1. WHAT TOOK PLACE IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES AFTER THE GIVING OF THE
LAW ?
THE BIBLE SAYS -
Numbers, chapter 10, to Malachi.
A BRIEF OUTLINE OF BIBLICAL HISTORY FROM MOSES TO CHRIST.
ISRAEL'S WANDERINGS, THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN, AND THE RULE OF THE JUDGES. (About 1490 to 1100 B.C.)
Leaving Sinai, Israel resumes its journey towards the Promised Land. Upon hearing of the mighty enemy nations which inhabit Canaan. The people threaten to choose a new leader in the place of Moses and to return to Egypt. For this God condemns them to forty years of wandering in the wilderness, during which time the older rebellious generation is to die off. Of all that are twenty years of age or older, only Joshua and Caleb, who did not join in the murmuring, are to enter the Promised Land. Among other plagues, God sends poisonous snakes into the camp of His ever grumbling people. A serpent made of brass and raised upon a pole is Israel's only salvation from death. Anyone who has been bitten and looks upon the brazen serpent is saved,-a clear type pointing forward to the Savior on the cross graciously healing all who look upon Him in faith. Of Him the Israelites are also reminded by the daily sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle, a portable temple which housed the Ark of the Covenant with the two tables of the Law. Two beautiful prophecies concerning the coming Messiah are given at this time, one of them through Moses.
Moses, because of a former act of disobedience, is only permitted to see the Promised Land from a distance, and dies on Mount Nebo where the Lord himself buries him in an unknown grave. Joshua, now captain of Israel, leads the people over the river Jordan into Canaan. The walls of Jericho crumble when the priests, upon God's command, march about the doomed city and blow their trumpets. One after another the enemy cities are taken until almost all of Canaan is in possession of Israel.
The conquered country is now divided among the twelve tribes, which were named after the sons of Jacob and Joseph from whom they had descended. The descendants of Levi, charged with the care of the sanctuary, receive no land, but are supported by the tithe, or tenth, paid by the other tribes.
THE UNITED KINGDOM. (About 1100 to 980 B.C.)
When Samuel is old, the Israelites insist on having a king. The lot falls on Saul who makes a good beginning, but soon proves disobedient to God and is rejected by Him. Samuel is sent to secretly anoint David, a shepherd boy of Bethlehem and a descendant of Judah, as Saul's eventual successor. Being an accomplished harp player, David is brought to the court of the wayward Saul who is plagued by an evil spirit. When the Philistine army invades Israel, David fells their mighty champion Goliath with a stone from his shepherd sling. For this the women of Israel sing his praises. Filled with envy, Saul hurls his spear at David when the latter plays before him, and the young hero is forced to live in exile until Saul, being engaged in another war, commits suicide when the battle goes against him.
David is now proclaimed king. Under his rule all enemies are fully conquered and Israel becomes a great and wealthy nation. When God forbids him to build a temple because he is a man of war, David makes the necessary preparations for the erection of a house of God. He beautifies Israel's worship with his many inspired Psalms and in them repeatedly sings of the coming Savior who, according to God's promise, is to be a descendant of David.
A dark chapter in David's life follows: his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her wronged husband. Through the prophet Nathan, David is brought to repentance and receives the assurance of pardon. However, the child born of the adulterous union has to die, and later David must flee before another son, Absolom, who rebels against his father but comes to grief when, riding on a mule, his long hair catches on a tree and he is stabbed to death by one of David's men.
THE TWO KINGDOMS, ISRAEL AND JUDAH. (About 980 to 720 B.C.)
Because of the unreasonable severity of Solomon's son and successor, Rehoboam, the northern tribes withdraw to form a kingdom of their own under Jeroboam. Thus, in the place of the great united monarchy of David, there are now two smaller kingdoms: Israel, consisting of the ten northern tribes, with its capital at Samaria; and Judah, composed of the two southern tribes, with its capital at Jerusalem.
The kingdom of Israel has one idolatrous ruler after another. God's prophets Elijah and Elisha succeed in stemming the tide only for a short season. Finally Israel is conquered by the Assyrians, Samaria is destroyed, the people are killed, dispersed, or taken captive, and soon all trace of the Ten Tribes is lost.
THE CAPTIVITY AND RESTORATION OF JUDAH. (About 720 to 400 B.C.)
A FEW OF THE MANY PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE COMING SAVIOR GIVEN IN THIS PERIOD
Num. 24:17. There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a
Sceptre
shall rise out of Israel.
Deut. 18:15. the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a
Prophet
from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me (Moses); unto Him
ye shall hearken.
Ps. 40:7. Lo, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written
of Me.
*Is. 7:14. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son,and shall
call His name Immanuel.
*Is. 9:6. Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given,
and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His name shall be
called
Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The
Prince
of Peace.
*Is 53:4,5. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our
sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are
healed.
Jer. 23:5,6. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I
will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and
prosper,
and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is His name
whereby
He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Micah 5:2. Thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto
Me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of
old, from everlasting.
Mal. 3:1. Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall
prepare
the way before Me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
His
temple, even the Messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: behold,
He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Mal. 4:2. Unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of
Righteousness
arise with healing in His wings.
FROM THIS WE LEARN -
(A) The promised Savior is the sum and substance of the Old
Testament.
(B) The prophecies concerning Him become ever more numerous,
clearer, and more beautiful as the day of His coming approaches.
Before the Next Lesson
FILL OUT Work Sheet No. 10.
MEMORIZE the Bible passages marked with an asterisk (*).
READ Exodus, chapters 14 to 20.
(A) Israel's sin is a type, or picture, of ..............................................................
(B) Israel's punishment is a type of ...................................................................
(C) The raised serpent is a type of ....................................................................
(D) The saving look is a type of ........................................................................
a but that He is not to be only a man, but also .
(B) From Is 7:14 we learn that the Messiah is to born of a and that
His name is , which means (See Matt. 1:23.)
(C) From Mic 5:2. We learn that the Messiah is to be born at but
that He exists from .
(D) From Is 53:2, 5 we learn that the Messiah shall save us by as our
.