Possibly only a few of you will take the time to read this entire post. I concede its length is a detriment, but I believe its content is a delight. When you have some time, pull out a Bible, a notebook, and a pen, and make your way through this study on the eight dates that will help you see the beauty of God's Word and more importantly, the glory of His Son, our Savior, the Seed of Abraham.
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Date #1
1877 B.C.
Abraham's Call
In 1877 B.C. God called Abram his
home to leave to come to Canaan where he was to believe, that
through him God would bring His eternal Seed, in Whom God would
meet mankind’s
need.
"
Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring (Seed). It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the Law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God (the promise God made to Abraham that all nations will be blessed through His Seed), so as to make the promise void” (
Galatians 3:16–17)
God's promise to bless
all the nations through Abraham in
Genesis 12:1-4 is a promise that
"Abram believed." An amazing thing happened because of Abraham's faith
. "God credited Abraham's faith to him as
righteousness" (see
Genesis 15:6 and
Romans 4:3). The good news of Abraham coming into "right standing before God" (i.e. righteousness) because of his faith in
God's Promised Seed is the same good news we share today with people in need of right standing before God. When one trusts God's promises that are in Jesus Christ, God will take that "faith" and credit it to the believer as
personal
righteousness!
The Apostle Paul argues in
Galatians 3:16-17 that God's plan
to bless those who trust Christ was
"not made void" by the
introduction of the Law
430 years
after the promise was made. Rather, the Law entered in order "that sin may
abound" (
Romans 5:20a), or in plain English, "that people might know
the depths of their problem with sin." God gave the Mosaic Law to expose
man's sin, but where sin abounds, "grace much more abounds" (
Romans 5:20b). In the Law we see mankind's need (forgiveness of sin), but we also see God's
grace to sinners in Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham. Jesus is the subject and theme of all the Law
and the prophets.
"And beginning with the Law of Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in the Scriptures concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27).
As an aside,
Abraham was seventy-five years old when God called him to leave his home in Ur (
Genesis 12:4). Twenty-five years later, when Abraham was 100, Sarah gave birth to Abraham's
"son of promise" (Isaac). Isaac is the son through whom the
Promised Seed
would come. Unfortunately, before Sarah gave birth to this "son of
promise," Abraham had taken for himself an Egyptian woman named Hagar and she bore for him a "son of the flesh" they named Ishmael. When Isaac
was five and "being weaned," and his half-brother Ishmael was twenty years old (in
1847 B.C.), Ishmael "mocked"
Isaac. That mocking began "four hundred years of Israel's affliction" (
1847 B.C. to 1447 B.C.) by the Egyptians, for
Ishmael
was the son of an Egyptian handmaid. God had told Abraham,
"Know for
certain…that your offspring will be afflicted for four hundred years.” (
Genesis15:13).
The important
number to remember is
430 years. The
430 years began when God calls Abraham and makes to him the promise of a Promised Seed that
would bless the world. Abraham's miracle son was born when Abram was 100 and is named Isaac. Abraham's son
Isaac then has twin sons named
Jacob and Esau (
Genesis 25:19-34).
Jacob, not Esau
, continues Abraham's line through whom God's Promised One would come. Jacob wrestles
with God and his name is changed by God to
Israel
(
Genesis 32:28). Israel has 12 sons who become the 12 Tribes (Families) of Israel.
There are
430 years from the giving of "The Promise" to the giving of "The Law." God gives the Promise in 1877 B.C.), and God delivers Israel (the nation) out of Egyptian bondage and gives them "The Law" (1447 B.C.) and enters into a covenant
with this chosen nation. God says to Moses at Mt. Sinai when He gave the Covenant of Law to Israel, "I am the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob"
(
Exodus 3:6). In other words, He is the God of the Promised Seed.
______
Date #2
1447 B.C.
The Exodus and The
Law
In 1447 B.C. by
God's powerful hand, Moses led his people out of Egypt to their own land, giving to the nation of Israel
the
Law, designed by God to expose mankind’s flaw.
God said,
“Now therefore Israel, if you will obey My voice indeed and keep My covenant (the
Law)
then ye shall be a peculiar
treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you will be to Me a kingdom of
priests, and a holy nation” (
Exodus 19:5) Israel
responded
“all this we will do!” (
Exodus 24:7).
