The Ancient Near East And Why Is It Relevant To Studying the Bible

Introduction:

    Decades ago when I began my formal theological training, we read as a required textbook Eugene Merrill's "Kingdom of Priests - A History of Old Testament Israel". It was Merrill that piqued my interest in better understanding the Old Testament against its backdrop of what is known as "The Ancient Near East". 

    In that volume Merrill argued that by understanding the Ancient Near East or "World of the Bible", one can better follow God's hand in such major events as His calling forth of Abram in Genesis 12 or the Exodus account in the Book of Exodus. He wrote these words on page 94 of that volume,

"Before the Biblical story is pursued further, however, it is important that some attention be paid to the larger world in which these momentous events were to transpire. This is necessary not only that we may be reminded of Biblical history was part of the vastly larger historical horizon, but that we may be able to integrate the history of Israel with that of contemporaneous people and events." 

    Since those days I've come to read more and more scholarship on the Ancient Near East as a life-long student of the Bible. As a pastor I find one has to strike a careful balance. On the one hand, we should know that wider background mentioned by Merrill. One cannot impose the wider Ancient Near Eastern context onto the Biblical text, otherwise God's intent through the Biblical author will be lost or risk making the understanding of the Bible only for the "experts". 

    On the otherhand, if the Bible student ignores the wider Ancient Near Eastern context, they risk missing a nuance God intended through the Biblical author. Sometimes God utilized features of that wider culture and other occasions He was correcting a worldview or exposing error that was leading the people astray. 

    My goal in this post is to introduce readers to the Ancient Near East and then offer three reading suggestions for further reading at the end.

What is the Ancient Near East?

    When we talk about the "Ancient Near East", were referencing what would today be known as "The Middle East".

    Whenever we consider this vast region, covering roughly 900 miles by 1,500 miles, were talking about an area of nearly 1.4 million square miles, corresponding to almost 15% of the North American Continent. Merrill's observation still resonates with me. Since that time, I've read several other studies and scholars who specialize in relating the Old Testament to the Ancient Near East (George Mendenhall, Gleason Archer, Kenneth Kitchen, and several others). 

    Below is a map of the Ancient Near East which corresponds to the same area known as the "Middle East".

    The reader can note I've labeled the first eleven chapters of Genesis above this picture to help visualize when and where we begin in the Bible to discuss the relevance of the Ancient Near East (covering the Nile River in the Southwest of the Map to the ancient Hittite Empire or Modern day Turkey to the North, to Persia West of the Euphrates River or what we know as Iran and Iraq today, to the Arabian Peninsula at the South of the Map or Modern day Saudia Arabia and Yemen.)

    Within this nearly 1.4 million square miles of the Ancient Near East we find the middle of the map the ancient people groups of "Canaan", "Aram", "Moab", and "Edom". If you just focus on "Canaan", it was this particular piece of real estate that God sent Abram in Genesis 12. Canaan of course would eventually become known as "Israel" in the Old Testament. 

Why is the Ancient Near East Relevant to Biblical Studies today?

    What point is there to familiarizing oneself with the Ancient Near East?

1. God's historic and prophetic activity has centered and will center on the Ancient Near East (or what we know as the Middle East today).  

   As I've studied maps of the Biblical world and Ancient Near East over the years, there are what we could call "eight major theaters" that God providentially orchestrated to bring about the timing of the call of Abram and eventually Israel, as well as the beginnings of the writing of His Word. What is even more remarkable is this wide swath of land, the Ancient Near East, and its centralized location of the Promised land are central to current maps depicting the continents and nations of the world, as seen below.

 
    Not only was this area of the world the backdrop for the Old and New Testaments, but it will also be the final staging area for the unfolding of God's prophetic plan we find revealed by the Book of Daniel, Jesus' remarks in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25; Mark 13; Luke 17,21), the Book of Revelation, and several other major eschatological predictive passages in the Scripture. 

2. God orchestrated various theatres in the Ancient Near East to bring about His redemptive plan.

    Below I have depicted three maps of the Ancient Near East with eight areas I've highlighted. 

The final map in today's post will depict the final theatre of God's activity, and what would end up being the central theatre - Canaan, a.k.a "the Promised land", or what would become known as "Israel". 

    This particular area is the same location where the Lord Jesus Christ would become incarnated, ministry, live, suffer, die, rise, and ascend. When you study the geography of Israel in the first-century connected to Jesus' ministry, you find three main areas of Galilee to the North, Samaria in the middle, and Judea to the South.

Closing thoughts 

   My point is that the Ancient Near East and its centralized focus (Israel) would become the key location of every Biblical event we read of in our Bibles. I've not intended to make this post exhaustive, but rather an introductory summary. 

    I would encourage readers to take a second look at the maps one typically finds in the back of their Bibles. Biblical Christianity is not only a revealed faith, but a historic one. Its overwhelming message is God has acted in history, has spoken through His revealed written Word, and that He as the Son came to be man to live, die, and resurrect in history. 

    This same God in the Person of the Holy Spirit was sent by the Father and the Son to begin and empower His Church and to draw forth sinners to salvation. Truths such as these is why it is important to become more familiar with the Ancient Near East, the world of the Bible. I close with a listing of resources readers may consult to enrich their understanding of this subject.

Three Resources for better understanding the Ancient Near East 

1. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Paul D. Wegner. A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars. B&H Academic. 2017.

