I. History of God’s People
The history of God’s people starts with the Old Testament. The Old Testament contains thirty-nine (39) books. These books cover the period from the creation of the world in Genesis until the times of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Malachi (about 400 BC). The Old Testament includes five parts: the Pentateuch, historical books, wisdom-poetic books, major prophets, and minor prophets. For a summary of the Old Testament and the works of the LORD God, read the book of King’s summary at 2 Kings 17:7-23 and 2 Kings 21:10-16, Nehemiah’s summary at Nehemiah 9:1-38, Daniel’s summary at Daniel 9:4-19, historical Psalms at Psalm 78, Psalm 105, and Psalm 106, Stephen’s summary at Acts 7:1-53, and Paul’s summary at Acts 13:16-45.
The foundation of the entire Holy Bible begins with the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Holy Bible and includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Many biblical scholars believe the Pentateuch was written by the great prophet Moses, who knew the living God face to face and visibly witnessed the LORD’s Presence. The Pentateuch covers the period from the creation of the world by the living LORD God in Genesis chapters 1 and 2, Noah, the patriarchs –Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and Joseph, the Egyptian’s slavery, and the Mosaic era. Also, the Pentateuch discussed the giving of God’s Law and other teachings at Mount Sinai, the forty years of wilderness wandering because of Israel’s unfaithfulness, rebellion, and disobedience to the LORD God. Then, the Pentateuch described the uprising of a new generation of Israelites committed to obeying and following the LORD God led by Joshua.
The writings of the Holy Bible occurred in Israel. In the Holy Bible, the names “Jacob” and “Israel” were used interchangeably, sometimes referring to the individual patriarch Jacob and sometimes to the nation of Israel. Moreover, Israel is known as the twelve tribes of the Hebrews, or the ten northern tribes led by Joseph’s son, Ephraim. Joseph had two sons – Manasseh and Ephraim, and Ephraim was the youngest of Joseph’s two sons. The patriarch Jacob (also known as Israel) adopted Joseph’s sons – Manasseh and Ephraim. Joshua was a descendent of Ephraim. Notably, Levi – Jacob’s third son was adopted by the LORD for His service. The LORD God called the tribe of Levi as “Mine”.
The Old Testament opens with Genesis and the living LORD God creating a world of fruitfulness and blessings. This world was paradise and very good. Genesis chapters 1 and 2 give the creation narratives with God’s creation of the heavens, the earth, plants, animals, and humankind. Genesis begins with the creation account but soon narrows its interest to humans. Adam and Eve together were the first created humans by the living God, and they represented humankind as humans were made in God’s image and for His glory. Humans were created for God’s glory and goodness. Eve is called the mother of all who lives. As the living God’s representatives, Adam and Eve were responsible for caring for God’s created world. From the physical descendants of Adam and Eve emerged all humans. The living LORD God walked, lived, and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden.
The living LORD God created man – Adam and Eve – to rule for Him by establishing His Kingdom on earth for His glory and humanity’s good. However, Adam and Eve disobeyed and rebelled against the living God and failed to establish God’s Kingdom on earth. Adam and Eve rejected the living God’s command and authority not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and succumb to Satan’s deception, lies, and temptation. Essentially, Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s authority and tried to become like God.Adam and Eve’s rejection of God’s command and authority and obedience to Satan led to the Great Fall and death of all humankind and the breaking of communion with the living God in the Garden. The living LORD God placed Adam and Eve in His sanctuary – the Garden of Eden. However, Adam and Eve failed to be faithful and obedient to the LORD God. The LORD expelled Adam and Eve from His sanctuary.[19]
Biblical scholars have called Adam and Eve’s disobedience and rebellion against the living LORD God “the Great Fall” or “the Original Sin.” The disobedience of God’s command by Adam and Eve was the beginning of sinful humanity and the earth’s curse subject to death and decay. Because of the first human disobedience against God, the entire human race is subject to sin and brokenness.
Here is the Good News! The living LORD God starting with Genesis 3:15 spoke of His intention to renew fruitfulness and blessings through the Offspring of a woman. Jesus is the Second Adam.[22] Unlike Adam and Eve, Jesus was faithful and obedient to His Father – the living LORD God.[23]Jesus succeeded where Adam and Eve failed.[24] Jesus never rebelled and disobeyed His Father – the living LORD God, and He fully obeyed His Father even in hunger, weakness, and suffering.[25] Importantly, Jesus is the Redeemer from God promised to Adam and Eve, and He has defeated Satan and saved God’s people.[26] Jesus is that Offspring, who brings the living LORD God’s salvation, blessings, and most importantly God’s Kingdom. The medicine for sin and brokenness is Christ Jesus. When Jesus died on Calvary’s Cross, He made His Father’s salvation and redemption from sin available to ALL PEOPLE through faith in Him.
In subsequent generations after Adam and Eve, the world and humans became increasingly wicked and filled with violence and corruption. Adam and Eve conceived their first two sons – Cain and Abel, and then Cain murdered his brother Abel because of jealousy and envy. Because of the increasing violence and wickedness, the living God decided to destroy every living thing, including humans on His earth in the Great Flood. In the Great Flood, the living God cleansed His created earth and restarted the earth and humans anew, beginning with Noah and his three sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
Genesis traces the beginning of a line of godly offspring with Seth, Enoch, Noah and his three sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and then God’s choice of Abraham and his descendants – Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons. Seth, Enoch, Noah, and Noah’s family were righteous, and they faithfully walked with the living God. From Noah’s three sons – Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the whole earth was repopulated after the Great Flood. Abraham was a descendant of Shem.
The true and living LORD God, who directs all human history, began restoring His Kingdom and blessings into His world through His servant Abraham (also known as Abram). The call of Abraham began God’s process of divine rescue. Abraham was a descendent of Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), Judah, David, Solomon, and importantly our Ruler and Savior, Jesus. The living LORD God called Abram from the pagan land of Ur (Mesopotamia later known as Babylon) to begin a new nation in the land of Canaan. Also, the living LORD God chose Abraham and his sons Isaac and Jacob to make an everlasting covenant with Him in His Promised Land – Canaan. Abraham became the father of the Jewish nation. Notably, Abraham gave birth to many other children, but Isaac and Jacob were the children of promise (covenant) as Jesus the Messiah descended from Isaac and Jacob.
The sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael. Christians and Jews are connected to Muslims through their Father Abraham. By way of background, Muslims believe Islam originated from Ishmael, which means “God hears”.Ishmael was the first son of Abraham by the Egyptian concubine named Hagar. The Holy Bible teaches that Ishmael was born when Abraham was 86 years old. Ishmael was born in Abraham’s attempt to fulfill God’s promise by human means with Hagar and not through his wife Sarah. Hagar and her son Ishmael were near death in the wilderness when the Angel of the LORD directed Hagar to a well to save her and her son’s life.
The Holy Bible teaches that the living LORD God was with Ishmael, and Ishmael was also under God’s blessing and provision. The living LORD God promised Hagar He would multiple Ishmael and his descendants. Furthermore, the living LORD God promised Abraham that He would bless his son Ishmael, make him fruitful, and greatly increase Ishmael into a great nation. Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised in the flesh. Ishmael was one of the first to experience the physical sign of God’s covenant – circumcision. According to the Holy Scriptures, Ishmael was the father of twelve sons.
