 Seminar 1: "Between the Testaments"
Israel's Time Line ======================================================================== Part 2: HISTORY OF GOD'S PEOPLE ======================================================================== "The Story of Redemption" The Bible is a book of life and redemption. It is not a book of history, genealogy, science, philosophy, anthropology or sociology. It is the story of God and his people. From the outset God establishes the far reaching truth that MAN IS SINFUL AND NEEDS A SAVIOR. Jeremiah declares, "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it." Paul based his theology on that principle, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "There is none righteous no not one." It is a wise man who recognizes the truth of man's sinfulness. Sin is indelibly imprinted upon the heart of every man, woman, and child in every generation, every culture, every race, every place, and every time period. It never changes. The heart of man is sinful from Adam to Antichrist. We are all prone to sin and wander from God's commands regardless of the good intentions of our minds. The second part of that indelible principle is that THERE IS A PAYMENT FOR SIN. Sin carries a wage. "The wages of sin is death..." It is true always, everywhere, all the time, for everyone. "Be sure your sin will find you out." We cannot cover up, hide, deny or wash away our sin. No penance is great enough to rub out its effects. No amount of tears or remorse can wash it away. "For every sin and disobedience there is a just recompense of reward." Sin always leaves behind a trail of tears. This is the story of Israel's past. It is but a mirror of our own lives. "These things happened unto them as examples for us, that we should not follow their example." The history of Israel is the story of man's sin (and nation's sins) and the direct consequences of those wayward choices. The biblical stories are about real people. In their stories we can see our own fingerprints. Israel's story is our story. It is the story of sin and its consequences, but more importantly, it is the story of God's unfailing love which alone can redeem us out of our own sinful ways and bring us back to Himself. The 400 years of prophetic silence of the Intertestamental Period is but a result of the sin of God's people. It is that deathly silence we have all experienced after we have sinned and shamed the Savior. His voice is no longer heard. His whisper is silent. His presence is conspicuously absent. The main characters of the Old Testament are the sinners in need of God's abundant grace and mercy. The prophets are God's signposts pointing out the sins and saying, like Nathan to David, "THOU ART THE MAN!" Throughout the whole of the Old and New Testaments there is an underlying RED THREAD OF REDEMPTION "for without the shedding of blood there is no remission." For Adam God provided a lamb whose blood was spilt to provide a covering for Adam's nakedness. God punished him to be sure, but He also provided for him in his matchless love and mercy. In the sweaty pits of slavery in Egypt the people cried and God heard. He again provided a lamb and said, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." When Joshua passed over the Jordan into the promised land and went against Jericho there was a woman as low as any woman ever was, a harlot named Rahab, who entertained and protected God's servants. God provided a scarlet cord that was to be her salvation. When David sinned committing adultery with Bathsheba and was found out he cried, wept, and wailed for God's mercy. He knew that tears could never pay the debt that he owed. Then in Psalm 51 he gives his resolve in this insoluble dilemma. "Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, else I would give it. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow." David knew that God alone could do the washing that his filthy heart so desperately needed. Every character in the Old Testament dispensation needed a savior. Regardless of how moral and upright anyone appeared to be, the truth remained, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Isaiah echoed this truth in Isaiah 6 when he saw a vision of the Lord. He cried out, "Woe is me! for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips..." Then the Lord provided coals, taken with tongs from off the altar, to touch his lips to remove his iniquity and purge his sin. And so it has been and so it ever shall be. God alone can and must cleanse us from sin. When we realize our uncleanness, our failures, our deceitful motives, and our desperately wicked hearts, and cry to Him he will hear and send the Redeemer. That is what happened in the Intertestamental Period. God heard. God answered and sent his only begotten Son to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. As you study this 400 year period try to keep in mind this is not just history, it is the story of the heart of a people, lonely and broken by sin, crying for relief. It is the story of you and me, and every human being without Christ. ======================================================================== Part 3: TIME LINE OF ISRAEL'S HISTORY ======================================================================== To gain a full panoramic view of Jewish history we must show some of the important events in a contiguous timeline. Here is a simple timeline that will help you keep events in sequence. Adam Moses Gideon Israel Judah Abraham Joshua David Falls to Falls to Assyria Babylon 4000 2000 1550 1400 1200 1000 722 587 400 |--------|-------|-------|-------|--------|--------|-------|-------|-- |--------|-------|-------|-------|--------|--------|-------|-------|-- It would be presumptuous to begin a study such as this and assume that all of our students have a good background and understanding of the history of Israel. It can be extremely helpful to know what transpired to bring about the Babylonian Captivity and the subsequent dispersion of Jews all over the world. The New Testament teaches us that the things that happened unto Israel happened unto them for our examples that we should not follow in their footsteps. We should learn from the mistakes of others. Someone has said, "He who refuses to learn from history, is destined to repeat its errors." History does repeat itself. ---------------------------- 12 STEPS IN ISRAEL'S HISTORY ---------------------------- It is important for every student of the Word of God to have a handle on the flow of history leading to the Babylonian Captivity which leads us to the Intertestamental Period, which in turn leads us into the Life and Times of Jesus Christ. Learn these 12 steps of Hebrew history and you will avoid much confusion in your bible studies. There are two parts to Israel's Old Testament history; Part 1: Pre-Canaan History from Adam to the Exodus. Part 2: Post-Canaan History from the Promised Land to the Exile. A simple way of thinking of it is PRE-PROMISED LAND and POST-PROMISED LAND each containing six steps. PRE-PROMISED LAND 1. Adam to Noah |___ Creation to Flood 2. Noah to Babel | 3. Abraham to Jacob |___ Patriarchs 4. Joseph to Egypt | 5. Moses to Wilderness |___ Exodus and Conquest 6. Joshua to Promised Land | POST-PROMISED LAND 7. Period of Judges |_ Judges 8. Kings |_ United Kingdom 9. Divided Kingdom |_ Divided Kingdom 10. Babylonian Captivity |_ Captivity 11. Return from Captivity |_ Return 12. Intertestamental Period |_ Silence ======================================================================== Part 4: CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF BIBLE BOOKS & PROPHETS ======================================================================== There are several misunderstandings that cause much confusion in reading and understanding the Old Testament Scriptures. 1. THE ORDER OF EVENTS: The books that appear in our Bibles are not in chronological sequence, that is, they are not in the order in which events took place. This sometimes causes confusion with the average bible reader leading to misunderstandings in the work of God through the ages. The Hebrew Bible was more chronological than ours. It began with Genesis and ended with Chronicles. Jesus refers to this when he said to the Jews in Matthew 23:35 "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." This is an obvious reference to events at the beginning and end of the Hebrew bible. 2. THE KINGS AND KINGDOMS:Another item that causes confusion has to do with the books of Kings and Chronicles. After David and Solomon the country of Palestine was divided into the Northern and Southern Kingdoms that were at odds against each other. The casual reader who is not aware of this civil war or split between the Kingdoms gets confused. At one time all of Palestine was called Israel, then after the split the Northern Kingdom is called Israel, and the Southern Judah. Add to that confusion of politics the prophets which come later in our Bible but who were in fact conducting their ministries while the kings were reigning. Some prophets were sent to the Nothern Kingdom and some to the Southern Kingdom. One was even sent to the Arab peoples south of Judah called the Edomites. 3. BIBLICAL CHARACTERS: Also a confusing issue with casual readers of the scriptures is the placement of the biblical characters within the proper time and setting. For instance, what book of the bible is the oldest? Genesis? No, it is Job. The events of Job predate Abraham, and the oral tradition of the book was probably before the time of Moses, while Moses was most probably the one to adopt it into the Hebrew canon of Scripture. Where did Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah fit into the sequence of Old Testament history? Our bible places their stories in the middle before the Psalms, but they were among the last characters in the biblical parade just before the Intertestamental period. 