Biblical Truths and the Plan of Salvation

By Marilyn E. Phelan and Jay M. Phelan

A judge and a retired law professor, co-authors of In His Footsteps: The Early Followers of Jesus, provide in this book a comprehensive study of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation with an objective to connect the early Scriptures to the New Testament writings of the first believers and to present conclusive proof that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled scriptural prophecies of a promised Messiah. The book clarifies parts of the Scriptures some find difficult to understand given the many languages and translations through the ages in which the nonetheless timeless and amazing words from the Bible were written and recorded. The book details historical events that led to the development of the books of the New Testament and documents the history of the spread of the gospel from the early church to the present. In also reviewing current events that point to a nearing of the end times and a miraculous return of the Messiah, the last chapter includes a timetable of incidents that have led to the new nation of Israel and the return of the Jewish people to their homeland--additional evidence of the truth and the continuing fulfillment of scriptural prophecies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Resource Publications
• Release date: Mar 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781666765748

Marilyn E. Phelan

MARILYN E. PHELAN, the Paul Whitfield Horn Distinguished Professor of Law Emerita at Texas Tech University, is a life member of the two leading legal institutions—American Law Institute and Uniform Law Commission. In addition to authoring or co-authoring seventeen books and over fifty articles on legal issues related to federal tax law and nonprofits, she has co-authored this book and one other based on her Christian faith and extensive Bible studies.

Book preview

Introduction

There has never been, nor ever will be, a more amazing or greater book than the Bible. Through a miracle from God and as God’s gift to humanity, the Bible has survived through countless ages and societies. The Bible contains books that were written almost four thousand years ago, if not earlier, to the last books being composed soon after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus about two thousand years ago. Unfortunately, some parts may have become unclear to some readers, blurred by translations and languages through the many ages in which they were written and recorded. Nonetheless the many historical facts set out in the Bible have been confirmed so that even those who do not believe the Bible to be the inspired Word of God will find that the Bible informs accurately of ancient history and of past cultures. Most importantly though, the Bible instructs about the timeless truths from God, about the way in which people should live to find the best for their lives, and about how they can find the road to heaven through the salvation provided by the redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a world of constant change and the resulting stress and confusion, the Word of God found in the Bible has never changed. Tenets and truths from the Bible still reform lives and continue to be of an absolute necessity to meet the needs of people today. The Scriptures record the words of the psalmist: "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,"¹⁴ and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews affirmed that ". . . the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.¹⁵ The prophet Isaiah attested to the greatness and everlasting importance of the Word of God:¹⁶ The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever. The Jewish apostle John, who was Jesus’ beloved disciple, quoted the words of Jesus:¹⁷ If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John also recorded Jesus’ assurance that:¹⁸ ". . . for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Hopefully this book will provide the reader with a new and better understanding of the Bible for no one should fail to read, discard, or abandon the miraculous Word of God as given to His people in the amazing books of the Bible.

14

. Psalm

119

:

105

, KJV.

15

. Hebrews

4

:

12

, NKJV.

16

. Isaiah

40

:

8

, NIV.

17

. John

8

:

32

, NKJV.

18

. John

18

:

37

b, NASB.

1

The Fall of Humanity and the Beginning of a Plan of Redemption

Introduction

A recognition and better understanding of the great and miraculous gift of salvation that comes from a belief in the saving grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ best begins with a consideration of human nature and the causes of humanity rejecting God. A more complete understanding of God’s love and endless forgiveness that brings about salvation must begin with the beginning. This chapter then is a review of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The chapter summarizes the Lord’s awesome and wondrous creation but then critiques the fall of humanity from the first persons in the creation who intentionally disobeyed God and the later depravity of the people who followed them in their disobedience and corresponding immoral conduct. The chapter leads into God’s initial plan of redemption in saving an otherwise lost world by calling out the patriarch, Abraham, who, apart from Jesus, may be the most important person in all of history and clearly is of that importance in the Bible. Events in the book of Genesis have relevance today not only in verifying the omnipotence of the Lord but also in showing His continuing love and forgiveness for a sinful, and otherwise lost, people.

