The Story: Week 9

Recap

Covering the Biblical story.

The fall of mankind in the garden.

God divorcing the nations at Babylon.

God calling His people from Abraham, Issac, and Jacob.

The promise of a coming savior, a champion for Humanity.

Ongoing war between YHWH and the gods of the nations.

Freedom from Egyptian oppression.

The established covenant between God and His people, the Israelites.

Gods continued faithfulness to that covenant, while the Israelites continue to break it.

The establishment of a royal lineage, through whom the promised Hero would come.

The failure and fall of the Human royal line.

At this point, it has become clear that even the chosen covenant people, being guided by a king hand picked by YHWH Himself are unable to stay faithful and loyal to YHWH.

The corruption that began in the Garden has spread and gained strength.

So much so, that no man is capable of being truly faithful to YHWH.

All fall short of Gods standard.

War continues to rage in both the Heavens and on the Earth.

For the most part, Israel has forsaken their covenant with YHWH and rejected His will.

But a select few have remained faithful, and continue in loyalty to their God.

Through these few, God speaks to His people, making His decrees known and revealing the true nature of His plan.

And so our story continues, with a subtle but necessary Civil War for information and revelation.

A war fought between the prophets of YHWH and the corrupted kings of Israel.

Prophets V.S. Kings

We have seen prophets before.

Moses and Samuel, and so forth.

But now, we will talk about the prophets that appear post Kingship.

All of these prophets are important.

But, I want to focus on the main story of the Bible.

So I am going to skip over a lot of them.

But please, feel free to read them on your own.

They all help build something so grand, you can barely comprehend it.

So, lets get some context.

After Solomon failed, and began to worship other Gods, his children followed suit.

The Israelite Kings from here on, break Gods laws constantly.

Start needless wars.

Lead people astray.

Pursue their own sinful desires.

And worship pagan gods.

There are some who end up ruling well and turning to YHWH, but they are few and far between.

The covenant God mad with His people was that if they remained loyal and obedient to Him, then He would guide and protect them.

But if they broke covenant, God would allow disaster to fall on them.

So through the prophet Isaiah God declares that He will allow nations to come in and capture the Israelite people.

They will be exiled from the promised land until they return to Him with repentant and loyal hearts.

Then He warns them to remain loyal and watchful because:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 52

Look, my servant will succeed!

He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted—

14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you)

he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man;

15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human—

so now he will startle many nations.

Kings will be shocked by his exaltation,

for they will witness something unannounced to them,

and they will understand something they had not heard about.

53:1 Who would have believed what we just heard?

When was the LORD’s power revealed through him?

2 He sprouted up like a twig before God,

like a root out of parched soil;

he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,

no special appearance that we should want to follow him.

3 He was despised and rejected by people,

one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;

people hid their faces from him;

he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.

4 But he lifted up our illnesses,

he carried our pain;

even though we thought he was being punished,

attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.

5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds,

crushed because of our sins;

he endured punishment that made us well;

because of his wounds we have been healed.

6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;

each of us had strayed off on his own path,

but the LORD caused the sin of all of us to attack him.

7 He was treated harshly and afflicted,

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth.

8 He was led away after an unjust trial—

but who even cared?

Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living;

because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.

9 They intended to bury him with criminals,

but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb,

because he had committed no violent deeds,

nor had he spoken deceitfully.

10 Though the LORD desired to crush him and make him ill,

once restitution is made,

he will see descendants and enjoy long life,

and the LORD’s purpose will be accomplished through him.

This coming Hero for humanity.

Will look normal.

He wont be particularly attractive, but instead would seem like just an ordinary man.

He would be blameless, not committing any violent or deceitful actions.

Other people would despise and reject Him.

He would face an unjust trial.

He would be beaten and brutalized to the point that He no longer looked human.

He would be killed, removed from the land of the living.

But would also be buried in a rich mans tomb.

People would think that His death was a punishment from God.

But God would resurrect Him and vindicate Him.

He would carry the sins of all the people, and through this servant, Gods will would be accomplished.

Does this sound like anyone you’ve heard about?

We can actually date this writing somewhere between 750-695 BC.

Do you understand what that means?

This was written around 700 years before Jesus was born.

Lets fast forward some to Daniel.

Daniel

Somewhere around 100-150 years have passed now, and Israel is, in fact, in Exile.

The Babylonians came and conquered the promised land, and removed all the Israelite people.

Keeping them as laborers and servants amongst the Babylonian controlled cities.

The Babylonian king, named Nebuchadnezzar, makes a decree that everyone under Babylonian rule needs to bow down and worship Him.

Daniel is able to interpret some of the kings dreams, so the king likes him.

But Daniel refuses to worship the king, so the king locks him in a den full of lions.

To everyone's surprise, the lions do not eat Daniel, and the Babylonian king renounces his decree and hires Daniel as a royal advisor to Babylon.

Daniel receives visions from YHWH and records them throughout his life, one of them reveals something quite interesting.

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 7

13 “I was watching in the night visions,

And with the clouds of the sky

one like a son of man was approaching.

He went up to the Ancient of Days

and was escorted before him.

14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.

All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving him.

His authority is eternal and will not pass away.

His kingdom will not be destroyed.

In one of Daniels visions he sees someone that looks like an ordinary man, coming on the clouds and seated with YHWH, the Ancient of Days.

This is crazy, someone who looks like a regular human is seated with and equal to YHWH.

Having Eternal authority, a permanent kingdom, and being worshiped not just by Israelites

But by all peoples, nations, and languages.

This also is dated, and was written around 550-600 years before Jesus was born.

Lets fast forward even more.

Malachi

Many of the Jewish people return to the promised land.

They rebuild the temple that was destroyed.

But again, over time, they refuse to follow YHWH and obey His commands.

God sends one final prophet to speak to His people.

That prophet is Malachi, and the last thing he says is:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 4

4:1 “For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. “It will not leave even a root or branch.

2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication will rise with healing wings, and you will skip about like calves released from the stall.

3 You will trample on the wicked, for they will be like ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.

Restoration through the Lord

4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, to whom at Horeb I gave rules and regulations for all Israel to obey.

5 Look, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of the LORD arrives.

6 He will encourage fathers and their children to return to me, so that I will not come and strike the earth with judgment.”

Elijah was a great prophet.

Who was generally pretty unkempt.

He wore animal pelts, and lived in the wilderness.

and then, after this statement, there was 400 years of silence.

The Roman empire came and conquered the land.

Allowing local Jewish rule, so long as they were subject to the Roman emperor.

No more prophets were sent.

Everyone was waiting.

Waiting for this champion they had been told about.

Waiting for the seed of David, the Son of Man, Gods faithful Servant.

There are so many prophecies that were spoken.

I would love to talk about them all, but I wont.

Because next week we will continue The Story with a seemingly small event that shook the world.

The arrival of the Champion.