"And the country was quiet for forty years in the days of Gideon....Eli...had judged Israel forty years....In this manner Absalom acted toward all Israel who came to the king for judgment. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel. Now it came to pass after forty years...." (Judges 8:28; 1 Samuel 4:18; 2 Samuel 15:6, 7a)
Reading through the Bible as I am in these last two months of '18 is like watching a TV mini-series, i.e., getting thousands of years of history in a very short time.
Action, drama, romance (O no, not that!), intrigue, deception, betrayal, jealously, revenge, reconciliation, making of friendly alliances, the list could go on. People who find the Bible boring should spend as much time daily reading the very, "Words of God," as they do listening to Limbaugh, Hannity, watching a two hour movie, attending "christian concerts, etc. They would find most interesting reading and, dare I say, entertainment.
Reconciliation started with Adam. Then the great "Faith Hall of Fame" begins with Abel, then Enoch, whom the Bible calls, "the seventh from Adam", Noah, Abraham, etc. In Abraham the Living Triune God "built" a family, literally, a family. Moreover, if you read correctly, you discover that the whole of the Bible is a "family" story. From right after the Fall, the Living Triune God was building the faithful Followers of the Lord God in Jesus Christ, some of whom Joshua says were, "on the other side of the Flood," on through Gideon, David and the Prophets, right through the First "Appearing" of Jesus, though He did appear to Abraham, as in, "Abraham rejoice to see My day, and he saw it and was glad," and the Babyl0nia King, "and the fourth is like a son of the gods", then the Apostles, Paul, Polycarp, Wycliffe, Finney---------- you and me, "One big (and O, wouldn't it be nice if we could say, "Happy") Family.
You and I, my friend, are a part of this great Biblical Story from Creation to the moment you are reading this. I close with the reminder today of that Great Pivotal Point in History, the Cross. In the Blood and Cross of Jesus, the great "wedding" took place. All of the Old Testament People of Faith joining with those who would be of the New Testament Era in what Paul describes in Ephesians 2:13, 14, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the Blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, who has broken down the middle wall of separation...as to create in Himself one new man...."
Father, in Jesus' Name, what glorious History. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