4. THE PROPHETS: Of even greater confusion to most of us is the placement of the prophets within their time periods. The following chart will help you to identify the time of life for each of the major prophets and biblical characters. CREATION PATRIARCHS EXODUS JUDGES KINGS 4000 2000 1550 1400 1200 1000 930 |--------|----------|----------|-----------|----------|--------| --> |--------|----------|----------|-----------|----------|--------| --> Adam Job Genesis Joshua 1 Sam David | Noah Abram Exodus Judges 2 Sam Solomon | Isaac Leviticus Ruth 1 Kings 1-11 2 Kings Jacob Numbers 1 Chron 1-29 | Deuteronomy 2 Chron 1-10 2 Chron | _______________________________________________________________| | | | | | | | \/ DIVIDED KINGDOM B.C. 930-586 RETURN OF EXILES OF ISRAEL & JUDAH 800 722 587 500 400 --|-----------------|-----------------|--------------|---------------| --|-----------------|-----------------|--------------|---------------| | Prophecies | Prophecies | Prophecies | Prophecies | | to Israel: | to Judah: | to Babylon & | to Post Exile | | Northern Kingdom| Southern Kingdom| the Exiled | | --|-----------------|-----------------|--------------|---------------| | Elijah (875) | to Edom (Arabs) | | | | Elisha (848) | Obadiah (840) | | | | Amos (760) | | | Haggai (520)| | Hosea (755) | Joel (835) | Daniel (605) | Zechariah(520)| | | Isaiah (740) | Ezekiel(592) | Malachi (432)| | to Nineveh: | Micah (735) | | | | Jonah (760) | Zephaniah (630) | | | | Nahum (660) | Jeremiah (627) | | Esther (460)| | | Habakkuk (607) | | Ezra (440)| | | Lamentations | | Nehemiah (430)| | | (586) | | | | | | | | (You will NOT be expected to know these dates, however, this list will be a handy reference guide when studying the Old Testament. Try this exercise: List the prophets by date of their appearance regardless of the kingdom to which they preached.) ======================================================================== Part 5: APPLICATION: ======================================================================== God's view of history is much broader than our own. God is never in a hurry, and He is never late. His plans and timing are perfect. He works all things after the counsel of His own will. Peter reminds us that " one day is with the Lord as a 1000 years, and a 1000 years as one day." (1 Peter 3:8) Personal crises pale in the deep ocean of God's millennial plans. Our momentary trials are but a blink of an eye in the span of God's time. God is not so much concerned with our daily freedom from trouble as he is concerned with building character. Character lasts, trials do not. As Solomon observed, "This too shall pass." What lasts is a person's character after the trials or blessings have come and gone. That is what counts with God. History is full of stories of wayward children, sinful parents, broken homes, marital unfaithfulness, murder, rape, wars, financial losses, accidental deaths, diseases, burned houses, lost crops and flocks, and a myriad of other terrible disasters which befell the good and the bad alike. "The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike." But the bible is about salvation in the trials, not from the trials. The faithful believed God no matter the circumstances, and were steadfast through it all giving God the glory for He was still on the throne. The righteous believed God's promises. For them the truth of Romans 8:28 was learned in the crucible of conflict. "For we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are called according to His purpose." This is no fatalistic "Que sera, sera!" (Whatever will be will be!) attitude. It was the firm belief in the God of history, that HE WORKS all things out for HIS OWN INTENDED PURPOSE and IN HIS TIME, for our benefit in the end. "Judge nothing before the time." Judge only that God IS AT WORK! ======================================================================== CONCLUSION: "TIME WILL TELL" ======================================================================== God's perspective of time is so great that it is difficult, if not impossible, for us to see things from His perspective. The Psalmist wisely prays, "Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." This life is a vapor that appears for a little time and suddenly vanishes away. Therefore we should live with eternity in view. The story of two families stands as a memorial for those who will live their days with eternity in view. THE JUKES FAMILY A careful search has been made into the history of one of the most criminal families known, the Jukes family. Of the total of 1,200 descendants that have been traced some 400 were physically self-wrecked, 310 were professional paupers, 130 were convicted criminals, 60 were habitual thieves and pick-pockets, and another 7 were murderers! Through the centuries only 20 ever learned a trade, and of these half of them learned their trade in prison. THE EDWARDS FAMILY Another famous family's ancestry has also been traced, which is the family of Jonathan Edwards, the famous preacher. He was the son of a preacher as was his grandfather on his mother's side. The influence of these godly parents can be traced through the centuries. Of the 400 that have been traced 14 were college presidents, 100 were professors, 100 were ministers of the Gospel, missionaries, and theological teachers. More than 100 were lawyers and judges, and 60 were doctors. Add to that many more that were authors, and editors of journals and you have a family any parent or grandparent could be proud to call its own. When all of history is said and done what remains is what is done for Christ. "ONLY ONE LIFE, TWILL SOON BE PAST. ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST." |