Bible sa isang Oras...Maligayang Pagdating sa Bibliya sa isang Oras. Ako si Wade Butler. Isipin ang pag-unawa sa Bibliya! Isipin mo! Sa lalong madaling panahon, ito ay magiging isang

© Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang California Partnership

Bible sa isang Oras

Panimula

Maligayang Pagdating sa Bibliya sa isang Oras. Ako si Wade Butler.

Isipin ang pag-unawa sa Bibliya! Isipin mo! Sa lalong madaling panahon, ito ay magiging isang katotohanan para sa iyo sa halos isang oras!

Ang Bibliya ay ang pinakamahusay na nagbebenta ng libro sa buong mundo. Milyun-milyong kopya ang ibinebenta bawat taon. Milyun-milyong kopya ang inilalagay sa mga silid ng hotel, naghihintay na silid, at mga kapilya. Ang masigasig na mga mananampalataya sa Bibliya ay literal na nagbibigay ng mga Bibliya sa mga interesado.

Mga Bibliya, Bibliya kahit saan. Gayunpaman, napakakaunting mga tao ang nakakaintindi sa tema ng Bibliya.

Ang Bibliya ay isa sa ilang mga libro sa mundo na binabasa ng mga tao at hindi maaaring ulitin ang linya ng kuwento! Karamihan sa mga taong nagbasa ng Bibliya ay hindi maaaring ulitin sa ibang tao kung ano ang tungkol sa libro!

Karamihan sa mga tao ay nais malaman kung ano ang sinasabi ng Bibliya. Maraming mga tao ang sinubukan na basahin ang Bibliya lamang upang mawala sa mga nagmamakaawa at wakasan ang kanilang pagtatangka sa pagkabigo sa pagkakasala.

Kung sinubukan mong basahin ang Bibliya at nasiraan ka sa mga talaangkanan, mga batas tungkol sa mga pagkain, at mga Canaanite, Hittite, at Jebusites, kung gayon ang Bibliya sa isang Hour ay para sa iyo.

Kung sinubukan mong basahin nang paulit-ulit na basahin ang Bibliya lamang upang malaman na ang nakalilito na hanay ng mga pangalan, lugar, at mga tao ay hinabol ka sa paglaktaw ng isang araw at isa pa at isa pa hanggang sa sumuko ka nang lubusan, kung gayon ang Bibliya sa isang Oras ay para sa iyo .

Sa Bibliya sa isang Oras, kami ay kumbinsido na milyon-milyong mga tao ang masidhing nagnanais na maunawaan ang Bibliya para sa kanilang sarili, ngunit sila ay nabigo - hindi sa pamamagitan ng kanilang sariling kakulangan ng kakayahan o katalinuhan, ngunit dahil kulang sila ng mga piraso ng impormasyon na gumawa ng May katuturan ang Bibliya.

Karamihan sa mga tao ay sumuko sa Bibliya dahil natuklasan nila na hindi ito sunud-sunod. Tila lumaktaw dito

at doon at iwanan ang mystified na mambabasa. Ito ay dahil sa lipunan sa kanluran inaasahan nating ang isang libro ay magkaroon ng isang simpleng simula at magtatapos na may maraming mga detalye sa pagitan.

Ang Bibliya ay hindi katulad nito. Ang mga libro ng Bibliya ay natipon sa mga uri ng panitikan, hindi naaayos na panahon. Ang mga libro sa Bibliya ay hindi pinagsama-sama ng mali, nai-pangkat na lamang sila nang naiiba kaysa sa inaasahan ng karamihan sa mga tao. Ang Lumang Tipan ay una sa kasaysayan, na sinusundan ng panitikan, pagkatapos ay ang mga propeta ay karaniwang nakaayos mula sa pinakamahaba hanggang sa pinakamaikling. Ang Bagong Tipan ay naglalaman din ng kasaysayan nang una, na sinusundan ng mga titik na karaniwang inayos mula sa pinakamahaba hanggang sa pinakamaikling.

Ang iba pang mga tao ay nagsimba sa buong buhay nila at pinalaki sa mga kwento sa Bibliya bilang bahagi ng kanilang pinakaunang mga alaala sa Bakahan ng Paaralan ng Bakasyon at Linggo. Alam nila ang lahat ng mga kwento, ngunit walang ideya kung paano magkakasama silang lahat. Ito ay tulad ng mayroon silang pamalo ng mga perlas na maluwag sa isang bag at hindi pa nakikita ang buong kuwintas. Ito ay tulad ng mayroon silang lahat ng mga piraso ng jigsaw puzzle ngunit hindi pa nakita ang tuktok ng kahon.

Ipapakita sa iyo ng Bibliya sa isang Oras ang paraan na magkasama ang mga perlas at, sa wakas, ang tuktok ng kahon.

1 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Kasosyo sa California

Kaya, bago ka sa Bibliya at nais mong malaman kung ano ito, o kung ikaw ay nasa paligid ng Bibliya na karamihan sa iyong buhay at nais mong makita ang buong larawan. o kung nais mong basahin nang mabuti at nais mong malaman ang tungkol sa aklat na puso ng kulturang kanluranin, ang Bibliya sa isang Hour ay para sa iyo.

Ang pagtatanghal na ito ay para sa sinumang nais na maunawaan kung ano ang tungkol sa Bibliya.

Matagal mo na itong hinintay. Makinig ka sa mga mangangaral, kung minsan para sa maraming taon, umaasa na makita ang larawan na makikita mo. Palaging alam mo na ang katotohanan ay nasa Bibliya, ngunit hindi mo alam kung paano makukuha ito para sa iyong sarili.

Muli, hindi ito, at hindi pa kailanman, ang iyong pagkakamali. Ang katotohanan na nakikinig ka sa presentasyong ito ay patunay na ikaw ay nai-motivation at interesado. Hindi ka mabibigo.

Dapat mayroon kang apat na tsart sa harap mo. Ang Chart One ay isang paglalarawan ng buong Bibliya mula sa simula hanggang sa katapusan.

Ang mga tsart ng Dalawa at Tatlong ay naglalarawan ng mga tema ng pag-aayos ng Lumang Tipan.

Ang Chart Four ay ang Bagong Tipan.

Ang buong Bibliya ay nakapaloob sa pag-unawa sa tatlong pangako, tatlong tipan, at isang pangungusap. Iyon lang. Kapag nalaman mo ang tatlong pangakong ito, tatlong tipan, at isang pangungusap, mas malalaman mo ang tungkol sa Bibliya kaysa sa karamihan ng tao.

At sa wakas, sa wakas, maiintindihan mo kung ano ang tungkol sa Bibliya.

Magugugol kami ng mas maraming oras sa Chart One kaysa sa alinman sa iba pang mga tsart. Huwag mag-alala; gagawin natin ito sa isang oras. Iwanan mo lang kami. Makinig nang mabuti at sundin ang mga tsart na gumagawa ng mga tala sa iyong sarili kung gusto mo.

Kung wala kang isang oras ngayon upang bigyang-pansin ang presentasyong ito at ang mga tsart, maaaring nais mong isaalang-alang ang pakikinig kapag mayroon kang isang hindi nag-aalala na oras. Kung nakikinig ka sa iyong kotse o gumagamit ng mga headphone habang gumagawa ng iba pa, maaaring kailanganin mong ulitin ang pagtatanghal upang makuha ang pinakakinabang mula dito.

I-on ang oras ng oras, ang oras ay nagsisimula na ngayon!

Chart One.

Tandaan na ang tsart ay nagsisimula sa isang tamad na walong pigura. Ito ang simbolo para sa kawalang-hanggan. Nakatayo ito sa simula at pagtatapos ng linya ng larawan. Pinapayagan nating maunawaan na ang Bibliya ay naglalarawan sa mundo at lahat ng nalalaman at nakikita natin mula sa kawalang-hanggan kapag hindi ito umiiral sa kawalang-hanggan kung saan ito ay magkakaroon ng ibang anyo.

Sa madaling salita, ang pag-frame na ito ng simbolo ng kawalang-hanggan ay nagpapaalala sa atin na ang Diyos ay lumilikha ng oras at lahat ng mga naninirahan sa oras na walang kawalang-hanggan.

Tatlong interlocking bilog ang bumubuo ng sinaunang simbolo para sa Diyos: ang Ama, Anak, at Banal na Espiritu.

Ang isang arrow ay palaging nangangahulugang pagkilos sa isang bagay o paggalaw patungo sa isang bagay. Samakatuwid, tatlong bilog na may isang arrow na tumuturo sa lupa ay nangangahulugang kumilos ang Diyos, o nilikha, ang lupa at ang langit.

Sa gitna ng tsart nakita mo ang tatlong mga interlocking na bilog na kumikilos sa isang lalaki. Nangangahulugan ito na nagsalita ang Diyos at gumawa ng mga pangako sa isang tao.

2 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. Ang ® sa Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Partnerhip ng California Bumaba

ng kaunti, nakikita mo ang isang tao na may tatlong bilog bilang kanyang ulo. Ito si Jesus, ang isa na Diyos at tao sa parehong oras. Siya ang Diyos na naging tao.

Ang kordero at krus ay sadyang nangangahulugan na ang pagkamatay ng isang kordero ay naganap upang lumapit sa isang malinis na lupa at langit at maipadala ito sa isang bagong pag-iral sa kawalang-hanggan.

Kung gayon, ang tsart na ito ay isang pangkalahatang-ideya ng buong sansinukob at lahat ng mga bagay na nakikita at hindi nakikita.