Abraham began his life in the Promised Land of Canaan as an immigrant living in tents and moving with his family, servants, and animals from place to place. The living LORD God found Abraham’s heart faithful, righteous, and obedient because Abraham believed and trusted in Him. The living LORD God blessed Abraham in all things and with an abundance of wealth. Abraham was a prophet before the living LORD God and a mighty prince.Significantly, Abraham died at the age of 175, and he was at a good old age and full of years.[55]
Because of Abraham’s obedience and faithfulness, the living LORD God blessed Abraham with many descendants as the stars of the sky and innumerable as the sand by the seashore. The living LORD God made Abraham the father of many nations with a lasting covenant, and this covenant applies to EVERYONE – Gentiles and Jews – that believes in Him and His Son Jesus by faith.
The New Testament states that believers of Jesus are grafted into Israel and become children of Abraham, who is the father of many nations. Jesus declared that everyone – Jews and Gentiles – who accepts, loves, and obeys Him as God’s Son become part of His family and grafted (adopted) into God’s people – Israel and Abraham’s seed.Moreover, believers of Jesus – Jews and Gentiles – share equally in God’s abundant blessings, inheritance, and treasures. The living LORD God’s covenant with Abraham and his descendants was to bring His blessings and salvation into the world – Jews and Gentiles. Significantly, the early Christian church considered itself as symbolically as the Israel of God and Abraham’s seed. The new Israel is known as the church and consists of both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) who believe and obey God the Father and His Son Jesus as Lord.
Abraham begot Isaac with his wife Sari (later renamed Sarah). Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age because they judged the living LORD God faithful. Abraham was 100 years old, and Sarah was 90 years old at Isaac’s birth. Isaac was the promised seed of the living LORD God through which Jesus the Messiah would be born.Later, Isaac married Rebekah (also known as Rebecca), and Isaac and Rebecca begot their twin sons, Esau and Jacob.Esau and Jacob became two powerful nations.
The living LORD God blessed Esau, and Esau (who is called Edom) also gave birth to many children. Moreover, the LORD God assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau as an inheritance. Esau was the firstborn son of Isaac, but Esau profaned and despised his birthright as the firstborn son and sold his birthright to his brother Jacob.
Jacob – the second son of Isaac – received the right hand of his father’s blessings and the living LORD God’s mercy.Afterward, Jacob received the living LORD God’s blessings, and the living LORD God promised to be with Jacob and turn Jacob into a great nation. Jacob (also known as Israel) begot the twelve patriarchs (twelve tribes of Israel).The living LORD God changed Jacob’s name at Bethel and renamed Jacob to Israel once Jacob submitted to God’s will. The names of the descendants of Jacob – the sons of Israel – were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali. Jacob and his descendants were known as Hebrews, and they lived in the land of Canaan.
The living LORD God established His everlasting covenant with His anointed ones – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons and promised these descendants the land of Palestine – the Promised Land (Canaan). Abraham, Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and Israel’s twelve sons were friends of God and chosen by Him. The Holy Bible described the Promised Land of Canaan as a land flowing with milk and honey. To live in this good land, the living LORD God demanded that Abraham’s descendants always walk with a loyal heart that is continually faithful and obedient before Him as their God. Importantly, the living LORD God promised a Ruler would come from Jacob’s descendants, and that Ruler was Jesus.
One of the interesting features of the book of Genesis was the family struggles. Genesis included the family struggles of Cain and Abel, Abraham and Lot, Isaac and Ishmael, and Jacob and Esau. The story of Joseph and his brothers found at Genesis chapters 37 through 50 is the last of the family struggles. In a sense, the story of Joseph was the story of God and His people – Israel, and the living LORD God’s struggle to save His people from sin that started at Genesis 3. The LORD God used Joseph to rescue and save His people from famine. Notably, the story of Joseph points forward to God’s Son, Jesus. Just like Joseph, the living LORD God used His Son Jesus to save His people. Amazingly, Joseph’s story included one of the most important statements of faith in the Bible: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring . . . the saving of many lives.”
The story of Joseph closed one chapter in the story of Israel. At the end of Genesis, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel) went down into Egypt after leaving the Promised Land – Canaan with seventy people. The twelve sons of Jacob – Abraham’s grandson – became known as the twelve tribes of Israel. As mentioned earlier, the twelve tribes of Israel were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, and Naphtali. As promised, the living LORD God increased and multiplied the patriarchs’ descendants into a great nation with as many as the stars of heaven and innumerable as the sand which by the seashore. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob increased into a great nation of almost 2 million people.
The book of Exodus continued the storyline and promises of Genesis. The central theme of Exodus was God’s faithfulness to remember and fulfill His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons (also known as the people of Israel or the Hebrews). However, Exodus opened with Israel’s enslavement by the Egyptians. The living LORD God previously announced to Abraham in the book of Genesis that his descendants would be enslaved for 400 years. While in Egyptian slavery, the living LORD God remembered His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He delivered His son Israel from slavery. The living LORD God redeemed and brought out Israel with His mighty strong arm under the prophet Moses, his brother Aaron – a priest, and later His servant Joshua.[97] Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery by the living LORD God would be a recurring theme throughout the Old Testament. Many non-Jews joined with Israel during the Great Exodus from Egypt. A mixture of Jews and non-Jews – a mixed multitude – left with Moses from Egyptian slavery at Exodus 12.[99] Notably, Israel departed from Egyptian with great wealth and possessions. The living LORD God allowed Israel to plunder Egypt of their gold, silver, and clothing.
The visible manifestation of the LORD God – Theophany – ran throughout the book of Exodus. For example, the living LORD God appeared to Moses at the burning bush, to the Israelite elders, and again to Moses with the giving of the Tabernacle construction. The heaven-sent plagues and Israel’s deliverance forced the Egyptians to realize the visible presence and power of the God of Israel as the true LORD God of heaven and earth. Likewise, the God of heaven came down to earth with His glorious Presence to deliver and redeem His son Israel from Egyptian bondage and lead them into His Promised Land – Canaan. Significantly, the living LORD God came down from heaven and not only delivered His son Israel from Egyptian slavery, but He also defeated the Egyptians and their gods at the Red Sea.Moreover, Exodus contained the institution of the LORD’s Passover when He passed over Israel’s households when He saw the Lamb’s blood on their homes with His tenth and final plague.[105] Then, the glory cloud of the LORD followed Israel in the wilderness with His light and fire to guide and speak with Israel. Most importantly, the living LORD God revealed His personal and covenant Name, nature, and character to His servant Moses – “I AM WHO I AM” also called Yahweh. Truly, the living LORD God of Israel is the ONLY true God of heaven and earth.[108]
After Israel's gracious deliverance from Egypt, the living LORD God instructed Israel to obey Him and do what is right and good. Then, the living LORD God gave His children Israel His Law at Mount Sinai, also known as the Mount Sinai Covenant, through His servant Moses. Importantly, Exodus 20:1 through 23:33 contained the LORD’s Book of the Covenant, which included the Ten Commandments, instructions on worship, and rules and principles for the community. At Mount Sinai, the living LORD God personally spoke His Ten Commandments from His glory cloud, and then He wrote the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets with His finger.[112] The Ten Commandments are also known as the Tablets of the Law, the Covenant, Tablets of the Covenant, Ten Words, the Decalogue, and the Testimony in the Holy Bible.[113]
The heart of the Mount Sinai Covenant is the Ten Commandments of God. The Ten Commandments state one’s basic duties to the living LORD God and one’s neighbor. The Lord Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount is the New Testament’s parallel to the Mount Sinai Covenant with the Beatitudes at Matthew 5:3-12 paralleling the Ten Commandments.