    In my opinion this is the most thorough and accessible history of Israel available which gives much attention to the Ancient Near Eastern Background from a scholar committed to a high view of Scripture and with an expertise in the field.A History of Israel: From the Bronze Age through the Jewish Wars: Kaiser Jr., Walter C., Wegner, Paul D: 9781433643187: Amazon.com: Books

2. Meredith C. Kline. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary. Wipf and Stock. 2012.

    Kline's work in comparing the structure of God's Covenant in the Pentateuch with the wider Ancient Near Eastern Treaty's is illuminating and well-balance. He has a knack for tying together the overall unity of Scripture and relating it to God's wider providence in history. Kline, much like Kaiser, is a solid evangelical scholar with expertise in the Ancinet world of the Bible. Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studi – Westminster Bookstore

3. Eugene Merrill. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel - 2nd Edition. 2008. 

    Merrill's vast knowledge of the Ancient Near East and of the Old Testament shines in this volume. This is the book that helped me to place dates and places with Old Testament events and the wider Ancient Near Eastern culture. Merrill's dedication to scholarship from a conversative, Bible believing position has withstood the tests of time. Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel: Eugene H. Merrill: 9780801031991: Amazon.com: Books

A Bird's-eye View of the Bible - The theme of humiliation and why Jesus underwent humiliation for our sakes

Introduction:

    In our last post on our series "Bird's Eye View of the Bible", we looked at four reasons why Jesus, the Son of God, came to become also truly man for us: 

1. To provide righteousness by His 

    perfect obedience.

2. To provide redemption by His death 

    on the cross.

3. To raise from the dead.

4. To ascend and inaugurate His royal 

    reign in Heaven. 

    For anyone wanting to review the last post for this series, simply click here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/05/birds-eye-view-of-bible-why-incarnation.html

     The point of this series is to explore the Bible through major themes. As to our study through the New Testament, we've looked at what we identified as the first major theme of the New Testament: "incarnation". Today we continue onto a theme which describes what it was that the Son experienced in His descent from Heaven to Earth - "humiliation". 

        I'm sure none of us want humiliation. We all prefer people to like us. Almost everyone I know, including myself, avoids humiliation in preference to having a better view of themselves or having others look at them in a positive way. Yet, whenever we observe what Jesus did for us by humbling Himself, as truly God, to also be a true human 

being, what He did was humiliating. 

     Why did Holy God lower Himself not only to experience life as a man, but to live a human life in a sinful world that would mock Him, doubt Him and crucify Him? The journey of the Son of God from the glories of Heaven to the sinfulness of this world is worth a closer look. Let's consider some reasons for Jesus' humiliation, or, why He as God came to be man.

1. The humiliation of the Son of God 

    tells us how much He humbled 

    Himself to be our Savior.

    

       Philippians 2:5-11 is the key Bible chapter we look to when understanding the journey Jesus took in coming to be a true man while still remaining God. We call this journey of the incarnation the Son's "humiliation". The above depiction of this journey of "humiliation" was first viewed by me in the ESV Study Bible years ago. Other authors and Study Bibles have used similar illustrations to aid in grasping this overall experience of the Son of God from "humiliation" to what will be a later theme to explore in this study, namely "exaltation". 

        Philippians 2:5-6 tells us, in summary, that Jesus did not consider being equal with the Father as a privilege He ought to keep hold of in a selfish way, but instead, He humbled himself, being found as a man, as a lowly servant. In other words, the eternal Son willingly came to be the man, Jesus Christ, still remained truly God while withholding from Himself the advantages that come with being also God. A case in point is when Jesus states in Matthew 24:36 that no one knows the day nor the hour of His return - including Himself. If we understand that Jesus is speaking with reference to His own self-imposed limitation of access to that area of His omniscience as a man, we then can grasp how it was He yielded Himself to the Father's will (recalling all the while He never ceased being omniscient as truly God).

      Anytime someone lowers themselves to give help to those in need, we describe such an act as being "humble". I recall once seeing the pastor of a rather large church grabbing a mop to clean up a spill left by a child. The Pastor could had asked one of his assistants or a church member to do the mopping. Instead, the Pastor rolled up his sleeves and got the job done. He didn't stop being the Pastor of that church. In fact, he then went in to preach a great sermon before a crowd of many. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world saying these words: "I have come to do your will, God, as it is recorded of me in the Book" (Hebrews 10:4-5).

2. Jesus humbled Himself to be our  

    example.

       We read of Jesus humiliation once again in Philippians 2:7 - "but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." Why did Jesus come to be a human being like you and me? Jesus came not only to save us from our sins, but also to restore back our humanity that was greatly harmed by our sins. Jesus is our example of what it looks like whenever any follower of His trusts God in faith, obedience and courage to the end. We read in 1 John 2:6 - "the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked." Elsewhere, the Apostle Peter reminds us that Jesus came as a sinless man to serve as our example, so that we could walk in the way he followed after God (1 Peter 2:21-22). The amazing truth about Jesus humbling Himself to experience what it was like to be a man was that He did so willingly (Hebrews 10:4-5).

3. Jesus humbled himself to be a 

    man to represent sinners on the 

    cross.

    

     When Jesus died on the cross, a number of results were acheived, among them: 

A. Removal of the curse.

B. Forgiveness of sins.

C. Reconciliation or bringing sinners to 

    God.

       Whenever Jesus came into this world, the experience of living life as a man would had more than demonstrated His humility. If all that was needed for Jesus to forgive sin was the bleeding of His blood, then He could had come on a weekend, pricked His finger with a needle, and went back to Heaven. The problem would had been of course that the curse of sin would still had remained, meaning no provision of salvation. Jesus' humbling of Himself as a man included going to the cross, since scripture tells us that His dying on the cross meant taking away the curse of sin (Deuteronomy 21:33; Galatians 3:10-13).

