Bible and Life Old Testament
Fall 1962
Dr. W. Noble King
All Rights Reserved

This document consists of notes taken by students who attended Dr. King's class at Bethany Nazarene College. The notes therefore reflect student response to Dr. King's lectures and do not necessarily represent fully or accurately his thought in all respects.                                    ***....*** 

Introduction

The Text for the course was “Exploring the Old Testament” Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, Mo.1962. Rev. Duane Snavely sent these to me in Febuaruy of 2000. We had taken the course together in the basement of Old Bresee Hall. Please remember that we were freshmen, fresh out of high school. We have tried to reproduce the essence of the teaching we received from Dr. King, in this document after 37 years. You who took classes from Dr. King will remember that Dr king lectured in outline form, but because of the excessive paragraph indention’s required the out line form is not observed. However, the Major Headings in the original class notes are in bold form. 
Sept 10, 1962 Monday: 
God: 
Nowhere does the Bible try to prove the existence of God.
The Bible accepts the existence of God as self evident, If such a truth can not be accepted, nothing can be accepted. The universe and nature were God’s official proofs of himself before the Bible was written. Psalms 9:1, Romans 2:14-15. Jesus Christ also emphasized the same truth, John 14: 11b.
Thus God has always had a revelation of himself and his works and his ways. The world however has been longer without a written revelation than with one.
Bible:
Granting a rational intelligent and infinite God who created all things including rational human beings, it is natural to suppose that he would want to communicate with those finite beings. He did and the Bible is the result.
The Bible is both one book and many books. It had many human authors but one Divine author who supervised it all from the beginning to the end. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” II Pet. 1:21b The Bible is one in purpose and one in aim, guided and given by the Holy Ghost, Human instruments were used; (Text Exploring the Old Testament pages 13-63.)
Sept. 11, 1962
At This point we heard for the first of many times “ Now where were we? Of course Dr King knew, but a lot of us also knew that we had best keep up with this 68 year old man.”
1. These human instruments vary from Kings and Literary masters of the first order to the most humble of peasants. God limits himself to their several abilities with regard to the kind or depth of the message.
2. Thus verbal or Mechanical Inspiration is out. So also is any representation of inspiration that would grant the possibility of error or mistake. Plenary inspiration refers to that divine enablement to communicate without error, and it extends to all subjects dealt with.
3. Thus the Holy Spirit in plenary inspiration stays within the vocabulary and uses the literary style and the social customs of each writer. The Spirit by Divine impression on the mind approves or disapproves the work. The writer kept changing and correcting until he had the approval of the Spirit on the whole work. Mostly such changing would be done in his own mind before he wrote it. This would be inspiration in its lowest level. I think the supervision of the Holy Spirit was as accurate as that. However, they wrote from their own appreciative, psychological background, and life experiences. 
The Human instruments: 
The human instruments Used by God to produce the Bible varied from learned Kings to humble peasants. God limited himself to the abilities of those people. He also limited himself to their vocabulary, style and their idioms. This for us is the human element.
Friday Sept 14, 1962
1. Most of the so-called errors and discrepancies flow from this human element. Our further knowledge of archeology and ancient history, their customs, and idioms, their way of saying things and doing things removes the discrepancies. Some may be due to translators and revisions. Reading different translations may clarify these errors. If we fully understood all the matters pertaining to the Bible every error would disappear.
2. The matter of recopying by hand time after time as those manuscripts were, was a big task. Every time a new copy was made some idioms would have changed; some places would have changed names. Then those manuscripts passed from language to language, and finally from version to version. The bringing of ancient terms up to modern ones would create a problem.
When the Bible was written
     The Bible began to be written not earlier than 1491 B.C. Modernist or Liberals bring it down several hundred years later. It would have been finished probably not later than 96 A.D. John Wrote the book of Revelation in 96 A.D. The Liberals have II Peter much later. God commanded Moses to record in a book the future destruction of The Amalekites, and then John finished the book on Patmos. The first part of the Bible written was Exodus 17:9-14.
1. An unknown number of human authors made contributions. Some books have no stated author. The book of Psalms has seven stated authors and still there are 50 psalms unaccounted for. Most certainly 40 authors would be too few.
2. There were writings long before any part of the Bible was written. Hammurabi’s Code, The Egyptian book of the dead, also some Indian (India) literature. It is held by some that writing was a pre-flood invention. Some claim to have several tablets written before the flood. (H.H. Halley’s, PPS. 44-45).
3. Thus there was writing before the Bible was written. Some of those were religious in nature, but no such writings claimed divine inspiration, such as the Bible claims. 
Monday Sept 17,1962
This is evident from the following considerations.
1. There is no record of any inspired writings before Moses.
2. There is no authentic reference to such writings before Moses’ day, but there are however references to writings after his day.
3. There are no certain or possible remains of any such writings.
Supposedly Lost Books: There are certain books now lost that inspired men could have made use of. Such books however were all written after the Pentateuch was written. (Genesis. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers Deuteronomy). Some of them are:
1. The books of the war of the Lord. It is referred to in Numbers 21: 14-15.
2.The Book of Jasher referred to in Joshua 10: 13;also in II Sam 1:18. There is a copy of this book in existence, but it is possibly a forgery.
3.The book of Nathan the prophet is referred to in II Chron. 9:29
4.The book of Gad the Seer referred to I Chron.29: 29
5.The prophecy of Abijah the Shilonite referred to in II Chron. 9:29
6.The visions of Iddo the seer referred to in II Chron. 9:29
7.Luke 1:1 states that “Many had taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us.” Hence there were many gospels or fragments thereof. In A.D. 130 Papias gathered and also wrote. There are also the Logos or sayings of Jesus. We also have the Didache, or the teachings of the 12 apostles. The Didache is dated generally between 80-110 A.D. Many authentic letters were written by church officials from the end of the first century. They are recorded in the first volume of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.
8.Some of the letters written by St. Paul are supposed to be lost. Paul himself refers to one in I Cor. 5:9.
Inspired men as well as some others no doubt wrote letters, which were not inspired, just private personal letters. Many of the cases to which we refer became incorporated into their writings.

Tues. Sept 18, 1962
Apocrypha books:
1.I Edras – the Greek word Edras for the Hebrew word Ezra. It contains much in common with the book of Ezra. It was probably not written before 100 A.D. It suggests that is was written about 100 A.D.
2. II Edras- it is related in thought and writing to I Edras.
3. Tobit -A religious tale, it is laid in Nineveh during the time of the Assyrian captivity. The heroes are Tobit, and his son Tobias. Then the girl Sara, who Tobias married. The book was written not later than the fifth century B.C.
4.Judith- a historical romance, with regard to Judith, a beautiful widow, with Holofirmies a general of Nebuchadnezzar.
5. The rest of the book of Esther: Prayers are added, a dream of Mordicai’s, two letters from Artaxerxes. It was probably written about the second Century B.C.
6. The Wisdom of Solomon- it was not written by Solomon. It is a hymn in praise of Solomon’s wisdom. The Author was familiar with Greek thought, language, and expression. The purpose is to evaluate Hebrew faith to the Greeks. It was probably written by an Alexandrine Jew about 217-145 B.C. It is a near masterpiece in literary excellence.
7. The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach. The book is sometimes called Ecclesiasticus, later just Ecclesiastics. A book of Jewish wisdom over Grecian wisdom. It is similar to the book of Proverbs.
8. The Book of Baruch- it deals with matters pertaining to Jeremiah and his friend after Jerusalem had fallen. Written before the first Century B.C.
9. Song of the three Holy Children- In some Bibles it appears as an addition to the book of Daniel. The three refers to Daniel’s eminent friends. This song was used some by the early Christian Church, and may be used by some Anglicans. It was written before the Christian era.
10. The history of Susanna- it is a glorification of the wisdom of Daniel in delivering an innocent person from the charge pressed against her. It belongs to the book of Daniel.
11.The Story of the destruction of Bel and the dragon. A glorification of David.

