Table of Contents

I: Acknowledgement from Authors 4

II: About this Book . ...... 5
III: Prologue . ... . .7
ine .. . 10
Chapter 2: Creation . ... . 13
Chapter 3: Eden ... 15
Chapter 4: Sin ... 18
Chapter 5: Pre-Flood ...
Chapter 6: Post-Flood .. .. 28
Chapter 7: Sons of Noah .. . 30
Chapter 8: Tower of Babel .. 32
Chapter 9: Abram .. . 34
Chapter 10: Cannon .....
Chapter 11: Abraham ... ..
Chapter 12 Covenant with Abraham .. ... . 42
Chapter 13: Sodom and Gomorrah .... 45
Chapter 14 ... . . 49
Chapter 15: Nation of Islam ... .
Chapter 16: Jacob . ....
Chapter 17: Israel ... .
Chapter 18: Joseph .. .
Chapter 19: Moses .... .. 65
Chapter 20: Exodus .... 72
Chapter 21: The Law ..
Chapter 22: Judges .. .. 86
Chapter 23: David .. . 92
Chapter 24: Solomon ..
Chapter 25: Israel and Judah . . 104
Chapter 26: Promised Messiah .
Chapter 27: Rome and Judea .. 111
Chapter 28: Sky Over Bethlehem .. 113
Chapter 29: Christ Conceived .. 116
Chapter 30: Birth of Jesus
Chapter 31: Gospel Accounts .. 121
Chapter 32: Early Life of Jesus
Chapter 33: Baptism .. 128
Chapter 34: Temptation .. 131
Chapter 35: Who Jesus Was .. 134
Chapter 36: What Jesus Said ... 141
Chapter 37: What Jesus Did 147
Chapter 38: Why Jesus Came .. 153
Chapter 39: Final Events of Messiah .. 157
Chapter 40: Triumphal Entry . 160
Chapter 41: Trial .. 164
Chapter 42: The Passion
Chapter 43: Resurrection .. 173
Chapter 44: Early Church 181
Chapter 45: Paul . 184
Chapter 46: Age of the Gentiles . 191
Chapter 47: Roman Catholic Church .. 196
Chapter 48: Protestantism . 210
Chapter 49: Ages to Come . 216
Chapter 50: Return of Jesus
Chapter 51: Stars .. 232
Chapter 52: Gospel .. 241
Chapter 53: Questions .. 252
 I. Acknowledgement from Authors

Special acknowledgement to my co-author, brother in Christ and true friend. The Lord brought
us together years ago and what a journey it has been! You were the first person who ever invited
me to share the gospel, leading by example and showing me what a life of obedience looks like. I
am so grateful for your friendship and encouragement through this transformational journey
together. Thank you for strength when I was weak, prayer when I needed guidance, and truth by
to have you in my life and for this
opportunity to serve God together.
Shout out to a man worthy of respect who fears God. Your love for Jesus is amazing, and you are
a friend that I would go to the ends of the earth for. This book has been a journey of
transformation for myself, and my relationship with God has been challenged in every way
possible. Thank you my brother, for showing me the Lord ove. I wait until we both
appear before God and He takes us in His arm ood and faithful

Above all else, we acknowledge you Lord. Thank you for your amazing love. You have shown
us your love in every page of Your Word, please let this book be a testament to that love. By the
fruit you have already shown, this book is 100% Yours. Your Holy Spirit directed every single
word in this book and we are not even worthy of having our names written. Thank you for the
privilege of telling your love story, thank you for Your Son and for showing us our home in
heaven. Please use this book to reveal Your glory and wake up the world with Your love.

Your faithful watchmen.

 II. About this Book

claim, you will soon come to see the Holy Spirit at work in the pages and in your heart. You may
be picking this up with a skeptical heart, and that is completely fine. You may have been given
this book by a friend or relative, unsure why in the world you are reading a book ab
love: that is completely okay. You may be on your walk with God already and looking to expand
your knowledge and understanding of who God is, and that is completely awesome!
Regardless of who you are or how this book came to you, Halleluiah! We have such an amazing
God who loves you enough to bring this special message to you. It was not mere chance you are
reading this, God has worked more behind the scenes than we could ever comprehend to deliver
this message to you. Regardless of your view on God, yourself or the world, the message in this
book will get through.

and knowledge of the world in which we all play a part in. Our goal is for you to dig deeper into

the best book ever written. God has a funny way of making amazing things take place, if you are
willing to open your eyes to the reality around us.

have chosen to remove our names from this book, because this book is not about us. In fact, we
are completely unworthy and undeserving of this amazing privilege of being used in this
capacity, and God gets all the glory, honor and praise. We realize how unconventional this is, yet
we are serious about this being an unconventional book!
If you have ever picked up the Bible and tried to read from beginning to end, more than likely
your quest was short-lived. Because of the sheer scope and context of the Bible, most likely you
have had difficulty making heads and sense of what is being said and what is important. If you
have ever gotten frustrated in your reading attempts, you are not alone.
that is
enlightening, relevant and challenging to your current views on yourself and God. So often the
message of love gets lost in translation somewhere, yet the whole entire Bible is a message of
love. Use this book as a reference to help you understand scripture better, and as an invitation for

We will be going outside the normal realms of what you

love story will be taken directly from the Bible, yet we will be pulling from books not in the

like Enoch, Jasher, and Jubilee while referencing scientific, historical, astrological and
philosophical works aimed at expanding our understanding of the Bible.
If you do not agree with everything you read, that is completely fine. Our entire world revolves
around disagreement, so please keep an open mind. Who knows, you may end up having a
change of heart after reading this book. The point is, please do not discredit the entire message if
you disagree on some points. Allow yourself the liberty to challenge the status quo, allow
yourself to believe there is a God who loves you and created you for something amazing, allow
yourself to have some fun and learn more about the world. The creator of heaven and earth
masterfully crafted you, and He did so because He loves you.
If you are a left-brained and logical thinker, you will find plenty of amazing evidence and
deductions that will really speak to you. Allow yourself to get creative as well and feel the
emotions housed inside you. If you are a right-brained and creative individual, strap in for an
emotional rollercoaster that will really blow your mind. Allow yourself some flexibility on topics
more structured and documented, as this will expand your mind and understanding to a new type
of learning.
For the men reading this book, rea

women reading this book, we will be going on the biblical understanding and role of women, so
pl
any offense to you, women are amazing and super great, the Bible just has not been the kindest
to women for thousands of years.
For any married couples reading, allow your definition and understand of love to expand even
beyond the love for your spouse. For any single people reading, you will find your spouse after
reading this book! (Just kidding, maybe, just know you are already loved more than you know).
For a
delivery room when you held your child for the very first time. As much love as you felt that
truly loved.
It is one thing to read about this love, another to experience this love firsthand. The Bible tells us
about love, yet without experiencing that love you may have missed the message. Forget what
you know about love for a minute and read like you are fallin
dive in to the message prepared for you and give God the credit and glory for loving the
unlovable, teaching the unteachable and reaching the unreachable!
 III. Prologue

It is the oldest book in history. The most printed, most sold, most stolen, most quoted, most
controversial, most loved and hated book of all time. It has been translated into more than 2,000
languages, with 40 different authors, been the source of inspiration for love, war, revolution,
prophecy, art, music, architecture, theology and society. That book is the Bible.

given to man. All the good of the Savior of the world is communicated t

In the most recent Gallup poll, 24% of Americans believe the Bible is the literal word of God.
26% believe the Bible is a book of fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.
47% believe the Bible is the inspired word of God but that not all of it should be taken literally.
For the first time in history, more people believe the Bible is myth than fact. 81% of Americans
said that morals are declining in America. What could be the cause of this?
20% claimed to have read the Bible in its entirety, 10% never have, 13% have read a few
sentences, 15% have read at least half, 12% have read almost the entire thing, 30% know a few
passages or stories. 9 in 10 households own a bible, with most owning at least 3. The most
common reasons for not reading are not prioritizing (27%), not enough time (15%) and already
read enough of it (13%).
If people were honest with themselves, the reason most do not read the Bible would look more

science, too many show

being held accountable, fear of what may happen if everything written is actually true.

rational person should believe and live as though God exists. If it turns out you are wrong, you
lose out on possible finite pleasure, luxury, or whatever else you want. If you are right, then you
gain eternal life and gains. The alternative would mean the gain is finite pleasure, and the loss
would be eternal da
This book is not about damnation, rather salvation. The message is not one of a bigoted, narrow-
minded or judgmental told-ya-so finger pointing crusade ok will

Love
With no intention of taking the mystery out of it, we can scientifically observe and quantify the
different stages of love. The first stage is the blis
ironically is fitting, since our brain chemistry is literally reshaped to the point where our
consciousness is altered. Dopamine is released in our brain, giving the feeling of bliss and that
light as a feather feeling. Norepinephrine is another chemical released that is similar to
adrenaline: your heart races, excitement builds, and you feel like you can do anything.
Serotonin, the chemical responsible for regulating mood balance, actually experiences a
deficiency when you are not around your love, leading to obsessive and compulsive behavior.
Your frontal cortex, or part of the brain responsible for decision making and logic, reduces
activity when near or thinking of someone you are extremely in love with. This means your brain

The relationship will naturally lead to the next stage, the mature love stage. At this point, those
awesome chemicals your brain was pumping out start to diminish. You stop getting that butterfly
in your stomach feeling every time you think about your partner. You start noticing they leave

normal activity around each other, so at this point the relationship will continue to mature or end
its cycle.
If the relationship makes it past this point, the good news is the most real and rewarding love is
built. Suddenly, oxytocin and endorphins are mixed into the equation, your brain starts adjusting
to normal activity but with a heightened sense of intimacy. Unless actions are taken that
rejuvenate that flame, every love relationship risks losing that feeling of love, or the balance may
shift with one person not feeling the same as the other.
Please do not let this retract from the beauty of love! The point of going over this is to show the
biological and physiological effects of love to our bodies. As we can attest to, for better or worse,
we have either experienced or seen examples of this is in our lives. Love is the most powerful
drug, literally. The sheer chemical effects of love will stimulate more areas of the brain than the
most potent concoctions we can make.
Of course, this is only measuring the effe
your husband or wife were to ask you why you love them, answering that they make your brain
release awesome chemicals will not get the best reaction! It would be like saying you go to the
gym to lift heavy objects repeatedly in order for your motor neurons to replacing muscle fiber!

could come up with some good theories, but what if there was literally an answer to this
question? What if we were somehow created to be in love and be loved? What if from the
moment we came into this world, the need to love and be loved was there and never stopped?
In case you missed that, God created us to be in a love relationship with Him. God created us to
be loved by Him, and we were created to love Him. Maybe you were at one point, just like the
eing in love and loved by God.
Maybe something happened along the way and you fell out of love. Maybe you never have found
the right person yet (God), and have been burned so you keep your guard up.
aybe you already have a few
partners and want to keep your options open. Maybe you found Him and your love passed the
initial stage and matured into a long-
off alone.
Regardless of where your love life is, know this: God has never stopped loving you. Let that sink
in for a minute: before you were born, the creator of Heaven and Earth has loved you with an
unimaginable love that dwarfs any explanation we have. Seems almost too good to be true you
might say, yet the oldest book in existence has revealed this truth to us. The Bible tells the most
epic romance novel of all time.
The amazing part is, this is a non-fiction novel. This is a 100% true story, written by God,
through man. Although something
have changed, but God has not. The glasses we have been reading with may be the wrong size,
meaning, the lens we view the Bible from may have gotten distorted. If you are willing to try on
this new
like you did not think possible.
You will discover romance than any Nora Roberts heart-crusher, more serendipity than trying to
lose a guy in 10 days, more violence than any Targaryen or Lannister war, more enlightening

infinity and beyond!

In the Beginning

Arguably the most recognized first sentence of any book in existence

story. As with any story, we have diverse characters, plotlines, war, suspense, love, and just
about every example of human emotion possible.
We have stories of bravery, heaven, hell, angels and demons, supernatural and divine miracles,
animals talking, a worldwide flood, extinction of human kind save a few, truth, sin, sacrifice,
betrayal, glory, shame, blood, tears, redemption, grace, strife, peace, and everything in between.
love

who God is, the deeper connection you will have with this love story.
Every

every page.
reading with the wrong lens. If you have

neither nearsighted or fars

through a His lens!

Father God, open my mind to the words and verses I am about to read. Help me feel your true,
perfect and unconditional love. Guide me through these pages and open my eyes my ears and my
heart to your truth. Amen!

Elephant in the Room

There is a story about three blind men and an elephant; before you ask, thing is not a bad
punchline to a joke! The story goes like this:
Three blind men walk up to an elephant. The first blind man grab
man grab
The third blind man grabs
Now, we could take that parable much further, but the point is that the blind men were all wrong.
Even though they each held a part of the elephant in their hands, each man was justified in his
own right to think he was grabbing either a tree, fan or rope.
How often we are blind to the giant elephants in our lives! The hands we get dealt in life often
appear to be the trees, ropes and fans that the blind men overlooked. What if being passed on that
promotion at work is actually the chance God has given you to pursue your passion? What if

declaration of war?
Hindsight is great, right? Of course we know the blind men all had a piece of the truth, but they
were all off. What about the elephants in our lives, do you think we have perfect vision to see
them for what they are every time? To address the elephant in the room (pun intended), we are

Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not
hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive.
(Matthew 13:13-14)
Jesus elaborates more in the next two verses by saying how s have waxed gross,
and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should

From Je
,
hear and feel, but most did not want to accept His message: sage.
What if we truly did have ears to hear, eyes to see, and understood with our hearts the depth and

We feel love from our parents when we are young, we hear the sound of thunder and know rain
is coming, we see the seed sprouting and the harvest will be here soon.
These are physical manifestations of what we know, yet what about spiritually? The short answer
is no, we are not always spiritually seeing, listening and feeling. In fact, more often than not, our
spiritual senses are dead and we are exactly like those blind men grasping at the elephant.

for you and answers prayers, the first step of spiritual awareness comes into fruition. This is in
fact the only way, just as in John 15:5 when Jesus tells us that He is the vine and we are the
branches. If we want to produce fruit we must remain attached to the vine, otherwise we can do
nothing. The first step is to ask our Heavenly Father. If you are unsure of a good way to start,
take a minute and pray this prayer aloud or to yourself now. Please do not skip this step, as we
cannot expect divine understanding without divine intervention!
Dear Heavenly Father, you are Holy. Thank you for creating the heaven and earth, for creating
me and loving me. Thank you for loving me so much you sent your Son Jesus, my savior, my
redeemer, my messiah. I ask right now that you would open my eyes to see your truth. I ask in the
name of Jesus that you would open my ears to hear your message. And Father, please send your
Holy Spirit to help my heart understand. Please wash my robes in your blood, bless this message
and speak Truth into my life. In Jesus mighty and precious name, amen!
The Word becomes flesh and he made dwelling among us We have seen his Glory, the Glory of
the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth. (John 1:14)
He saved us, not because of the righteous things we have done, but because his mercy. He saved
us through the washing of rebirth and renewal of the Holy spirit. (Titus 3:5)
Epoch
We have such an amazing God, yes! Okay, before we move on to the next
story, let's first understand what an epoch is. An epoch (e-pock) is a period of time, simple as
that. An epoch is marked by certain events and characteristics, with no necessary connection
from one epoch to another. This is important to
epochs and misunderstanding epochs leads to confusion, misinterpretation and frustration.
Is there any thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? it has been already of old time, which
was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any
remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. (Ecclesiastes 1:10-11)
For example, the wild west was an epoch of the United States characterized by westward
expansion, discovering gold, cowboys, railroads, outlaws and the whole manifest destiny
mindset. See how this period of time is marked by events and characteristics different from
today? If we looked at the epoch right before that, the United States was in a brutal civil war.
Without the knowledge of epochs and of course hindsight, if you were to tell a confederate
soldier that he would be working side by side with a Yankee on a transcontinental railroad in
mere years, do you think he would believe you? Would be even be able to grasp that notion?
Here is where the Holy Spirit comes in and allows us to break free of the boxed view we have on
time. What if we lived in the time of Noah? Well, that would not be a good thing since God tells
us that the entire earth
think someone living in that time could grasp mobile computing and software programming?

completely foreign to
us, and our minds struggle to grasp those concepts.
:o
sh the
characteristics and events of each epoch, you will be doing mental gymnastics trying to fit a
square peg in a round hole. Just like the blind men grasping randomly, we will not be able to see
the elephant standing right in front of us.
Strap in,
 Chapter 2: Creation

The creation epoch is Genesis chapter 1. We have the least amount of information on this epoch,
yet the most happened. In fact, literally everything was created in the 7 day period accounted for
in Genesis. Depending on your interpretation of Genesis, one day to God can be 1000 years and
1,000 years as a day.
Semantics aside, however long the 7 day period was in human terms, God completed his
ended his work which he had
made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made
calling the
light day and the darkness night. This is the fundamental principle of counting what a day is, so it
makes sense the first day would start with the creation of day and night.
Day 2 God created heaven and earth. Day 3 God created all the seas and oceans, the lands and
mountains and every tree and plant species; day 3 was a busy day! Day 4 God created the sun,
moon and stars. Day 5 God created all flying animals and sea creatures. Day 6 God created all
land animals, as well as man. Day 7 God rested.
So without putting any limits or restrictions on God, He was done creating. Genesis tells us God
ended his creation work, and even rested afterwards as an acknowledgement of completing His
work. This epoch must have been wild! Imagine God as a passionate artist in front of a blank
canvas just going to town with bold brushstrokes and a pallet of every color, painting his
masterpiece that ended with the creation of Adam and Eve.
The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the Ground and breathed into his nostrils the
Breath of Life, and the man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)
This epoch is abstract to our human minds and characterized by the creation of the universe as
we know it, known and unknown. Every planet and star was breathed into existence, the waters
were separated from the waters, land came into existence, oceans and seas became distinct, every
animal that flies, stomps, crawls and slithers was created. And then man.
He has made the earth by His power; He has established the world by His wisdom, and stretched
out the heaven by His understanding. (Jeremiah 51:15)
For us personally, this epoch is ironically the easiest and most complicated epoch to understand.
Easy to understand because of how straightforward the creation account is. Every day God spoke
and something new was created. Literally the entire known and unknown universe was spoken
into creation, down to the microorganisms invisible to the naked eye.
By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen
was made from things that are not visible. (Hebrews 11:3)
The reason this epoch is so complicated is due to there being no way for us to even wrap our
heads around this. God is Logos, the word, since God spoke everything into creation, and
literally spoke into existence everything.
In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. (John 1:1)
The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens; by His
knowledge the depths were broken up, and the clouds drop down the dew. (Proverbs 3:19-20)
So needless to say, this epoch was huge and the only person in this epoch was God. This
humbles me to the core, and is a perfect example of what fearing God is. Fearing God is more

hen we get to the part where we find

out how much God love us! Without giving more away, before we move on, please make sure
you take a minute to thank God for His creation!
Who is this who darkens counsel, by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a
man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. Where were you when I laid the foundations
of the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or
who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its
cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job
38:2-7)
 Chapter 3: Eden

Paradise. That is the word that describes the epoch after creation. Just like how the creation
epoch is covered in only one chapter, the Edenian epoch is covered in a single chapter, Genesis
2. Not to confuse you, but there is an overlap of Genesis 2 with Genesis chapter 1. The Eden
scene happened inside Genesis 1 and provides a parallel account of what happened on day 6.
At the end of every day of creation, God saw that everything He created was Good. And when
God uses the word Good, we are talking about a whole other level of good. When God says
something is good, we are talking about 1,000 times greater than any good we can come up with.
Following on the heels of the creation epoch, it makes perfect sense that the Edenian epoch
would be just as amazing. The term Edenian refers to the period of time in the garden of Eden,
the land God prepared and made for man. This garden was paradise, no sin, the way God
intended.
m this. Genesis 2:8-9 tells us the Lord God planted a garden
eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made
the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; and the tree of
life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
God told Adam to have at it, tend to the garden, eat anything he wanted, besides the fruit from
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, else he would die. So God personally planted this
amazing garden for Adam, giving him the keys to paradise, with the only restriction being not to
eat from one tree.
In Gen
field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them.

This part is often overlooked, but in case you missed that, Adam named every single animal!
How cool that must have been, God showing off his creation to Adam and allowed Adam the
privilege of naming them. And here I struggle to name a pet goldfish or article, Adam thought up
a name for every single animal! Way to go Adam!
Keep in mind, we cannot let the context of our current epoch limit our understanding of past

about dinosaurs and every type of creature we have seen in fossils, and only God knows what
else was there. All the creation that took place prior to this was setting the stage for the pinnacle
of His creation: man.
At this point in time, the only human God had created was Adam. So there was a time in the
Edenian epoch where God and Adam were just chilling together. Not to downplay the
significance of this, but God and Adam were in fellowship together. God strolled through the
garden with Adam and taught him everything he knew.
As Adam was naming all these animals, he had to have noticed how they came in pairs, male and
female. Adam must have witnessed procreation and seen families together. I imagine a moment
where Adam is looking around in the midst of the animals, then looks at himself, and realizes
there is no female for him. This must have been difficult for Adam to understand as he saw there
was no mate for himself, yet there was a pair of every other animal.
This was around the same time God noticed as well, so he caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam
then took a rib from him and created woman. God walked over with Eve and Adam said, this is
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken
(Genesis 2:23)
Adam is actually the one who says that, so he must have just continued the naming spree he was
on and just goes ahead and names her woman! The story in my head is hilarious as I read this
scripture, just imagining God leading this newly formed woman over to Adam and him just
naming her!
Regardless, the bible tells us that both of them were naked and they were not ashamed. Since
there was no sin in the world, there was no concept of nakedness, fear, shame, loss,
disappointment, anger, no concept of wrong. The only concept was living with a very real God
who personally walked with Adam and Eve in fellowship.
Although scripture is a bit limited on this epoch, one thing is clear: This is the world God created
for mankind. This is my favorite epoch lookin
created this perfect world for mankind, and as much as we try to imagine this, our imagination is
tainted by sin so that even the absolute best thing we can imagine pales in comparison to the
world God created.
So to recap, the Edenian epoch is characterized by the garden of Eden, Adam, Eve, paradise,
fellowship with God, pure ecstasy. The only reason why this epoch ended was the choice Adam
and Eve made to disobey God and eat of the one tree God told Adam not to eat of.
Choice
If you are wondering why God even placed that one restriction on Adam, the answer is simple:
Free will. Choice. God did not create robots programmed to obey with no notion of free will, He
made us out of love. And love requires
You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature
rather, serve one another in love. (Galatians 5:13)
God could have created the entire garden with every tree, minus the tree of knowledge of good
and evil. Without getting into a theologically discussion on the importance of knowledge of good
and evil, the point is God placed that tree there to give Adam the choice of obeying God. We
were created to love God and to be loved by God, and without the choice of free will, that would
be impossible.

remember when I was 7, my family had a cat named Blossom that I absolutely adored. For
anyone who has ever had a cat, you know that forcing your love on them does not always work
how you expect!

would hide under the bed or in the corner of the room, and every time I would get close to pick
her up, my open arms were met with scratches and hissing. Hard as I tried to get this cat to love
me, my frustration was met with tears and eventually hopelessness.
After witnessing my well intentioned yet failed attempt at getting this cat to love me, my parents

As disappointed as I was, I stopped my love assault and gave her space. I would see Blossom
walk by, and instead of running over and trying to pick her up, I would stretch out my hand and
she would slowly come over rub against me. Then it clicked.
I had to give my cat the choice to love me. Picking up and hugging was replaced with laser
pointers and catnip. I would leave my door open and she would come in and hop on the bed with
me. All of a sudden, I had a purring and loving cat on me, and it happened when I stopped
forcing it.
In the same way, God is the over-loving 7-year-old and we are the rebellious and independent

same way God created His masterpiece with every color in the spectrum, God created paradise
and gave Adam the choice of obeying and loving God.
If the Edenian epoch is unclear at all, please go straight to Genesis chapter 2. As much as we
would like to end the story there, as we know, this was only the beginning. Although the love
story did not end, the world changed completely and we entered into the 3rd epoch, which was
the consequence of disobeying God.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him but their
thinking became futile and their hearts were darkened. (Roman 1:21)
The labor of the righteous tends to life; the fruit of the wicked tends to sin. (Proverbs 10:16)
 Chapter 4: Sin

This question serves as the basis for the next epoch we will call the pre-flood period, meaning
before the flood. This was a changed world riddled with sin, thanks to that crafty serpent and

In the first two epochs, we see story started. We see a loving, powerful, and
relational God who set up a perfect world. Often people question how a loving God could create
a world where more than 17,000 children a day starve to death, where natural disasters wipe out
entire communities, where pain, suffering, persecution and death seem like inevitable fates.
Questions like this challenge the faith of many believers, and outright prevents others from
accepting the love of God. Now that we look at the world God created, we see that there is
nothing further from the truth. The truth is God did not create this broken world we live in today.
God created a perfect world with the intention of sharing it hand-in-hand with his creation, us.
Yet that is not what we see today.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

stained by the iniquity of disobedience. This is where it all went downhill.

