The Old Testament Part 1 #2

Run with endurance the race that is before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our you want a big picture view of the Bible come to the right place were exploring the redemption getting an overview from Genesis to Revelation. Today more testament five fastest so listen carefully and state church in Chicago this is Sir teaching helps us make certain you've taken us through Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus.

So far, what's up next dated as you mentioned, we are doing the big flyover so to speak. We could call this series the Bible at 30,000 feet and today we do come to the book of numbers, which advances the story and it will help us as we talk about the story line of the Bible that drama of redemption. You know, one of the things that you find in the Old Testament and the New Testament is God's relationship to natural disasters. Earthquakes, plagues, what exactly is his relationship to these dizzy just permit them.

Does he ordain them and how can we continue to believe in his love wins so much in this world is going wrong all those are the kinds of questions I answer in a new book I've written entitled pandemics, plagues and natural disasters. What is God saying to us. Give a relative who's a skeptic who tells us that we should not believe in God because of what is happening. I answer those kinds of objections as well. For a gift of any amount. This book can be yours.

Here is what you do go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 now, let's think about the Scripture. Let us move into the Bible as we continue our overview of God's drama of redemption numbers are getting ready to go back into the land. Deuteronomy is a recap it's a recap of what happened and it's Moses farewell speech so that doesn't really advance the story line either so notice in your chart. It occurs at the bottom now under Joshua in the book of Joshua. They reenter the same land they did in the wilderness for 40 years now though over the Jordan River.

They enter into the land and the land is conquered and it is divided up under Joshua Bott. But remember this, there are still pockets of resistance. Some of the Canaanites are still left in the land by design. God says I'm leaving them there so that so that they can test you. God always leaves some enemies for Christians.

That's why he doesn't exterminate the devil at the devil exists for the glory and the happiness and the victory of God's saints same reason why the Canaanites existed in Canaan now after they are there. The period of the judges you see the judges are Israel trying to find leaders that will help them in their fight against the Canaanites, because these warring tribes continue to become very strong when you get to first Samuel first Samuel is basically the story of Israel's first king, namely Saul, and Saul turns out to be a great disappointment.

But the people wanted a king, and so God says I'm giving you Saul and David begins to enter into the picture, though his story is most prominently displayed in second Samuel second Samuel is the story of David and when you get to David gives another covenant to David and God's is David I'm going to through your seed to give you a son who is going to rule forever and it turns out to be Jesus. That's why you see the Angel comes to Mary centuries later and says he shall be great, he shall be the son of the most high Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, there you have the fulfillment of the Davidic promise. The beginning of the fulfillment of so David gets a special revelation from God. And then what you have is his famous son Solomon, and that opens first Kings, Solomon turns out to be a great builder and he builds a temple in Jerusalem and it was extravagant. If you have gone inside of it. You have seen all the goal. Solomon had air because he loved to do things in a big way. He sacrificed thousands of animal and Solomon also is one of the wisest people in the world.

He is such a he's a psychologist dream to analyze because he is so wise he writes books such as Proverbs, most of them were by him at your Ecclesiastes song of Solomon. All of those books relate to Solomon and the Temple. Now if you go to Jerusalem and you have a guide. The guide will always talk about the first Temple. The first Temple. The first Temple. It is the period of Solomon and let's suppose that he builds it in approximately 930 BC and now because word BC were going. The numbers are going down as we get to the time of Christ, 586 BC that Temple is taken apart by the Babylonians.

As you'll understand in a moment, and so that's a 350 year. Roughly that's Israel's first Temple. Oh wait until next week. Don't even think about not being here next week because I'm going to explain Israel's second temple. And all of the intrigue that is involved there so that is Solomon and after Solomon dies, he designates a son by the name of Ricoh bone and says Rehoboam you become king. Now catch this. Okay Rehoboam is appointed by Solomon to be king. The people come to him and say you know your dad really taxed us. I mean, how else to build the temple and his hand was so oppressive in terms of taxation would you please reverse his policies and and take this oppressive taxation away Rehoboam's as well.

Give me time to figure this out. I'll tell you in three days he goes to the old man and the old man say absolutely the taxes are too high. Cut them.

He goes to the young man and the young man said hey you know what you tell him your dad.

My dad text you but you ain't seen nothing yet. It's going to get worse and so he goes to the people and takes the young man's advice and says under me. Things are going to be worse. All my you are under my father's thumb, but you're going to be under my hand. 10 of the tribes. 10 of the tribes of the tea party and say absolutely not where revolting and were going to establish our own capital and this is the period of what we call the divided kingdom, what you have now is Samaria and Samaria is both a city as well as region and were going to establish a capital in Samaria and were going to have our own Kings and were going to have her own means of worship go to Jerusalem, absolutely not working to build our own temple on Mount ceric mounds. I know the word so well. Mount Garrison, that's the word sometimes the computer finds it difficult to spit all the stuff out to have our own thing on Mount Garrison going to Jerusalem. So from now on, you have Judah in the south and some of the tribe of Benjamin and you have the 10 tribes to the north under an entirely different king and in the book of first and second Kings. Would you have is two different lines of kings you've Kings were ruling over Israel. It always says, and you have Kings were ruling from Judah, namely from Jerusalem when you go to Israel. As I studied there in 1968 I the privilege I don't think tourists can do that today to actually go to Samaria the town of Samaria.