Sa pasimula, nilikha ng Diyos ang mga langit at ang mundo. Siya ay nagsalita, "Magkaroon ng ilaw." Nang sinabi ng Diyos, "Magkaroon ng ilaw," ang tagalikha ay simpleng inilalabas ang kanyang mga kasangkapan at nagsasabing, "Magkaroon ng hilaw na materyal." Mula sa sandaling iyon, nilikha ng Diyos ang uniberso sa anim. araw. Araw-araw nilikha niya ang mga dagat at pinatitirahan sila, ang lupa at tinakpan ito ng flora at fauna, ang mga bituin at ang araw at ang buwan. Lahat mula sa hilaw na materyal ng ilaw.

Tinukoy ng Diyos ang kanyang sarili bilang ilaw kung kanino walang kadiliman. Samakatuwid, ang uniberso tulad ng alam natin, kapwa ng mga bagay na nakikita at hindi natin nakikita, ay malalim na konektado at umaasa sa Diyos mismo. Malayo sa pagiging isang cosmic watchmaker na gumawa ng sansinukob at itinakda ito na umiikot hanggang sa naubusan ito ng juice, ang Diyos ay malalim, mahalagang itinali ang kanyang sarili sa paglikha at nagustuhan ang kanyang ginawa. Tinawag niya ang bawat yugto ng nilikha niya na "mabuti." Walang mga bahid. Walang kamatayan. Walang sakit. Mahalaga at lubos na mabuti. Sa ikaanim na araw, ginawa niya ang tao: Adan.

Ang lahat ng iba pang mga bagay na ginawa ng Diyos ay ginawa niya ito sa isang salita at mas manipis na kapangyarihan ng kanyang mga utos. Ang Diyos ay kumuha ng radikal at personal na interes sa tao. Inanunsyo niya na gagawa siya ng isang nilalang sa kanyang sariling imahe. Isang nilalang, isang salamin ng kakanyahan ng Diyos sa putik. Sa pamamagitan ng kanyang sariling mga kamay, ang Diyos ay gumawa ng luwad sa isang tao. Mula sa pinakamalalim na tisyu ng kalamnan hanggang sa mga pinong buhok sa mga bisig, ang Diyos ay lumikha ng isang pagmuni-muni ng kanyang sarili. At pagkatapos, hinalikan siya ng buhay.

Dinugo niya ang buhay sa ilong ng luad at dumi, nabubuhay ang luad.

Ngayon ang Diyos ay may isang nilalang na maaari niyang makipag-usap at may malayang isipan at kakayahang gumawa ng mga pagpipilian. Ang lahat ng mga hayop at halaman ay dinala kay Adan at tinawag niya silang lahat. Siya ay isang perpektong katawan na may perpektong pag-iisip. Ang Diyos - kung ano ang isang larawan - inilagay ang bawat isa sa kanyang mga nilikha sa harap ni Adan at sinabi, "Pangalanan ito. Ano ang tatawagin natin? ”Iyon ang mapaglarong eksena sa paraiso.

Matapos magtalaga ng mga pangalan sa kabuuan ng paglikha, nag-iisa si Adan. Alam ng Diyos kung ano ang naramdaman. Nag-iisa ang Diyos. Walang ibang Diyos.

Kahit sa kanyang perpektong estado, si Adan ay nag-iisa. Walang katulad niya. Kasama niya ang Diyos, ngunit hindi sapat ang Diyos. Malungkot pa rin siya.

Ang operasyon ay ang Diyos. Inilagay niya ang lalaki sa isang anestetikong pagtulog at kumuha ng genetic na materyal mula sa kanyang tagiliran at humalal sa isang babaeng tao mula sa hilaw na materyal ng lalaki. Siya ay tinawag na Eba, siya ay isang masamang tao. Mula sa kanyang tabi ay gumawa siya ng isang bagong nilalang, isang nobya para kay Adan. At ikinasal sila ng Diyos doon.

Natuwa si Adan! "Ito ang buto ng aking buto at laman ng aking laman!" Aniya. Sinabi ng Diyos sa kanilang dalawa na makipagtalik at lumikha ng mga bagong tao upang ang kalungkutan ay hindi na muling sasaktan ang Adan na ginawa niya.

Sina Adan at Eva ay nilikha upang maging walang hanggan. Wala silang ideya o kaalaman tungkol sa mortalidad, sapagkat walang walang kamatayan. Ang buong paglikha, kasama na ang tao, ay mahalagang at malapit na nakakonekta sa Diyos, ang ilaw at tagalikha na patuloy na nag-infuse ng nilikha gamit ang kanyang sariling walang kamatayang puwersa sa buhay.

Pansinin sa iyong Chart One: Ginawa ng Diyos ang kalangitan at lupa at inilagay ang lalaki at babae dito. Pansinin ang mga simbolo para sa lalaki at babae.

3 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Kasosyo sa California

Napansin din na ang mundo ay puti at malinis, perpekto at mahusay. Sa simula. Ngunit pansinin sa tsart na ang mundo at lahat ng nilikha ay naging itim at masira. Nakakonekta mula sa mapagkukunan ng buhay ng Diyos, ang kamatayan at pagkabulok ay pumasok sa uniberso.

Ganito ang nangyari. Nang natapos ng Diyos ang paglikha, may dalawang puno. Ang isa ay ang portal sa buhay na walang hanggan at walang hanggang kaugnayan sa Diyos. Ang isa pa ay ang portal hanggang sa kamatayan at pagkakakonekta mula sa Diyos.

Ang isa, kung kinakain at binuksan, ay semento magpakailanman ang koneksyon sa pagitan ng Diyos at ng paglikha. Ang iba pa ay i-unplug ang paglikha mula sa Diyos at ito ay magbabawas at magkalat sa isang walang buhay, patay, madilim na masa.

Pagkatapos ay sinabi sa kanila ng Diyos na kung kumain sila ng Puno ng Kaalaman ng Mabuti at Masasama na sila ay mamamatay at ang kamatayan ay sumasaklaw sa buong kanilang kaharian. Iniwan niya ang pagpipilian hanggang sa kanila.

Ang ahas, na bahagi ng paglikha na kahit papaano ay nagkaroon ng malubhang mga pagkakasalungatan sa Diyos, ay nagseselos sa lalaki at babae at nais na sirain ang mga ito at ang nilikha na minamahal ng Diyos. Naglagay siya ng paghihintay at nagplano upang linlangin sina Adan at Eva sa pagbukas ng portal ng kamatayan at pagkabulok. Kailangan ng ahas ang kanilang pahintulot na mangibabaw sa kanila. Ito ay isang mahirap na gawain, ngunit ang ahas ay mas malas kaysa sa iba pang mga nilalang na ginawa ng Diyos.

Si Lucifer, ang ahas, ay nagplano ng lahat ng ito sa kabuluhan.

Naghintay siya ng isang oras, nakaupo sa mga anino, hanggang sina Adan at Eva ay magkatayo nang magkatabi sa harap ng dalawang portal.

Lumapit siya sa pares at nagtanim ng isang binhi sa kanilang isipan na magbubunga ng pagdurusa.

Sinabi niya sa kanila na ang Puno ng Kaalaman ng Mabuti at Masasama ang portal upang maging isang diyos. Hindi na sila magiging sa imahe ng Diyos. Hindi, sila ay magiging mga diyos mismo.

Tiningnan ng babae ang bunga ng puno at sinimulan itong makita nang naiiba sa mga salita ng ahas. Ito ay mukhang maganda, matamis, maganda. Sa katunayan, napagpasyahan niya na tila ba talagang gagalin sila. Siguro kasing matalino sa Diyos mismo.

Ang lalaki, si Adan, ay tumingin sa. Wala siyang ginawa upang mapigilan ang babae. Hinayaan niyang kumain muna ang prutas.

Kumuha si Eva at kumain ng prutas at binuksan ang portal ng isang crack. Pagkatapos nakita ni Adan na hindi siya namatay ay kumuha ng bunga mula sa kanyang handog at kinakain ito, na buong pag-asang biglang dumating sa pagiging isang diyos.

Sa halip, bigla nilang napagtanto na sila ay niloko. Ang kahihiyan, kamatayan, pagkakasala, pagdurusa, at pagkabulok ay bumaha sa lupa tulad ng isang itim na langis na nagsabog ng kamatayan kasama ang ahas na sumakay sa tubig.

Lubha silang natakot at nabigla na sila ay tumakbo mula sa puno, marahil hanggang sa matalo ng mapanlait na pagtawa ng ahas, tinangka na takpan ang kanilang sarili at ang kanilang kahihiyan sa anumang dahon at halaman na kanilang mahahanap.

Nagtago sila mula sa Diyos. Dumating ang Diyos sa hardin tulad ng lagi niyang ginagawa sa lamig ng araw. Pagdating niya, napagtanto niya na may isang bagay na mali talaga.

Nang makita ng Diyos na sinusubukan nilang takpan ang kanilang mga sarili at nahihiya, alam niya ang nangyari.

Binuksan nila ang portal ng kamatayan at na-disconnect ang paglikha mula sa daloy ng buhay ng lumikha.

Si Lucifer ay nakatayo sa pamamagitan ng mag-asawa, lubos na nasiyahan sa kanyang

sarili. Natapos niya ang kanyang hangarin.

4 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng mga karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Partneral ng California ay

tinanong ng Diyos si Adan kung ano ang nangyari; Sinabi sa kanya ni Adan ang katotohanan at inamin na binigyan siya ng babae ng prutas at kinakain niya ito.

Inamin ni Eba na niloko siya ng ahas na kumakain ng prutas sa pamamagitan ng pagsasabi sa kanya na gagawin itong isang diyosa.

Pagkatapos ay lumingon siya sa ahas at nagtaguyod ng isang pangako. "Sapagkat nagawa mo ito," lalo na nilinlang ang babae, "Maglagay ako ng poot sa pagitan mo at ng mga katulad mo at ng anak na makukuha ni Eva sa hinaharap."