After the LORD gave His commandments, the prophet Moses placed the Tablets of the Law inside the Ark of the Covenant, and the Tablets of the Law remained in the Ark until the time of King Solomon.[116] The ancient Israelites carried the Tablets of the Law (Ten Commandments) inside the Ark of the Covenant during their wilderness wandering.[117] The Ark of the Covenant, also known as Ark of the Testimony, was the only piece of furniture inside the Most Holy Place within the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting or Sanctuary).[118] The author of Hebrew added that the Ark of the Covenant also contained along with the Ten Commandments a “golden urn holding the manna and Aaron’s staff that budded” from Israel’s wilderness wandering.[119] Notably, the book of Revelation states that God’s Temple in heaven contains the Ark of the Covenant.[120]
The second part of Exodus is devoted to building the Tabernacle (also known as the Tent of Meeting or Sanctuary).[121]After the giving of the Covenant, the book of Exodus contained specific instructions from the living LORD God for building His Tabernacle. Israel’s Tabernacle was to reflect and mirror the living LORD God’s heavenly Tabernacle. The instructions and building of the Tabernacle make up the majority of the second half of the book of Exodus. The purpose of the Tabernacle was to manifest the LORD’s glory amongst His people.[125] The Tabernacle was the means how the living LORD God wanted to meet and dwell amongst His people. The King of Israel – the living LORD God – would be enthroned inside the Tabernacle on the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was located inside the Holy of Holies (the Most Holy Place). The Tabernacle was a mini-Eden where the living LORD God could meet with His meet. The Good News is that Jesus is the perfect Tabernacle that dwells with believers by faith in Him.
The living LORD God redeemed Israel (and later the church) to act and live as “a kingdom of priest” and “a holy nation” and to proclaim His holiness, wisdom, and goodness into all the world. Israel (and later the church) was the living LORD God’s special treasure and servant, and the living LORD God called Israel to be faithful, holy, and obedient to Him. The living LORD God’s promise to bless all the families of the earth through His servant Abraham depended upon Abraham’s descendant – Israel (and the church) to humbly and wholeheartedly obey and seek Him and live as His kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Israel and later the church’s obedience to the living LORD God’s commandments displayed God’s wisdom. Obedience to the LORD involved laying aside evil, hatred, deceit, lies, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking and walking in love to the LORD and love and care for others.
Leviticus should be considered a continuation of the book of Exodus. The content of Leviticus was given less than a month after the construction of the Tabernacle. The teaching of Leviticus took place within the larger context of Exodus 19 to Numbers 10 with the living LORD God’s instructions to Israel through His servant Moses while Israel is encamped at the base of Mount Sinai.
The book of Leviticus is concerned with what it means to be a holy people of a perfectly Holy God. The entire book of Leviticus is concerned with Israel being holy before the LORD. Importantly, the words of Leviticus are the words of the living LORD God given through His servant Moses. The Levitical Holiness Code found in chapters 17 through 27 deals with sanctification – holiness before approaching a Holy God.
Notably, the New Testament writers applied to believers of Jesus the same principle of holiness stated in Leviticus, “to be holy, for I am holy”. The moral requirements and instruction on a holy lifestyle found throughout Leviticus, particularly the Levitical Holiness Code, still apply to believers of Jesus as these requirements of wholehearted devotion to God, giving God our best, social justice, honesty, obedience to parents, loving one another, honoring the elderly, andsexual purity are all pleasing to God. Furthermore, some laws of Leviticus are everlasting, such as the prohibition against eating blood, fat, sexual immorality, witchcraft, mediums, and sorcery. The fat belongs to the LORD, and blood is the lifeline of all animals and humans. Moreover, the living LORD God set aside the blood for the atonement of sins.
Importantly, the sacrificial system of Leviticus with the various rituals and sacrifices has ceased for the people of God – the church. The rituals and sacrifices of Leviticus have now been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus. Moreover, Israel's three main national pilgrim feasts – the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of the Harvest, and the Feast of Booths listed in Leviticus 23:1-44 find their climax in Good Friday, Easter, and Pentecost with the sacrificial death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the goals of the various offerings, the holy objects, the role of the high priest, and the holy feasts. Because of the atoning work of Jesus’s sacrificial death, Jesus has made obsolete the observance of animal sacrifices and offerings but also the Temple worship. Everyone is made righteous, holy, and redeemed through faith in Jesus’s sacrifice for our sins. Jesus has now made believers holy through faith in His sacrificial blood at Calvary.[142] The New Testament writers instructed believers of Jesus to live out their holy lifestyle and righteousness by becoming a living sacrifice for Jesus and doing good works and not evil deeds.
The living LORD God is perfectly holy, and He called His people to also strive for personal holiness (inward and outward), community holiness, and importantly wholehearted devotion and love for Him. The very name of the LORD is Holy. A perfectly Holy God wanted to dwell amongst His people in fellowship and communion and bless and sanctify them with His Presence. Leviticus revealed how a perfectly Holy God can dwell amongst an unholy people that He has called to be holy like Him. Because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against the LORD God, humankind and the entire earth have fallen and become filled with disease, decay, and death and unholiness permeate the world. According to Leviticus, unholy humans can come into the Presence of a Holy God through a sacrificial system. The book of Leviticus provides a series of rituals, offerings, ceremonies, vows, and sacrifices with the intent of restoring Eden as a paradise-kingdom so that a Holy God can walk and dwell with His people. Sin makes a person unholy before God. Leviticus teaches that perfect holiness is required to be in the presence of a perfectly Holy God. Notably, the Holy Bible is the living LORD God’s instructions as Holy that He can dwell amongst His people as from the beginning with Eden.[150]
Once a year, the Jewish feast of Yom Kippur also known as the Day of Atonement was the holiest day of the calendar year. Leviticus 16 described the Day of Atonement. On this day, the high priest entered the holiest place of the Tabernacle (the Most Holy Place or the Holy of Holies) and offered the sacrifice upon holiest object (the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant). This sacrifice provided a complete purification of the entire camp. However, this sacrifice needed to be repeated annually, because this sacrifice did not secure deliverance from the root cause of all sin – the evil human heart.