We were at Jacob's well and that they are in Samaria you still have the ruins of the palace and and who lived in that palace. Well, Ahab with his infamous wife Jezebel.

So you see, you had kings like that ruling you had prophets like Elijah and Elisha going to a has an Ahab rather than telling him to repent and so forth and so you've got that whole history.

Now you have another line of kings.

Beginning in Judah and you've got that whole history and the kingdoms are divided and it's during the time of the divided kingdom. You have all of the profits arising because idolatry is everywhere. People are our building shrines on every single hill and they are sacrificing to the pagan gods in their doing it with a great deal of gusto in the profits or saying judgment is coming judgment is coming and then you have false prophets. That's why Jeremiah gives chapter after chapter about false prophets or saying good times ahead.

Nothing but prosperity in the fall's profits are preaching that the true prophets or saying judgment, judgment, judgment, judgment you take for example, Isaiah one example he is in the southern kingdom he's going to be. He's going to be exercising his ministry to the kings of the South in Jerusalem and it says the vision of Isaiah the son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Zion Joe Pham Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. So there you are. He had such a long ministry.

It spanned for five different king.

Now, what happens is this, by the way, look at your chart.

All this today for you.

You notice that first and second Chronicles don't advance the story because they are the same history as first and second Kings, except that they give a different perspective. When you watch football, you notice that often times they have two people there's one who calls the plays and then there's another guy in the booth to these adding color commentary.

He's adding things that the other left out. Listen, I was reading some chapters in Chronicles the other day. They are so full and so rich I'm going to be receiving phone calls and all kinds of things thanking me that you got beyond Leviticus and you are now in Chronicles because you are going to be blessed. Everybody's going to be blessed.

Now what happens and look at this. This is in your chart. I just can't believe this, you'll notice that Israel is the north of Jude is the South look at the bottom of your chart you see that diagram. Notice what happens in 722 BC to Israel the 10 tribes.

Assyria comes down Assyria says were going to conquer you. Assyria takes 27,000 Jewish people.

That was a lot of people in those days, and they take them to Assyria and what happens to them. They are lost there. The 10 lost tribes.

They were integrated into the other nations and and that's it. Years ago there was a group called the British Israelites, the British Israelites were those who says that the people of Britain are the 10 lost tribes, but there's no evidence for that they are totally obliterated in the sense that their identity has been lost and what the Assyrians did is they brought other people that they had conquered to settle there in the land of Samaria centuries pass what we read in the New Testament, the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans.

Why because they were a mixed race. They were Assyrians. There were some Jews you know who still stayed in the land they intermarried. They lost their identity. They had pagan worship on Mount Garrison and that's the end, Jesus comes in.

He has to go through Samaria. The Bible says and there's a Samaritan woman who knows what her race was and he sits with her and he explains the gospel and she says our fathers worshiped in this mount. I remember being at Jacob's well you can't go there today. Unfortunately, but sitting there in 1968. There is Mount Garrison where they found the temple that they built their shrine and GNU. She says our fathers worshiped in this mountain, but you folks you Jews. You say that in Jerusalem is the place to worship Jesus said a meter in Jerusalem nor here. Those who worship the father must worship him in spirit and in truth. Wow, what a powerful message so 722 they go off then what happens is you have the southern kingdom. This kingdom of Judah that lasts about another hundred. Remember, that's were Solomon's Temple was built or talk about Jerusalem now and it is there that finally in 586 BC, after the prophets just crying their hearts out) to repent, repent, judgment is coming. The people say no, no, no, we like our paganism better. 586 BC through three separate campaign babble and comes and what you have is Solomon's beautiful temple destroyed so completely that we don't have any artifacts of it anymore. The first Temple period is over the 350 years that it lasted are gone. First Temple.

Finished so what happens is now everybody has to go to babble and the South. The Jews who gets caught up who get swept up in this judgment, but people like Daniel, remember this when you have a nation under judgment. If God judges America economically as well. He might Christians get caught up in this to work part of the judgment.

Daniel ends up in and he's in Shushan. The palace theremin is telling us what's happening in babble and by the way, excellent book to study not only because of its prophecy, but he gives an example of how we have to live differently when were surrounded by pagans who do not care about our rituals.

Nobody in babble and was keeping the Passover, nobody in babble and was concerned about the temple and so here you have Daniel and his friends, and other righteous Jews living there for 70 years until God brings them back now. What was the temple. By the way the temple was simply taking this tabernacle, which initially was a building that could be moved. It was like a tent giving it a permanent home and Solomon had done that, gloriously, sometimes people say we shouldn't get money toward a building wide. Let's give it to people.

