Mostrando resultados por narrador "Dr.Bill Creasy" en Todas las categorías

At Mt. Sinai, God gives his covenant people their greatest gift: The Law, ten principles by which a covenant people is to live with God and one another.

With the Law in hand and the Tabernacle functioning, Moses organizes the Israelites by tribe, clan and family. A head count numbers 603,550 men, ages 20-50. The march to the Promised Land begins!

When Cyrus the Great king of Persia allows the Jews to return home and rebuild Jerusalem, only 42,360 do (Ezra 2: 64), about 10% of the population. The rest stay behind in Assyria, Babylon and Persia. After all, it had been nearly 200 years since the Northern kingdom had been taken captive into Assyria and almost 70 years since the Southern kingdom had been taken captive to Babylon. The Jews had built homes, started businesses and settled into their new lives.

As David’s star rises, Saul becomes ever more paranoid, sinking into a morass of delusion and despair, finally ordering David’s assassination. Informed of Saul’s plan, David runs, becoming a wanted felon and an outlaw. For ten years David works as a mercenary for Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, gathering around him a band of very tough characters that becomes his inner circle. The action culminates at Mt. Gilboa, where Saul and his sons are killed and the Philistines thunderously defeat Israel.

At the end of Judges (c. 1000-1050 B.C.) we read: “In those days Israel had no king, and everyone did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21: 25). It was a time of moral, political and economic chaos. As we move into 1 Samuel, things get worse. Although Samuel strives mightily to bring the Israelites back to God, the priesthood and the people continue their downward spiral.

In Isaiah Part 3, the tone changes completely. Chapters 40 – 66 comprise some of the best poetry in the Bible, and the theme of that poetry is grace. Here we learn that after the Babylonian Captivity, God will redeem his people, bringing them back into fellowship with him to the place where they belong. And that return foreshadows an even greater redemption, not just for Israel, but also for all of humanity.

God then gives regulations concerning day-to-day life: What foods may be eaten; what clothing may be worn, and so on. God also institutes the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. It is to be celebrated in perpetuity.

From a literary perspective, Isaiah may be divided into three parts: 1) Part 1 (chapters 1-35) is written in dramatic form, and its theme is judgment; 2) Part 2 (chapters 36-39) is written in narrative form, and it serves as an historical interlude; and Part 3 (chapters 40-66) is written in poetic form and its theme is grace. In Part 1, we encounter a courtroom scene in which God sits as judge—with Israel in the defendant’s seat—as witnesses come forth and accuse Israel of sin and unfaithfulness: The verdict, guilty; the punishment, exile.

During the 40 years in the wilderness, all the Israelites who had left Egypt die: 603,548 of the 603, 550 men—all except Joshua and Caleb. On the Plains of Jericho, Moses tells the new generation their story. This is not a simple recounting of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers; it is a retelling of the story to a new generation on the back end of 40 years’ experience. Deuteronomy is Moses’ farewell address. At the end of the book he dies.

After an epic battle with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and into what he later calls “that vast and dreadful wilderness” (Deuteronomy 1: 19). Are the Israelites moving from slavery into freedom, or from slavery into death? We shall see...

As the Davidic psalms take us inside the heart of David, so do Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs take us inside the heart of Solomon. In 1 Kings 4: 32 we read that Solomon “spoke three thousand proverbs.” In the book of Proverbs we have 375 of them. In the classical genre of “advice to a son” literature, Proverbs offers sound advice for a young person going out into the world for the first time.

Totally exhausted and spent, God assigns Elijah three more tasks to accomplish to complete his job: 1) on the international stage, “anoint Hazael king over Aram [Syria]”; 2) on the domestic stage, “anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel”; and 3) on the personal front, “anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet” (1 Kings 19: 15-16). Meanwhile, Jehoshaphat, king of Judah (869-848 B.C.), arranges a tentative peace between Israel and Judah.

After staging on the Plains of Jericho, the Israelites cross the Jordan River and attack Jericho. It is springtime; the Jordan River is at flood stage; the Israelites approach a heavily fortified city across five miles of open territory; and they attack a city on a plateau, moving up hill. How in the world do the Israelites accomplish this daunting task?

With good intentions David’s commanding general, Joab, engineers Absalom’s return from exile to an uneasy peace between father and son. All the while, Absalom chafes under David’s refusal to reinstate him as his eldest surviving son and heir to the throne, and as time passes, Absalom gains support, raises an army, and marches against his father. If David stays in Jerusalem and defends the city, he knows he will ultimately face his own son in battle, and when he does, David will kill him.

Sennarcherib, king of Assyria (705-681 B.C.), attacks Jerusalem in 701 B.C., while Hezekiah is king (715-686 B.C.) and Isaiah is prophet (740-686 B.C.). Working together, Hezekiah and Isaiah implore the Lord to save Jerusalem and Judah. And he does. God vows that “[Sennarcherib] will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here” (2 Kings 19: 32). “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp."

By the end of Joshua, the Israelites have a foothold in the land of Canaan, but the conquest raises several critical issues: 1) strategically, how do the Israelites conquer a much stronger and more numerous enemy; 2) can a land conquered so brutally result in a peaceful and blessed life for the conquerors; and 3) what about the moral and ethical issues involved in such a conquest? Joshua is a deeply disturbing story on several levels.

“When David was old and well advanced in years, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him” (1 Kings 1: 1). Old and sick, the consequences of David’s sin continue to dog him. Adonijah, now David’s eldest surviving son, engineers a palace coup to overthrow David. When David learns of the plot, he anoints his son, Solomon, as king (970-930 B.C.). As David’s tenth son, Solomon is nowhere close to being heir to the throne, but David raises him to power to fulfill a promise made to Bathsheba.

Jesus resurrection is the single most important event in human history. In last week’s lesson, we followed Jesus through his death, burial and resurrection; this week we shall delve deeply into the resurrection, understanding it’s full impact on both Jesus...and on us.

Jesus launches his public ministry when he is “about thirty years old” (Luke 3: 23); it lasts three years. During that time “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4: 23). In this session we sample his teaching, preaching and healing.

Jesus’ entire public ministry leads to his death, burial and resurrection. Indeed, Jesus tells us himself that he came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20: 28). We often are given the impression that Jesus was the innocent victim of corrupt religious authority and political intrigue. That is wrong. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he left Galilee for Jerusalem on Passover in the third year of his ministry.