When God confronted Adam and Eve in the garden, we witness
go to Genesis Chapter 3 to see firsthand how this story unfolds. Once the serpent deceived Eve,
she grabbed the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, and ate. She then gave the fruit to Adam
and he ate.

walking around completely nude, but now they were aware of their nudity. They felt shame, and
immediately covered themselves.
Then all of a sudden, they heard God walking in the garden. Now instead of running towards
God, they ran away and hid themselves from the presence of God. The only place they could
hide was in the trees. Then God called out and asked where they were, even though He already
knew.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)
God confronted Adam and asked for an explanation. Did Adam man up, admit responsibility and
apologize? Unfortunately no, he blamed Eve a the woman
who you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat
here and said yeah God, the woman who you gave me, yeah she gave me the fruit and I ate it. So
Adam pushed
making woman in the first place.
Then God turned to Eve for an explanation, and she admitted she ate the fruit, right? Nope, she
also passed the blame, this time to the serpent for deceiving her. So the finger pointing went
from Adam, to Eve, and to the serpent. How often do we point the finger in our own lives,
instead of admitting our own mistakes! Thanks a lot Adam and Eve!
Once we get past the blame, we get to the punishment. Keep in mind, when God gave the
command to not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 2:17, God
told this to Adam before Eve has been created. This is big, did you catch that? Because this is
important in understanding the why behind the punishment. God gave his command to Adam,
not Eve. So as a matter of responsibly, Adam was told directly from God not to eat, whereas Eve
was told by Adam of the command.
The biggest responsibly fell onto Adam in this case, since he was told directly from God. Eve
knew of the command, yet was not told directly from God, only from Adam. So when it comes
time to dish out punishment, they are both guilty, yet more weight falls unto Adam.
Now, once God heard their excuses, He went into judgement mode and dished out the
punishment, starting with the serpent. God did not even give the serpent an opportunity to
respond, He went straight to the punishment.
The LORD God said to the s
livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all
the days of your life. (Genesis 3:14)
We associate the serpent with being a snake, but the serpent becomes the snake we know of, only
after the punishment of God. If the serpent had to slither on his belly now, what did that mean
beforehand? Did the serpent have legs to walk upright prior to this? Arms that hung from the
branches of trees? Food for thought here, the point is whatever deceived Eve in the garden did

punishment for deceiving man.

God also said that there will be an enmity, or hatred, between the serpent and the woman and her
offspring. The serpent will shall bruise his heel but he will bruise his head. God basically sets a
standard that serpent and mankind will forever be at odds with one another, all thanks to that
fateful day in the garden.
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he
shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Now came s turn for punishment. God told greatly multiply her sorrow
and her conception; in sorrow she shall bring forth children.
Hebrew translation, the word sorrow is two different words. The first sorrow is translated from
( ) which means pain, labor, hardship, sorrow and toil. The second sorrow is translated from
( ) which means earthly vessel, or painful toil and pain of grief of mind.
So in essence, we see that having children is now going to be sorrowful for women, in every
his there was no pain or toil, but that He will
greatly multiply her sorrow in childbirth. So for all the women out there, the reason having
 s more extreme. In the same verse, God told Eve that her
desire shall be to her husband, and he will rule over her.
reading this, please do not jump to any conclusions. This is not a political statement, these are
s to Eve. Because Eve was the one to eat first, her eyes were opened first. Already
having the knowledge of good and evil, Eve chose to give the fruit to Adam. In light of her
knowingly corrupting Adam, her punishment was the consequence of dragging Adam into sin.
because you have listened to the
voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not
eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of
your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for
dust you a (Genesis 3:17-19)

is
righteously justifi the most detailed and thorough.
The first thing God told Adam is that he listened to the voice of his wife. God acknowledged that
Adam did not walk up to the tree himself and pluck the fruit off. That being said, Adam did
know the fruit his wife offered was the forbidden fruit. And he chose to eat regardless, which

death do us part!
Yes, Adam chose to listen to the voice of his wife, but God points out that He told Adam
specifically not to eat of it. That brings us back to the previous statement about Adam bearing
more responsibility, since the direct command was given to Adam. So knowing that, the next
part should come as no shock.
Cursed ground, thorns and thistles, sweat on his face. Dust he is and dust he shall return. If this
part seems harsh, realize that the consequence of sin is death. God warned Adam that the day he
ate of the tree, he would die. Although Adam did not peel over and die right after he ate, this
punishment shows the death he is faced with. Since God had made Adam out of dust, breathing
the breath of life into him, was God not justified to return him right back to dust? From an
eternal perspective, God let off Adam lightly since God would be within all rights to destroy
Adam right then and there.
Fortunately, this
never told no, never disciplined or corrected when making a grievous error. If a parent witnessed
that behavior and did nothing to correct it, would that really be loving them? The answer is no,
and we will find many more examples in scripture that point to discipline and correction as
Godly necessities. The first example of Godly discipline is found here, where God punished
Adam for disobedience.
ishment is being cursed above all animals and must now slither

is great sorrow in childbirth, and her desire will be towards man and will be ruled over by him.
Adam s cursed ground where he must toil by the sweat of his brow for all of his
days.
And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: My son, do not
buked you, because the lord
disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as sons. (Hebrew 12:5-6)

punishment as nothing less than perfect. And just like with any parent, as mad as you may get,
you still unconditionally will love your child, even through the disappointment and anger.
We see God the loving father immediately after cursing them, when God personally made coats
for both Adam and Eve before banishing them from the garden. So we see the loving hand of
God in the midst of the evil they had unleashed into the world. As with any great story, there has
to be conflict, some struggle or adversity to overcome, in order for good to triumph over evil.
, Adam set the stage and unleashed the beginning of what will be the
biggest plotline ever!
Here and I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will
come in and eat with him, and he with me. (Revelation 3:20)
Before moving on, take a minute and pray. The information we have gone over is very
thick, so make sure to give your body enough time to digest the part of the meal before moving
on. The part we just discussed is referred to as the original sin, or fall of man. We went from
absolute perfection, paradise and glory to sin, shame and punishment. Because we cannot
imagine a world without sin, it takes some divine creativity to understand how far we have fallen
and how deep the sins of Adam and Eve impact us. Because we are all descendants, the same

mean God loves us any less, just realize that we will not be able to truly understand the world
how it
loving and omnipotent God whose storyline is written far wider than we comprehend!
 Chapter 5: Pre-Flood

Be fruitful and multiply: this is starting with

God commanding Adam and Eve to reproduce and fill the earth. For all those left brained readers
out there, the time of creation is linked to approximately 4100 BC. Since humans lived 900+
years back in those days, the duration of the pre-flood epoch lasts approximately 1,600 years,
with the flood occurring around 2500 BC.
Once Cain murdered his brother Abel, Eve conceived Seth, which is the offspring God blessed
with his covenant. Keep in mind, the earth was populated completely back then, just like it is
today. The descendants God mentioned in Genesis began the holy line that we can trace to today.
Remember, the bible goes over 1600 years in the first 6 chapters of the bible. That does not leave
a lot of room to elaborate, so we are given just the important parts.
So this holy branch of the family tree we can trace, all the way up to the flood. We have Seth,
who had Enos, who had Cainan, then Mahalaleel, then Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and
finally Noah. So here we have 9 descendants of Adam that lead to Noah. Genesis tells us exactly
how long they lived, and how old they were when they had their descendants. As mentioned, this
period lasted approximately 1600 years and was enough time for the entire world to populate.
In elementary school we were taught about Pangea, or when the entire world was one land mass,
one giant continent. Well, this was during the pre-flood epoch where the descendants of Adam
roamed. Unfortunately, those 9 descendants were not the only people on the earth. In fact, they
made up such a small remnant that Noah and his family were the only people in the entire world
who were not corrupt.
enesis 6:1-2 tell us that when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw
the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
go to verse 4 where we find out that there were giants in the earth in those days; and also after
that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them,
the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
Sons of God. In case y

lens to understand the significance of this part. Who were the sons of God? The short answer is:
fallen angels.
In the angelic hierarchy, we have the Archangels at the top, consisting of Michael, Gabriel,
Suriel and Uriel. Under archangel, we have Cherubim and Seraphim. These angels are assigned
to guarding the tree of life, the ark of the covenant, and are in the throne room mentioned in the
book of revelation. Lucifer was a Cherubim who decided to exalt himself above God, which

deceived a third of the angels and they were cast out of heaven. The names of those angels are
classified as Nephilim, meaning fallen.
So now that we understand more about angels, when we go back to Genesis and read about the
sons of God, what that really means is angelic being, or Nephilim. Connecting the dots, we come
to find out these fallen angels impregnated human women, and they had hybrid children: half
man, half angel.
For those of you wanting more information about this, the book of Enoch is a great source.
Enoch was the great grandfather of Noah, and Genesis 5:24 tells us that Enoch walked with God:
and he was not, for God took him. Basically, Enoch lived for 365 years, then God took him up to

So Enoch was such a holy man that God saved him from death by literally zooming him up to
heaven when the time came. In case you were wondering, the book of Enoch was a widely read
and authoritative holy text all the way up to the birth of Jesus. Please research this further, Enoch
is a brilliant text that fills in the gaps for this time period.
Regardless of your belief of Enoch, the point is these fallen angels completely corrupted
mankind. Not only genetically, but the Nephilim taught man all the secrets of heaven, including
charms and spells, astrology, cutting of roots and tree (drugs), how to make weapons and armor,
and the art of making bracelets, ornaments and precious stones.
Long story short, these Nephilim taught mankind all these secrets and corrupted them. Ever
wonder how Stonehenge came to be? What about the lost city of Atlantis? What about lost
civilizations we read about, that seemed to be advanced well beyond their time? Dinosaurs? All
these seemingly unexplainable phenomena suddenly become explainable when looking through

Regardless of your willingness to accept this explanation, the important part is that mankind was
completely corrupt. Thanks to almost two thousand years of intermingling of Nephilim and man,
the bible tells us that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.
And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
(Genesis 6:6)
Remember the world God created for Adam? The perfect paradise and sinless world where God
walked side by side with his creation? Well, this world now looked nothing like that, to the point
where God was sorry He had ever created man. It was so bad the Lord said, I will destroy man
whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man and beast and creeping thing, and the
birds of the air, for it has rep (Genesis 6:7)
The next verse tells us, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord
why Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord? What did he do that was so different than
than Genesis 7:1 where
God said to Noah that He had seen him as righteous before Him in his generation.
If we look back into the book of Enoch, there is a section called the book of Noah, which is
attributed to Noah during the time right before the flood. We find out Enoch was told from the
Lord that he was without reproach, with love and uprightness. He did not corrupt himself with
the forbidden knowledge and did not partake of the wickedness of the time. In fact, Noah
preached to the wicked generation to repent of their ways. He preached
was coming to earth, and unless they repented they would all perish. Think they listened?
Here is where we have to respect Noah, because he was probably considered a crazy person to
everyone in his day. God gave Noah instructions to build the ark, and Noah obeyed. Scripture
does not tell us exactly how long it took Noah to build the ark, yet through deduction we find it
took approximately 40 years to build. Think about that for a minute, for 40 years Noah was
building a 450 ft boat in the middle of the desert. Do you think he looked a little crazy? Think he
heard every insult, mockery and blasphemy under the sun?

courage Noah did during his time. Regardless of what everyone thought of him, he stuck to his
convictions and mission in front of him. If we apply the same principles to our own lives, we
have to be crazy like Noah. We have to be obedient, regardless of what others think. If you are

Once the rains started pouring from heaven, Noah did not appear so crazy. In fact, once the
animals had entered the ark and the rains started, Noah and his family entered into the ark and
shut the doors. For seven days, the rain did not relent and only got worse. In fact, the same
people who turned away from No
the ark for safety once the realized he was right.
Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. (Genesis 7:6)
For thus says the Lord GOD like cities that are not inhabited,
when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover you. (Ezekiel 26:19)
The inhabitants of the earth ran to the ark, repenting, begging to be let in. But it was too late. The
rain did not stop, and for 40 days it poured, flooding the entire earth with water. There was not a
single dry piece of land, and the only life preserved was found in the ark. Can you imagine what
it must have been like inside that ark? The book of Jubilees (another widely accepted holy text
back in the day) tells us for 150 days water prevailed on the face of the earth.

Eventually, the water receded and the ark ended up on the mountains of Ararat, modern day
Turkey. For those of you reading who have a hard time accepting this, in 2010 the ark was
actually discovered exactly where scripture said it would be. It was the exact length of 300 cubits
(450 feet) and made from gopher wood, the same wood God instructed Noah to build the ark
from!
If you are wondering why this is not a bigger deal than it should be, realize that the ruler of this

to admit this truth? That would mean willing to admit the bible is true, and would mean every
single scientist who proposes the big bang theory of creation, believing we evolved from
monkeys, would be wrong. It would mean admitting God is right. So what did the secular world
have to say about this discovery?
Of course they said this was not the ark, and their reason was the carbon dating (C-14) said this
was not from the right time period. These are the same scientists who claim the earth is 540
million years old. Now, I am not a scientist and for any professionals in this field, please forgive
the simple explanation. The short answer is the formula used in carbon dating is based on the C-
14 dating is based on the half-life, or decay rate, of the carbon atoms. With their current formula,
the carbon found in the wood says it is between 20,000-50,000 years old! Going on our biblical
timeline, the earth has not been around a fraction of that time, so either the bible or science is
wrong.
This is where many Christians experience a crisis of faith. We are smart people, we recognize the
natural laws of the world and can prove fundamental truths through science. So how can we
reconcile seemingly contradictory information? Seriously though, the flood is such a
flood as truth, everything else does
not make sense. It would be like trying to complete a puzzle without the largest corner piece.
You can never complete the entire picture without this piece, so bear with me and I will show
you how it is possible to be a scientific and bible believing Christian!
Carbon- 14 dating is used to date once living things. Carbon is in all organic material (living
things), and there are three variations of carbon isotopes: C-12, C-13 and C-14. Carbon 12 and
13 are stable, whereas carbon 14 is unstable (radioactive). This means eventually carbon 14 will
decay, or a neutron in the C-14 atom will be converted into a proton. So the C-14 atom gains a
proton and loses a neutron, meaning eventually a C-14 atom will change to N-14 (nitrogen- 14).
Once a living creature dies, it stops taking in C-14. So the concept of carbon dating rests on
measuring the amount of C-14 remaining. There are two variables that need to be known: the
decay rate of C-14 and the starting amount of C-14 in the creature when it died. Decay rate is
measured by half-life, the time it takes for half the atoms to decay. Since we know the half-life of
C-14 is 5,730 years, the only other variable we need to know is the starting amount of carbon.
Remember the stable carbon isotopes C-12 and C-13? Well C-12 and C-14 are found in all living
creatures, and since C-12 is stable, that amount will not decay and remain constant. So there will
be a ratio of C-12 to C-14 equal to that of the environment. Not to get too complicated, but
basically for every one C-14 atom, there are approximately one trillion C-12 atoms. Scientists
will use this ratio to determine the starting amount of C-14.
Here is a chart to help understand.
This is the bread and butter, the fundamental cornerstone of carbon dating. The creator of carbon
dating, Dr. Willard Libby, assumed a couple different things when he created this system. He
assumed that the ratio of C-14 to C-12 in the atmosphere has always been the same as it is today.
Dr. Libby was an evolutionist who believed the earth was billions of years old.
-14 being produced in the atmosphere must equal the decay rate
in order to be considered in equilibrium. If the C-14 production rate is not in equilibrium, that
would mean this entire formula, the ratio of C-14 to C-12, would be completely wrong! The
entire basis for carbon dating would be completely null and void if there was no balance.
Imagine a seesaw, with C-14 on one end and C-12 on the other. They would need to be
completely balanced in order for this equation to work. If all of a sudden the C-14 side was not
constant, the seesaw would tip and there would be no equilibrium. The whole thing would be
wrong.
Dr. Libby knew this, and he was troubled when he discovered the atmosphere was not in
equilibrium. To justify the discrepancy, he claimed that since the earth was billions of years old,
and if the earth started with no C-14 in the atmosphere, it would take 30,000 years to get into
equilibrium. He attributed the non-equilibrium state to experimental error, and said hey, enough

ignore this part.

C-14 to C-12 is NOT constant, and we cannot just write off the explanation by saying, eh, 30,000
years just eventually fixes it. How can we assume this, when the bible tells us the earth is not
even ¼ of that age!
If that was not enough to convince you, how about the magnetic field of the earth? That field
around our planet that protects us from space radiation and cosmic rays, yes that magnetic field.
It has always remained constant, right? Actually no, it is decaying and has been getting weaker
for thousands of years. Even just from 1845 until now, our magnetic field has weakened by 10%!
That is just the past 200 years when this started getting measured!
The rate that C-14 enters our atmosphere is directly correlated to the strength of our magnetic

C-14 to be produced. That would mean the decay rate of C-14 would also be wrong, if literally
the rate C-14 being produced has been decreasing significantly.
Now that we are aware of two fundamental errors that invalidate the entire carbon dating
net. You know that gas we put
into our cars? That is fossil fuel: fossils. As in fossils of once living things, creatures with carbon
in them, including plants. The same fuel we use to run our world is actually the remnants of the
flood that were buried in the earth. By looking at fossil fuel records, we can prove there was
significantly more vegetation in the world than today. That would mean the biosphere at the time
of the flood had more than 500 times the amount of carbon than today!
So how can C-14 dating be the most widely accepted method for dating fossils, if there are 3
huge and fundamental errors that invalidate the time period placed on the earth? Well for one,
lens to
see through, thanks to the bible. The same secular community who believes we evolved from the
primordial ooze as a cosmic accident, a genetic mutation, must be able to explain the world to
support a view of the earth with no God or intelligent design.
Secondly, many Christians will shy away from challenging the current views, either from lack of
knowledge, fear of looking stupid and not being able to provide an intelligent answer to these
objections. Simply saying because the bible says so will get scornful looks, condescending
laughter and fill in the blank. Now that we can scientifically refute objections to creation, flood
and the earth not being as old as they think, watch what the truth does. The truth is a powerful
weapon.
Thank you for going to science class with me, hopefully now you feel a bit smarter and confident

fundamental in understanding His plan and timeline. Ask yourself if you believe In G

us? He wants us to know, wants us to appreciate his glory and majesty, wants to show his power
and omnipotence.
The flood really did happen. We really did discover the remains of the ark. It was really exactly
where God said it was, and it was really the exact size God instructed Noah to build. All life
really was wiped out from the face of the earth. The earth really was once one giant landmass,
and broke up into the continents we have today. There really were giants, fallen angels and a
civilization more advanced than ours today. Solomon, the guy the bible says was the wisest man
who ever was or will be, had this to say:
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing
new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9) Starting to click now?
Thank you Lord for divine understanding. Thank you for your Word, for absolute truth, for
giving us the roadmap to life. Thank you for eyes to see, ears to hear, and for and understanding
mind. Please increase our faith to the point where we truly understand that every word you
wrote is true, and that everything you said you did really did happen. And thank you for proving
that every word you tell us about what will happen, actually will come to pass. Thank you!
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. (Matthew 24:35)
 Chapter 6: Post Flood

Fresh canvas, clean slate, new earth. This new epoch began the earth as we see it today. Noah
and his family were the sole survivors of the previous civilization, and from this family the world
began repopulating, leading to the creation and birth of you and me. So everyone in the world is
related, from Adam, all the way through Noah, and then eventually from his three sons Shem,
Ham, and Japheth.
the ark, the first thing Noah did was built an
altar. He sacrificed the clean animals brought on the ark, as an offering and sacrifice to God.

fruitful, multiply, and repopulate the earth.

