but Ruth going
with her. As they arrive in Bethlehem, the residents hardly recognize
her; asking: "Is this Naomi?" Her response:
"Call me not Naomi but Mara"
(Bitter).
Her faith has reached to point of despair and depression.
Ruth, a
despised Moabite, is the sole person left as the provider for both
herself and Naomi.
The
remainder of the account is amazing as the
Hand
of God
is
evidenced in the deliverance of them both and the redemption of
Elimmelech's inheritance and of the family name.
God
displays His loving, redeeming and His forgiving Hand throughout the
account. Even during the Nation's and of Naomi's time of despair, God
is there.
Unto the woman He {God}
said:
'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;
In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
And thy desire shall be to your husband,
And he shall rule over thee'.
And unto Adam He said,
'Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and have eaten of the tree,
of which I commanded thee saying,
'Thou shall not eat of it':
Cursed is the ground for thy sake; [...]
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;
And thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground,
For out of it [you were] taken:
For dust thou art,
And unto dust shalt thou return.' (Genesis 3:16-19) KJV
(Back to: God then [. . .])
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End of Endnotes-A
*************************************** ********************************
Begin Endnoes-B
[1] Poets have written about their own defiant autonomy.
Consider the famous poem by William E. Henley: (1875)
Out of the night that covers me, {I
am in darkness.}
Black
as the pit from pole to pole,
{The dark is everywhere.}
I
thank whatever gods may be
{I am not sure about any god or gods.}
For
my unconquerable soul. {My
soul is mine.}
In the fell clutch of circumstance,
{Fate is unpredictable.}
I
have not winched nor cried aloud.
{I do not complain.}
Under
the bludgeonings of chance,
{Fate is cruel.}
My
head is bloody, but unbowed.
{Fate is brutal but I do not bend.}
Beyond this place of wrath and tears,
{The world is nasty.}
Looms but the horror of the shade,
{darkness}
And yet the menace of the years,
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
{I remain unmoved.}
It matters not how strait the gate,
{Jesus' assertion is null.}
How charged with punishments the scroll,
{The Bible is judgmental.}
I am the master of my fate,
{I control my own destiny.}
I am the captain of my soul.
{God has no control over me!}
(From:
http://www.3-truths.com/keys
Question:
How well does such total self-rule work?
[2] The fig leaves" represent human effort to "cover" a guilty conscience. < (back)
[3] Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins,
and clothed them.
And the LORD God said,
'Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil: And now,
lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat,
and live forever:'
Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground
from whence he was taken.
So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of eden cherubim,
and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:21-24) KJV
(back)
[4]
And the
flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and
bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters
prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark
went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed
exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under
the whole heaven, were covered.
Fifteen cubits upward did the
waters prevail; and the mountains werecovered.
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.
And every living substance was destroyed which
was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the
creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed
from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with
him in the ark.
And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred
and fifty days. (Genesis
7:17-24) KJV
(back)
[5]
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.
While the
earth remaineth,
seedtime and harvest,
and cold and heat,
and
summer and winter,
and day and night shall not cease.' (Gen
8:20-22) KJV
(back)
[6]
And God
blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them,
Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth.
And the fear of you and the
dread of you
shall be upon every beast of the earth,
and upon
every fowl of the air,
upon all that moveth upon the earth,
and
upon all the fishes of the sea;
into your hand are they
delivered.
Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you;
even as the green herb have I given you all things.' (Genesis
9:1-3) KJV
(back)
[7]
And
surely your blood of your lives will I require;
at the hand of
every beast will I require it,
and at the hand of man; at the
hand
of every man's brother will I require the life of man.
Whoso
sheddeth man's blood,
by
man
shall
his blood be shed:
for in the image of God made he man.'
(Genesis 9:5-6) KJV
&
(back)
[8] Linguists have identifid more than 70
language families. There is no rational explanation of the "families"
having evolved by any naturalistic process. Thus, the Babel account
fits the current reality.
(back)
[9] The second appearance:
Then the LORD appeared to Abraham and said,
'Unto thy seed will I give this land.'
And there builded he an altar unto the LORD,
who appeared unto him.
(Genesis 12:7) KJV
(back)
[10]
'And
I will make my covenant between Me and thee,
and will multiply
thee exceedingly.'