"Ang isang anak niya ay lalamunin ang iyong ulo, ngunit siya ay magiging pinatay sa proseso, sinaktan ng mga bughaw sa parehong mga takong. ”

Naunawaan at naniwala ng Diyos na ang ahas ay niloko sina Adan at Eva na ibigay ang kanilang papel bilang tagapag-alaga. Gumagawa siya ng isang pangako upang linlangin ang ahas upang ibalik ito.

Yamang niloko niya ang babae, ang isang babae ay manganganak ng isang taong mang-aakit sa kanya.

Pagkatapos ay sinimulan ng Diyos na alagaan sina Adan at Eva. Inalis niya ang mga dahon at damo na ginamit nila sa makeshift na takip ang kanilang mga sarili at pagkatapos ay pinatay niya ang ilang mga hayop at tinakpan sina Adan at Eva ng kanilang mga balat. Tinakpan niya ang kanilang kahihiyan, ang kanilang kahinaan, at ang kanilang kalungkutan.

Ginawa ng Diyos na mamatay ang isang walang-sala upang ang mga karapat-dapat na mamatay ay mabuhay. Sa sandaling ginawa niya iyon, itinakda niya ang nauna at paraan mula sa gulo na nilikha ni Adan at Eva.

Ang Innocent ay laging mamamatay upang mailigtas ang nagkasala.

Inilagay ng Diyos ang lalaki at ang babae sa labas ng hardin at inilagay ang isang anghel sa labas ng gate ng hardin gamit ang isang tabak. Nagbago ang mga bagay. Hindi na sila makapasok sa hardin at kumain ng Puno ng Buhay. Lumipas ang pagkakataong iyon.

Sinabi ng Diyos kina Adan at Eva kung ano ang magiging bunga ng kanilang mga aksyon.

Si Adan ay magtrabaho ngayon sa lupa, ngunit hindi katulad noon, ang lupa ay hindi magbubunga ng mabubuting prutas na may kaunting pagsisikap. Ngayon, ang lupa ay tila hindi lalago kundi mga tinik at mga bagyo. At, hindi tulad ng kadaliang kamag-anak ng una, kailangang gawin ni Adan ang kanyang buhay, ang kanyang buhay, sa pamamagitan ng pawis ng kanyang kilay.

Si Eva, sinabi ng Diyos, ay magkakaroon ng kalungkutan sa pagkakaroon ng mga anak. Gusto niya ang mga ito, ngunit dahil ang kamatayan ay narito na sa mundo, ang kanyang mga anak ay magiging sanhi ng kanyang kalungkutan.

Pagkatapos ay ipinadala ng Diyos ang pares sa mundo upang manirahan sa paglikha na kanilang ibinigay sa kamatayan.

Sa kalagitnaan ng pagkalungkot at kalungkutan na iyon, naniniwala si Eva sa pangako ng Diyos na magdadala siya ng isang tao sa pamamagitan niya na madudurog ang ulo ng ahas.

Nang manganak siya kay Cain, ipinahayag niya ang kanyang pananampalataya na tinupad ng Diyos ang kanyang pangako nang sabihin niya, "Narito, nakuha ko ang tao!" Labis siyang

nabigo.

Maliwanag na inutusan ng Diyos sina Adan at Eva na mag-alay ng dugo ng mga inosenteng para sa kanilang pagkakasala nang pana-panahon. Naipasa nila ito sa kanilang dalawang anak na sina Cain at Abel.

Tinanggap ni Abel ang mga katotohanan. Wala si Cain. Nang tanggihan ng Diyos ang mga bunga ng gulay na pinalaki ni Cain at tinanggap ang inosenteng dugo na dinala ni Abel, nagalit si Cain kaya't hinimok niya ang kanyang kapatid sa bukid at pinatay siya.

5 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Pakikipagtulungan ng California ay

tumanggi na pumatay ng isang hayop, ngunit handa siyang patayin ang kanyang kapatid. Ang unang pagpatay ay nasa daan upang sumamba sa Diyos. Ang isang paraan, ang maling paraan, ay mag-alok sa Diyos ng mga bagay na hindi niya hiniling o hinihiling. Ang iba pang paraan, ang nag-utos ng Diyos, ay mag-alay ng dugo ng mga inosente para sa pag-save ng buhay ng isa na talagang karapat-dapat na mamatay.

Habang tumatagal ang oras, nagpatuloy ang karahasan. Ang karahasan ay nasa kanilang isip sa lahat ng oras. Nagsimula rin silang sumamba sa mga bituin at lumingon sa mga konstelasyon ng zodiac upang sabihin sa kanila kung ano ang gagawin at kung ano ang hinaharap.

Sa wakas, nagpasya ang Diyos na ang kanyang buong pagsisikap ay hindi kapaki-pakinabang. Naging malungkot

siya na una niyang ginawa ang lalaki at babae. Napagpasyahan niyang hugasan ito ng isang baha ng tubig na malunod sa lahat.

Bago mangyari ang pagkasunog na iyon, nasisiyahan si Noe sa Diyos. Para sa isang hindi natukoy na dahilan, si Noe ay ang pagbubukod sa buong mundo. Nagpasya ang Diyos na iligtas siya at ang kanyang pamilya at sapat na ang mga hayop upang maipagpatuloy ang mundo matapos mabaha ang pagbaha sa paglikha.

Sinabi niya kay Noe na magtayo ng isang bangka upang mapaglabanan ang darating na paghuhukom. Ang bangka na ito ay tulad ng isang kabaong, isang malaking kabaong na may itim na pitch sa labas at sa loob. Itinayo ito ni Noe at ng kanyang tatlong anak. Sa buong oras na binabalaan ni Noe ang lahat ng mga tao na tumakas mula sa baha. Hindi isang tao ang naniniwala sa kanyang pangangaral. Hindi isa.

Nang matapos ang arka, pumasok si Noe at ang kanyang pamilya. Pumasok ang iniresetang hayop. Pagkatapos ang Diyos mismo ang nagsara ng pinto. Tapos na ang araw ng awa at ang tubig ay nagsimulang mahulog. Ulan sa kauna-unahan.

Ang buong mundo, maliban sa mga nasa kabaong ni Noe, ay nalunod sa tubig na delubyo at kaguluhan.

Bagaman nai-save ang mga tao sa arko, hindi ito isang kasiya-siyang karanasan. Madilim, natakot at hinagupit, ang mga nagsakop ay nagdusa kahit sa kanilang kaligtasan. Ang tubig ay nai-save si Noe at ang kanyang pamilya mula sa sakuna sa labas ng kabaong at pinalutang sila sa kaligtasan.

Para sa mga nasa labas ng kahon, ang tubig ay ang tubig ng kamatayan; para sa mga nasa kahon, ang tubig ay ang paghuhugas, pagdurog, pagdidilig ng tubig ng kaligtasan mula sa hindi mapigilan na galit ng Diyos.

Matapos mabawasan ang tubig, siniguro ni Noe na ligtas ito. Nagpadala siya ng kalapati sa ibabaw ng tubig at bumalik ito kasama ang isang sanga ng oliba sa tuka nito. Ang kapayapaan ay nasa bibig ng kalapati.

Si Noe, ang kanyang pamilya, at ang mga hayop upang ipagpatuloy ang mundo ay lumubog sa sikat ng araw pagkatapos ng pagbukas ng Diyos ng pintuan habang ang kahon ay tumagilid sa Mount Ararat. Nagpalaganap ang Diyos ng isang bahaghari sa kalangitan at ipinangako na hindi na niya muling hugasan ang mundo.

Hanggang sa oras na iyon, ang lahat ng mga tao at hayop sa mundo ay mga vegetarian. Ngunit ngayon pinayagan ng Diyos ang pangalawang mapagkukunan ng pagkain: ang mga hayop.

Sa panahong ito, nang magsimulang gumaling ang lupa, isang lalaki na nagngangalang Job ay umunlad at umunlad. Ang kanyang paglilitis sa pamamagitan ng apoy at ang papel ng ahas sa kanyang buhay ay mababasa sa libro, na nagdala ng kanyang pangalan: ang aklat ni Job.

Pagkalipas ng maraming taon, nang lubusang mabawi ang mundo at pinalitan ng populasyon ng tao at hayop ang nasalanta na sakuna, naalaala ng Diyos ang kanyang pangako kay Satanas, ang ahas na si Lucifer at pumili ng isang tao kung saan darating ang Isa na sisirain ang ahas sa pamamagitan ng pagdaya siya sa pagkain mula sa Puno ng Buhay.

Pinagmamasdan ng Diyos ang buong populasyon at hinanap ang tao na may pinakamababang pagpunta para sa kanya. Nais ng Diyos na gumamit ng isang tao na hindi kailanman makakakuha ng alinman sa kredito dahil napili upang dalhin ang isang binhi sa mundo na sisirain ang diyablo.

Inayos ng Diyos si Abram, isang nomad na walang anuman.

Pansinin sa tsart: Ang Diyos, ang Trinidad, ay kumilos sa isang lalaki. Ang lalaking iyon ay si Abram.

6 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ®TM Biblia sa isang Oras,A California Partnership

dumatingDios kay Abram at ginawa sa kanya ng tatlong mga pangako. Galit ang mga ito, ibinigay ang mga kalagayan ni Abram.

Sinabi ng Diyos, "Gagawin kitang isang malaking bansa; Bibigyan kita ng lupain kung saan ka nakatayo, at pagpapalain ko ang buong mundo sa pamamagitan ng isa sa iyong mga inapo. "

Naniniwala si Abram sa Diyos. Sa sandaling naniniwala siya sa mga pangako ng Diyos at naniniwala na ang Isa ay darating sa pamamagitan niya, si Abraham ay naging isang kalahok sa darating na bagong nilikha.