God gave Noah his blessing and commandment to have dominion over every animal and every
seed-bearing plant. Then God established a covenant with Noah and his sons. Covenant simply

covenant was with Adam, blessing him with dominion over the earth and fruitfully multiplying.
So now God transitioned to a new covenant, establishing this promise between Noah and his
sons.
and with every living
creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from
all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you;
neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there anymore be
a flood to destroy the earth.
And God said, this is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every
living creature that is with you, for all generations to come. I shall set my bow in the cloud, and
it shall be a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I
bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my
covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters
shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9:9-15)

life through a flood again. How cool is that! Thanks to science we know the how behind a
rainbow, meaning the reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in the water droplets result in
the spectrum of light seen in the sky. So we can understand the how behind a rainbow, the
scientific reason for the rainbow we see.
The part science cannot explain is the why. A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon, and
scientists have developed many theories behind the why, yet there is still no proven principle or
law that anyone can agree on. From the ancient Greeks, Romans, Persians and Chinese, we see a
head scratch going back centuries, with big scientific names and explanations, using
mathematics, electromagnetic spectrum, resonances, formalism, algorithmic variations in
concavity spherical elastic scattering. See how easy it is to sound smart? Do not let big scientific
words fool you: the reason why a rainbow occurs is because God placed it there!
God literally placed the rainbow, His bow, in the clouds, as a reminder of His covenant. Are you
starting to see how science simply aids us in understanding how God created the world, but
cannot tell us the why? Do not be afraid of science, it is perhaps the greatest tool to aid us in
appreciating and understanding
combines the how and why together, attributing science to both. As children of the creator of
heaven and earth, we are given the why manual called the Bible! Just because science has turned
into an idol, realize science was created by God and science has not, cannot, and will not ever
disprove the Bible, it can only verify and confirm the Word of God! How awesome is that!
 Chapter 7: Sons of Noah

This new post flood world began around 2450 BC, and the entire landscape of the earth had
changed. No longer were dinosaurs roaming the land, no giants or Nephilim opening gallivanting
around, no more ancient civilizations of old (Atlantis, Annukai, Gilgamesh, etc.) and only God
knows what else.
The world outside the doors of the ark consisted of broken up land masses we call continents.
We see new oceans, rivers, mountains and a changed landscape. The only potential area with
potential life still preserved was in the water. Some of the sea creatures in the oceans were
preserved, some that would give us nightmares if we really knew what lurked beneath! One
example we have is the leviathan God created, the sea monster from the book of Job, Revelation
and Enoch. God created the Leviathan and that creature will be present on the day of judgement:
There are some things in the ocean!!!!
Anyways, this new earth had just been covered in water and would need to recover. Like a tree
that sheds its leaves during winter, Spring had begun and new buds started to regrow. We have
God blessing Noah and his sons, and so began
break down how this looked.
After Noah built the altar to God, the next thing he built or better yet planted, was a vineyard.
The book of Jubilee tells us it took 4 years to collect the fruit, and then Noah waited until the 5th
year where he made another sacrifice to God and then Noah and his sons celebrated and enjoyed
the wine they had labored over.
Noah perhaps enjoyed the wine a bit too much, and stumbled back to his tent. In his drunken
stupor, he removed his clothes and laid
and discovered his nakedness. Instead of covering his father, he decided to run out and tell his
two brothers, Shem and Japheth.

and their eyes down. When Noah awoke, he realized what Ham had done. Just like how God
dished out his punishment to Adam and Eve, Noah dished out his punishment. Here is the fate
Noah declared for Ham
nto his brethren. And he said, blessed
be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he
shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be -27)
So what does all that mean? Well, Ham
descendants to a lifetime of subjugation to the offspring of Shem and Japheth. So Noah curses
one son and blesses curse his son Ham, rather his grandson
Canaan. At first glance, this punishment seems a bit harsh. I mean really, Ham saw his father
naked and told his brothers, so his descendants are forever cursed?
This is where context makes a huge difference and allows another lens of perspective. Seeing his
ess was a great shame back then. Think about it, from the 9 generations since
Adam and Eve, Noah understood that nakedness was a great shame, as witnessed from the
beginning. Seeing others nakedness, especially another family member, even worse seeing a
fa
So the fact that Ham uncovered
o to
Noah, this was almost the biggest disgrace and shameful act his son could have committed.

this was the first sin to occur in the new world. Paralleled with the garden of Eden, the sanctity

this new world. Guess Ham should have kept his mouth shut and covered up his father!
The reason this is so important to understand boils down to the tribes, races, and nations that
eventually arise from the three sons. Noah divided the land into thirds and assigned each son a
region for their families and descendants.
Shem had 5 sons and was given the portion of land in what we cons
descendants would include the Moabites, Israelites, Ammonites, Ishmaelites, Edomites,

12 tribes, and eventually Jesus. So needless to

Japheth, the other blessed son, had 7 sons and was given the portion of land in Europe and Asia.

descendants are generally associated with nations of the gentiles and European world.
Ham had 5 sons, including the infamous Canaan (which means humiliation). Ham was given the
land in Southwest Asia, Africa and Canaan. His descendants would go on to include the
Canaanites, Ethiop
 Chapter 8: Tower of Babel

mighty warrior, yet

thanks to Bugs Bunny calling Elmer Fudd a nimrod, the word has been associated with stupidity,
ignorance and moronic behavior. In hindsight, C son Nimrod was very moronic, yet back in
his day he ruled the entire nation. He would be the first ruling dictator or authority in the new
world.
Around 2300 BC is the time period associated with the next chapter
150 years after the flood, the world had begun to populate to the point where communities and
tribes began expanding into nations. The bible does not provide much detail here, other than the
whole earth was one language and one speech (Gen 11:1).
Eventually, enough people decided to make a tower whose top would reach unto heaven. And
they were actually succeeding in building this huge tower! In verse 6 we find that the Lord came
down to look and noticed that the people were one, and they had one language, and that they
would not be prevented from doing whatever they wanted!
Basically, the people during this time were so successful in working together and were so
likeminded that whatever they imagined in their hearts to do, they would be able to do! Let that
sink in for a minute. If left alone, the tower of babel would have been successful and there would
be a tower whose top none
would be able to see.
What a wild thought!
God directly intervened by
confounding their
language so they would be
unable to understand one
another. Imagine, they
were busy building this
giant tower, everything
according to plan, and
then all of a sudden
everyone started speaking
in other languages! We are
talking every language
known today, including
languages unknown and
forgotten.
The book of Jasher
provides some additional
details on the account of
babel, since Genesis has
less than one chapter of
information going over
this. In fact, there is a pretty amazing story within this story. Remember the coat of skins that
God made for Adam and Eve before banishing them from the Garden? Well, according to Jasher,
that coat was passed down, and had some magical qualities associated with it!
Once Adam died, he gave this coat unto Enoch, who passed them along to his son, Methuselah,
before he was taken into Heaven. Methuselah passed it along to his son, Noah, who took the coat
with him in the ark. According to Jasher, Ham stole the coat from Noah before leaving and gave
to his son Cush, who would pass along to his son, Nimrod.
When he was 20 years old, Nimrod put the coat on, which gave him strength and power.
Remember that the name Nimrod means mighty warrior, linking the rise of Nimrod with his
possession of the cloak made directly from God! The book of Jasher, although it did not make
the cannon, was another widely authoritative scripture, and is mentioned in Joshua and Samuel.
We read on in Jasher that eventually the sons of Ham made war against the sons of Japheth.
Nimrod, who was the grandson of Ham, was so mighty in battle that he defeated anyone who
stood against him, and the people gave him a crown and authority. So in essence he was the first
tyrant, who took power through force and ruled over the w right-hand
man and general of his army was Terah, would eventually have a son named Abram, who God
later renamed Abraham.
Scripture tells us the people began building this tower in the land of Shinar, modern day
Mesopotamia. You know, that really fertile crescent area, the place we are taught in history
books that humans evolved and eventually transitioned from nomads into farmers? Well, turns
out that is the exact area the mighty hunter Nimrod established the tower of babel, aka Babylon.
So when we read about Babylon later on in scripture, realize the very establishment of Babylon,
and the Babylonian spirit, can be traced back to Babel, and the tower they built.
We learn that Nimrod did not go in the ways of the Lord, and was more wicked than all men
before him, from the days of the flood until then. So Nimrod was not a great guy, he made gods
of wood and stone, and made his subjects worship false gods. Nimrod became unpopular;
however, his general Terah was loved and respected b

covenant, a new nation, and eventually the nation of Israel. In fact, the three largest monotheistic
religions of Judaism, Islam and Christianity can be traced to the next chapter, so this next part is
fundamental in understanding the division of our current world religions.
 Chapter 9: Abram

For those of you who remember the Sunday School song about father Abraham having many
sons, and many sons had father Abraham, that is a great introduction into the next chapter of

we need an entire chapter to know the story of Abram, later renamed Abraham.

respected, loved by the people, and perhaps the second most powerful man of the known world
at that time. So Abram was born into a high-ranking family, with all the privileges and honors
that follow.

story later on. Genesis does not provide us any

back story on Abram, skipping to the part where God calls Abram out of his homeland,
promising to bless him and his descendants.
Since the bible gives us the information we need, we could stop right there and we would be fine.
through the
pages of this book would grossly undersell the story of Abram. Imagine if you had only 150
words to write your own story about your life: what would you include? Would it look similar to
a resume, with bullet points highlighting major events and achievements?
More than likely yes, with such limited space, trying to tell someone who you are in 150 words
would look more like an outline as opposed to a sonnet or short story. By all means you can get
the important information across, yet you would not expect someone reading to know you who
really are in such a brief synopsis. The point here is the Bible contains everything we need, yet
we want to kno
Abraham and who he was.
Before we look more into Abram, here is the reason we are making such a big deal about him:
God established his next covenant with Abraham. This is a big deal, since God had previously
made a covenant with only two people, Adam and Noah. Because

the backstory, you will have no doubt as to God

The birth of Abram in 2056 BC was heralded by a great sign in the stars, similar to the star of
Bethlehem that heralded in the birth of the Messiah more than 2,000 years later. Although the
date of birth has been debated, with the aid of the Holy Spirit and star software

to say about this.

And it was in the night that Abram was born, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men
of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced
with him on that night.
And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their
eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star
came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four
sides of the heavens.
And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages
understood this matter, and they knew its importance.
And they said to each other, this only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night,
who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children
forever (Jasher 8:1-4)

covenant that God makes with Abraham. Somehow these wise men could tell this all because
they happen to look up that night and see this sign in the stars. They saw a large star coming
from the east, swallowing up the four stars from the four sides of heaven.
From what we can tell, no one to date has been able to make this connection: until now! On July
10th, 2056 BC, we see a solar eclipse just prior to sunset and the new moon coming in from the
east. The moon passes through Mercury, Saturn, Venus and Regulus, intersecting in the
constellation Leo. We will go into the significance of stars, planets and signs in the stars later on.
The point is, we literally can go back and verify 4,000-year-old signs! How amazing is our God!
Anyways, the prophetic birth of Abram troubled the wise men, since they feared Nimrod and
knew if they did not tell him and he found out, they would be finished. So just like Herod would
do more than 2,000 years later, Nimrod feared for his power and ordered Terah to bring him
Abram to kill. Terah agreed, but instead of bringing Abram, he took a newborn baby from one of
his servants. Nimrod then took the child and bashed his head on the ground, killing him.
Like we said, Nimrod was not a good guy. Luckily, Nimrod thought he killed Abram and for 10
years was hidden in a cave with his mother. When he turned 10 years old, Abram left the cave
and for 39 years went and lived with his great great great grandfather Noah. There he grew up
and learned the ways of the Lord and was not corrupted by the iniquity of his father and the
Babylonian influence.
Jasher actually tells us there was not a man found in those days in the whole earth who knew the
Lord, except for Noah and his household. Everyone else was worshiping their own gods, which
we find out Terah worshiped 12 gods made of wood and stone, after the 12 months of the year.

It was during this time that the construction of the tower of Babel began. It was also during this
time, when Abram was about 50 years old,

personality.
When Abram saw the statues, he examined them and saw that they could not hear, or speak and
had no life in them. His father made them with his hands, yet somehow believed they created the
world and could deliver them from 99.9% certain they were
complete bogus, but just to confirm, he sacrificed 3 goats and brought the meat to the statues. He
placed them at their feet and for an entire day sat down and watched.
Nothing happened. They did not stretch out their hands to eat, did not see, did not hear. Being
completely sure of their falsehood, Abram was filled with a righteous fury and grabbed an axe

only remaining statue and left. As he was leaving the room, Terah came back and saw his false
idols destroyed and broken on the ground.
Furious with his son, he confronted Abram and asked him what he did to his gods. Hilariously,
Abram told dol with the axe in his hand! Abram told
his father he brought in the meat and all the idols reached out and once and tried to take it, so the
one idol got angry and destroyed the others!
Abram set up his father and sure enough it worked! Terah knew that Abram was lying, because
he made the idols himself and knew that they could not see or hear or stretch forth their hands.
Once he got his father to admit he was worshipping false gods, Abram asked him why he chose
to falsely worship the work of his hands, instead of the Lord God who created the heavens and
earth.
To recap, Abram had been with Noah for the past 40 years and knew God. He was educated
about the pre-flood world and how the corruption and false worship had led to the destruction of
the world. So being raised in truth, coming back to discover these false gods his father
worshiped, was almost absurd to him. Yes, Abram perhaps lied about what happened, but his
intention was to get his father to admit his folly, in which he did.
So, instead of nting of his work, Terah decided to run to
Nimrod and tell him what happened. Terah was so furious, he wanted his son to be judged and
punished for his deeds. So Nimrod ordered his servants to bring Abram forth, and Abram told
Nimrod the same thing, to which Nimrod also admitted the idols could not have destroyed each
other since they were made of wood and stone.
Abram called Nimrod out for his ignorant and evil behavior, telling him to repent of his deeds
and come back to God. He warned Nimrod that if he did not change his ways, he would die
shamefully and be judged. Any idea as to how Nimrod responded? As you might guess, not well.
He threw Abram in prison for 10 days, and sent out an order to every prince, governor and man
of significance from every province, to come witness.
We are told there were over 900,000 witnesses gathered in Babel, including those wise men who
witnessed the sign in the stars 50 years ago. Somehow they recognized that this was the same
man they warned about, which Terah somehow forgot to mention to Nimrod. Oops! When
Nimrod furiously confronted Terah, he lied and said his son Haran told him to do it.
Although Terah wins no father of the year award, his life was spared, only to be replaced with
his son. So Nimrod ordered the furnaces to be heated for 3 days and nights, and to throw Abram
and his brother Haran in the fire. So the two brothers were stripped down to their underwear,
hands bound with rope, and tossed into the flaming furnace.
As soon as they were thrown in, Haran was immediately burned to ashes, as well as the 12 men
who tossed them in. God spared Abram and for 3 days he walked in the furnace, unburnt. When
Nimrod was told of this, in disbelief he went out to see for himself. He ordered his men to get
Abram out, but the fire was so hot and the flames so high, that no one could get close. Nimrod
threatened them with their lives and 8 more men were burned alive trying to approach.
The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? (Psalm 27:1)
My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will
answer me, O God; incline your ear to me; hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast
love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Keep me as the
apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my
deadly enemies who surround me. (Psalm 17:5-9)
Nimrod called out to Abram and asked how we was spared, in which Abram takes the
opportunity to tell everyone listening it was God who saved him, the same God who saved Noah,
the creator of heaven and earth. Not even Nimrod could argue with the glory he had witnessed,
so Abram was honored and rewarded with gold, silver and servants, and sent him off in peace.
And this is where we find Abram when God called him to leave the land.

generation, the idols of his father, the wrath of the King, and the flames of the furnace. He boldly
stuck by his convictions and knew in his heart the Lord God and saw through the falsehood of
the times. The first part of Abraham's story in Genesis begins in chapter 12, where God calls him
out of the land.
 Chapter 10: Canon

After hearing this, you may wonder if this story can be believed. As amazing as this is, one
would think it should be included in the account of Genesis. I mean come on, this has every
element of drama and faith that exemplif
Word. Why then is this not mentioned in the bible?

that a religious community regards as authoritative scripture. So when we say B

talking about the collection of selected texts we consider authoritative, and divinely inspired
word of God. So the 66 books in the bible today would be considered the canon.
ll-powerful, all-knowing and all-good. If God wanted
to make sure we received his Word, you can be 100% certain He would find a way to get it to us.
The same God who spoke the very fabric of existence into being, who created man from the dust
of the earth, whose footstool is planet Earth, do you believe He is capable of getting His Word to
us?
O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and When I rise, you
perceive my thoughts from afar. (Psalm 139:1-2)
The bible we have today is doubt. However, depending on the time
in history, physical location on earth and denominational sect, not every person would read the
same texts. In fact, the Catholic bible contains 73 books, Ethiopian Orthodox bible contains 81
books, Hebrew bible contains only 24 books and then finally the Protestant Bible containing 66
books. We could take up another whole book just tracing back the development of the biblical
canon, and highly encourage you to research for yourself.
The point is, studying texts that are not in the 66 books in our Bible is not blasphemous. The
term ecumenical council describes where religious elders at that time would meet and decide on
what texts to include in the canon. Tracing back to the texts surviving the flood, every period
throughout history would have different texts, all the way up to about 50AD when Paul and the
disciples of Jesus wrote the new testament.
written for almost 2,000 years. All we have done since then
is debate on which texts should
story is too large in scope, too deep and wide, to be limited to 66 books. His love is overflowing,
has been since creation, and there are not enough pages to tell it.
and there are also many other things which
Jesus did. If everyone one of them were written down, I think that the world itself would not
contain the written books. Amen. same John who would later receive a
mighty revelation while on the island of Patmos, known as the book of Revelation.

witnessed with Abram, we will also touch on several other holy scriptures, most of which will be
new information. The skeptic in you may be a bit apprehensive, and that is good because you
should be. We must test the spirits to make sure we are not led astray.
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test spirits to see whether they are from God,
because many false prophets have gone out into the World. (1 John 4:1)
On the same note, we cannot allow our skepticism to deny God the glory He deserves. We are
not adding or taking away from the Word, we are simply expanding our view, perspective and
heart into deeper understanding of who God is, and the extent of His love for us.
Hopefully this is exciting for you, since our lives have been radically transformed in the process
of writing this. In fact, through this process of research and discovery, the revelations we have
received have been almost too much to bear. You will notice the more you grow in your
understanding and your relationship with God, the more y

prophets whose words were divinely inspired from God, pray for an understanding heart and
mind. Remember, when Jesus showed up on the scene, the Jews at the time thought they had
everything figured out. The Pharisees and Sadducees in charge literally rejected the Messiah God
promised to them, and chose to have Him hung on a cross.
Do not make a similar mistake by denying the truth in front of you. One way or another, this
has been brought to you for a specific reason and purpose. Regardless if
this is your first time hearing this message, or if you have been studying the bible your entire life,

way of that, including yourself.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Romans 8:35)
Let the Holy Spirit guide you and let the Word establish your path. Much prayer, research and
due diligence has been put into delivering this message. As obedient servants of the most High
God, our responsibility is to deliver the message with full transparency, diligence and conviction
because this message is not about us.
Embrace this new perspective, welcome the opportunity to expand and challenge your current
views on God, do not allow pride or fear ind the childlike sense

gdom
(Matthew 18:3)

and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious
(Luke 10:21)
But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained
before the world unto our glory. (1 Corinthians 2:7)
 Chapter 11: Abraham

Now the Lord said to Abram, go from

make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the
(Genesis 12:1-3)

proven to be faithful and righteous, so he once again obeys and packs up everything and leaves.
Scripture tells us Abram took his wife Sarai (whose name would later be changed to Sarah) and
his nephew Lot. Sarai was the daughter of Haran, so technically Abram married his niece in case
you were wondering.
Remember, family trees contained less branches in those days, so although this may seem a bit
taboo to us, this practice was pretty standard back in the day. Anyways, Abram picked up
everything and began the long move, unsure of where exactly he would be going. Motivated by
faith and through Canaan (modern day Palestine) and build an altar
near Bethel, which would later become Bethlehem. Almost like God was preparing Bethel for
something very important in the future!
A plague eventually struck the land of Canaan and Abram realized he must go to Egypt for
provision, or else his entire group would perish. The only problem was Sarai turned heads, as in
she was beautiful. So beautiful Abram feared for his life, since he believed the Pharaoh would
want her as a wife and kill Abram to get him out of the way. So Abram ordered his people to say
Sarai was his sister, so he would not be killed.
His plan backfired since the Pharaoh took her anyways, thinking she was fair game. Not his
proudest moment, yet God intervened and before the Pharaoh could do anything, she was
delivered untouched to Abram and they return to their previous camp near Bethel. As much as
Abram obeyed God and is the father of nations, he was still human and occasionally goofed up.
Yet God still delivered and saved Sarai, as only God can do.
We see the same thing shortly after this when the Persian King Chedorlaomer (ked-or-law-o-
mer) made war with the nations near Abram and conquered the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,
where Lot happened to be residing with his family. Abram found out and took 318 of his trained
men, and they conquered the King, saving Lot and his family.
Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned in multiple scriptures, and there is never anything good to
be said about these two cities, which should come as no surprise seeing as how sodomy stems
from the word Sodom. They practiced many unspeakable acts there, yet the cities were wealthy
and thriving centers for commerce and trade. Regardless, Lot and his family returned to the city
after being saved and they went on with their business.
Now, shortly after this, God appeared Fear not,
Abram: I am your shield and your exceeding great reward. And Abram said, Lord God, what
will You give me, sin God responded to Abram by letting him know he would
have an heir from his own loins. He was then brought outside and looked up into the stars.
 And He said
to him, so sh
To throw out some science, there are 300 billion stars in the Milky Way, which is one galaxy.
The observable universe has around 100 billion galaxies, so we are talking as much as 70 billion
trillion stars. Now, Abram did not know that, and had no giant telescope lying around, yet even
simply looking up he would have seen between 5,000-10,000 stars!
The next verse is extremely important. Remember, Abram was over 80 years old at this point,
and was looking at the majesty of the stars, unable to comprehend their scope. And here God told
him his descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky. Seems impossible, yet in verse 6 we
find that Abram believed in God. And He counted it to him for righteousness. Let that sink in for
a minute.

than Abram, meaning she was over 70 years old. For the women reading this, you well know
how absurd that would be. Yet Abraham believed what God told him. And guess what? God
counted it to him as righteousness. Believing God in the midst of impossibility, by being
considered crazy by any human standard, Abram was righteous. Embrace crazy, seek the
impossible and trust not in your own sight, you may just be heading down the path of
righteousness!
The history of the formation of Israel and nation of Islam is traced to this next chapter, so please
make sure you are prayerfully and spiritually mindful. Current events will make more sense
when you realize how they began. You will begin to understand why the Holy Land in the
Middle East is in constant conflict, why the Abrahamic religions differ in theology, and how they
connect.
So Abram received the vision from the Lord, filled with excitement and righteous expectation,
and told his wife what was promised. Now we are not told if Sarai believed or not, yet after she
remained barren, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She was gifted servants from
the Pharaoh after she left, one of those servants being her personal maid, named Hagar.
Sarai advised a plan and came to Abram saying
children. Go into my servant; it may be that I may obtain In
case giving permission, or rather commanding, Abraham to sleep
with her Egyptian maid in order to conceive a child with her.
Can you imagine the thoughts running throu
this, if your wife told you the same thing, what would you think? I imagine Abram had one of

or maybe he thought she was going senile! Scripture does not tell us what Abram was thinking,
only that he hearkened to the voice of Sarai. The word harkened in the Greek-Hebrew translation
is sh ma which means to listen or obey. The same sh ma God used in Genesis 3:17, where
Adam hearkened to the voice of his wife. Notice any parallels here?
So just like Adam did, Abram listened to his wife and as Marvin Gaye sings about, they got it
on! Once Hagar became pregnant, Sarai became jealous and realized she had made a mistake.
Sarai became bitter and in her harsh treatment, chased off Hagar where she fled into the
wilderness.
Then, an angel of the Lord found Hagar by a fountain of water in the wilderness and told her to

cannot be numbered for the multitude. You shall bear a son and call his name Ishmael, because
the Lord has listened to your affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every

(Genesis 16:7-12)
This is important, as the very first child born to Abram was Ishmael, which means God will hear.
Abram was 86 years old when Ishmael was born, the son who the angel of the Lord said will be a
wild man. Fast-forward 13 years and the Lord appeared to Abram again, this time with the
answers he was looking for.

and you, and I will multiply you greatly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him
s with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No
longer is your name called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for you shall be a father of
many na -5)
The previous covenant God had made with Noah had just been renewed, this time with Abram,
who was now called Abraham. God also extended H s,
promising great nations and kings to arise from his seed. God promised to establish his covenant
with his future generations, an eternal and everlasting covenant.

