Old Testament Prophecy (2)

This is part 2 of 3 of chapter 4 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

Did the prophets really predict the future?

The rest of the Old Testament is written by people we have already met, such as King David, King Solomon, and the prophets. It tells in great detail how they lived to serve God. They bear all of their feelings and emotions, as the intimacy of their relationships with God is revealed. That is what God wants from us: An intimate relationship. We often long for the same thing, but we do not know how to go about being intimate with God. When you have a dynamic relationship with your Creator, it is really amazing to see Him working in your life. Knowledge of the Old Testament is critical to better understand God and the methods He uses to purify us, thereby allowing us to get closer, more intimate, with Him.

We have the Book of Psalms, written by several authors to include emotional songs and hymns to God. Some of the Psalms are Messianic prophecies, such as Psalm 22, which reveals much about Jesus Christ. In fact, Psalm 22 nearly mirrors the experience of Jesus Christ as He was crucified. Amazingly, the Psalms were written between 1100 and 700 years before the time of Christ and long before crucifixion even existed!

Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, all written by Solomon, follow the Book of Psalms. Solomon’s writings discuss the sovereignty of God, morality, ethics, marriage, and wise living according to God’s character as revealed by His law.

Before discussing the prophets who wrote parts of the Old Testament, it is critical to mention the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. Although they did not contribute any written Scripture, their ministries offer significant insight to both God’s will and His power.

Elijah worked hard to get Ahab, king of Israel (874–853 B.C.), to repent of his evil ways. Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, one of the most evil women in all of history, was a big part of the problem. Elijah worked miracles, such as raining down fire with supernatural power during a battle of miracles against 450 priests of the false god, Baal, and bringing a widow’s son back to life during a horrible famine that led to women eating their own children (cannibalism) to feed themselves. Elijah is often considered to be one of the greatest men ever to live because of his zealous dedication to serving God. He is mentioned throughout the Bible as a hero of the faith. When Elijah retired, his understudy, Elisha, took over his ministry.

Elisha served God, preaching repentance and performing miracles that often benefited the poor. However, his most famous encounter, which is for us a lesson in obedience, was with Naaman, an enemy of Israel, a Syrian infected with a horrible skin disease called leprosy.

Naaman was desperate to be cured of his ailment. Hearing of a healing prophet in Israel, he went to the enemy’s territory to be made well. Elisha, the healing prophet, refused to see him. Instead, Elisha called out to Naaman, telling him to wash seven times in the Jordan River. Naaman thought the Jordan River was too muddy; if all it took to be healed was seven baths in a river, he could do that when he returned home. Naaman was too proud to follow Elisha’s instructions, so he began the journey back to Syria, keeping both his pride and his leprosy.

But on the way, Naaman’s servant said to him, “If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’” (2 Kings 5:13)! So Naaman humbled himself, returned to the muddy Jordan River, and washed seven times. He was healed!

Similarly, God asks us to obey Him. His commands are not hard; they are perfect. It is for our benefit that we received the law. We must simply be willing to give up our pride and obey God. This was Elisha’s message. Elisha died of illness in his old age, but his brilliant ministry will not be forgotten.

Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel follow Solomon’s writings in the Bible with prophecies and warnings to the people of their time regarding God’s judgment. The people had to sincerely repent to avoid judgment for their sins against God, but they would not do so. Isaiah, whose name means “God is salvation,” covered nearly sixty years of history (740–681 B.C.) with messages of repentance. His prophecies were detailed and diverse, covering events in several nations over many years—even to the last days. God would deliver His people from their sin once and for all with a Savior.

Jeremiah, whose name means “God is exalted,” covered nearly fifty years of history (627–580 B.C.) with messages of God’s sovereignty. God is in control; He can build up or destroy a nation for His purpose at a time of His choosing. The Bible says: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for His inheritance” (Psalm 33:12). He wants His people to trust Him alone. Jeremiah suffered many threats and much ridicule as a prophet in his day; he wrote Lamentations to portray his emotional and physical struggles.

Ezekiel, whose name means “God will strengthen,” covered just over twenty years of history (593–571 B.C.) with messages of righteousness and obedience to God’s law. Ezekiel showed the people their sins, giving them reason to turn back to God. Along with Daniel, these men represent the Major Prophets.

Daniel, whose name means “God is judge,” entered the picture in the sixth century B.C., during Babylonian captivity. You probably know of his adventure in the lion’s den and his friends’ survival in the fiery furnace. You may also be familiar with the phrase, the writing on the wall. That phrase originates with Daniel. He worked directly under King Nebuchadnezzar as a dream interpreter and government official. Daniel was an amazing prophet, revealing much information on end times detail. He pleaded with God to help him understand what he was writing, but God told Daniel what he wrote would be understood in the time when the things were happening. Because we are able to understand much of Daniel’s prophecy today, we can be certain the end times are near.

Many of Daniel’s forecasts were double prophecies representing two or more events in the future. One of his prophecies foretold the rebuilding of the Temple both after Babylonian captivity ended and in the end times. Another predicted that the Messiah would come as Savior, and then He would come again in the end times to claim the throne forever by permanently destroying evil.

The Minor Prophets warned the people of Israel and Judah to either repent or else experience the wrath of God. Each of them is known for their prophecy to a specific group of people at various times during the reign of the kings in Judah and Israel. The Minor Prophets are listed below with the time period during which they served, the group of people whom they served, and a brief mention of their capacity.