4. Jesus humbled Himself to become the second Adam to give access to the benefits of salvation.

  

     We have looked in past lessons at how the original Adam represented all human beings in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, it resulted in all human beings being judged as sinners (see Romans 5:12-21). Jesus' humbling of himself to become a man functioned as a second type of Adam, a new Adam.  He lived such a perfect life as to fulfill the original covenant of works broken by the first Adam which we saw at the beginning of this study (see Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45-47). The original Adam brought about death and a curse on all human beings. Jesus came to be cursed on the cross and make forgiveness available to all who receive Him by faith (Gal. 3:10-13). 

        We can also see how the cross resulted in providing forgiveness of sins. He provided the right to be with God due to Himself being the perfect man, meaning, all humans who trust in Him by faith inherit salvation on forgiveness of sins (Romans 3:25-26). We understand from the Old Testament that only God can forgive sins (that is, grant salvation to all who trust in Him, Isaiah 43:10; Jonah 3:9). For God to forgive sinners, there must be payment given to God by the giving of an innocent life on behalf of the sinner. We've talked about this in a past lesson, calling Jesus' payment to provide forgiveness of sins "redemption". 

       Lastly, Jesus' humiliation on the cross meant that the ability for God and believing sinners to be together could really take place (1 Peter 3:18). One of the descriptions the New Testament gives of everyone born into this world is that they are "lost", meaning they are separated from God and His enemies (Ephesians 2:1-3, 12). The moment we trust in Jesus results in us being brought into a relationship with God - or what the Bible calls, "reconciled" (2 Corinthians 5:15-20).

       Jesus certainly went through a lot of stuff to accomplish our salvation. Thankfully, there is more beyond the state of humiliation, which is what we will look at in the next theme.

Bird's-eye view of Bible - Why the incarnation is important for you today - Jesus raised from the dead, ascended into Heaven and is coming again

Introduction:

        Whenever we come to the New Testament, we see the following truths about God:

1. God is One God and three "Who's", a Unity of Deity in Three Persons - i.e. a "Trinity". Each "Who" or "Person" of the Trinity is truly God and identified as Father, Son and Spirit. 

2. The doctrine of the Trinity is composed of three main truths: 

a. God is "One God", who is first revealed as "the Father" in the redemptive work of God to Israel. 
    
b. Second, the Son, revealing Himself in the flesh as the historical Jesus, is the decisive revelation of God in history who, as truly God, came to be truly man for us. Jesus' miraculous birth, fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, miracles, substitutionary death, resurrection from the dead and ascension all affirm Him as truly God, equal with the Father and Holy Spirit. As we read Jesus' self-described Divine actions, titles and abilities, as well as His claims of being "One" with the Father, we see the Deity of Christ as the second great truth comprising the Trinity. 

c. The third truth comprising the doctrine of the Trinity is that of the 
Personality of the Spirit, who is also truly God as much as the Son and the Father with the same perfections that come with being God.

      I mention the above truths recorded in the New Testament so as to understand how Jesus' incarnation is situated within the Biblical doctrine of God generally and revelation of the Son specifically. The incarnation of the Son of God was discussed in a prior post in this series that I wrote a number of weeks of go and is found in the link here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/04/birds-eye-view-of-bible-why-incarnation.html    

What is meant by "incarnation".

      To understand what is meant by the term "incarnation", we can look at the introduction or "Prologue" to John's Gospel. John 1:1 begins by distinguishing the Person of the Son (called by the title "The Word") dwelling in eternity with the Father (called by the general title of deity: "God") as seen in the first part of the verse: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God". Next we see the Word distinguished from another Divine Person whom we know is the Father but is called "God": "and the Word was with God". 

       When we go down to John 1:14, we discover that the Word (that is, the Divine Person of the Son) entered into our world to live life as a man: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The eternal Word or Son came to be "incarnated" or "in the flesh". Put another way, the Son, having always existed as truly God, came to express Himself a second way by becoming truly man, while still remaining truly God. 

Why the incarnation of the Son of God?

       Having defined the event of Christ's incarnation, we are reminded of two reasons why the Son of God came to be man that we looked at in the prior post of this particular series (see the link above). 

      The first reason why the incarnation is so important was for Jesus to provide righteousness (that is, so that God could count those who receive Jesus by faith as right with Him). The second reason for the incarnation was so that Son of God could, by His death on the cross, redeem us for the forgiveness of sins (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10; 1 Peter 3:18). What follows are two other reasons why the incarnation of the Son of God is vital for our understanding today. 

The third reason the incarnation is important is so that Jesus could raise from the dead.

                What if Jesus had remained dead after his death on the cross? If Jesus had remained in His tomb, then everything we just said about His incarnation would mean nothing. Jesus' resurrection from the dead proved that all He achieved worked in living His perfect human life and death for sinners. 

       Jesus' resurrection could only take place if He first died on the cross. In order for Jesus to qualify as the perfect sacrifice for sinners on the cross, He himself had to live a sinless human life. For Jesus, to live a perfect human life meant He, as truly God, had to have His humanity conceived in the the Virgin Mary's womb. The uniting of a truly human nature to the Person of the Son who already possessed (and remained so) to retain a truly Divine nature, is what is called "the hypostatic union". Quite literally, the uniting together of a "truly divine nature" and "truly human nature" in One Person, the Son, is the result of the miracle of the incarnation. 