When God set up his covenant with Noah, he followed up with a sign as a reminder of his
covenant, the rainbow. Our Creator loves establishing signs as proof of his promises, and just
like Noah, God established a sign as a reminder of his covenant. Any guess as to what this was?

bet :10) Ouch! Although this sign was not as pleasant as the
rainbow, Abraham was told the removal of foreskin would
promise.
Just as God does, there is always a spiritual meaning behind physical acts and signs. Said in
another
previous covenant, the physical manifestation was His bow in the clouds. The spiritual meaning
ends of the
rainbow represent the ark or bridge from the pre-flood era to the post flood era. Ever wonder

foreskin from our male reproductive organ. The spiritual meaning behind this is to show the
separation of his descendants from the rest of the world, as well as spiritual abundance in
reproduction. Seeing as how Abraham was told to be fruitful and multiply, every time he would
go to reproduce, there would be a glaring reminder of the promise made.
As it turns out, circumcision actually has many hygienic benefits, as well as decreased risk of
urinary tract infections and diseases. About 80% of parents will choose to have their male
children circumcised, simply from a physical health view. When we witness God telling

not the first thing to come to mind when they were strapped down and they saw the knife coming
to their genitals (ouch!), yet God knew what He was doing when he gave this command.
So picking back up, God established His new covenant with Abraham and was told to start
circumcising. Now, it had been 13 years si
descendants as numerous as the stars, and God addressed what must have been a very pressing
concern for him.
God told Abraham, s for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be
her name. I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become a mother nations;
kings of peoples shall come from her.
Then Abraham fell on his face an shall a child be born to a man
who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is
oh that Ishmael migh
 No Sarah your wife will bear you a son indeed, and you shall call his name Isaac:
and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his children after
him.
As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and
multiply him greatly. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation.
But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, who Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.
(Genesis 17:15-23)
God just titled the next chapters of His story through this last declaration to Abraham. This is the

sons, Kedar, who would go to father the Quraysh tribe. Someone of importance came from this
tribe, a man named Muhammad, founder of the Islam faith.
We will go into more detail on the split leading to the nation of Islam shortly, once we have the
proper context. Finishing this part of the story, God promised Abraham that He would bless
Abraham with a son Isaac, and when Sarah heard this she laughed. Then again, she was 89 years
old at the time of this promise, well past the prime of her childbearing age. Isaac means laughter,
so ironically his name comes from this encounter.
 Chapter 13: Sodom and Gomorrah

During this time, Abraham was upon

Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of their great sin, God had enough and could no longer tolerate
their iniquities. As the three angels turned to leave and destroy the cities, Abraham remembered
that his nephew Lot was still in the city, along with his family. And we see Abraham boldly

righteous within the city, will you still destroy and not save the city for th God
responded that if there were fifty righteous men, He would save the city on their behalf.
And the LORD

who am but dust and ashes. Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the

And H -
Then he

the Lord be

the sake of ten I will not destroy it. -33)

What was it about these cities? Why was Abraham worried there would not even be 10 righteous
men found in the city? Genesis does not provide much detail into the wickedness of the cities, so

out any city since the flood, so there must have been a good reason, right?
Well, the book of Jasher and Jubilee provide some additional detail on the cities. We are told that
not only were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed, but the whole Jordan plain,
including the cities of Admah, and Zeboyim. Sodom and Gomorrah were the two most thriving
cities in the middle, so although they were the focus, the entire region was destroyed.
Their unspeakable acts included a quarterly celebration where every man would bring out their
wives and children. For an entire
daughters, and the men would stand by and not say a word. These unspeakable acts were also
committed between men with men and woman with women. Hence the root of the word sodomy,
sodom, comes from this city.
Every stranger that ventured into the city would be harassed, their goods stolen, and if any man
took to the judge for justice, they would be fined and ordered to pay their accusers for the
service. They would play sick jokes by refusing to sell bread to some strangers to the point where
men would die of starvation, and their gold and belongings would be scavenged by the men
were discovered, she was burned alive in the middle of the city.
There were beds lined up in the streets, and as travelers would pass by, they would be grabbed
and thrown unto the beds. If they were shorter than the length of the bed, they would grab them
by all four limbs and stretch them until they died. If they were taller than the length of the bed,
they would pull the corners of the bed together until they died.
Anyone found showing kindness to strangers would be brought before their courts and found
guilty of transgressing their laws. They would be tied up, smothered head to foot in honey, and
have beehives placed near them where they would be stung to death by bees.
The cities had an abundance of food and peace in the land, yet they would not help the poor and
needy, making a mock
justice, no righteousness, no love to be found in the whole city. Lot and his family were the only
people who had remained unstained by the sins of Sodom.
If that was hard to read, please realize the intention of sharing these details is to give context on
the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. So when Abraham asked God to spare the city on
behalf of ten righteous men, God could not even find ten men in all the surrounding cities of
Sodom. Scholars estimate at least 200,000 people resided in the cities at this time, so needless to
say, their wickedness was abundant.
So wicked that God could no longer sit back and let their sin continue. So when we resume the
story of Abraham and the promise to spare the city for 10 righteous men, God sent two of his
angels to the city to check it out. Sitting at the gate of the city, they ran into none other than Lot.
Since we know what they did to strangers who came through o surprise Lot
immediately told the two angels to come back to his house. Lot must have known these men
were angels, and did not want them to be confronted with the sins of the city.
Lot led the two angels to his house, but they did not go unnoticed. The men of Sodom came to
have sex with them. Lot refused
and even offered his two virgin daughters in their stead. The men of Sodom refused, and the
angels smote all the men around the house with blindness. The angels then asked Lot to gather
his entire family, because God had judged the city for their wickedness and destruction was
about to come.
So the angels took Lot, along with his wife and two daughters, and placed them outside of the
city. They were warned to escape to the mountains and not look back. Then God, in His holy and
righteous judgement, sent
fire and brimstone from
heaven, and erased Sodom,
Gomorrah, and the
surrounding cities from the
map.
Like God did with the

judgement and salvation,

where He spared the
righteous and destroyed the

unfortunately did not listen,

and as she turned around to
watch the destruction, she
was immediately turned into a pillar of salt. Jasher tells us that out of compassion she looked
back, since she had her other daughters in the city who refused to leave. Yet her compassion did
not outweigh obedience, so by refusing to listen she was transformed into a pillar of salt.
Now, the last part of this story must be told, even though it may be difficult to hear. Once Lot
and his two daughters escaped to the mountains, his daughters thought that the entire world had
been destroyed. They said to themselves that their father was the only man remaining in the
entire world, so they devised a plan to repopulate the world. They got their father very drunk,
slept with him, and became pregnant.
The first child was named Moab, to which the Moabite nation descended. The second child was
named Benammi, to which the Ammonite nation descended. The Moabites and Ammonites are
mentioned many times throughout scripture, any guess as to what happens to them? Well, if the
origin of their birth is any indication, they are not good people and we find their wickedness a

The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the
peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the
Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites.
For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that
the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of
the officials and chief men has been foremost. (Ezra 9:1-2)

hinged on finding ten righteous men, the judgement of destruction was issued and God saved the
only righteous people w events from, this
judgement should come as no surprise when we see that if left to their own devices, the
wickedness of the cities would have eventually spread and corrupted the earth with their
iniquities. Sodom and the surrounding cities were a cancerous tumor that God removed, saving
the rest of the earth from their plague.
For those of you who may question if this really happened, even the secular scientific world is
scratching their heads at the results of their studies. To this day, there is a layer of ash and
sulphur between 4-20 inches deep in the area. The charred remains of bones discovered in the
area show that the bodies were literally burned alive, and the remains from buildings in the area
show charred remnants consistent with fire. Please feel free to research this yourself, just realize
that this event really did happen.
We have an amazing God who consistently loves patterns and revealing His glory to each
generation. Let Sodom and Gomorrah serve as a reminder that God will not let injustice continue
forever: God

If God has spared you from judgement and destruction, do not look back, even out of
compassion. Since God is the ultimate author, as obedient servants we must tell this part of the
story. Sodom and Gomorrah are mentioned many times throughout scripture, almost always in
the context of judgement and a warning.

(Mark 6:11)
If by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes He condemned them to extinction,
making them an example of what will happen to the ungodly. (2 Peter 2:6)
picking up with Isaac. Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah was 90 years
young when she birthed Isaac! Sarah said,
(Genesis 21:6)
So the mere birth of the promised son of Abraham was done as a pure miracle, and the
celebration Abraham threw would put any party to shame that we have ever been to! And as
Isaac grew up, he knew the Lord and was blessed as promised.
When Isaac turned five, his brother Ishmael learned the bow and was a great archer. We are told
Ishmael knocked his arrow and pulled back the string, aiming for Isaac. Whether out of jealousy
or hate, Ishmael stood poised and ready to shoot Isaac on the spot. Sarah happened to walk by as
this was happening, which you might guess she did not take well!
Confronting Abraham, Sarah demanded that Ishmael be sent away, so Abraham agreed. He sent
Ishmael and his mother Hagar away, with some bread and water. This must have been a hard
thing for Abraham to do, as this was his first-
resided with Isaac, we are shown that Abraham still loved Ishmael. Left with no other choice, he
sent them away.
After some time, Hagar ran out of water. Distressed and without hope, she set her son down and
walked y, He sent an angel and told
her that her son would be made into a great nation. She is then shown a well nearby and Ishmael
lived in the wilderness after that, becoming an expert with the bow.
raham was told to sacrifice his son.
For those of you familiar with the story, this could be a big pill to swallow. Being asked to
sacrifice his son comes as a shocker, and many of us wonder how a loving God could ask
someone to do this. Well, since we are
next part is actually saturated with love.
Once again, we need some additional backstory to connect the dots and understand how
everything relates. Now, one part that Genesis leaves out is the dialogue between Isaac and
Ishmael when Isaac was
family, and they lived with Abraham for some time.
We are told that Ishmael boasted to Isaac, saying how when he was 13 years old he was
circumcised and was more righteous than Isaac, since he had been following God longer than
him. Isaac then asked him why he was boasting over removing a piece of flesh, where if God
asked Abraham to sacrifice him, he would joyfully accept. (Jasher 22:41-44)
The next verse tells us that the Lord heard the word that Isaac spoke to Ishmael, and it seemed
good in the sight of the Lord, and He thought to try Abraham in this matter. So, given some
context, the command to sacrifice his son was not done out of the blue. Isaac declared, or rather
boasted, that he would gladly be sacrificed to prove his righteousness and love to God.
Now, in Genesis chapter 22 God called out to Abraham and said, take your son, your only son
Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on

So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with
him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the
place God told him. (Genesis 22:3) Although not mentioned in the account of Genesis, the
account from Jasher tells us the right-hand man Eliezer and
his son Ishmael. Interesting, right?!
Even more interesting is that on their journey, Satan came by and tempted them, trying to get
them to turn back. For the full details of the story please read Jasher chapter 23. Once Satan was
rebuked and fled, Abraham noticed a pillar of fire on the top of a mountain and asked if anyone
saw anything. The two other men could see nothing, yet Isaac said he saw a pillar of fire and the
glory of the Lord in the clouds.
Taking this as a sign, Abraham told Ishmael and Eliezer to wait with the donkeys and Abraham
then took

are not given any dialog in Genesis, we are left to imagine if Abraham knew what was going to
happen, or if Isaac knew he was about to be sacrificed. Listen to what actually transpired:
behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt
Abraham God will provide for himself the lam
So they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:7-8) Jasher 23 gives a parallel account, with
Abraham he Lord has made choice of thee my son, to be a perfect burnt offering

And Isaac said unto his father, I will do all that the Lord spoke to thee with joy and
cheerfulness of heart. And Abraham s there in your heart any
thought or counsel concerning this, which is not proper? Tell me my son, I pray thee, O my son
conceal it not from me.
And Isaac answered his father Abraham and said unto him, my father, as the Lord lives and
as my soul lives, there is nothing in my heart to cause me to deviate either to the right or to the
left from the word he has spoken to you. Neither limb nor muscle has moved or stirred at this,
nor is there in my heart any thought or evil counsel concerning this.
But I am of joyful and cheerful heart in this matter, and I say, blessed is the Lord who has this
day chose me to be a burnt offering before Him. And Abraham took the wood and placed it
upon the altar which he had built. And he took his son Isaac and bound him and placed him upon
the altar.
And Isaac said to his father, O my father, when you have slain me and burnt me for an offering,
take with you the ashes of my remains to my mother Sarah. But do not tell her they are my
remains if she sits upon any high place or near a well, lest she cast her soul after me and die.
And Abraham heard the words of Isaac and he lifted up his voice and wept when Isaac spoke
ly, and
 e quick and do with me the will of the Lord our God as He has
commanded you.
And Isaac stretched forth his neck upon the altar, before his father, and Abraham stretched forth
his hand to take the knife to slay his son as a burnt offering before the Lord. (Jasher 23:49-65)
ker. Can you imagine the dreadful sadness

Abraham was so distressed he asked Isaac if he had any hesitation and he did not, and they both
wept together. This scene here is so heart-wrenching, as the tears flowed and knife came out,
there was no hesitation or doubt in their minds of not following through.
Fortunately, Abraham passed the test, and an angel of the Lord called right before the knife came
down. The angel said, ot lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know
that you fear God, seeing you have no withheld y
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and before him was a ram caught in a thicket by his
horns. And Abraham went and took
the ram and offered it up as a burnt
offering instead of his son.
(Genesis 22:12-13) So Abraham
sacrificed the ram in the place of
his son, and the sacrifice was
honored. Then the angel called out
again and said:

the Lord, because you have done

this and have not withheld your
son, your only son, I will surely
bless you, and I will surely multiply
your offspring as the stars of
heaven and as the sand that is on
the seashore, and your seed shall
possess the gate of his enemies. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because -18)
So, Abraham
blessing and promise of his offspring to bless the nations of the earth! In this final act of
righteousness, Abraham proved his love and obedience to God. As a flashback to that night
almost 50 years previously, Abraham had looked up and was promised that his descendants
would outnumber the stars in heaven the
fulfillment of that promise coming into fruition.
After Isaac was spa passed along to Isaac. After receiving the
life of his son back from death, Abraham sent
laws and commandments. Once he was sent away, Abraham realized his time was drawing to an
end. He called his trusted servant Eliezer, and made him swear an oath that he would find a wife
for Isaac from the land of his birth.
God then directed Eliezer to find Rebecca, who would end
after this, Abraham died and at the ripe age of 175, with Isaac becoming the patriarch of the
family. In those days, Rebekah was barren and in her frustration, cried out to the Lord. Keep in
mind, they had been married for more than 12 years at this point, and God responded to her
request by granting her twins.
At about 7 months into her pregnancy, she could feel her children struggling within her and
prayed for a meaning. The Lord said to her,
from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve
(Genesis 25:23)
When it came time for Rebecca to give birth, the first child came out red and covered in hair, and
he was named Esau. The second child came out holding the heel of his brother and he was
named Jacob. Just as the Lord had promised, the older would end up serving the younger.
 Chapter 15: Nation of Islam

The intention of this chapter is to show what happened with Ishmael and the fate of his
descendants. Since the story will follow Isaac after this point, it is important we take a brief
moment to recognize what happened over 4,000 years ago. Because a quart
population adheres to the Muslim faith, we must address this topic.
With over 1.8 billion followers, the nation of Islam, or the Muslim faith, constitutes the largest
faith denomination. (not combining Catholicism and Protestantism as Christianity) In fact, there

pertains to them. As we mentioned previously, the nation of Islam was founded through

Descendants of Ishmael
As a reminder, in Genesis 16:8-12, God told Hagar,
they cannot be numbered for the multitude. You shall bear a son and call his name Ishmael,
because the Lord has listened to your affliction. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be

We are also told,

him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He will father twelve princes, and I will make him into a
great nation. But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, who Sarah shall bear to you at this
time next year. (Genesis 17:22-23)
So to recap, Abraham had two son first-born child;
Isaac
mother was Sarah. Ishmael was blessed and promised a nation of descendants, while Isaac was
s covenant, which established the nation of Israel. So we get the nations of
Islam and Israel from these two sons of Abraham, so far so good?

sacrificing Isaac, we are told the two men who came along with Abraham were Ishmael and
Eliezer. The book of Jasher tells us the names of the two men with Abraham and Isaac, while
Genesis mentions them as two of his young men.
Most Muslims believe that Abraham almost sacrificed Ishmael, even though the Quran (their
holy book) does not name which son was almost sacrificed. So the bible mentions the son as
Isaac, the Quran does not. There are multiple versions of this story for the Muslims, with no
agreed upon version. They claim that each version is a work of art, but cannot agree on a specific
version.

Muslims do not all agree with this story, as 131 of their traditions say Isaac was the son
sacrificed, while 133 traditions say Ishmael was sacrificed.
So right off the bat,
story. If half of the Muslim traditions cannot agree on which son was asked to be sacrificed, we
are left with a shaky foundation that places everything else at risk. Could it be the reason their
story does not add up, is that Ishmael was not actually on top of the mountain when the event
occurred? Remember, Abraham took the 3 men with him until he got close to the top.
Abraham saw the pillar of fire, which only Isaac could see, which was the confirmation Abraham
needed to leave the two men behind and take Isaac alone the rest of the way. If Ishmael was not
present during the time of the sacrifice, how would he know how the events unfolded?
Remember, Ishmael was jealous of Isaac and boated of his righteousness, since he was
circumcised prior Isaac and jealo
We are also told in Jasher that 23: 22- now my father Abraham is
going with Isaac to bring him up for a burnt offering to the Lord, as He commanded him. Now
when he returns he will give unto me all that he possesses, to inherit after him, for I am his first

So, we can see what Ishmael was thinking on his trek up the mountain. Imagine his surprise and
disappointment when he saw Isaac coming back down the mountain! So from the accounts
passed down from Ishmael, is there any wonder why Muslim scholars cannot seem to find a
consistent story? It is difficult to have a consistent story when Ishmael did not even have the full
story!
ts. His first wife Meribah bore him 4 sons (Nebayoth,
Kedar, Adbeel, and Mibsam) to which he divorced and married Malchuth who bore him 8 sons
(Nishman, Dumah, Masa, Chadad, Tema, Yetur, Naphish and Kedma). These are the twelve
princes that are promised to arise from him.
The land given to Ishmael and his descendants was the area near the Arabian Peninsula, hence
the Arab nation is the great nation that scripture tells us will come from Ishmael. Saudi Arabia is
s current world.
Mohammad

desert, or western Babylon. His descendants are known as Qedarites. This is the tribe from which
Mohammad would eventually spawn from, in the year 570.
Kedar is mentioned 11 times in scripture, in the book of Genesis, Psalms, 1 Chronicles, Song of
Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel. They are mentioned as living in the wilderness, in tents,
dark skinned, great archers and warriors, and associated with woe, judgement, and false worship.
Although we have copious amounts of information on this topic, now is not the time to divulge
any further on this topic. Although we will go into more detail later on in the book,
understanding the origins of the Islamic nation is enough for now. Although many will point to
the similarities between Christianity and Islam, understand that we do not worship the same God.
Yes, our origins are consistent up until the time of Abraham, yet just because the two faiths are
similar in their beginnings, does not mean the God we worship is the same. The Muslim faith
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will become clear by the end of this book. Thank you for taking the

Father in Heaven, Creator of heaven and earth,

Thank you for hearing our prayers and for the wisdom you have granted. We humbly ask for
your truth and understanding. You are a God of love, forgiveness and holiness. Thank you for
revealing your character through Your Son, the promised Messiah. We ask for divine revelation
as we seek only to know You more. Please speak to our hearts and thank you for the example set
forth through Abraham. We trust you and love you, thank you! Amen!
Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants who stand always before you and hear
your wisdom. (2 Chronicles 9:7)
Have you heard the secret counsel of God? And do you limit wisdom to yourself? (Job 15:8)
Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; he is mighty in strength of understanding. (Job
36:5)
The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge; but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(Proverbs 1:7)
The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens.
(Proverbs 3:19)
 Chapter 16: Jacob

Esau and Jacob were the two sons of Isaac, who was now
distinctly different from
one another, not only in their appearance but interests and demeanor as well. We are told Esau
was hairy, fierce, cunning and an expert hunter. Jacob was wise and soft spoken, dwelling in
tents and tending to the flocks. Jacob learned the ways of the Lord, including how to read and
write. Esau chose to spend his time hunting and in the fields, and did not learn the instructions of
the Lord.
Now the next part of this story is a bit confusing, because Esau sells his birthright for a bowl of
stew. Keep in mind, their birthright consisted of the wealth, blessing, authority and rights
associated with their family, so for a mere bowl of stew, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob
see what Genesis Chapter 25 tells us:
Jacob was cooking stew, and Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. And Esau said
let me eat some of tha therefore his name was called
Edom.
And Esau said I am about to die; of what use
Jacob said So he swore to him and sold his
birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and the soup of lentils, and he ate and drank,
and rose up and went his way. And Esau despised his birthright. (Genesis 25:29-34)
So to recap, Esau came in from the field exhausted. When he asked Jacob for some soup, Jacob
told Esau yeah, no problem, just se . Esau then said he was a
dead man anyways, so he agreed. First of all, what? Really? Esau lived many years after this, so
there was no way he could be dying. And secondly, as hungry as he was, what could possibly
compel him to sell his birthright for a bowl of soup? Was Esau just extremely moronic or was
there more to the story?
Well, there is actually more to the story. For those of you who have struggled to understand this
part of the story, we are about to get the context behind Esau that led to this fateful day. In the
book of Jasher we get an account of this day, and it may surprise you. Remember Nimrod, the
evil dictator who built the tower of Babel and threw Abram in the furnace?
Well, we are told that he was still alive and in his free time enjoyed hunting in the fields, the
same fields Esau frequented. They both apparently noticed one another before, yet this time Esau
s head with

Now, Nimrod had dreamed years ago that the seed of Abraham would kill him, and that is
exactly what ended up happening! Also, remember that cloak? The same one God had made for
Adam and Eve, which gave supernatural strength? Well, apparently that could
head from being chopped off, and Esau took this coat off his body and ran for his life!
thing on his mind as he thought he was litera

and received his birthright.

barely see. He knew it was his time soon, so as his last declaration, he decided to dish out his
blessing to his firstborn son Esau. Isaac called his son over and told him to go hunting and bring
him some venison so he may bless him.
Rebecca overheard this conversation and because she favored Jacob, she instructed Jacob to
fetch two goats and prepare the meat for Isaac. Jacob agreed and brought the meat to his father.
Because Isaac could not
see, he asked who it
was and Jacob
responded that it was
his firstborn son, Esau.
Jacob draped goat skins
around him and when
Isaac reached out to
touch him, he felt the
hairy skin and believed
that it was Esau.
So, Isaac passed his
blessing to Jacob,
saying, let peoples
serve you, and nations
bow down to you. Be
Lord over your
brothers, and may your

down to you. Cursed

are those who curse you, and blessed are (Genesis 27:29)
Now, shortly after Jacob received the blessing, Esau came into the tent with the meat.
surprise, he informed ismay,
he asked his father for a blessing, to which Isaac responded:

with grain and wine I have supported them. And what shall I do now to you, my son? And Esau
said to his father have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me also, my father. And Esau
lifted up his voice and wept.
And Isaac answered and said to him,
and of the dew of heaven from above. And by your sword you shall live, and shall serve your
brother. And it shall be when you have the dominion, you shall break his yoke o
(Genesis 27:37-40)
s
mother Rebeca overheard and warned
find a wife there. So Jacob left, and Esau took a wife from the daughter of Ishmael.
Now, taking the context into account, what we see here is Jacob deceiving his father and brother,

promise that the older would serve the younger.

In the conte
covenant would now reside over. Although the means in which he came about this may have

As we will come to find out, God knew what He was doing. Even though deception was used in
establishing the covenant, God would not have allowed this to happen were in not part of his
plan and love story.
 Chapter 17: Israel

Now, the next saga of

the first example of love at first sight, literally.
For those romantics at heart reading this, the next part of the story will leave you with a new
perspective of love.
As Jacob was traveling east, he came across a large field with sheep grazing. As he was talking
with the shepherds, time stood still. Just like a movie, he saw the most beautiful woman of his
life and he saw her walking towards him in slow motion. Like a deer in headlights, Jacob saw
this beautiful woman and his heart knew that this was it.
Jacob kissed this beautiful woman and came r, the exact type
of woman he was meant to marry. Her name was Rachel, and from that moment forward, Jacob
could think of no one else. He heart was struck with the arrow of love, simple as that.
As Jacob arrived serve Laban seven years for the
hand of his daughter Rachel. Laban agreed and Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they
seemed but a few days because of the love he had for her. (Genesis 29:20) Aww, Jacob was a
complete sweetheart and for seven years worked for his uncle for the hand of his bride.
At the end of the seven years, Laban had a great feast and at the end of the evening bride
was brought into his room. Finally, after waiting 7 full years, the moment had finally arrived! It
must have been dark, because morning rolled around and as Jacob turned over, he saw who was

er! He had been deceived! Jacob furiously confronted Laban

and when he asked why he was deceived, Laban responded that it is custom for the eldest
daughter to marry before the younger. Laban offered the hand of his daughter Rachel, for another
seven years of service. Jacob agreed, and worked seven more years for Rachel.

