The Common Thread of God's Amazing Revelation: The Bible
There is an amazing common thread running from Genesis to Malachi. These 39 books were written over a span of about 1500 years by men of different occupations and cultural circumstance. They all discourage belief in the mythical gods made by human hands, but spend much time rebuking the Israelite people for getting caught up in those visually stimulating religions of paganism and superstition. While they lay out a sorry history of the Jews' time and again departing from the invisible Creator God who chose them for a Messianic purpose, yet the Israelites acknowledge these writers as telling the truth and being inspired by God to write what they wrote.
FromParadise to Sin
Each book reflects back to the beginning when sin caused the corruption of sin and death to enter the world. Man's paradise was beautiful and the greatest beauty was that Adam and Eve could "walk with God" in harmony in the Garden until sin ruined that ability. Sin is the poison of the heart, mind, and soul that fouls the connection to perfect holiness, which characterizes the Creator, God. When sin enters the world, God cannot walk with the contaminated creature. Sin is as foul to God as physical disease is to us, but more so. So, the numerous comparisons to leprosy throughout the scriptures were designed to help us understand that fact.
A wall of separation between the Holy God and unholy man was created by this contaminant, sin. The tempter, already separated from God, had successfully pulled man over to the dark side by appealing to the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. God's will was compromised and broken, and a wall of separation between God and man would have to be repaired before God and man can ever return to that beautiful paradise walk of harmony again.
God will repair this broken relationship, because God loves his people. He will begin a repair program that envisions a time ahead where the woman, instead of being used by the tempter to destroy man and injure God, will be used by God to bring a "seed of the woman"(Gen.3:15) to deliver a serious blow to the tempter and his power over the tempted. It will be a blow to Satan's head while the seed of the woman suffers slight injury in the process. Satan works hard to corrupt all of mankind so that this promised "seed" will not be able to come, and God's plan will fail, just as man failed God in the beginning.
God gets more specific about the "seed" when he chooses Abraham to be the specific family that will develop into a nation and "in your Seed all families of the earth will be blessed". (Gen.12:1-4). This promise has now become lineage-specific. Records of genealogy are kept with a view to identifying this "seed of the woman" that will injure Satan and bless all families of the earth.
The Care of Factuality
As Moses writes the story ofIsrael
There is an amazing common thread running from Genesis to Malachi. These 39 books were written over a span of about 1500 years by men of different occupations and cultural circumstance. They all discourage belief in the mythical gods made by human hands, but spend much time rebuking the Israelite people for getting caught up in those visually stimulating religions of paganism and superstition. While they lay out a sorry history of the Jews' time and again departing from the invisible Creator God who chose them for a Messianic purpose, yet the Israelites acknowledge these writers as telling the truth and being inspired by God to write what they wrote.
From
Each book reflects back to the beginning when sin caused the corruption of sin and death to enter the world. Man's paradise was beautiful and the greatest beauty was that Adam and Eve could "walk with God" in harmony in the Garden until sin ruined that ability. Sin is the poison of the heart, mind, and soul that fouls the connection to perfect holiness, which characterizes the Creator, God. When sin enters the world, God cannot walk with the contaminated creature. Sin is as foul to God as physical disease is to us, but more so. So, the numerous comparisons to leprosy throughout the scriptures were designed to help us understand that fact.
A wall of separation between the Holy God and unholy man was created by this contaminant, sin. The tempter, already separated from God, had successfully pulled man over to the dark side by appealing to the lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. God's will was compromised and broken, and a wall of separation between God and man would have to be repaired before God and man can ever return to that beautiful paradise walk of harmony again.
God will repair this broken relationship, because God loves his people. He will begin a repair program that envisions a time ahead where the woman, instead of being used by the tempter to destroy man and injure God, will be used by God to bring a "seed of the woman"(Gen.3:15) to deliver a serious blow to the tempter and his power over the tempted. It will be a blow to Satan's head while the seed of the woman suffers slight injury in the process. Satan works hard to corrupt all of mankind so that this promised "seed" will not be able to come, and God's plan will fail, just as man failed God in the beginning.
God gets more specific about the "seed" when he chooses Abraham to be the specific family that will develop into a nation and "in your Seed all families of the earth will be blessed". (Gen.12:1-4). This promise has now become lineage-specific. Records of genealogy are kept with a view to identifying this "seed of the woman" that will injure Satan and bless all families of the earth.