Friday Sept. 19, 1962
12. The prayer of Manasseh-this reports the prayer of Manasseh.
13.  First book of Maccabees- History of 40 years, namely from 175-135 B.C. during which time the Maccabean family carried on the struggle for Jewish freedom. This book is fairly accurate history. It was produced 135- 125 B.C.
14. The second book of the Maccabees; not related in authorship to the first book. It is not so accurate and reliable. It deals with events before the ascension of Antiochus Epiphines. He was a most murderous individual before 175 B.C., to the defeat and death of Nicaneor, and the triumph of Judas Maccabee. Written about 161-61 B.C. 
These books are in the Roman Catholic Bible. They have six. These were in the early Protestant Bible merely as devotional Literature. They are still in some Protestant Bibles but were taken out at the beginning of the present missionary movement.
    Quote from the Text P. 58, “Which I remember, as I have it underlined in my Text. J.R.”  “The apocrypha abounds in historical inaccuracies and misstatements of fact. It contains teachings at variance with those of the true scriptures, such as justification for suicide, and prayers and offerings for the dead (II Maccabbees); Almsgiving as making atonement for sin, The Justification of wrong means by right ends (Ecclesiasticus and Judith) and superstition and magic (Tobit). The Leaders of the ancient Church denied its authenticity. Most conclusive of all, the writers of the New Testament, who make most of their quotations from the Greek Septuagint, avoid all direct quotation from Apocryphal books. The reference in Jude 14-16 to the book of Enoch does not relate to the apocryphal book, but to one of the Pseudepigrapha, for which no claims to inspiration have ever been made.” 
Apocalyptic writing:
The word Apocalyptic is derived from the Greek word for revelation and is applied to some early Jewish and Christian sages. The Jew had the problem on his hands of squaring the moral justice and the righteousness of God with the gentile abuse on the other side.
1. The Apocalypse of Baruch.  It reports to have been written by Baruch, Son of Neriah. It deals with the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and the reconstruction of it. Probably written between 50 and 100 A.D.
2. The Book of Enoch: The overthrow of the enemies of God. Some of it is supposed to have been written by Noah. Enoch is to have said much about future events. It is probably written about 150 B.C. Jude may have quoted from this book. The books of Enoch and Barnabus were held in high regard by early Christians.
3. The Ascension of Isaiah: An Ethiopic version contains the only complete text of this book. It contains the martyrdom of Isaiah. (Hebrews 11:37). It contains a brief history of the early Church, and supposed vision of Isaiah. This book was written about the first half of the first century A.D.
4. The Book of Jubilees: This book is a gist of Genesis, with certain things offensive to the gentiles ‘ ears removed or modified. It was written either just before or just after the birth of Christ.
5. The Assumption of Moses. Supposed to be the prophesies of Moses; what was going to happen to Isreal. It was written no later than 30 A.D.
6. The Testament of the Twelve patriarchs. Purported to give the dying instructions of the twelve sons of Jacob. Written 240-200 B.C.
7. Songs of Solomon. This collection of 18 Psalms by an unknown Pharisee, of the coming of the Messiah.  It describes conditions in Jerusalem from the time of its capture. Written between 70-40 B.C
8. Sibylline Oracles: In the Ancient world Sibyllic writers were supposedly unconnected with the official order. Originally there were 14, but 12 remain. It deals with wide areas of interest. They were written both before and after Christ.
Monday Sept 24, 1962
Three great works should be noted here:
1. The Works of Josephus Flavius, born at Jerusalem in A.D. 37 and lived to the end of the Century. At the outbreak of the war with Rome he was appointed Governor of Galilee. His works may be divided into four sections, usually under one cover.
1Jewish War
2.Jewish Antiquities
3.Treaties against Apion
4.His autobiography.
2. The Targums: An Aramaic word meaning to translate or interpret. Aramaic took the place of Hebrew. Hebrew than became a dead language. Hence this was a free paraphrased translation into the Aramaic. When Isreal came back from the Babylonian captivity the translations were not accurate.
3. The Talmud and the Midrash: the Talmud was a collection of explanations, interpretations, and opinions with regard to the Hagiographa. (Holy Writ) of so called scholars. Jesus referred to the Talmud in Matt. 15:3. It would date from 300 B.C. to 500 A.D. The Midrash was also made up of commentaries on Mosaic written laws. It would probably be dated before and after Christ.
Ancient Manuscripts
1. Codex Vaticanus: Is dated 325 through 350 A.D. It is in the Vatican library at Rome and is the property of the Roman Catholic Church, and contains most of the Bible.
2. Codex Alexandrinus: written 450 A.D. or earlier. It originally contained both Old and New Testaments. It is kept in the manuscript room of the British Museum in London. It is the property of the government of England.
3. Codex Siniaticus: It is found at the monastery at the bottom of Mt Sinai. Produced about the close of the 4th or early 5th century. Part of it was discovered by Tischendorf in St. Katherine’s Monastery at Mt. Sinai in 1894. The rest of the document was later secured by him and brought to St. Petersburg, later Leningrad, bought by the English in 1853 for $ 500,000 and placed in the British museum.
4.Codex Ephream Rescript, written in the 5th century. It is a Palimpsest and contains both testaments. In the 12th century much of it was expunged and writings were written on top of it. (It is possible to review the original writing.) It rests in the Royal Library at Paris.
Tuesday Sept 25 1962
5.Codex Beza; it is a bilingual manuscript with Greek and Latin on opposite pages. Written about the 5th century A.D. It was presented to Cambridge England in 1581 by Beza a friend of Calvin. It contains the Gospels and Acts.
6. Codex Regius: (8th century) Copy of a much older original. It is said to be written badly. It contains the Gospels almost complete and is held in Paris at present.
7. Washington Codex; (later 4th or 5th century) it became the property of Washington in 1906 having been obtained from Egypt by C.L. Freer.
The Material and the Language:
1. The best material for manuscripts was vellum which was made from the skins of young calves. The next best was Parchment, which was made of sheepskin. Another material was Papyrus, a plant which grew on the Nile.
2. At first the writing was large block letters, all separate, no breaks between letters, words, sentences, chapters or books. Those letters were called uncials. About the 9th century flowing connected letters appeared and they are called cursive. Both types overlapped during the 9th century and 10th century. But the cursive style then took over. There are about 170 codices in the uncial style.
3. The Oldest Hebrew scripts are the Qumran scripts. About 160 B.C. They contain the books of Isaiah, The Habakkuk commentary, also the Manuel of discipline, hymns or thanksgiving songs, also the War of the Sons of light and the Sons darkness, and the Damascus Document. All of them must have been written before 70 A.D.  They were well used before 70 A.D. The carbon test dating puts them in the area of 70-68 A.D. This ruins the idea of two Isaiah’s since there is not even a calf skin break.
4. The Bible was originally written in the language of the people of whom it was addressed.
5.  Among the earliest manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible are the former and latter prophets. That Script is now at Cairo dated 895 A.D. The Oldest script of the Old Testament was written in 1009 A.D.
6.The New Testamant preaching age would be between 29 and 50 A.D., and the writing age from 50 through 100 A.D. Then the script collects age 100 through 175 A.D.
A few ancient and basic versions:
1. The Samaritan Pentateuch, 600 and 700 B.C.
2. The Septuagint: Alexander the great conquered the known world and founded Alexandria in Egypt. And he made the known world bilingual. This text was made by 72 or70 scholars with a fine understanding of Greek. It was probably started 275 B.C. and finished a few years shortly after.
Friday Sept.28, 1962
3. The Masoritic text: 500-800 after Christ. Written by Hebrew scholars.
Pre-English and contemporary versions of note.
1. The Syriac version second century A.D.
2. The Vifilias Version
3. The Herapha Version
4. Aquilla’s Version
5. Symmachus Version
6. Theadoction version
7. Vulgate Version (Standard Catholic, 340-420 A.D.)
8. Copic Version (Egypt)
9. Ethiopic Version
10. The Arabian or Arabic Version
11. The Georgian version
12. Slavonic Version.
The early English versions:
1. The Coedmon’s Version: It did not consist of the complete Bible. It’s possible date 670 A.D.
2. Eadhelm’s Version: Bishop Eadhelm of Sherborne translated the psalms and some more into Anglo-Saxon about the same time. 670 A.D.
3. Egbert’s Version, about the same time, 670 A.D. It was a complete revision of the Gospels.
4.  Bede’s Version. It was finished about 736 A.D. It too was not the whole Bible.
5.  King Alfred’s version of the Psalms and the Gospels followed in 849-901A.D. 
6. Aelfric Version: Appeared in the 11th century. It was only part of the Bible. It too was in the Anglo-Saxon tongue.
Later and modern English Versions; The Roman conquest of Britain began 55 B.C. and closed 410 A.D. The Saxon conquest followed. The Danish conquest followed the Saxons. The Norman Conquest took place Oct. 14, 1066. The three following centuries were quiet, hence during the 11th through the 14th centuries the English people and tongue emerged.
1. Wyclif’s Version: it was completed about 1384. He was the star of the reformation. From text  p.30 “ Our Fadir that art in heuenes, Haledwid by thi name. Thi kingdom comme to. Be thi wills done as in heuen so in earthe. . Gyve to us this dai oure breed oure other substance; and forgive to us oure dettis as we forgyven to oure dettouis. And leede us not in to temptacioun, but delyvere us fro yvel. Quoted from Ira M. Price, The Ancestry of Our  English Bible, p.239
2. Tyndale’s version: It appeared between 1525 and 1553. He had to leave England. He finally wound up in Worms (Vorms), and there in 1526 the first English New Testament to be printed came from the printing press. He died at the hands of his enemies for doing this.
3. Coverdale’s version. It made use of Tyndale’s and had it completed by 1535. This was the first complete Bible to be printed in English.
4. Matthew’s Version: It appeared in 1537. It was made up largely of the other two versions. The translator called himself Thomas Matthew, this was a however a pseudo name of John Rogers who felt he could not use his own name, because of his friendship with Tyndale
5. Traverner’s version: It appeared in 1539 as a rival to Matthew’s Bible. Traverner however closely followed Matthew’s Bible. He toned down objectionable passages and terms.
6. The Great Bible: up to now the Bible had been produced by individuals, Coverdale’s and Matthew’s had royal sanction. The Great Bible was ordered in 1539 to be produced. It was a revision of Tyndale’s and Matthews.
7. The Geneva Version: 1560 was made by the exiled English scholars in Geneva Switzerland who had fled from England, from the persecution of Protestants by the reactionary queen Mary Tudor during the five bloody years from 1553 to 1558. And was known as the Breeches Bible, as breeches was used instead of aprons in Genesis.
8. The Bishop’s Bible: 1568. Eight bishops took part in translating it. It was accurate, but never popular. It was called the Trade Bible.
9. The Rhiems Douai Version. Made by Roman Catholics at Rheims and Douai to compete against the interest of the Protestants, Probably still the Roman Catholic Standard Version. It appeared in 1609.
10. The King James Version: appeared in 1611 with and by royal decree, and consent. Thus it is called the Authorized Version.
11. The English Revised Version: 1881-1885. It was called the Revised Version.
12. The American Revised Version: 1901
13. The self-styled Revised Standard Version: Appeared in 1952 in both Testaments. Quite inaccurate.
14. Phillips Translation
Monday Oct 1, 1962
Theories of Inspiration:
1.  Natural Inspirations: Inspiration is here identified with genius of a higher order; Shakespeare, Milton, Mohamed, Confucius are inspired in this sense.
2.  Universal Christian Inspiration or illumination: Here inspiration and illumination are identical. The average Christian today would be as much inspired as Bible Writers.
3. Conceptual or thought Inspiration: Only the great concepts or thoughts were inspired and the writer supplied the rest unaided by the Holy Spirit.
4. Partial Inspiration: The Bible contains the word of God, but who is to determine what is the word of God? Or what is the word of man. Modernism likes this view.
5. Organic Inspiration: The Holy Spirit acted upon the writer in harmony with the laws of their own inner beings. Using them just as they were. Recognizing their personal characteristics, their temperaments, their gifts, education, vocabulary, and style.
6. Dynamic Inspiration: The writers only were affected. What they wrote was their own after they were empowered. That is their mental and spiritual gifts were raised to a higher pitch .It differs little from Universal Christian Inspiration.
7. Mechanical Theory of Inspiration: God literally dictated what the human author says. The human authors were passive in the hands of God like a pen in the hand of a writer. Their own mind contributed nothing with regard to what was said.
8. Verbal Inspiration: The very words of the Bible were given by the Holy Spirit. The mind and personality were not set aside, hence it differs but little from Mechanical Inspiration.
Tuesday Oct.2, 1962
9. Plenary Inspiration: Every part of the Bible is inspired, but the writers were left to express themselves in their own way with their own symbols. They were so guided and checked that they were kept from error.
a. Theories that we dislike:
1. Natural Inspiration
2. Universal Christian inspiration
3. Partial Inspiration
4. Mechanical Inspiration
5. Dynamic inspiration
b. Theories that we like in part:
1. Conceptual Inspiration
2. Organic Inspiration
3. Verbal Inspiration.