Jacob finally received Rachel as a wife. We are told Jacob loved Rachel much more than Leah,
but now he had two wives and 14 years of his life gone.
This tale of romance shows that not only was Jacob a man of his word, but also his willingness to
continue his service to Laban, even after being deceived. One might say that was a result of
ion with Esau, which would be a beautiful example of fateful irony. Regardless,
Jacob now had two wives calloused hands to show for it.
Sometime after his marriage, an angel of the Lord came to Jacob in a dream told him to take his
wives and return to the land of his family. Jacob obeyed, yet he was still afraid of what Laban
would do. Remember, he had been deceived and feared Laban would either try and stop him or
keep his wives back. Laban was also becoming extremely jealous of Jacob, since the Lord was
with him and blessed Jacob with great prosperity and wealth. Either way, Jacob knew it was time
to leave, yet feared what Laban would do.
So Jacob packed up shop, all of his family, livestock and possessions, and left in the middle of
the night in secret. Jacob was not out of the clear yet, since 20 years had passed since he had left
and his brother Esau had grown in strength and numbers. Jacob did not exactly part on good
terms with his brother, so as he got closer, Jacob sent some messengers to Esau to see what was
up.

400 of his men! Jacob became distressed and decided to split up his people and flocks into two
groups. His reasoning was if Esau attacked one group, at least the other group would be able to

So Jacob prayed and asked the Lord for protection, then decided to get a gift ready for Esau. This
was no small gift: 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 11 lambs, 12 rams, 30 camels, 40 cows, 10
bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. Jacob sent his servants ahead with the gift,
hoping that Esau would forget any hard feelings once he saw the amazing gift.
That night, Jacob went to a river and contemplated life. As he was pacing back and forth,
wondering what would happen to him, he saw a man. We are not told who this man was, yet we
will read this was no ordinary man. Jacob wrestled with this man all night:
And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh. And the

I will not let You go except Y

And he
shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for like a prince you have power with God and with
men, and have prevailed.

And He blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Face of God; for
I have seen God face to face, and my life was preserved.
And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he limped upon his thigh. Therefore
the sons of Israel do not eat of the sinew of the thigh, which is on the hip-socket, until this day,
because He touched Jacob's hip-socket, the sinew of the thigh. (Genesis 32:25-32)
So this man was actually God, or an angel, that Jacob wrestled with. Although we are not given
His name, Jacob named that location the Face of God, for he saw God face to face and was not
killed. Also, Jacob had just been renamed Israel, which name changes like this only come from

Why injure his hip? Well, as God does, He loves making statements that carry both a physical
and spiritual meaning. Jacob was wrestling with a lot that night: fear of Laban, fear of Esau and
fear of being killed. Jacob had made every precaution on his own terms to preserve his life, yet

Jacob had every intention of fleeing if things went sideways with Esau, so his injured hip meant
he was prevented from fleeing the situation. He had to confront his past and deal with this
 God had placed Jacob in this situation to grow his faith and made
Jacob weak physically so that he would be stronger spiritually.
God showed His glory by providing for Jacob, only when Jacob had no other crutches to lean on.

And Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, Esau came, and four hundred men with
him. And he divided the children to Leah, and to Rachel, and to the two handmaids. And he put
the slave women and their children first, and Leah and her children afterward, and Rachel and
Joseph last.
And he passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came
near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck and
kissed him. And they wept. (Genesis 33:1-4)
Whoa! Talk about a family reunion! Looks like God already had this meeting planned, and Jacob
stressed himself out for nothing! Let this be an encouragement to us that even our biggest fears
are nothing once we submit to God. Esau had already forgiven Jacob and embraced like the long-
lost brothers that the
Sons of Israel
T ly his descendants, Jacob(Israel) had some children: twelve in
fact. These twelve sons would become the twelve tribes of Israel.
Leah conceived the first child, Reuben, followed by Simeon, Levi and Judah. When Rachel saw
she was not conceiving any children, she told Jacob to take her handmaid as wife so she would
have children through her. So Jacob took Rach birth to Dan and
Naphtali.
When Leah saw what was going on, she told Jacob to take her handmaiden Zilpah as a wife, to
which she bore Gad and Asher. Leah then conceived again, this time Issachar and Zebulun.
none from her own womb, Rachel finally
conceived and gave birth to Benjamin and Joseph.
There you have it. These twelve sons would become the 12 tribes of Israel and from their
descendants would the rest of the nation of Israel be established. This nation is pretty important,
so now we understand how this nation came to be! After the reunion with Esau, Jacob took his
family and posted up in Hebron, or southern Jerusalem. This is where the nations of Israel would
branch out!
 Chapter 18: Joseph

Not to discourage you, but we have only covered 30 chapters of Genesis so far! Even though we
have only gone through 30 chapters, we have covered more than 2,000 years of history! In order
will not be able to cover every event and character in detail.
Our hope is that you will be encouraged to re-read through Genesis with a new perspective and

We are going to wrap up Genesis with the story of Joseph, as he is the last major character we
need to discuss. Out of the 4 mothers of the twelve sons of Jacob, the sons from Rachel were
loved the most by Jacob. When we see the love Jacob had for Rachel, it makes sense that their
children would be the most special to him. Specifically, Jose
who was also the youngest.

and favoritism towards Joseph was obvious. Jacob even bestowed a special cloak to Joseph, one

dreams did not help the matter either, seeing as how Joseph dreamed his brothers all bowed
down to him and served him.
Keep in mind, Joseph was the youngest son, loved more by Jacob, and was dreaming that he
would rule over the rest of them. Should not come as a shock that we see the brothers devise a
plan to get rid of him. They would have killed Joseph were it not for their father. So in lieu of
actually killing him, they decided to throw him in a scorpion pit and took his cloak. They saw
some Ishmaelites traveling by and decided to sell their brother for 20 pieces of silver.
The brothers then killed a goat, dipped the cloak in the blood, and returned to their father, telling
him that Joseph met an untimely death by a beast in the field. After hearing this news, Jacob
believed his favorite son to be dead, and did not stop morning for the rest of his days. Poor Jacob
had such a big heart that this news literally almost killed him.
In the meantime, Joseph was sold to the captain of the Egyptian guard. It did not take long for
Joseph to climb the ranks, as he was both extremely good looking and blessed by the Lord with
talent, wisdom and matters of state. He was hands down the man, every man wanted to be him
and every woman wanted to be with him!
He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters. that brings forth it fruit in its season,
whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper. (Psalm 1:3)
Blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he will be like a tree
planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river; and will not fear the heat when it
comes. Its leaves will be green and moist, and it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of
drought nor stop bearing fruit. (Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Joseph was made overseer of the Egyptian Potiphar, one of the most powerful men in Egypt. It
did not take long for Joseph to catch the attention of Po constantly
She became physically sick, due to the longing she had for Joseph and one night decided to
sneak into his room. She told Joseph she would kill herself if he did not have his way with her.
So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be
with her. (Genesis 39:10)
Brief pause here to ack . From the accounts in Jasher, Zelica pulled
just about every trick in the book to seduce Joseph. In fact, any man today would be hard-pressed
to not cave in to her temptations. By all accounts she was absolutely beautiful and had never
been rejected by a man before. Joseph would keep his head down and refused to look at her, so
mad respect to Joseph.
Anyways, one night Zelica grabbed Joseph and attempted to pull his clothes off. Joseph literally
ran out of the room, ripping his robe in the process. Zelica realized her shame would be found
out, so in order to protect herself she devised an evil plan to tell everyone Joseph tried to rape
her. When confronted, Joseph told the truth, yet he was thrown into prison for a total of 14 years.
Fourteen years Joseph was unjustly imprisoned, a man blessed by God and full of integrity. For
daily and told him he could get out, if he only
complied with her wishes. Eventually she gave up, and Joseph spent his years in prayer and
confinement.
Just like how Jacob spent fourteen years in the service of Laban, Joseph spent an equal amount
of time in prison. During his years in prison, Joseph did not curse God for the injustice, did not
give up hope and continued to worship God. This guy had some amazing faith and knew that
God was going to come through!
His opportunity came when the Pharaoh had a dream. This dream troubled the Pharaoh so much
that he called all of his wise men and magicians over to interpret his dream. When none of his
counsellors could give him an accurate interpretation, God opened up the opportunity for Joseph.
him that there would be 7 years of plenty in the
land, followed by 7 years of famine. Joseph told the Pharaoh that he must stockpile food for the
seven good years in order to save for the seven years of famine.
Low and behold, God favored Joseph and the Pharaoh listened. The Pharaoh accepted the
interpretation and put Joseph in charge. Joseph was made the second most powerful man in
Egypt and for seven years facilitated the growing of corn in the kingdom and the stockpiles of
food, farther than the eye can see. So out of prison, God rewarded Joseph by making him the
second most powerful man in the land!
After the seven years of plenty passed, low and behold a massive famine struck the land. The
famine was so bad that no land in the entire region remain unscathed. The only way to get food
was in Egypt, through Joseph. And it came to pass when J arted running low on
food, the sons of Jacob came to Egypt to buy food.
Joseph knew that his brothers would eventually come to Egypt, and was on the lookout. When
Joseph got word that his brothers were in the city, Joseph ordered his men to bring his brothers to
him. The brothers did not recognize Joseph, which was all part of the plan.
 Long story short, the
brothers were then
forced to return home
and bring their brother
Benjamin. When all
the brothers were
gathered together,
Joseph revealed
himself to them! To
say they were shocked
would be an
understatement! Their
fear was slowly
dissolved as the tears
and hugs were passed
around, and we see a
family reunion take
place like never
before!
I will return again to my place till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek my face in
their affliction they will earnestly seek me. (Hosea 5:15)
Joseph told his brothers to return home to their father and bring the entire family to Egypt! Since
they were only in the second year of the famine, Joseph had the family come to Egypt and the
Pharaoh blessed Jacob with the best land in Egypt. The family lived in grace and prosperity
thanks to Joseph, and the nations of Israel began to grow in prosperity.
Through the act of se . They set into
motion the events that would save not only them, but every single person in the land! Without
being sold into slavery, Joseph would never have gone to Egypt and been in the position he was
in. Without knowing about the 7 years of famine, there would have been no food saved and that
would be the end of the story!

We are shown through Joseph that bad things happen to good people, even when doing the right
thing. We are shown that horrible acts, like selling a brother into slavery, can actually work out
as the
pick up with the nation of Israel in Egypt.
 Chapter 19: Moses

important to understand why Moses is such a big deal! Once we see how God used this man,
there will be some more Moses fans created he time of Joseph
and the events that led to the stage for Moses being born!
Israel in Egypt
So once Joseph got the whole nation of Israel to Egypt, life was pretty amazing for a while. In
fact, all twelve brothers and their children enjoyed prosperity, recognition and blessings during
their lives. Not only were they blessed, but the entire nation of Egypt by proxy also became
blessed. For lack of a better description, these were some of the golden years of Israel that

As with all good things, they eventually come to an end (at least on earth). And once all twelve
brothers passed away, the golden years came to an end. Their descendants became so blessed
that they became a real threat to the Egyptians. They were extremely fruitful and multiplied like
none other, almost like God had blessed them to multiply!
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people,

with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out, they join our enemies and fight against us
1:8-10)

and the sons of Ishmael to conspire with the kings of the land. A battle was eventually waged
between them and the Egyptians and Israelites got involved. The sons of Esau and Ishmael were
as numerous as the sands of the sea, while the Egyptians had about 300,000 men and the
Israelites about 150.
While the Israelites waited, the Egyptians went forward and got their behinds handed to them! So
they retreated and cried out to the Israelites to help, to which they went and slew a majority of

They won, without losing a single man!

So although the Egyptians and Israelites were both fighting on the same team, the Egyptians
realized they were in a bad spot. After witnessing the strength and might that God had equipped
the men with, the Egyptians realized they would be powerless to stand against them if the
Israelites decided to stage an uprising.

power. Their plan was brilliantly evil, and revolved around building defenses around the city to
protect against another attack. A decree went out to all the Egyptians and Israelites that whoever
would work on building the defenses would be payed a daily wage by the Pharaoh. So that is
exactly what happened.
At first, all the Egyptians and Israelites worked side by side together on the fortifications for
about a month, (all the Israelites besides the tribe of Levi). Then slowing, one by one, the
Egyptians began leaving in secret. The Israelites kept working, unaware of the plot underway.
After a year and four months, the Israelites were the only ones working, and the Egyptians had
transitioned themselves into their taskmasters. So by slow deception the Egyptians had turned the
Israelites into their slaves!
By the time the Israelites realized what had happened, it was too late: the Egyptians had already
enough power and control over them. So that is how the Israelites became slaves of the
Egyptians, and that continued for 400 years!

that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also
that nation, who they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great
substance. (Genesis 15:13-14)
Babies Killed
Fast forward 400 years and the scene had not changed much, besides the number of Israelites.
The Egyptians enjoyed the fruit of the newfound labor force, yet the number of Israelites began

and decided the best plan of action was to decree that every male Israelite child was to be killed.

decided the male Israelite children should be drowned in the river. Seemed like a good plan at
the time, yet the women just went to the hills nearby to deliver and kept their children safe. To

He ordered the Egyptian midwives to take a newborn child with them and walk around the
houses of the Israelites. When the crying baby was brought near the houses, the babies inside
would cry as well, as a sort of baby signal. This worked and babies started getting slaughtered. It
was during this time that a woman named Jochebed gave birth to a baby boy, who would change

Birth of Moses

kill babies again. Caught in a tough spot, she did the only thing she could:
And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with
slime and with pitch, and put the child inside; and she laid it in the flags by the river's brink.
(Exodus 2:3)

just so happened that God sent a huge heat wave throughout all of Egypt, so that everyone went
be there, which is where the
story picks up in Exodus:
Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked
beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took
it. When she opened it, she
saw the child, and behold,
the baby was crying. She
took pity on him and said,

Then his sister said to

I go and call you a nurse

from the Hebrew women to
nurse the child for you
And Pharaoh's daughter

girl went and called the

child's mother. And
Pharaoh's daughter said to

and nurse him for me, and I

took the child and nursed him.
When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She
-10)
Moses as a 3-year-old
as the book of Jasher provides some
amazing clarity and backstory to Moses that changes the game. And that event took place at a

Everyone was just chilling, eating and having a good time. The Pharaoh was playing with Moses

fell silent as the jovial atmosphere suddenly came to a halt. You could hear the shocked gasps of
astonishment as everyone looked at the Pharaoh, waiting to see his reaction.
Pharaoh asked his counsellors what to make of the matter, and Balaam son of Beor decided to

Pharaoh that the child was a Hebrew and that God had chosen the child to rule as a king. So his
advice was pretty original:
very creative!
Luckily the Pharaoh had a bit more common sense and decided to take a poll with the rest of his
counsellors. This part is pretty neat, because an angel of the Lord came in, disguised as one of
the wise counsellors to the Pharaoh. The angel spoke up and said:
If it pleases the king let the king send for men who shall bring before him an onyx stone and a
coal of fire, and place them before the child. And if the child shall stretch forth his hand and take
the onyx stone, then shall we know that with wisdom has the youth done all that he has done, and
we must slay him.
But if he stretch forth his hand upon the coal, then shall we know that it was not with knowledge
that he did this thing, and he shall live. (Jasher 70:25-26)
Nice! Way to go angel! His suggestion was heeded and that is exactly what the king did. The test
here was to prove i
head, or if he was just being a child and playing around. The onyx stone is a very rare and
valuable stone, while a hot coal is obviously a hot coal. So pretty much only a child with no
common sense would grab a hot coal!
T then went and grabbed the onyx stone and a hot coal, holding them up to
baby Moses. As you might have guessed, Moses stretched forth his hand to grab the shiny onyx
stone, yet the angel of the Lord guided his hand to the hot coal instead! The coal became
extinguished in his hand, then he put the coal in his mouth, burning part of his lips and tongue,
becoming heavy in mouth and tongue!
For those familiar with the story of Moses, he always had a speech impediment, now we know
why! So when the Pharaoh saw what baby Moses had done, he decided the child did not grab the

salvation and love!

Moses kills a guy
Fast forward 15 years, and Moses went out on a nice afternoon stroll, only to witness an

household as royalty, he still knew his roots and who his people were. So the Hebrew man being
beaten ran up to Moses and said:
, attend to me, this Egyptian came to my house in the night, bound me, and came to my

he looked this
way and that way, and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in
the sand. (Exodus 2:12)

Egyptian man beating a Hebrew man. Although cold blooded murder is never the right choice,
we see that Moses became judge, jury and executioner as he took the life of a very despicable

man whose wife was raped right in front of him and was about to be murdered.
Anyways, the whole situation was bad, and the next day got worse as word got around that
Moses had killed a guy. The Pharaoh was furious and ordered the immediate execution of
Moses, so 18-year-old Moses fled for his life into the wilderness for 40 years.
40 Years of Wilderness

went to the land of Midian and won the hand of Zipporah in marriage from a priest of Midian
named Reuel.
It turns out Moses did much more than just sit around. As much fun as it would be to go into
more detail of his events during this time, there are many more important feats that Moses
accomplished.
As a brief teaser, Moses actually became the King of Cush after the city became sieged for 9
years. After leaving Cush, Moses went to Midian and saw the seven daughters of Reuel watering
the flock. Once he rescued the daughters from some shepherds, Moses was brought back to
Reuel and was thrown into his dungeon!
While in prison for 10 years, he was fed in secret by one of the daughters Zipporah and kept
alive. At the end of those 10 years, God was ready for Moses to come back and free His people,
so some events were set into motion that would change the world and law of the day.
During time in captivity, the Pharaoh who wanted Moses dead had died. His son Adikam
became the new Pharaoh and was described as exceedingly ugly, a cubit and a span (barely over
2 ft tall) with a great beard reaching to the soles of his feet. So this was the new Pharaoh, let that
paint an awesome mental picture!
Staff of Moses
Now Moses was released from the dungeon, and went to the garden to pray. Moses then noticed
a sapphire stick placed in the ground. This stick was engraved with the name of the Lord God
and had different precious gems placed inside it.
Moses was drawn to this staff, and simply picked it up and carried it with him. When he came
back to the house, there were astonished gasps as they beheld the staff in his hand. Moses must
have wondered what the big deal was, until they let him know that only the man worthy enough
to remove the staff could actually take it out of the earth!
Remember the legend of the sword in the stone? Well this was the original staff in the ground
and was way better! According to Jasher, Jewish history and lore, this staff was used by God in
the garden of Eden, and was passed down from Adam to Noah, to Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, ransacked by the Egyptians and eventually into the hands of Reuel the Midianite, until
Moses picked it up!
Even though this account of the staff is not in canonical scripture, the legendary lore behind the
staff is incredible! So once Moses proved his worth, he was given Zipporah as a wife and they
had a son Gershom.
Burning Bush
As Moses was feeding the flock of Reuel, one of the goats strayed away from the herd, so he
went to follow it. Somehow that little goat could run and took him all the way to the mountain of
God in Horeb.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and
he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2)
After thinking he was crazy for a minute, Moses turned away until he heard God call out to him
to which Moses replied,

of Abraham,

seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their
taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with
milk and honey. (Exodus 3:5-8)

and mercy come through on His

timeline. There was a reason for
the 400 years of imprisonment,
and God waited this time to
fulfill on His promise and show
His glory. God finished up His
command with:
Come, I will send you to
Pharaoh that you may bring my
people, the children of Israel,
out of Egypt. (Exodus 3:10)
Alright, Moses just received a
pretty big confirmation from
God right there! His reaction

years of captivity, right? Actually no, this was NOT his reaction.
And Moses said unto God, who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring
forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? (Exodus 3:11) Although this may seem like a display of
humility, in all honesty Moses was avoid the responsibility out of fear. In order to dispel his
worries, God let Moses know that:
I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have
brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this
So God even acknowledged Moses by letting him know He was with him, yet Moses was still
not convinced. He told God that if he came back to his people and told them God spoke to him,
they might want some proof. So Moses asked God what His name is, to which God said, h y h
' sher h y h or I AM THAT I AM.
Armed with the name of God, with confirmation and instruction to rescue the Hebrews out of
Egypt, Moses decided the best plan of action was to stall God with more questions. The Moses
began making excuses, claiming that no one will believe him if he told them God spoke to him in
a burning bush and he was to be the leader and deliver them out from Egypt.
So God told Moses to throw his staff down on the ground, and when he did it became a snake!
Moses was given yet another sign, to where he stuck his hand inside his shirt and when he pulled
it out, it became leprous as snow! After putting his hand inside his shirt again, it was restored to
normal. Pretty trippy but nonetheless proved a point. So Moses was given two different signs to
prove to his people he was the real deal.
Now that Moses had been granted power from God to perform these wonders, he realized his list
of excuses were running out! So Moses remembered his speech impediment and said:

I am slow of speech
Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now therefore go, and
10-12)
So God was able to provide an answer to every excuse that Moses brought up, to the point
where Moses gave his last and final excuse/request:

If anyone wants to know a good way to anger the Lord, this is it! Just keep on making excuses
repeatedly, even after God has talked with you and performed miracles through you!

brother, the Levite? I know that he can speak well. Behold, he is coming out to meet you, and
when he sees you, he will be glad in his heart.
You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with
his mouth and will teach you both what to do.
He shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to
him. (Exodus 4:15-16)
Wow! Moses probably pushed God further than almost anyone mentioned in scripture! He put
God to the test, made excuses, asked for someone else to do it, to the point where there was no
other choice than obedience. God wholeheartedly pursued Moses, even
it. This is the same God who created you! The same God who would take no more excuses from
Moses is the same God today.
God demonstrated his love for us in the example of Moses, by showing how even when we are
reluctant, God is confident. When we try to hide, God calls us out. When we fill under equipped
to perform, God will provide His supernatural power in assistance. When the task ahead of you

This guy Moses would be used by God to do more amazing things than he could ever imagine,
and it started right there on the mountain with a burning bush. Take encouragement from Moses
that even when you feel like you are the least qualified person, God will make you the most
qualified person for His job!
 Chapter 20: Exodus

For any Moses out there reading, for anyone who has ever
anyone who has felt overwhelmed or under qualified for what God has called you to do, just see
what God does to those who obey and trust in the Lord. Watch as we see God take this man and
completely use him for righteousness!
Moses and Aaron
Sometimes the Lord will provide another person to assist in His mission when the task seems too
daunting. As for Moses and Aaron, they made a great tag-team duo in
plan! As we will see later on in the New Testament with Paul, some of the most notable men
have had a buddy or two that has helped with their endeavors.
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
So Moses and Aaron reunite after more than 40 years, commenting on all the weight they gained
and the number of grey hairs in their bea

all the elders of the children of Israel, which we also call Hebrews. Any reference to Hebrews or
the c
Aaron should have been renamed to Dr. Clutch at this point, since he effectively received his
PHD at coming in clutch! Please forgive the bad humor here, just know that Aaron stepped in on

Moses.
Remember, Aaron was an elder himself and one of the top, if not the top elder of the Hebrews.
And Moses was a murderer and runaway who had not been seen for close to 50 years. In all
likelihood, the children of
Israel, some stranger coming in and claiming to be their deliverer may not have gone over so
well.
That is why Aaron was so clutch (i.e. exactly what you need, exactly when you need it). Since
Aaron had been personally involved and told everyone that Moses was the real deal, his
testimony, along with , was enough to make believers out of the children of
Israel! So having the friend that opens doors and has your back comes in handy for

Let My People Go!

