Hinge Points of History. John Hunsuck
other powers were to be emergency and temporary and dissolved upon completion. (Ref 4) Deuteronomy 17:14-20; I Samuel 12: all
The reign of kings in Israel was dependent upon obedience to the Covenant. Each king was to hand copy the book of the law and read from it daily. Deuteronomy 17:18-19. As centuries passed, the kings and people ignored the Covenant with the final disastrous result: defeat at the hands of pagan people and enslavement in Babylon. The period of captivity was 70 years (a life sentence). Four things of lasting value occurred during this time:
1.God’s intent to remove idolatry from the nation of Israel succeeded.
2.The synagogue was established as a local place of worship because the Temple was destroyed and the children needed a school. A Rabbinical order was established to teach the Scriptures, the sciences, history and other courses.
3.The non-pronounced name of God, YHWH (rendered LORD in texts), was replaced by the personal name Jehovah.
4.The Old Testament was compiled by Ezra and exists in that form to this day. The Dead Sea scrolls attest to that fact.
With these things accomplished and the punishment completed, Babylon was conquered by Persia. Cyrus permitted and then Darius ordered the Jews to return to their homeland to rebuild their city of Jerusalem and their Temple of God.
The period following the return is sometimes called the “Period Between the Testaments.” To set the time line, we note that representative government was begun in Persia with the selection of Magi sometime around 700 B.C. The common Greek language was begun around 150 B.C. The Romans established common communication systems beginning about 50 B.C. These common systems were made up of roads, signals and sea lanes for easy and peaceful transit throughout the Roman Empire. God’s wondrous plan to bring things together for the crowning point of history was complete.
The One promised to the Jews as the “Messiah” or Anointed One (in Greek, Christus) was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. According to our current calendar, this happened about 5 B.C. The boy, Jesus, grew to manhood in Nazareth. A seldom heard story happened around the time that Jesus was 20-years-old. An uprising in Galilee left an outpost of Roman soldiers dead. The governor put down any plan to continue rebellion by ordering the crucifixion of a thousand randomly chosen Galilean men of age 20. They were crucified along the road from Galilee to Jerusalem, right through the town of Nazareth. Jesus must have watched the men die this agonizing death, since at least one dying man could be seen from every point along the road. Jesus, the man, assuredly knew about crucifixion. About another 10 years passed before Jesus followed John the Baptist into His ministry to bring good news to the world: the Gospel.
Thus closes the era of the Old Testament, but not the Covenant. We note that the Covenants with God are never dissolved; only improved. The best clause is coming ... (and it isn’t Santa).
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.