- Hosea (753–715 B.C./Israel) married an adulterous wife as instructed by God to show how Israel was adulterous in its relationship with God.
- Joel (835–796 B.C./Judah) described a great plague of locusts that caused a terrible famine; it could have been avoided with repentance.
- Amos (760–750 B.C./Israel) was a shepherd from Judah who predicted the fall of all Israel’s neighboring nations with detailed accuracy.
- Obadiah (855–840 B.C./Judah), in writing the Old Testament’s shortest book, warned of the downfall of Edom, a neighbor and enemy of the Hebrew people, long before it occurred.
- Jonah (793–753 B.C./Israel) presented the well-known account about his disobedience to God. He was supposed to warn the city of Nineveh of God’s impending judgment, but he did not want to visit the evil city. When he ran from God, God had him spend three days in the belly of a giant fish until he was ready to obey. When he obeyed and spoke against Nineveh, the pagan city believed and was saved! Jonah wanted the city to fall, but it was temporarily spared. Jonah’s three-day span in the belly of a fish is a similitude of Jesus’ death and resurrection after three days.
- Micah (742–687 B.C./Judah) was a contemporary of Isaiah; their messages of repentance were quite similar. Micah’s message did not contain the abundant Messianic prophecy of Isaiah’s.
- Nahum (663–654 B.C./Judah), like Jonah, prophesied against Nineveh.
- Habakkuk (612–589 B.C./Judah) served as somewhat of a mediator between God and His people, asking why things were occurring, much like Job had done. God responded to him, and Habakkuk offered a powerful prayer of praise and thanks to God.
- Zephaniah (640–621 B.C./Judah) simply prophesied against Judah and the great city of Jerusalem, as they were going to fall within fifty years. Zephaniah was one of the last hopes for repentance before God’s judgment.
- Haggai (530–520 B.C./remnant) preached with Zechariah. See below.
- Zechariah (530–520 B.C./remnant) preached with Haggai to those Jews who had returned from captivity to build the Temple. They needed some motivational support; these prophets provided it while instructing them to remain faithful to God.
- Malachi (approximately 440 B.C./remnant), preached to Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Jews who were building the wall around Jerusalem. Although little is known about Malachi, his message included significant Messianic prophecy, which led the people to begin looking for their Savior, Who would arrive just over 400 years later.

Old Testament Prophecy (1)

This is part 1 of 3 of chapter 4 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

Before studying prophecy in the Old Testament, we need to briefly look at some of the historical accounts we passed over in the previous chapter. First we have the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of a widow named Ruth. In Biblical times, widows fell into the lowest social classes, but Ruth remained strong by trusting God. She met a compassionate man named Boaz, who eventually married her. They had a son, Obed, who became the grandfather of King David.

We also passed over the Book of Job, which records a portion of the life of Job, who lived in the Orient around 2200 B.C. Job was a righteous man, not overcome by habitual sins; he had an abundantly joyous life. Satan suggested that Job would not be as holy if God had not provided him with a family, prosperity, and health. God said Job would remain faithful, even if his situation was different. So the devil received permission to do anything to Job other than kill him as a test of Job’s faith.

Job’s wealth was taken away, his family was killed, and he was ravaged by disease. Job became quite depressed. His friends simply sat in silence with him, because they had no idea what to say. Finally after seven days of silence, Job’s friends suggested that he deserved these punishments because of hidden sins and unrighteousness; Job insisted that his relationship was right with God. After much deliberation, Job cried out to God in hopelessness, wondering why he was suffering. God answered Job in a series of questions really depicting His sovereignty and power in the creation and sustaining of all things. Replying to Job’s desperate outcry, God said:

Who is this that darkens My counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell Me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt’? Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it? … Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings? Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years! Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, which I reserve for times of trouble, for days of war and battle? What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed, or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth? Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm, to water a land where no man lives, a desert with no one in it, to satisfy a desolate wasteland and make it sprout with grass? Does the rain have a father? Who fathers the drops of dew? From whose womb comes the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens when the waters become hard as stone, when the surface of the deep is frozen? Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth? Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’? Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together? Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket? Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food? Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? … The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but they cannot compare with the pinions and feathers of the stork. She lays her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the sand, unmindful that a foot may crush them, that some wild animal may trample them. She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; she cares not that her labor was in vain, for God did not endow her with wisdom or give her a share of good sense. Yet when she spreads her feathers to run, she laughs at horse and rider. Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane? Do you make him leap like a locust, striking terror with his proud snorting? … Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings toward the south? Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high? He dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is his stronghold. From there he seeks out his food; his eyes detect it from afar. His young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there is he. … Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? Let him who accuses God answer Him (Job 38:2-13,16-41, 39:1-2,13-20,26-30, 40:2)!

Job realized he was wrong to question God and His plans. Job responded to all of God’s questions: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to You? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more” (Job 40:4-5). Then God questioned Job again, mentioning the strength of two of His greatest creations in the dinosaur (behemoth) and the dragon (leviathan). God said:

Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Would you discredit My justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself? Do you have an arm like God’s, and can your voice thunder like His? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low, look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I Myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you.

Look at the behemoth [dinosaur], which I made along with you and which feeds on grass like an ox. What strength he has in his loins, what power in the muscles of his belly! His tail sways like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are close-knit. His bones are tubes of bronze, his limbs like rods of iron. He ranks first among the works of God, yet his Maker can approach him with His sword. The hills bring him their produce, and all the wild animals play nearby. Under the lotus plants he lies, hidden among the reeds in the marsh. The lotuses conceal him in their shadow; the poplars by the stream surround him. When the river rages, he is not alarmed; he is secure, though the Jordan should surge against his mouth. Can anyone capture him by the eyes, or trap him and pierce his nose?

Can you pull in the leviathan [dragon] with a fishhook or tie down his tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he keep begging you for mercy? Will he speak to you with gentle words? Will he make an agreement with you for you to take him as your slave for life? Can you make a pet of him like a bird or put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders barter for him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his hide with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? If you lay a hand on him, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against Me? Who has a claim against Me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to Me. I will not fail to speak of his limbs, his strength and his graceful form. Who can strip off his outer coat? Who would approach him with a bridle? Who dares open the doors of his mouth, ringed about with his fearsome teeth? His back has rows of shields tightly sealed together; each is so close to the next that no air can pass between. They are joined fast to one another; they cling together and cannot be parted. His snorting throws out flashes of light; his eyes are like the rays of dawn. Firebrands stream from his mouth; sparks of fire shoot out. Smoke pours from his nostrils as from a boiling pot over a fire of reeds. His breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from his mouth. Strength resides in his neck; dismay goes before him. The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable. His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone. When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing. The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin. Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood. Arrows do not make him flee; slingstones are like chaff to him. A club seems to him but a piece of straw; he laughs at the rattling of the lance. His undersides are jagged potsherds, leaving a trail in the mud like a threshing sledge. He makes the depths churn like a boiling caldron and stirs up the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a glistening wake; one would think the deep had white hair. Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud (Job 40:7-41:34).