The Care of Factuality
As Moses writes the story of
Genealogies are carefully written because Moses was dealing with boring FACT, not fantasy. Facts are always much more boring than fantasy because facts are generally not designed to entertain but inform. Keeping accurate genealogies was important to keep accuracy unchallenged and uncontested. If Moses had presented anything but fact, his credibility could have and would have been destroyed. The record is building with time to present the "seed" with uncontestable credentials. This "seed" is going to be further defined as specific to the sons of Judah
The care to be factual is also seen in the care of Moses to be time and place conscious. He does not describe fictional people or fictional places or even ambiguous times. Consider the care he uses to describe where people were found scattered, their family names and places (Gen.10:10-32; 11:28; 12:6,8.10; 14:3,10; Ex.1:11). This is not a record born out of fiction or controlled by myth. The writer is clearly writing to be deliberate, factual, and with enough specificity of place, names, geography, and family detail so as to be most credible to the original readers, and so that the hope of the coming seed will not be lost in a mixture of fact and fiction with no way to tell the difference.
Historical narrative is sometimes boring because it presents such boring things as genealogies. The genealogies are fact-based on factual people. Take time to read through the boring details in each of the 39 books and see that each writer is writing to be factual even when it was facts that Israel did not want to hear, such as their moral decline and their hypocrisy of coming to the temple to "worship" God and then return to their law-violating idolatry they learned from their pagan neighbors. All of that terrible history would not have been written and preserved by people who naturally would want to look good instead of bad. Egyptian kings were known to erase records of their humiliation and defeat. ButIsrael
The care to be factual is also seen in the care of Moses to be time and place conscious. He does not describe fictional people or fictional places or even ambiguous times. Consider the care he uses to describe where people were found scattered, their family names and places (Gen.10:10-32; 11:28; 12:6,8.10; 14:3,10; Ex.1:11). This is not a record born out of fiction or controlled by myth. The writer is clearly writing to be deliberate, factual, and with enough specificity of place, names, geography, and family detail so as to be most credible to the original readers, and so that the hope of the coming seed will not be lost in a mixture of fact and fiction with no way to tell the difference.
Historical narrative is sometimes boring because it presents such boring things as genealogies. The genealogies are fact-based on factual people. Take time to read through the boring details in each of the 39 books and see that each writer is writing to be factual even when it was facts that Israel did not want to hear, such as their moral decline and their hypocrisy of coming to the temple to "worship" God and then return to their law-violating idolatry they learned from their pagan neighbors. All of that terrible history would not have been written and preserved by people who naturally would want to look good instead of bad. Egyptian kings were known to erase records of their humiliation and defeat. But
If the records were simply products of human wisdom, why should David's family have to keep living with such a record that makes Israel's greatest king look so bad? Why not just do the usual thing that other nations and kings have done, and that is to remove any uncomplimentary details that taint the greatness of a hero? The reason that the Old Testament makes the Israelites look so bad, is because they were a sinful people and all people need to know how ugly sin is, and the reason the records are preserved with all this corruption staining the image of Israel is because these were Gods' words, not mans'(the Jews knew this was so) and God's words are to be held in reverence even if it tells the ugly truth about ourselves.
The Pre-Illustrated Plan
When sin entered the world, the sentence of death had to enter as well. To prepare man for eventual return to perfect paradise, there must be an effective way to deal with sin that separates man from God. Sacrifice of animals was a temporary training device. Sin deserves death. The bringing of a perfect lamb was a symbolic training device to keep man conscious that sin deserves sacrifice. Perfection has been sacrificed to sin and the person deserves death. The innocent lamb represents perfection and innocence, killing it is what sin looks like in its consequence. As man's soul is originally beautiful and useful to God, sin is like taking it and killing it. It also keeps in front ofIsrael
God illustrated the plan in his command to Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt-offering, testing the heart and love of Abraham, and at the same time foreshadowing His own plan to "provide Himself a Lamb" as a substitute that tests even God to His very heart. The "seed" of Abraham that would bless all nations would be God's "Lamb" that pays for the sins of the whole world. This will deliver a blow to Satan and his power to accuse all of us to the judge. The judge will say in behalf of many to the accuser, "Payment has been made in full for him. You have no case here!"
