The Single Thread #3
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Let’s start with a quick review of the two previous lessons…
In Lesson #1, we learned from Heb.11:6 that biblical “faith” has 3
parts:
1. Knowledge in the Mind;
2. Trust in the Heart; and
3. Obedience in the Life.
We also learned that to have biblical “faith” in God, we must first
have “faith” in 3 aspects of His Word:
1. Its Inspiration (that it came from God);
2. Its Completeness (that everything we need for salvation is
included); and
3. Its Authority (that we have to do what it says to please God).
The Single Thread #3
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Let’s start with a quick review of the two previous lessons…
In Lesson #2, we learned that there are 3 major Periods of Bible
History through which The Single Thread runs:
1. Patriarchal (God spoke through the fathers; began at
Creation and ended at Mt. Sinai; Family Religion)
2. Mosaical (God spoke through Moses/Prophets; began at Mt.
Sinai and ended at the Cross/Acts 2; National Religion) and,
3. Christian (God spoke through Christ/Inspired N.T. Writers;
began at Cross/Acts 2 and continues to the End of Time;
Universal Religion).
The Single Thread #3
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Let’s start with a quick review of the two previous lessons…
In Lesson #2, we also traced the Single Thread through 4 significant
events of the Patriarchal Period:
1. Creation- the begin of all things including man, sin, and the
beginning of the Single Thread, Gen.1-3; 3:15;
2. Great Flood- showed that God was willing to destroy the
disobedient, but also willing to show grace and save the
obedient, Gen.6-9;
3. Abraham received 3 promises- Land (of Canaan), Nation (of
Israel), and Seed (salvation for all through Jesus Christ),
Gen.12:1-3; (the Single Thread follows the first two promises
through the O.T., and the third one through the N.T.)
The Single Thread #3

Let’s start with a quick review of the two previous lessons…
In Lesson #2, we also traced the Single Thread through 4 significant
events of the Patriarchal Period:
4. Development of the Nation of Israel through Abraham,
Gen.12 – 50; which included,
• Eventual birth of Isaac;
• Isaac and Rebekah have two sons: Esau & Jacob;
• God chooses to fulfill His promises through Jacob;
• Jacob had 12 sons;
• One of them, Joseph, winds up in Egypt as 2nd in
command; and,
• Jacob’s family moves to Egypt because of famine.
Now, we’re ready to continue with the Mosaical Period…
If you think about it, there are 3 things necessary to have a “nation”:
1. People of such a number as could comprise a nation;
2. Precept (or Law) to bind them together; and a
3. Place (or Land) for the people united by precept to live.
Without these 3 essential elements, you just can’t have a “nation.”
We’ve seen the family of Abraham begin to grow into a people so
far in our study- but at the end of the last lesson, they were in Egypt
(which was not the land God promised), and did not yet have a Law
to unite them.
But that is all about to change…
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
1. Blessing and Multiplication of Jacob’s Family in Egypt by God.
• With the family of Jacob (Abraham’s grandson) all moved to
Egypt, and God blessing and multiplying them there, Ex.1:17, God has begun to fulfill His original promise to Abraham to
make of him a great nation, Gen.12:2.
• But their multiplication also meant that they basically
became a nation within a nation, which would become
problematic following our next significant event in the Single
Thread of salvation through Jesus Christ…
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
2. Enslavement of Israel.
• After Joseph’s death, Ex.1:6, a dynastic change in Egypt
meant that Jacob’s family became feared as potential
enemies rather than revered as honored guests, Ex.1:8-10.
• These things (multiplication, dynastic change, fear) led to
their enslavement by the new Egyptian leaders, Ex.1:11.
• But God was still with this family, and continued to bless and
prosper them, Ex.1:12.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
3. God delivers Israel through Moses, Ex.1 - 12.
• When the harsh treatment of the Israelites did not reduce
their numbers, cf. Ex.1:13-14, the Egyptians resorted to killing
all the males born to them, vv.15-22.
• One couple, Amram and Jochebed, hid their son in a basket
by the river where Pharaoh’s (king of Egypt) daughter was
likely to find him. She did find and adopt him, so that Moses
was raised as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, Ex.2:1-10.
• Moses’ education in the culture, language, and ways of Egypt
would later become very useful in the progression of our
Single Thread story, cf. Acts 7:22.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
3. God delivers Israel through Moses, Ex.1 – 12 (continued).
• Moses eventually saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite,
killed him, and hid the body. When his deed became known,
Moses feared for his life and fled to Midian, Ex.2:11-15.