The Miraculous Creation

The first book in the Bible—Genesis—records God’s creation of a splendid and incredible world that, without sinful humanity, was perfection. As recorded in Genesis: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.¹ The writer of Genesis further recorded:² "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The beginning chapters in the book of Genesis further narrate God’s beautiful, orderly, and miraculous creation, first by setting out God’s formation of light, then night and day, followed by the firmament, which divided the waters called the Seas, and subsequently the dry land called Earth.³ Genesis then reports of God creating plant life⁴ and next setting stars in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to divide the light from the darkness.⁵ Following this formation, God created living creatures for life in the seas and birds to fly above the earth. This is recorded as having been followed by God’s creation of the beasts of the earth that included all animals as well as creeping things.⁶ The first book of Genesis also records that after God had created the heavens and the earth, followed by plant life and then fish, birds, and animals, He fashioned the two first humans, called Adam and Eve, and placed them in control of all that He had created. "Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female created he them.⁷

There are words used in the reporting of creation that can be perplexing to many. As an example, the reference in Genesis to God creating man in Our image can be difficult for some to understand. Additionally, it is also recorded in Genesis that the Lord God said, "Behold, the man is become like one of Us, to know good and evil."⁸ These passages are referring to the paradigm of the Trinity—God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit. There is one God existing in three coequal divine forms that is one in being, but three in form where each is fully God.⁹ The triune nature of God cannot be compared to a human being. God is spirit without physical form. The vastness of God is beyond human comprehension, but it is known from the Bible that the three forms or the three roles of God are one at the same time. The first part of the Shema, the Jewish prayer, attests to the oneness of God: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord.¹⁰ Jesus is part of the Trinity and was one with God before the beginning of time. As the beloved Jewish disciple and apostle, John, recorded in the Gospel of John:¹¹ In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John also recorded:¹² The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John further reported Jesus’ words: Before Abraham was, I am.¹³ The apostle Paul reported to the Gentile believers that Jesus created all things," assuring them: "For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible whether they be thrones, or dominions or principalities, or powers: all things were by Him and for Him: And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.¹⁴ John also gives the believer assurance that Jesus was and is One with God, reporting Jesus’ words in the last chapter of Revelation:¹⁵ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last."

The meaning of the word day in the different divisions or periods of the creation reported in Genesis can also be confusing. Still, in considering the many translations of the Bible that have occurred through thousands of years, the word day may not have always been the designation of the time periods or stages when the differing parts of creation occurred. Further, the word day noted in Genesis can mean a twenty-four-hour period, or it can refer to a thousand years as recorded by the Jewish disciple and apostle, Peter, when he declared ". . . that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."¹⁶ Additionally, as many scholars attest, a day’ can refer to a time period of a million or even a billion years—each segment of creation can have occurred over millions and billions of years without taking from the sequence and truth of events as recorded in Genesis. The importance of the creation story in Genesis is not the time period of each day" reported in Genesis, but rather the orderly and magnificent manner in which God created a perfect world, one that would have been flawless had God not included His last creation, humanity.

Consequences of Sin and a Plan of Redemption

Genesis relates the first fall of humanity through the narrative of the disobedience of the first persons God placed on the earth—Adam and Eve. Nonetheless, the lessons of the consequences of sinfulness and disobedience resonate through the ages. The desire of the human race to rule the world and to be on the same level as God continues from the ambitions of these first persons in God’s creation to the people of this day. The scriptural stories and warnings regarding sin and disobedience to God then have just as great an importance and relevance in today’s society as many thousands of years ago during the time of the life and death of Adam and Eve. The prophet Isaiah warned the children of Israel about 2,700 years ago that: ". . . your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear."¹⁷ The apostle Paul later admonished believers that ". . . the wages of sin is death but additionally promised that . . . the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."¹⁸

God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, which was a paradise where they had all they needed as well as complete fellowship with God who often walked with them during the day.¹⁹ God told Adam and Eve that they were not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, informing them: "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.²⁰ Unfortunately Adam and Eve did not obey God but rather succumbed to temptation, convinced that if they ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would . . . be as gods, knowing good and evil."²¹ Their rebellion in disobeying God by eating from the Tree led to their removal from God’s grace and their banishment from the Garden of Eden.²²

One of the great problems with humanity through the ages is that so many persons are like Adam and Eve in their desire to be as gods. People still rebel against, and even refuse to believe in, the one true God. This rebellion, as with Adam and Eve, leads first to spiritual death and then assuredly to complete physical death. Still, God’s love for His created children and His continuing forgiveness of their many sins produced a plan of redemption designed to bring a Messiah to the world to save all believers from their iniquities and, with a belief in the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the gift of eternal life. As Paul²³ affirmed: "For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."²⁴ Paul has assured believers that: . . . sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.²⁵

Adam’s death, which was caused by his rebellion from God, did not occur immediately.²⁶ The assurance of death then was either the certainty of death, not its immediacy, or was an immediate spiritual death—separation from God.²⁷ A separation from God leads to depravity in a people as evidenced by the utter wickedness and corruption of most of the human race immediately following the banishment of Adam and Eve.