C. Plenary Inspiration: The Theory that Dr King liked the most; Most of all the holiness movement holds to the plenary field. God, however did appear to give at times the very words. Lev. 4:1ff, Jeremiah 1:9, I Corinthians 2:13. At other times great doctrines were stated by the prophets in their own words. At other times they had dreams and visions and then dictated these dreams and visions in their own words. At other times they took pages from histories well known to all or official letters written by heads of state. Plenary inspiration allows for all such items. Yet the writers were so guided in their selection of quotations that they were kept from errors. They had the approval of the Holy Spirit in the whole book. Church of the Nazarene Manuel 1960 p. 26.”  We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy scriptures, by which we understand the sixty six books of the Old and New Testaments given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.”
The canon:
The Canon refers to a measuring reed or line or an official length measure. It eventually came to mean the accepted books of the Bible.
1. We are told that Moses wrote a book of the law, which he commanded the Levites to put inside the Ark of God. Deut. 31:24. This book was commanded to be read by those in authority. Deut 18:19. This would place a special veneration on this book.
2. Later Joshua made a covenant with the people and wrote in the book of the law of God. Joshua 24:26.
3. Samuel also wrote a book and laid it up before the Lord. This too was highly regarded. I Samuel 10:25
4. Under the reforms of King Jehoshaphat the people were taught out of the book of the law. II Chron.17: 9.
5. During the religious reforms under King Josiah the book was read to the king and the people. II kings 22:8-10. During this time the High Priest, Hilkiah discovered the book of the Law in the Temple. II kings 23:1-23.
6. On the return from Babylonian exile during the fifth century B.C. in the reforms led by Ezra and Nehemiah the law of the Lord was read and the people reformed themselves accordingly. Nehemiah 9:38, 10:1ff.
7. The canon of the Old Testamant in the form the Protestants have it was the work of Ezra and the great Synagogue. The great synagogue was Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. There is no doubt that such a book existed during the time of our Lord. Luke 24:27, 44. From this collection the Septuagint would have been made.
Thus the Old Testament canon was a gradual thing, and received its final addition between the time of Ezra 536 B.C. to about 330 B.C. Nehemiah 12: 22,23. The question of the Canon emerged again at a later Synod A.D.  Here it was decided that Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon polluted the hands. That is those two books belong to the Apocrypha. Doubts were also entertained about Esther. They did leave the list the same as our Old Testament with question marks after these two.
8. Jesus accepted the Old Testament substantially as we have it. Jesus believed in the so-called stories of the Old Testament; i.e. Lot’s wife, Luke 17; 32;The brazen Serpent, John 3:14, 15, Jonah and the whale, Matt. 12:40. He referred to the three divisions of the Old Testament; The law, the prophets, and the Psalms. Again for Jesus The whole Old Testament was the word of God, Mark 7:8-13.
Tuesday Oct. 9, 1962
9. Paul and Peter were strong on the inspiration of the Old Testamant. Paul stated that all scripture was given by inspiration of God, II Tim 3:16. Peter was of the same thought as Paul, II Peter 1: 19-21, Acts 1:16. The expression “ Thus saith the lord’ or similar statements are used 1960 times in the scriptures. 
10. It is believed by many that Jesus inferred when the New Testament was written it would be similarly inspired, John 14:26.
11. At an early date there were collections of Paul’s letters passed from church to church by command of Paul himself, Col. 4:16. In one inspired writing Peter approved the letters That Paul had written, II Peter 3:15,16.
12. Some of the New Testament books did not make the Canon at once, largely because of disputed authorship. Twenty were called Homologoumena “ acknowledge”. They are the four Gospels and Acts, the epistles of Paul except Hebrews, I John, I Peter. Seven were called Antilegomena, “Disputed” Hebrews, II & III John, II Peter, Jude, James, and Revelation. Those books were all accepted early in the third century and were placed in the canon and accepted by the Synod in Carthage, 397-419 A.D.
13. The common Christian body of believers both Pastors and People made the selection of books through the years to be regarded with special revelation. The council merely ratified the selection already made. (B. Field; Christian Handbook of Theology, pp 40-73.)
The people made the selection on the following grounds.
A. The honor paid by our Lord to the Holy Scriptures.
B. The wonderful unity that is apparent in the sacred scriptures.
C. The grandeur and the sublimity of their content.
D. The absolute veracity of their teachings no matter whom was involved.
E. The Moral and Spiritual influence which the scriptures exhort
The Books of the Bible
A .The Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
B. The Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I kings, II kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther
C. The Poetic and Wisdom Books: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
D. The Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel. 
E. The Minor Prophets: Hosea Joel, Amos, Obbediah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
Monday Oct. 15, 1962 
Only in one place in the Old Testament is a will called a disposition. In the New Testament it meant to come to an agreement between a group of people.
Complements Customs, and divisions of the Bible.
1. There is a fine list of compliments to the Bible from men of all ages in H.H. Haley’s Handbook of the Bible PPS 16-17.  George Washington: “ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.” Abraham Lincoln: “ I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man. All the good from the Saviour of the World is communicated through this book.” Napoleon: The Bible is no mere book, but a living creature with a power that conquers all that oppose it.”  Patrick Henry: The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been written.” Horace Greeley: “ It is impossible to enslave  mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the ground work of human freedom.”  Andrew Jackson: “ That Book Sir is the rock upon which our Republic rest.”  Robert E. Lee: “ In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.” John Quincy Adams: “So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they might prove useful citizens of their country and respectful members of society. I have for years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year.” Sir Isaac Newton: “There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.”
2. God must accommodate his revelation to the thinking, social customs, and the religious understanding of the times in which the revelation is given. That is, The Bible is written in ancient thought form. Certain areas of the Bible, I do not think should be read in the average mixed group. The ancients could and did discuss such matters freely in mixed groups without embarrassment and without hesitation. To us they are taboo. God used certain methods then to speak to them or to drive home truths or to bring warnings to them, but he would disapprove of them today. In the New Testamant setting these taboos disappear.  Some of these scriptures references are Isaiah.20: 2-4,Eze.4: 12,14-16, II kings 18:27 (for the meaning here read Adam Clarke’s commentary) Exodus 32:25, I Samuel 19:20-24, II Chronicles 28:9-15. Again God would tell them to do certain things, Namely punish their enemies. But often the way they did it was according to the customs of the times. Thus God can not always be held responsible for the way his will is carried out. In fact God sometimes punishes them for the way they fulfilled his orders.
The message of the Bible is Omni-temporal (always present), but often the mold is very temporal and changes as man changes. Man’s knowledge has been progressive and God’s revelation has been progressive.
3. Periods of the Old Testamant down to the New Testament. It goes from the Creation down to the birth of Christ.
A. The Antediluvian Period: From creation to the Noahic flood.
B. The Post-diliuvian period: From the flood to the call of Abraham 1921 B.C.
C. The Patriarchal Period: From the call of Abraham (1921 B.C.) to the migration to Egypt. (1706 B.C.), about 215 years. Adam Clarke’s commentary Genesis 12:41 “ From Abraham’s entry into Canaan to the birth of Isaac was 25 years, Gen12: 4, 17:1-21, Isaac was 60 years old at the birth of Jacob Gen 25:26;and Jacob was 130 at his going down into Egypt, Gen.47: 9; which three sums make up 215 years And then Jacob and his children having continued in Egypt 215 more years, the whole sum of 430 years is regularly employed. “
D. The Sojourn in Egypt: From the migration to Egypt to the departure therefrom.(1921 B.C. to 1491 B.C. 430 years Exodus 12:41; Gal. 3:17
E. The sojourn in the wilderness: From the departure from Egypt to the crossing of the Jordan. 1451 B.C.
F. The conquest of Canaan: From the crossing of the Jordan to the death of Joshua.
Tues. Oct. 16, 1962
G. The period of the Judges corresponding with the book of Judges. From the death of Joshua to the anointing of Saul by Samuel. 1400 to 1095 B.C.
H. The United Kingdom (12 tribes under one monarch): From the anointing of Saul to the ascension of Rehoboam .1095 B.C. to 975 B.C.
I. The two Kingdoms: From the ascension of Rehoboam to the fall of Samaria 995 to 722 B.C.
J. Judah alone: From the fall of Samaria to the fall of Jerusalem. 722- 586 B.C.
K. The Exile: From the fall of Jerusalem to the return under Zerubbabel 586-536 B.C. 
L. the Post –Exilic period: From the return of Zerubbabel to the close of the Old Testamant Canon
M. The Inter-Testamantel Period. From the close of the Old Testament Canon to the birth of Christ. 400ff – 4 or 5
                                  Old Testamant
The Ante-Deluvian Period: 
From the creation to the Noahatic flood: Gen. 1:1-8:19
A. The Bible does not try to prove the existence of God, but merely states the facts and then proceeds accordingly. Given God’s creation it is expected that God is said to fill immensity and to inhabit eternity. There was a time when creation was not, but God always was.
“In the beginning God created” the word “beginning” or “Bersheath” means at the commencement of time. That is the only date we have in creation. In what form substance was when it was created we do not know. It is said to have been “ without form and void.”
B. Three words are used for creation. Bara meaning, “ to come to be “ i.e. original substance was caused to be. Gen. 1:1 animal life etc. was caused to be, Gen 1:21. The spirit of man was caused to be Gen 1: 26. Yatzar meaning “to form from a given substance: Gen 2:7. Asah meaning “ to make from a given” Gen 8:6
Friday October 19 1962
C. The time relation in regards to the acts of the creation are not to clearly stated. The days and hours are not easily determined with regard to length of time. Yom (day) see Matt. 11:24, John 8:56,Mark 6:11. There were also great gaps between father and son relationships. According to the Bible Leah and Rachel are said to be mothers of their grandchildren and Jacob is said to be their father.
D. Most theories of creation are of the evolutionary nature. They may be placed under these categories.
1. Materialism: Matter is regarded as the only real substance and is eternal. Originally it existed in the form of fire mist. From it everything including man evolved.
 2.The second theory holds to the same fire mist idea, but states that the origin of life was the act of the creator. From this origin all other forms evolved.
             3.The third theory also starts with God creating the “fire Mist”. Then God created life in its lowest level and then guided it up to its highest level. Theistic evolution.
The Biblical view is something like this:
God created everything other than himself. By the term God- I mean the Trinity. Original creation was ‘ without form and void.” Then a period of development followed. Then a new creation, then a period of development, then a new creation etc. The Biblical steps are these:
1. The creation of matter: Bara, then an indefinite period of development. Gen 1:1
2. Then another new creation: then another development period Gen 1:11
3. Then another new creation followed by a period of development
4. Then another new creation followed by a period of development.
5. Then another new creation: God created man, followed by a period of development. Each creative act could have been a 24-hour period in which many new things could have been created within the same time.
The six days of Creation:
Those days are of uncertain length. The period of primordial waste or period of time is a time of organized energy when the spirit of God moves. There are Six successive periods of order called days.
Monday Oct. 22, 1962
1. Light “ let there be light and there was light” Gen. 1:3b. The light was good and it was divided into day and night. The Light was either heat or hot cosmic stuff or the filtration of the sun through the mist provided this light. Evening and morning the first day.
2. Firmament or expanse: this expression probably refers to the area between the seas and the clouds alone.
3. Continents, seas, and vegetation began: Apparently there was a time when all the waters covered the earth. God spoke and continents and islands rose and the sea beds were formed. Vegetation also appeared and covered the barren earth.
4. Sun, Moon, and stars appear: the heavenly bodies could have been created before the fourth day, but they were invisible from the earth but appeared on the fourth day. The word create/ Bara is not used in this section of the creation. Days and years and seasons as of yet are not set up.
5.Lower Life appears: creeping things, great monsters, mollusk, fish, fowl and the sea and expanse are filled with life.
6. The Sixth day higher Life: Higher animals and man appear. Man is distinct and separate creation from all else. Dust is used to make his body, but the spirit is an outright causing to be, or creation from nothing (Bara).
Non Biblical accounts of Creation.
Some of them go back to pre-Abraham times.
1. Epics of creation have been found in recent years in the ruins of Nineveh, of Babylon, Of Nipper, and Ashur. They are similar to the Genesis Epic. The names of the gods and men differ. Heathen geography, history and mythology are interwoven as would be expected. In these there are seven tablets, one for each day of creation. Much of this has been found in the great library in Nineveh.
2. There are also similar stories in the ancient places with regard to the flood. Names differ, but the overall picture is astonishingly similar. For records of both creation and the flood see the following
a. Dummelow ( Intro. 32,33,34 )
b. Bliakly- “ A Manuel of the Bible” (12-15)
c. Dean-“An outline of  Bible History (12&13)
d. Halley’s pocket Bible handbook ( 64-35)
e. Geikie “ Hours with the Bible. (Vol. 1 ch 8)