The Promised Seed of Abraham who would bless the world was coming, but before He came, God made a conditional agreement (covenant) called "The Law" with
the nation of Israel. This covenant of
Law is deemed "obsolete" by New Testament writers, and that's why
believers in Christ now call it "The
Old Covenant" (see
Hebrews 8:13). The Old Covenant ("The Law") was an agreement whereby
God promised the nation of Israel
"blessings
for obedience, and curses for disobedience" (see
Deuteronomy 28). It
was a
conditional covenant. If Israel
kept the Law perfectly, then Israel would be perfectly blessed by God. But if
Israel broke the Law, God would allow foreign nations to come into the Promise
Land to destroy Israel's cities, to impoverish God's people, and take captive
the Jews.
The entire narrative of the Old Testament is one of Israel
"breaking covenant" and forsaking the Law, thereby experiencing the
righteous judgment of God. The Law typifies in "shadow form" both the
need for--and the work of -- Abraham's
Seed, Jesus the Messiah, the Promised One. Through Him – through Him alone –
all the nations of the world would be blessed.
______
Date #3
1051 B.C.
The Kingdom of Israel
In 1051 B.C. Israel
sought to be like other nations around, and chose Saul their first king to be
crowned, so Israel changed from a unique theocracy into a nation like others ruled by a monarchy.
"Nevertheless,
the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, that we
also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out
before us and fight our battles.” Now after Samuel had heard all the words of
the people, he repeated them in the Lord’s hearing. The Lord said to Samuel,
“Listen to their voice and appoint them a king.” (
I Samuel 8:19-22).
When Israel became a nation during their "bondage"
in Egypt, God raised up a leader for Israel named Moses. Moses lived for 120
years (
Deuteronomy 34:7). The 120 years of Moses can be broken into three forty
year time spans.
The first 40 years – Moses is born and raised in Egypt in Pharaoh's
court.
The second 40 years – Moses kills an Egyptian in defense
of fellow Hebrews and flees to Midian.
The third 40 years – Moses leads Israel out of the bondage of
Egypt and to the border of Canaan.
But God told Moses that he would die and not be able to
enter the Promised Land “
Because you
have not believed Me…therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the
land which I have given them" (
Numbers 20:12). God told Moses to
"speak to the Rock" for life giving water, but Moses "struck the
Rock" rather than speak (
Numbers 20:11). Of course, Jesus is the Rock from
whom life-giving water comes, and you are called to "speak to Him."
The consequences for not
trusting Abraham's Seed are severe – just ask Moses. 120 years is a significant number in Scripture, representing God's judgment for unbelief.
When Israel became a monarchy, they had a United
Kingdom (12 united tribes of Israel) for the same duration of time that Moses lived on earth (120 years). The length of the United Kingdom of Israel can also be broken down
into three time periods of forty years.
- Birth of the Kingdom and King Saul (1051 -1011
B.C.) – Saul reigns 40 years (Acts13:21).
- Saul dies and David is King (1011 - 971 B.C.) –
David reigns 40 years (I Kings 2:11).
- David dies, Solomon is King (971 to 931
B.C.) – Solomon reigns 40 years (I Kings 11:42).
Why did the United Kingdom of Israel come to an end?
"And the Lord was angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared
unto him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not
go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded. Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon,
Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and
my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from
thee, and will give it to thy servant. Notwithstanding in thy days I will not
do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy
son. Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to
thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have
chosen" (I Kings 11:9-13).
Just like Moses, the Israel's kings (Saul, David, Solomon) struggled with
trusting God. As a result, the Kingdom of Israel would last only 120 years, the same duration as Moses' life. Israel would split in two Kingdoms (North and South) after the
death of Solomon (931 B.C.). But before Solomon dies, he builds for God a
permanent Temple where all the ceremonies of the Law (sacrifices, feasts and
festivals, and all the Law rituals) could be observed.
______
Date #4
967 B.C.
The Building
of the Temple in Jerusalem
In 967 B.C. Solomon began building for God a permanent
dwelling place, but Israel would never be permitted to see His Face, for God's
glory was hidden behind a veil, and only the High Priest could approach and
live to tell.
"In the
four
hundred and eightieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the
fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second
month, he began to build the Temple of the LORD" (
I Kings 6:1).
In
967 B.C. – the fourth year of Solomon's reign as King
over Israel, Solomon began building for God a Temple. The Temple – a building designed by God (
II Samuel 7,
I Chronicles 17) – represents in every function, form, feast and festival,
sacrifice and ritual, the Person and work of Jesus Christ. The Temple was
simply
"the dwelling place of God" where sinners dared not approach
without a proper understanding of the demands for sacrifice, priestly
intercession, and a healthy respect for the One who dwelt inside. Remember,
120 years was the time period representing God's judgment on Moses and God's judgment
on the Kingdom of Israel.