Ulitin natin ang mga pangakong ito na ginawa ng Diyos kay Abraham. Sinabi niya, "gagawin kitang isang malaking bansa; Bibigyan kita ng lupain kung saan ka nakatayo, at pagpapalain ko ang buong mundo sa pamamagitan ng isa sa iyong mga inapo. ”

Lahat ng ito ay nilalaman sa Aklat ng Genesis, ang ika-15 kabanata. Ang susunod na nangyari ay isang misteryo sa loob ng maraming siglo hanggang natuklasan ng arkeolohikong pananaliksik ang kahulugan nito.

At ito ang pangunahing bahagi ng Bibliya sa isang Oras at tibok ng puso ng Kasulatan.

Si Abraham, matapos marinig at paniwalaan ang mga pangako ng Diyos, ay nagtungo at kumuha ng iba't ibang uri ng hayop mula sa kanyang mga kawan. Pinutol niya ang mga ito sa mga halves. Inilapag niya ang mga halves upang ang isang landas ay umiiral sa pagitan ng mga piraso.

Tumayo si Abraham sa tagiliran at hinimas ang mga vulture na para bang may hinihintay siya. Siya ay. Naghihintay siya na darating ang Diyos at mag-sign ng isang kontrata na gagarantiyahan na susundin ng Diyos ang tatlong pangako na ginawa niya kay Abraham.

Sa esensya, ang mga partido na gumagawa ng isang kontrata sa dugo ay magkikita sa gitna ng mga piraso ng patay na hayop. Susulitin nila ang mga termino ng kanilang kontrata at ipagpalit ang ilang personal na artikulo bilang tanda ng kontrata. Nangangahulugan ito na kung ang alinman sa mga partido ay nabigo na panatilihin ang mga termino ng kontrata, ang nasaktan na partido ay may karapatang dumating sa bahay ng breaker ng kontrata at patayin siya at ang kanyang pamilya, putulin at wasak sa dugo, tulad ng mga hayop na sila ay tumayo sa pagitan nang ang kontrata ay sinaktan.

Ito ang pinaka-solemne ng kontrata sa pinakamalala na mga kahihinatnan na umiiral sa lumang mundo.

Ang nangyari sa susunod na hindi inaasahan ni Abraham.

Si Abraham, habang hinihintay niya ang pagdating ng Diyos, ay natulog nang mahimbing. Hindi niya pinayagan na ipasok ni Abraham ang mga piraso sa kanya. Ang Diyos ay gumagawa ng isang natatanging uri ng kontrata ng dugo kay Abraham. Gumagawa siya ng isang kontrata na walang dalawang partido na responsable sa pagpapanatili ng kontrata. Gumagawa ang Diyos ng isang kontrata na nakasalalay lamang sa kanya: isang tipan ng patron.

Tulad ng ipinangako, ipapaliwanag ko sa iyo ang tatlong uri ng mga kontrata sa lumang mundo. Una, mayroongsa kontratapagkakapareho. Ito ang pinakakaraniwan sa lahat ng mga kontrata. Sa isang pagkontrata ng pagkakapare-pareho, dalawang katumbas ang nakilala sa gitna ng mga piraso. Ang kontrata ay nakasalalay sa kanilang dalawa na ginagawa ang ipinangako nilang gawin.

Ang pangalawang uri ng kontrata ay ang kontrata ng suzerainty. Sa kontrata ng suzerainty, ang mas malakas na partido ay nagdidikta ng mga termino sa hindi gaanong makapangyarihang partido. Kung ang mas mahina na partido ay sinira ang kontrata, nagdusa sila sa mga kahihinatnan. Ang buong kontrata ay nakasalalay sa mas maliit na partido. Ang isang modernong halimbawa nito ay ang walang kondisyon na pagsuko.

Pagkatapos, ang pinaka natatangi at bihira sa lahat, ay ang kontrata ng patron. Sa kontrata ng patron ang mas malakas na partido ay ipinangako na magbigay ng isang bagay sa mas mababang partido para sa wala!

Ito ang kabaligtaran ng kontrata ng suzerainty. Sa isang ito, ang patron, ang mas malaking partido ay nagdidikta ng wala at nangangako na ibigay ang lahat.

7 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng mga karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Kasosyo sa California

Samakatuwid, ang kontratang ito na ginawa ng Diyos kay Abraham ay isang tipan ng patron. Nangako ang Diyos na gawin ang lahat ng ipinangako niya nang walang inaasahan na may gagawin si Abraham o maaaring gumawa ng anumang bagay upang makuha ang mga bagay na ipinangako ng Diyos.

Sinabi niya, "Sumusumpa ako sa aking sarili na tutuparin ko ang mga pangakong ito kay Abraham." Binigyan niya siya ng isang bagong pangalan: Abraham na nangangahulugang "ama ng marami." Lahat lamang. Sa pamamagitan ng kanyang sarili. Itinaas ng Diyos ang kanyang kamay at nanumpa.

Nag-iisa lamang ang Diyos na iligtas ang kanyang nilikha.

Sinabi ko sa iyo sa simula ng presentasyong ito na pinlano kong ilantad ka sa tatlong pangako, tatlong tipan, at isang pangungusap.

Narinig mo ang tatlong pangako: "Gagawin kitang isang mahusay na bansa; Bibigyan kita ng lupain kung saan ka nakatayo, at pagpapalain ko ang buong mundo sa pamamagitan ng isa sa iyong mga inapo. ”

Pagkatapos ay sinuklian ng Diyos ang mga pangakong ito sa pamamagitan ng pagsumpa kay Abraham, na nakatayo na nag-iisa.

Ito ay nakasalalay lamang sa Diyos para sa pagpapanatili nito. Ang tatlong pangako ay mula sa Diyos hanggang kay Abraham nang wala. Inaasahan wala. Hindi nangangailangan ng anumang bagay.

Mula sa Genesis 12-15 hanggang sa, ang nalalabi sa Bibliya ay ang kwento ng pamilya ng isang tao at kung paano pinananatili ng Diyos ang kanyang tatlong pangako sa isang lalaking iyon.

Ayan yun. Ang nalalabi sa Bibliya ay tungkol sa pamilya ni Abraham at kung paano itinupad ng Diyos ang kanyang tatlong pangako kay Abraham at sa kanyang pamilya.

Sila ay pinamamahalaan ng maraming mga bansa. Makikipag-ugnay sila sa mga sinaunang kultura. Sila ay magiging mga alipin at magtatag ng kanilang sariling bansa.

Narito ang pangungusap na ipinangako ko sa iyo: Ang nalalabi sa Bibliya ay ang kwento ng pamilya ng isang tao at kung paano pinanatili ng Diyos ang tatlong pangako sa isang tao. Narito na ulit. Sabihin mo sa akin.

Ngayon, alam mo higit pa kaysa sa karamihan ng tao ang tungkol sa Bibliya. Alam mo ang kailangan mong malaman upang ma-focus ang Bibliya. Handa ka nang gumawa ng susunod na hakbang sa Bibliya sa isang Oras.

Chart Dalawa.

Ang tsart na ito at Chart Three ay mga nakalarawan na representasyon ng Lumang Tipan. Sa pagdaan natin sa Lumang Tipan kasunod ng pamilya ni Abraham, ilalagay ko ang lahat ng mga libro upang maayos din para sa iyo pati na rin ang pagsunod sa pinakamahalagang pamilya na kailanman naging sa mundo: ang pamilya ni Abraham.

Tingnan ang iyong tsart. Yamang sumusunod tayo sa isang pamilya, ang pinakamahalagang salita sa Bibliya ay "ipinanganak." Lahat ng mga plano ng Diyos para sa pagpapanumbalik ng kanyang nilikha at ang muling pagpapahayag ng sansinukob ay nakasalalay sa pamilya na ito na umunlad at dumami kaya ang Diyos, sa kanyang perpektong oras , ay maaaring magdala ng Isa sa mundo sa pamamagitan ng pamilya ng kanyang napiling tao - si Abraham.

Ipinanganak ni Abraham si Isaac. Si Isaac ang himala ng bata.

Sa sandaling lumaki si Isaac bilang isang tinedyer, hiniling ng Diyos na kunin ni Abraham ang kanyang buhay! Matindi ang paniniwala ni Abraham na itatago ng Diyos ang mga pangako na ginawa niya sa gitna ng madugong piraso na hindi niya ginawaran. Dinala ni Abraham si Isaac sa mga bundok kung saan binalak ni Abraham na putulin

ang lalamunan ng kanyang anak sa dambana tulad ng iniutos ng Diyos. Tiyak na natitiyak ni Abraham na gagawa siya ng Diyos ng isang malaking bansa na may milyun-milyong mga inapo ayon sa ipinangako niya, na alam ni Abraham na kahit pinatay niya ang bata, bubuhayin siya ng Diyos mula sa mga patay upang mapanatili ang kanyang mga pangako.

8 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng mga karapatan ay nakalaan. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Kasosyo sa California

Iyon ang dahilan kung bakit sinabi niya sa mga kalalakihan na naiwan sa caravan, "Babalik tayo sa madaling panahon," nang malaman niyang balak niyang isakripisyo ang kanyang anak sa bundok.

Nakipagtulungan si Isaac; ganoon ang tiwala na mayroon siya sa kanyang ama at sa mga pangako ng Diyos.

Nang si Isaac ay nakatali sa kahoy, itinaas ni Abraham ang kutsilyo upang patayin siya sa kahoy. Sa huling segundo, nagpadala ang Diyos ng isang anghel upang mapanatili ang kanyang pag-indayog gamit ang sundang.