The living LORD God our Savior makes us holy as we faithfully love and obey Him.[152] The Good News is that through our faith and obedience to Jesus, believers of Jesus are declared holy and righteous before Jesus’s Father – the living LORD God. Christ Jesus gave His life as a final sacrifice for sins so that believers in Him can live holy lives.[154] Only through faith in Jesus can humans achieve cleanliness, holiness, and righteousness before a perfectly Holy God. Jesus brings a fiery baptism of the Holy Spirit that cleanses and purifies believers and brings new life.John the Baptist proclaimed that Jesus’s baptism with the Holy Spirit would bring a fiery cleansing of sin within believers’ hearts and minds and make believers holy by the Holy Spirit of God.[157] Before returning to heaven, Jesus promised that He would send the Holy Spirit of God on everyone who believe and obey Him and His Holy Father to guide, help, and comfort.[158] Jesus’s baptism with the fiery Holy Spirit came at the Day of Pentecost.[159] The Holy Spirit is called the Promise of God that was poured out on believers of Jesus from God the Father through His Son Jesus.[160] Through faith and obedience Jesus, the living LORD God and His Son Jesus by the Holy Spirit of God dwell within believers.[161]In addition, Jesus’s sacrificial death on Calvary’s Cross destroyed the veil of the Temple that separated common people from the Holy God. Believers of Jesus can now approach and be reconciled to Jesus’s Holy Father through our faith and obedience to Jesus. Moreover, Jesus pronounced all foods clean thereby eliminating certain food laws established in Leviticus.
Importantly, Jesus and the New Testament writers reaffirmed the teaching of Leviticus to love and show mercy towards one another and never take personal vengeance against another person. Likewise, the New Testament writers continued the teaching of Leviticus to maintain sexual holiness within the bond of marriage and to flee such sexual sins of adultery, fornication, incest, rape, and other sexual devious. For believers of Jesus, the living LORD God requires our continual sacrifice of praise and worship of Him as our God instead of Old Testament rituals, feasts, and ceremonies. The New Testament calls believers of Jesus to be filled with thankfulness, worship, praise, and respect for the living LORD God, who is a consuming fire.[168]
The New Testament teachings, particularly the teachings of the Apostle Paul, stressed repentance, holy living, and turning from sinfulness, dark deeds, and evildoing by believers of Jesus.[169] Like Israel, the living LORD God wants believers of Jesus to share in His holy nature and live virtuous, humble, peaceful, good, patient, and righteous lives.[170] Holy living honors the living LORD God and does not grieve His Holy Spirit.[171] Without holiness, no one will see the living LORD God.[172] Without peace, righteousness, and holiness, no one will enter God’s Kingdom and see the LORD.[173]The living LORD God has called ALL PEOPLE to trust in Him with a loyal heart, do good, and walk blameless for His glory.[174] Christ Jesus gave His life as a final sacrifice for sins so that believers in Him can live holy and good lives.[175] The New Testament writers encouraged believers of Jesus not to miss the grace of God through our evildoing such as bitterness, drunkenness (excessive alcohol and drug abuse), hatred, pride, sexual pollution, fornication (sex outside marriage), impatience, greed, jealousy, selfishness and selfish ambition, dishonesty and lies, murder, stealing, abusive and foul language, and rebellion against God.[176] Even more, sinful living leads to depression, death, and destruction and separation from the living LORD God.
The heart of the teaching of the Mount Sinai Covenant or the Law was to wholeheartedly LOVE, WORSHIP, AND TRUST the living LORD God and keep oneself away from idolatry – worshipping other humans, other gods, money, and objects. Everyone is called to worship and serve the living LORD God with gladness of heart and joy. The living LORD God is our Savior, and He is one with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Moreover, the living LORD God loves and cares for the world. Next, the Covenant or the Law required everyone to love and care for one another and not to hurt, retaliate, and harm others by rebelling against, killing, lying, stealing, coveting, and sexually abusing others. The rest of the Holy Bible – the Law, the Prophets, and Psalms – builds upon these two main commandments.A summary of ALL the Law and Prophets is to love and obey the LORD God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and equally as important is to love one another – doing mercy and kindness.[184]
The New Testament writers encouraged believers to humbly keep doing goodness and fairness, pursuing peace and forgiveness, and loving and caring for others with mercy, even our enemies and those that mistreat us.[185] Jesus taught that His Father desires everyone knowing Him and mercy, love, and kindness toward others and not sacrifices.Jesus’s teaching was the same teaching of the holy prophets. The holy prophet taught the living LORD God commands everyone to love one another and love means mercy, fairness, kindness, and faithfulness towards others.
The living LORD God promised at Leviticus 26 and repeated at Deuteronomy 28 that if His people wholeheartedly LOVE, WORSHIP, AND TRUST Him and LOVE ONE ANOTHER then heavenly blessings would flow within their lives, families, and land. Obedience to the living LORD God’s commandments and walking in His good ways lead to holiness and salvation. Moreover, the living LORD God promised to abide and live with His people and be attentive to their prayers.
However, the living LORD God promised that if we do not obey Him and obey His commandments, then He would bring terror, sorrow, confusion, curses, famine, plagues, wasting disease, and fever over disobedient people. Anxiety, madness, blindness, and confusion of heart torments those who disobey the living LORD God’s commandments and hate others. The LORD God promised to set His face against disobedient people and allow their enemies to defeat them.
Sadly, Israel experienced 40 years of wilderness wandering because they became unfaithful, disobedient, and rebellious against the living LORD God and His promises, and they did not want to enter His Promised Land but return to Egypt. The Israelites did not wholeheartedly believe the living LORD God’s promises or trust Him to care for them.Even worse, some of the first generation of ancient Israelites leaving Egypt were unfaithful to the living LORD God by worshipping false gods – the golden calves. The worship of the golden calves was a covenant breach. The Israelites saw the living LORD God’s glory, but they refused to wholeheartedly worship and trust Him.
Interestingly, the journey from Mount Sinai with God’s covenant instruction and the conquest into the Promised Land of Canaan beginning at Kadesh Barnea, which bordered the Promised Land, was only an eleven (11) day journey.Israel received the LORD God’s covenant instructions at Mount Sinai beginning with Exodus 19:1 through all the book of Leviticus into Numbers 10:12. The first generation of Israelites that left Egyptian slavery came to the border of the Promised Land at Kadesh Barnea at Numbers 13:26. Sadly, this first generation of Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness because of their lack of faith in the LORD God. The 40 year delay was the LORD God’s punishment for Israel’s failure to have faith in Him and His power and enter His Promised Land.
The book of Numbers described the 40 years of wilderness wandering until that unfaithful and unbelieving generation of Israelites died. After that unfaithful first generation of Israelites died, the living LORD God raised up a faithful and obedient new generation of Israelites, and they inherited God’s blessings and the Promised Land – Canaan that He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Unfortunately, the first generation of Israelites leaving Egypt died in the wilderness because the repeatedly grumbled, disobeyed, and rebellion against the LORD God.
The book of Deuteronomy is Moses’ final instructions and teachings to the new generation of Israelites of the original Law given at Mount Sinai recorded at Exodus 19:1 through Numbers 10:12. Some biblical scholars have referred to Deuteronomy as the “Second Law” or a covenant renewal. The first generation of Israelites did not obey. Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell instructions to Israel, and Moses’ last call to wholehearted faithfulness and obedience to God. Obedience to God and His commandments lead to life and blessings as taught by Moses and reaffirmed by Jesus. However, disobedience and rebellion against God and His commandments lead to death, God’s wrath, and curses. Deuteronomy ends with Moses’ death and the appointment of Joshua as Israel’s new leader.