God illustrated the plan in types and shadows (dark images that show an outline form but not the clear image) with such things as the law of uncleanness and how to deal with leprosy (a physical thing to the body, as the sin-disease is to the soul).
God illustrated the plan in the tabernacle design, arrangement, material, and furnishings, and the priestly duties performed therein. Coming to God requires first the sacrifice for sin, the laver of cleansing, the door into holy relation, the light of perfection, the bread of life, and the fragrance of acceptance, and the veil of separation that will one day be removed, the mercy-seat of God, and the High Priest bringing the atoning blood for mercy and justice to have symbolic satisfaction. None of this would have been done by human wisdom alone, but in the wisdom of God it illustrated darkly the wonderful plan by which God would bring about justice, mercy, and reconciliation between sinful man and the Holy God. All these things prepare the stage for the "seed of the woman" to deliver the blow to that Serpent, the devil as God promised from the beginning.
The Prophet was a revealer of God's thoughts and will. The Priest was a mediator of reconciliation between God and man, and the King was a ruler of the people. All of these offices and works were also types of the offices and work of the "seed of the woman" that was coming.
The Prophesied Plan
God not only illustrated the divine plan of reconciliation, but he prophesied the plan. As Moses was a great prophet-law-giver, he told of someone who would be like him that everyone would have to listen to (Deut. 18:15f).
The Pre-Illustrated Plan
When sin entered the world, the sentence of death had to enter as well. To prepare man for eventual return to perfect paradise, there must be an effective way to deal with sin that separates man from God. Sacrifice of animals was a temporary training device. Sin deserves death. The bringing of a perfect lamb was a symbolic training device to keep man conscious that sin deserves sacrifice. Perfection has been sacrificed to sin and the person deserves death. The innocent lamb represents perfection and innocence, killing it is what sin looks like in its consequence. As man's soul is originally beautiful and useful to God, sin is like taking it and killing it. It also keeps in front of
God illustrated the plan in his command to Abraham to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt-offering, testing the heart and love of Abraham, and at the same time foreshadowing His own plan to "provide Himself a Lamb" as a substitute that tests even God to His very heart. The "seed" of Abraham that would bless all nations would be God's "Lamb" that pays for the sins of the whole world. This will deliver a blow to Satan and his power to accuse all of us to the judge. The judge will say in behalf of many to the accuser, "Payment has been made in full for him. You have no case here!"
God illustrated the plan in types and shadows (dark images that show an outline form but not the clear image) with such things as the law of uncleanness and how to deal with leprosy (a physical thing to the body, as the sin-disease is to the soul).
God illustrated the plan in the tabernacle design, arrangement, material, and furnishings, and the priestly duties performed therein. Coming to God requires first the sacrifice for sin, the laver of cleansing, the door into holy relation, the light of perfection, the bread of life, and the fragrance of acceptance, and the veil of separation that will one day be removed, the mercy-seat of God, and the High Priest bringing the atoning blood for mercy and justice to have symbolic satisfaction. None of this would have been done by human wisdom alone, but in the wisdom of God it illustrated darkly the wonderful plan by which God would bring about justice, mercy, and reconciliation between sinful man and the Holy God. All these things prepare the stage for the "seed of the woman" to deliver the blow to that Serpent, the devil as God promised from the beginning.
The Prophet was a revealer of God's thoughts and will. The Priest was a mediator of reconciliation between God and man, and the King was a ruler of the people. All of these offices and works were also types of the offices and work of the "seed of the woman" that was coming.
The Prophesied Plan
God not only illustrated the divine plan of reconciliation, but he prophesied the plan. As Moses was a great prophet-law-giver, he told of someone who would be like him that everyone would have to listen to (Deut. 18:15f).
Even though the priesthood of the law was specified as from Levi, and specifically Aaron's sons, and all priests under that law had to be able to prove their lineage to Aaron, yet David spoke of another "priest forever after the order of Melchizedek"(Psalm 110). This indicated a better priesthood was coming, and he was of David's lineage, rather than Levi's.
He would be a greater king (Psalm 2), because God would set him on his throne even when kings and rulers set themselves against him becoming a king. The House of God would be exalted and people of all nations would come to it voluntarily because they want to learn God's ways (Isa.2), and it would be such a house that would not need physical swords to protect it. The temple would be more glorious than Solomon's temple because the gold and silver were God's people of precious character (Hag.2). The kingdom would be everlasting and no nation could take it over or destroy and replace it as earthly kingdoms do (Dan.2:44f) other earthly kingdoms.