The Creation of Man: Neither the cosmos or man is self-originated. Man’s body was formed from the dust of the earth, and his spirit was inbreathed by the father of Spirits himself. Thus man is a rational person. This does not refer to the physical body, but to the spiritual self (Gen. 2:7).

1. This spiritual selfhood inhabiting the body has eternity as an attribute of selfhood. Thus eternal existence is a gift of God as creator and is possessed by sinners and saints alike ( Ecc. 3:11).

2. Man was created pure and holy, in heart and mind, and fallen in nature and deathless in body.   As long as he remained sinless; being finite, he had to be tested in the line of conduct to develop holiness in character development. 

3. Eve was also created indirectly in body from the dust and with regard to spiritual selfhood hence they were one creation physically, and evidentially two distinct and direct creations with regard to their spirits.  Hebrew 12:9

 Location of the Garden of Eden

All the earth was probably an Eden, eastward, at least from the standpoint of the writer.  In this Eden a special garden was prepared for man. 
 Three statements that may be made with regard to its location.
  1.  Totally unknown, as the earth was probably given a new topography after the flood.  Continents arose and continents became sea bottoms, thus no one can now know where it originally was.
  2.  The highlands of Armenia.  Answer in a measure to the Biblical description of the four rivers, which arose from within it.  The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow easterly into the Gulf, the Kizil and the Phsis, which would answer to the Biblical Pisin, these flowed into the Black Sea, The Araxes, and the Ghion, which flows east to the Caspian sea.   Here in this Caucasus region scientist supposes that the human race arose.  Here we know that many of our fruit and vegetables originated, as well as grains, and the domestication of animals. 
  3.   In Babylonian at the junction of the Persian gulf with the Tigris and Euphrates, this would have been where Abraham's Uz was, and in popular belief this area would be held by most, that would be between the two rivers that flow to the Gulf, 

The fallen Angels and Satan:

