Before You Read… (The gospels)

To mention, that there are at least 4 themes we have to trace into the New Testament, and today, we will only deal with one.

Recap

Nehemiah 8:1–3 NKJV

1 Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate; and they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded Israel. 2 So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could hear with understanding on the first day of the seventh month. 3 Then he read from it in the open square that was in front of the Water Gate from morning until midday, before the men and women and those who could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.

Looking at Nehemiah, it is very interesting to see his attitude to enable his own generation to be faithful to Yahweh, he began with them studying the book of the law.

So, we have the gathering together, to know the law of the Lord, so as to do the will of God, but they also did something; THEY PRAYED.

Nehemiah 9:1–4 NKJV

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. 2 Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God. 4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

Quite a long prayer if you read the chapter; but then, what followed was that the people dedicated themselves to God, to do his law.

Nehemiah 10:28–29 NKJV

28 Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding—29 these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes:

So, we find a pattern, There is the reading of the law i.e. to understand it very well, there is the prayer, which helps man to concecrate themselves to the Lord, then we find the entire people that returned to the land, concecrate themselves to the Lord.

So, Our studying to know the Lord must have thesame flow;

Study — Prayer — Concecration (dedication of oneself).

Unified Story

So, we said the bible is a unified book, with a unified story, which started in Genesis; that is, the bible is telling a story, which involves man, God and this world.

Plan → Interlude → Restart → Partnership (with frail men) → Fulfillment.

We see this as “to have the earth filled with the glory of God”

Genesis 1:26–28 NKJV

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Looking at “Blessed”

Man, vital to God’s plan, to have the earth filled, subdued etc. Notice the phrase “God blessed them” — What is called God’s blessing here, is that THEY WERE TO CARRY OUT GOD’S PLAN AND MISSION. i.e. TO HAVE THE EARTH FILLED AND SUBDUED.

Same phrase was made to Noah and his sons;

Genesis 9:1–2 NKJV

1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.

God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them…

So, so far in Genesis, to be blessed means to be carrying out God’s plan and purpose., it is missional not material.

Genesis 12:1–3 NKJV

1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So, when God said, “I will bless you” — It is that Abraham will carry out God’s plan and mission (we have studied this many times), but then, “IN ABRAHAM, ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WILL BE BLESSED”

God chooses one man to form one family that will bring the nations back into His blessing — back into His Genesis purpose.

So, THROUGH ABRAHAM’S DECENDANT, ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH IS TO BE BLESSED.

That is in his descendants, humankind will return to the Genesis blessing; which is TO HAVE A MISSION, TO FILL GOD’S EARTH WITH HIS GLORY.

That is what Isreal, the descendants ought to do, but failed to do.

Last week

The Old Testament is primarily the story of God’s dealings with the descendants of Abraham — the people chosen to partner with Him in bringing His blessing to all nations.

Genesis to Joshua — tells the story of God’s partnership with His people, as they are called and commissioned to carry out His plan on the earth.

Judges to Kings — reveals Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness: doing what is right in their own eyes, turning to idols, and rejecting God’s kingship. Yet, through this, God keeps raising leaders and prophets to call them back to covenant faithfulness.

Judges — cycles of rebellion and deliverance.

Samuel & Kings — the rise and fall of Israel’s monarchy; moments of faithfulness mixed with deep corruption, leading eventually to exile.

The Prophets (e.g., Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah) — warn the nation of the consequences of covenant unfaithfulness, pointing to the exile that would follow.

Exilic writings (Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel)— capture God’s heart amid judgment, offering hope of restoration and return.

Post-exilic writings (Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Chronicles) — recount the return, rebuilding, and renewal of God’s people, as He continues His redemptive plan.

Thus, the major storyline of the Old Testament is God working through Abraham’s family — calling, correcting, restoring, and commissioning them — so that through them, His light and blessing might reach every family of the earth.

How the Story Ends

The Story of the Old testament actually ended with the return to the land like we have studied in Ezra and Nehemiah, and the people dedicating themselves to the Lord, to do his will etc. Other books like Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi etc were written during during or after these rebuilding efforts (That Ezra and Nehemiah has), urging continued faithfulness.

Let us look at how the book of Nehemiah ended;

Nehemiah 13:1–3 NKJV

1 On that day they read from the Book of Moses in the hearing of the people, and in it was found written that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever come into the assembly of God, 2 because they had not met the children of Israel with bread and water, but hired Balaam against them to curse them. However, our God turned the curse into a blessing. 3 So it was, when they had heard the Law, that they separated all the mixed multitude from Israel.