Destruction of an Immoral People and a New Covenant

With the exception of a few, the people who succeeded Adam and Eve did not seek nor aspire to know God. As a result, civilization at that time was very corrupt.²⁸ God destroyed that depraved society, saving only the limited few who believed in Him.²⁹ As recorded in Genesis:³⁰ "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Sin became so rampant that God finally destroyed the world with a great flood that saved only the believers at that time, Noah and his family members.³¹

There is no reliable determination of when Noah lived. There are estimates of his time of life that range as far apart as 5500 BC to 2300 BC. We do know from the Bible that Noah also lived for many years.³² Additionally, at the time of Noah’s life, the world had one language and one speech,³³ which God later confounded as he scattered abroad the then human race.³⁴ The many languages in the world that came into being are colossal and immeasurable examples of God’s awesome and overwhelming power.

God established a covenant with Noah and his descendants—his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth—that continues to this day.³⁵ As recorded in Genesis:³⁶ "And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; . . . I establish My covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you . . . for perpetual generations; I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you . . . and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

The Plan of Redemption Restarted Through the Israelite Nation

After the flood, God’s plan of redemption was revived and resumed with the birth and four thousand years of the Hebrew nation.³⁷ The remainder of this chapter and the chapters following set out the major events in those four thousand years beginning when God called Abraham, who has been characterized as the most important person in the Bible apart from Jesus, to establish a people from whom would come a promised Messiah.

Approximately two thousand years after Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, God called a believer named Abram, who then lived in Ur of the Chaldeans³⁸ and who was a man of God, to establish a Hebrew nation that would spread to the world the message of one God and would bring with that message a preparation for the advent of the Lord Jesus. By faith, Abram, whose name God changed to Abraham, believed the Lord and established a great and wonderous nation. As recorded in Genesis,³⁹ God said to Abraham, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and He said unto him, So shall they seed be, and he believed in the Lord, and He counted it to him for righteousness." As Paul reported to the believers in Rome,⁴⁰ Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Abraham is estimated by some to have lived from 2166 to 1991 BC or about 2,000 years prior to the coming of Jesus. He was born in Ur, which was situated by the Euphrates River in Babylon, now modern-day Iraq. God instructed Abraham to go from Ur to Canaan, a land where Abraham and his descendants could worship God. The problem for Abraham to remain in Ur was that the people there, including Abraham’s father, Terah, were idolators.⁴¹ Abraham’s nephew, Lot, accompanied him but later separated from him and chose to live on the Plain of Sodom. Lot’s descendants were the Moabite nation.

Covenant with Abraham

As with Noah, God made a covenant with Abraham, but this covenant was symbolized by circumcision—as a representation of devotion of God from a circumcised heart. As recorded in Genesis:⁴² "And I will make My covenant between Me and thee and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and thee. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed. He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant."

Meeting with Melchizedek

After Abraham left Ur and traveled to Canaan, he spent some time in Egypt and also was successful in a battle with the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah.⁴³ After leaving Egypt and after his success in the battle, a priest named Melchizedek was on the road to meet Abraham. Melchizedek apparently came from the city then known as Salem, which is the current Jerusalem. Melchizedek means King of Righteousness, or King of Peace.⁴⁴ Some contend Melchizedek was Shem; others maintain that he was the pre-incarnate Jesus.

Melchizedek brought bread and wine, and Abraham gave him tithes.⁴⁵ The bread and wine may have been a prophesy of Jesus’ offering of bread and wine as the symbol of His body and the later establishment of a new covenant. The tithe derived from Abraham’s tithing to Melchizedek came to be integrated into Mosaic Law. As recorded in Leviticus:⁴⁶ "And all the tithe of the land, either of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord." Additionally, the Israelites were required to pay tithes to the priests from the tribe of Levi:⁴⁷ "And behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.⁴⁸ Still, tithing without a proper motive is not pleasing to the Lord. The apostle Matthew recorded in the Gospel of Matthew:⁴⁹ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others."