Armed with the support of their people,
speech goes back and forth in the events to
unfold, where Moses and Aaron tell the Pharaoh to let his people go, the Pharaoh says no, and
then bad things happen. Not to make light of the situation, but that is the gist of it.
The first time they have this dialogue, the Pharaoh said no and the children of Israel were
punished severely. The Pharaoh decided to make the Hebrews responsible for collecting the
straw for the bricks! So not only did they have to build walls, they now had to go collect the
ingredients themselves! It would be like making a prison chain-gang go smelt the iron and forge
their own pickaxes to crush rocks. It was sheer madness!
Not only that, but they were expected to produce the same amount, on top of making the bricks
themselves! So the people did not like Moses very much at that point, since he came there to
deliver them yet their lives were made drastically worse. God did not allow this to continue for
too much longer before sending Moses and Aaron back to the Pharaoh. Some really neat
encouragement is found before they go back in:
And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made you a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron your brother
shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you: and Aaron your brother shall
speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. (Exodus 7:1-2)
Pretty neat, yet God elaborates a bit further:
And I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
But Pharaoh shall not listen to you, and I will lay My hand upon Egypt, and bring My armies,
My people the sons of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians
shall know that I am God when I stretch forth My hand upon Egypt, and bring out the sons of
Israel from among them.
And Moses and Aaron did as God commanded them; so they did. (Exodus 7:3-6)
So even though they asked for something God told them they would not receive; nonetheless,
they did as instructed. This may seem like an odd request, yet God let them know this was so the
Egyptians would know He was God. And even though Moses and Aaron may not have fully
understood, they were obedient.
10 Plagues
again and after refusing, the first plague
strikes Egypt: water turned to blood. Not just a little stream of water, literally every river, lake,
bottled water, anything with 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen molecule (H20) became blood. People
would fill their pitchers from the well, boom, blood. A woman would be kneading dough to
make something, delicious, boom, bloody disgusting! Every single fish in the Nile river died,

fragrance.
After being tormented by blood and nasty dead fish, Moses, Aaron and the Pharaoh do their
thing again and the second plague comes upon them: frogs. Not just a few little frogs here and
there jumping around, literally all the waters brought forth frogs. The water had returned to
normal, yet they would drink the water and frogs would spawn in their stomachs!
All the drinking water turned to frogs, even their own sweat turned into frogs! If anyone is
creeped out, you are not as creeped out as the Egyptians were! The Pharaoh even begged Moses

So all the frogs stopped tormenting the Egyptians, hopping in organized piles around the city
before croaking, stinking up the city yet again. Yet the Pharaoh decided to change his mind once
the frogs were removed, so the third plague came upon them next: lice.
Many translations will say gnats (taken from kên), yet the book of Jasher confirms they were
lice. Not your average everyday lice, but lice from hell. Literally the dust was turned into lice.
There was a layer of lice 2 cubits high (3ft) upon the entire land of Egypt! The lice did not
discriminate between beast or man, leaving only the children of Israel alone. So if your head is
not itching by now, give it one good scratch to remember the amazing lice God used to inflict on
Egypt!
After another round of word tango between Moses and Pharaoh, the 4th plague goes into action:
flies. If you have ever been confronted with annoying flies, trust us when we say you have never
experienced flies like this: flies that literally crawl up your nasal cavity, inside your ears, down
your throat, your eyeballs, every single orifice of your body. The kind of flies where every time
you swat them away, they just come back even stronger and in greater numbers.
When the people literally were suffocating from all the flies shoved through their windpipes, the
Pharaoh had enough. He called Moses over and said he would let them go. Moses then had the

he would let them go.

I guess shame on Moses, because the Pharaoh did the exact same thing again, and said his
th
plague came their way, this time by destroying all

next day Pharaoh and the rest of the Egyptians came out to witness every single one of their

animals were touched!

Without wasting any time, God sent the 6th plague next: boils. Not just any old harmless boils of
puss and goo, but the most vile, seeping and dry heaving pus wads taken straight from a medical
mystery film. These sores went from the bottom of their feet to the top of their heads, starting
with itching, to bleeding to seeping pus to rotten and putrid (If you are getting grossed out
reading this, then mission accomplished!). So often we can just breeze over words without
actually understanding.

re
owe it to our creator to appreciate His glory and learn to fear Him. God is amazing love, and He
is also amazing justice. Like a momma bear whose cub gets threatene
place to be on the receiving end of!
Wanting to really make a point, God unleashed his 7th plague in the form of hail and fire. We are
talking big old meteors and some crazy things being tossed out from heaven. After being warned
by God, Moses made
his staff up to the heavens and lightning flashed, wind howled and the fury and wrath of God was
unleashed on the whole world!
When there was only a single spot
land, the sign was clear. Pharaoh called Moses over and said hey, enough is enough. Moses said
yeah right, Pharaoh said he sinned greatly and was so sorry! Pharaoh promised to do anything to
just get God to stop with the wrath. Moses said okay but he knew Pharaoh was full of you know
what.
So Moses walked out, held up his staff, and the hail stopped. And just like that Pharaoh went
back on his word yet again. And in came the 8th plague: locusts. These locusts came in swarms,
need we describe how many locusts there were? Well the Egyptians got excited at first, since
locusts had just been placed on the menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner! They rounded up their
feast in nets, sprinkled salt on them, had their napkins tucked into their shirts ready to dig in,
when God brought in a mighty wind and destroyed all the locusts in the Red Sea. Every single
locust was brought out as fast as they came in.
The Egyptians were nonetheless disappointed, yet what happened next turned that
disappointment into utter fear with the 9th plague: darkness over the face of the earth for three

that those who were sitting had to just sit there the entire three days, those who were walking had
to just stand still in one spot, every person for three days remained in the same position. Have
you ever experienced darkness that deep?
Even a solar eclipse could only block out the sun for 7.5 minutes maximum, so three days of
complete and utter darkness is devastating. Yet the children of Israel had light since they had
been warned. Ironically Moses and the crew had their lanterns and candles lit in the middle of the
day, the same time this darkness ensued. Everyone else was at a complete loss since they had no
time to prepare a torch once the darkness had arrived.
After the days of darkness were completed, God told Moses to prepare the feast and get the
th
and final plague would be happening that night. And it would
come in the form of death: death of all firstborns of Egypt.
Passover
Moses was given clear instructions from God and passed them along to the children of Israel.
The instructions were to take the best lamb they had, a spotless lamb without blemish, and
sacrifice it. They were to then take the blood, smear it over the doorframes of their houses, as a
with unleavened bread and
bitter herbs.
They were to eat the meal in haste, with their shoes and belts on and staff in hand: for it was the

For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of
Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the
LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are: and when I see
the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite
the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:12-13)
See where we get Pass-over from? So true to His Word, God went forth at midnight that night
and killed every single firstborn animal and child in all of Egypt. There was not a single house in
all of Egypt without a corpse in the morning, even the bones of the firstborns of families, yes
even their bones, were raked up by the dogs and dragged before the Egyptian families. Even the
very graven images of the firstborns on the walls were destroyed.
If you had been born first at any point in Egypt, it was not a good time for you. We are talking
about the fear of God in the hearts of every single man, woman and child throughout all of
Egypt. Pharaoh finally had enough, so this time when he called Moses and Aaron over, it was to
tell them to leave and never come back. In fact, all of Egypt encouraged them to leave as fast as

upon them again.

The Egyptians even gave them previous gold, silver, gems and clothing, anything they could find
to get them to leave. So with a spring in their step all 600,000 children of Israel left the 400-year
reign of enslavement and off to the promised land! If only it were that easy! You are doing great,
just a little bit more to finish off Exodus properly!
Red Sea-
On the journey out of Egypt, the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them
along the way. By night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so they could travel by day and by
night. He did not take away the pillar of a cloud by day,
nor the pillar of fire by night from the people. (Exodus
13:21-22)
Talk about some divine guidance, right? Ever traveled
on foot and donkey with 600,000+ men and their
families, carrying all their possessions? Not the easiest
or quickest feat to pull off. It was almost like the people

received!
The Pharaoh received something as well, another
hardened heart. This time Pharaoh took 600 chariots and
his most trusted men in pursuit of the Hebrews who had
left. The Pharaoh and his men traveled much quicker
than Moses and his people could, so by the time the
p, they were at the Red Sea.
Once the children of Israel had their backs against the

faced a moment of panic and doubt! The same people

who had just witnessed God black out the sun for 3 days,
the same people who witnessed a 3ft sea of fleas, water
turned to blood, frogs literally spawning inside of people, the same people who less than three
days prior witnessed the death of every firstborn: they doubted.
What does that say about our faith? As if they thought God had done all those amazing and
terrible plagues, rescued them from the clutches of the Egyptians, only to have them die at the
edge of the Red Sea- Yeah right! Come on children of Israel, why doubt?
Moses was at the receiving end of the fearful looks and condemning fingers, as he was their
leader (even though God had worked all the miracles and they had just followed a burning pillar
in the sky for days on end). Nonetheless, the people looked to Moses for a miracle, and this is
what Moses said to the people:
the salvation of the LORD,
which he will work for you
today. For the Egyptians whom
you see today, you shall never
see again. The LORD will fight
for you, and you have only to be

The LORD said to Mo

do you cry to me? Tell the
people of Israel to go forward.
Lift up your staff, and stretch out
your hand over the sea and
divide it, that the people of
Israel may go through the sea on
dry ground. (Exodus 14:13-16)
And that is exactly what
happened. Perhaps the most
iconic and well-known miracles
from the bible had just taken
place: The Red Sea had been
parted and the children of Israel walked through on foot, just like it was their own personal
ocean-view freeway!
Water on their right, water on their left, the children of Israel marched through the watery abyss
with what must have been determined astonishment. Perhaps more determination since they were
e

appreciating the unique death they faced as the water filled their lungs into a bleak and cold
oblivion.
Importance of the Red Sea
Any idea what the first thing Moses and the children of Israel did after witnessing the miracle
that saved their lives? They worshipped God by singing!
I will sing unto the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously
The horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
He is my God and I will glorify Him.
For the full song, please read Exodus chapter 15, yet just appreciate that the first thing they did
was worship God! After God parts the Red Sea in our lives, is worshipping God our first
response? Maybe you are frustrated God is not parting the Red Sea in your life. Maybe you are
not sure what the Red Sea is for your life, maybe you have no idea what we are talking about.
For God to part the Red Sea in your life, ask yourself what you are facing and what is at your
back. Notice how God does not part the Red Sea in our lives until are backs are against a wall
and we surrender completel or us to experience a miracle like this, more often
than not we have to be at a breaking point.
When we are all in with no result other than death or a miracle, that is where the miracle
happens. The point is, are you willing to place yourself in front of the Red Sea in your life? How
badly have you been praying for that miracle in your life? Let us look to the example set forth in

of faithfulness.
To Him who divided the Red Sea into parts; for His mercy endures forever. (Psalms 136:13)
Was it not You who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made the depths of the
sea a way for the redeemed to pass over? (Isaiah 51:10)
 Chapter 21: The Law

Law is hardly ever a fun subject, so we will do our best to keep this simple and fun! Since the

understand what the Law is all about and why it is so important. after
the Red Sea was parted and the nation sang their song of worship!
Well, i rship to change to bitter cries of complaining. In
fact, there were 40 total years of complaining as they wandered the wilderness. And Moses
happened to be the best person to blame once again. So Moses would hear the complaints of the
people daily and judge the nation accordingly.
Manna
The first complaint was from hunger. So in response to their cry, the Lord said to Moses:
l rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain

So God would make it rain, literally every single day with bread! This bread was the food of the
angels and called manna. Every wonder where give us this day our daily bread came from? It all
stemmed from here, where the children of Israel would gather bread every morning, where they
would depending on God for provision every single day. How cool is that?!
When the people complained about not having water, the Lord told Moses to strike the rocks
with his staff, and water would flow out of the rocks like a giant fountain!
As disputes arose, Moses would judge every manner accordingly from sunrise to sunset. After
being weighed down with all the responsibility and probably dwindling faith in his people,
Moses appointed leaders in charge of groups of tens, fifties, hundreds and thousands. As the
matters of dispute arose, the leaders would handle the matters accordingly, with Moses only
stepping in on occasion when he had to.
Eventually the Lord descended above Mount Sinai in a pillar of smoke and fire, with the voice of
a trumpet. God did this in front of all the children of Israel, revealing His glory and majesty for
all of them to see. The Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and gave him what we
know as the ten commandments; on top of many other laws contained in Leviticus, Exodus,
Numbers and Deuteronomy.
The Law addressed a wide range of topics, such as punishment for sin, how to act and behave,
important rules for ceremonies and festivals, some pretty straight forward laws and some harsh
know
what sin was.
Let me repeat that: The Law was written for sinners to know what sin was and the punishment

adherence of the Law. Basically this meant following the law meant you were righteous,
breaking the law meant you were unrighteous, and more than likely had a stoning coming your
way!
Keep in mind, prior to this point, there was no set-in stone commandments or instructions for
things to avoid or to do. Sure, Moses acted as the judge in their matters, yet the law allowed for
every person to be held accountable for sin themselves. This was a real game changer and would
Can anyone name the Ten Commandments?
Her
Ten Commandments
#1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Translation: DO NOT worship other gods. We will go into detail on these other gods next
chapter.
#2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or in the earth beneath, or in the in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down
thyself to them or serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of
the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And
showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
This is by far the most elaborate and descriptive commandment. Could be due to it being
tied hand in hand with the #1 most important commandment of God!
#3 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him
guiltless that takes His name in vain.
More than simply cursing God, this commandment includes committing acts in the name
of God, as in using God as justification for personal gain.
#4 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But
the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work yourself, nor
your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your
stranger within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is
in them, and rested the seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it.
Translation: DO NOT do any work on the sabbath day! Sabbath just means the seventh
day, and it was a big deal to simply rest and not do any work.
#5 Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy
God giveth thee.
#6 Thou shalt not kill
#7 Thou shalt not commit adultery
#8 Thou shalt not steal
#9 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor
Translation- No lying!

his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors.
 Keeping up with the Joneses is technically breaking #10, as we are told not to covet or be
status.

Ark of the Covenant

The ark of the covenant is perhaps one of the most well-known artifacts and or customs of the
Jewish people, yet many of us cannot describe what it actually is.
Ark, or âr n, simply means a box or chest, used in the sense of gathering. Noah built an ark,
baby Moses drifted down the river in an ark, and now there was an ark to house the covenant of
the Lord, or the commandments written in stone. This was perhaps the most holy relic of the day,
and most elaborate, since the symbology
people.
Along with instructions for building the ark for the covenant, God also gave the people
instructions for a golden candlestick, with three branches on the left side and three to the right,
totaling 7 candlesticks. This is what we commonly refer to
as a menorah.
There was a very specific purpose behind these candles, as

remembrance of past events and events to come in the

future. We will discuss this in more detail later on.
Not to bog you down with details, but the Lord gave
Moses instructions for building lamps, the tabernacle, altar
of incense, bronze basin, anointing oil, instructions for
priests and duties. Basically all the nitty gritty details that
were a direct representation of heavenly things.
When Moses Delayed, the Children of Israel Disobeyed
There were so many commandments and instructions that were given to Moses, it took an entire

the mountain, the children of Israel thought Moses had left. So they came to the number two man
in charge, Aaron, and asked him to make them gods to worship. They did not know what had
become of Moses and for some reason thought it was fitting to make their own gods.
What did Aaron do? He immediately tore his robe in frustration, cried out to God in repentance,
and swore that if anyone even thought to worship false idols they were to be put to death, right?
Actually NO, this is NOT what happened. Sorry for any confusion, this is to point out the
absurdity of what happened next.
ars of your wives, your sons,

in their ears and brought them to Aaron.

And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden
 -5)
Hold up a minute, what did we just read? Aaron, the same Aaron who was with Moses during the
plagues of the Pharaoh, the second most obedient and respected leader among the children of
Israel, and he made them a golden statue of a cow? Not only that, he told them that these were
the gods who brought them out of Egypt
Aaron, my man, no! How could you? A golden cow, really? Not only did you break the first
three commandments in one fell swoop, but you out of anyone should have known how
ridiculous that was! All in a span of less than 40 days, barely over a month, and the children of
Israel had forsaken their God, who rained down manna from heaven every single morning and
who opened the rocks for water. Come on now!
So God told Moses know was going on, that the people had corrupted themselves, and God

say about this:

And the LORD -necked
people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may
-10)
Pretty understandable, God was furious, as He should be. The sheer stupidity, ignorance,
disrespect and weakness of the people God had literally moved heaven and earth for, we so quick
to turn their backs on God like heathens. So this was a completely justifiable resp
holy and righteous defense.

against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with
a mighty hand? Why should the Egypti

anger and relent from this disaster against your people.

Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and

from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people. (Exodus 32:11-14)
Dang Moses, talk about a big pair of stone tablets you had
God in the burning bush? Man, had he grown up since then!
Anyways, this is an important part of scripture, and a passage we should pray and meditate on
for more insight into who God is.
After interceding on back down the mountain, stone tablets in
hand and filled with righteous indignation for the iniquity committed by his fellow brethren.
Moses walked down the hill and met up with Joshua and they heard a loud noise.
They turned the corner and saw the camp: only to witness a scene so horrific it was almost
funny. They saw their people dancing around a giant golden calf and committing unspeakable
acts with one another. We could go on with more elaborate descriptions as to what the worship
 basically breaking every
commandment!
Moses was so furious, he threw down the stone tablets in righteous wrath and broke them. He ran
up to the golden calf and burned it to ashes. He stomped on the remains and threw it upon the
water, and made the people drink it! Dang talk about kind of unusual but deserved punishment I
guess?
Regardless, Moses went up to Aaron, his right hand man, to see how he could have let this
abomination take place. When Aaron began blaming the people and said that he just went along
with their request, you can imagine everyone looking down in shame, unable to meet the eyes of
Moses, who had just been in the presence of the Living and Holy God for the past 40 days.
When Moses looked around at the scene and realized how shameful this was on their people,
Moses stood at the gate of th
come out with him. All the sons from the tribe of Levi came forward, and that was it! What a
shameful day.
So with instructions from the Lord, Moses commanded the Levites to grab their swords and slay
every person in the camp! Before you jump to any conclusions, there was only about 3,000
people slain that day, not every single person! I know this seems harsh, but realize what the
alternative would have been.
The acts committed by children of Israel was pretty much the worse thing they could have done,
literally. The only way they could have committed more evil acts would have been to add
additional commandments for them to break. Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death, or
the punishment of committing sin is death.
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness, so there was a lot of blood on their
hands and that was the only way to make atonement for sin. So yes, a massacre of brother against
brother was probably a horrific and brutal event that would give them nightmares to come, yet
they were all guilty of much worse.
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an
atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul. (Leviticus
17:11)
So tensions were a bit high after this, and the children of Israel obviously repented of their
wicked ways, as the alternative would have meant eternal death. Moses went back up to Mount
Sinai and received two fresh stone tablets with the commandments on them, which were then
placed inside the ark of the covenant.
Because of the disobedience of the children of Israel, God did not allow them to enter the
promised land. The person who would lead the nation would be Joshua. So after Moses died,
God commanded Jacob with this command:
My servant Moses is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people to
the land which I give to them, to the sons of Israel. (Joshua 1:2)
Joshua
Just as Moses had been the direct lifeline between God and the children of Israel, the torch had
passed from the staff of Moses to Joshua. This man was a described as the servant of the Lord
to Moses- talk about an honor! When the children of Israel had
worshiped the golden calf, Joshua did not partake. He kept himself apart and was rewarded with
chosen people.
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will
be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong and of good courage. For you shall
divide for an inheritance to this people, the land which I swore to their fathers, to give it to them.
Only be strong and very courageous so that you may be careful to do according to all the Law
which My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that
you may act wisely wherever you go. (Joshua 1:5-7)
So Joshua obeyed God and with the backing from our Heavenly Father, took confidence and led
the nation. Joshua sent two of his men to go in secret and get some recon done on the promised
land. Since the land was inhabited by the Canaanites, they had to be smart about their plan. The
two men went into Jericho and lodged with a woman named Rahab.
When the king of Jericho got word that the two Israelites were snooping around, Rahab was
commanded to turn in the two men. Yet she feared God and knew all that the Lord had done
through the nation, so she feared the wrath of God more than she feared the wrath of the king.
Because of her obedience and kindness showed, Rahab was rewarded with her life being spared.
The men commanded Rahab to tie a scarlet thread in her window as a marker. Just as the
children of Israel painted blood above their doorframes, this scarlet thread was her sign of being
spared. So Rahab helped the men escape and they went back to Joshua and told him what had
happened.
Crossing the Jordan
Now when it came time to pass through the Jordan river into the promised land, Joshua was told
by the Lord that His glory would be made known once again. True to His promise, as the priests
carrying the ark of the covenant came to the edge of the water, something amazing happened: the
water was parted! Just like the Red Sea, the Jordan river was split down the middle and the ark of
the covenant remained on dry ground!
All the children of Israel passed through the Jordan river and did not get even a drop of water on
them! In order to commemorate this great miracle, twelve different men from the twelve tribes
each grabbed a large stone and made a monument. This was a sign for the nation, so when their
children asked them why there was a monument of 12 stones, they could say it was when the
Lord God parted the water and brought them into the promised land.
Jericho
Jericho was one of the most fortified cities of the day in 1400BC. The walls surrounding the city
were thought to be impenetrable and the city was located on a hill. Any enemy would have to
fight their way uphill, on top of fighting off arrows from guard towers placed throughout the
bunker. This place was the Fort Knox of its day. And when the king of the city heard the children
of Israel were coming, the walls were shut up and they went into lockdown mode.
When the Lord told Joshua and the children of Israel that they would be conquering this city,
they actually faced this challenge with faith: witnessing the Jordan river part right in front of
them must have helped! These are the instructions the Lord gave:

mighty men of valor. You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city
once. Thus shall you do for six days. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns
before the ark.
On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the
trumpets. And when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, when you hear the sound of the
trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down
-5)
That is exactly what they did, and that is exactly what happened. Imagine the reaction from the
people inside the city. They saw this massive army approaching, and instead of mounting any
type of offense, they just marched around the city for seven days. The people of Jericho must
have been mocking, cursing and yelling how crazy they were! Yet the children of Israel did not
give up and continued the march.
If you close your eyes and imagine what it must have been like, that first day they must have felt
a bit goofy, just marching around and going back to camp. Waking up in the morning, marching
around the city, then going back to camp. Yet every single day you could feel their faith growing
even more, marching with the steps of confidence and expectancy growing every day.
When the sun rose on that seventh day, the children of Israel knew their day had finally arrived!
That would be the day God and the nations would know it. So that
seventh day they marched, they finished their first lap, second lap and so on. Until they got to the
seventh lap. The priests blew the trumpets as they carried the ark of the covenant.

it, the children of Israel knew it, and now the gentile nations knew it. Rehab was spared and the
rest of the inhabitants fell to the sword. The children of Israel had entered the promised land, and
now the real fun was just about to begin!
 Chapter 22: Judges

