Biblical Parallels: Your Life Featured In The Word Of God

By Darrell Hutchinson

Have you ever read a biblical story, account, or parable and determined you could personally relate to the subject matter? If so, you may have smiled, felt warm and fuzzy, or leaped for joy! In any case, you were probably inspired to read more and search the Scriptures for a deeper understanding or means of gaining greater wisdom. Biblical Parallels are a compilation of examples of life's stories as they relate to the Word of God. Although there may be hundreds of parallels from which to choose, this book contains one parallel from each of the sixty-six books of the Holy Bible. Of those, there may be millions of inferences that may be drawn when you consider the number of believers in the world and how their personal experiences might correlate with each parallel. In Biblical Parallels, references were made regarding the names of each biblical book, scriptural text, and subject matter. For the purpose of uniformity, each parallel contains approximately six hundred words. Finally, the parallels were customized to closely resemble the names and personality traits of the characters that are represented in the Scriptures. Read the Biblical Parallels with amazement as the scriptures come alive. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, your life is featured in the Word of God!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644685624

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Biblical Parallels

Your Life Featured In The Word Of God

Darrell Hutchinson

Copyright © 2020 Darrell Hutchinson

All rights reserved

First Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

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Table of Contents

Old Testament

New Testament

Old Testament

Genesis 25:29–34 (Esau sells his birthright)

Since they were young boys, Estes and Jacoby dreamt of obtaining their fathers blessing to run his real estate empire when he retired. Their father’s business began thirty years ago in San Francisco, CA, with two small properties and a $1,500 investment. His business grew from humble beginnings into a multimillion-dollar empire that included assets of eighty-seven residential properties, sixteen business properties, and thirty-five parcels of land, which include 3,800 acres.

Estes was four years older than Jacoby and had been groomed to assume the role as president and CEO. They were taught to respect their elders, themselves, and others. Their father would always say, Respect is like money. It can be hard to earn and even harder to maintain. To celebrate Estes’s twenty-eighth birthday, he and Jacoby flew to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Toward the end of their week-long stay, they frequented a nightclub. A few minutes after their arrival, Estes realized he left his wallet in his hotel room. He had $300 cash in his pocket, so he did not see the need to retrieve his wallet. Although Estes rarely drank alcohol, he felt the urge to splurge on himself and the women who partied with him. As time elapsed, his money was depleted along with his sense of judgment and discretion.

Eventually, Estes pulled Jacoby to the side and asked, May I borrow $500 in order to enjoy the best night of my life?

Jacoby replied, I will give it to you if you allow me to succeed our father as president and CEO.

Estes said, I am having the time of my life, and I’m not going to allow some fancy title to spoil my night of fun! What do you want me to do?

Jacoby said, Tell your new friends that I was just named president and CEO of our father’s real estate empire. Afterward, I will give you $500 so that you may continue your night of fun.

Estes happily agreed to the proposal then cautiously began to make his way toward his group of friends. Jacoby then found an ATM and withdrew $500. Afterward, he saw a woman whom Estes had befriended earlier in the night. Jacoby politely asked her if she would shoot video of Estes from his cell phone as Estes made an important announcement. She agreed, took Jacoby’s cell phone, and positioned herself to get the best possible view. With video recording, Jacoby cheerfully approached as Estes got everyone’s attention. With slurred speech and a huge smile, he addressed the crowd. He shouted, Let’s have a toast for the new president and CEO of my father’s real estate empire! There was thunderous applause as Jacoby smiled and took a bow for the camera. Finally, Jacoby gave Estes a huge hug as he secretly transferred the money into his brother’s hand.

The next morning, Jacoby emailed their dad and accidentally included the video of the previous night where Estes made the dreaded declaration of the future transfer of power. Upon their return home, attorneys for their father met privately with the brothers and Estes was informed that his father no longer had confidence in his abilities to run the family business. Jacoby was informed that he was now his father’s pick to be the next president and CEO.

What extraordinary losses we endure because of pleasure for a season. Respect is like money. It can be hard to earn and even harder to maintain. Our temporary blindness could have long term implications.

Exodus 18:13–27 (Accepting Jethro’s wise counsel)

Pastor Lindowski was the newly installed pastor of a church in Portland, OR. The former pastor had recently taken an extended leave of absence before deciding to leave the ministry altogether. As such, the church began their formal process for selecting a new pastor. Now, Pastor Lindowski was thrust into the rigorous schedule and demands that the former pastor had eagerly fled. The church had approximately five-hundred members. They had two Sunday worship services and Wednesday night Bible Study. Additionally, the pastor was expected to counsel the marriage candidates and perform their weddings. The pastor was also responsible for facilitating Communion, funeral, and baptism services. The church had the following ministries: men’s, women’s, children’s, Sunday school, choir, and usher. Although they each had ministry leaders, each leader reported to the pastor to discuss projections, expenditures, and issues.