The Pentateuch (the first five books of the Holy Bible) highlighted Moses’ role as the covenant mediator between God and Israel.[211] The living LORD God came down in His glory cloud and spoke with Moses face to face because of Moses’s faithfulness to Him.[212] Moreover, the living LORD God revealed to Moses His Name, which is His glorious presence, goodness, and mercies.[213] Importantly, the living LORD God has now appointed His Son Jesus the covenant Mediator between Him and the world. Jesus is GREATER than Moses because He is the Great Apostle and High Priest.
After Moses’ death, the living LORD God brought His people Israel into the Promised Land of Palestine (Canaan) with His servant Joshua leading the people. Joshua had been a faithful assistant to Moses, and the living LORD God appointed Joshua to lead Israel.[217] The rest of the Holy Bible starting with the book of Joshua discussed how God’s people Israel and the Gentile world (non-Jews) failed to obey and live by God’s teaching and commandments found in Exodus 19:1 through Numbers 10:12 – Mount Sinai covenant.
The book of Joshua described Joshua leading Israel to receive the Promised Land of God. Joshua was careful tofollow all the commands that the LORD God had given His servant Moses, which was the secret to Joshua’s success. The living LORD God and His Commander went before and fought alongside Joshua and the Israelites as a Divine Warrior to enter and conquer the Promise Land. At Joshua 5, Joshua met the Commander of the LORD’s Army before entering the Promised Land. Various battles described the first half of the book of Joshua including the battle of Jericho with the help of Rahab and her family. Once Joshua and the Israelites entered the Promised Land, the miraculous manna from heaven stopped. Then, the Promised Land of God was subdivided amongst the tribes of Israel – Jacob’s sons. Before Joshua’s death, Joshua instructed Israel to remain WHOLEHEARTEDLY FAITHFULto the living LORD God and His commandments and NEVER worship other gods, idols, or goddesses.
Notably, the inheritance of Jacob’s sons of their land in Canaan was by lot. Nine and one-half tribes received their inheritance in Canaan, and two and one-half tribes (Gad, Reuben, and one-half of Manasseh) received their inheritance of land on the eastside of the Jordan River. The children of Joseph – Ephraim and Manasseh – were adopted by Jacob and received Joseph portion. Thus, Joseph received a double portion of land in Canaan. Reuben’s birthright as Jacob’s firstborn son went to Joseph’s sons because of Reuben’s sin against his father Jacob. Significantly as part of their calling to serve God, the Levites received no land in Canaan. Rather, the Levites received 48 towns scattered in the other tribes’ lands – four towns from each tribe. Therefore, the Levities depended on the LORD for their inheritance and portion. The Levites were dispersed amongst all the people and instructed Israel in the Law of God and leading worship.
The Canaanites were the primary racial group living in Palestine at the time of the Conquest led by Joshua. Before the Conquest, the living LORD God called Moses and Israel to conquer and destroy the Canaanite people and never to worship their gods. However, Israel failed to completely conquer the Canaanites, and Israel eventually became influenced by the Canaanites’ gods, especially the worship of Baal. Israel’s idolatry and unfaithfulness to the living LORD God and His commandments eventually led to Israel’s punishment, diseases, and disasters.
After Joshua’s death, Israel was ruled by judges whom God raised up to help them defeat their enemies. During this era, the living LORD God raised up a series of judges such as Deborah, Gideon, and Samson to lead Israel against their enemies. Notably, the living LORD God filled these judges like Samson with His Spirit to defeat Israel’s enemies. This new generation of Israelites forsake the LORD and His commandments and worshipped other gods like Baal and Ashtoreth. The people of Israel experienced cycles of disobedience, moral corruption, and repentance.Repeatedly, Israel would forget the living LORD God and His commands and suffer defeat and His wrath at the hand of their enemies because of evildoing and unfaithfulness to Him and His covenant. After their defeat, Israel would cry out to the LORD and repent, and then the LORD would raise up a judge to deliver Israel from their enemies.
As mentioned earlier, Israel was created by the living LORD God to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests. As a kingdom, Israel was a theocratic nation to be ruled by the living LORD God as their only true King and governed by His commandments. The Sovereign LORD God is King of all the earth from everlasting to everlasting. As King, the Sovereign LORD God ruled Israel through His servants Moses (see Exodus 19 through Deuteronomy 34), Joshua (see Joshua 1 through 24), and then His judges such as Deborah, Samson, and the last judge, Samuel. Samuel appointed his two sons – Joel and Abijah as judges. However, Joel and Abijah did not judge like their father Samuel, and they pursued dishonest gains, took brides, perverted justice, and did not walk in the ways of the LORD.
However, Israel wanted to be ruled by a king. During the period of judges, Israel lived in a state of anarchy as Israel did much evil and did as they saw fit. Even during this period of anarchy, there was a glimmer of hope and redemption of Israel. The book of Ruth gave the story of a Moabite widow named Ruth. Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi came into the land of Bethlehem from Moab, and they met a rich landowner named Boaz. Boaz and Ruth would eventually marry and conceive a son named Obed. From Boaz and Ruth’s son Obed came Jesse, King David, and our Savior Jesus.
Israel came to Samuel and requested to be ruled by a human king like the neighboring nations, not the Sovereign LORD God. The Sovereign LORD God warned Israel through His servant Samuel the downfalls of rejecting Him as their true King. Samuel warned of the military drafts, high taxation, and the power of the king to make people his slaves. Despite these warnings, Israel still demanded a human king like the other nations. Notably, Moses in the Law of God had outlined the requirements for a king in Deuteronomy, and this king was to wholeheartedly obey and trust the LORD and call the people to do likewise. The living LORD God did not dislike the idea of a king, but He did dislike Israel’s heart motive of rejecting Him as their King so they could be like other nations. Israel was not to be like other nations but a holy nation.
Israel’s first human king was Saul from the tribe of Benjamin, and Saul ruled Israel for forty years. Saul had a good beginning as Israel’s king, but he did not wholeheartedly obey the voice and commands of the living LORD God.So, the living LORD God removed His Spirit from Saul as Israel’s king and appointed David as Israel’s king.
David was Israel’s greatest king. The Holy Bible teaches that David was a man wholeheartedly devoted to the living LORD God for his strength and guidance. David did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The living LORD God poured His grace (favor) on David. From David’s seed, the living LORD God raised up for Israel a Savior and an eternal Kingdom – Christ Jesus from the tribe of Judah. The books of Samuel and Chronicles tell the story of David. King David ruled the United Kingdom of Israel and Judah, and he reigned for forty years. Moreover, David was a beautiful psalm writer, and he authored numerous psalms in the book of Psalm. These psalms written by David revealed his wholehearted love, trust, and worship of the LORD. Amazingly, many of David’s psalms are quoted by the New Testament writers because David’s psalms foreshadowed Jesus. Moreover, David wanted to build the LORD a Temple, and he made plans to build the LORD’s Temple. The LORD God did not allow David to build His Temple because David had too much blood on his hands as God’s mighty warrior.[271] However, David made numerous preparations and offerings for God’s Temple before his death. David also made mistakes, including his great sin with Bathsheba, family turmoil with his son Absalom, and the unlawful census.