480 years is
120 four times over, and the Temple is built
480 years AFTER God entered into covenant with the nation of Israel. Like Moses, like Israel's kings,
the entire nation of Israel had fallen into severe disbelief.
When you read the
history of Israel from the Exodus (1447 B.C.) to the construction of the Temple
(967 B.C.), you get the sense that Israel completely failed in living up to
their end of the Covenant. The Temple in Jerusalem becomes the place where the
"Shekinah" Glory of God descends, and where the High Priest, once a year on
"The Day of Atonement," petitions God on behalf of Israel. Through the
sacrifices that foreshadowed the coming of the Promised One, the Seed of Abraham, God would refrain from executing judgment on His people.
_______
Date # 5
722 B.C.
The Northern
Kingdom of Israel Falls to Assyria
The Law demanded obedience or a curse, and a curse the Northern Kingdom could never reverse. Israel rebelled against God time after time, and in 722 B.C. Assyria brought Israel to the end of their line.
After the Kingdom of Israel split into the Northern Kingdom
(Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah) in 931 B.C., the Northern Kingdom of
Ten Tribes (all but Judah and Benjamin), established the city of Samaria as
their capital, and built for themselves Temples at Dan and Bethel (
I Kings12:26-33). Of the nineteen kings of the northern Kingdom, every one of them
"did evil in the sight of the Lord" (
II Kings 17:2).
Hosea, a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel, was told
by God in a very visual way that Israel had become "Lo-Ammi," which means
"no longer My people" (Hosea 1:9). Because of Israel's disobedience
to the Law, God divorced Israel. He told Hosea, "I will soon punish
(Israel) and put an end to the Kingdom of Israel" (
Hosea 1:4).
In fulfillment of the judgments outlined in the Mosaic
Covenant for disobedience (
Deuteronomy 28), God raised up the Assyrians, the
world's first empire, to desolate northern Israel's cities, take captive Israel's fighting men, and bring in pagan men to "intermarry with the Hebrew women
who remained. "The descendants of these mixed marriages were called "Samaritans"
and they were despised by the Jews (short for "Judah"), the people of
the Southern Kingdom for being "half-breeds." The 10 Israeli tribes
of the north were "lost."
However, when Abraham's Seed, the Promised One from Jehovah,
came to earth to redeem mankind, "He must needs go through Samaria,"
and it was there that He met a "half-breed" Samaritan woman at the
well and gave her "the Water of Life" (
John 4:4). The Promised One is for all peoples in all nations.
______
Date #6
586 B.C.
The Southern Kingdom of Israel (Judah)
Falls to the Babylonians and the Temple Is Destroyed
The Jews of the Southern Kingdom resisted the prophets' call, and finally they themselves suffered a terrible fall. In 586 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came, and Jerusalem and the Temple never again would be the same.
The world's first empire (Assyria) could never conquer the Southern Kingdom. But after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon defeated the Assyrians and Egypt (609 B.C.), and he turned his sights on Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.
There were 20 Kings of Judah from the time Israel's United Kingdom divided
in
931 B.C. to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.
Only seven or eight of these kings of Judah were good kings. Like their brothers in the north, the Jews (i.e. Judites)
of the Southern Kingdom of Israel disobeyed the Laws of the Covenant. God raised up
prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel to urge the Jews "to repent" and
return to the Lord, but the kings and the people imprisoned the prophets and
sometimes even killed them. The history of the Southern Kingdom, with its
capital of Jerusalem, is one of rebellion and sin.
God took the prophet Ezekiel into the "basement of the
Temple" in Jerusalem shortly before the Babylonians destroyed the Temple
and took Jews into captivity. God showed Ezekiel all kinds of profanities scrawled
on the walls, a picture of Judah's rebellion to the Law. Ezekiel saw in a
vision "the glory of God" depart from the Temple (
Ezekiel 10). From
that moment until the coming of the Promised One (Jesus Christ), the glory of God was never
seen again by the Jews. Worship still continued, but rituals without
the Spirit always leads to legalism or liberalism. During the time
"between the Testaments," that is the close of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, the Jews would see the rise of Jewish religious sects called
the Pharisees and the Sadducees.