        As man, He could die and be raised. As God, all He achieved would have infinite value. Because Jesus raised from the dead, all who receive Him by faith are counted as being right with God (Romans 4:25) and forgiven of their sins (1 Corinthians 15:20). 

The final reason the incarnation is important is so that Jesus can reign as King in Heaven.

                We have considered three main reasons why the incarnation is so important, so that the Son of God could provide: 

1. Righteousness, that is, the right to 
    be in God's presence.

2. Redemption, which is to say, 
    forgiveness of sins and.....

3. Resurrection, so He could raise from 
    the dead. 

      What did Jesus do after He raised from the dead? We know from the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) that Jesus appeared on a dozen occasions to groups and individuals, to believers and those who had yet to believe that He had risen. After forty days, Jesus had His disciples gather outside of Jerusalem for them to witness His going up into Heaven (Acts 1:11). Jesus' "going up" is what we call His ascension, meaning He inaugurated His reign the true King of the church at the right hand of the Father. 

       Jesus retained His physical humanity and revealed in heaven, once again, what He had always been and ever will be: truly God. Now He reigns as the God-man, praying for believers and ready to return to earth to rescue His people and judge the world (1 Thessalonains 4:13-18; Acts 17:31). This theme of "incarnation" is vital for understanding the New Testament, the Christian life and salvation.

Bird's-eye view of the Bible - Why the incarnation is important to you today: to provide righteousness and forgiveness of sin.

Introduction:

       In our last post, we began to do our "bird's-eye view" of the New Testament by introducing the truth and theme of "incarnation". For readers desiring to review the previous post, simply click here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/04/birds-eye-view-of-bible-introducing.html

       What follows below is a brief review of what we mean when we use the term "incarnation" to describe the entry of the Son of God into the world. He, being truly God, came to also be truly man in the first century, so as to provide salvation that is receivable by faith in any century. Today's post will expand upon this theme of "incarnation" by offering two reasons in why the incarnation of the Son of God is relevant to us.

1. What is meant by "incarnation".

            John 1:1 begins with a the fact of the Person of the Son (called by the title "The Word") dwelling in eternity past. We see "The Word" first identified as "God": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God". 

      Next we see the Word distinguished from another Divine Person whom we know is the Father but is called "God": "and the Word was with God". When we go down to John 1:14, we discover that the Word (that is, the Divine Person of the Son) entered into our world to live life as a man: 

"The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." 

      The eternal Word or Son came to be "incarnated" or "in the flesh". Put another way, the Son, having always existed as truly God, came to express Himself a second way by becoming truly man (while still remaining truly God). 


2. Why is the incarnation of the            Son of God important to you and 

    me?

              So why was the coming of the Son of God to earth to become and live a human life so important? 

A. The first reason why the incarnation is so important was for Jesus to provide righteousness (that is, so that God could counts those who receive Jesus by faith as right with Him).
          
      I remember the time when our family got to go into Disney for free. We had a friend who worked for Disney and had six tickets that she could give to whomever she wanted. When she offered them to us, at first we hesitated, telling her that we didn't feel worthy of receiving them. However, the woman and her husband both insisted, and even offered to spend the day with us, guiding us through the park. Our friend had earned those tickets by being a Disney employee.  

      You see, Disney counted our family's tickets as good enough for entry into the park, even though we had not bought them, but rather because they were paid for as a result of our friend working there. 

         When Jesus came into our world, He did so as the Eternal Son of God expressing Himself as a weak, frail infant of the Virgin Mary. He became a human being, grew and experienced life as a child, teenager and an as adult man. We understand that because Jesus was sinless in His human life, He provided the right to be with God for any person who would receive Him as Savior (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 2:21-22).  Jesus' perfect life actively obeyed God in complete compliance. Jesus' flawless humanity was necessary in qualifying Him to be the sacrifice for sins on the cross. The moment you and I trust in Jesus by faith we, God counts us as the "right to be with Him" or "righteousness" to us because of Jesus.

B. The second reason for the incarnation was so that Son of God could, by His death on the cross, redeem us for the forgiveness of sins (John 3:16; 1 John 4:10; 1 Peter 3:18).
     
       There once was a man who was on his way to work on Christmas Eve and was speeding through a little town. Suddenly, a policeman pulled him over and gave him a $100 ticket. The man had to appear before the judge to pay the fine. The judge asked: "how do you plead?" The man had no choice (since the same officer was in the courtroom) and pleaded "guilty", paying the $100. As the man walked out of the court, he said to himself: "I wish someone would had paid the $100 ticket for me". The man wished the court could had "forgiven him". Yet, the man knew the ticket had to be paid in order to be declared "guiltless".  

      We know that Jesus is the eternal Son of God by the Divine characteristics He has as God (Romans 9:6). He had to come be a man, since as God, He could not die (what the Bible describes as God being immortal or "incapable of dying", see 1 Timothy 6:16). As He ever remained truly "God with us" or "Immanuel" (Matthew 1:23), Jesus experienced death on the cross for sins as "truly man for us" (1 Peter 3:18). 

      By dying for our sins, Jesus also destroyed the works of the devil (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:8). Remarkably, Jesus being truly God meant that the work of the cross had infinite value. As truly man, Jesus' work on the cross meant that the value of His saving accomplishment was made accessible to any sinner who, by God's grace, receives Him by faith (see Ephesians 2:8-9). 

More next time....