Job was wrong to think God owed him anything—even an explanation! Overwhelmed by God’s complete sovereignty, amazing majesty, and wondrous creation, Job sincerely repented and showed his faith in God remained. He said to God:

I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:2-6).

Job saw the power of the Almighty God in His creation; God restored Job and gave him even more than he had before the tragedy because of his faith.

The Old Testament Review

This is part 6 of 6 of chapter 3 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

There were twenty kings of Israel, ruling until 722 B.C., when the nation of Assyria conquered and dispersed the people under the reign of Shalmaneser V. This notable Assyrian king can be found in both secular and Biblical history. Jeroboam was succeeded by Nadab, Baashah, Elah, Zimri, Tibni, Omni, Ahab, Ahaziah, Joram, Jehu, Jehoahaz, Jehoash, Jeroboam II, Zechariah, Shallum, Menahem, Pekahiah, Pekah, and finally Hoshea. The majority of Israel’s kings were evil, practicing child sacrifice, idol worship, astrology, and prostitution. God sent prophets Ahijah, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, and Hosea to preach messages of repentance to the leaders and people. These prophets did a magnificent job and occasionally turned things around within the kingdom for short periods of time. But in the end, temptation overwhelmed Israel as it strayed from God. Israel fell from existence in 722 B.C., not to officially return until 1948 A.D., 2670 years later. The people of Israel were scattered worldwide in bondage.

There were also twenty kings of Judah, ruling until 586 B.C., when Babylon conquered and dispersed the people under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar is also present in secular history accounts with an abundance of evidence for his reign in Babylon. Rehoboam was succeeded by Abijah, Asa, Jehosaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Queen Athaliah, Joash, Amaziah, Azzariah (Uzziah), Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin (imprisoned by Nebuchadnezzar), and finally Zedekiah. While the majority of these kings were evil, there were several good kings who led Judah; Hezekiah and Josiah were perhaps the greatest among them. The good kings always turned around the people’s evil ways and led them back to God with hearts of repentance. The idol worship seemed to be the most difficult thing to stop; we see that in today’s culture as well.

We worship money, status, time, sex, and other pleasurable things, even ourselves. We neglect our God and only visit with Him for an hour on Sunday. We spend the rest of the week worshipping other gods and worrying about the things of this world. Jesus said: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life” (Matthew 6:27; Luke 12:25)? God deserves to be worshipped alone; we need to avoid relying on anything else more heavily than Him. God will provide all we need in our lives on earth and for eternity.
God also gave the people of Judah many prophets to help guide them to Him. These prophets included: Micaiah, Jehu, Obadiah, Joel, Micah, Isaiah, Nahum, Zephaniah, Huldah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Daniel, and Ezekiel. Isaiah is often considered to be the greatest of these prophets, because his Messianic prophecies were so detailed and exact regarding the first coming of the Messiah. He also included many prophecies about the second coming of Christ and end times events, some of which are coming true even now!

As I mentioned earlier, there were over 300 prophecies about the first coming of Jesus, such as His birthplace, His hometown, His miracles, His death method, His resurrection after three days, etc., and every one of them was fulfilled! For perspective, consider just eight of the prophecies being fulfilled by the same man with the following illustration: Fill the entire state of Texas knee-deep in silver dollars with one of the coins painted. Then send a blindfolded man out into the state and have him pick up one silver dollar. The probability of him selecting the one colored coin is the same probability of one man fulfilling just eight of the 108 prophecies Jesus Christ fulfilled at his first coming!

Regarding the second coming of Christ, there are over 500 prophecies concerning that event. While we cannot know the exact date of Christ’s return, we can know the season; we are in it now! Many of those prophecies could not have been imagined when they were made, but many have already come true. For example, both the existence of Israel (May 14, 1948) and Israel’s occupation of Jerusalem (June 7, 1967) were nothing short of miracles. Both were prophesied in the Old Testament. There is more to come on end times prophecy in chapter ten.

Back to our timeline, Babylon destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem in 586 B.C. after two previous invasions in 605 B.C. and 597 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, exiled the remnant (those who were not killed in the battles) of Hebrew people to Babylon. He died in 562 B.C., and Jehoiachin, the former king of Judah, was released from Babylonian prison shortly thereafter.

Babylon began its downfall once Nebuchadnezzar died. From both secular and Biblical history, we know that Cyrus, king of Persia from 559–530 B.C., conquered Babylon in 538 B.C. The remnant of Jewish people was then told to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple of the Lord. Another amazing testimony to the truth of the Bible, the prophet Isaiah predicted in 686 B.C. that a man named Cyrus would free the Hebrew people from captivity. This prophecy was made nearly 150 years before the event took place, long before Babylon or Persia were world powers, and 100 years before Cyrus was even born!

When 50,000 Hebrew people made the journey from Babylon back to Jerusalem, they were led by Zerubbabel, a priest and direct descendant of King David. They realized God had been at work to allow them to return to Jerusalem, so they were sure to follow the law of God, recognizing Him as their Sovereign Lord. In 536 B.C., they started working on the Temple, but they were stopped by threatening government officials after finishing the foundation in 530 B.C. Over the next ten years, the Hebrew people feared continuing the project and wrote letters to the Persian government making sure they were in the right. The prophets Haggai and Zechariah persuaded them to continue the project, so they resumed building in 520 B.C. The Temple was finished in 516 B.C., seventy years after its destruction, as prophesied by both Jeremiah and Daniel many years earlier (see Jeremiah 25:11-12, 29:10; Daniel 9:2).

Nothing is revealed regarding the next thirty-three years of Jewish history (516–483 B.C.). What was going on in the rest of the world? Well, the Middle East was dominated by Darius and the Persian Empire. The Greeks were around but just beginning to get organized with the founding of democracy. The Roman Republic was also founded at this time. China was growing; Buddha died in 483 B.C. never to be resurrected, and Confucius had just retired to begin teaching morality as he traveled around the country. Northern Europe was dominated by small tribes of people living nomadic lives. Most of Africa was the same, dominated by small tribal civilizations. People may have been making their way into North and South America around this time in history. The Maya, Inca, and Aztec civilizations are not as old as many people think. The major American civilizations hit their primes around the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries (1200–1400s), ended by the arrival of European explorers into the Americas.