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,
As
for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Neither
shall thy name any more be called Abram,
but thy name shall be
Abraham;
for a father of many nations have I made thee. [...]
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after
thee [...] for an everlasting covenant,
to be a God unto thee, and
to thy seed after thee. [...] and I will be their God.'
And
God said unto Abraham,
'Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed [...].' (Genesis
17:2-9) KJV
(back)
[11]
And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him,
'I am
Jehovah: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as
God Almighty; but by my name Jehovah I was not known to them. And I
have also established my covenant with them, [...].' (Exodus
6:2-4) ASV
(back)
[12] Four-hundred years after Abraham, God spoke to Joshua:
'Be
strong and of good courage; for thou shalt cause this people to
inherit the land which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only
be strong and very courageous, to observe to do according to all the
law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the
right hand or to the left, that thou mayest have good success
whithersoever thou goest.' (Joshua
1:6-7) ASV
(back)
[13] Many consider the "offering" of Isaac to be a clear Old
Testament type of God, the Father, providing a substitute "Lamb"
as the ultimate, substitutionary sacrifice for humanity's depravity.
Only a few chapters in Genesis are devoted to Isaac. (Genesis 25, 26, 27) He attempted to live peaceably among the residence of the Land. His servants dug wells, but the Philistines
filled them with dirt. (The Philistines were strong and could have simply taken the wells for their own benefit - but they rendered them totally
useless.)
It was to Isaac that God restated the Abrahamic Covenant:
[. . .]And will will give unto thy seed all these countries;
and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.
(Genesis 26:4). KJV
(back)
[14]
Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which know not Joseph. And he
said unto his people,
'Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it
come to pass, that, when there falleth out any , they join also unto our enemies, and
fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.'
Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens.
[...] And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, [. . .]
And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, [...]
'if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it is a daughter, then
she shall live.'[...]
But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt
commanded them, but saved the men children alive. [. . .]
So Pharaoh charged all his people, saying,
'Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter you
shall save alive.'(Exodus 1:8-22) KJV
(back)
[15] Pharaoh asked the question, "Who is Jehovah?" God sent ten
plagues upon the land of Egypt. Each plague was an attack on an
Egyptian god. Jehovah clearly answered Pharaoh's question and proved
Himself, Jehovah, to be superior to any of Egypt's gods.
(back)
[16]
"Visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children [...]."
Few would argue with this principle: "What the parents do,
affects the children-often to the third or fourth generation. (both
good and bad) The generational link of reaping the consequences from the evil
actions of a parent can be broken by any generation that chooses to
follow God's directives.
(back)
[18]
And
God spoke all these words, saying,
'I
am the LORD thy God, which hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage.
● Thou shalt have no other gods
before Me.
● Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, [...]
thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
For I, the LORD thy God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of those that hate Me;
and [showing] mercy unto thousands of them that love Me and keep My
commandments.
● Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain:
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless [who] taketh His name in vain.
● Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all your work:
but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD thy God:
In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man
servant, nor thy made servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger
that is in thy gates:
For in six days the LORD made heaven and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day: Wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.
● Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy
days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
● Thou shalt not kill {not murder{.
● Thou shalt not commit adultery.
● Thou shalt not steal.
● Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor {do not lie}.
● Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house; thou shalt not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his man servant, nor his made servant, nor his ox, nor
his [donkey], nor anything that is thy neighbor's.’ (Exodus 20:1-17) KJV
(back)
[19] This is the brief account of Moses
failure:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
'Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy
brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall
give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of
the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts
drink.'
And
Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him.
And
Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock,
and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water
out of this rock?
Moses lifted up
his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water
came abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts
also.
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron,
'
Because
ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of
Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land
which I have given them.'(Numbers 20:7-12) KJV
(back)
[20] We want a KING!!!
It was to Samuel that the people requested a king. The request and the
question being asked: "What will happen if we want a king instead of the LORD God to rule over us?"
Samuel's answer from God:
'The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation
which neither thou nor thy fathers have known;
and there thou shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the nations [where] the
LORD shall lead you.'(Deuteronomy 28:36) KJV
(back)
[21]
And as
David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the
threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the
ground.
Then David said to Ornan,
Grant
me the place of this threshingfloor,
that I may build an altar
therein unto the LORD: [...]