After King David’s death, Israel was ruled by David’s son Solomon. David instructed Solomon to wholeheartedlyobey the living LORD God and obey His commandments. David instructed Solomon to be careful to obey all the LORD God’s commandments, know the LORD intimately, and worship Him only with a whole heart and willing mind. Under Solomon’s leadership, Israel built a great Temple in Jerusalem, and Israel extended its borders as it became a powerful and peaceful world power as a United Kingdom – Israel and Judah. The books of First and Second Kings with parallel references in the book of Chronicles described the death of King David and reign of King Solomon, and the establishment of the great Temple in Jerusalem at Mount Moriah.[278]
Notably, under the reigns of David and Solomon, Israel’s territory stretched from the border of Egypt to the border of Babylon. Israel was approximately three times the size of the modern nation of Israel, encompassing land that now belongs to Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Moreover, Israel enjoyed a time of prosperity and increased as Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea with eating, drinking, and rejoicing.
Solomon amassed a great amount of wealth because of his wisdom and his firm control of important trade routes linking Egypt, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia (Asia Minor).[281] Significantly, the living LORD God promised Solomon that He would live amongst the Israelites inside the Temple if Solomon and Israel would keep all His decrees, regulations, and commandments like his father David. Solomon’s Temple followed the pattern and design of the Tabernacle (Tent of Meeting) built by Moses and the Israelites. The Most Holy Place inside the Temple – the inner sanctuary – was like the Tabernacle, which was a perfect cube. The Temple contained the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant, in which Moses placed the two stone Tablets of the Law (Testimony) he received at Mount Sinai (Horeb). The Ark of the LORD”s Covenant was carried into the inner sanctuary of the Temple – the Most Holy Place – and placed beneath the wings of the cherubim. The glorious Presence of the LORD God – the glory cloud – filled the Temple like the Tabernacle. Solomon’s Temple existed from 967 through 586 BC. It took Solomon seven years to build the Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all of Israel for forty years.
After Solomon’s death, the United Kingdom of Israel was divided into two kingdoms – Israel in the north with ten tribes and Judah in the south with two tribes. The living LORD God allowed the kingdom to split because Solomon had allowed his many wives to lead his heart away from wholeheartedly obeying and worshipping Him. Israel and Judah each had a king. The books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings with parallel references in the books of Chronicles described a series of kings and an evil queen (Athaliah) that ruled and reigned in Israel and Judah. Israel in the north kingdom had NO good kings and these wicked leaders disobeyed God and His commandments. Some of the worse northern kings were Jeroboam and Ahab with his evil wife, Jezebel. However, Judah in the southern kingdom had some good kings such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah. These good kings did right and good in the eyes of the LORD as their descendent David, and they led the people to worship and obey the LORD and His commandments. After these good kings’ deaths, the people of Judah returned to living evil and disobedient to the living LORD God and His covenant.
During this period, Israel and Judah’s hearts fled from reverence and wholehearted devotion to the living LORD God, and they worshipped other gods – idolatry. In the northern kingdom, King Jeroboam erected two golden calves – one at Dan and one at Bethel – that led Israel to worship idols and not the living LORD God. Afraid that Temple worship in Jerusalem would lead Israel in the north to return to Judah and Jerusalem in the south for worship, King Jeroboam lifted a horrible sin from Israel’s wilderness wandering and erected two golden calves for worship. King Jeroboam’s apostasy has been called the “sin of Jeroboam,” and Israel’s GREAT SIN against the living LORD God, and this sin led to Israel’s Exile. Moreover, during this period, Israel and Judah mixed or syncretized (syncretism) the worship of the one true and living LORD God with other gods like Baal, Asherah (a Canaanite goddess), and other pagan gods.
The living LORD God raised up His holy prophets to encourage His people to wholeheartedly RETURN to Him, flee idolatry (the worship of other gods), and obey His covenant commands. The most notable prophets during this period included the prophets Elijah and Elisha. The book of Kings describes the divine prophetic ministries of the Elijah and Elisha.[299] The prophets Elijah and Elisha ministered to Israel from 875 through 797 BC. The LORD God raised up Elijah and Elisha to call Israel to REPENT and RETURN to Him.[300] Notably, 2 Kings described the LORD’s chariot of fire taking Elijah to glory and Elisha taking the mantle of Elijah’s ministry.
Many other holy prophets of God repeatedly warned Israel and Judah to REPENT of their wicked sins, TURN from their evil ways, STOP worshipping other gods, and OBEY the living LORD God and His covenant because He loved and cared for them. The prophets called the people to worship, praise, and obey the LORD God, who is Glory and Jealous. The holy prophets warned Israel and Judah that their disobedience to the living LORD God would lead to His wrath and judgment. These holy prophets foresaw the living LORD God’s judgment and were horrified.
Through His holy prophets, the living LORD God commanded Israel and Judah to worship Him and do what is right, good, and loving by seeking mercy and justice for orphans (fatherless), the poor, imprisoned, foreigners (refugees), and the widows. Moreover, the living LORD God commanded the people through His holy prophets to turn their whole hearts from idolatry, adultery, sexual sins, murder, greed, rebellion against parents, lying, trickery, dishonest gains, stealing, hate, bigotry, envy, and jealousy.
Notably, the Lord Jesus and His disciples, including John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul have the same message as the holy prophets – to REPENT, love and seek the LORD God, and love one another with all goodness and mercy.[307] The living LORD God sent His precious Son Jesus to announce REPENTANCE and FORGIVENESS for everyone that turns from evildoing and turns to Him and His Son Jesus. There is forgiveness of sins for ALL who wholeheartedly turn to the living LORD God and REPENT (turning from evildoing and selfishness). The living LORD God takes no joy in the death of the wicked and sinful, but He rejoices when anyone turns from evildoing and turns to Him. However, The living LORD God promised to bless His people and listen to their prayers if they would humbly love and obey Him.[311]
Despite the holy prophet’s repeated messages to REPENT and TURN from their evildoing and evil ways, Israel and Judah despised and refused to listen to the living LORD God’s prophets and ignored His covenant commands for righteousness, truth, and goodness. Instead of obeying and trusting the living LORD God and His covenant, Israel and Judah obeyed the commands of their evil hearts and did wrongdoing.[313] Israel and Judah became more rebellious, evil, and unfaithful to the living LORD God and His covenant, and they refused to turn their whole hearts from evildoing.
Instead of listening to the living LORD God’s holy prophets, the people turned to idolatry and lying priests, falseprophets, and evil leaders that polluted and corrupted God’s land with murder, lies, sexual sins, hatred, wrongdoing, injustice, brides, rebellion, oppression, prejudice, insurrection, greed, and led the people’s hearts away from the living LORD God and His covenant. The living LORD God was against these evil priests, wicked leaders, and false prophets that twisted His laws with lies, sought after money, spoke corruption, and committed adultery. Moreover, the living LORD God had not sent these wicked leaders, but they only dreamed of their false divination.