Now King Xerxes succeeded Darius on the Persian throne in 486 B.C. His wife, Queen Vashti, was disobedient, so he banished her and searched for a new wife. Why was Xerxes looking for a wife? The idea of faithful marriage given to Adam and Eve by God in the beginning, had been passed down through the generations and remained in effect! Hey, marriage exists throughout the world today even in mostly secular societies. Hmm … How did that happen? Can evolution explain marriage? No!

Anyway, Xerxes had a harem full of beautiful virgins, and he was checking them out, looking for a suitable wife. One of those young ladies was Esther, a Jewish girl raised by her uncle, Mordecai. One day, Mordecai uncovered a conspiracy to kill Xerxes. He told Esther about the plot, and she relayed the message to him. When it was discovered to be true, Xerxes rewarded Mordecai with a government position and made Esther his queen in 479 B.C.! Later, Xerxes gave Haman, a well-known noble, the highest position a nobleman could hold. Haman requested that all the government employees bow and honor him, but Mordecai refused out of reverence for God.

When Mordecai would honor no one over God, Haman was outraged! Haman pleaded with Xerxes to rid his land of Jewish people because of their foolish doctrines involving their God. Xerxes nonchalantly allowed Haman to do with the Jewish people as he pleased. Haman organized a slaughter of the Jewish people, which, according to Persian law, was to take place nine months from the day he made the decree. Now the people of Susa, the capital city of Persia, liked Mordecai and the other Jewish people in the land, so they were bewildered by the decree. Mordecai told Esther to have Xerxes do something about it.

Xerxes did not know about Haman’s intentions, but Esther was afraid to confront her husband, the king of Persia. Esther requested all the Jewish people in the land to fast and pray for three days about the confrontation she was about to make. When she finally confronted Xerxes about the absurd decree, he had Haman hanged on the gallows reserved for Mordecai. The Jews were saved from annihilation as Xerxes issued a decree for them to fight against anyone attempting to slaughter them. When the enemies of the Jews attacked, the Jews held their ground and killed many adversaries. Still today, usually in the month of March, the Jews recall this event by celebrating the Feast of Purim.

Esther was gone without a trace by 465 B.C., and in 458 B.C., Ezra led a second group of Jews back to Jerusalem from captivity. Ezra, a well-organized leader, was appalled to find the Jews in spiritual disorder. Only eighty years after the first journey, the people had reverted to idol worship, intermarriage with non-Jews, and other pagan practices. Ezra spent his time preaching and getting the Jews to repent and return to God, Who provided their existence. Also during this time, as mentioned earlier, Ezra compiled the Scriptures into one text, the Old Testament of the Bible.

In 445 B.C., Nehemiah led a third group of Jewish people back to Jerusalem from captivity; he found the wall around Jerusalem in extremely poor condition. He rebuilt the wall by organizing a building schedule to include all the Jewish people. Nehemiah served as governor and worked with Ezra to make other reforms over the next several years. God had a people again!

Why is it significant?

From a chronological viewpoint, we have just gone through the entire Old Testament. It was undoubtedly a brief overview, but we covered about 3650 years of history! What does it all mean?

We see the world’s history and our ancestors struggling to exist and live righteously in a flawed world full of sin. We see the seriousness of sin in the eyes of God. We can sympathize with the people of the Old Testament, because we experience the world in a similar way today. The next chapter examines some of the prophets in Old Testament, and we will see the overall message of the Old Testament of God’s Word through them.

The Old Testament Review

This is part 5 of 6 of chapter 3 of my book, Biblical Glasses.

Joshua, son of Nun, was Moses’ right-hand man. It was up to him to lead the people with Moses dead. God commanded the Israelites to enter the Promised Land and completely wipe out all its inhabitants to make the land spiritually pure. Joshua, an excellent leader, encouraged his people to obey God’s command. But the people did not completely wipe out all the inhabitants, so the land and its people were not spiritually pure.
After Joshua’s death, things really went down hill. The Hebrew people intermarried with the same people that God commanded them to wipe out; they forgot God and worshipped idols instead. There was no real leader among the Israelites. In time, Cushan-Rishathaim, king of Aram Naharaim, conquered and persecuted the Hebrew people, leading them deeper into idol worship during his eight-year reign over them.

Over a period of 450 years (1513–1063 B.C.), the Hebrew people were torn between sin and repentance, idol worship and reverence to God, foreign leadership and national identity under the judges. The first judge to free the Hebrew people was Othniel. He reigned in Israel for forty years, until 1465 B.C. Then Eglon, king of Moab, took over. Ehud and Shamgar came in as judges to set the Israelites straight again. Jabin and Sisera conquered the people and ruled harshly over them for twenty years. Then judges Deborah and Barak came to the peoples’ rescue. After forty years, the Midianites ruled over the Hebrew people, followed by Gideon the judge. Gideon’s son, Abimelech, proclaimed himself king, but he was evil and did not last. Tola and Jair were the next judges to renew Israel’s relationship with God. The period of the judges was marred by extreme immorality and gory violence. Frankly, it is similar to our world today.

The Philistines and Ammorites ruled harshly over the people for eighteen years. Then four consecutive judges, Jepthah, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon, led the people back to God. The Philistines came back and took over again, until well-known Samson served as judge for twenty years.

Samson had incredible strength, but he was arrogant. His ego got in the way of his leadership skills. You may know the story of Samson and Delilah. Delilah was a prostitute who made a deal with the Philistines to find out the source of Samson’s strength. Samson was a Nazarite, which meant he never had a haircut or shaved, out of devotion to God; his strength was thought to be in his hair. He knew Delilah was trying to set him up, but he told her the source of his strength anyway. Late in his reign, the Philistines captured Samson and cut off his hair; they gauged out his eyes and ridiculed him for months. As a final gesture to his people, Samson, realizing his strength was from God and not from his hair, tugged on his chains and brought down the Philistine city hall. Samson killed thousands of Philistines along with himself, but he freed the Hebrew people and made way for them to begin yearning for a king.