I will verily buy it for the full
price: [...]
so
David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by
weight.
And David built there an altar unto the LORD,
and
offered burnt offerings and peace offerings,
and called upon the
LORD;
and he{God}
answered
him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. (1
Chronicles 21:21-26) KJV
(back)
[22]
'And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers,
I will set up thy seed after thee,
who which shall preceed out of thy bowels,
and I will establish his kingdom.
He shall build an house for My
name,
and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom forever.
I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.
If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the stripes
of the children of men. [...]
Your throne shall be established forever.'
(2 Samuel 7:12-17) KJV
(back)
[23]
'Bring no more vain oblations;
incense is an abomination unto
me;
the new moons and sabbaths,
the calling of assemblies,
I
cannot away with; it is iniquity,
even the solemn meeting.
Your
new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hateth:
they are a
trouble unto me;
I am weary to bear them.
And when ye spread
forth your hands,
I will hide mine eyes from you:
yea, when ye
make many prayers,
I will not hear:
your hands are full of
blood.
Wash
you, make you clean;
put away the evil of your doings from before
mine eyes;
cease to do evil;
Learn to do well;
seek
judgment,
relieve the oppressed,
judge the fatherless,
plead
for the widow.
Come
now, and let us reason together,
saith the LORD:
though your
sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they
be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool.
If
ye be willing and obedient,
ye shall eat the good of the land:
But
if ye refuse and rebel,
ye shall be devoured with the sword:
For
the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.(Isaiah 1:13-20) KJV
(back)
[24]
unto them that call evil good, and good evil;
that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe unto them that are wise in
their own eyes,
and prudent in their own sight!
Woe unto them
that are mighty to drink wine,
and men of strength to mingle
strong drink:
Which justify the wicked for reward,
and take
away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
(Isaiah 5:20-23) KJV
(back)
[25]
Thus saith the LORD,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: [...]
'I have made the earth,
And created man upon it:
I, even My hands, have stretched out the heavens,
And all their host have I commanded.
I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will direct all his
ways: [...]
O God of Israel, the Savior. [...].
'For thus saith the LORD
That created the heavens;
God Himself that formed the earth and made it;
He hath established it,
He created it not in vain,
He formed it to be inhabited:
I am the LORD, and there is none else.
I have not spoken in secret, [...]
And there is no God else beside Me;
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me. (Isaiah
45:11-21) KJV
(back)
[26]
Who hath believed our report?
and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of a dry ground: [...]
He is despised and rejected of men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:
and we hid as it were our faces from Him;
He was despised,
and we esteemed Him not.
Surely He hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows:
yet we did esteem Him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted.
But
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.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not his mouth:
He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb,
so He openeth not his mouth. [...]
He shall see of the travail of His soul,
and shall be satisfied:
by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many;
for He shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great,
and He shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because He hath poured out His soul unto death:
and He was numbered with the transgressors;
and He bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:1-12) KJV
(back)
[27]
'For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,'
saith the LORD,
'Thoughts of peace and not of evil,
to give you an expected end. [a future and a hope.]
Then shall ye call upon Me, and ye shall go and pray unto Me,
and I will [listen] unto you.
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me,
when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.
and I will be found of you,' saith the LORD:
and I will turn away your captivity,
and I will gather you from all the nations,
and from all the places [where] I have driven you,'
saith the LORD;
'and I will bring you again into the place [where] I caused you to be carried away captive.
(Jeremiah 29:10-14) KJV
(back)
[28]
Now
in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD
by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Thus
saith Cyrus king of Persia,
The
LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and
he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in
Judah.
Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with
him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the
house of the LORD God of Israel, (He is the God,) which is in
Jerusalem. (Ezra
1:1-3) KJV
(back)
[29]
'Behold, the days [are coming],'
saith the LORD,
'that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they [broke], although I was
an husband to them,'
saith the LORD.
'But this shall be the covenant I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [. . .]