A greater covenant that provides the very basis of forgiveness would come and be unlike the Sinai covenant (Jer.31:31f). Many, many details about the place of the Messiah's birth, and the time of the birth, and what the "Child" shall be called (Isa.9:6f) are prophesied in amazing detail. Even the fact that we (Jews) would not believe the report or "esteem" him (Isa.53) is recorded. The Old Testament is dark enough not to give away the plan too easily for the enemy, and yet specific enough to not be deniable when it all unfolds at the time of the Messiah.
Various Authors over Time
The 39 books were held sacred even though written over a long period of time, and even though it did not compliment the people who held it to be sacred. All of the writers add a link to the common hope of that "seed of the woman" who was coming to bless us all richly in a way that repairs the sin problem and reconciles man and God in a way that will allow man to come back to a paradise with God. One common theme that weaves its way connectively through each book is the theme of God's holiness and man's sinfulness and believers will be given a remedy in the coming Messiah, the seed of David, the seed ofJudah
Human Wisdom
I would urge you to carefully consider that we hold in our hand an amazing product of the wisdom of God. I would hope that you can clearly see that human wisdom COULD NOT write these things by human wisdom alone. So many detailed prophesies could not be written hundreds of years in advance and find fulfillment in one single man, Jesus, and that by human wisdom alone. Even the rising and falling of nations and cities were prophesied in advance and it happened accordingly. Not one thing failed. Human wisdom is full of failure, but the writings of scripture were fulfilled in great detail in one amazing man of history, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Various Authors over Time
The 39 books were held sacred even though written over a long period of time, and even though it did not compliment the people who held it to be sacred. All of the writers add a link to the common hope of that "seed of the woman" who was coming to bless us all richly in a way that repairs the sin problem and reconciles man and God in a way that will allow man to come back to a paradise with God. One common theme that weaves its way connectively through each book is the theme of God's holiness and man's sinfulness and believers will be given a remedy in the coming Messiah, the seed of David, the seed of
Human Wisdom
I would urge you to carefully consider that we hold in our hand an amazing product of the wisdom of God. I would hope that you can clearly see that human wisdom COULD NOT write these things by human wisdom alone. So many detailed prophesies could not be written hundreds of years in advance and find fulfillment in one single man, Jesus, and that by human wisdom alone. Even the rising and falling of nations and cities were prophesied in advance and it happened accordingly. Not one thing failed. Human wisdom is full of failure, but the writings of scripture were fulfilled in great detail in one amazing man of history, Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
The chances of just eight specific prophecies about one man happening is too great to even consider as practically possible. Yet, lots more than eight prophesies described Jesus Christ and no other man. Human wisdom COULD NOT have written the Old Testament scriptures.
But, we can also add to that the fact that even if man could have written prophesies that happened to seem to be fulfilled in one man, I think I am well within reason to say that no man WOULD HAVE written such a book like this. Who would have written about how sinful their nation was, even their great king, David, and about how God brought foreign nations to punish his own people, and get away with that by human wisdom alone? Who would grant to such writers a position of sacredness, while the writings held sacred do not compliment the nation, but speaks of its hardness of heart and sinfulness before an invisible God, while the nation was mostly rebuked for going after other gods made by human hands?
Even prophecies of the rejection of the stone by the builders, which stone would become the chief-cornerstone to others, and of the Jews not believing the report and not esteeming the one who was paying for their sins (Isa.53), is a prophecy that human wisdom says for us not to write. If I write a book by my human wisdom I want to at least look good in the end. These 39 books are factual, and truthful, claiming inspiration, and then proving that the inspiration was real, not imaginary. These books were not the product of human wisdom. Human wisdom could not and would not write this way.
The Plan Unfolded
The mystery of the prophetic word (the Law and the Prophets of Israel) will be clarified and made clear when the Messiah comes. It is amazing that God said so much, yet without fully disclosing the plan. If the Old Testament had been written too plain, then kings and Satan would know to try to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. "If they had known....they would not have crucified the Lord of glory"(1 Cor.2:9). It was dark enough to conceal the plan and yet reveal that God's plan was indeed darkly outlined as a shadow form. Too much information gives the enemy too much power to counter-act the plan. Human wisdom said that killing Jesus would end his claim to be a king and have a kingdom, so let's "crucify Him". God's wisdom said, "I will provide Myself a Lamb".