 1.  There were an innumerable company of angels who were individually created, possibly about the same time.  They were wholly spiritual and in a wholly spiritual order.  We know nothing about their creation.  We do know they were in existence before man.  We also know they had to pass through a period of probation.  Through that probationary period, one third fell, including Lucifer. 
 2.  Lucifer and Gabriel.  The angels had tasks to perform in God’s creation, in regard to human needs.  We find that angels guard children and adults (Acts 12:15).  Angels guard nations and lands, like Persia (Daniel 10:13) Greece (Daniel 10:20), Israel (Daniel 10:21 and 12:10).  In this lies the kernel of truth from which polytheism sprang. 
 3.  Three of these angels are named.  First Michael: protector of persons and nations physically.  Then Gabriel: revealer of knowledge and truth from God (Daniel 8:16 9:21 Luke 1:19). Then Lucifer: reflector of the glory of God.  The director of the worship to the Trinity, who then filtered the glory back.   These Angels were apparently connected to the Son.  These three could have been the special servants of the Trinity.  If so, then it was the Son’s special servants who fell and became the Devil and Satan.
 4.  Those three could have been each one, in charge of one third of God’s creation.  If so, Lucifer would have been the superior being of the three.  He was nearest to the throne of God, and he walked in the midst of the stones of fire and reflected the Glory of God.  He was a Being of splendor and Glory and talent.  Types are described in Isaiah 14:12-16, and Ezekiel 28:12-17.   If one third of God’s creation were in charge of each one of these three angles, then our area would have been Lucifer's.  Since he was declared to be the god or prince or ruler of the earth (John 12:31 John 14:30 John 16:11 Ephesians 2:2 Luke 4:6 Mathew 4:8-10). 
 5.  Thus Lucifer wished to be equal or superior to the most High (Christ).  This appeared to be his character test as the forbidden fruit was a character test for Adam and Eve.  He became proud of his own beauty, his gifts, and his high office.  He sinned and he was cast down.  The name “Lucifer” in Latin means “light bearer or reflector”.    “Lucifer's” name originated in Isaiah 14:12.  He then became the Satan.  He is the enemy of man and all the good that man does.  He is against God and all his doings; the cosmic war thus began, and will continue until the second judgment. 
6. Many of the heavenly hosts fell with him.  Thus Satan is described as their leader.  No salvation, as far as we know, has ever been offered to them.  How sin could enter holy hearts and a holy universe, and why God would allow it to enter we do not know.  He does not let anything enter which he cannot control.  Why those fallen beings are allowed a limited freedom for a time at least, we do not know.  We are only told what we must know so we can guard ourselves against them.  We must, ever remember, it has pleased God to hold something from us (Deuteronomy 29:29).
Monday Oct. 29, 1962
 7.  We are told something of the activity of the Satan, on the earth, and we are also told his end (Genesis 3:1-7 Genesis 2:15).  Adam was to dress and guard the garden from the sin of Satan (1 Timothy 3:7 Luke 10:18 2Peter 2:4 Jude 1:6).  So Satan and his angels are to be cast into hell fire, which was originally prepared for them. (Mathew 25:41). 

The fall of Man

God is a Holy spiritual Being, composed of three Holy spiritual persons.  Those three persons are concurrently in possession of one set of attributes that are also in possession of self-consciousness, self-perception, self-direction, they are thus infinite.  Man is created in God’s spiritual and personal image, but is finite. 
 1.  Man is not a machine, mechanically guided or an animal instinctively guided, but is a free spiritual self with the power of self-direction.  “ Probation is the moral trial of a free spirit, continuing for a season under conditions appointed by God, and issuing in the confirmation of an abiding and unchangeable state. The Christian scheme, as administered by the Holy Ghost, has not abolished probation, but has invested it with a new and peculiar character of Grace, which however leaves it probation still.”  (Pope Vol. 3 page 101). 
 2.  This probation demanded a restriction.  Man was free to obey the restriction or to disobey it.  He chose to disobey it.  Sin and death entered human experience and the curse appeared upon the whole earth (Romans 5:12-19 and Gen 3:17-18 Gen 6:11).  How a holy and a free spirit like Lucifer in heaven or like man in Eden could be tempted to sin is a mystery.  How sin could enter was through the mystery of man’s freedom of finite personality.
 3.  Two special tree’s stood in Eden, one was a symbol of immortality, it was called the “Tree of Life” (Gen 2:9 Gen 3:24).  The other was the “The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil”  (Gen 2:17).  Adam and Eve had access to both but were forbidden to eat from the latter tree.  This was their probationary test. They were to leave it alone at the price of an apparent loss to themselves.
 4.  While the woman was alone and near the tree, Satan came and spoke through a serpent to the women.  He slandered God, he accused God of jealousy and taught them to doubt God’s word (Gen 3:1-5).  He pointed out to the women that the tree was good for food, it was pleasant to the eye, and it was a source of knowledge (Gen 3:6-8).  She listened, she looked, she took, she ate, she gave, to Adam to eat, he ate, and they fell (Gen 3:6b). 
 5.  When they heard God approaching, they fled and hid among the trees of the garden.  God stood just exactly where he had left them and exactly where they should have been, and he called them.  He did not go in after them.  They heard the voice of God; they responded and voluntarily came out and stood quietly in the presence of God.  God solicited a confession by asking them what happened.  Step by step they told him how it had happened.  Judgement was passed on each in turn, first the serpent, then the women then the man (Gen 3: 7-19). 
Tuesday Oct. 30, 1962
The Redemption of Man

The garden was the home of indescribable blessing, it was the starting point of a wonderful task, the arena of a mighty conflict, the scene of a tragic collapse and the long fore yard of waiting mankind. 
 1.  Immediately after Adam and Eve’s joint confession, God disclosed result the of his will and foreknowledge.  That is a promised redeemer (Gen 3:15-21).  The serpent was to strike this redeemer’s heel and this redeemer was to crush the serpent’s head.  Here we have the promise of the cross of the Christ and the final overthrow of Satan.
 2.  God then slew an animal and clothed them with its skin.  Blood was shed, then they were clothed.  Previously evidently they were clothed with the glory of God as was Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.  Now they are clothed with second hand garments, ever to remind them of their fall and of the fact that they were to be clothed spiritually with the Blood of the Lamb (Gen 3:21).
 3.  They were expelled from Eden, from God’s presence, as they were no longer fit to dwell in that Holy presence.  Cherubim and a flaming sword guarded the East gate of Eden.  Apparently here they later sacrifice as the Glory of God was reflected through those Cherubim (Gen 3:24).    Being cut off from the symbolic tree of life they were to return to the dust of the earth by way of death. 
 4.  We have three great areas setting forth or symbolizing regeneration.  First, the promise of a Redeemer Gen 3:9-13), Second the Ninevites (Jonah 3:5-10), Third the Prodigal son (Luke 15:17-24) There is now a righteous remnant that has run right through time.  In the very first home the human race was split.  Cain was afraid to admit himself a sinner, and offered a bloodless offering.  Able admitted he was a sinner and he offered a Blood offering.  Cain’s jealousy waxed hot and he slew Able and Able became the first martyr, the first of many that pointed to Christ.  There was a split in the human race (Gen 4:1-16 and Heb 11:4).

Antediluvian Patriarch:
  Adam and Eve had apparently many children, both boys and girls (Gen 5:4).  Cain and Able must have been the first, possibly twins, and Seth is the last named one.  Seth was born when Adam was about 130.  Apparently the mantel of Able fell on Seth and Seth became the religious head of the race.  From here a righteous remnant, often small, runs through time surrounded by a great multitude.
 1.  When Cain was born Eve thought she had gotten the promised son from the Lord.  “I have gotten a man from the Lord” (Gen 3:13; Gen 4:1c).  Then when the second was born she called him Able.  Able means “not needed” as the man of the Lord is already here.
  A.  Cain was punished by God for slaying his brother.  He was separated from the face of the Lord.  He was driven from his fellows.  The earth was additionally cursed as a result of his sin.  (Gen 4:14).  He journeys eastward to the land of Nod.  Nod meaning the land of trembling, and he trembled as he left  (Gen 4:16).  God marked Cain so that no one would kill him for having killed his brother.  So the mark could have been a visible mark or a promise from God.  (Gen 4:16). 
  B.  Cain determined to conquer in spite of the curse.  He got married, built a residence or city, and called the city after his son Enoch. (Gen 4:17)  Then Enoch’s son was Irad; Irad’s son was Mehujael.  Mehujael’s son was Methusael: Methusael’s son was Lamech.  (Gen 4:17&18).
  C.  The family of Cain reached the zenith of its wickedness in Lamech.  He introduced polygamy and married two wives, Adah and Zillah.  Adah had at least two sons, Jabal and Tubal.  Zillah had at least two children, a son Tubal-Cain and a daughter Naamah.   Jabal introduced personal wealth and weaving, for garments and tents, and cattle raising.  Jubal was the inventor of music as a fine art, and musical instruments.  Their half brother Tubal-Cain was the father of the art of metal work.  Tubal-Cain’s sister Naamah is said by the Jews to be the first to put jewelry and the like on her face.  (Gen 4:19-22). 
  D.  Lamech climaxed his career in sin by murder as indicated in his “sword song”.  First poem ever written. “ Adah and Zillah hear my voice ye wives of Lamech hearken to my speech, for I have slain a man for wounding me and a young man for bruising me, if Cain shall be avenged seven fold truly Lamech seventy and seven fold” (Gen 4:23&24).   The line of Cain from Cain to Lemech, gives us the following firsts; first murder; first city life; first case of polygamy; first metal workers; first poetry; first musicians.  Two observations may be safely made;
   1.  Material civilization, as such are not a religion and not a substitute for it.
   2.  The godless have ever striven to beautify the earth
 2.  In Seth religious hope revived.  In Cain’s line seven were given.  In Seth’s line ten were given.  They are; Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. 
  A.  In the days of Seth and his son Enoch, man began to call upon the name of the Lord.  To the children or Sons of God the promise of the redeemer came.  (Gen 4:26b and John 10:35)  Jesus called them gods to whom the promise came.
  B.  In the graveyard chapter (Gen 5) Enoch walked with God and was not for God took him.  Thus we have the resurrection and rapture typified in the Sethite line. (Gen 5:24).
  C.  Noah was a righteous man and in his generation perfect and led where few bid to follow.  God used him as a remnant to begin anew.
  D.  Thus the Sethite line did not beautify the earth but “They looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker was God.”