Bird's-eye View of the Bible - Introducing A Survey of the New Testament and the theme of "Incarnation"

Introduction:

      Not too long ago I finished a multi-week survey of the Old Testament in a study called: "A Bird's-Eye View of the Bible". In that survey, we explored ten major themes that covered the general contours of God's working in the formation of and working with the nation of Israel. Interested readers can read the last post I did in our "bird's-eye view" series, which includes the ten themes covered in the Old Testament by clicking on the link here: http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/birds-eye-view-of-bible-exploring-theme_24.html 


      We saw how God used the entirety of Israel's history and the history of the world to prepare for the arrival of the Son of God in history. Having completed that particular survey, we now continue on with our "Bird's-eye view" by making our way into the New Testament. 

       Like what we did in the Old Testament, we will discover ten additional themes that help summarize what we find in the New Testament. The ten themes we will explore are as follows:

1. Incarnation.
2. Humiliation.
3. Gospel.
4. Exaltation.
5. Pentecost  
6. Missions. 
7. Christian. 
8. New Covenant.
9. Second coming.
10. Eternity. 

       We had expressed at the beginning of this series that all the themes we would uncover have Jesus' cross and resurrection as their central theme. The ten themes we explored in the Old Testament were referred to as "pre-cross", meaning that all the themes pointed to and prepared for what Jesus would accomplish. The themes we are about to explore are "post-cross", that is, they are themes which flow from what Jesus came to accomplish: salvation (see Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10). Today we will begin to look at the first theme of our New Testament "bird's eye view": the theme of "incarnation".

1. How God's revelation of Himself 
    in the Old Testament hints at the 
    Trinity, and why that sets the 
    stage for what we will see in the 
    New Testament's revelation 
    about God. 


        We understand from our reading of the Old Testament that God revealed Himself as One God (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).  At the near beginning of Genesis we find that this One God is identified as the Person of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2), having the power to create life. Additional revelation about God tells us that God is revealed as not only the Person of the Holy Spirit, but also the Person of the Father who called Israel to be a people and a nation (see Deuteronomy 32). As we read further on into the Old Testament, we see in Psalm 110 and Proverbs 30:4 of the Person of the Father speaking in eternity to another Divine Person known as: "the Son". 

     The Old Testament tends to focus more on God being one God and less on His three-fold identity as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Why? The way God reveals truth is by "progressive revelation", meaning that He will begin with a generalized set of features about that truth and continue to expand on further details as time goes forward. To put it another way, the acorns of truth we find in the Old Testament turn out to be the mighty oaks that fill the forest of New Testament revelation. 

      With this in mind, we can tell that the Old Testament is hinting at the idea that somehow, these three Persons share together in the same unity of Divine life that is defined with being One God (eternal, all-knowing, everywhere present, all powerful). 

      God is awesome in not only how He reveals His identity and characteristics, but also His names. Sometimes we find names that emphasize that God is definitely One God, as seen in names such as "God" (Genesis 1:1), "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14) and "The King" (Isaiah 6). Other names of God reveal that He is more than One Person, as in Genesis 1:26 "let us make man in our image" or where you will see the name "Jehovah" used to refer to three personalities as we find in Isaiah 48:16-18. The names of God tell us quite a bit about God and help us to see the picture a little bit better.

       Whenever we come to the New Testament, we see the truths of God being One God and yet three persons most fully revealed. The New Testament's revelation of God is a further detailing of the hints about God we already saw in the Old Testament. John 1:1 is a good place to pickup on all we've said so far about God, since the eternal Person of the Son (called "the Word") in John 1:1 is the featured focal point in understanding our theme of "incarnation". 

2. What is meant by "incarnation".

     John 1:1 begins with a the fact of the Person of the Son (called by the title "The Word") dwelling in eternity past. We see "The Word" first identified as "God": "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God". Next we see the Word distinguished from another Divine Person whom we know is the Father but is called "God": "and the Word was with God". When we go down to John 1:14, we discover that the Word (that is, the Divine Person of the Son) entered into our world to live life as a man: "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." The eternal Word or Son came to be "incarnated" or "in the flesh". Put another way, the Son, having always existed as truly God, came to express Himself a second way by becoming truly man, while still remaining truly God. 

     In the next post, we will look at why the incarnation of the Son of God is relevant to our lives in the 21st century.

More next time....

Bird's-eye view of the Bible - Exploring the theme of hope as we conclude our study of the Old Testament

Introduction:

    As we have flown over our overview of the Bible, we have covered nearly 3,500 years of time. To review where we have journeyed in this ongoing study, I'll first list the prior posts in this series that readers can review below:

Introducing the series: Bird's-eye view of the Bible. 
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/01/introducing-birds-eye-view-of-bible.html

1. Theme of "Creation" in Genesis 1-2.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/01/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of.html

2. Theme of "Catastrophe" in Genesis 
    3-11.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of.html

3. Theme of "Patriarchs" in Genesis 12-
    50.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of_9.html

4. Theme of "Redemption" in the books 
    of Exodus through Deuteronomy.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of_12.html

5. Theme of "Spiritual Victory" in the 
    Book of Joshua.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of-victory.html

6. Theme of "Spiritual Defeat" in the 
    Book of Judges.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-breaking-sin.html

7. Theme of the "kingdom of God" in 1 
    and 2 Samuel.

http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of-gods.html

8. The theme of "Straying away from        God" in 1&2 Kings and 1&2 
    Chronicles. 
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of.html


9. The theme of "Far-away from 
    home".
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/birds-eye-view-of-bible-exploring-theme.html

      
     As we prepare to leave the Old Testament in preparation for the New Testament, I want us to focus on the theme of hope. Have you ever had a light in a room operated by a "dimmer switch"? The dimmer switch can gradually turn on the lights and make them more bright or progressively dimmer. Whenever we think about how God is revealed the Bible, He made known the truths of His Word in a progressive way.  As we review all the themes we have observed in the Old Testament, I want us to take note of how we see the theme of "hope" gradually revealed.