Babylon attacked Jerusalem in three phases:
609 B.C. the
first attack – The Babylonians carried off young men like Daniel, Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego. Most people date "The 70 Years of Babylonian
Captivity" from this date to 539 B.C. when Cyrus, King of Persia, defeats the
Babylonians and issues a decree that the Jews could be released to return to their
land and rebuild Jerusalem and the city (Daniel 5 and Daniel 9).
597 B.C. the
second attack – Nebuchadnezzar took more Jewish artesians to Babylon (Iraq) to
help build the walls of the city, the ammunition for the army, and the famous
"Hanging Gardens" of Babylon. It was during this second attack that
Nebuchadnezzar deposed the Jewish king Jehoiachin and replaced him with the
puppet king Zedekiah.
586 B.C. the
third and final attack – After an 18 month siege by the Babylonians,
Jerusalem's walls are finally breached. The Jews run into the desert, but King
Zedekiah is captured and taken to Nebuchadnezzar where Zedekiah's boys (all
under age ten) were killed in front of him and then King Zedekiah's eyes were
gouged out (see Jeremiah 39).
So, the Law came 430 years after the Promise to Abraham, and
stayed in effect for 1517 years (1447 B.C. to A.D. 70), until the destruction
of the rebuilt Temple in AD 70 by the Romans. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed on the Door of
Wittenberg Castle the 95 Theses Against the Sale of Indulgences, and the great
truth of "justification by faith" was rediscovered.
The truth Martin Luther rediscovered is the same truth Abraham knew 3034 years earlier. It's the same truth the Apostle Paul
knew and taught. It's the same truth we know and teach today.
God justifies sinners by grace through faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ, the Promised Seed of Abraham.
Date #7
4. B.C. to A.D. 30
The
Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection of Abraham's Seed
From heaven the Promised One came and sought us to be His bride; He took our place in His Name, and for our life He died.
While in Babylonian Captivity, Daniel is given by God a
precise time in which the Messiah (the Seed of Abraham's Promise in
Genesis 12)
would come (see
Daniel 9 and
Daniel 11). The reason the "Wise Men"
from the East (Babylon and Persia) came to Jerusalem looking for the Messiah
(
Matthew 2) was because these Magi were very familiar with Daniel and his
scroll (the book of Daniel). Daniel is buried in Iran (old Persia) and was
revered by the Persian Magi as the greatest wise man of all time.
Jesus Christ came "
to
fulfill the Law, every smallest letter and stroke of it" (
Matthew 5:18) on behalf of His People. Once He fulfilled
the Law in our place, those who "trust Him" receive the
eternal blessings that come with perfect obedience to God (i.e. "righteousness"). Never forget:
The Law
foreshadowed everything about the Person
and work of Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God. He is the High Priest
chosen by God. He is the Temple of the living God. He is the "all in
all." In Him "all the fullness of the Deity dwells" (
Colossians 2:9), and through faith in Him, sinners who fail God are able to be treated by
God "just as if they never sinned." As an example of the Law foreshadowing
Christ, the Law demanded Israel celebrate seven major holy days or festivals.
Jesus Christ
fulfills them all:
- Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles, coming to earth as Emmanuel, God with us.
- Jesus died during the Feast of Passover for judgment to "pass over"
those who trust Him.
- Jesus was buried during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, sweeping
away your sins.
- Jesus rose on the Feast
of First Fruits, the first fruits of resurrection, guaranteeing our own.
- Jesus sent His Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost, and we are now the Temple of the
Living God.
- Jesus serves as the High Priest of the Feast of Atonement, forever making
intercession for us.
- Jesus is coming for us during the Feast of Trumpets, raising us from
death to eternal life.
In essence, Jesus is the "true Israel." He is
the Seed of Abraham. He is Emmanuel, God with us.
Everything national Israel did foreshadowed everything the
Seed of Abraham would do. In infancy, a flight to Egypt, a crossing of water
into the Promised Land (Jesus was baptized at the very spot Old Covenant Israel
crossed the Jordan into Canaan), a Wilderness journey measured by forty (in Israel's
case, 40 years, in Jesus' case, 40 days), a Law given on a Mountain (Sinai
and "The Sermon on the Mount"), and the observance of all the
Festivals.
There is one huge difference between national Israel and
the true Israel – Jesus fulfilled where Israel failed. "This is My beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased" (
Matthew 3:17) said the Father, and when you embrace the
Son, the pleasure of the Father abides on you too (see
Psalm 2:12).