Tithing has never been a requirement of Christians although believers are required to give of their talents to the Lord. The apostle Paul admonished the early believers:⁵⁰ "Remember this: Whosoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of one should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. Paul also noted the blessings that come from cheerful giving and commanded believers to: . . . do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.⁵¹ Paul affirmed: In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."⁵²

Melchizedek represented a greater priesthood than that of the Levitical priests who were descendants of Aaron, the brother of Moses and the first high priest.⁵³ The importance of Melchizedek is set out in the New Testament in the book of Hebrews:⁵⁴ "Just think how great he was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder! Now the law requires the descendants of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their fellow Israelites—even though they also are descendants from Abraham. This man, however, did not trace his descent from Levi, yet he collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. And without doubt the lesser is blessed by the greater. In the one case, the tenth is collected by the people who die; but in the other case, by he who is declared to be living. One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor."

Founders of a Promised Future Nation

Upon entering Canaan, Abraham built an altar to God at a city called Shechem. Shechem later became the first capital of the Kingdom of Israel and now is thought to be the city of Nablus, which is located in the West Bank in the present nation of Israel. Abraham also built altars in the ancient cities of Bethel and Hebron.⁵⁵ Additionally, Abraham returned later to Salem, afterwards called Jerusalem, to Mount Moriah or Mount Zion, now called the Temple Mount, to offer to sacrifice Isaac his son; some contend this was a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus for the sins of the world.⁵⁶ Isaac, whose life span is suggested to have been from 2066 to 1886 BC, is considered to be the father of the Hebrew nation.⁵⁷ Isaac’s twin, Esau, was the father of the Edomite/Idumean nation.⁵⁸ Jacob, Isaac’s son, who lived from an estimated 2006 BC to 1859 BC, is the father of the twelve tribes of Israel that eventually formed the nation of Israel.⁵⁹ The story of the twelve tribes follows.

1

. Gen

1

:

1

, KJV

2

. Gen

1

:

1

b, NIV.

3

. Gen

1

:

2–16

a. The magnificence of the creation is evidenced not just by God’s creation of the earth, along with the sun and the moon, but by the billions of other galaxies, the millions and billions of stars, the heavens, and whatever else is out there in the vast universe.

4

. Gen

1

:

11

.

5

. Gen

1

:

19

.

6

. Gen

1

:

20–25

.

7

. Gen

1

:

26–27

, NIV.

8

. Gen

3

:

22

, KJV.

9

. A very limited example is that of water which has three forms, solid (ice), liquid, and gas (vapor). All three forms of water are water.

10

. Deut

6

:

4

, KJV. One of the teachers of the law asked Jesus what commandment from the Scriptures was the foremost of all the commandments. Jesus referred to the Shema as being the primary commandment. He answered the teacher by quoting the first part of the Shema: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." Mark

12

:

29

b, NIV.

11

. John

1

:

1–4

, NIV. Discussion in chapters

6

and

7

of the ministry and writings of the disciple and apostle, John, who was called the beloved disciple of Christ.

12

. John

1

:

14

, NIV.

13

. John

8

:

58

, KJV. Discussion of Abraham below.

14

. Col

1

:

16–17

, KJV. Discussion in chapters

6

and

7

of the ministry and writings of the Jewish apostle Paul, who has been called the greatest Christian who ever lived.

15

. Rev

22

:

13

, KJV.

16

.

2

Pet

3

:

8

, KJV. Discussion of the disciple and apostle, Peter, who was called the Rock, in chapters

6

and

7

.

17

. Isa

59

:

2

, NIV.

18

. Rom

6

:

23

, KJV.

19

. Gen

2

:

8–17

. It is not known where the Garden of Eden was located. There is speculation that its location was in Mesopotamia, or modern-day Iraq, near where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are located today.

20

. Gen

3

:

3

b, KJV.

21

. Gen

3

:

5

b, KJV

22

. Gen

3

:

17–19

.

23

. As noted above, Paul’s ministry and the writings of the apostle Paul are discussed in chapters

6

and

7

. See discussion in chapter

7

of the history of his writings that compose most of the Epistles in the New Testament.

