WELCOME
Adult II Couples Class
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QUESTION OF THE DAY
What’s the most unusual gift you’ve
ever received for Christmas?
Physical
Spiritual
Practical
Church
Misc
•R.E.A.P. – “E” team
•Benevolence Fund
•Springhill Bag Stuffing/Lunch (18 Dec)
•Monthly Fellowships
•Happy Birthday Jesus Party (18 Dec)
•January
•Christmas Caroling (21 Dec)
•February
•No Choir Practice (21 Dec)
•March
•10AM Worship Service Only (25 Dec)
•Dinner Out Friday (30 Dec?)
•Church Offices Closed (26-30 Dec)
•5th Sunday Breakfast (29 Jan)
•Quarterly Service Project (17 Dec)•Praise, Play, Pray (31 Dec)
•Chemo treatment center
•Deacon Meeting (8 Jan)
QUESTION OF THE DAY
What’s the most unusual gift you’ve
ever received for Christmas?
A good story always has the following elements:
• A beginning that captures the reader by explaining the
problem and its seriousness
• Clues throughout that show a resolution is coming
• Minor heroes and antagonists
• A main hero who resolves the problem
• The triumph of good over evil
The Bible is the most important story for all mankind. It is a story about
God-not man. As Larry Reesor says, “The Bible is a GOD book, not a ME
book.” The Bible’s story has the most wonderful plot in the world-the
plan for humanity’s redemption from sin. Jesus is the central character
and the heart of the story. The Bible is all about Him, and He appears
throughout all of the Old Testament, just as He said: “This is what I told
you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written
about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”(Lk 24:44)
the ten eras of the old testament
Our story today traces the word of promise for
a Savior to the world throughout the Old
Testament eras.
The thread of redemption is traced
through the Bible’s story showing the
promise of the coming Savior and the
fulfillment of that promise.
The Ten Old Testament Eras;
Creation thru Captivity
The coming of Jesus is prophesied throughout
the entire Old Testament.
The work of Jesus is pictured throughout the
entire Old Testament.
The death and resurrection of Jesus are
prophesied in the Old Testament.
Jesus is the heart of the story of the Bible.
CREATION ERA
Genesis
CREATION ERA
God Creates Man in His own Image-Enters a Relationship with Him
• Adam and Eve walked with God and enjoyed a direct physical
relationship
• But the Bible says that no man has seen God at anytime
– 1 John 1:18 - No one has ever seen God. But the unique One,
who is himself God, is near to the Father’s heart. He has
revealed God to us.
– This leads to the conclusion that the God in the garden was a
Christophany
Sin Created the Need for Redemption
• The “seed of the woman” will crush head of the serpent (devil)
• God performs first sacrifice of an innocent animal as an example of
the necessity for the shedding of blood to cover the guilt of sin
God delivers Noah and his family through the flood
• All in the ark are kept safe from destruction and delivered to a new
world
• The ark is God’s salvation from judgment, a picture of Christ
PATRIARCHAL ERA
Genesis & Job
PATRIARCHAL ERA
Abraham, a Pagan, is called out of the Land of Ur
• By faith, Abraham obeys God and leaves his family for a strange land
• He trusts in the promise of God
– Genesis 12:1-3 - The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your
country, your people and your father’s household and go to the
land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I
will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses
you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through
you.”
Abraham Demonstrates his Faith in God
• Offers Isaac, his son of promise, as a sacrifice in obedience to God
• God reaffirms His promise
– Genesis 22:17,18 - I will surely bless you and make your
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand
on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the
cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on
earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
PATRIARCHAL ERA
Through Abraham’s Descendants,
a Ruler will come
• Judah, son of Jacob, grandson of
Isaac, would produce a king of all
nations
• Genesis 49:10 - The scepter will not
depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s
staff from between his feet, until he
comes to whom it belongs and the
obedience of the nations is his.