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.' (Jeremiah 31:31-34) KJV
(back)
[30]
'Behold, the days come,'
saith the LORD,
'that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
'In those days, and at that time, will I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David;
And He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
In those days shall Judah be saved,
And Jerusalem shall dwell safely:
And this is the name wherewith she shall be called,
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.' (Jeremiah 33:14-16) KJV
(back)
[31] Now
it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the
fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of
Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
In
the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king
Jehoiachin's captivity, The word of the LORD came expressly unto
Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by
the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
(Ezekiel 1:1-4) KJV
(back)
[32]
And at that time shall Michael stand up,
The great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: And there shall be a time of
trouble, Such as never was since there was a nation, Even to that same time:
And at that time thy people shall be delivered,
Every one that shall be found written in the book.
And
many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
And they that be wise shall shine
as the brightness of the firmament;
And they that turn many to righteousness
As the stars forever and ever.
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words,
and seal the book even to the time of the end:
many shall run to and fro,
and knowledge shall be increased.(Daniel 12:1-4) KJV
(back)
[33] Now
in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD
by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation
throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,
Thus
saith Cyrus king of Persia,
The LORD God of heaven hath given me
all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an
house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. (Ezra 1:1-2) KJV
(back)
[34]
And the children of the captivity kept the passover upon the fourteenth
day of the first month. For the priests and the Levites were purified
together, all of them were pure, and killed the passover for all the
children of the captivity, [...] and all such as had separated
themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen of the land,
to seek the LORD God of Israel, did eat, And kept the feast of
unleavened bread seven days with joy:
(Ezra 6:19-22) KJV
(back)
[35]
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that
was [in front of] the Water Gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded Israel.
And Ezra the priest brought the Law before the congregation both of
men and women and all who could hear with understanding, upon the first
day of the seventh month.
Then he read [from it] before the street that was [in front] of the Water Gate from the morning until midday,
before the men and women, and those who could understand; and the ears of all
the people were attentive unto the Book of the Law. (Nehemiah 8:1-3) KJV
(back)
[36] 'For if thou altogether holest thy peace at this time, then will relief and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but thou and thy father's house will perish: and who knoweth whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?'
Then Esther bade them answer unto Mordecai,
'Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me,
and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day:
I also and my maidens will fast in likemanner; and so I will go in unto the king, which is not according to the law:
and if I perish, I perish!' (Esther 4:14-16) ASV
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[37]
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
Behold, thy King cometh unto thee:
He is just, and having salvation;
Lowly and riding on a [donkey],
Ane upon a colt, the foal of a [donkey].(Zechariah 9:9) KJV
(back)
[38] 'Behold, the days [are coming],'
saith the LORD,
'that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the
house of Judah: not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them
out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they [broke], although I was
an husband to them,'
saith the LORD.
'But this shall be the covenant I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts,
and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [. . .]
For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.'
(Jeremiah 31:31-34) KJV
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[39] And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a
city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose
name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was
Mary.
And the angel came in unto her, and said,
Hail,
thou that art highly favoured,
the
Lord is with thee:
blessed
art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in
her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel
said unto her,
Fear
not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his
name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the
Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his
father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary
unto the angel,
How
shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her,
The
Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall
overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born
of thee shall be called the Son of God.' (Luke 1:26-35) KJV
(back)
[40] The angel stated both Messiah's name and His mission.
Thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from
their sins. (Matthew 1:21) KJV
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[41] (John 1:1-5)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not. (KJV)
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[42] The word church in the New Testament refers to an assembly of the followers of Jesus Christ. Nowhere in the New Testament is there any official organizational connection between or among the New Testament churches. (back)
Questions do have answers:
Why does God allow bad things to happen?
Why is there so much violence and evil in the Bible?
Why does God seem to be so judgmental?
How did all this get started?
We find answers by looking at the Bible's overall message?
Adrian Rogers, the late pastor of an historic church in Memphis, Tennessee,
listed three segments for the message of the Bible.
I. Generation,
II. De-generation,
III. Re-generation,
(To which we add:)
IV. Restoration.
(Back to Generation)
(Back to Re-Generation)
Unto the woman He {God}
said:
'I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;
In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
And thy desire shall be to your husband,
And he shall rule over thee'.
And unto Adam He said,
'Because thou hast harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and have eaten of the tree,
of which I commanded thee saying,
'Thou shall not eat of it':
Cursed is the ground for thy sake; [...]
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;
And thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground,
For out of it [you were] taken:
For dust thou art,
And unto dust shalt thou return.' (Genesis 3:16-19) KJV
(back to: God then [. . .])