24

. I Cor

15

:

22

, NIV. Eve gave the fruit from the tree to Adam and told him to eat it. After learning that they both ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and after banishing them from the Garden of Eden, God revealed a covenant of grace by promising a Savior. God said: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen

3

:

15

, KJV. This verse sets out the expectation of a Redeemer who would be the seed or offspring of woman. Enmity—great hatred and ill will—would exist between Satan, the enemy of humanity, and humanity. Satan would bruise the Redeemer’s heel, which occurred when Jesus was crucified, but with His resurrection, the Redeemer would crush Satan’s head, defeating him forever. Jesus, the promised seed or Redeemer, was bruised with His crucifixion, but He rose again with victory over sin and death. As Paul stated to the believers at Corinth, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

2

Cor

5

:

21

, NIV.

25

. Rom

5

:

19

, NIV.

26

. The Bible records that Adam lived

930

years. See Gen

5

:

5

. Persons who first lived on the earth were in good health and lived very long lives. Adam and Eve had been created by God never to die, but when sin entered the world, death did slowly begin to end their earthly lives. Still, many persons after Adam and Eve also had long lives. Methuselah, a descendant of seven generations from Adam and the oldest recorded human, lived

969

years.

27

. As noted previously, Isaiah the prophet later warned the sinful and disobedient children of Israel: "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." Isa

59

:

2

, NIV.

28

. The book of Genesis does provide the possibility that Seth, Adam’s son, as well as some others ". . . began to call upon the name of the Lord." Gen

4

:

26

. Additionally, Enoch, the father of Methuselah, was taken alive into heaven because of his walking with God. As recorded in the book of Genesis: "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Gen

6

:

24

, KJV.

29

. The few were Noah and his family. Noah was the grandson of Methuselah and the great grandson of Enoch.

30

. Gen

6

:

5–8

, KJV.

31

. Gen

7

to

9

.

32

. Gen

9

:

29

. Genesis records that Noah lived for

950

years.

33

. Gen

11

:

1

.

34

. Gen

11

:

7–9

.

35

. Gen

10

:

1

. The Bible records that Shem lived

600

years. Gen

11

:

10–11

.

36

. Gen

9

:

8–17

, KJV.

37

. Yet four thousand years are only four days to the Lord. Moses, discussed in chapter

2

, was a Hebrew prophet called the man of God, who was born in Egypt, raised by a Pharoah’s daughter, and considered to be one of the most important prophets for many religions. He confirmed in Ps

90

:

4

, KJV: For a thousand years in Thy sight are but yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night." Additionally, Peter, who was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples and one of the four disciples in Jesus’ inner circle, proclaimed about

1

,

500

years later: "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

2

Pet

3

:

8

, KJV.

38

. The Chaldeans ruled Babylon for a time, and the Babylonians have been called Chaldeans.

39

. Gen

15

;

5

b-

6

, KJV.

40

. Rom

4

:

3

b, NIV.

41

. Gen

12

:

1

. One might question how Abraham could have learned of God in a land of idolators. It is possible he learned about God from Shem, Noah’s son, who was born

98

years before the flood and lived

502

years after the flood. Additionally, Noah lived until the birth of Abraham, and Noah’s life was overlapped by Methuselah by

600

years. Methuselah’s life was overlapped by Adam for

243

years. Shem lived

150

years after the birth of Abraham and lived

75

years after Abraham entered Canaan (now Israel). Abraham undoubtedly could have learned of the flood, of Adam and Eve, of the Garden of Eden, and of God, from Shem.

42

. Gen

17

:

2

—

14

, KJV.

43

. Gen

14

:

8–16

. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, two very corrupt cities where Lot had lived. God brought Lot out of these cities, and Lot settled in what was then Moab, now the present-day Jordan.

44

. See Heb

7

:

2

.

45

. Gen

14

,

19–20

. Melchizedek is discussed later in chapters

4

,

7

and

8

.

46

. Lev

27

:

30

, KJV.

47

. Discussion of the Israelite tribes and the requirement of tithing to the tribe of Levi in chapter

2

.

48

. Num

18

:

21

, KJV.

49

. Matt

23

:

23

, NASB. See also Luke

11

:

42

.

50

.

2

Cor

9

:

6–7

, NIV.

51

.

1

Tim

6

:

18

, NIV.

52

.

1

Tim

6

:

19

, NIV.

53

. As noted in chapter

2

, the descendants of Aaron were members of the tribe of Levi. The tribes are discussed in chapter

2

.