Approximately six months later, one of the two deacons (Deacon Edwards) spoke with Pastor Lindowski and told him he appeared stressed. Pastor Lindowski confirmed he indeed felt overburdened and his family felt neglected. Deacon Edwards explained his former pastor experienced some of the same sentiments before he left the ministry. He suggested the pastor quickly make some necessary changes or he, his family, and the congregation would become collateral damage. He then suggested other members could help to ease his burdens and responsibilities. First, he suggested they add an assistant pastor to their staff. The assistant could preach a few services each month. Additionally, the assistant might help to facilitate the Communion and baptism services. He also suggested Pastor Lindowski assign the men’s, women’s, children’s, Sunday school, choir, and usher ministries under the deacons. The deacons would handle the standard issues but would bring major problems to the attention of the pastor.

Deacon Edwards stated, We want you to succeed and be strong. You cannot perform at your best if your family is feeling neglected and you’re feeling stressed.

Pastor Lindowski expressed his appreciation for the offer to help and walked away feeling a great sense of relief.

Approximately forty-five days later, the new assistant pastor was selected, and the updated leadership flowchart was unveiled. It took a few weeks for everyone to make the adjustment because the members were conditioned to go to the pastor for every issue and complaint. However, most everyone agreed things flowed much easier once the members utilized the proper channels. Most importantly, Pastor Lindowski was happier and less stressed. He was back to the happy and jovial minister that initially drew the committee to him during the pastoral selection process. Pastor Lindowski’s wife was much happier after the change and felt that she and her husband could actually reconnect and enjoy their family life once again. She thought it was great not having to respond to every situation that would undoubtedly arise each week. Additionally, her husband had more time to spend with the kids during their various practices and events. In the end, Pastor Lindowski was able to be the husband, father, and pastor God had called him to be. We should be assured that God takes no pleasure in watching his children run themselves into the ground. Serving the Lord in any capacity should be joyous and very fulfilling. It should not be grievous and burdensome. If it is, perhaps we should discover whether we are serving the Lord or simply fulfilling our own desires.

Do we have to be responsible for everything, or are there areas we might yield to someone else? The advice we receive may save our mental health, families, and future success.

Leviticus 23:22 (Share your abundance with the poor)

Lori was a single mother who was raised by two loving parents in a low-income housing community. Growing up, she never enjoyed the thrill of taking family vacations or dining in fancy restaurants. Later in life, she was blessed to have received quality education, which helped to enable her to strive for and obtain a good career. A generous salary and great benefits came with it. Although things did not work out with her former husband, they did an awesome job raising their daughter, Sabrina. Although Sabrina enjoyed weekly visits with her dad, she spent most of the time under her mom’s care. Although her motherly speeches may have appeared a bit harsh at times, Sabrina understood they were delivered in love and for her benefit.

When Sabrina was ten years old, her teacher asked the students to reflect on things they were thankful for. This was asked as they prepared to be released for the Thanksgiving holiday. Although Sabrina gave a noteworthy reflection to the class, she could not help but think about how many people there were in the world who lived in poverty. Therefore, she sought and received permission to initiate a toy drive for the children of a local homeless shelter. Within a few weeks, they had collected sixty-four new and gently used toys from her classmates. The school principal, Sabrina, and her teacher delivered the donated items to the homeless shelter on the final day before their winter break.

Lori was pleasantly surprised to learn that her daughter was so sympathetic toward the poor. Now she was inspired to do something within her own capacity. She wanted to positively impact households on a more permanent level. After much thought, Lori considered how her finances had improved with each promotion over the years. Without hesitation, she determined she could easily contribute $100 per month toward sponsorship of a family in need. Lori then utilized her social media to determine if any of her friends and family would like to join her in monthly sponsorships of $25, $50, or $100 contributions. Although she graciously accepted any one-time contributions, she wanted everyone to consider giving an amount that a family in need could rely upon each month. After her pledges were received, she submitted them to an organization whose primary focus was to assist low-income mothers and their children. She believed she was giving back to her community and helping struggling families at the same time. Sabrina was happy to have a friendship with two kids in their sponsored family whose ages were nine and twelve. One day, Sabrina was reflecting on their friendships as she talked with her mom. She said, Mom, you were just like the kids in the family we sponsor. You were a regular kid who just didn’t have all the fancy things that I enjoy as a kid today.

Lori told her, That’s right sweetie. This is why it is so important to never be prideful or forget how far God has brought you in life. It is possible to be financially poor but have a rich upbringing filled with love and hope. Likewise, it is possible to be financially rich yet be raised with poor character and shallow love.

Everyone has needed some degree of help from someone at some point in their life. Let’s remember that when we consider the poor and less fortunate. Do not allow greed to blind your eyes to their plight and rob you of your ability to help those who are in need.

Numbers 27:12–23 (Joshua to succeed Moses)

Rev. Peters had served twenty-nine years as the pastor of a church in Tallahassee, FL. Although he was installed at the age of forty-eight, he was now seventy-seven years old with failing health. Although there were two other ministers in the church, he was not confident in their abilities to lead the congregation. He believed one was unreliable while the other was prideful. Although he allowed those ministers to preach occasionally and perform limited duties, he did not believe either of the two were