EXODUS ERA
Exodus - Deuteronomy
EXODUS ERA
Pictures of Jesus Occur throughout the Exodus
• Representations of Christ as the sacrifice that covers sin
– The Passover lamb
– The offering on the Day of Atonement
– The Passover blood on the door post (“Death has already come
to this house”)
– The blood on the altar of the Holy of Holies that atones for sin
Christ is the Fulfillment of the Promise of Moses
• God would raise up a prophet like Moses to speak as God
• Deuteronomy 18:15-19 - The LORD your God will raise up for you a
prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to
him. For this is what you asked of the LORD your God at Horeb on
the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of
the LORD our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
The LORD said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them
a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in
his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If
anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my
name, I myself will call him to account
CONQUEST ERA
Joshua
EXODUS ERA
We see the Picture of Jesus leading God’s People
into the Promised Land
• They defeat the Canaanites
– Ruthless idol worshiping nations
– Steeped in perversions
– Worshiped gods through regular child sacrifice
• Joshua leads Israel to conquer the Canaanites
– Saw them out of the bondage of slavery in Egypt
– Led them into the freedom of a new life in Canaan
• God appears to Joshua in a Christophany (Joshua 5:13-15)
– Instructs him on the battle to come
– Accepts Joshua’s worship
JUDGES ERA
Judges & Ruth
JUDGES ERA
After Taking Canaan, the People gradually Fall Away
from God
• They go through seven “sin cycles”, each characterized by:
–
–
–
–
–
Rebellion
Retribution by God
Repentance
Rescue by a deliverer
Rest
• Each cycle shows two evident characteristics of each deliverer
– They provide effective salvation sent from God
– They portray the coming Redeemer
The story of Ruth occurs during this era
• Reveals the kinsman-redeemer from the line of David (Boaz)
• Boaz marries Ruth (a Gentile), who gives birth to Obed, the
grandfather of David
• Provides a heritage for the Gentile nations in the line of David
KINGDOM ERA
1 Samuel – 1 Kings
KINGDOM ERA
As Foretold by Moses, Israel Asks for a King
• Israel wanted to be ‘like all nations’
– The last judge, Samuel, anoints Saul as Israel’s first king
– The 12 tribes would be unified under three kings for 120
years (Saul, David, Solomon)
The Throne is passed from Saul to David
• Saul disqualifies himself as king
• God selects David-a man after His own heart
• God promises David that his Seed would inherit his
throne and rule forever
– 2 Samuel 7:16 – “Your house and your kingdom will
endure forever before me; your throne will be
established forever.”
DIVIDED KINGDOM ERA
2 Kings - Zephaniah
DIVIDED KINGDOM ERA
Solomon is Last King to Rule a United Israel
• Rehoboam offends 10 northern tribes
– They split and form the northern kingdom of
Israel under king Jeroboam
– Rehoboam continues to rule southern
kingdom composed of Judah and Benjamin
• Both nations begin a decline into idolatry
– God sends prophets to warn all of Israel of
the consequences of their apostasy
– These prophets also testify about a Ruler
that will come from Bethlehem, born of a
virgin, and rule forever……
DIVIDED KINGDOM ERA
• Micah 5:2 - “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you
are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come
for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose
origins are from of old, from ancient times.”
• Isaiah 7:14 - Therefore the Lord himself will give you a
sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a
son, and will call him Immanuel.
• Isaiah 9:6,7 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And
he will be called wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase
of his government and peace there will be no end. He will
reign on David’s throne and over his
kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and
righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of
the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
CAPTIVITY ERA
Jeremiah - Ezekiel
CAPTIVITY ERA
Both Kingdoms are taken into
Captivity
• After 209 years, the northern
kingdom falls to Assyria
• The southern kingdom is carried off
by Babylon 136 years later
– This captivity, as promise through
Jeremiah, would last 70 years
– During this time, the story of
Esther is played out
CAPTIVITY ERA
God Continued to Speak through the Prophets
• Ezekiel prophesied about an everlasting covenant
– Ezekiel 16:60- Yet I will remember the covenant I made
with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish
an everlasting covenant with you.
• Daniel spoke of a coming Messiah; the “Son of Man”, who
would rule forever
– Daniel 9:25 - “In my vision at night I looked, and there
before me was one like a son of man, coming with the
clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days
and was led into his presence. He was given authority,
glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and
men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is
an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his
kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
RETURN ERA
Ezra - Malachi
RETURN ERA
Waves of Exiles return to the Promised Land
• They follow the leadership of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and
Nehemiah
• They begin rebuilding the temple destroyed by the
Babylonians
God raises up Prophets to Encourage the Effort
• Zechariah prophesies of a coming Branch who would
build “the temple of the Lord”, who would arrive as a
King “riding on a donkey, on a colt” and open a fountain
to “cleanse from sin and impurity”
• Malachi promised a “sun of righteousness” who would
come with “healing in his wings”, preceded by a
messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord of
hosts
SILENT ERA
SILENT ERA
400 Year Period where no Prophet speaks
• God is silent, but not inactive
– He works to restore and maintain Bible literacy through
the synagogue system
– Hebrew Scriptures are translated into Greek (Septuagint)
– Fulfills Daniel’s prophecies concerning the rise of the
Greek and Roman empires
• These events prepare the way for the spread of the Gospel
– Greeks provided the world with a common language
– Romans provided infrastructure (roads) and stability
– Such was God’s work to prepare the world for the One to
come
• Galatians 4:4 - But when the time had fully come, God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those
under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
DISCUSSION
• How do we see God preparing the way for the
coming of Messiah for Israel?
– For the nations?
• Are all God’s ways and words obvious?
– What should that teach us about His SECOND
coming?
• How do you see God preparing your heart to
receive the Messiah?
What does this lesson teach us about God, man,
sin and redemption:
Genesis 1 – 11:26