Instead of wholeheartedly worshipping the living LORD God, Israel and Judah turned their hearts away from Him and His covenant and worshipped other gods, sacred stones, idols, and even the starry hosts of heaven and their rebellion corrupted God’s land. Even worse, Israel and Judah behaved like the other nations and did not behave as a holy nation as required by the LORD. Israel and Judah were to be a holy nation and a kingdom of priests that proclaimed the LORD God’s justice, truth, and goodness into all the world. The living LORD God loves mercy, goodness, and fairness, but He hates sexual sins, idolatry, robbery, injustice, murder, shedding innocent blood, and wrongdoing.However, Israel and Judah filled God’s land with falsehood, deceit, witchcraft, mediums, sorcerer, worshipping starry hosts, betrayal, adultery, idolatry, rebellion, murder, and greed. They neglected the poor and needy in violation of God’s covenant.
Therefore, the living LORD God became angry at Israel and Judah and decided to punish His wicked people for their continual rebellion and evildoing against Him and His covenant and their failure to REPENT. The living LORD God allowed His wrath to fall upon Israel and Judah. The dark period of captivity began. First, the living and sovereign LORD God Almighty raised up the Assyrians against the ten northern tribes of Israel because of Israel’s evil and guilty. In 722 BC, the Assyrian army destroyed the ten northern tribes of Israel and scattered Israel from the living LORD God’s Promised Land. The living LORD God warned His people in His covenant – the Law – that their disobedience, idolatry, and rebellion against Him and His covenant would cause them to be exiled, scattered, and deported from His land.[327]
After Judah (Israel’s southern kingdom) saw what happened to Israel’s ten northern tribes, the people temporarily repented and turned to the living LORD God Almighty under the good kingships of King Hezekiah and his son Josiah. King Hezekiah and his son King Josiah did what was good and right in the LORD God’s eyes and obeyed His commands given through His servant Moses. Hezekiah and Josiah rid Judah and Jerusalem of mediums, sorcery, witchcraft, spiritists, household gods, idols, and other forbidden worship objects in Judah and turned the people’s hearts to worshipping and serving the true and living LORD God. However, after King Hezekiah and King Josiah’s deaths, the people of Judah and Jerusalem turned back to their wickedness, rebellion, and evildoing against the living LORD God Almighty and His covenant. The people refused to repent and turn from their evildoing despite the holy prophets’ warnings to repent and obey the LORD God and His moral covenant. Judah and Jerusalem worshipped other gods, shed innocent blood, committed sexual sins, practiced sorcery and divination, and consulted mediums, tellers of fortunes, the dead, and spiritists, which are all an abomination before the living LORD God and His covenant commands.
Because of such evil and wickedness, the living and sovereign LORD God Almighty raised up the Babylonians against Judah and Jerusalem. The living LORD God permitted the Babylonians to punish and invade Jerusalem and Judah beginning in 605 BC and again in 597 BC. Daniel and his three friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah were some of the Jews included in the first Babylonian exile in 605 BC. The prophet Ezekiel was among some of the Jews included in Babylon’s second deportation from Jerusalem and Judah. Finally in 586 BC, the living LORD God allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem, break down the city’s walls, and set fire to Jerusalem and Solomon’s Temple. Solomon’s Temple, the Jerusalem wall, and Judah were razed by the Babylonians.
The living LORD God declared that Israel and Judah be scattered and go into Exile for seventy years away from His Promised Land.[338] Israel and Judah were shattered around the world and removed from the LORD’s Promised Land.[339] The living LORD God allowed His people Israel and Judah to go into foreign Exile and captivity away from His Promised Land for seventy years because of their repeated unfaithfulness, idolatry, and rebellion against Him and His covenant, which is the Ten Commandments. As promised in His covenant, the LORD God turned His glorious face and Presence from His people because of their unfaithfulness, idolatry, and evildoing against Him and His covenant.The living LORD God allowed His people Israel and Judah to be removed from His Promised Land and sent into Exile by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah in the book of Lamentations described the great sadness and sorrows of Israel and Judah and their Exile.
The living LORD God counseled His people many centuries earlier at Mount Sinai with the giving of the covenant not to disobey and rebel against Him and His covenant.[343] Israel and Judah knew that their disobedience, idolatry, and rebellion against the LORD God and His covenant would bring God’s wrath and cause them to be exiled, scattered, and deported from God’s Land.[344]
The living LORD God called the people to obey Him and His commandments. Since the book of Genesis, the living LORD God made specific promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants to bring their descendants into possession of the land of Canaan.[346] Then, the living LORD God repeated His promises to Moses to give Abraham’s descendants.[347] The living LORD God required Abraham’s descendants to obey Him and His commandments wholeheartedly and not seek after other gods to stay in His good land.[348] Indeed, the Word of the LORD God is eternal and everlasting.[349] Obedience (doing and walking) to the living LORD God and His commandments lead to abundant life NOW and for eternity.[350] The soul that sins against God and His covenant will reap death and destruction.[351]
For seventy years, God’s people had no Temple. The Promised Land was dormant and enjoyed its Sabbath rests because of Israel and Judah’s rebellion, disobedience, and unfaithfulness to the living LORD God and His covenant.Essentially, the Assyrians and the Babylonians (also known as the Chaldeans) became the living LORD God’s rod and wrath to punish His people Israel and Judah for their repeated rebellion, evildoing, and unfaithfulness against Him and His covenant commands. Israel and Judah’s repeated sinfulness and evildoing brought the living LORD God’s wrath and punishment. In summary, the living LORD God holds people responsible for their choices, and everyone reaps whatever sown – good or bad.
However, the holy prophets of God predicted future restoration for Israel and Judah after the seventy-year Exile from the Promised Land – Palestine and a glorious future for God’s people. The living LORD God was ready to comfort, forgive, rebuild, and heal His repentant people. Gone are the predictions of doom and judgment, but instead, the LORD God through His holy prophets gave a bright future message of restoration, hope, forgiveness, and joy. The living LORD God promised to reunite Israel and Judah as one Kingdom with Him as their King. Isaiah chapters 40 through 66 revealed the LORD God’s message of hope, salvation, and comfort for His people. Also, Ezekiel chapters 34 through 48 tell of the LORD God’s message of hope, happiness, and restoration for His repentant. Significantly, Ezekiel’s message at chapter 37 of the valley of dry bones revealed new spiritual life to come for God’s people.
The living LORD God promised to implant and write His holy covenant within the people’s hearts by His Holy Spirit so they will know Him as their only God and obey His laws, commandments, and decrees. The holy prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel realized that God’s people needed more than a fresh start but an implanting of a new heart and new spirit to obey the living LORD God. Through faith in Jesus, believers receive grace and power to obey God’s Law, and they will not walk by their sinful and fleshly nature.[364] Only Jesus will give you a NEW LIFE from heaven through the baptism of the Holy Spirit so our lives are no longer dominated by sin and evildoing.[365] Jesus baptizes and fills everyone who believes in Him with the cleansing and purifying fire of the Holy Spirit.[366]
Significantly, the living LORD God and His glory departed from Jerusalem and the Temple.[367] The LORD God’s glorious Presence – the glory cloud – departed the Temple because of the Temple’s defilement and the people’s sin.[368]However, Ezekiel predicted the return of the LORD’s glory at a future blessed time. The New Testament described Jesus as the Temple where the LORD’s glory now dwells. Everyone through faith in Jesus can now approach His Holy Father. Importantly, the living LORD God promised to one day eliminate all evil from the earth and allow His people to triumph over all evil.[372] One day the living LORD God and His glory promised to come back to His home in Jerusalem and live with His people in His Temple.[373] In the New Testament, the Gospel writer John wrote that the living LORD God dwells among His people through His Son, Jesus. The Apostle Paul affirmed that Jesus’s glory now dwells in each believer through the Holy Spirit as a foretaste of a future when God’s home is amongst His people.
