CORPS RESOURCES

THE WHOLE BIBLE IN 2000 WORDS (PART 2)

THE SALVATION ARMY AUSTRALIA SOUTHE RN TE RRITORY CORPS PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT

By Rebecca Walker

ACT 3 – ISRAEL

The story of Israel starts in Genesis 12 with Abraham and ends with Malachi. Genesis 1-11 shows God stewarding Abraham’s family line, culminating with his father Terah leading the family from Mesopotamia out towards Canaan. Terah dies in Haran, and God’s calls Abram. God promised Abram that he would make a great nation from him, that his name would be great, and that through him all peoples on earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3). Subsequently this covenant with Abram is refined in Genesis 15 and 17. Abraham and Sarah have a son, Isaac. Isaac’s grandchildren go into Egypt during a famine under the leadership of Joseph.

After 400 years in Egypt, the family of Abraham grew into a large people-group. Large enough that the Egyptians were worried about losing their country and so subjected the Israelites to slavery. God sent Moses to deliver his people from slavery and oppression. This story is told in Exodus to Deuteronomy. After coming out of Egypt, and the making of the covenant and the giving of the law at Sinai, the people failed to trust and obey God. God lead them around in the desert for 40 years because of their disobedience. After the sinful first generation died off, Joshua leads the next generation into the Promised Land (i.e. the land promised to Abraham).

Once settled, the Israelites initially lived under the leadership of the judges. God was their King, and each tribe was fairly autonomous. During the period of the judges the people periodically fell into idolatry; God punished them by allowing other nations to oppress them. Then they would repent,

and God would deliver them through one of the judges. After a while, the Israelites got dissatisfied with this system. They asked for a King, to fight their battles for them; thus rejecting God’s kingship over them.

Their first king, Saul was a disappointment. David the second king, God described as a “man after his own heart”; even though David was an adulterer and murderer. God made an everlasting covenant with David that he would establish David’s dynasty forever. David’s son Solomon built the temple; but also heavily taxed and oppressed the people. Solomon drifted into idolatry through having many foreign wives and concubines. This lead all of Israel into sin. When Solomon died, his son decided to be a worse despot than his father, and ten of the tribes of Israel broke away from his rule. At this time Israel was split into two kingdoms; Israel (the northern kingdom) and Judah.

The northern kingdom of Israel descended into gross idolatry; going so far as to sacrificing their children to Molech; and engaging in temple prostitution. Judah followed in their footsteps. Various kings in the two kingdoms, such as Josiah and Hezekiah tried to turn the kingdoms back to God. However, ultimately, both kingdoms rejected God. In consequence, God sent the northern kingdom into exile in Assyria in 740 B.C. The northern tribes never returned to the land. Later in 598-588 B.C. Judah was exiled to Babylon. In 538 the Persians conquered the Babylonian empire, and Cyrus makes a decree allowing Jews to return to Jerusalem. Nehemiah rebuilds the wall of Jerusalem, and in 520-515 B.C. the foundations of the temple are re-laid.

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ACT 4 – JESUS

Jesus’ story is told in the gospels and Acts 1. Between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament, Israel had been occupied by the Greeks under Alexander the Great. After Alexander’s death, the Ptolemies of Egypt, and the monarchs of Syria fought over Israel. Antiochus Ephiphanes, the Syrian King defiled the Temple with idolatry.

Eventually the people rose up against their occupiers, and from 166 B.C. to 63 B.C. the country enjoyed self-rule. In 63 B.C. the Romans invaded. When Jesus was born in 4 A.D., the country had been under Roman rule for about 67 years. The Jewish people were expecting a descendant of King David—a Messiah—who would liberate them from their invaders, as fulfilment of God’s promise to David of an everlasting dynasty.

Jesus is born to a virgin, and was a descendant of David. He grew up as a normal Jewish boy, and learnt the family trade of carpentry from his step-father Joseph. When he was about 30, he was baptised by John the Baptist, and then started a public ministry. He preached the good news of the kingdom, and performed many miracles demonstrating God’s power to liberate, heal and provide. He berated the religious people of his day who had become legalistic in their application of the religious law, and had forgotten about love and justice. The Jewish leaders became jealous of his popularity with the people, and feared that if the Romans found out what he was up to that the Romans would destroy the temple. They organised for Jesus to be killed. The Romans crucified Jesus under the charge of being the King of the Jews. Before his death, Jesus linked his coming death with the death of the Passover lamb, which obtained liberation for the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. On the cross, Jesus defeated evil.

After Jesus had been dead for three days, he was resurrected. He appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb and to his disciples over a period of 40 days. After this time he ascended bodily into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God, as Lord over all principalities and powers. There he intercedes for us to God as our high priest.

ACT 5 – NEW CREATION

Jesus’ resurrection is the beginning of the new creation; and is the sign of what its final fulfilment will look like, both for humans and for the rest of the created order—the redemption and glorification of the physical as well as the spiritual. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on the early believers at Pentecost just after his Ascension. This was the birth of the church, and is also firstfruits of what the final fulfilment of the new creation will look like. Isaiah 11:9 indicates what that will be like; “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea”.

Key passages for understanding the new creation are 1 Corinthians 15, which talks specifically about the bodily resurrection of the dead. It says that in light of the coming resurrection, our work on this earth is not in vain. In some way, all that we do will be picked up, transformed and included in the final fulfilment of the new creation. Romans 8 is also important, as it shows that this fulfilment that we wait for is not only for us but also for the whole of creation. The passage says that the creation groans, as we groan, as the Spirit groans within us for redemption.

The most complete pictures we have of the new creation are Isaiah chapters 11 and 65, and Revelation 21-22. “I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God… I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (Revelation 21:2-4). This is how the new creation will be completed when Jesus returns.