Adam described his condition as "naked" even though he and Eve had sewn fig leaves together to make themselves aprons (v.7).
This reveals that Adam's covering had not satisfied his conscience. Even though he was covered, he still considered himself naked. No matter how good his self-made covering was, he knew that before God he was physically and spiritually naked.
Adam's conscience condemned him, for God had worked through his conscience to reveal to him that he had disobeyed. [. . .]
Adam's apron could not screen him from the eye of God, and since Adam could not stand before God naked, or exposed, he fled."
(Epp, Theodore H., The God of Creation, Volume I, Back to the Bible Broadcast, Lincoln, Nebraska,1972, p155)
(back)
How was humanity’s paradise lost?
The Fall of Lucifer
(Satan)
Lucifer (Satan) was one of three angelic beings who are specifically named in Scripture. His rebellious self will marks the entrance of evil into God’s realm of pure holiness and perfection.
Lucifer, One of God’s created angels (an archangel) was created perfect. However, because he became proud in his wisdom and beauty, he became the first of God’s created beings to "fall" (to rebel against God’s authority).
Many scholars agree that it is Lucifer who is described as ”the anointed cherib that covereth,” in Ezekiel 28:14.
”Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God;
’Thou sealest up the sum,
full of wisdom,
and perfect in beauty.
Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have fill the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brigntness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniqity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, It shall devour thee, and I will being thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror and
never shalt thou be anymore.”
The account of this "history changing" event is recorded in Isaiah's writings.
Satan's five rebellious ”I will” statements and the outcome is revealed in the book of Isaiah. It is God who describes both to the offense and of the result.
"How [are you] fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How [are you] cut down to the ground, [that did] weakened the nations!
For thou hast said in thine heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit also on the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.'
Yet [you] shall be brought down to hell,
To the sides of the Pit.
They who see theel shall narrowly look upon thee,
And consider thee, saying:
'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble,
That did shake kingdoms:
That made the world as a wilderness.
And destroyed the cities thereof:
That opened not the house of his prisoners?’
(Isaiah 14:12-17) KJV
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Rather than using the percise wording of a single translation of Ecclesiastes 3:11, the following is a rendering of the meaning as understood in
our standard English language:
God has made everything beautiful in its time.
Also, God has placed the awarness of "eternity" in each human heart.
However, no human has an ability to discover, find out or to comprehend what God has done from the very beginning.
(back)
The Links can be a key to the total message of the Bible.
(back)
Francis A. Schaeffer stated: "[. . .] in space and time and history, there was an unprogrammed man who made a choice, and actually rebelled against God."
(back to Note:)
Why
did God choose
Abraham?
Key: God selected Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel) as examples and to be representative of the entire human race, to demonstrate His love and concern for the totality of humankind. He chose this one family to represent His greatness, love, provision and protection for this family. Thus, if He could show these to one family, He could bless all the families of the earth.
Since all people are of the same basic disposition, mind-set with self-centered goals, one family could represent all of humankind. The whole of humankind would respond to God's in the same ways as the representative family. We later find this principle annunciated more clearly.
God
choose Israel as the "Chosen People" to display His
greatness among the nations. He promised Israel a unique blessing and
divine protection if they obeyed His voice and His commandments.
(back)
Question:
Is the Bible like an infinite crossword puzzle with the "words" being nuggets
of Truth that unify the entire Manuscript?
Truth nuggets are found by consistent Bible study. Truths are revealed:
some as direct statements from God, some as isolated principles or proverbs, others by narrative
of events in the lives of individuals and/or nations (some heroically godly, many disgustingly vile).
Truth nuggets can be extracted. Grasp the nugget, meditate on it, live by its principle and life will be more sane.
However, grasping only selected nuggets, allows the puzzle's pattern to remain obscured. There is a central theme. The theme
unifies and decodes the nugget. To ignore central Truth, is to remain in a fog of questions.
Two sections comprise the complete Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. It is if the
Old Testament provides the horizontal Keys and the New Testament the vertical Keys. When woven together - the focal TRUTH
can emerge with a matchless unified message. This unity is one of the Bible's authentications.
The purpose of this Bible overview is to help identify many Key Truth nuggets, when woven together point
to the Bible's essential central TRUTH. (back to New Testament)
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End of Endnotes-B