Sa mga palumpong, hanggang sa tabi, inilaan ng Diyos ang isang tupa na mayroong mga sungay, ang kanyang ulo, na hinangos sa isang tinik na bush. Ang inosenteng tupa ay namatay sa kahoy, tinik at lahat, upang mailigtas ang buhay ng himala na si Isaac.

Ipinanganak ni Isaac si Jacob at si Jacob talaga ang nagkaanak. Sa dalawang asawa at dalawang asawa, nagawa ni Jacob na labindalawang anak na lalaki. Ang labindalawang anak na ito sa paglipas ng panahon ay nag-asawa at may mga anak na may mga anak kaya ang bawat kapatid ay naging isang lipi sa kanilang sarili.

Ito ang una sa labindalawang tribo ng Israel. Bakit ang Israel? Bakit hindi ang labindalawang lipi ni Jacob? Sapagkat pisikal na nakipagbuno si Jacob sa Diyos. At sa kanyang problema ay nakakuha siya ng isang bagong pangalan: Israel.

Nagkaroon ng drama sa pamilya ng Israel pabalik mula sa simula. Si Jacob ay may dalawang anak na paborito niya sapagkat sila ang mga anak ng asawa na mahal niya ang pinakamahusay. Isa sa mga ito ay si Joseph, ang isa pang Benjamin.

Si Joseph ay mayroong regalo ng pagbibigay kahulugan sa mga pangarap. Si Faraon, ang hari ng Egypt, ay naguguluhan sa mga kakila-kilabot na mga panaginip na wala sa kanyang mga propesyonal na tagasalin ay maaaring magkaroon ng kahulugan o kahulugan. Narinig niya na mayroong isang lalaki na nagngangalang Joseph na mahusay sa negosyong pangarap na ito.

Hindi lamang binibigyang kahulugan ni Joseph ang mga panaginip, ngunit sinabi rin kay Paraon kung ano ang mga pangarap na hindi pa nasasabi nang una sa nilalaman!

Laking hinangaan ni Paraon na ginawang pangalawa niya si Jose at ipinag-utos niya sa paghahanda sa darating na

taggutom.

Dahil sa karunungan ni Joseph, nang sumapit ang taggutom, ang Egypt ang nag-iisang bansa sa lugar na mayroong anumang pagkain. Ang buong mundo ay nagsimulang mag-streaming sa Egypt para makakain.

Si Jacob at ang kanyang mga anak ay hindi nakaligtas sa taggutom. Nagsimula silang magutom.

Sa lahat ng mga tao at pamilya sa mundo, isang pamilya lamang ang hindi pinapayagan na gutom. Ang pamilya ni Abraham. Hindi dahil mas mahusay sila, ngunit dahil tinutupad ng Diyos ang kanyang pangako kay Abraham na magkaroon ng Isa na mananakop ng ahas ay dumarating sa pamamagitan ng kanyang pamilya. Kung ang pamilya ni Abraham ay gutom at namatay, ang pangako ay mamatay. Samakatuwid, ang pamilya ay hindi maaaring magutom.

Narinig ng pamilya ang alingawngaw na mayroong pagkain sa Egypt.

Nang dumating sila upang bumili ng pagkain, nakilala agad sila ni Joseph. Ngunit naunawaan ni Jose na ipinadala siya ng Diyos sa Egypt, sa pamamagitan ng kanilang masamang hangarin, upang mailigtas ang pamilya mula sa gutom.

Pinatawad niya sila sa luha at bumalik sila upang tipunin ang kanilang ama at ang nalalabing pamilya at silang lahat ay lumipat sa Egypt bilang mga panauhin ni Paraon. Nagkaroon sila ng muling pagsasama-sama ng pamilya tulad ng kaunti pa. Sila ay umunlad sa Egypt.

Dito nagtatapos ang aklat ng Genesis.

Ang pamilya ay umunlad at umunlad sa mga nakalulugod na kalagayan ng Egypt - labis na ang isang Faraon ay dumating sa kapangyarihan nang mga taon mamaya na walang pakikisama kay Joseph at nakita ang bilang ng pamilya ni Abraham bilang isang banta sa estado ng Egypt.

Ang pamilya ay naging isang mahusay na bansa. Tinupad ng Diyos ang kanyang unang pangako kay Abraham.

9 © Wade E. Butler 2002 Lahat ng karapatan ay nakareserba. Walang mga kopya ang maaaring gawin nang walang nakaraang pahintulot. ® Ang Bibliya sa isang Hour, Isang Partnerhip ng California ay

nagpasya na alipinin ang pamilya upang hindi sila maging banta sa seguridad ng Egypt. Inaasahan niyang ang paggawa ng mga alipin ng pamilya ay mag-udyok sa kanila na huminto sa pagkakaroon ng napakaraming mga anak.

Kaya, nagpasya si Paraon na gawing masigasig ang mga tao at sa ilalim ng hindi patas na mga kondisyon upang hindi sila magkakaroon ng oras o lakas na manganak at magkaroon ng mas maraming mga anak.

Patuloy silang nagpanganak at nanganak.

Sa labis na pagkabigo, dumating si Faraon sa inaakala niyang isang napakatalino na ideya. Ang diyosa ng Nile ay nangangailangan ng mga sakripisyo na itinapon sa kanya upang ang Nile ay magbaha at umatras sa iskedyul. Kailangan niyang mapupuksa ang mga sanggol ng mga alipin. Kaya, inutusan niya na ang lahat ng mga batang lalaki ng mga alipin ay itatapon sa Nile at malulutas niya ang parehong mga problema nang sabay-sabay.

Akala niya pinangarap niya ang isang win-win na sitwasyon kapag sa katunayan mawawala siya.

Kapag ang maliit na batang lalaki ng pamilya ay nagsimulang tumama sa tubig, kumilos ang Diyos. Kung ang takbo ay nagpatuloy sa paglipas ng panahon ang pamilya ay mamamatay.

Hindi ito maaaring mangyari kung susundin ng Diyos ang kanyang pangako kay Abraham. Kaya't napagpasyahan niyang mailabas ang mga tao sa Egypt at ibigay sa kanila ang lupang ipinangako niya sa kanilang amang si Abraham.

One mother in the family was very clever. She took her son down to the Nile to toss him in as the law demanded. She put her son into the Nile. He was on a boat, admittedly, but in the Nile nonetheless.

As the infant was floating down the Nile headed for the Mediterranean Sea, the daughter of Pharaoh saw the little basket like boat. When she saw the little boy, she was moved, and she ordered that he be rescued and brought into the house of Pharaoh to be raised as a brother under her father's nose. She evidently disagreed with the policy of her father and showed her disapproval.

Pharaoh kept his eye on the little boy who was named Moses. His name means “to draw out.” How could Pharaoh have known that this little baby would draw the family of Abraham out of Egypt?

Moses received the finest education and learned to live in high society.

After Moses was a grown man, he went to see his family in the slave area of Egypt.

While he was visiting, he witnessed an Egyptian slave master beating a hapless member of the family of Abraham.

Enraged, and used to being important in the house of Pharaoh, he killed the slave-driver outright. Moses tried to hide the deed by burying the dead man in the sand. Later when he was again in the slave area, he tried to pull apart two of his peers who were fighting. They distrusted Moses and asked, “Are you going to kill us like you did that Egyptian the other day?” Realizing that he was caught and would receive no help from his countrymen because they resented his rank and privilege, Moses ran into the desert to hide from the swift justice that Pharaoh would seek to dish out.

While in the desert as a fugitive, Moses met the God of Abraham.

Moses was walking through the desert when he saw an odd sight. He saw a bush on fire that wasn't being

consumed. When he went to investigate, God was in the bush.

Moses was instructed to bring the family of Abraham out of the bondage in Egypt. After several protests and dodges, Moses agreed to go in the name of the Lord and demand that Pharaoh release the family of Abraham and let them go into the desert to meet with their God.

Flanked by his brother Aaron, who agreed to be the speaker on his behalf, Moses approached Pharaoh in his court and demanded that the people who had been slaves of the state for 400 years be released.

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© Wade E. Butler 2002 All rights reserved. No copies can be made without previous permission. ®TM Bible in an Hour, A California Partnership

Since the departure of the slaves would mean economic ruin for Egypt, Pharaoh refused out of hand.

That refusal began the process of the God of Abraham making sport of the gods of Egypt. Using ten disasters, God wore the Egyptians out and induced them to send the family of Abraham out of the country.

Each of the plagues, the ten disasters, exaggerated and mocked one of the gods of the Egyptians. For instance, the Egyptians worshiped a god by the name of Hekt. This was the frog god. Therefore, God covered the land with frogs until they were in stinking piles. They worshiped the Nile. So God turned the Nile into blood which the fastidiously clean Egyptians detested.

The last plague, the most hideous of all, attacked Pharaoh himself. He was considered a god and his children gods as well. After giving the Pharaoh one last chance to release the slaves, God sent the angel of death sweeping through Egypt door-to-door, snuffing out the life of every firstborn in Egypt including the firstborn of Pharaoh. Pharaoh himself was impotent to stop this God of the family of Abraham.

The members of Abraham's family were spared because they had ritually placed the blood of an innocent lamb on their doorposts and lentils as God had commanded through Moses. When the death angel swooped through the land, he saw the innocent blood on the door, which caused him to pass over the people inside. The Passover.

When the Egyptians realized that they had been dished out more grief than they could bear, they drove the slaves out of Egypt, all the while throwing gold, silver, gems, and other wealth at them as they passed by.

The Egyptians rejoiced to see them leave the country.

After the initial shock and grief response, proud Pharaoh changed his mind, deciding to pursue the slaves and return them to their servitude.