 
     We began with God's creation of everything, life and humanity in the theme of "creation". Hope seemed at its brightest, since Adam and Eve had a perfect life with God in the first two chapters of Genesis. History began as a time of "innocence" for Adam, Eve and all creation, with God relating to them by an original covenant which, if obeyed completely, would had resulted in an eternity of fellowship with God.

     Sadly, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, listened to the serpent's suggestion to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The light of hope was gone from their life.  They had broken God's original covenant, resulting in what we called: "the catastrophe of the fall" (Romans 5:11-21). The Fall led to sin and death, as well as what would later be two other catastrophes: the Flood of Noah (Genesis 6-9) and the Tower of Babel (Genesis 10-11). Although the Fall of Genesis 3 brought incredible ruin, all was not lost. God had already planned to reveal the hope of salvation despite what He knew would take place in the catastrophe of the Fall. How do we know this?

     We read in Romans 8:21-25 that God already had planned for redemption, placing the whole of creation and humanity under a curse "for the sake of hope". We can see God initiating His eternal plan of salvation by offering Adam and Eve a second, gracious covenant which would outline the Gospel: death of an innocent on behalf of the guilty, receiving what God provided in salvation by faith apart from good deeds.

      God would regulate history and the rate of humanity's proneness to evil by way of conscience and human government.  Although man was in darkness, God was ever pointing mankind toward finding hope in God.

 
      We then came to Abraham and God's promise to Him of an ultimate blessing that would include the eventual nation of Israel and a descendant who would be the Savior of all time. The light of the hope of salvation was turned up a little more. We discovered a third theme which we called: "Patriarchs", since God's dealings with His people centered around Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The covenant of grace God originally issued to Adam and Eve would find itself repeated in God's promise to never destroy the world with a flood (God's covenant to Noah in Genesis 8-9) and His covenant to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We once again see a glimmer of hope of God's plan of salvation working forth through what would become Abraham and his descendants.The time frame  between the days of Abraham to Moses is what we called: "the age of promise".

   
     We then flew four hundred years from Abraham to Moses and came to our fourth theme: "redemption". We saw how God took a people (the Hebrews), rescued (that is, redeemed them) out of Egypt. God's purpose in redeeming the people from Egypt was to bring them to Himself, where He could meet with them at Mount Sinai, reveal the Law, reveals the tabernacle and make them into a nation of worshipers. The enslavement of an entire group of people for 400 years was indeed a dark time, yet, God brought the light of hope of salvation through Moses: God had heard their cries for help.

      God's way of regulating humanity would not only involve conscience, government and promise, but also the writing down of His laws on tablets of stone. God has always pointed mankind to their need for salvation, showing that no one can earn salvation by good moral living. Moses was given the Law of God, which was designed to point the way to people's need for the Gospel.

      In a way similar to Adam and Eve, the first generation of Israelites who came out of Egypt, under Moses, broke God's revealed law to them, and ended up wandering in the wilderness of Sinai for 40 years. Thankfully, God kept His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and would graciously bring the second generation of Israelites who followed Moses into the promise land.

 
      We then came to our fifth theme of "spiritual victory". Joshua became the new leader of Israel after Moses died. God kept His promises and the people would cross the Jordan River on dry ground as they had crossed the dry-bed of the Red Sea out of Egypt some forty years earlier under Moses. The Red Sea crossing pictures salvation and entry into a new life with God. The Book of Joshua and the crossing of the Jordan river pictures both the enjoyment, spiritual warfare and growth that is included in the Christian life. The hope that is found in God shined brighter and brighter in the book of Joshua. The promised land had finally become the possession of the people to whom it was promised - God always keeps His Word.


      Theme six gave us the mirror opposite in the book of Judges from what we saw in Joshua, namely the theme of: "breaking the sin cycle". The book of Judges featured the next generation of Israelites living in the promised land after Joshua's death. Hope in God began to dim. The nation would suffer at the hands of one bullying nation after another. We learned how we sometimes find ourselves in a "spiritual rut". Only by admitting out sins to God can we get out of the "sin-cycle". Thankfully, Jesus has provided the solution to breaking those cycles of sin by the power He makes available through His work on the cross (1 John 1:9).

      The hope of God and His salvation at times shone brighter and at other times seemed almost blocked by man's sinful choices. I remember a small creek that ran by my boyhood home. The creek was a windy little body of water that snaked it's way through the woods and hillsides of rural Pennsylvania. There were no dams or pipes to control where it flowed. There is an old saying that goes something like this: "men and rivers are all alike, left to themselves, they run crooked". The little creek did as it pleased until redirected from an outside source. As we fly from the days of the Judges to those of the prophet Samuel, we see how crooked man can become apart from God. 1 Samuel 3 tells us that the lamp in the temple was about to no longer shine, for God's word was rare in those days.


      But God would intervene in Israel's history  by once again speaking through Samuel and eventually to the promises He would give to David. Much happened between the ministry of Samuel, the kingship of Israel's official first king, Saul, and the well-known episode of David and Goliath. One thing was clear, God gave a glimpse of His kingdom through establishing David as king over the earthly kingdom of Israel. God gave another covenant to David, promising an ultimate King through his descendants, which the New Testament will reveal as Jesus  (Matthew 1:1-17; Romans 1:1-3). Hope was starting to shine more brightly in the days of King David and thus our seventh theme: God and His kingdom.