Then in Nehemiah 13:31

Nehemiah 13:31 NKJV

31 and to bringing the wood offering and the firstfruits at appointed times. Remember me, O my God, for good!

Something to note carefully, is that it didn’t end with God’s mission done yet, it ended with calling Israel to faithfulness.

Side Note;

There are also other themes we should trace that continued the story, but we can’t get into them all todayl; we will do that in other studies.

They are;

— God’s glory returning to the Temple

— Davidic King on the throne

— New Covenant and Spirit

— Blessing to the nations

It is only the last one we are tracing in this series, as it encompasses all of them really. Soon, we will study the New Covenant and Spirit *(In the gift of God series).

So, in Nehemiah ending the way it did; these 4 things were still open-ended, We haven’t seen, God’s glory returning to the Temple, Davidic King on the Throne, New Covenant and the distinct work of God’s Spirit, Blessing to the Nations.

So, if we stick to only the Old Testament, God’s mission through Israel, has not yet been done, it hasn’t been accomplished yet;

Also, look at the restoration described in Nehemiah;

Nehemiah 9:34–38 NKJV

34 Neither our kings nor our princes, Our priests nor our fathers, Have kept Your law, Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies, With which You testified against them. 35 For they have not served You in their kingdom, Or in the many good things that You gave them, Or in the large and rich land which You set before them; Nor did they turn from their wicked works. 36 “Here we are, servants today! And the land that You gave to our fathers, To eat its fruit and its bounty, Here we are, servants in it! 37 And it yields much increase to the kings You have set over us, Because of our sins; Also they have dominion over our bodies and our cattle At their pleasure; And we are in great distress. 38 “And because of all this, We make a sure covenant and write it; Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests seal it.”

So, how the restoration to the Land was viewed was that it wasn’t all done yet, they were still servants, they still had another king over them that wasn’t One of them, (remember Cyrus the king), the temple built but yet, God’s mission wasn’t done yet.

This is where the story of the New Testament begin from.

Let us look at it;

Matthew 1:1 NKJV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

Notice, genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.

From what we have been reading, in the old testament, “WHO OUGHT TO CARRY ON THE MISSION?” The descendants…

Matthew began with this in mind; Jesus is the Son of Abraham…

Son — υἱός (huios) : Refers to a son, or more broadly a male descendant.

So, Jesus’ story that we are about to read, Matthew is letting you know, that don’t think of Jesus as a distinct being that his story has nothing to do with Israel, it has everything to do with it. He is the Son of Abraham.

Hence, the story of Jesus is directly tied to Israel’s story. Their mission became his mission.

Then you should ask, how is he a son of Abraham? Matthew went into it directly, starting with a geneology;

Matthew 1:2 NKJV

2 Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, and Jacob begot Judah and his brothers.

This he continued to trace, and traced to the exile in Babylon

Matthew 1:11 NKJV

11 Josiah begot Jeconiah and his brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon.

Then, he continued the trace, not stopping in the return to the land, why?

Because, even though they returned to the land, Nehemiah was still open ended;

God’s glory returning to the Temple

Davidic King on the throne

New Covenant and Spirit

Blessing to the nations

Hence, in Jesus, we have the continuation;

Matthew 1:16 NKJV

16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

So, I have to continue the story; it didn’t end in Nehemiah, no, it flowed into Jesus;

Hence, The story of Jesus is not replacing the old testament story, it is the fulfilment of the story that started in Abraham, in Jesus, all the families of the earth are BLESSED.

Let’s look at it;

Matthew 28:18–20 NKJV

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

Make disciples of all the nations… Which is a process of restoring them to believe the good news, and then teaching them to do God’s will in their own day and time.

Luke 24:46–48 NKJV

46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things.

So, that means, in Jesus, all the nations are blessed. (The blessing is not just reconcilation to God, it also follows that they will be back in God’s plan from Genesis)

Paul puts it in a beautiful way;

Galatians 3:8–9 NKJV

8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

So, every nation restored… in Christ Jesus.

Conclusion

What I have helped you to see abit today, is that Jesus’ story is not only in prophecy (This we will study more later), he is embodying a mission, and in him, we have the fulfillment of that mission.

Jesus is the son of Abraham, that has began the completion of the mission of God, to restore all nations, and then, those men (nations) go ahead and fill the earth with the glory of God.