Eli was next in line as judge for the Hebrew people, but he was more of a priest. He loved God and was a decent ruler, but he was a bad parent and lacked confidence in God. Eli raised his own sons poorly, but he was given a young boy named Samuel to rear for God. Samuel was offered to God by Hannah, his prayerful, humble mother. Samuel grew to become one of the great leaders/priests of Israel’s history.

Born around 1100 B.C., Samuel served as high priest, judge, and seer from 1063–1052 B.C. Part of his duty for God was to find a king for the Hebrew people. Samuel found Saul and anointed him as the first true king of Israel in 1052 B.C.

Saul was difficult to handle. The Bible hints that Saul may have been a head taller than any other person in his kingdom, perhaps contributing to his prideful ego. He was an ideal leader on the outside, but his heart was inconsistent toward God. Saul ruled Israel for forty-two years until 1010 B.C., although he was not much of a leader at the end of his reign. Saul led Israel’s army, but he often took the credit, rather than giving credit to God. Told by God to anoint a new king, Samuel was led to the house of Jesse, a descendant of Ruth and Boaz, whose story is told earlier in the Bible.

Now Jesse was a farmer; he had many sons. Samuel was to examine the sons, and God would choose which one to anoint as king. Jesse brought his sons to Samuel, who examined them, starting with the oldest. When God chose none of them, Jesse said: “There is still the youngest … but he is tending the sheep” (1 Samuel 16:11). This youngest son was not considered worthy to be regarded as royalty. Nevertheless, Samuel examined Jesse’s youngest son, David, and he was chosen to be the next king of Israel. Ray Boltz wrote the following song lyrics, telling the story of David:

One by one, Jesse’s sons stood before the prophet. Their father knew a king
would soon be found. And each one passed, except the last; no one thought to
call him. Surely he would never wear a crown. But when others see a shepherd
boy, God may see a king. Even though your life seems filled with ordinary
things, in just a moment, He can touch you and everything will change. When
others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king. One by one, problems come,
and dreams get shattered. And sometimes it’s hard to understand. But things like
chance and circumstance, they don’t really matter. Our Father holds tomorrow in
His hands. And when others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king. Even though
your life seems filled with ordinary things, in just a moment, He can touch you
and everything will change. When others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king.
Well it wasn’t the oldest; it wasn’t the strongest, chosen on that day. And yet
the giants fell, and nations trembled when they stood in his way. But when
others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king. Even though your life seems
filled with ordinary things, in just a moment, He can touch you, and everything
will change. When others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king.

One day, David went to visit his older brothers, who were fighting against the Philistines in battle. Upon his arrival, David saw Goliath and heard how the Israelites were scared to fight him because of his gigantic size. Goliath was over nine feet tall (see 1 Samuel 17:4); many of the Philistine descendants of Rapha were giants. “One was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot” (1 Chronicles 20:6; 2 Samuel 21:20).

David wanted to fight Goliath, so he asked King Saul for permission. Saul thought he was nuts, but decided to let him fight. David took only a slingshot and five smooth stones into battle. After some trash-talking from Goliath, David knocked out the giant with one shot. David did not rely on his own strength, but on the strength of Almighty God. Then David used Goliath’s own sword to kill him, chopping off his head in the name of the Lord. David earned not only a high rank in the army because of his victory, but also the respect of the people over the next few years by winning many victories in battle.

Saul became jealous of David and spent his later years chasing David around trying to kill him. Despite Saul’s aggression toward him, David ran from Saul rather than confronting him. David had chances to kill Saul but chose to let God punish Saul, rather than take on that task himself. At Saul’s death by suicide, David was immediately made king of the two southern tribes of Israel, called Judah; but Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s son, declared himself king of the ten northern tribes, called Israel. This arrangement lasted just seven years, and then David became king of a united Israel.

Well respected by the people, David was thirty years old when he began reigning as king. He was a military leader and enjoyed being in battles. He moved to Jerusalem, called his area the City of David, and brought the Tabernacle of the Lord there. David wanted to build a Temple for the Lord, but God had the prophet Nathan instruct him not to build the Temple because of the blood on his hands. David was a warrior, not a builder. Because David loved God, God promised him that his son would build the Temple and his descendants would sit on the throne of Israel forever. Jesus came from the lineage of David and was given the moniker, King of the Jews, at His death. He is and forever will be King of Israel and the entire world throughout eternity, thereby fulfilling God’s promise to David.

David was always looking for God’s will in his life. He wanted so desperately to be near God. He is often referred to as being a man after God’s own heart (see 1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22); we are to see the similarities between his life and our own lives. So far in what has been mentioned about David, you probably do not see any likeness; however, David had much difficulty in his life, beginning with lust.

David stayed at home during a battle one time and became bored. He saw a beautiful woman bathing in her courtyard across the way, so he called for her. Bathsheba was her name, and she was married to one of David’s Mighty Men, Uriah the Hittite. David committed adultery with Bathsheba, leading him to have her husband killed so he could marry her. Because David was king, no man could punish him, but God did!

God had the prophet Nathan gently confront David about his sin, and David realized what he had done. He repented and was forgiven, but he still had to suffer the consequences of his sin. Bathsheba had a son from the adulterous relationship, but the child died very early in life. David grieved and repented. Throughout the rest of his life, David’s family was a wreck, all because of his sin. He had four sons die tragic deaths as prophesied. He had a daughter, Tamar, who was raped by one of his sons. Another of his sons, Absalom, rebelled against him and tried to overthrow him.

Over his lifetime, David realized that his sin caused problems in his life. David trusted God to provide salvation from his sin and praised Him for all the blessings and forgiveness in his life. David was made righteous by his faith. He was always surrounded by courageous men, called Mighty Men, and they earned the praises of future generations. David was an emotional man who expressed his feelings toward God with songs, laments, and poetry. Many of his writings are compiled in the Bible (half of the Psalms are by David).

At David’s death in 970 B.C., there was some turmoil in the land. David’s oldest remaining son, Adonijah, thought he should be king, but God had other plans; He used the adulterous relationship between David and Bathsheba to bring another son, Solomon, to the throne. The Bible says: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God accomplishes his plans often by unusual means in His own time frame, as we see even in our own lives. So Solomon ruled a united Israel from 970 B.C. until his death in 930 B.C.

