DEFINITION OF TERMS (For Serious Students)

COVENANT

LAW

LAW
I. In the Old Testament
II. In the New Testament

GRACE

GRACE, MEANS OF

KINGDOM OF GOD

KINGDOM OF GOD, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
I. In John the Baptist
II. In the teaching of Jesus
III. Kingdom and church
IV. In the rest of the New Testament
V. In theological thought

Throughout the book of Genesis, God worked through families. This is not surprising, as the family was the basic social group of organisation amongst early societies and indeed remains so amongst nomadic people today.

God created the world's first marriage in Adam and Eve. Perfect - for a while!

And they did what most couples do. Produce a family.

Sadly, like most families, they had problems with their children. Normal life, then as now! Although murder was a more extreme problem than most of us have to face up to!

When it came time for God to regenerate mankind, he chose to do it through a family. The family of Noah, that was. And God gave them the same basic task he had Adam and Eve. To procreate - produce still more families!

But they too had their family problems. We are not sure what had happened to Mrs Noah, but Noah got into big problems after getting drunk.

It is when we come to the Patriarchs though, that we see the special way God worked through the family during this era. It was a perfect blend of the natural with the spiritual. In the natural, when the family group got too big for the animals to be able to find food within range of the camp, the group had to split. As we see with Abraham and Lot.

This was the way the godly inheritance worked too. The inheritance would only be passed down through the one Son, one of God's choosing. Starting with Abraham, much to his surprise and sadness, Ishmael, the elder son, would lose the inheritance, but still be blessed. Something we need to remember, as Ishmael is of the Moslem line.

The same thing happened in the next generation. Isaac's favorite, and the oldest son, Esau, missed out on the inheritance, which was passed down through Jacob's line.

As a result of this single line inheritance, by the time it came for the chosen line of Jacob to go to Egypt, there were but 70 in the family.

Here we see a perfect blend of the natural and the spiritual.

In the 400 or so years of the 'Gap' the population of the God's chosen nation increased dramatically. From 70 to around two million!

As the people settled in the Goshen area of Egypt, learning the skills required for many people to sustainably live in close proximity to each other from the Egyptians, the chosen people of God increased from a family to a community. When it came time to celebrate the Passover,

The community effectively became a nation as they crossed the River Jordan under Joshua's leadership, to commence possession of the Promised Land of Israel.

The reality though, was that after the conquests under Joshua, throughout the time of the Judges, the nation was more a grouping of tribes than a united nation. It was not until part way through the reign of King David that the 12 tribes effectively united as one.

The nation's unity would continue, through the reign of Solomon, although latter on, with cracks starting to show again.

Once Solomon's son Rehoboam succeeded his father, the situation quickly deteriorated.

Rehoboam, with the misplaced confidence of youth, would not take good advice. Very quickly, the Kingdom of Israel split into two.

After a succession of some good, but more bad, kings, the Northern Kingdom of the 10 tribes of Israel were taken into captivity and the elite deported by the Assyrians in 722BC.

The southern kingdom of Judah lasted a further 136 years, until Jerusalem finally succumbed to the army of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar on 14 August, 586BC.

After a period of exile a remnant of the people returned to rebuild Jerusalem under Zerubbabel in 538BC, a second group under Ezra in 458BC. A final group under Nehemiah arrived from Babylon in 432BC, the time at which the Old Testament ends.

The reality of the nation had disappeared as Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, and Greeks, and then Romans controlled the Promised Land. But the dream of the kingdom lived on. As it still does in Israel today.

The focus of the ministry of Jesus moved away form the Jewish nation to the world. Of course, He spoke mainly to the Jews and was highly critical of the religious system that had developed in Israel.

A system leading people away from, rather than into, the kingdom.

The people were warned about the results of the system.

He was introducing a far different view of the kingdom than them.

A kingdom based on actions rather than words.

And he took His message of the kingdom to anyone who would listen, irrespective of race.

He ministered to the Samaritan woman, looked down upon and hated by the Jews as half-castes (from intermarrying, mainly through the 10 tribes of the Northern Kingdom)) and an immoral one at that!

Jesus taught of a kingdom not just for the Jews but for all those who believe, in Spirit and in truth.

He dramatically and forcefully confirmed this message of hope of a kingdom, open for all those who will believe, in the last words he uttered before His return to Heaven. We call it the Great Commission. The fulfillment of which is the duty of every believer.

Yes, Jesus ushered in the final kingdom, open to all those who will believe.

It is hugely interesting and revealing to see the development of 'salvation' through the ages. The crucial area of 'salvation' is what we will be looking at this week.

I really love the way that God works, in tandam, both through the natural and the spiritual.

Also, I am pleased to live in taday's world where God's love is available to all who will only believe. That is you and that is me.

PATRIARCH'S CLOTHING IN ABRAHAM'S TIME

This is how a man would have dressed in ancient times about the time of Abraham which was around 2000 BC. From inside to out he wore an under garment which was bound by a girdle. Over this he wore a coat or outer garment, sometimes called a vesture. Around the head was the head cloth which was a scarf wrapped around the head. He also wore sandals and carried a tall staff.

Source: http://www.bible-history.com