LIFE’S FOUR BIGGEST QUESTIONS - b
The Old Testament economy required Gods people to offer to Him sacrifices to show reverence to His power and love. The blood/animal sacrifices were to remind His people that death is result of sin. These are very detailed and can be read in the book of Leviticus chapters 1:1-7:38.
In the early verses of Geneses chapter three the original parents had a choice as to” who they were going to be”. They could chose be the sinless obedient followers of their life giving creator God, or they could chose to be sinful disobedient followers of a deceiving, lying, tempting serpent.
Unfortunately for their future, and the future of their descendant family they made the wrong choice.
Just as the leopard inherits its spots from its leopard parents, the children of the fallen, first human parents inherited their parent’s guilt of a sin nature they received from the serpent they chose to follow.
The Scripture teaches that in spite of nearly four thousand years of Gods longsuffering and abundance of mercy, this sinful condition was handed down generation after generation. Just as the leopard inherits naturally the spots of their parents, all people are born naturally with a sin nature.
'The LORD is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He by no means clears the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation.'
(Numbers 14:18)
That is exactly why Paul wrote to the Roman church:
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
(Romans 3:23)
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23)
In our search for the Scriptural answer to the question, “who am I” we have learned “Who the people in the Old Testament are”. (Read the four short chapters of Malachi again.)
The book of Malachi brought the close of the Old Testament Biblical record of history. For the next four hundred years I know of no Biblically recorded history. Nothing in the Bible speaks to these four hundred years.
The fact that the Bible does not record the activities in these four hundred years does not mean nothing was happening during that time period.
These years have been referred to as “the silent years”, but a close study of this time period reveals that they were anything but silent. For a synopsis of what took place during this period you can go to,”scriptureteaches.org” and read “The Gap”, under Bible studies.
Recommended reading. (“Apocrypha. 1st and 2nd Book of the Maccabees”). These books were removed from the Bible by the Protestant Church in the 100s.
In the four hundred years between the Testaments God had not forgotten His people. His intent was still to redeem (buy back) His created people from the serpent that had stolen in the garden them by way of lies and deception.
And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
(Genesis 2:16)
Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."
(Genesis 3:12-13)
The serpent is also identified as:
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
(Revelation 12:9)
He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
(Revelation 20:2)
From these verses we learn that God gave His first created parents a choice. Obey and do not eat of the forbidden fruit and live eternally, spiritually and physically or, eat of the forbidden fruit and die eternally both spiritually and physically.
Evidently the promises the serpent put forth with his lies and deceit persuaded the first parents to opt for spiritual and physical death.
It is obvious the original parents did not die physically immediately for they lived to have a family and descendants.
And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. After he begot Seth, the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he begot sons and daughters. So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died. Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot Enosh. After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died. [and so on; read chapter five of Genesis] (Genesis 5:3-48)
The Old Testament closes with the book of Malachi recording the persistent rebellion and absents of obedience and reverence for the God of the Created children.
Malachi – Written in a disputation style; confronts weary worship, neglect of tithes, corrupt priests, and broken covenant faithfulness.
The text of this book makes clear who these people are, and the fact that God is very displeased with His covenant people. But He has a plan for a dramatic new approach for redeeming His people.
The reading of the four short chapters of the book of Malachi brings a greater understanding for the reason of Gods new approach of redemption. It also pretty much defines who these people are.
Our next study will be:
GODS NEW APPROACH OF REDEMPTION
Out with old and in with the new