Solomon led the nation in prayer and asked for discernment at his coronation. God was impressed! Solomon could have asked for wealth, peace, women, land, or power, but instead he simply and humbly asked for wisdom. So God made him the wisest man on earth; God also provided Solomon with wealth, peace, land, and power. Solomon was the wealthiest king in the whole world. Other kings came from all over the world just to see Solomon’s realm. Solomon ruled during a time of peace. He was not a warrior, because he did not have to be one.

Solomon had a large harem, many wives and concubines, and numerous children. Now God did not condone this, and we will see how it haunted Solomon later in his life. God always provides justice in His time. Solomon ruled Israel, which had increased its territory under King David. Solomon’s Israel was spacious, unlike the Israel we see today, which is just fifteen miles wide at one point. Solomon was powerful; his wisdom was power. Respected worldwide because of his knowledge and wisdom, Solomon was an expert botanist, among many other talents. Solomon wrote the Book of Proverbs, which is filled with the wisdom, morality, and truth of God.

Solomon’s goal was to build the Temple of the Lord in the City of David—Jerusalem. He did it beautifully, following the specific instructions God prescribed. Solomon revered God and offered a prayer of praise and dedication when the Temple was complete. The Temple was to be the House of the Lord, but Solomon knew even then that the Holy Temple could not contain the Almighty God. God blessed Solomon’s early life because of his reverence.

Later in life, Solomon strayed from God. He treated the Israelites like slaves, and his female companions led him astray with their idol worship and astrology practices. God raised up adversaries against Solomon because of his spiritual, moral, and civil decay. Jeroboam was the fiercest adversary; he threatened to take the kingdom from Solomon. But God would not allow Solomon to lose the kingdom for the sake of David and the promise made to him.

Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but he fled to Egypt and stayed there until Solomon’s death. Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, inherited the throne when Solomon died. The Israelites did not like him, because he treated them with disrespect. Solomon realized, probably on his death bed, he had everything a man could desire in his lifetime, but he still suffered without the presence of God. He wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes, one of my favorite Books of the Bible, to describe the meaninglessness of life without God.

Upon ascending to the throne, Rehoboam asked his advisers if he should treat the people harshly or with respect. His advisers suggested respect, but he chose to rule more harshly than Solomon! So the people brought Jeroboam back from Egypt as their ruler. Israel split again into the northern ten tribes (Israel) and the southern two tribes (Judah). Rehoboam ruled Judah; Jeroboam ruled Israel.

Rehoboam planned to attack Jeroboam in an effort to keep the country united under one ruler, but God prevented him. Over time, Jeroboam separated his people from the people of Rehoboam by allowing new methods of worship, including idol veneration and unlawful sacrifices. All Jews were supposed to go to Jerusalem to worship, but since Rehoboam controlled Jerusalem, Jeroboam kept his people from going into the enemy’s territory by setting new rules.God was displeased with this arrangement and sent many prophets over the next several hundred years to warn the people to repent of their evil ways. (See the timeline in Appendix A for a full view of the time period.) Rehoboam ruled Judah in Jerusalem from 930–913 B.C., and Jeroboam ruled Israel in Shechem from 930–909 B.C. The period of kings, similar to the period of judges, was like a rollercoaster ride with lots of evil and a few moments of good.

The Old Testament Review

This is part 4 of 6 of the third chapter of my book, Biblical Glasses.

Terah, who was Abram’s father, and his entire family were called by God to move from their homeland, Ur of the Chaldeans, to Canaan (the future Promised Land). They followed the Euphrates River up to Haran, in present day Lebanon or Jordan, and settled there, most likely because of Terah’s poor health and old age.

After Terah’s death at age 205 in Haran, Abram moved the family to Canaan, as God had prescribed. They lived among the Canaanites, descendants of Noah’s son, Ham, and raised their livestock in the lush fields. But then Lot, Abram’s nephew, decided he needed more grazing room, so he moved to Sodom. Abram stayed in Canaan, until he had to go save Lot from the abundant evil of Sodom and Gomorrah. Abram pleaded with God to save the evil cities; but there was not one righteous man there, so God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah by raining down sulfur after Lot was saved. Recently, remains of the evil twin cities were found; the sulfur content was unusually but, Biblically speaking, expectedly high among the ruins.

Now Abram and his wife, Sarai, were getting older and had no children, so God told them to be faithful and wait; He would provide a child. They waited and waited, but finally Sarai got impatient and begged Abram to sleep with her handmaid, Hagar. Abram did so, and Hagar gave birth to Abram’s illegitimate son, Ishmael. The Bible tells us that Ishmael went on to father twelve sons, the beginning of the Arab nations, which would always be at war with Abram’s legitimate family, the Jews. Fourteen years later, Abram and Sarai had a legitimate son named Isaac. God tested Abram’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac. God already knew Abram’s faith was real, but he wanted Abram to demonstrate that faith. Imagine if God told you to sacrifice your only true son, the son you had waited until you were 100 years old to have!

Abram’s faith allowed him to prepare to sacrifice Isaac, even to the point of taking him out into the wilderness, tying him down on an altar, and raising a knife to strike him dead. God stopped him before the act was done. Can you imagine what Abram must have felt? What about Isaac? There was a loving father cherishing his only true son and a young boy, perhaps a teenager, enjoying a journey into the countryside with his dad. This event, Abram’s willingness to sacrifice his only true son, is considered a similitude of God’s willingness to sacrifice His only Son.

God felt the same way Abram felt just moments before he sacrificed his son and the same way you would feel if you had to kill your own son. God, in His amazing love for you and me, actually followed through with it! Isaac had to be scared and so hurt that his dad would kill him; think of the relief Isaac felt when Abram put down the knife and untied him. Jesus felt the same horror upon being offered as a sacrifice for our sins. He was agonized, even to the point of sweating blood, as we will see. But Jesus, in order to fulfill the Father’s plan, had to endure the pain of being ridiculed, tortured, and killed, unlike Isaac.

God showed Abram His plan to redeem the world from its sin. What a blessing Abram received almost 2000 years before the Savior would even be born! God made Abram His chosen one to continue the lineage for His chosen people, Israel; He formed a covenant of faith, represented by circumcision, with Abram, who became Abraham. Sarai became Sarah. God enriched their lives for their faith; God’s promise to make Abraham the father of many nations would be realized. As long as the people kept their faith and trust in God, He would protect them.