Notably, the holy prophets predicted the living LORD God would raise up a Great Servant and Righteous Branch from King David’s family line to bring justice and righteousness throughout the land and care for God’s people – Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews). The holy prophets called the Great Servant the Messiah (Anointed One), and the Messiah would be a Shepherd and Ruler from King David’s family line and one with God.[377] Isaiah’s prophecy is filled with the Good News of the Messiah and the descriptions of His merciful minister for ALL PEOPLE. Significantly, Isaiah glimpsed at Christ Jesus’ glory in Isaiah 6:1-5.[379] The Old Testament proclaimed Jesus and overflowed with predictions about the Messiah, His Light, and salvation as the Righteous One.[380] Even more important, the holy prophets saw a future time when the living LORD God will usher in peace for ALL PEOPLE with a new heaven and new earth, and the Holy One of Israel will rule as the God of heaven and earth.
During the seventy years of Exile, God’s people realized their rebellion, repented, and confessed their sins and evildoing against the living LORD God and His covenant. The holy prophets reminded the people that the living LORD God of Israel is the true and only God of heaven and earth and He alone must be worshipped, feared, and loved FIRST.The living LORD God heard His people’s genuine and wholehearted prayers of repentance, and He forgave their sins with promises of a glorious future with the coming Anointed One – Messiah. Psalm 126 recorded the joy and laughter of God’s restored people after the Exile. The living LORD God brings healing, forgiveness, and restoration for the repentant and humble heart that seeks Him. Importantly, the living LORD God listens to the prayers of those who love and obey Him.
The living and sovereign LORD God Almighty is good and merciful, and He is ready to forgive EVERYONE who genuinely and humbly REPENTS of their sins and TURN wholeheartedly to Him with all love, faithfulness, and obedience. Great is the love and faithfulness of the LORD God. The LORD God is good to those who wholeheartedly love and seek Him. In His eternal mercy and compassion, the living LORD God promisedrestoration and blessing to His repented people. Even though the living LORD God punished Israel and Judah for their sins and rebellion, He still LOVED His people and NEVER rejected Israel and Judah. Israel and Judah continued to be the apple of the living LORD God’s eye. The living LORD God always watched over and protected those who sought good and repented of their sins.[393]
Because of His love for His people, the sovereign LORD God raised up the Persia kings Cyrus and later Darius (Hystaspes) to restore His people Israel and Judah to His land, Palestine and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The restoration books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi discussed God’s people returning to the teaching of the covenant and God’s moral commandments. The Old Testament book of Ezra tells of God’s people under the leadership of Zerubbabel and Joshua returning to Palestine to rebuild Jerusalem and His Temple in approximately 538 BC through King Cyrus pronouncement. However, the returning Jews stopped rebuilding Jerusalem and the Temple because of discouragement, enemy opposition, and even government opposition. Then in approximately 520 BC during Darius of Persia’s reign, the living and sovereign LORD God raised up His servants, Haggai and Zechariah, to encourage God’s people to finish the work of rebuilding Jerusalem and God’s Temple. Zerubbabel and the other returning exiles rebuilt a simple and less expensive version of Solomon’s temple completed on March 12, 515 BC.This new Temple has often been called the Second Temple. The Old Testament books of Haggai and Zechariah discussed the holy prophets’ motivation and encouragement to God’s people to rebuild the LORD’s Temple.
The Second Temple was fully completed and dedicated on March 12, 515 BC, and the people celebrated the completion with joy. The Second Temple was finished approximately seventy (70) years after the Babylonian destruction in 586 BC. Herod the Great later remodeled and expanded this Second Temple at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. This Second Temple stood for approximately 585 years until the Roman Army under Titus destroyed the Temple in AD 70, thereby ending the Jewish sacrificial system.
The book of Nehemiah described the rebuilding of the Jerusalem walls surrounding the city under Nehemiah’s leadership. Nehemiah was an organizer and a pragmatic leader, and he rose through the ranks of Persia until he returned to Jerusalem to lead his Jewish people to rebuild its broken-down walls. Notably, Nehemiah consistently sought the living LORD God in prayer for his help and strength.
Malachi, the final book of the Old Testament, like so many other prophecies pointed forward to Jesus the Messiah’s coming into the world as Savior. After Malachi’s prophecy, the Protestant Bible had no inspired message from the LORD God through His holy prophets until the fresh spiritual message of John the Baptist announcement of the Lord Jesus’s coming. John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of the prophet Elijah to announce the Lord Jesus’s coming. Notably, the Roman Catholic church has accepted the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are fifteen books such as 1 and 2 Maccabees that the Roman Catholic church accepts as canonical and address activities of the LORD during the intertestamental period after the book of Malachi.
The chronology or outline of the Old Testament include the following:
I. Creation of the heavens, earth, and all living creatures, including humans (Genesis 1 through 5)
II. The Great Flood (Genesis 6 through 8)
III. Father Abraham and the Patriarchs – Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and Joseph (Genesis 12 through 50)
IV. Egyptian slavery and great Exodus of Israel (Exodus 1 through 19)
V. God’s giving of the Law at Mount Sinai (Horeb) (Exodus 20 through Numbers 10)
VI. The wilderness wandering (Numbers 11 through 36)
VII. Deuteronomy and second giving of the Law by Moses (Deuteronomy)
VIII. The book of Job and Job’s suffering, testing, and restoration
IX. The Conquest of the Promised Land – Canaan led by Joshua
X. Judges and Ruth
a. Deliverance of Israel by judges like Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, and Samson
b. Ruth met Boaz, who was David’s grandparents
XI. The early monarchy with Samuel and Saul
a. Samuel was the last judge of Israel
b. Saul is Israel’s first king
XII. Israel’s Golden Age with King David and his son, Solomon
XIII. Divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah
a. Reign of Israel’s evil and unfaithful kings
b. Reign of Judah’s kings, including their good kings like Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah
XIV. The prophets Isaiah, Elijah, Jeremiah, and their contemporaries
XV. Israel and Judah’s Fall and the Exile because of their unfaithfulness and rebellion against God
a. Assyrians destroyed Israel in 722 BC, and ten northern tribes of Israel were scattered.
b. Judah and Jerusalem Temple were invaded and destroyed by Babylonians in 586 BC.
XVI. Postexilic times and the restoration period of the land with Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and their contemporaries
a. Assyria and Babylon were destroyed and the rise of Persia.
b. Cyrus of Persia allowed God’s people to return from Exile and rebuild their Temple (see 2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4).
c. Construction of Second Temple under the leadership of Zerubbabel.