Post Diluvium Period: from the flood to the call of Abraham (1921BC)
 1.  The population had increased greatly and the sons of God (the Sethites) married the daughters of man (the Cainites).  This brought the final moral collapse.  Their children inherited the stability of the Sethite line the cunning and wickedness of the Cainite line.  “The sons of God” does not mean angelic creatures at all.
 2.  The giants mentioned were the children of the sons of God and the daughters of men.  Wickedness increases, violence filled the earth, and moral corruption was the order of the day.  God decided to destroy all except Noah and his family.  Thus again a small remnant is saved (Gen 6:2&3; 5&8; 11&12).
 3.  God told Noah to build an ark.  This ark was neither a house nor a ship.  It was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits in depth with stories and apartments with a door and a window redemptively meaningful. It does not say there was only one window and door.  It is generally agreed that Noah took 120 years to build the ark.  This was a period of mercy for the race as a race.  Then it took Noah and the animals 7 days to load the ark.  Then the flood came and destroyed all.
 4.  It rained for forty days and the waters continued to rise for 150 days and then it subsided for 225 days.  On the 17th day of the second month of the 600th year of Noah’s life the flood began.  He left the ark on the 27th day of the second month of the 601st year of his life.  He and his family left the ark.  After God had bolted the door presumably at the end of 7 days.  They were in the ark one year and ten days or 375 days.  If the Jewish year were used the 375 would include the 7 loading days 
 5.Noah had taken into the ark a few extra animals for sacrifice.  Hence his first official act after he left the ark was to offer a sacrifice.  “And Noah built an alter unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and every clean fowl and offered a burnt offering” (Gen 8:20).
  A.  God was pleased with the offering and promised that he would not curse the ground further, and that the race as a race would not again be destroyed.  And that the seasons would remain as they now are.
B. The Noahatic family was to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and be Lords over it.  Flesh was given them to eat as well as herbs.  The responsibility of human government was turned in a fuller sense over to Man.  “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed” (Gen 9:2-6).
Tuesday Nov. 6, 1962

  C.  The laws of the Sabbath and marriage had been revealed to Adam.  Now in the Noahatic covenant the following additions are now made;
   1.  Abstinence of blood; 2.  Prohibition of murder;  3.  Recognition of civil authority.  Man thus takes over government for himself.  Also there was to be no more such a flood.  The sign of this covenant was the rainbow.
  D.  Ham was to be a servant of servants.  He and his four sons settled in the lower Euphrates and Nile valley as well as small settlements elsewhere.  Shem received the promise of the Messiah.  He and his five sons settled in southwestern Asia.  Japhet was blessed and was to dwell in the tents of Shem. He and his seven sons settled and became the Medes, Greeks, Europeans, Persians and Romans.  Japhet has produced the dominant race of the last 2400 years.
  E.  It was in the days of the fifth generation from Noah (namely Peleg) that the earth was divided among the colors.  Population at first centers on the plains of Shinar, where the people built a town.  Apparently they wanted to build a world empire with a universal center.  But God confounded their speech and they separated themselves. 
 

The Patriarchal Period (1921-1706 BC) from the call of Abraham to the migration of Egypt.
 1.  The race quickly lapsed into wickedness again.  So God selected the family of Abraham to raise a nation through which nation he would present the prophets to the world, the Bible, and the seed of the woman, and the savior of the world.  From Shem to Abraham ten generations are mentioned: Shem; Arphaxad; Salah; Eber; Peleg; Reu; Serug; Nahor; Terah; Abram.
2.  Abram journeyed on from Ur to Haran and stayed there for five years.  Then when his father died he moved into Canaan proper and built his first altar there and received his first intimation that this was to be the home of the promised seed. 
 3.  From Shechem he moved 20 miles south to Bethel.  There the famine drove him to Egypt.  There he declared Sari his sister.  She was taken into the harem of the Pharaoh but unharmed.  Egypt was plagued and she was restored. Abraham was loaded with many gifts and obliged to leave Egypt.  Hagar was given to Sari to be a handmaid.  This Pharaoh is unidentified.
4.  From Egypt he returned to Bethel and again sacrificed.  Their herds and flocks increased to the extent that he and Lot split them and went their separate ways.  Lot was given first choice.  He chose the plains of the Jordan to the East and Abraham remained in the hill land.  Abraham lived at Mamre near to Hebron.  Mizraim the son of Ham on his journey south had founded Hebron.  Seven years later Mizraim founded Zoan in Egypt and founded the empire of Egypt.  For the third time the promise was stated to Abraham.
5.  Hebron and Beer-Sheba were quite close together.  It was between them most of the great events of Abraham's life occurred and most of his visions of God were received and many of his great promises were received.  Just outside of Hebron is the cave of Machpelah in which to this day the remains of Abraham and his family repose, six in all; Abraham and Sarah; Rebekah and Isaac; Leah and Jacob. 
6.  The battle of the four eastern kings headed by Chedorlaomer and Amraphel against the five kings of the cities of the Plains.  Lot and his wife and family were taken captive and later rescued by Abraham.  The strange figure of Melchizedek (king of Salem) appears.   His kingship and priesthood are types of the Christ, but he was not Shem as some supposed.  The promise is again renewed and Abraham offered his second most famous sacrifice.  (Not counting the near offering of Isaac).
7.  Here also God declares that Abraham's’ descendents would be strangers in a strange land for 400 years or for four generations but they would return after the 400 years were over.  Thus Isaac was later born in a strange land, but 400 years after his birth the Israelites returned to the land and made it theirs. (Gen 15:13&16; Gal 3:17; Ex 12:40).  Paul’s 430 years (Gal. 3: 17) is undoubtedly from Gods first promise to Abraham while yet in Ur (Gen 12:1-3).
7. As yet God had not stated that Sari had to be the mother of Abraham's heirs.  Hence childless Sari followed the customs of the times and gave Abraham her handmaiden.  Thus Hagar gives birth to Ishmael.  Ishmael was and is the source of endless trouble to the Israelites.
Monday Nov. 12, 1962
 A.  Thus God renewed the covenant again with Abraham.  He was given the covenant sign of circumcision and promised that Sari would be mother of his seed and heir both to the spiritual seed and the physical seed (Gen 17:16&17).
 B.  Three angels came to Abraham in human appearance and again Sari is promised a son. And the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was made known.  Abraham prays (what we call the first prayer) but they were destroyed.  Lot and his two daughters were saved from the overthrow.
 C.  Lot and his two daughters brought the father of the Moabites and Ammonites into the world.  Do not judge Lot and his two daughters by our standards.  Ruth the Moabitess entered the messianic line; thus David and Jesus the Christ were descendents of both Lot and Abraham. 
9.  Abraham then dwelt at Gerar that was surrounded by Philistines.  He then declared that Sari was his sister.  He then dwelt in the general area known as Beer-Sheba for some time.  Beer-Sheba was about 30 miles from Gerar.  It was at Beer-Sheba Isaac was born.  Sari was 90 years old and Abraham was 100
10.  Two or three years thereafter Ishmael and his mother Hagar were sent away and were properly taken care of.  Then Abimelech and Abraham entered into a covenant of peace with regard to themselves and their posterity.
11.  Abraham then came near to offering Isaac as a sacrifice on mount Moriah.  Isaac was probably 33 or 35.  God substituted a ram caught in the thicket nearby.  It was apparently on the very spot where later the temple was built.
  A.  The idea originated with God and not Abraham.
  B.  Isaac was Abraham’s only son as far as the promises of God were concerned.  (Being between 25 and 35 Isaac had to volunteer to die)
  C.  For three days Isaac was as good as dead in Abraham’s mind as it was a three days journey to the mountain.
  D.  God intervened and substituted a ram, as Christ’s human nature was the only one to be sacrificed for sin.  It was a perfect picture of the Christ on the same hill although not necessarily in the same spot.
  E.  At the age of 127 Sarai died.  Abraham was 137.  Abraham bought the cave of Machpelah from the sons of Heth for four hundred shekels of silver.  Thus he buried Sarah.  (First of six to be buried in the cave.) (Gen 23:1-20).  It was in a small field of trees and a great cavern under ground; it has been in the land of the Mohammedan for centuries.  The Prince of Wales and Dean Stanley were allowed to enter the cave and see the stone tombs of the six. (According to Halley’s hand book).
 F.  Abraham then sought a wife for Isaac and planned for him to marry his second cousin Rebekah.  Abraham did this to save his descendents from the idolatry of the surrounding people.  He wanted to insure his family the worship of the one true God. 
 G.  Abraham then married Keturah and by her he had six sons.  These he sent away with gifts while he yet lived so that the inheritance would be Isaac’s. 
 H.  Abraham died at the age of 175.  He was also buried at Machpelah.  Abraham’s children were all eliminated except Isaac.  Of Isaac’s sons Esau is eliminated and Jacob is chosen.  All of Jacob’s sons were chosen.  Ishmael became the father of the Arabians.  The sons of Keturah became the originators of the Midianites and other tribes.  Esau became the father of the Edomites.  All were originally embraced in the Arabic world.  And all were bitterly opposed to the descendents of Jacob.
12.  Isaac was mediocre in every respect except in submission to God.  In this respect he was a sort of Christ.  His life was overshadowed by Abraham for 75 years, then by Jacob for 126 years.
 A.  He was under the influence of his mother and father, and after his marriage, his wife, then his son Jacob.  He was easily fooled as evidence by Jacob’s getting the birthright and by yielding well after well to the Philistines rather than quarrel.  He also declared to Abimelech that Rebekah was his sister, as did Abraham.
 B.  He spent all of his life in or around Hebron in the South country.  He was prosperous and wealthy and tenaciously held on to Abraham’s promise.
13.  Jacob was the younger twin and as such did not have the birthright.  He got it by stealing it from Esau and then by deception got his father to ratify the transfer.  As a result he had to flee to his mothers brother, Laban.
 A.  Jacob was at Hebron for either 20 or 40 years.  If 20 he would have been about 75.  If 40 years he was about 65.  He married laban’s two daughters and other two women and returned with twelve children; girls not numbered. 
 B.  On his way back he settled up with Esau by way of a present or restitution.  Later Benjamin was born and then he reached his father Isaac.  Rebekah had died before he returned.  Rebekah suffered for the scheme, as she never saw her favorite son again after the deception over the birthright.
 C.  Jacob/Isreal remained about 33 or 34 years in Canaan and then the whole family tribe went down into Egypt and he died there 17 years later.  His sons too, laid him in the grave at Machpelah.
14.  Joseph is one of the best known characters in the Old Testament and also one of the best characters if not the best.  He unites the strength of Abraham, the patience of Isaac and the affection of Jacob.  There is not a blot in his life, even by New Testament standards.  His faith in God was clean and strong.  He was used as a type of Christ.
 A.  He was born in Hebron 30 years before the death of Isaac and about five years before the family returned to Canaan.  His father Jacob was about 90 years old when he was born.  He was 17 when he was sold into Egypt and spent 13 years in prison and he was 30 when he became ruler of Egypt and he died at 110.
 B.  The coat of many colors (pieces each of different colors) was more than a badge of favoritism from the father.  It could have also indicated that he would be the spiritual heir.  In any case the coat and Joseph’s dreams detected beastly jealousy in his brothers.
 C.  Leah was Jacob’s first wife and Reuben was her first born son.  Thus Reuben was Jacob’s spiritual heir.  He lost the birthright by incest with one of his fathers concubines.  Simeon and Levi were the next two sons, both by the same mother.  They both lost the birthright by murder of the Shechemites.  The fourth son was Judah by the same mother.  The whole family looked at him as the spiritual heir, but fear apparently gripped Judah’s heart.
 D.  As Joseph came to them dressed in his coat of many colors they wanted to kill him.  Reuben had him cast into the pit.  In Reuben’s absence Judah sold him to the Ishmaelites.  Here the rivalry between Judah and Joseph arose.
 E.  This rivalry continues through out history.  The tribes of Judah and Joseph contended for the national supremacy.  Judah under the leadership of David and Solomon gained supremacy.  Then Joseph through his son Ephriam gained supremacy at the division of the kingdom under Jeroboam.
 F.  The special blessing was spiritual with regard to the Messiah and material with regard to wealth.  Jacob could not deprive Judah of the spiritual blessing without the divine command.  So the spiritual blessing remained with Judah.  But Jacob on his deathbed passed the physical blessing to Joseph.  Thus the patriarchal blessing was divided between the two, Judah and Joseph.
15.  Thus at the end of this period Jacob and all his family and household servants and their possessions went down into Egypt.  The immediate cause was a famine.  Joseph being the ruler under the Pharaoh could prepare the way for them and finally settled them in Goshen.