Moses was leading the people toward the Red Sea, which separated Egypt from the desert where God said that he wanted to meet with his people.

When they arrived at the sea, it was obvious that they would not be able to get the millions of people across to the

other side. When they heard that Pharaoh was coming to retrieve and punish them, they knew that this would mean certain death for most of them.

They were between Pharaoh and the sea.

Moses raised his staff and the sea parted so that a wall of water was on either side of the family as they walked on the ground in the middle which was stone dry.

While God protected the vulnerable rear ranks of the people by manifesting himself as a pillar of smoke and fire, they passed through the water.

Just as the people had gotten across the sea, the armies of Pharaoh arrived. They saw that the sea had opened to make safe passage. They charged in after the people. When they were in the middle of the sea, God closed the walls of water on the armies and they all went to watery graves while his people were safely watching from the other side.

The water saved the people of God, but the same water destroyed all the others.

The people then went down to Mt. Sinai to meet with the God who had delivered them from slavery. God arrived. His specter, voice, rumblings and flashes of lightning frightened the people.

Moses went up to the mountaintop, entering the clouds of God that covered the top. While there for 40 days, God carved the Ten Commandments into the rock with his finger and gave them to Moses to give to the people.

11


As Moses was bringing this contract to the people to affirm, he saw that they, led by Aaron, were worshiping a golden calf idol and giving it the credit for rescuing them. God was totally insulted! Moses was so furious that he broke the tablets God had given him as a sign that the people had already broken the laws which God had just recently given to his people.

This covenant was a suzerainty contract in which the greater party makes demands on the lesser party.

God wanted a unique people, a set-apart people to be an example to the nations by bringing the One into the world who would remove death from the creation. God did not pass between the pieces when he made this demanding contract with his people. This contract of the Ten Commandments was a contract of stone.

Whether the family kept the Ten-Commandment covenant or not had no bearing on God's commitment to give the three promises to Abraham.

Once the people were punished for worshiping the golden calf, they received God's instructions about how he wished to be worshiped. He told them to build him a tent to exact specifications with exact divisions and ornamentation. This tent was called a tabernacle. He ordered that a priesthood be established with Aaron as the first high priest.

The function of this priesthood would be to ritually offer the blood of an innocent to forgive the guilty for their deeds and sins. It was a ritual exchange of life for life.

Once they used the treasures that were tossed at them by the Egyptians to make the tabernacle of God and establishment of the priesthood, they headed for the land which had been promised to Abraham.

We have concluded the books of Exodus (the exit of the people from slavery through the water) and Leviticus which established the tribe of Levi as the priestly tribe for the family of Abraham.

As the people headed for the land of promise, they weakened in their faith in God and in the leadership of Moses. As a consequence, God led the people around in circles for 40 years. He waited until the faithless generation died before he would lead the family further. God lead the people at night with a pillar of fire and in the day with a giant pillar of smoke.

This wandering in circles is recorded in the book of Numbers.

During the period of time that the family walked in circles in the desert, the people complained all the time and nearly drove Moses out of his mind. In a fury over the complaints of the people, Moses disobeyed God in the way that he performed a miracle. Because of this, Moses was disqualified from entering the land of promise. He was allowed to lead the people to the banks of the river Jordan. There he climbed up on Mount Nebo and gave a farewell sermon to the people in which he reminded the people of their obligations under the Ten-Commandment contract. He urged them to follow the laws of God so that they could speed the coming of the One who would smash the head of the serpent.

He then died and the devil and the archangel Mich ael fought over his body. This is all recorded in the book of Deuteronomy and the book of Jude in the New Testament.

After Moses died, Joshua was the heir apparent to lead the people of Abraham in their conquest of the land after they passed through the waters of the Jordan. The Book of Joshua is the account of three military campaigns after to take the land away from those who had made the land their home. Through three military campaigns, a northern, a central, and a southern, the people of the land, the Canaanites, Jebusites, Moabites, and Amonites, and all those other odd names, were forced to surrender. In the 21st chapter of Joshua, God said that he kept all of his promises regarding the land. Not one was left unkept.

The people were a great nation and they now controlled the land that was promised to their father Abraham.

The one promise left to be kept was to bless the whole earth through one of the descendants of Abraham.

1

2 © Wade E. Butler 2002 All rights reserved. No copies can be made without previous permission. ®TM Bible in an Hour, A California Partnership

When the family got ready to take over the land, God told them to kill all of the inhabitants, killing even the animals that belonged to the inhabitants. God said that the people were so foul that the land vomited them out.

It is at this stage that the people failed. They did not rid the land of the inhabitants. Soon it was apparent that the family of Abraham would be tempted again and again to worship the false and detestable gods that were worshiped by the people there--worship that even included the sacrifice of children in the fires of the idols' mouths.

God detested the fiery deaths of the children of the family. Their children's deaths could not shut the portal of death while screaming in the mouth of an idol. However, the chosen child of Eve would.

Once the land was conquered, the family moved in, dividing the land and parceling it out to the twelve tribes. Each tribe got a piece of the land for their families--all except the Levites. They were the priests. Since the people supported them to do the work at the tent of God, they did not need land of their own.

Once the land was divided, the tribes entered into a loose political confederation. They did not have a centralized federal government.

They lived under what is called a theocracy: a “God government.” God ruled the tribes through his priests at the tent of God.

When the people started to worship the false gods, the God of Abraham became furious. He used the power of other nations to discipline his people. He would allow a foreign people to conquer the family of Abraham. When the people would cry to God for deliverance and promise to change their ways, God would give them a temporary military ruler to deliver them from the hands of their oppressors.

These temporary rulers were called Judges. Usually the people would follow God and steer clear of the false gods as long as the judge was alive. When the judge died, the people went right back to their old ways. They abandoned the tent of God and worshiped the false gods on the hilltops with sexual orgies, swaying to the music on harps and drums.

Again and again God punished the people and again and again they repented and God gave them a judge. The book of Judges is the record of 13 repeating cycles.

The book of Ruth is a snapshot of what life was like during the period of the judges.

Samuel, the famous prophet, was the last judge of the people.

When he was in power, the tribes got together and demanded that Samuel give them a king. They wanted a federal government like all of the nations around them. They wanted a human monarchy.

Samuel warned the people that they did not really want a king. He told them the expense and sacrifice would

annoy them sooner than later, but they would not listen.

Finally, although he was angry about it, God gave the twelve tribes their first human king, Saul.

The account of the life of Samuel and the establishment of the monarchy of the family can be found in 1 and 2 Samuel.

Since all of the tribes supported the king and the centralized, federal monarchy, it is called the United Monarchy.

The United Monarchy had three kings: Saul, David, and Solomon.

Saul suffered from mental illness and bouts of depression. Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived or will ever live. But David was a man that God said was after his own heart. This was because David never worshiped any God but the God of Abraham. Saul did. He took worship into his own hands and offered God “strange fire.” Solomon did. He caved in to his political wives in his old age and looked the other way when they worshiped their non-gods.

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But David, the shepherd harpist and musician, worshiped the Lord and him alone.

During this period of time, the people of the family became solidified and fortified, and they flourished. They came into their own as a political entity.

Solomon replaced the tabernacle of God with a temple of unbelievable splendor and expense. Solomon also made political alliances with many nations and brought fame and respect to the nation that was the family of Abraham.

This period of the United Monarchy, the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, was also the time that the great poetry of the family was created. All of the arts flourished, but none of them flourished like the poetic and written arts.

David wrote songs for use at the worship tent of God. They were later used in the temple of Solomon. These songs are collected in the book of Psalms. Solomon collected wise sayings in the book of Proverbs. He wrote a poem about the beauty of sexual love called the Song of Solomon. He should have known if any man ever did--Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines!

Solomon also wrote a cynical poem on the hopelessness and ultimate meaninglessness of life. This poem about trying to make oneself happy with material goods and experiences is called Ecclesiastes and is also called the “Preacher.”

But the glory days of Solomon were not to continue very long. When he died, his son Rehoboam was the heir apparent. But the tribes were tired of the weight of the monarchy. They met with Rehoboam and demanded that he lighten up on taxes and other demands upon the people.

After he heard their complaints and pleas, he met with his advisors. He then appeared before the leaders of the tribes and told them the sentence that tore the kingdom into pieces:

“My father whipped you with whips, but I will whip you with scorpions.”

Upon that news, the ten tribes of the northern part of the nation seceded from the union and created their own kingdom and put into place their own king.

Look at your chart. The United Monarchy, represented by the crown representing the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, divided by two equals two new kingdoms: Israel on the north made up of ten tribes and the kingdom of Judah made up of two tribes.

The family was divided now into two distinct political kingdoms: Israel and Judah. Israel had its capital in Samaria. Judah stayed true to the line of David and had their capital at historic Jerusalem.

These events are recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings.

Then things began to go very wrong for the family. In a wholesale fashion, the two kingdoms began to worship in earnest and publicly the gods of the people who once occupied the land. The temple of the Lord fell into disrepair and disuse.

In an attempt to call his people back to him so that the final promise could more easily be kept to Abraham, God sent two of the greatest prophets that ever lived: Elijah, who was carried into heaven on a chariot of fire and Elisha, who was his successor and who did twice as many miracles as his mentor for he had received a double dose of the Spirit of God.

The deeds of these two prophets are recorded in 1 and 2 Kings. This whole period of time and the things that will be recounted next can also be read in the repeat volumes of 1 and 2 Chronicles. These books overlap each other and repeat many of the same accounts.

No matter how the great prophets tried, the people refused to repent of their evil deeds and their abandonment of the God of Abraham.