Baalim and Ashtaroth

After the death of Joshua, the nation of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and
served the Baals (Baalim): And they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, which brought them
out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, the gods of the people who were around them,
and bowed themselves to them, and provoked the Lord to anger. And they forsook the Lord and
served Baal and Ashtaroth. (Judges 2:11-13)
We are told later on in Chapter 10:6 that the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the
Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the
gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and
forsook the Lord and served him not.
Now, please pay close attention to this next part. Pray and ask our Lord for divine wisdom,
discernment and understanding. One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to be unaware of the
schemes of the enemy. If the nation of Israel could so easily make the fatal error of worshiping
false gods, the same nation who witnessed all the miracles of God, who were fed manna from
heaven daily, who witnessed the walls of Jericho come crumbling down and inherited the
promised land: are we any better?
We just read how the children of Israel made a golden calf statue and worshiped it, which in
ms so strange and foreign to us. No way we could make the same mistake,

foolish? We know better, d

(Ephesians
6:12)
Many of us have hear these fateful words from Paul, yet are we putting on the full armor of God
to defend against them? Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against
the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11)
Brothers and sisters, before we take a look at the schemes of the devil, please go to Ephesians
chapter 6 and read what Paul tells us. If you are spiritually unprotected for this next part, not only
are you opening up yourself for attack, but your spiritual mind ( ), will be smudged and
you will not be able to comprehend the wiles and schemes of the devil.
Now, in order to understand these false gods, we need to go way back to the time of Noah.
Remember that pre-flood era? To refresh, the sons of God (fallen angels) lusted after the women
of earth and had children with them. The Bible refers to them as mighty men of old, men of
renown, giants.
Enoch tells us some 200 angels made a vow to fornicate with women and gave some names on a
select few. Semyaza was the leader and responsible for starting the rebellion with women.
Azazel taught men how to make weapons, armor, as well as how to make bracelets, ornaments,
the art of making up the eyes, precious stone and colored dyes.
Amazarak taught casting spells and cutting roots (drugs), Armaros taught the release of spells,
Baraqiel taught astrology, Kokabel taught signs and omens, Tamiel taught astrology and
Asaradel taught the path of the moon.
The archangel Uriel showed Enoch a vision of the end judgement and saw the fate of these fallen
angels. The spirits of the angles who were promiscuous with women will stand here; and they,
assuming many forms, made men unclean and will lead men astray so that they sacrifice to
demons as gods. And they will stand there until the great judgement day, on which they will be
judged, so that an end will be made of them. (Enoch 17:19)
So, from Enoch we get the names of the main rebellious fallen angels, who are responsible for
leading men astray, and misleading them to sacrifice to demons as gods. I know this is deep, bear
great!
Realize that these fallen angels who corrupted mankind before the flood, are the same angels
responsible for leading mankind astray post-flood through false gods. They have changed names,
forms and faces many times, yet behind all these gods are the fallen angels. Somehow worship of
these false gods survived the flood, and from Babylon spread to every civilization in the world.
This is known as the mystery Babylon religion and many books have been written on this topic.
The nations of Assyria and Babylon, known as Assyro-Babylonians, were responsible for
renewing this pre-flood belief and spreading it across the nations. For example, we know the
Roman gods were a copy and paste from the Greek gods, yet ever wonder how the Greeks came
up with them?
If at this point you are overwhelmed, praise God! In all seriousness, this is not a topic to

guide, as the only way to accurately understand and interpret this vast amount of information
comes from scripture.
From the book of Kings, we are told the children of Israel fell victim to Baalim, and Ashtaroth,
and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the
children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines.
Buckle in folks, here we go!
#1 This is the false god mentioned the most in scripture, 69 times to be exact. The plural
Baalim e
male essence, or version of these false gods. He is associated quite often with storms, sun, sky,
vegetation and the sea.
#2 Ashtaroth, singular Ashtoreth. This is the female
Ashtaroth is associated with fertility, love, beauty, earth and moon. Ashtaroth is known as the
queen of heaven and worship of her is associated with Ashtaroth poles. Notice how in Scripture,
the Lord refers to Baalim and Ashtaroth together. They are the male and female versions of the
false gods.
Follow along as we trace the different names, roots and forms of the Baalim.
Aramaean Haddad, Anu, Aramazd Storm and rain god, god of
the sky

Akkadian Adad, Sin Storm god, father of the

gods

Babylon Tammuz, Marduk Chief god of Babylon

Egyptian Osiris, Ra, Set, Horus Sun god, resurrection,

storms, sky

Phoenician El, Dagon god of Philistines, Fish

god, patron of the sea, god
of grain, prince of demons

Greek Helios, Eros, Zeus, Adonis God of the sun, lightning,

vegetation and rebirth

Roman Jupiter, Mars, Apollo God of sky, thunder,

agriculture, war, death

Canaanites Lord of the opening, storm

god,

Moabites Chemosh God of Moab

Amorites Amurru, Martu, Moloch Storm god, lord of the

(Molek) mountain, child sacrifice

Sumerian God of wind, moon

Norse Odin God of basically

everything

Germanic Thor Storm god

Hinduism Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu Supreme being, destroyer,

transformer, chaos
Examples of Ashtaroth:

Greek Aphrodite, Kore, Demeter, Fertility, triple moon

Hecate, Artemis, Gaia goddess, goddess of the
hunt

Roman Diana, Ceres, Venus Goddess of the hunt, moon,

nature, agriculture

Hinduism Parvati, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Goddess of love and

Devi fertility, divine mother

Arabian Triple Moon goddess

Phoenician Astarte, Adonis, Anat Fertility goddess, beauty

Babylon Semiramis, Ishtar Wife of Nimrod, Whore of

Babylon, Queen of heaven

Egyptian Isis, Hathor Mother, wife, nature, magic

Anglo Saxon Eastre Fertility goddess

Sumerian Inanna Goddess of love, beauty,

fertility

Armenian Astghik, Anahit Goddess of fertility and

love, healing

Japanese Izanami, Tamayorihime Goddess of the tides, sea

Nordic Freya, Frigg Goddess of love and

fertility

Wiccan Mother, Maiden, Crone Triple goddess

Nigerian Ala Mother goddess, fertility

Judges of Israel
Wow, great work making it through all that! If that was intense to read, imagine the time, energy
and research required to put this together! Now that your eyes have been opened to the

The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth,
and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children
of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord and served him not. (Judges
2:10-6)
The only thing needed to point out here is that Zidon means Phoenician, and Syrian includes
Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian. So in lieu of going back through the list, you can see
children of Israel worshipped. Take a minute and let this sink in,
bookmark these pages if you need to, because we are going to be referencing these charts later
on.
Now, the period of time after Joshua is referred to as the time of Judges. In those days, there was
no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his eyes. (Judges 21:25) As you may have
m!
There is a vicious cycle that remained constant throughout this time period: Obedience was
rewarded with blessing and prosperity, disobedience resulted in captivity and death. Almost like
clockwork, every generation seemed to forget what happened to the previous generation and they
would end up worshiping the gods of the surrounding nations.
Joshua died in 1366 BC and the first King did not arrive on the scene until 1052 BC. So for over
300 years, the nation of Israel did what they wanted. Here is how it looked: the children of Israel
are doing well, obeying God and what not. After a period of time, they start worshiping the gods
of the land and forget about God.
They are punished, either through captivity, war, death, famine, etc. God then raises up a judge,
or leader, who tells the Israelites to repent of their ways and turn back to God. They realize their
mistake, repent, and God saves them from their enemies! They go back to their land and
everything is perfect. Then they start forgetting, start worshipping idols and false gods, and the
cycle repeats itself!
And they forsook the God of their father and they went after other gods (Baalim and Ashtaroth).
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and He delivered them into the hands of
spoilers and sold them over to the hands of their enemies, so they could no longer stand before
their enemies. Wherever they went, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil, and they were
greatly distressed. (Judges 2:10-14)
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed
them. (Judges 2:16-18)
So, now that we have a biblical basis for the time of the Judges, we know pretty much the next
chapter : Deborah,
Gideon, Eli, Samson and Samuel. They were pretty great leaders and led the nation of Israel back
to worshipping God: the creator of heaven and earth and the God of their fathers.
And through the book of ine through in a whole new light. Prior to
this point, God had established his covenant through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then we
witnessed the tivity in Egypt for 400 years with no leader.
Then God raised up Moses and he led the Israelites all the way to the promised land, almost.
over and after
Jericho and the children of Israel fell back into their old habits. Just like what happened to them
in Egypt and in the wilderness, their memory was short-lived. Notice any pattern here?
love we are shown here is that He cannot stand sin. God had already proven
his majesty and faithfulness time after time prior to this point. And just like a child who
continues to stick their hand in the cookie jar, God would slap their hand away. And when they

In reality, the child was the children of Israel (fitting, right?!) and the cookie was the sin of the
surrounding nations, or idolatry and worship of the false gods. So, although their punishments
may come across as severe, realize that God did not do this out of contempt, He did it out of
love. God did not choose to punish the children of Israel; they chose to disobey God and
separated themselves by worshipping other gods.
When discipline comes from God, it comes from a place of love. For those of you reading this
who are parents, would you agree with that statement? If you saw your child blatantly
misbehaving, or disobeying a direct order from you, do you discipline them or not?
Maybe some of us should have received more discipline growing up, yet withholding discipline
does not profit us at all. In fact, not disciplining a child when they do something wrong will end
up doing more harm than good.

to say about discipline:

For whom the Lord loves he corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
(Proverbs 3:12)
For who God loves He disciplines, and chastises every son whom He receives. If you endure
discipline, God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom a father does not discipline?
But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate
and not sons. Furthermore, we have earthly father to discipline us, and we respected them; shall
we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
For they disciplined us for a short time as they saw best, but He does it for our profit, so that we
may share in His holiness. And indeed, no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but grievous.
But afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
(Hebrews 12:6-11)
 Chapter 23: David

What an awesome God we have! Just had to say that, I hope your knowledge and understanding

Now, our story of Judges comes to an end with the prophet Samuel, who was the last Judge. The
nation of Israel was tired of being leaderless and they wanted a king like the other nations.
Although Samuel fought against it, the Lord said to Samuel:

have rejected Me, that

In case you missed that part, the nation of Israel had rejected God because they were called to be
So
Samuel obeyed God and listened to the people. Even though he warned them of the downfalls
they would run into with a king, they did not care. They just wanted to be ruled over like the
other nations; so Saul was elected king and the fun times began!
Saul is described as the most handsome man in all the land, and looked the part from head to toe.
Yet his character was far from perfect. Saul disobeyed God twice, and was warned by Samuel
that he would lose his kingdom. From that day forward, Saul would become paranoid and unwise
in his quest to not lose his power. God was setting the stage for His king: David, the only man

Anointing of David
The LORD ow long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king
over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem.

The LORD ake a

e LORD

Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled
w o you come i es, in peace; I have
come to sacrifice to the LORD
he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and urely the LORD
before the LORD But the LORD o not consider his appearance or his height,
for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the
outward appearance, but the LORD
Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in fron he LORD
or has the
LORD seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him,
1
he LORD
 Samuel said end for
him; we So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was
glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the LORD So Samuel took the horn of oil and
anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came
powerfully upon David. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
We just read the anointing of David, even though Saul was the king. The practice of anointing

insects off. This eventually turned into the symbolic representation of protection, empowerment

David and Saul

Samuel anointed Saul before naming him king, yet Samuel anointed David as a preparation for
his eventual kingship and

right under Saul

Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented
him. S ee, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord
command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the

So One of the

is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the LORD is with

Then Saul sent end

So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with
his son David to Saul.
David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of
his armor-bearers. Then Saul sent word to llow David to remain in my service,
Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up
his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would
leave him. (1 Samuel 16:14-23)
David and Goliath
with the Philistines heated
up. A battle took place that will be forever marked as one of the most legendary displays of
courage, faith and obedience in history!
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And Saul and the men of Israel were
gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the
Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the
mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose
height was six cubits and a span (almost 10ft tall!).
He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of
the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin
of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his
spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron.
And his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and sh hy have
you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul?
Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against

(1 Samuel 17:1-10)
In this beginning battle scene, we come to realize that Goliath was not a nice guy. Even though
he had some questionable genes that rivaled giant status, he was belligerent, prideful and
willfully insulting the creator of heaven and earth. Just imagine this blatant display of
blasphemy, the whole army of Israel was chomping at the bit to fight Goliath, right? Actually no,
that is not what happened.
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. (1 Samuel 17:11) So instead of stepping up as their physical and spiritual leader, Saul
cowered in fear along with the rest of the Israelites! We are told that for 40 days the battle raged
on, and every morning and every evening, Goliath would ritually go out and challenge the
Israelites to single combat.

when David was not tending to his sheep, he would run provisions back and forth to his brothers.
After finding someone to watch the sheep, David left early one morning to check on his brothers.
When he approached their camp, David found his brothers and began discussing the battle with
them. In the middle of their conversation, Goliath resumed his boastful threats and David heard.
All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men
of Israel said,
And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter

David said to the men who stood by h

Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine,
-26)
The men of Israel had cowardly avoided Goliath for 40 days, yet David, who was no more than
15 years old, heard the same bosting from Goliath and was more angry than afraid. His brothers

Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled
sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come

toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before. (1
Samuel 17:28-30)
Dang, it looked like David could not find a single sympathetic ear, as the men all feared for their
lives. Even his own brothers would not listen, yet the whispers from the soldiers reached the ears
of king Saul. Once Saul heard what David had spoken, he summoned David to his tent and this is
what David had to say:

with him, for you ar

lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it
out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed
him.
Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be
like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living
who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the

17:32-37)
Yes! David, what a boss! He was brought before Saul, who had heard his confident claims.
Instead of backing down or denying what he said, David went even further and got special

hard to even imagine this display of bravery. Yet David had been prepared physically and
spiritually for this moment.
Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in
his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. The Philistine
moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy
and handsome in appearance. The

with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of
the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your
head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air
and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and
that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is
-47)
Goodness, what an epic confrontation.
David literally did not care what Goliath said, he just matched him word for word. Goliath had
faith is his gods and his massive size, yet David had faith in God even more. So once David and
Goliath finished their exchange of words, the battle began!
When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the
battle line to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and
slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on
his face to the ground.
So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine
and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of
David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine
and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and
killed him and cut off his head with it. When the
Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they
fled. (1 Samuel 17:48-51)
Holy Moley! This epic battle between nations, gods
and willpower ended with a beardless boy chopping
the head off a giant warrior! This was perhaps the
greatest display of courage found in the entire Bible,
and the sheer faith David had was outstanding. What
we would give for a fraction of the courage and faith
David displayed that day!
This ep the
branch that would yield the fruit of righteousness to
come.

Messiah w
The Lord rewarded David for his obedience, even if
David did not know it at the time.
Saul also rewarded David, seeing as how he had little choice now that David was the hero of
David to the commander of his army, even though he was not
even old enough to legally join! David became the most popular guy around after this, so it
should come as no surprise to find out that as jealousy and
paranoia also grew.

Even on their journey back home, the cheers of the people went up and they said,
Saul was a very
prideful man, so from that day forward, Saul plotted on the best way to kill David.
David even more. Saul even offered his daughter to David at the price of 100 foreskins from the

real.
Yet the people loved David more and knew the Lord was with David, so every attempt on his life
was met with frustration. David eventually had to flee, and during his time in exile, David ended
up writing many of the psalms that are in the book of Psalms.
O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me, lest he
tear my soul like a lion, tearing it in pieces, and there is no one to deliver. (Psalms 7:1-2)
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of
whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, my enemies and my foes, came on me to eat my flesh,
they stumbled and fell. Though an army should camp against me, my heart shall not fear; though
war should rise against me, in this I am trusting.
One thing I have desired from the Lord, that I will seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the
Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to pray in His temple. For in
the time of trouble He shall hide me in His shelter, in the secrecy of His tabernacle He shall hide
me; He shall set me up on a rock. (Psalms 27:1-5)
So if the psalms David wrote are any indication, he did quite a bit of soul searching and praying
during his time in exile. For any of you going through a difficult time, take heart from these
psalms. Take heart from David, the courageous and faithful servant of the Lord who also
struggled through his time of difficulty. God uses those times to grow us and reveal His glory,
with David serving as a great example.
Eventually, Saul came looking for David and as Saul came into the cave where David was
hiding, the opportunity to kill Saul presented itself. Yet instead of taking advantage of his
lled him, yet chose to
spare his life. After Saul left the cave, David revealed himself and told Saul:
Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave.
l not put out my hand against my

See, my father, see the corner of your robe in my hand. For by the fact that I cut off the corner of
your robe and did not kill you, you may know and see that there is no wrong or treason in my
hands. I have not sinned against you, though you hunt my life to take it.
May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand
shall not be against you. (1 Samuel 24:10-12) id off!

ou are more righteous

than I, for you have repaid me good, whereas I have repaid you evil.
And you have declared this day how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me
when the LORD put me into your hands. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away
safe? So may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.
Behold, I know that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established
in your hand. Swear to me therefore by the LORD that you will not cut off my offspring after me,
and that you will not destroy my name out
And David swore this to Saul. Then Saul went home, and David and his men went up to the
stronghold. (1 Samuel 24:16-22)

Saul essentially gave David his blessing to take over as king after him. So we just witnessed
another courageous move from David, similar to the battle between Goliath. Yet instead of
facing a giant in battle, David faced the man attempting to murder him and humbled himself at
his feet.
Saul could have easily struck David down and secured the kingship for his future generations,

will. So instead of killing David, Saul made David swear to him that he will not kill his own

David Becomes King

Not long after that emotional scene took place, the Philistine
Knowing that the Lord was no longer with him, Saul fled the battle in fear for his life. Instead of
facing death like a man, he fell on his own sword. And just like that, the very first king of Israel
was dead. This led to a smooth transition of David to king.
Once David was publicly crowned king, he continued the faith and courage that placed him there
in the first place. David would go on to eventually untie the entire nation of Israel, brought the
ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, and made Jerusalem the capital of the nation of Israel.

was not perfect, he established the righteousness needed to spur the nation of Israel forward.
David began the preparations for the first temple, united the nation, reorganized the army and
established the priesthood. The nation of Israel was finally getting back on its feet, almost to
where they were with Joseph in Egypt before they were made slaves.
he
Messiah could eventually be born from. The Messiah would be a direct descendent of David and
would establish his eternal Kingdom through his line! No wonder God would bless those
favorable traits of David, showing what
The story of David gives us some insight into the kind of person God found righteous enough to
establish his own Son through. With his dependence, trust, loyalty and respect of God, David
was a talented musician and poet, courageous and strategic in battle, led wisely and repented of
his sins. He was an all-around solid guy.
David also ended up writing 73 of the 150 psalms we have today, and his son Solomon would go
on to build the very first temple to God! So thank you Lord for David! Thank you for showing us
your love through his character and how you are faithful to those who are obedient to your
instructions!
 Chapter 24: Solomon

wrong, Solomon was a man God blessed tremendously, and someone God found worthy enough
to build His first temple. Solomon is a fundamental in the nation of
Israel.
Solomon also did some interesting things. As wise as he was, Solomon decided to try everything
the world had to offer, including fine dining, women, power and wealth. Solomon is someone the
bible tells us was the wisest man who ever was or ever will be. Yet he also had 700 wives and

tion and his son Adonijah

his successor; telling him:

eep the charge of the Lord your God: to walk in his way, to keep his statutes, his
commandments, his judgements, and his testimonies as written in the Law of Moses, that you
may prosper in all that you do and whereve 1 Kings 2:3)
King Solomon
After David passed away, the book of Chronicles tells us that Solomon the son of David
established himself in his kingdom, and the LORD his God was with him and made him
exceedingly great. Solomon spoke to all Israel, to the commanders of thousands and of hundreds,
to the judges, and to all the leaders in all Israel, the heads of fathers' houses. (2 Chronicles 1:1-
2)
At the ripe age of 12, Solomon was placed into the most important position of authority of the
known world, which had to be overwhelming. Do you remember what you did at the age of 12?
Did you have to l

Based on what Solomon did next, most likely he was extremely overwhelmed, because he went
up to the bronze altar before the LORD, which was at the tent of meeting, and offered a thousand
burnt offerings on it. (2 Chronicles 1:6) Basically Solomon went to spend some alone time with
the Lord and offer a sacrifice to show God he needed some help.
Wel in that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him,

love to David my father, and have made me king in his place.

O LORD God, let your word to David my father be now fulfilled, for you have made me king
over a people as numerous as the dust of the earth. Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go
out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so grea
(2 Chronicles 1:7-10)
This was the right answer, since God responded with, ecause this was in your heart, and you
have not asked for riches, wealth or honor, or the life of your enemies or long life, but because
you have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may judge My people I have
made you king over;
Wisdom and knowledge is granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth and honor, such
(2 Chronicles
1:10-12)
So just to recap, if you are ever asked by God what you desire, ask for wisdom! Not only that,

not accomplish this on his own. His dependence was completely on God, and out of his pure
intentions, God honored his request by not only granting Solomon what he asked for, but blessed
him with more wealth and honor than he could ever expect!
Solomon established the trade routes between Africa, Europe, India and Asia and effectively
controlled the entire movement of goods and services in the area. Solomon received more than
25 tons of gold per year alone, which for the 40 years he reigned, would translate into
approximately $64,300,800,000. That was just the tax received from trading, not including:
Annual tribute from all kings and governors in the area, income received from business, gifts,
cattle and livestock, fleet of ships allowing for trade with nations previously unreachable. His
throne had 6 steps with 12 lions, made completely from gold, including every single cup in his
house. There was not a single piece of the king made silver and
gold as common in Jerusalem as stones.
Hopefully this is enough to show you, God honored his promise to Solomon in granting him
riches and wealth like none other. On top of being the wealthiest man in existence, Solomon did
some other things.
Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, as well as books on music,
poetry, history, science, botany and zoology. Solomon built the first temple to God, expanded the
royal court, established his own navy fleet and expanded the defenses of the city.
When Solomon had completed the temple to house the ark of the covenant, in a seven-day
ceremony he sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep! Trust me when we say, this first temple
was a masterpiece of its day and Solomon wasted no expense!
People would come from all corners of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, including the
Queen of Sheba, who would later be one of his many wives! Phew! Solomon my man, you were
busy! T thing God had promised him.
Besides making our own finances pale in bleak comparison, why do we include Solomon in

nations were solidified during his reign, under a strong a wealthy ruler, a temple, peace,
prosperity, and the nation of Israel transitioned from outsiders to the central hub of the new
world! If only it lasted!
Now that we understand the vicious cycle of the children of Israel, it should come as no surprise
ed to his
own advice. To all the women reading this, keep in mind these are the words of Solomon
(sorry!).
And I find it more bitter than death the woman whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands
like bands. Whoever pleases God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her.
(Ecclesiastes 7:26)
Solomon left a warning in Proverbs 5:3-8. For the lips of a strange woman drip honey, and her
mouth is smoother than oil. But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her
feet go down to death; her steps lay hold on hell. Remove your ways far from her, and do not
come near the door of her house.
In a beautifully ironic way, Solomon essentially prophesied his own fate:
For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other
gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
For Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his
father. (1 Kings 11:4,6)
As punishment for his crimes, God told Solomon that He would tear his kingdom away from him
and give it to his servant. Solomon was then to not take his
kingdom away during his reign, but would remove it from his son. Solomon was then told his
son would be given one tribe for the sake of David. And just like that, the good times came to a
bitter end.
ealth, power and wisdom, he turned
away to the gods of his wives. Now that we ha
what turned Solomon away in the end of his days.
We are told Solomon went after Ashtoreth of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the abomination of the
Ammonites. He built a temple to Chemosh and Molech, the abomination of Moab and Ammon.
Without going down the rabbit hole too deeply, Solomon essentially worshiped the Baalim and
Ashtaroth of the surrounding nations.

easy thing to do, so if you are compelled to research this yourself, going down that path
without preparation is not a wise decision. This information was compiled with love and
divine grace, with no intention of misleading you. Take my word for it, this rabbit hole does
not lead to wonderland*
 -National symbol of Israel
This is NOT a Jewish symbol, there is no
biblical evidence or scripture mentioning this
symbol.
Zidonian and Ammonite symbol for
Molech, as well as Astarte (Ashtoreth)
Tammuz, Dagon, Chronos (Baalim)
Acts 7:43 and Amos 5:25 refer to it as the star
of Remphan (Molech)
Used in occult, sorcery, mysticism, alchemy,
witchcraft, druids, freemasons, astrology, new
age, wiccan, necromancy, pagans, zionists,
luciferians, and satanists

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against
the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians
6:12)
But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
(Luke 12:2)
Therefore, do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will
both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts;
and then each man's praise will come to him from God. (1 Corinthians 4:5)
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a
spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)
No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to
be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You
cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. (1 Corinthians 10:20-21)
 Chapter 25: Israel and Judah

understand how everything ties

salvation would not be possible if there was not hate and damnation. You would not know light

Now, after Solomon died, the nation

was divided once again. The tribes
in the north made their capitol
Samaria and would claim the nation
of Israel. The tribes of Judah and
Benjamin retained the capitol of
Jerusalem and would claim the
lower part known as Judah. So,
Israel and Judea made up the
divided kingdom.
As we have seem time and time

forget all that the Lord had done for

them, and eventually fall back to
worshiping the Baalim and
Ashtaroth of the surrounding
countries. The cycle continues, and
the nations do not last long.
God sent the Assyrians to conquer
the northern kingdom of Israel, and
the Babylonians to conquer the
lower kingdom of Judah. They go
into captivity and once again, they must repent of their ways and God raised up prophets now
instead of judges.
So in this saga of events, prophets like Isaiah, Elijah, Ezekiel and Daniel are raised up. God ends
up using the captivity of Israel and Judah as examples to the surrounding kingdoms. Just like
God had done with Abraham, Joseph, Moses and the Judges, God uses this sobering time is
Jewish history to give them time to repent of their ways, and allow God to show his glory.
Daniel
For those of you who know the story of Daniel, we find a very similar story to that of Abram
when he was thrown into the furnace by Nimrod. Only this time King Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon was the ruler in charge and he threw Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the furnace
for refusing to bow down to his
statue and worship him. And just
like with Abram, they were spared
and unscathed.
When the King Nebuchadnezzar
made praying to God illegal, Daniel
secretly continued to pray in his
room and was discovered. He was
then thrown into a den of lions and
an angel of the Lord came to bind
up the mouth
life was spared and we get the

For a period of about 400 years, the

nations of Israel and Judah remained in captivity until King Artaxerxes of Persia issued the
decree to rebuild the temple that Solomon built. This began

divided into three periods: seven weeks (49 years) plus 62 weeks (434 years) plus one week (7
years).
The purpose of this revelation was given to: finish the transgression, make an end of sin, atone
for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most
holy place
F go into this further
later on, just know that in this period of time, God used his prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel,

prophecy is perhaps the most studied and authoritative old testament prophecy we have for end
times.
Not only are we given prophetic messages about the end of the age, but also of the promised

covered more than 4,000 years of history together, congratulations!