54

. Heb

7

:

4–10

, NIV.

55

. See Gen

12

:

8

and Gen

13

:

18

.

56

. Discussion in Gen

22

. As noted in Gen

22

, an angel of the Lord called to Abraham and told him that God knew that he feared the Lord and that he should do nothing to his son. Abraham then offered a ram as a burnt offering.

57

. See Gen

17

:

1

and Gal

4

:

28

58

. See Gen

36

.

59

. See Gen

49

and Exod

1

:

1–5

.

2

Formation of the Nation of Israel

Introduction

This chapter traces the routes of the children of Israel from their liberation from slavery in Egypt to their unique establishment as a separate nation, one that was to be dedicated to the worship of the Lord and from which would come a Messiah. It summarizes the life of the great prophet Moses who delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery and who brought the children of Israel near to their promised land. The chapter reviews and delineates the importance of the division of the Israelites into twelve tribes, while the following chapter relates the failings of the tribes and validates that the Israelites’ disobedience of God’s commands removed them significantly from a special and blessed relationship with God and clarifies how their disobedience ultimately led to destruction of the first Israelite nation.⁶⁰

The chapter has importance in its summary of the seven feasts God commanded Moses to bring to the children of Israel and their descendants as a means to connect with God forever. The chapter verifies the importance of the feasts to believers as well and to the prophetic role they serve in pointing to a Savior. The chapter corroborates the contention that four of the feasts were fulfilled with Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and with the coming of the Holy Spirit on the fourth feast day—the Feast of Pentecost. It substantiates a claim that Jesus’ second coming will fulfill the remaining three feasts.

The chapter also informs the reader of the continuing importance of the nation of Israel in God’s plan of redemption. From the nation of Israel came the promised Messiah; the last chapter in this book questions whether He will return to that nation in the end times, not only to bring a permanent peace to the new nation of Israel, but also to a then redeemed world.

Formation of the Twelve Tribes Following Slavery in Egypt

The land God promised to Abraham was originally the land of Canaan;⁶¹ that land became the nation of Israel and was the homeland of the Israelite nation from which God revealed His plan of redemption. The land in Canaan was portioned to twelve Israelite tribes that represented eleven of the twelve sons of Jacob, Abraham’s grandson whom God renamed Israel.⁶² The twelve tribes consisted of two tribes designated for one of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, but none for his son, Levi. The descendants of Levi were priests and were not given a portion of the promised land because the descendants of Levi were set aside to serve God, and God was their portion.⁶³

As recorded in Numbers,⁶⁴ God said to Aaron, the brother of Moses, who was from the tribe of Levi: "‘You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites. I give to the Levites all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for the work they do while serving at the tent of meeting. From now on the Israelites must not go near the tent of meeting, or they will bear the consequences of their sin and will die. It is the Levites who are to do the work at the tent of meeting and bear the responsibility for any offenses they commit against it. This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. They will receive no inheritance among the Israelites. Instead, I give to the Levites as their inheritance the tithes that the Israelites present as an offering to the Lord. That is why I said concerning them: ‘They will have no inheritance among the Israelites.’"⁶⁵

Joseph, the Favorite Son of Jacob who was Father of the Twelve Tribes

The division of the Israelite nation into twelve tribes begins with the story of Joseph, who was Jacob’s favorite son⁶⁶ and who lived from approximately 1915 to 1805 BC. Joseph often boasted of his favored status with his father and displayed to his brothers a coat of many colors that Jacob had made especially for him.⁶⁷ Because of Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph and Joseph’s boasting to his brothers, including his statements to them that he would rule over them, Joseph’s brothers despised him and when Joseph was seventeen years of age,⁶⁸ his brothers had him sold into slavery.⁶⁹ Joseph was taken then to Egypt to become a slave; he lived in Egypt for thirteen years as a slave. Still, at the age of thirty, he was set over that land as a result of interpreting some strange dreams from the then Egyptian Pharoah.⁷⁰ Joseph correctly interpreted Pharoah’s dreams as being a prediction of a great famine in all the land, and at Pharoah’s request, produced a solution to the famine.⁷¹

Because of Joseph’s correct interpretation of Pharoah’s dream and Joseph’s impeccable solution of a tremendous food shortage which Pharoah then realized would occur, Pharoah set Joseph in second command of all of Egypt and instructed him to solve the famine problem. The then Pharoah knew God would be in command