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Notice on the right-hand corner of Chart Two that there is a dollar sign. That dollar sign represents “profits.” (I know, it's an awful pun!) Of course it is meant to represent the prophets that God sent to his people calling them to

come back to him and abandon the worthless idols that so enchanted them.

Most of the prophets were sent to either Israel or Judah. Some like Micah, Hosea, Joel, and Amos went to both kingdoms at the same time.

Usually in the first line of the prophecy, the prophet will announce that the burden of the Lord or the word of the Lord came to . . . and the prophet will mention the kingdom to which the Lord had sent him.

The prophets mostly belong in the history of Kings and Chronicles. The way the writings and words of the prophets are arranged in the Bible are according to length, not according to chronology.

The family, now a pitiful shadow of what it once was under the great David and Solomon, languished in idolatry and immorality. Finally, after many warnings in many ways, the Lord decided to destroy the kingdoms as he had promised through the prophets. Chart Two closes on a sad note of despair as God prepared to punish his people once again for their unfaithfulness although he remained faithful to the promises he made, moving through blood, to Abraham.

Please turn to Chart Three.

In the year 722 BC, the Lord used the Kingdom of Assyria and its ruler named Sennacharib to destroy the kingdom of Israel.

The Assyrians were known for their savage cruelty. Before the Lord would use this barbaric and pagan nation to destroy Israel, he gave them a chance to repent and change their ways.

So, he sent the prophet Jonah to the capital of Nineveh to see how they would respond.

Jonah resisted going to that great city of Nineveh because he knew that if the city repented the Lord might spare the nation and still use it to destroy his own people.

Jonah's fears were realized.

They did repent, and the Lord did use them to destroy the kingdom of Israel. They were merciless. The rest of the population they divided. They took the Israelite families and shipped them to Assyria and their conquered territories. Then they took families from Assyria and their conquered territories and placed them in Israel. The result was intermarriage and loyalty by blood established with the Assyrian empire. This policy helped to quell rebellion among the conquered peoples.

It also resulted in the pure bloodline of Abraham being polluted and derailed. Ten of the tribes got lost in the genetics of intermarriage with those not of the family of Abraham.

Effectively, this disqualified all of the descendants of the people of the kingdom of Israel from being part of the bloodline of the coming One. Since these half-breeds were from a country whose capital was Samaria, they became known as the Samaritans. The pure blood family members hated them, for they were a threat to the pure line of Abraham. The line had to be pure for the promise to Abraham to be kept. The One to smash the head of

the serpent had to be a direct descendent of the man, Abraham.

When Jesus spoke of a “good Samaritan” the people were shocked at the thought.

After destroying Israel, Sennacharib came to Judah and threatened to capture and destroy Jerusalem. But God had not decided to hand over the rest of the family to the Assyrians. Isaiah was sent to encourage Hezekiah the king of Judah who was in the middle of getting the people to change and was tossing out the idols and punishing those who worshiped them.

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So, when the Assyrians came to destroy Judah as well, God sent the destroying angel into the Assyrian camp and killed, silently, in one night, 186,000 soldiers of the Assyrian army. They had to retreat under those losses. They were so damaged by the angelic onslaught that Assyria never completely recovered and soon would be taken over by the up-and- coming Babylonians. Nahum and Habakkuk prophesied that Assyria's day in the sun was almost over.

In the meantime, God was still hoping that Judah would learn from her sister Israel and return to the worship of the God of their fathers.

He sent the great prophet Jeremiah to warn what was left of the family, two small tribes, that if they did not learn from the ruin of their sister, that they too would fall under the lash of God's jealous rage.

But the kingdom of Judah would not listen even to the pleadings of Jeremiah. So, God called on the new power in the world, Babylon, to destroy Judah, destroy the temple of the great Solomon, and ransack the city of Jerusalem and carry off her treasures.

Zephaniah tried to get their attention and warn them of the coming destruction after the very wicked king Manasseh did all he could to drag the people from God.

God abandoned the temple and named it “Ichabod” which means “for the glory of the Lord has departed.” What was once the dwelling of the Lord became a pile of rubble and a den of jackals. In 586 BC, God induced Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to assault and destroy the kingdom of Judah along with the great city of Jerusalem, “the city of peace.”

When the king of Judah resisted Babylon, that nation utterly destroyed the last political memory of the family of Abraham.

What followed was a cruel selection process. Unlike the Assyrians, the Babylonians did not mix genetically with the people they conquered. They simply killed all those who did not appear to be of any use to their kingdom and saved the rest in a ghetto in Babylon to be used for their talents. This selection process is recorded in the book of Daniel. Only the brightest and best would be saved. Only the talented and the beautiful. The rest were murdered or

left to tend the ground under a harsh Babylonian governor. Daniel was one of he lucky ones. He and three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were taken away into what is known as the Babylonian captivity.

The Book of Daniel is the record of the time the people of Abraham stayed in the ghetto of Babylon. He also saw visions about the future and how God would keep his final promise after all.

Jeremiah walked through the streets of the shattered Jerusalem and openly mourned. The Lamentations is a record of a broken-hearted prophet looking at the sad results of a people who would not listen.

When Jerusalem was being ruined, the Edomites, the long-lost descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob, helped the conquerors because they despised their cousins. God sent Obadiah to them to remind them that, although they lived in the mountains in stone fortresses like Petra, they would be throne down to the ground for refusing to help their sister in her time of need. They had egged the Babylonians on screaming, “Tear it down to the foundations! Tear the temple down to the foundations!”

The family was taken to Babylon and placed in a ghetto there. They were a defeated and depressed people. One songwriter put it this way: “We hung our harps by the rivers of Babylon and could sing no more.”

God gave the people prophets to encourage them. One was Ezekiel and the other, Daniel. Ezekiel was given visions of wheels within wheels and valleys of dry bones that were resurrected. These visions helped the people to see that, although they were dead and dry, the Lord intended to restore them by the One who would usher in a new creation filled with the Spirit of God.

Daniel repented for the people and begged God to repeal his sentence of judgment. God answered his prayer through his angelic messenger who was opposed for days by a demonic force.

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Daniel's intercessory repentance had been heard and the Lord planned to release his people from their punishment of 70 years in Babylon.

Babylon, like all of the other kingdoms that had gone before, fell to a conqueror. The night that the rulers of Babylon decided to use the cups taken from the temple of Solomon for their drunken spree, God's hand appeared and wrote their destiny on the wall.

That very night, the Babylonians fell to the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. One of the Persian princes married a woman from the family of Abraham. She singlehandedly foiled a plot to have all of the family destroyed in captivity. Her name was Esther. Through her, God saved his people when the promise made to Abraham was hanging by a hair. Instead of the family being killed by hanging, those who had planned the massacre were hanged on the gallows they had built for the children of Abraham.

One ruler of the Persians, Cyrus, came to power and decided to let the people return to Jerusalem and rebuild the city and begin paying taxes instead of being the captives in the kingdom.

While there in the ghetto, the people had repented. They decided as a people to follow the rules of the Ten- Commandment covenant. They dedicated themselves to be like David, one of their former kings. They decided to worship God and him alone.

In order to do this, they began meeting in house churches to study the laws of God and worship him. Wherever ten men of the family could be found a house church could be started. These were called synagogues.

They needed copies of the laws of Moses and of the prophets and poets, so they established schools to train those who would meticulously copy the scrolls. These were called scribes.

Each house church needed a rabbi, or a teacher, these were called Pharisees. They were also called the Holy Ones.

So, with full intent to do right, many of the family left for the land of their fathers from which they had been exiled.

When they arrived, led by Zerubbabel, whose name means “one born in Babylon,” they were greeted by the half-cousins that were the descendants of those who had been forced to marry and have children with the Assyrians.

The family rebuffed them, refusing to embrace them because they had been disqualified from keeping the promise because they were not full-blooded children of Abraham.

Ezra the priest volunteered to help reestablish the worship of God in the temple like God had instructed Moses to institute. He repented for the people in a most demonstrative way. He pulled his hair and beard out while throwing himself before the temple calling on God to forgive the wicked ways of the family.

Nehemiah heard that things were not going well with the family. He asked permission to quit being the cupbearer of the Persian king and go to help them rebuild he walls of Jerusalem that the Babylonians had torn down years before. When Nehemiah arrived, he was opposed by the squatters who had taken over when the family was taken to Babylon. When he realized that the children were marrying outside the family, he dragged one man out and tore his hair out.

Ezra and Nehemiah worked together to make the family safe from those who hated them and to get the worship of God going in the rebuilt temple.

They aided and supported Zerubbabel, who was in charge of altar and temple reconstruction.

This temple builder/restorer was also encouraged in his work by Haggai and Zechariah.

But then the energy of the people began to flag. They began to lose their enthusiasm for the temple project.

They began to give up.

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God sent the people one more prophet to encourage them. The people had stopped giving to the temple project. Through Malachi, God promised to reward the people financially if they would stick with the temple work and remain loyal. But they had already begun their old habits. They had failed. They were repeating the old behaviors that had gotten them tossed into Babylon in the first place.

So, God fell silent for 400 years. Not one prophet did he send. Not one vision did he give. The heavens were silent during some of the toughest oppression the family had ever faced.

The Medes and Persians fell prey to the Greeks under Alexander the Great. After Alexander's young and untimely death, his kingdom, including the part which included the family of Abraham, was divided among his generals.

The Greek rulers were horribly cruel to the family. They attempted to stamp out the family and crush the worship of the God of Abraham.

Still no word from God no matter how they cried out.

The Greeks were toppled by the Romans. The Romans ruled the family through governors and local kings. It was during this time that God kept his last promise to Abraham.

Chart Four.

It was in the time of the Roman Caesar Augustus that God chose a woman to bear the seed into the world that would bless the whole creation and rid it of death.