From the Migration to Egypt to the Departure There From (1706-1491 BC)

1.  The Hyksos or the shepherd kings of the middle Egyptian Empire (2100-1650 BC) were Semitic intruders from Asia.  Under those Semitic Kings Joseph rose and ruled.  When they fell the new Dynasty (the remains of the old Egyptian Dynasty) refused to recognize the service that Joseph had rendered.  Hence the oppression of the Israelites was great.
2.  Isreal was in Egypt somewhere between 215 and 400 years.  The records are not clear.  Paul dates the oppression from the birth of Isaac to the arrival at Mt. Sinai that is a little over 400 years.
3.  The new Dynasty ground down the Israelites until they reached the limit of human endurance.  God then raised up Moses and trained him in the royal court and then in the wilderness. He knew life at the top and also at the bottom.  When he was 80 years old, God called him into action. 
4.  After ten plagues terminating with death to the first born of all unblood sprinkled homes; the king of Egypt kicked them out.  They slew the Paschal lamb that night and before the next morning they were on their way.  They crossed an arm of the Red Sea with supernatural aid.  Behind them the Egyptians were drowned. 

The Wanderings In The Wilderness (1491-1451 BC) 
They journeyed 40 years but wandered only 38. 
1.  Over 600,000 men over 20 years of age and able to go to war left Egypt. This did not include the men of the tribe of Levi, who were priests and Levites. (Numbers 1:46-47).  This number would suggest a possible group of over 3 million.  The mixed multitude was at least several thousand.
2.  By going direct it would have been a journey of 11 days.  God said that when they saw war they would fear so he led them in a round about way, which took two years.  They refused to cross and enter the promise land so they were driven back into the wilderness for 38 years.  With the exception of five or six all over twenty when they left Egypt died before they actually crossed into Canaan proper.  Of those five or six only two actually crossed, Caleb and Joshua.
3. They reached the base of Mt. Sinai fifty days after they crossed the arm of the Sea.  They stopped at the base for about 11 months.  There the Ten Commandments were given audibly, the pattern of the Tabernacle and much of the ceremonial law was given; both secular and religious.  The outstanding incident of rebellion was the Golden Calf.  The sacrificial system was given  (Ex 19 Leviticus 27&34) (The book of Hebrews interprets it).
Tuesday Nov 27, 1962
4.  They then journeyed onto Kadesh Barnea.  They sent spies over to view the land.  Two of the twelve spies sent over brought back a favorable report (Joshua and Caleb).  The others discouraged the people saying there were giants.  Then all refused to cross over.  As a result they were driven back into the wilderness to wander for 38 years.
5.  About two years before they crossed over, Miriam died. (Numbers 20&22)  Moses and Aaron had erred in bringing water from the rock and were not allowed to enter the land physically.  Moses died; Aaron died, inside one year of each other.   Moses died inside of three months of the last year; he was about 120 (Numbers 20- Deut. 20).  God himself buried Moses.  Thus Isreal was wielded from twelve separate tribes to become a nation and was given laws at the base of Mt. Sinai.  Mt. Sinai was the Old Testament Pentecost.  Fifty days after Christ died the New Testament Pentecost came (Acts 2:ff)

Conquest of Canaan Under Joshua (1451-1427 BC)
1.  Joshua took command when he was about 80 and he died when he was about 110 (Joshua 24:29)
2.  They crossed over the river Jordon and took Jericho.  Then they moved westward and took Ai.  Thus the country was cut in half by two battle strikes.  Then there was just the North and the South to take.
3. Five kings from the South collected their forces at Gibeon.  Those kings were The King of Jerusalem, The King of Hebron, The King of Jarmuth, The King of Lachish, and The king of Eglon.  Joshua marched all night against them and met them in a surprise attack and defeated them.  Here God rained hailstones upon their enemies and also caused the sun and moon to stand still.
4.  The people of the North made one more mass effort to resist Joshua.  Joshua met and beat Jabin.  This brought mass organized existence to a close. 
5.  The land was then divided according to plan as Moses had directed.   Later they did not do the work with the thoroughness as God commanded.  They intermarried and then fell into heathen idolatry and were punished for it.
6.  Joshua was a great military commander.  That was his main talent.  He then delivered his final charge to them and died and was buried in Mt. Ephriam.  The last great leader of the old age had passed away.
 