Hopefully by this point, your understanding of biblical events has widened your perspective of
God and his love for us. Without understanding history correctly, without knowing the events
leading up to this next part, we will not be able to fully grasp the significance of the fulfillment
of the most important promise God made.
Before moving on, make sure you have fully grasped these takeaways. Please ask the Lord to
reveal these truths to you. If you are struggling to wrap your head around them, ask God for an
understanding mind. Ask the Lord to turn your heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel
36:26). Ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear. This message is for you, and it is a message of
the superabundant love the creator of heaven and earth has for you!
#1 God fulfills his promises
#2 God is Holy
#3 God created us to be in a love relationship with Him.
 Chapter 26: Promised Messiah

Merriam Webster defines Messiah as:

1) The expected king and deliverer of the Jews
2) A professed or accepted leader of some hope or cause
The Greek word for Messiah mâshîyach comes from the Hebrew word , and in Aramaic is
of these words mean to anoint or the anointed one. This word can be used as a
verb or noun.
Merriam Webster defines anoint as:
1) To smear or rub with oil or an oily substance
2) To apply oil to as part of a religious ceremony
3) To choose by or as if by divine election
Now that we have a g
Messiah was such a big deal. The Messiah is the most , and
the nation of Israel understood that the Messiah would also be their most important person ever!
Why is that?
Well, as the nation of Israel had come to find out, they had not had the best leadership. Although
there were some extremely important and definable leaders like Abraham, Moses and David,
they were all men and eventually made mistakes. And just like the vicious historical cycle we
have seen, they just could not seem to get their act together for more than a few generations!
So, by the time Israel had returned to Jerusalem from their Babylonian captivity, they had gone
through almost 1500 years of turbulent ups and downs. They were in sore need of a Messiah to
lead them, one who would be perfect. He would be part man and part God, the best of both

The purpose of the Messiah would be to finish the transgression, make an end of sin, make
atonement for iniquity bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and
anoint the most holy place. Basically, the Messiah would usher in an age to come that would
correct the wrong in the world.
Realize that before this, the only way to make atonement for sin was through the sacrifice of
animals, or blood. The authoritative law for the Jews at this time came from Moses. For the life
of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your
souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:10)
Prior to this, any time someone sinned or broke the law, the only way to show God you were
sorry was through the shedding of blood. In case you forgot, the first thing Noah did after the
flood was build an altar and sacrifice the clean animals. Abraham was prepared to make a
sacrifice of his son Isaac upon the altar, and Moses established the law of sacrifice in Leviticus,
Exodus, and Numbers.
In fact, during the Passover in Egypt, the blood of a lamb without blemish was smeared on their
doorframes. This sacrificial blood saved the children of Israel from being killed. If the nation as a
whole had sinned, they were required to sacrifice a goat without blemish as the collective

The thought behind these practices was that the animal would take the sins of the people upon
itself, and through shedding its blood, they were forgiven of their sins and made clean. This
practice is not something unique to the nation of Israel. In fact, this concept of a scapegoat has
been part of literally every civilization and culture since the beginning.
Whenever a disaster occurs, whenever times are hard, or people are not where they want to be,
pointing the finger has been the most common answer. Passing the blame to someone or
something else should come as no surprise to us, look what happened in the Garden! Mankind
has held true to this concept, for better or for worse, and from studying ancient cultures, we
notice that assigning sin to a person or object is the way people get right with their maker.
Leaders have used the scapegoating practice as a tool to unite their people and establish

slamic Jihadists were

scapegoated by the United States in response to 9/11, and media is blamed for about everything
else!
The very last point to be made on scapegoats is that we actually do have a biblical basis for this.
? Well Enoch tells us Azazel is responsible for all sin, one of
he is cursed
eternally, bound, and against him is written: ALL SIN. (Enoch 10:8)
Leviticus 16:8 actually tells us on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) two goats would be brought
forward, one goat would be sacrificed to God, the other for the scapegoat. Modern translations
will have many words in place of scapegoat, but the root word is `aza'zel. Look familiar? The
word scapegoat and Azazel are interchangeable. The second goat would have the nations sins
cast upon it, and the goat would be led into the wilderness and cast off a cliff.
Okay, with me so far? Now that we have a biblical understanding on what a Messiah is, why the

if there are any biblical prophecies, characteristics, events or signs that describe what to be
looking for.

Messiah would be born of a woman. Genesis 3:15

Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2

Messiah would be born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14

Messiah would come from the line of Abraham. Genesis 12:3

Messiah would be a descendant of Isaac. Genesis 17:19

Messiah would be a descendant of Jacob. Numbers 24:17

Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49:10

Messiah would be heir to King David's throne. 2 Samuel 7:12-13

Isaiah 9:7

Messiah's throne will be anointed and eternal. Psalm 45:6-7

Daniel 2:44

Messiah would be called Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14

Messiah would spend a season in Egypt. Hosea 11:1

A massacre of children would happen at Messiah's Jeremiah 31:15

birthplace.

A messenger would prepare the way for Messiah Isaiah 40:3-5

Messiah would be rejected by his own people. Psalm 69:8

Isaiah 53:3

Messiah would be a prophet. Deuteronomy

18:15

Messiah would be preceded by Elijah. Malachi 4:5-6

Messiah would be declared the Son of God. Psalm 2:7

Messiah would be called a Nazarene. Isaiah 11:1

Messiah would bring light to Galilee. Isaiah 9:1-2

Messiah would speak in parables. Isaiah 6:9-10

Messiah would be sent to heal the brokenhearted. Isaiah 61:1-2

Messiah would be a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110:4

Messiah would be called King. Psalm 2:6
Zechariah 9:9

Messiah would be praised by little children. Psalm 8:2

Messiah would be betrayed. Psalm 41:9

Messiah's price money would be used to buy a potter's Zechariah 11:12-

field. 13

Messiah would be falsely accused. Psalm 35:11

Messiah would be silent before his accusers. Isaiah 53:7

Messiah would be spat upon and struck. Isaiah 50:6

Messiah would be hated without cause. Psalm 35:19

Psalm 69:4

Messiah would be crucified with criminals. Isaiah 53:12

Messiah would be given vinegar to drink. Psalm 69:21

Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced. Psalm 22:16

Zechariah 12:10

Messiah would be mocked and ridiculed. Psalm 22:7-8

Soldiers would gamble for Messiah's garments. Psalm 22:18

Messiah's bones would not be broken. Exodus 12:46

Psalm 34:20

Messiah would be forsaken by God. Psalm 22:1

Messiah would pray for his enemies. Psalm 109:4

 Soldiers would pierce Messiah's side. Zechariah 12:10

Messiah would be buried with the rich. Isaiah 53:9

Messiah would resurrect from the dead. Psalm 16:10

Psalm 49:15

Messiah would ascend to heaven. Psalm 24:7-10

Messiah would be seated at God's right hand. Psalm 68:18

Psalm 110:1

Messiah would be a sacrifice for sin. Isaiah 53:5-12

For 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. (Isaiah 9:6)
 Chapter 27: Rome and Judea

Alright, how cool is that? God gave us so many prophetic promises and instructions on what we
should be looking for, almost as if He wanted us to know who His Messiah would be!
As you may recall from history, Alexander the Great was a pretty influential and important
person in history. He conquered more of the known world at that time than anyone else before
him. Shortly after the Jewish nation returned from their captivity, Alexander conquered most of
Europe, along with the surrounding kingdoms.

He also brought along with him the

Hellenistic (Greek) influence on culture,
economics, religion and language. The Jewish
people welcomed Alexander as a conquering
hero, and the Greek influence spread. After

until their fun-loving neighbors to the West,

Rome, decided to come over. That empire was
pretty vast in scope, as in known as the
Roman Empire.
So there was an overlap here of the Hellenistic
influence brought on through Alexander the

had just shifted from a Republic to an Empire.

Julius Caesar started the split in his reign,
with his nephew Augustus becoming the first
Roman Emperor in 31 BC.

Now, during the reign of Augustus, he ushered in a time of peace and stability known as the Pax
Romana. Augustus also was appointed pontifex maximus, meaning he was the head of both the
secular world and religious world. Caesar Augustus noticed the decline in mortality all around
him, and made some religious reforms as well. Augustus was celebrated as a hero and savior to
the people, and they would share the great news of his victories, announcing the good news. The
Greek term evangelion derives from this, where we get evangelism, or sharing the good news or
gospel.
Augustus promoted his military leaders to positions of authority known as prefects, and they
would be responsible for ruling whatever territory they were assigned. Augustus also established
governors, laws, taxation and bureaucracy. Once a territory was conquered, Augustus realized it
was better to govern through cooperation rather than force.
He established client states, which basically meant whatever nation or territory he conquered
would bend the knee and Caesar Augustus would allow that nation to continue as normal, for the
most part. They would recognize Rome as the central authority and be subjected to Roman
authority, law and taxes. Augustus died in 14AD and Tiberius Julius Caesar became the new
emperor.
Ever since the division of Israel and Judea, the Jewish people could never quite get on the same
page. The nation of Judea was the dominant providence as this point, which established Herod
Antipas as ruler, or king. Although Herod was king, Caesar established one of his prefects,
Pontius Pilate, as governor of the Judea territory.
As a Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate was given the authority of supreme judge in the land,
meaning he was responsible for maintaining law and order in the territory. He was responsible
rity to order
executions.
Although Herod was the king of the Jewish nation, he was really just a political figurehead. The
Sanhedrin was the council of Jewish leaders responsible for executing Jewish laws and authority.
The Sanhedrin was led by the nasi (high priest), the av beit din (chief of the court) who was the
second in command, and finally 69 other elders. The Sanhedrin held the real power back then.
In the first part of the New Testament, Caiaphas was the high priest of the Sanhedrin, Annas was
the chief of the court, and the 69 elders consisted of Pharisees and Sadducees. They were
rebuked many times in the new testament for hypocrisy, and more concerned with appearance,
tradition, and politics than they were with truth, love, mercy and justice.
Sadducees were mainly aristocrats who valued their political ties with Rome more than doctrine.

would keep the peace at all costs. They denied the resurrection of the dead or any afterlife for
that matter, and were self-
Pharisees were mostly middle class, yet held in much higher esteem than the common man. They
believed in the resurrection of the dead and afterlife, and believed God controlled more of day to

Phew! Thanks for going through that history lesson! This information is extremely important in

politically, socially, economically, geographically and theologically. Without understanding how

the world operated during this time, we cannot fully grasp the next saga, which is the best part of
it all!
So now that we understand the political
part!
 Chapter 28: Sky over Bethlehem

The year was 3BC, the location was Babylon, or modern-day Iraq. The magicians who studied
the stars saw something one August night that would change the course of history. The rest of the
world had no idea what was going on, yet these three magi knew that something of epic
importance had happened. They were so convinced of what they saw, they packed up everything

rs. First
eable
in reading heavenly signs? If God wanted to give a message to his people, why of all people
would these magicians from Babylon be given this understanding?
God actually talks about stars. In fact, it s one of the very first things He tells us in Genesis. And
God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to divide between the day and the
night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years. (Genesis 1:14) Did you
catch that? The very first reason God made the stars were for signs and for seasons.
Well, as you recall in the division of the nation after Solomon, the southern nation of Judea was
taken captive in Babylon, which included Daniel-one of

time, Daniel had proven his gifts at interpreting dreams, discernment of heavenly bodies, and
biblical knowledge.
Coupled with the fact that the Babylonians were very big into astrology and astronomy since
Nimrod, the knowledge given to them from the pre-flood civilizations of the Akkadians and
Sumerians made them the world experts of the stars. R
idols dedicated to the 12 Zodiac signs? They were the creators of the Zodiac calendar, so
teachings of God and scriptural understanding, these men were the
most qualified people in the entire world to interpret this miraculous sign.
What was it they saw? Well, for one there was an eclipse the evening of August 21, 3BC. To
them, eclipses heralded an omen for their ruler or king. Needless to say, this was like a flare
th
being shot out, saying y attention! 3BC, we get a solar eclipse
in the constellation Leo, followed by an unprecedented meteor shower! The constellation Leo
represents the nation of Judea, which they would have known from Daniel.
The moon was considered the messenger star, so by tracking the moon they would essentially
have a roadmap into the signs. Since the moon was passing through what they called Sharu, or
Regulus (meaning little king, prince, royal star), they knew this meant to be on the lookout for a
king to be born.
The planet Jupiter was considered the King Planet and Venus was the Queen Planet, representing
birth or fertility. Whenever two planets cross or intersect, it simply means from our perspective
on earth, it looks like they touch each other. This is called a conjunction. And when a
conjunction happens between planets, it means something significant.
Specifically, when Jupiter and Venus are in conjunction, it means birth of a king. So on August
12, 2BC Jupiter and Venus connected in the constellation Leo, representing the birth of the
Jewish King. Then on September 11th, 2BC Jupiter intersected with Regulus and Venus entered
the constellation Virgo, or Virgin, after touching the king planet.
These Babylonian magi were so
convinced of these signs they grabbed
some gifts, saddled up their camels, and
trekked on over to King Herod to pay
their respects to the new king. To them, it
was completely obvious yet somehow
missed by every Jewish scholar, teacher
and astronomer in Jerusalem. So when
the magi came to Herod and asked:

Jews? For we have seen his star in the

no surprise that when Herod the king had

heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. (Matthew 2:2-3) This was
supposed to be their king, and yet they had no idea. Is it possible their focus could have been
elsewhere?
And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded
of them where Christ should be born. And they said to him, n Bethlehem of Judea. For so it is

princes of Judah. For out of you shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.
(Matthew 2:4-6)
Those elders, or members of the Sanhedrin, were talking about the prophecy from the prophet
Micah, who had prophesied 700 years previously:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you
shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from
ancient days. (Micah 5:2)
ciate the beautiful narrative our Heavenly Father has laid
out so far. We have ancient prophecies foretelling the birth of the Messiah. We have signs
appearing in the stars of heaven, and we have technology and software allowing us to go back
and verify the signs God put in the heavens at the very beginning of creation! Let this sink in for
a minute. Yes! Yes! Yes! Halleluiah!!!
After Herod was told of the Chris the magi to go to Bethlehem and
once they found the child, they were to let Herod know so he could come and worship him
also. Yeah right! Anyways, the magi depart and we are told they saw the star and it came and
stood over where the young child was. Seems too good to be true, right?
Well, if we take another look at the orbital patterns of planets, those planets in our outer orbit, or
planets farther from the sun then us, orbit the sun at different paces. So as our earth is rotating
alongside the other planets, some will move faster and some will move slower. When the orbits
of the planets line up, they will both be in line with the sun. Then something happens that we call
a retrograde orbit, meaning to us it will look like the planet slows down or stops, simply due to
the difference in orbital speeds.
you pass someone on the freeway: when you are going faster than them, there will
be a period of time where the two cars are right next to one another, then it will appear like the
car is moving backwards for a brief moment. Then as you pull ahead, the other car resumes

will appear to us as a planet either standing still or moving backwards, before resuming its
normal orbit.
g: On December 25th, 2BC, Jupiter (the king planet) completed
its retrograde orbit and stopped above Bethlehem. Let me repeat that: On December 25th
(Christmas) 2BC, the king planet appeared on earth to completely stop, in the exact city that was
prophesied the Christ would be born from.
And lo, the star which they saw in the east went before them until it came and stood over where
the child was. And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy! (Matthew 2:9)
Well yes! And so are we! Keep in mind, these magi were not Jewish. Their gods were the Baalim
and Ashtaroth from Babylon, yet they still acknowledged the Messiah of the Jewish people,
bestowing precious gifts and honoring Him. What a beautiful example of God using anyone He
wants for His glory! Halleluiah!
For 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. (Isaiah 9:6)
 Chapter 29: Christ Conceived

As you may have noticed, up to this point, there has been no mention of the identity of the
Christ. This was not a mistake, and was done without bias to show that everything up to this
point was what the Jews at the time had to go on. Since the disagreement on who Christ was is
the major dividing point of many religions, understanding who the Messiah was is extremely
important.
We have looked through the lens of science, astronomy, history, religion and sociology in order
to cover all the bases. You can be a logical, scientific, left-brained individual and believe in your
heart this happened. You can be a creative, free-thinking, right-brained individual and have the
scientific basis to cover your faith. This message is for you. The longest love story ever written
was done for you. You are loved!
L
Gospel of Luke, we are given account of a priest named Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth. We
are told they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances
of the Lord blameless. (Luke 1:6) We are also told they were barren (no children) and well
stricken in years (old)!
So Zacharias was just doing his thing, being a good priest and what not, when all of a sudden, the
archangel Gabriel appeared to him! He got extremely troubled and afraid (angels have a way of
affecting people like that!). The angel then told him to not be afraid and he was there because the
Lord heard his prayers. Then the angel told him:
abeth shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you shall have
joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the
Lord, and shall drink neither wine or strong drink. And he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit,

And he shall turn many of the sons of Israel to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him in
the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a
1:13-17)
Notice any parallels here? Old people being promised children well past their child bearing days?
Anyways, Zacharias found this hard to believe, so for his disbelief Gabriel closed his mouth and
made him unable to speak until the child was born. So Zacharias came out of the temple and the
people noticed he could not speak. They became afraid as they could tell he had seen a great
vision or had an encounter with an angelic being.
Poor Zacharias, he should have just believed! Regardless, God sent Gabriel back on another
mission, this time to the city of Nazareth, in Galilee. To a virgin named Mary, who was engaged
to a man named Joseph, of the tribe of Judah. Gabriel appeared to Mary and said:
We
are told Mary was troubled and wondered what was going on. Gabriel then told her:
womb, and bring forth a son, and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and called the Son
of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall
reign over the house of Jacob forever, and there sh -33)
For some reason, every time someone is told something from an angel, they have a hard time
believing! Story of our lives, right? story for our lives!
Mary questioned how she would conceive when she had never been with a man and engaged to
be married. The angel then responded, hall come upon you, and the power of
the Highest will overshadow you. Therefore also that Holy One which will be born of you will be
called the Son of God.
And behold, your cousin Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth
month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary
said behold, I am the handmaid (servant) of the Lord. Let it be
(Luke 1:35-38)
In Jewish culture and law (Deuteronomy, Judges), when a couple was betrothed, or engaged, the
woman was considered the lawful wife of her groom. A couple was to be betrothed for a year or
longer, and during this commitment or covenant period, they were to keep their marriage bed
undefiled. Meaning, there was to be no funny business prior to the marriage ceremony. This was
a foundational practice and strictly adhered to, as the law given to them through Moses.
So for all intents and purposes, this law of betrothal was never breached, since not only would
the bride and groom be social outcasts, but their entire families and the heritage of their tribes
would be at stake. It was a big deal for them and not breached, under penalty of shame and
stoning. Kind of hard for us to understand, since our culture looks much different than it did
2000 years ago.
Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit and become pregnant with little baby Jesus! Since the
importance of this virgin birth is so crucial, we cannot look at this event through our earthly lens.
It seems impossible,
a flood could destroy the entire
world?
became as
worthless as stones? Was it impossible for Joseph to become the most influential and powerful
person in the known world after being sold into slavery and in prison for 14 years? Was it
impossible for a simple shepherd boy to slay a giant with a simple sling and rock?
The mere fact you are reading this book right now was impossible until God used the impossible
to make possible His glory, and love and salvation. Please understanding that if God wanted to
send His only Son into the world, and told his prophets hundreds of years in advance, He would
find a way to do it? If we were told the virgin shall conceive and give birth, do you believe God
had a plan for making that happen? Do you believe God enjoys doing impossible things?!
Now, back to Mary! After realizing she miraculously conceived a child that the angel told her
about, she went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town
in the hill country of Judea, th.
with the Holy Spirit.
is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to
me?
As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
-45)
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months until her son John was born. Keep in mind, Zacharias
had been unable to talk for 9 months at this point. And they would not name the child until he
name Zacharias, after
his father (that is what they did back in the day). Elizabeth told them no, his name would be
John. Yet the people were persistent, since no one in their entire family was ever named John.
So they called Zacharias (father) over and told him to write down what the c
be. He wrote that his name is John, and immediately his mouth was opened and he praised God!
Fear came upon all the people around them and word of this started to spread throughout Judea.
Zacharias then was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,
called the prophet of the Most High, for you shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare his
ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people by -
77)
The importance of this prophecy was known to the people at that time, since they were familiar
with the books of Malachi and Isaiah.
Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you
seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight,
behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:1)
The voice of him who cries in the wilderness, prepare the way of Jehovah, make straight a path
iah 40:3)