• After Moses had remained in Midian 40 years, God was ready
to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian slavery through him,
Ex.2:23-25; chps.3 - 4.
• So, Moses returned to Egypt. And, after Pharaoh refused to
set the Israelites free, God sent a series of 10 Plagues upon
the Egyptians through Moses, Ex.5 – 13.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
3. God delivers Israel through Moses, Ex.1 – 12 (continued).
• After these 10 Plagues (Nile to blood, frogs, gnats/lice, flies,
pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of 1st born),
Pharaoh relented and released the Israelites, Ex.12:31-33.
• But God also caused the Egyptians to look favorably upon
their former slaves in that they sent them away with silver,
gold, and clothing, Ex.12:35-36.
• Although the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob came to
Egypt as 70 persons in all, they left 430 years later as a
people of some 2.5 million*, Ex.12:37-38,40. Now we have 2
of the 3 requirements for a “nation”- people!
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
4. Israel gets a Law (precept), Ex.1 – 12.
• After Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued Israel, God
destroyed the Egyptian army in the Red Sea after Israel
passed through on dry ground, Ex.14.
• God provided manna, quail, and water to the Israelites in the
wilderness, Ex.15-16.
• When they came to Mt. Sinai, God gave them the 2nd
essential requirement of nationhood- a Law* (or Precept),
Ex.19:1 – Num.10:10.
• This would be Israel’s moral, civil, and religious code until it
was replaced by Christ’s law, the gospel, Heb.9:15ff.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
5. Israel gets a Country (place), Num.10:11 – Josh.24:33.
• From Mt. Sinai, Israel moves toward Canaan, the land
promised to Abraham for his descendants, Gen.12:1;
Num.10:11-13.
• However, when they reached the southern borders of the
land, and spies were sent in to survey it, Israel’s faith (except
for Joshua and Caleb) failed, Num.13.
• Because they doubted God’s promises, they were made to
wander in the wilderness for 40 years* until all those from 20
years old and upward died, Num.14:26-35.
• These wanderings comprise the rest of the book of Numbers.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
5. Israel gets a Country (place), Num.10:11 – Josh.24:33 (cont.)
• After the 40 years pass, and all that generation with them,
God gives the Law again to Israel, Deuteronomy*.
• Then the conquest of Canaan begins in the book of Joshua.
• All the seven nations of the Canaanites were to be utterly
destroyed because of their idolatrous practices, and to keep
them from leading Israel into idolatry, Deut.7:1-16.
• So, with God’s help and under the leadership of Joshua, Israel
conquered and settled the land of Canaan. Josh.1 - 21.
• But, they did not do all that God said, and it would mark the
beginning of their end as a nation, Josh.23:12-16.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
6. Israel’s unfaithfulness and their subsequent destruction.
• Abraham’s family is now fully a “nation”- they have a
numerous People, a Precept (the Law of Moses), and a Place
(Canaan) just as God promised.
• The nation was ruled by Judges (appointed by God) for ~400
years, before rejecting God’s plan for a monarchy, Judges.
• After Saul, David, and Solomon ruled the united kingdom,
1Sam. – 1Kings 11, the nation was split into 10 tribes in the
northern kingdom, and 2 in the southern, 1Kings 12.
• The northern kingdom was called “Israel,” and the southern
kingdom was called “Judah.”
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
6. Israel’s unfaithfulness and their subsequent destruction. (cont.)
• When Israel’s king, Jeroboam, set up alternate* places of
worship, the faithful remaining priests moved southward into
Judah, 2Chron.11:13-16.
• This created a spiritual vacuum in the northern kingdom of
Israel that furthered their progress into idolatry, and God
eventually sent the Assyrians to destroy them in 722 B.C.
• Thus, the 10 northern tribes were either taken captive to
Assyria, or intermarried with imported people brought in to
settle the land (and became the Samaritans), 2Kings 17:1-18.
• The southern kingdom of Judah remained for a while, but…
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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Significant Events in the Mosaical Period, Exodus 1 – Malachi 4
6. Israel’s unfaithfulness and their subsequent destruction. (cont.)
• Judah eventually fell into rampant idolatry also. God
predicted, then allowed them to be taken captive by the
Babylonian nation for 70 years, 2Chron.36:9-21*. However,
• A remnant of Judah was eventually brought back to
Jerusalem to resettle the land of Canaan (or at least a part of
it), 2Chron.36:22-23; because there remained one promise to
Abraham that was to be fulfilled…
• The nation promise had been fulfilled, and the land promise
had been fulfilled, but the Seed promise was yet to come!
• The Single Thread will be completely revealed next time.
The Single Thread #3
Mosaical Period
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