The Plan Unfolded
The mystery of the prophetic word (the Law and the Prophets of Israel) will be clarified and made clear when the Messiah comes. It is amazing that God said so much, yet without fully disclosing the plan. If the Old Testament had been written too plain, then kings and Satan would know to try to prevent Jesus from going to the cross. "If they had known....they would not have crucified the Lord of glory"(1 Cor.2:9). It was dark enough to conceal the plan and yet reveal that God's plan was indeed darkly outlined as a shadow form. Too much information gives the enemy too much power to counter-act the plan. Human wisdom said that killing Jesus would end his claim to be a king and have a kingdom, so let's "crucify Him". God's wisdom said, "I will provide Myself a Lamb".
Too little information gives the enemy too much power of deniability. For example, the sayings of Nostradamus can fit any number of people because they are too vague. His writings leave open the power of deniability. The Old Testament was not nearly that vague, and yet it was designed not to be too clear either, while also making it clear enough that when we finally see the Messiah step into the outlined form, we cannot deny that he and he alone perfectly fits the prophetic picture. So, the Old Testament held the perfect amount of revelation of His form or shadow while still not giving the enemy too much clarity. The Old Testament outline has been filled in with the substance it was outlining, Jesus Christ.
It Was All About Christ
Jesus said "search the scriptures...they testify of Me"(John 5). It was all about Jesus. In shadowy form so as not to be too clear and give the plan away to the enemy so that he might stop Jesus' death, yet clear enough to see the obvious connection it all has to Jesus. Some people still read the Old Testament with a veil over their heart (2 Cor.3), but when you turn to the Lord Jesus, you see that he had been standing there from the very beginning and all the way through the Old Testament. They testify as a great witness to the credentials of Jesus Christ as Son of the Living God. All who see Jesus in the Old Testament know that the Bible and only the Bible has the marks of divine wisdom.
The Amazing Revelation
We hold the most amazing book ever written. No book is its equal. We have the prophetic word, but not just an empty book of fiction and human wisdom like the Book of Mormon or the Koran. We have the book that even Muhammad and Joseph Smith knew to be God's word, even though they vainly tried to mimic such an amazing book. There are obvious differences between books that merely claim divine authorship and the book that claims it AND proves it. We have the prophetic word made more sure (2 Pet.1:19).
It Was All About Christ
Jesus said "search the scriptures...they testify of Me"(John 5). It was all about Jesus. In shadowy form so as not to be too clear and give the plan away to the enemy so that he might stop Jesus' death, yet clear enough to see the obvious connection it all has to Jesus. Some people still read the Old Testament with a veil over their heart (2 Cor.3), but when you turn to the Lord Jesus, you see that he had been standing there from the very beginning and all the way through the Old Testament. They testify as a great witness to the credentials of Jesus Christ as Son of the Living God. All who see Jesus in the Old Testament know that the Bible and only the Bible has the marks of divine wisdom.
The Amazing Revelation
We hold the most amazing book ever written. No book is its equal. We have the prophetic word, but not just an empty book of fiction and human wisdom like the Book of Mormon or the Koran. We have the book that even Muhammad and Joseph Smith knew to be God's word, even though they vainly tried to mimic such an amazing book. There are obvious differences between books that merely claim divine authorship and the book that claims it AND proves it. We have the prophetic word made more sure (2 Pet.1:19).
“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!...Rom.11:32-36
We would do well to heed this word as a light that shines in a dark place. Then keep heeding it until the light dawns and the Morning Star rises in your heart, and you stand strong with "full assurance of faith", and not be one who walks by blind faith that keeps one unstable and uncertain.
We would do well to heed this word as a light that shines in a dark place. Then keep heeding it until the light dawns and the Morning Star rises in your heart, and you stand strong with "full assurance of faith", and not be one who walks by blind faith that keeps one unstable and uncertain.
There is a very good reason for the hope within us. Let us be ready to give a reason of our hope to every man who asks us our reasons for such a confident expectation. We know whom we believe, and we are persuaded that our faith stands on a solid Rock (Matt.16:13-18).
Terry W. Benton
