An Epic Journey through the Holy Bible with Jesus: Volume 2: Patriarchs, Prophets, Kings and Jesus's Genealogy

By Karen Marie Parker

Have you ever wondered how Christianity began? Why do we have churches and how do priests know what to do in mass? In this hectic world, it is easy to take this for granted and value Christianity too lightly, in some ways without thanksgiving or recognition for the thousands of years of fighting for it.

The Old Testament is an accurate record of Israel's history. An Epic Journey through the Holy Bible with Jesus: Volume Two explores the holy lands with the patriarchs, prophets, and kings. Meet some heroes and villains while uncovering incredible stories about amazing leaders whose sole faith in God alone saved thousands, brave prophets who were victorious in battle, visionaries who could see the rise and fall of a kingdom, in vivid color, all by the hand of God, kings with a heart of gold and kings with a heart of stone. The Old Testament leads us to Jesus Christ, who ministers through his miracles and parables. He teaches us that through humility, kindness, and submission, we become survivors of affliction.

These events are written with a perspective of topology and include evidence that archeologists, professors, and scholars have uncovered, backing up and supporting the existence of these amazing stories in Sacred Scripture that shaped Christianity today.

This book will fill your curiosity with just enough facts about Israel's history that you will recognize the power and struggles it took for God's heroic believers. May you be more thankful for God's never-ending pursuit for justice, peace, and the love that He has for everyone. May your faith be more enlightened as you journey with Jesus, uncovering your roots, finding your true identity as a child of God, and may your soul be as courageous as the patriarchs, prophets, and kings.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098057619

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An Epic Journey through the Holy Bible with Jesus

Volume 2: Patriarchs, Prophets, Kings and Jesus's Genealogy

Karen Marie Parker

Copyright © 2020 by Karen Marie Parker

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.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Scripture quotations from the New King James Version® (NKJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. HarperCollins Christian Publishing, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214, www.harpercollinschristian.com. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTER-NATIONAL VERSION®, (NIV®) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations from The Message. (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. P.O. Box 35001, Colorado Springs, Co 80935. (http://www.messagebible.com).

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Courage

The Prophet Malachi

Inheritance

Stand Your Ground

To my wonderful family, my closest friends, Dona D., Jen W. and Sister Regina. I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for being here for me—looking out for me, through my wayward past and caring about me, as I journey forward to this better way of life. Just knowing that my little army of angels are there for me puts a great peace in my heart. Thank you for not giving up on me, even when I was indignant with you. Especially my husband Patrick, who had enough faith for the both of us. He knew that I would return to reality someday.

A big thank you to my children and grandchildren for standing by me, standing up for me, and believing in me. You all make my life complete. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me a wonderful and loving family.

For my sister and brothers, whose strength is there when I need it, willing to share another story and encouraging me to never give up. Thank you for your knowledge and love for our Lord and Savior. Your loving souls have always been right by my side. Your dedication is greatly noted by God. Thank you.

To Dona and Jen, who have been my closest friends forever. You were with me through my past and now encourage me to not return. Sister Regina, with all your spiritual wisdom, counsel, and guidance to keep my eyes fixed and my soul focused on our God. You’re my comrades, the ones that know my intimate secrets. Thank you for being there for me, not using my past against me, and for never giving up on me. God bless you.

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for your unconditional love and support. I love you both!

I have learned that throughout life, God gives us people for a reason—like puzzle pieces that fit together as grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, husband, children, and grandchildren. As we go through life, these pieces fit together to make a picture of your life. I am thankful to Jesus knowing now that I was never alone, even in my darkest hours. I could not have done this without all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the top of my soul.

May God continue to bless you all and keep you in His care. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

Acknowledgments

It has been almost five years now since the Holy Spirit transformed my life to walk with Jesus. Through sacred Scripture, I have learned that our journey with Jesus is epic. The scriptures reflect a strong sense of purpose for surviving. It gives us hope for a future. The silver lining and that light at the end of the tunnel is Jesus Christ, and God binds up our wounds to become scars marked by His grace.