  
     This theme of hope shines and dims and shines like a blinking light through the eighth theme: "straying from God". David's son Solomon would follow as the third official king of Israel. Although Solomon began his kingship with desire to follow God, he would soon stray away from God. We only know from reading the book of Ecclesiastes that Solomon got back to God. The kingdom of Israel would split into two kingdoms following Solomon's death. We see nothing but straying away further from God in the Northern Kingdom called "Israel". The Southern Kingdom would have eight of its twenty kings used by God to call the people back to Himself. Sadly, despite the godly kings and prophets sent by God, the people of the Southern kingdom loved their idols and sin more than God. God used the prophets to speak of what was then a future hope of restoration back to God for a people whom God would send away into an Eastern land called "Babylon".


     It is in the ninth theme of "far away from home" that our "bird's eye view" would fly as we neared the end of the Old Testament. Beginning in 605 b.c.,King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and his armies conquered and took away the people of Jerusalem. Two other deportations in 597 b.c. and 586 b.c. would follow, with the final destruction of Jerusalem. Prophets such as Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel communicated God's words about why the people were taken from their homeland: unrepentant sin and focusing on everything but God. Daniel in particular was of interest because of his seeing visions of things to come, predicting what would be the first and second comings of Jesus and living a life of faith for seventy years in a land far away from home. Despite the toughness of the situation, the hope of God is what got Daniel and his friends through their times in Babylon.


     The time would finally come when the Jewish people would no longer live in Babylon.  A new king and empire would conquer the Babylonians. God had predicted some 200 years earlier in 720 b.c., through the prophet Isaiah, that this king, Cyrus, would be unknowingly used of God to bring about the next stage of plans for the people (see Isaiah 45). King Cyrus, and his immediate successor Darius, would make it possible for the Jews to begin returning back home. God used a Jewish man by the name of Nehemiah to go and begin the project of rebuilding Jerusalem's walls.

     When it comes to regaining hope that was nearly lost, it takes time. The Jewish people had started to return to Jerusalem under the leadership of men such as Zerubbabel and Ezra the Scribe (you can read what they did in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah). Prophets such as Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi would express God's message of hope, restoring their nation and the promise of the then future Messiah.

      Malachi in particular would serve as the final writing prophet of the Old Testament, predicting the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus  (the predicted Messiah) in the final two chapters of his book. God would then prove how much His people can hope in Him even when their lives are in danger - as we see in the book of Esther. 
      
      Esther is the final book written in the Old Testament (written shortly after Malachi, though appearing in the order of books before his prophecy). Although Esther never mentions God by name, yet, we see evidence of God's protection of the Jewish people from the hands of their enemies. God is always on time and never late. Therefore we see this tenth theme of hope shining throughout the Old Testament,  setting the stage for what will be the coming of Jesus - our only hope and salvation.

We have explored then ten major themes in our bird's-eye overview of the Bible so far:

1. Creation.
2. Catastrophe.
3. Redemption.
4. Patriarchs.
5. Spiritual victory.
6. Breaking the sin-cycle.
7. God's kingdom.
8. Straying from God.
9. Far from home.
10. Hope.

       Four hundred years of time will pass from the writing of Malachi, the final prophet, to the events of Jesus' life recorded in Matthew's Gospel. We won't say much about this period, but there are four quick facts to consider as they relate to the coming of Jesus.

      First, the Babylonians, whom we encountered in theme eight, "Far away from home", was an empire that dominated the middle eastern world for over seventy years (605-539 b.c.). The Book of Daniel covers its activities, and from the Babylonians we got the group of men whom would visit Jesus ton worship Him, otherwise known as the Magi.

      The next empire was the Medo-Persian empire, who took over Babylon and would reign for roughly 200 years (539 b.c. to 333 b.c.). The Medo-Persians invented crucifixion, which would be the method used to execute Jesus. 

     The third empire to follow the Medo-Persians were the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great and later by his four generals following his death. The Greek empire would dominate the middle east and Europe from 333 b.c. to 63 b.c. The Greeks gave us the language in which the New Testament was written.

      The fourth and final fact to mention about the four hundred years between Malachi and Matthew is the fourth major empire, Rome, which would take over the Greek empire in 63 b.c. and be used as God's main method in bringing about Jesus' crucifixion. 

Closing thoughts:

Galatians 4:4 tells us: 

"But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law." 

    Daniel's prophecies predicted all of these empires in order, centuries before the events took place. God used all of Old Testament history to prepare the way for Jesus' first coming. We will now turn to ten more themes as we continue our "bird's-eye view of the Bible" in the New Testament, beginning in the next post.

Bird's-eye view of the Bible - Exploring the theme: "Far-away from home" in the Book of Daniel

Introduction:

     As we continue our "bird's-eye view of the Bible", we find ourselves outside the promised land of Israel. For those interested in viewing previous posts in this series, you can click on the links below:

1. Theme of Creation in Genesis 1-2.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/01/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of.html

2. Theme of Catastrophe in Genesis 3-
    11.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of.html

3. Theme of Patriarchs in Genesis 12-
    50.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of_9.html

4. Theme of Redemption in the books 
    of Exodus through Deuteronomy.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of_12.html

5. Theme of Spiritual Victory in the 
    Book of Joshua.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of-victory.html

6. Theme of Spiritual Defeat in the 
    Book of Judges.
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/02/birds-eye-view-of-bible-breaking-sin.html

7. Theme of the kingdom of God in 1 and 2 Samuel.

http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of-gods.html

8. The theme of straying away from God in 1&2 Kings and 1&2 Chronicles. 
http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2020/03/birds-eye-view-of-bible-theme-of.html

     Have you ever been to a summer camp or perhaps a longer vacation where you were far from home? Maybe the first few days are fun to you, since you are seeing new places you were never at before in your life. Imagine now you are taken away from your home and sent to a foreign land where you will live for seventy years. 