Now Abraham’s son, Isaac, had twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau was worldly minded; Jacob was spiritually minded. Esau was the oldest and had legal rights to Isaac’s estate, but Jacob purchased those inheritance rights from Esau with a bowl of soup.

Jacob literally wrestled with God and was blessed for his faith. Jacob fathered twelve boys, including Joseph, who was the second youngest. The older brothers did not like Joseph for two reasons: He boasted about his dreams of becoming a great leader, and he was given an ornate robe by Jacob, as the favorite son. (You have probably heard of Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat.) The older brothers sold Joseph into slavery in Egypt. He was purchased by Potiphar, pharaoh’s Captain of the Guard, and worked at the palace. Meanwhile the brothers told their father Joseph was killed by a lion.

Joseph developed a fine reputation, but then Potiphar’s wife came on to him; he ran from her, but she called out, “Rape!” Joseph was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit; several years went by. Word eventually got to pharaoh that Joseph was a good interpreter of dreams. Pharaoh had a disturbing dream and wanted to know its meaning, so he released Joseph from prison to interpret the dream. Joseph explained pharaoh’s dream: There would be seven years of crop surplus followed by seven years of drought. Pharaoh was so concerned that he put Joseph in charge of preparing for the famine.

Joseph saved up during the good years, so he had Egypt prepared for the famine. People from all around came to Joseph to get food during the famine. Joseph had become the second most powerful man in Egypt, behind only pharaoh himself.

Meanwhile, Jacob was aging and never really recovered from the loss of his favorite son. The brothers were suffering from the famine, but they heard about a man in Egypt handing out food in return for land. So they made the trip to Egypt hoping to get food for their family’s survival. When they arrived, Joseph recognized them immediately, but they did not recognize him. He tested their integrity, and then he revealed his true identity to them.

The brothers immediately feared for their lives, but Joseph was forgiving. He had the brothers bring Jacob and the rest of the family (seventy people in all) to Egypt. Jacob lived there until his death. Jacob had asked to be buried in Canaan, so pharaoh let the family go to bury him. Then they returned to Egypt, where the entire nation mourned with Joseph and his family.

Jacob’s sons formed the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Levi was not given an inheritance, because his descendants would become priests supported by the tithes of the other tribes. Joseph received a double inheritance through his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as they took the place of Joseph and Levi. The tribes were: Rueben, Simeon, Levi (Manasseh), Judah, Zebulun, Isachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph (Ephraim), and Benjamin.

Joseph was rewarded by God for his faith and service. He lived to see the third generation of Manasseh’s and Ephraim’s sons. Before his death, Joseph asked his brothers to carry his bones out of Egypt when God delivered them back to the Promised Land of Abraham. He wanted to be buried in the tomb of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

After all the brothers died, a new pharaoh took over in Egypt, who did not remember the legacy of Joseph. The new pharaoh noticed the Israelite population growing quickly and feared for his own peoples’ safety, so he repressed the Israelites into slavery. For nearly 400 years, the Israelites were subjected to harsh treatment in slavery to Egypt; but their population continued to grow, so pharaoh requested that all Israelite male babies be killed at birth to control the Israelite population. The Egyptian midwives had compassion on the Hebrew people and feared the Hebrew’s God, so they did not obey pharaoh’s demands; they let the boys live. Pharaoh was angry at this, so he demanded that all Israelite parents throw their newborn baby boys into the Nile River.

Most likely, the Hebrew people were the laborers behind the building of the pyramids in Egypt. Remember the Tower of Babel was a pyramid-like structure, a ziggurat, and when God forced the people to spread out all over the world, each group took with them the building skills they had learned while together. Thus, pyramid-like structures are all over the ancient world. For example, the Mayan, Aztec, and Incan civilizations in Central and South America, as well as Chinese civilizations, built massive pyramid-like structures similar to the Egyptian pyramids. They were likely for practicing astrology and worshipping the sun, moon, and stars, since all the pyramids face the same direction with similarly applied geometry.

Now in 1658 B.C., a Levite man married a Levite woman (both descendents of Levi, the son of Jacob), and she gave birth to a baby boy. Fearing pharaoh’s command to kill the male children, the woman hid the boy in a basket so he would float on the Nile River, rather than sink and die. The boy was found by pharaoh’s daughter, by no coincidence I assure you. At the suggestion of the boy’s sister, who had watched the basket float safely down the river, he was nursed by a Hebrew midwife, who happened to be his mother! He was later returned to pharaoh’s daughter as her own son, and she named him Moses, which means “drawn up out of the water.”

Moses grew up in pharaoh’s palace and played with pharaoh’s children. He lived the normal life of a member of Egyptian royalty, until one day when he saw an Egyptian guard shoving a Hebrew slave. Something inside told him he was a Hebrew, not an Egyptian, so he killed the Egyptian guard and buried him in the sand hoping nobody would notice. Killing an Egyptian was punishable by death!

The next day, Moses tried to separate a fight between a pair of Hebrew slaves, and one of them asked Moses if he was going to kill him and bury him in the sand like he had done to the Egyptian. That meant people knew about his murder of the Egyptian! He had to flee for his life. So Moses ran out into the desert.

He found rest in Midian, along the western border of modern day Saudi Arabia. Moses rescued the daughters of a priest from some rowdy shepherds near a well outside of town. The priest, Jethro, asked Moses to stay with them. Moses accepted and became a shepherd, eventually marrying Zipporah, one of Jethro’s daughters. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses had a new life. Meanwhile, the pharaoh of Egypt died, and his son took the throne. The Israelites were in agony over their enslavement; they cried for God’s deliverance, and He heard their cry.

Sometime later, God told Moses, now eighty years old, to approach pharaoh, likely the step-brother Moses knew while growing up, and demand that he let the people go. Moses was scared; he could not go back to pharaoh after all he had been through. Moses had a peaceful life now; there was no need to disrupt it. But God’s calling stayed with him, and Moses, who stuttered when he spoke, went to pharaoh with the help of his older brother, Aaron, to demand that pharaoh release the slaves. Aaron spoke eloquently but did not have the leadership ability, so they worked together.