In the Old Testament, we encounter a God who loves and forgives us unconditionally. We learn about God’s never-ending pursuit for justice and peace. He calls His faithful by name. In the New Testament, God came down from heaven and was born as a human being, Jesus Christ. With Jesus, the new covenant was the gift of the Holy Spirit who lives in each Christian. This Spirit is the breath of God, healing and transforming us to bear witness to the Gospels in sacred Scriptures.

In my first book, An Epic Journey through the Holy Bible with Jesus, volume one, I took us through the Sacred Scripture to get to know Jesus, why He came, what His Father expects from us, and how we can be the best person we can be in a fallen world. This book, volume two, will take us down history lane with the patriarchs, prophets, and kings in the Old Testament. We will meet some heroes and villains while we uncover some incredible stories and talk about amazing leaders within the patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the twelve tribes of Israel, Noah and his decedents; prophets like Moses, Samuel, and Jeremiah; visionaries like Joseph, Daniel, Isaiah and Ezekiel; and the various kings—King David, a man after God’s own heart, King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, and King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. At the end of the book, I will pull all the major characters that we studied and put together a genealogy of Jesus for you. Then finish with a count of Jesus’s miracles and parables in the New Testament. In volume three, it will include an in-depth look at Revelation, angels, biblical historical facts, and finish up with prayers in sacred Scriptures that give praise, honor, and glory to the one and only El Elyon.

I would like to thank the many great mentors, pastors, teachers, scholars, theologians, writers, and musicians who have shared their knowledge of our Lord God, Jesus Christ our Savior, the Holy Spirit and sacred Scriptures.

Sacred Scriptures are God-breathed, and Jesus was here from the beginning. With the help of the Holy Spirit, I hope to inspire, the Old Testament, to come alive for you and enlighten your own journey toward God and His heavenly kingdom. In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. (Psalm 46:1–2 NIV)

Introduction: My Testimony Broken Chains

My Testimony

Broken Chains

He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.

—John 7:38 (WEB)

The day before October 30, 2014, I had spiraled downward to the point that my face was on the floor, hopeless and broken. I had been struggling for months with a trial coming up for my son Cain. I have no control over the deception that plays a large role in our justice system. My family means the world to me, and the fact that I could not fix this injustice in my son’s life took my mind to a darker place. I felt sick, weak and disarrayed partly because I had not eaten or slept in days, but also because I had no refills left on my medications, no drugs to take, and stopped drinking alcohol because it just made matters worse.

I decided to call my forever faithful sister Debbie for help deciphering some five hundred pages of attorney papers. She was at work and immediately began to pray. When she came over, she sheepishly handed me this movie, God’s Not Dead, and said, The Lord told me this may help you, so please watch it. Well, needless to say, I was not in the mood to watch a Christian movie, but at the end of the day, I was still feeling so crushed that I put the movie on hoping to get my mind off the trial. That movie was awesome. I have always understood philosophy, but the movie answered many questions I had about Jesus, I began to feel uplifted from my downward spiral. I stopped thinking about the trial and focused on Jesus. (Epignosis is a Greek word for knowledge. It means recognition of who Christ is. The moment the Holy Spirit of God enters a person for edification, it will instruct morally through Jesus Christ by the Grace of God.) Still not being able to sleep that night, my conversion began in the most radical transformation. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit found me in the pit of despair and began to restore my soul. All my fears left, and all my troubles seemed to be under complete control. God decides our fate before we are born—our destiny, our life, our eternity. Nothing in our lives happens by chance. God’s Holy Spirit came rushing through me like a surge of electricity that next morning, I could hardly breathe and suddenly everything about my entire life was crystal clear. I felt like I could fly! I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God (Isaiah 61:10 KJV, reconciliation).

I was completely unaware of His supernatural powers, and I had no idea what happened to me. God’s salvation, grace, and His mercy were the last thing on my mind, but at that moment, I was on God’s mind. He had plans for me and now was the time for a turning point, a new beginning in my life, a life of passion for God. I lost my life that day. I stopped taking all my medications and drugs for Jesus Christ, and I have not looked back one time.

Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:20–21 NKJV, covenant)

On December 17, 2014, God surprised Debbie and I with two free tickets to the Newsboys concert in Williston, North Dakota. They are the awesome Christian band that played in the movie God’s Not Dead. Their song Escape inspired me. I realized that Christ had saved me and broken those chains of addiction.