     I'm sure many of you reading this post have felt "far-away-from-home" for the last few days in the wake of this current pandemic. We often can feel detached from where we're at when our surroundings change and we loose what was formerly familiar. God's Word addresses such experiences. The people in Jerusalem viewed their identity as part of the land where they lived. They also viewed God's favor on their lives as symbolized by a king reigning on the throne in Jerusalem. For the Jewish people in the Old Testament, they felt that as long as the temple was standing, full of priests and sacrifices,  then they were doing o.k. When the Babylonians came in 586 b.c. to take them away into Babylon, their world changed over night.


      The problem of the people was that they placed too much confidence in themselves and had stopped trusting in God. God had warned them, pleaded with them and had prophets write more Bible books to urge them to turn back to Him. Yet, the people would not listen. The Babylonian empire would come and take the people from their land, their temple and do away with their king. One man, named Daniel, was among those whom Babylonian captured and took away to Babylon. 

     God was still at work in the people's lives as evidenced by prophets such as Daniel, as well as his contemporaries Ezekiel and Jeremiah. When times get dark, the light of hope that shines from God's Word is always available. The most extreme circumstances are used by God to spark revival in the hearts of people. As we often learn, we never know how much God means to us until we find ourselves in situations of limitation or devastation. As we turn our attention to this theme of, "far away from home", we will observe how Daniel, a man of God, responded to the sudden changes that took place in his life.


     One fact about Daniel that might interest you is that when he was taken from his home, he was only fifteen years of age. Daniel had three friends who were roughly his age, and they and all the people were taken away from all they knew to a foreign land. Daniel had many opportunities to "fit-in" with the crowd around him. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzer, chose Daniel and his friends for their exceptional abilities. Although they were offered the food of the king, they politely refused. They chose instead to eat the food they were taught to eat from their parents and the scriptures. Although the king gave them different names, Daniel and his friends clung to their faith in God.

As we observe Daniel and his friends in how they lived far away from home, we can gather valuable truths for our lives, whether now or later down the road.

1. Jesus is always with the believer, thus, they're never alone.

     Daniel's friends were tested greatly by King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3. The kind demanded everyone in his kingdom to bow down and worship a statue made to look like the king. Everyone did as the king commanded - except Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego (Daniel's friends). The King demanded they follow his orders, but the three friends told the king that whether God delivers them from being burnt on the flames or not, they would not bow to the king's statue. 
     So the king had his soldiers toss the three men in the fiery furnace. Soon thereafter, the king looked into the fiery furnace and said in Daniel 3:25 - "He said, “Look! I see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!” Whom did Nebuchadnezzar see? Most Bible teachers would answer that Jesus made one of His Old Testament appearances and stayed with Daniel's three friends in the midst of their fiery trial. They were not alone! So even when we're far away from the places that are familiar to us, we're never alone, because Jesus is always with His people. Another episode in Daniel's life helps us see a second truth.

2. We can seek God in prayer, and thus not have to be afraid.

     Have you ever experienced what it is like to be so afraid that you were tempted to pretend you were not a Christian? Daniel was placed in a very difficult situation. There was a new king - Darius - who was over a new empire - the Persians - who had authority over every area of life. A new law was passed: bow down to the king in worship, or be fed to the lions. There were some men who did not like Daniel and had tricked the king into enforcing this law. Daniel was far away from home for nearly 70 years, meaning that he had become an 85 year old man. What would he do?

       We read what Daniel did in the face of possibly facing death in Daniel 6:10 "Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously." In other words, despite living in a foreign land, far away from home, Daniel never stopped praying to God as an 85 year old man as he had done since he was at least 15 years of age. God gave Daniel the courage he needed when facing that den of lions. Daniel still was placed in the lions den, but God shut the lions' mouths. Hebrews 11 tells us that by the faith given by God to Daniel, the situation resulted in the Daniel's protection from the hungry beasts.


     Whenever we turn to the life of Jesus, He too faced the prospect of being very afraid. He knew He was going to be crucified the next day and carry on his shoulders the sins of the world. The Lord Jesus surrendered His will as a man to the will of the Father in heaven. Jesus sought the Father in prayer and sweat great drops of blood and prayed: "not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Jesus, though being truly God, chose as a man to draw courage from His heavenly Father. He had courage to go to the cross. Daniel sought God in prayer and realized he didn't have to be afraid. Jesus too prayed and knew He didn't have to be afraid. Because of Jesus, we too can seek God in prayer and not have to be afraid (see Philippians 4:6-7).

     Other prophets were called by God to bring His revelation to the people as they were taken prisoner by King Nebuchadmezzar. God spoke through men like Ezekiel and Jeremiah to encourage and instruct the people on how to avoid falling into the same sinful traps that led to their exile far away from home. Daniel and the people would live in Babylon for seventy years. The time would come when the time of God's discipline would stop. As we will consider in our final theme of the Old Testament in the next post, the people would have hope once again. The hope they would have would come not only in their return back home, but also in the promise of a future Savior.