Now with any basic knowledge of ancient Egypt, we can say pharaoh would have killed anyone who approached him with a demand to let the slaves go. But since he was happy to see his long lost step-brother, pharaoh had some compassion. Pharaoh listened to Moses and did not harm him, because they were family! They had grown up together! But pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the Hebrew people go. Moses was persistent; he knew God would use him to free the Israelites from bondage, so he continued nagging pharaoh. Pharaoh continued to refuse Moses’ demand, so God had Moses threaten pharaoh with some devastating plagues.

Pharaoh saw the power of the God of Moses over and over, but his heart remained hard. Through ten various plagues—blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and finally death of the firstborn—God got pharaoh’s attention. Upon the death of his son at the first Passover, pharaoh released the Hebrew people, and Moses led them into the desert. Moses remembered the request of Joseph to bury his bones with his forefathers, so he carried Joseph’s remains with him on the journey.

God led the Israelite people through the desert toward the Red Sea in the form of a dust cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He led the Israelites to camp by the Red Sea on the Sinai Peninsula, so pharaoh would think they were wandering around in ignorance. Shortly thereafter, pharaoh regretted letting the people go, so he mounted his huge army and set out after them to round them up and capture or kill them.

As the Egyptian army neared, the Israelites panicked, because they were literally trapped on the Sinai Peninsula between the Red Sea and pharaoh’s advancing army. Moses did not know what to do, but God delivered them. He told Moses to stretch out his staff over the water, and the Red Sea was parted. As the two million Israelites walked on, the angel of the Lord stood between them and the army of Egypt to keep pharaoh from attacking while they were walking across the parted Red Sea. See the map below representing the possible route of the Exodus. The Red Sea crossing took place at the bottom right of the Sinai Peninsula, where the present day Gulf of Aqaba meets the Red Sea.


Once all the Israelite people were safely on the other side of the Sea, the angel of the Lord left, and the Egyptian army came rushing after the Israelites. Only then, the Red Sea came crashing down on them. It is interesting that the floor of the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba is littered with chariot debris and ancient Egyptian items, like spears and other weapons. Perhaps these artifacts are found there, because this event actually occurred! We do not hear about this event through secular Egyptian history, because the Egyptians were notorious about recording only the good parts of their history. They were proud of their pyramids, great wealth, mummification skills, etc., but they were ashamed of their defeats in battle, plagues, and coup attempts.

Now the Israelites were in the desert of present day Saudi Arabia, near Midian, where Moses had lived for forty years. Fearing for their survival, they criticized Moses often, because they had no idea where Moses was leading them. Moses went up on Mount Sinai, Jabal al-Lawz, for forty days and forty nights learning the laws of the covenant from God. While the laws did include the Ten Commandments, they also included much more. There were laws regarding property, money, hygiene, worship, offerings, slavery, clothing, food, etc. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he was astonished to see the people making idols to worship! They had already forgotten God in just a few short months. Moses discussed the laws of God’s covenant with them, and they built a tabernacle and an ark to house the Spirit of the Lord for protection as they traveled through the desert. God provided manna (bread) every day. When the Hebrew people awoke in the morning, they were instructed to gather enough for that day only. They had to learn to trust God before entering the Promised Land awaiting them.

For the Israelites, the shortest path to the Promised Land was on a road out of Egypt toward Philistine. But God led them through the desert for several reasons. First, the Israelites would have grown weary traveling on the road, and they would have turned back to Egypt. They grew weary in the desert too, but they had no idea how to get back to Egypt that way. Second, God wanted to punish pharaoh and give the people a sign of His power and love by parting the Red Sea. Third, God would be cleansing and purifying the Israelite people in the desert, teaching them to trust Him daily for food and shelter. God wanted to renew the covenant of faith He had set with Abraham. Thus, the Ten Commandments and other covenant laws were given while the Israelites were roaming in the desert for forty years. These laws would show the people the character of their God and that they could not live up to His standards of perfection. They had to rely on Him in faith for their salvation. By obeying the law of God, Jewish tradition was founded.

A census of the Hebrew people was taken when they left Egypt. There were over 600,000 men over the age of twenty. There were about two million total people, counting women and children. During the forty years in the desert, the entire generation that left Egypt, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, died before setting foot in the Promised Land. Even Moses did not get an opportunity to go into the Promised Land.

Moses disobeyed God while drawing water from a rock; that disobedience cost him his life. Joshua and Caleb were the only men who trusted God enough to try to enter the Promised Land the first time around. All the other Israelites had reserves. They had to be purified; the people had to learn to trust God fully before heading into the Promised Land. An average of eighty-four people died every day during the desert wandering, but despite all this death, a second census was taken by Moses before he died; amazingly, the total number of people was nearly identical forty years after the first census! God had blessed the people with many births during their years in the desert, and it was now time to enter the Promised Land.

Evolution in Action: The Lamb with 6 Legs

What a joke!

Evolution in action: This 6-legged leg was born recently as evidence of evolution continues to mount. The lamb inherited the genes from its mother and father, but there must have been added information, because mother and father each only have 4 legs. Seriously, this genetic mutation is like 99.9% of mutations - detrimental to the survival of the creature. The other .01% of mutations are simply neutral, and potentially beneficial only to that one creature. Mutations are never beneficial to the species as a whole. The actual text of the article that accompanied this photo can be seen below. It shows what a disaster this mutation proves to be.

Leggy lamb : Belgian grower Maurice Peeters holds a six-leg lamb a day after its birth. The lamb cannot walk and has to be specially fed. A veterinary surgeon who examined it was reported as saying he would consider amputating the two superfluous legs if it managed to survive beyond a week. (AFP/BELGA/Yorick Jansens)

The lamb cannot walk or eat and is not likely to survive the week. That's evolution in action - a downward spiralling series of disasters. It's completely the opposite of what is needed for the theory of evolution to be valid. If the lamb was born with 2 working wings, then perhaps we might consider it a good mutation. But sheep don't carry genes for wings, so it is impossible for sheep to naturally have wings. Sheep do carry genes for legs, and thus this baby lamb has legs - 6 instead of 4. And that's a bad thing, as the article states.