The Lord has guided me through an incredible journey of compassion for this new life and an understanding of my former life with the prevaricator (Satan and his deviation from the truth). I lived forty years of my life with a motto to live life to the fullest no hold barred, pursuing parties, drugs, alcohol, and heavy metal concerts. At the age of eighteen, I moved in with a biker gang The Rogues in Vista, California where I met my future husband Patrick. The paths that I took led me to some of the darkest places, and I learned to hate people and the world. I was not one bit afraid of Satan because he is afraid of me. Just six weeks earlier, I went to see my favorite heavy metal band in concert. I’m not really sure why I was so driven to this life, with no fear, but I was determined to conquer it. (Hell?)

I was telling my brother Randy that I know all of Satan’s tactics and maneuvers because I lived through them for forty years. I see how he works in people, clouding their minds with deception, and now I wish to help free them from those chains. Randy then reminded me that nothing happens by chance and that God is in control and He put me through forty years of darkness to gain that knowledge of Satan’s tactics so I can one day help God’s people. Now that is twisted fate! For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV).

My transformation was such a shock that my family was asking what happened to me. It was an incredible change for me to go from horns to halo, black to white, anger to peace, the mosh-pit to worshiping Jesus—a complete turnaround (snap) in one day. All I could say at the time was that it’s a miracle, the works of God, and that the Holy Spirit is definitely real! The tremendous impact this had on my children witnessing Christ within me compelled them to sign up for 2016 RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). It is classes for those who wish to become Catholic. They were baptized, along with Maci, my granddaughter, and became confirmed Catholics on Easter, April 15, 2017.

My conversion represented the infusion of divine grace and a resurrection from spiritual death. My life of darkness was one thing, but when Satan started moving in on my children, that was the turning point from darkness to light. A major overhaul was in order, and Christ had his hands full because I was a complete mess. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride every time Christ led me out of a stronghold. Strongholds are reasoning against the knowledge of God via deception. My strongholds were not just carrying around a ball and chain, they were bolted together! My addictions, my wardrobe, my music, my way of life took me a lifetime to accomplish this reputation. Christ said, Trust me each time He broke a chain and showed me how Satan had creeped into every area of my life and consumed me. And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26 NKJV).

Even though I quit taking my medications, I did have a stash left in my dresser drawer just in case I needed them. I had kept them a secret, still a crutch, still hidden from people but the Lord knew they were there, and one day while I was praying, He was very persistent that I throw them all away—now! Jesus said that if I don’t throw the drugs down that sewer, they will come out of me like the sewage that they are. It wasn’t until I threw those pills down into the sewer that I realized how strong that hold was in my head. All along I was running away from bearing the pain it would cause to completely let them go. I cried like never before. It felt like I just let go of a lifelong friend forever. Then I prayed really hard and felt huge boulders lifted off my entire body.

You see, Satan will stop at nothing to steal your soul from God. Spiritual warfare is a reality! After Christ washed the mud from my eyes, I could see clearly for the first time that my self-centered life caused my drug addictions, anxiety, stomach ulcers, insomnia, teeth grinding, blurred vision, ADHD, hypertension, alcoholism, hangovers, headaches, sexual immorality, hatred, anger, illiteracy, and insanity. Boy, I can sure live without friends like that.

For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. (Galatians 5:17 NKJV)

When Christ freed me from all those chains, I was able to focus on my walk with Him through the entire Bible. Jesus was able to start making a new me. My mother bought me a bible for my birthday that November in 2014, and I buried my face in it, one scripture at a time and one chapter after another, understanding and interpreting the Word of God with the help of His Holy Spirit. It was a miracle! The Bible is God’s way of communicating with us the truth and through prayer He hears us. The Holy Spirit taught me how to read, write, organize, and document every step of my new life’s journey. I now have twenty-three ring binders, and I’m still learning. I have published two books with the help of Jesus, on a wing and a prayer. Through my studies, I have learned that the end of our struggles is where we begin a new life with Christ, and all that remains from our past are the scars marked by grace. Conversion is the beginning of unmasking ourselves in our