The record of the coming of Jesus, the One, the seed of Abraham, is contained in the four Gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

In those four books is the record of God coming in person to his people. No longer through prophets, but personally, in flesh.

He was born of a virgin so he could be death-free, a second Adam.

The family did not accept him. They thought the One would be more interested in politics. So, the family, as they had always done, rejected the God who had chosen them and arranged the death of Jesus by crucifixion.

When Jesus was approaching his death in another garden, he began to take on himself the curses of Adam. He earned the freedom of his creation by the sweat of his brow--great drops of blood falling onto the ground. He inherited the thorns that death caused the earth to deliver to man by wearing a crown of thorns.

God who could not die, took on flesh that could die, so that he could give life to all men who were condemned to die.

Like John the Baptist had said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”

The innocent God died for the guilty creation so that the creation might be set free from death.

He carried wood on his back going up the same hill that Isaac once climbed. This time, Jesus was to be the sacrifice with his head caught in the thorns.

Since Jesus was God, he was pure life. When he was pinned to the cross, that wood became the Tree of Life. When the Devil Lucifer, the author of death and hate, opened his mouth to swallow Jesus, he unwittingly swallowed the fruit of the Tree of Life. Being upraised he became the doorway that the death angel passed over.

When he did, he was defanged. The keys of the creation were handed to Jesus, the second Adam. The first Adam had been deceived into handing the creation over the Lucifer. The second Adam handed himself over to Lucifer to regain the keys of the creation.

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Jesus hooked Leviathan, the great monster of the deep of death. He pinned the great Behemoth to the ground with the thud of his cross pounding into the hole. He tricked the serpent fair and square.

The Devil deceived Adam and Eve into eating the fruit of the portal that killed them. Jesus deceived the Devil into eating the fruit that drove death back into the abyss and shut the portal of the creation forever.

The seed of the woman had crushed the head of the serpent once and for all. His blood–better than the blood of Abel--cried out from the ground for the whole creation.

When Jesus was dying, he cried out, “It is finished!” The debt was paid. The promises to Abraham were finished. Having done what he came to do, he died in front of his mother who had suffered great sorrow in her childbearing as God had promised Eve.

To make sure that Jesus was dead, one of the soldiers nearby in the darkness stabbed Jesus in the side. Water and blood poured out down his side and onto the ground. Saving water and saving blood. These two things were the raw material from which God fashioned the second Eve: the church which is made up of all of those who believe in the promises of Jesus like Abraham believed the promises of God.

The third day he rose again from the dead. He went into hell and announced the doom of all who dwelt there and snatched the keys of hell from the Devil rendering him utterly powerless.

Before he went to heaven to prepare a place for all believers, Jesus gave his closest students the right to guard the gate to the new creation, the new Garden of Eden. He gave them his power of attorney to include all believers and exclude all non-believers from the coming new age.

He ascended into the heavens and took his seat in the middle of the Power of God. From there he shall return to judge all who have ever lived and drive death out completely.

After Jesus returned to heaven, the Book of Acts records how the men (whom he empowered with the keys to the new creation) spread the news of the finished promises to Abraham and the new promises Jesus made to the whole creation. The Book of Acts is the historical record of the deeds of Peter and Paul announcing the good news of the new contract established by Jesus.

The rest of the New Testament is composed of letters. Other people's mail. Letters to churches that were built and founded by Peter and Paul. Letters to pastors and letters for general circulation.

These letters, from Romans to Revelation, reveal who Jesus is, what Jesus has done and how his new covenant will bring life to all those who believe his promises

Let's now go back to Chart One to see about this new contract which Jesus made with the creation and all people.

Please follow along on Chart One as we conclude Bible in an Hour. Please do not imagine that this will be plain review. The contents of this pass over Chart One will make the Bible crystal clear and put the last of the puzzle pieces in place.

You are, right now, wherever you are, on the very edge of understanding the Bible. You have waited a long time to see the whole picture. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He put man and woman on it and in charge of it. At first it was free of death. But, being deceived by the serpent, they opened the portal of death into the creation.

God promised the serpent that he would get his creation back. He would send one through a woman who would smash the head of the serpent although the serpent would strike his heel.

The serpent went right to work ruining everything. Violence was everywhere.

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After God flooded the earth, it was repopulated. For some reason, God chose Abraham to be the one through whose family he would bring the One to smash the head of the devil and regain his creation.

He made three promises to Abraham. He said, I am going to make you a great nation, I am going to give you the

land upon which you are walking and I am going to bless the whole creation through one of your descendants. That descendant would be Jesus.

Then Abraham set the stage for God to sign the contract of blood. God passed between the pieces of the animals that Abraham had slain and swore an oath, all alone, to keep the three promises to Abraham.

Remember the sentence? The rest of the Bible is the story of one man's family and how God kept his three promises to that one man.

Because of the obstinacy and resistance of the family of Abraham it took almost 2,000 years to fulfill the last promise. This he did by coming in person. This he did by taking on flesh and, being pure life, entered his creation, which had been ruined by death.

Jesus said, “The thief, the devil, comes not but to kill and steal and destroy. But I have come to destroy the works of the devil.”

This God did by deceiving the serpent into eating of the Tree of Life, the cross of Jesus, his own son. But, as God had promised, the serpent would strike the heel of the seed of the woman. He struck him with spikes through both heels of both feet.

Jesus died as the Lamb of God, the innocent for the guilty, and reclaimed the creation of God so that, as you see on the chart, there will one day be a death-free heaven and earth that shall exist through all eternity's infinity.

Things will be, one day, like God made them in the first place.

On the night that Jesus was betrayed into the hands of those who would place the fruit of his body on the Tree of Life, Jesus made a new contract, a new covenant with the people of the earth and the creation itself. He was at the table with his students who had followed him for the three years of his teaching and death-reversing ministry.

They were eating the Passover. The meal that remembered the night that God sent the death angel into Egypt to kill all of the firstborn so that the family of Abraham could be released from their slavery.

Here, at the table, Jesus did something that changed the world. He took bread and blessed it and said, “Take, eat, this is my body.” He took the loaf, the round bread used at this meal for centuries, and tore it in half and passed some to his right and some to his left.

Then, he took the cup ceremonially reserved for Elijah whose spirit would herald and precede the One from God, and said, “Take drink, this is my blood of new covenant (the new contract).”

Jesus was passing between the pieces again. This time, not through the pieces of cut-up animals. This time, through the pieces of his own body soaked in his own blood. His feet in the pool of his own blood, body cut and broken, with both hands upraised, soon to be spiked in position on the tree.

Now, in the middle of his own body and blood, Jesus passed between the pieces of his own body making a new contract with the whole creation.

And he swears it alone, all alone, in the middle of the pieces of himself.

“Take and eat,” he said, for the forgiveness of sins. “Take and drink, this blood is shed for you.”

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Just like the contract with Abraham, this one includes promises. “He who believes in me shall never die.” “He who the father places in my hand shall never be snatched out.” “Even if someone who believes in me should die, yet shall they live!” “I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come again to receive you unto myself that where I am you may be also!” “I lay down my life a ransom for many.”

All who hear this contractual promise can do nothing to earn it--nothing to deserve it. This is another patron contract:

All because he wants to. He demands nothing; those who hear it can do nothing except do what Abraham did: believe the promises of God. And even that ability to believe the impossible comes from God as well.

God, in person, passing between the pieces of his own body makes this ultra personal contract with the whole creation.

Abraham was not disappointed and none who believe the promises of Jesus will ever be put to shame.

Jesus swore on his own blood. With both hands upraised.

These things shall happen. Oh, yes. These things shall come to pass.

Paul wrote to the church in Galatia that those who believe the promises of Jesus are children of Abraham, the believer.

Jesus was the end of the contract with Abraham and the beginning of the new contract with the creation and all humans who are a part of that creation.

Those who believe Jesus are now, right now, part of the new creation because of believing God's promises just as Abraham did. This is the new covenant that Jeremiah spoke about when he said that the day was coming when God would cut a new covenant with the creation. One which would remove the hard, dead, stony heart out of a person and replace it with a heart of flesh, alive and tender toward God.

And all who hear and believe are heirs to that new contract sealed with the blood and body of Jesus, God himself.

All who believe shall not be disappointed, just as Abraham was not disappointed. Just as Adam and Eve were not. Just as the serpent was not cheated when his head was crushed and God reclaimed his creation from death and decay.

Those who fail to enter into the new creation will be the ones who refuse to enter. They will experience eternal death in the very face of their own invitation to salvation.

When Jesus died, the giant veil in the temple, which kept all of the people except the high priest away from the Holy of Holies and personal contact with God, was torn from the top to the bottom. When Jesus' body was torn so that he could pass between the pieces and make a new contract with his creation, the barrier to God was torn in two so that all humans may now approach God with boldness through the pieces of the bloody veil.

And all believers can take great hope in this. If God went to so much trouble to keep his promise to the one, namely Abraham, what shall he do to keep his promises to the many?

When God ran through the Garden when death was first invited, he cried out “Adam, Adam, where are you?” He found out. Because death entered the universe, man died on the inside. For centuries men and women have turned over every rock crying out, “God, God, where are you?”

The answer comes from Jesus, the One, the child of Abraham. “Don't be afraid. Look, I am with you even to the very end of this time. You are in this world and will have troubles. But cheer up! I have overcome the world!”

With Jesus, in the new death-free creation, all believers will once again walk with God in the cool of the day. The hands which will one day embrace and wipe the tears from the eyes of all believers and the feet which shall be heard approaching the garden to greet his beloved people will bear the nail prints of the fangs of the serpent.

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This has been Bible in an Hour. I am Wade Butler. Now, go read it for yourself!

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