The first message Jesus ever preached was an amazing message
of deliverance to those who knew themselves in trouble because of their failures
before God. Remember the curses of the
Law? Jesus said He came "TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. TO
PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, TO RECOVER SIGHT TO THE BLIND, AND TO
SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE DOWNTRODDEN" (
Luke 4:18-19).
One of the most famous
stories among the Jews was how Jewish King Zedekiah's eyes were "gouged
out" by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar after Jerusalem fell into the hands
of the Babylonians as a direct result of Israel breaking covenant with God (
II Kings 25:7). The poor, the captives, the blind, and the downtrodden were people
in trouble with God because of their sin.
Jesus came to reverse the curse. You will never understand the
beautiful salvation and deliverance of Jesus the Messiah, until you fully
comprehend the purpose of national Israel and the Old Covenant Law.
The Old Covenant is abrogated, abolished and absolutely
abandoned because now all the promises associated with perfect obedience to the
Law (e.g. to be to God a special people among all the peoples of the earth, to
be kingdom of priests for the world, and to be a royal nation in the world) are
all fulfilled
by trusting Jesus Christ.
Further, these blessings are for "all races, all families, and all
language groups" (
Revelation 7:9), not just the Jews. Peter
says
all who believe on Christ,
"are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special
possession, that we may declare the praises of Him who has called us out of
darkness into His wonderful light" (
I Peter 2:9).
In this New Covenant that Christ inaugurated
through His blood, I am blessed not because I "have a righteousness of my
own that comes from the Law,
but because
of a righteousness I have which is through faith in Christ--
the righteousness that comes from God on the
basis of faith." (
Philippians 3:9).
Until you see Jesus Christ as the emphasis and theme of the
Old Testament you will never come to grips with the end of the Old Covenant Law
or that God's purpose for
the nation of
Israel is finished. The Law
separated Israel from all other nations (
Ephesians 2:12-14). The Mosaic Covenant
created a barrier between the Jews and everyone else, but Jesus tore that wall down.
Salvation is for any sinner, whether Jew or
Gentile, and has come to us
through Abraham's Promised Seed, so we respect the Jews, but we no longer believe Israel holds "favored nation status" (
John 4:22;
Romans 9:4;
Ephesians 2:12-14). Those who "Kiss the Son" are God's royal nation (
I Peter 2:9-10)
The ministry of Christ
both abolished the Mosaic economy
and
fulfilled
the central covenant promise to Abraham,
"in you shall all nations
be blessed" (
Galatians 3:8). The abolishment of the Law took place in the form
of a fulfillment of it all – every jot and tittle - and not in terms of
the Law's irrelevance or disregard.
Date #8
A.D. 70
God's Final
Judgment on the Nation of Israel
Just as God did with the Assyrians in 722 B.C., and as
He did with the Babylonians in 586 B.C., God sent the Romans in A.D. 70 to destroy Jerusalem
and the Temple, to forever end the Jewish religious economy.
Jesus foretold to His disciples that the Temple and the
Jewish ceremonial rituals of the Law would be destroyed (
Matthew 24). Many who
try to interpret these verses as a prophecy regarding the end of the world have
never understood the importance of God bringing to an end the Old Covenant way
of worship. The Law had been fulfilled by His Son. Christ obtained for us all
what we could never obtain by ourselves.
We are redeemed by the performance of the Promised One of
Abraham, who has obtained for all who will trust Him the blessings of God
through His perfect obedience in His life, and He has borne upon Himself the
curses of the Law for those who will trust Him through his passive obedience on
the cross. We come to enjoy all the
Promises of God in Christ (which are always "yes and amen") when we
trust Christ for our right standing with God.
As long as you continue to make the Bible all about Israel
and not Jesus Christ, you will miss the glory and beauty of the Promised One of
Abraham. The Law was inserted between the
Promise to Abraham and the Coming of the Promised One to convince mankind of
sin, and to show the glory of the Son. The Law and the Prophets show Christ
Himself, and the gospel we have to share today is simply, "trust Christ
for your righteousness before God."
The New Covenant
As a person who has come to faith in Jesus Christ under the New Covenant, there are some things true of you that were not true of the Jews under the Law:
- You have a new Lawgiver - Jesus Christ (Luke 9:35).
- You ARE the Temple of the living God (I Corinthians 3:16).
- Everywhere you go God is, for "the life of God is in your soul" (Colossians 1:27).
- By your love for people, you are identified as Christ's (John 13:35)
- You know the Truth, and the Truth sets you free (John 8:32).
The Bible is all about Jesus Christ. Don't get lost in anything but Him.