Well, you know, Solomon built that wonderful temple and God apparently was pleased because after the sacrifices. Remember the glory of the Lord came upon it. But now it's totally destroyed. 70 years now there going to be in babble and and then there going to be brought back. This remnant and then God is going to pick up the story and let me say this next week I will pick up that story to where does this leave us. What is the bottom line the bottom line is what God is trying to convey through all those books of the Old Testament is that sin is terrible human beings left to themselves will leave the true God and all worship idols and Bill enjoyed doing. Let me ask you a question. All throughout the northern kingdom, and the southern kingdom. The big issue was idolatry, they would have the shrines on the hill and they worshiped the different pagan gods some damn good preaching entire message on this, but what was the great attraction of idolatry. Why were they constantly going back to idols. Couple of things.

First of all, there was some financial benefit, but all describe at some later time.

Perhaps if God wills. Secondly, this was a very highly sexualized kind of paganism and you will find people doing all that they possibly can to try to convince themselves that God is not upset with sexual immorality.

Whether it is homosexual marriages or whether it is infidelity within marriage. People will do everything to try to justify it and to say that God approves paganism is waiting for people and paganism says yes you can live this way in this sexualized culture and you can still worship the true God to blot the line course the major message is God's grace God's grace you see in our culture today politically correct and I know that what I said today is not politically correct exactly, but in our culture today. People always ask this question. Why doesn't God just save every body. The Bible nowhere answers that question. It answers an entirely different question. Namely, how can God save anybody.

That's the issue, because God is so holy. We are such sinners.

The $64 question is answered in the Bible is again how does a holy God connect with and how can his presence be among his people when they are sinners. That's the big issue and by the way, the presence of God is always the distinguishing mark of God's people always Old Testament, New Testament, when people walk into Moody Church what they should see and hear. And as we sing, they should say. Surely God is in that place. It's always the presence of God and what God is saying is that sin is terrible and you can't come bumbling into his presence with your sin unless you have some way, but that sin can be forgiven and cleansed and that's where Jesus comes in Jesus is going to be born. Centuries later and he's going to fulfill these Old Testament rituals and he is going to say to you that if you believe on me, you will be reconciled to God. But if you don't the wrath of God abides on you, no matter how content you are with your sinfulness, the wrath of God abides on you. The bottom line always has to do with how do we manage our sin.

That is the issue and with that today. I close would you join me as we pray together. Father, we thank you today that you found a way by which you could dwell with your people without compromising your holiness or being contaminated by us. Thank you for Jesus the one mediator between God and man. Thank you that the seed of the woman crushed the head of the serpent and we walked today in his victory. Thank you. In Jesus name, amen. My friend is always wonderful to see the big picture to understand God's drama of redemption and that's what this sermon series is all about. It is always about redemption, always about Christ you know is you look about today.

Sometimes it is difficult to believe in God, isn't it. We think for example of coded and the destruction of much of our economy. The difficulty and the fear that is in the world. How do we relate to that.

What is God's relationship to that you know frequently their pastors who tell us trust God will find so far so good. But what if he doesn't answer your prayers.

What if you find that you cannot pay your rent. What if you discover that you are not healed in a new book entitled pandemics, plagues and natural disasters. What is God saying to us, those of the kinds of questions that I answered.

We need a hope that is so solid that we can continue to endure in the midst of unanswered prayer in the midst of illness. We need to be able to prove the faithfulness of God. Now this is one of the last days that you'll be able to receive this special resource and I say special because I think it's a wonderful book to give to unbelievers to give to skeptics and to remind people that it is possible to believe in God's love and to have faith when all the evidence around you seems to be opposite to that we go on believing the title of the book, pandemics, plagues and natural disasters in a moment I'll tell you how it can be yours. But I need to tell you that I end the book by telling the story of a young woman in Haiti.

The earthquake has come, she lost her 18 month old child in the rubble.

She's getting onto a bus and I noticed that she has a Bible in her backpack as she is walking up the stairs. If you can believe that. She says God is our refuge and strength, imagine that kind of faith yet that's the kind of faith that God wants us to have. Here's what you do for a gift of any amount. This book can be yours, pandemics, plagues and natural disasters. What is God saying to us.

Five chapters on what God is saying to chapters on what we should be saying to God. Here's what you do go to RTW offer.com that's our GW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 thanks in advance for helping us together.

We are making a difference running to win is now in 20 different countries because of you.

1-888-218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, Hanoi 60614 running to win is all about helping you understand God's roadmap will resupply the history of Israel is a roller coaster up and down over and over rebellion against God always followed by repentance and restoration and inevitably slide back into rebellion. On our next running to win more from the Old Testament Israel being taken into captivity for disobeying God. This is going to win is sponsored by the Moody Church