 

From the Death of Joshua to its anointing of Solomon by Saul (1427-1095 BC)
1.  If the 40 years spoken of in Acts 13:21 includes the judgeship of Samual then Saul would have reigned 20 years instead of 40.
2.  The name of the book of Judges is derived from the heroes mentioned in the book of Judges (Ch. 2:7 & 16:31).  Those men were warrior-Judges or military leaders as well as civil judges.
3.  The period of the judges was the dark ages of the history of the Hebrew people. There are 412 years worked into the book. The events overlapped, hence there would not be 412 total years of historic time; probably, but little over three hundred years. 
4.   In all there were 6 leading Judges, Othniel, Ehud, Barak &, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson.  There were quite a number of Judges.  There were 6 foreign oppressions in all, lasting 113 years and 299 years were spent in sectional freedom. 
5.  There are three other interesting events associated with the book of Judges. 
 A.  First the migration of the greater part of the tribe of Dan to the north. 
B.  Second, the civil war against the Benjamites by a large army of the Israelites.  This event shows the sordid state of the morals of the time, and also the low level of social living. 
 C.  Third the record of the book of Ruth occurs during the time of the book of the Judges.   A Bethelemite family went down from Moab to Isreal because of a famine.  The man was Elimelech, his wife was Naomi.  Mahlon was the eldest son, Chilion the other son.  The two sons married Moabitish women, then all three men died.  Naomi then wished to return to Isreal.  She forced back one girl; Orpah, wife of the younger, but the other refused to be forced back, Ruth.  Ruth went back later and married Boaz.  Ruth then became the mother of Obed; the father of Jesse and Jesse was the father of David.  Thus David’s great grandmother, Ruth, was a Moabite, and his great grandfather, Boaz (Whose mother was Rehab of Jericho, a Cannanite) was half Cannanite. 
This is the beginning of the history of the messianic family.  David was like Ruth in character.  Ruth was one of the religious wonders of the world. 

The United Kingdom (1075-975 BC)
From the anointing of Saul to the ascension of Rehoboam.
 1.  Samson was the last warrior judge.  Eli was a priest-judge.  Samuel was a prophet-judge.  God was supposed to be their king.  Thus they were a theocracy.
 2.  Eli was concurrent with Samson, but Eli was weak and had a wicked family.  His sons Hophini and Phineas caused Isreal to fear another priest-judge.  Besides the Israelites wanted to be like the other people.  So they asked for a king to rule over them. 
 3.  Isreal desire for a king cut Samuel to the heart.  As the people by so doing were not merely denying Eli’s sons but also the person of Samuel and his sons.  In doing this they rejected God and rejected the Theocracy. 
4.  Abimelech, the son of Gideon also called Jerubbaal, was king over part for three years.  Then he met death.  Gideon himself, however, had already been offered the kingship, but had refused it.  So he felt that it was not the will of God (Judges 8:22)
 5.  Samuel then anointed Saul who was a goodly person and who started well but he was self-willed and head strong.  In the matter of Agag, he disobeyed God and was ultimately set aside by God.  Then Samuel anointed David. 
 6.  David was of the family of Jesse, the Bethelemite and he was a skilled musician and a warrior and later slew Goliath. (I Samuel 16:18).  He was then taken to the court of Saul where he had plenty of trouble and had to flee for his life.  He also lived as an outcast.  Later when Saul was defeated at Gilboah he, David became king over Hebron.  Then seven years later he was made king over all Isreal.  About 40 years.
  A.  David’s reign was a military and literary one.
  B.  His house was established forever as the messianic house. (Ps. 89:34; 132:11fl)
 7.  Solomon succeeded David at Israel’s highest point.  Before his reign had closed Isreal was coming down.
  A.  Solomen sought foriegn alliances.  He married foriegn or heathen women and introduced idolatry in a big way.  He increased taxes to the braking point and caused much dissatisfaction.
  B.  He also built the first temple; which stood from 970-586 BC, about 400 years.  Zerubbabel’s temple stood from 520-20 BC, about 500 years.  Herod’s temple stood from 20 BC -70 AD or about 90 years.
  C.  He also built many other buildings and ships and expanded trade and was famous for his wisdom.  He however, left this world under a shadow.  “When Solomon was old his wives turned his heart away to other gods”.

The Two Kingdoms (975 or 930-722BC)
From the ascension of Rehoboam to the fall of Samaria
 1.  The disruption of the kingdom was the work of centuries from Joshua to David.  The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and Benjamin held the preeminence and not Judah.  Ephriam had shown a desire to break away and be independent.
 2.  Solomon had a thousand wives and only one son and that son was a fool.  When that son Rehoboam ascended the throne a commission waited on him to have taxes and other abuses lighten.  He refused and the revolution was on.  The kingdom was then divided.
 3.  The Northern Kingdom called Isreal chose Jeroboam as king.  He was an officer in the army and opposed Solomen and Solomon knew it.  Judah and Benjamin stayed with the house of David or with Rehoboam.  Judah held Jerusalem, the temple, and Hebron.  Isreal held Shechem, Shiloh, Bethel, Ramah and Gilgal. 
 4.  Jeroboam instituted calf worship at Dan.  So that the people would not have to go back to Judah at Jerusalem to worship.  Thus the Northern Kingdom Isreal became idolaters.
 5.  In Judah there were twenty kings in all.  (One was a Queen).  They averaged 17 years each.  Of the twenty, seven are declared bad, one is declared devilish (Athaliah the queen), one is said to be wicked (Jeroboam II), two are declared as the worse (Manasseh and Amon), two are said to be the best (Hezekiah and Josiah).  Six are said to be good.  Ahaz was also said to be wicked.  They were: The kings and Queen of Judah:
  1.   Rehoboam  17 years  mostly bad
  2.   Abijah  3 years  mostly bad
  3.   Asa   41 years  good
  4.   Jehoshaphat  25 years  good 
  5.   Jehoram  8 years  bad
  6.   Ahaziah  1 year  bad
  7.   Athaliah  6 years  devilish Queen
  8.   Joash  40 years  mostly good
  9.   Amaziah  29 years  good
  10. Uzziah  52 years  good
  11.  Jotham  16 years  good
  12.  Ahaz  16 years  wicked
  13.  Hezekiah  29 years  the best
  14.  Manasseh  55 years  the worst
  15.  Amon  2 years  the worst
  16.  Josiah  31 years  the best (638-608BC)
  17.  Jehoahaz  3 mo.  bad
                             18.  Jehoiakim  11 years  wicked
                             19.  Jehoiachin  3 mo.  bad
  20.  Zedekiah   11 years  bad
From numbers 17 through 20, these kings served under Nebuchadnezzar.

6.  In Isreal there were 19 kings.  They averaged 11 years each.  In most cases father and son overlapped.  Eight of the nineteen met violent death.  17 are said to be bad, one as unusually bad (Omri), one is said to be the worse (Ahab).
  1.   Jeroboam  22 years  bad
  2.   Nadab  2 years  bad
                             3.   Baasha  24 years  bad
  4.   Elah   2 years  bad
  5.   Zimri  7 days  bad
  6.   Omri  12 years  unusually bad
  7.   Ahab  22 years  the worse
  8.   Ahaziah  2 years  bad
  9.   Joram  12 years  mostly bad
  10.  Jehu                28 years  mostly bad
  11.  Jehoahaz  17 years  bad
  12.  Joash  16 years  bad
  13.  Jeroboam II  41 years  bad
  14.  Zedekiah  6 mo.  bad
  15.  Shallum  1 mo.   bad
  16.  Manahem  10 years  bad
  17.  Pekahiah  2 years  bad
  18.  Pekah  20 years  bad
  19.  Hoshea  9 years  bad

7.  The priests fell under the spell of those wicked kings.  Hence God had to raise up a school of prophets who reproved everyone when they needed it from the king on his throne to the one in the dungeon.  Starting with Samuel some of the prophets were:
  1.  Gad
  2.  Iddo
  3.  Nathan
  4.  Ahijah
  5.  Elijah
  6.  Elisha
Friday Dec. 7 1962:
From The Fall Of Samaria (the northern kingdom) To The Fall Of Judah (the southern kingdom) (722-586 BC).  The period in which Judah is alone.
1.  Josiah (638-608 BC) came to the throne when he was only eight.  After he grew up a bit he led many reforms with the help of Jeremiah.  At sixteen, Josiah turned to God personally.  At twenty, he began to remove idolatry from Jerusalem.  At twenty-six he repaired the temple of the Lord.
2.  Pharaoh-Necho marched an army through Egypt to meet prince Nebuchadnezzar on the Euphrates River at Carchemish.  Josiah tried to stop him from going through Judah and was slain at the battle of Megiddo.  With his death the hope of Jeremiah fell.  He was the last good king who walked in the ways of David his father.  The other kings who followed were for the most part puppets of Babylon.
3.  The reforms and revival started by Josiah stopped or died with him.  A small group however continued to walk with God.  Apparently Daniel and his three friends were converted in this revival.  Jeremiah probably wrote the book of Lamentations, lamenting the death Josiah.  Isaiah prophesied during the fall of Samaria.  Now Jeremiah prophesied during the fall of the Southern kingdom before Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 BC.  The second time by Nebuchadnezzar it was 597 BC.  The third 586 BC.  Daniel and his friends were carried away in 606 BC.  At this point the 70 years of captivity began.  Daniel knew that the 70 years were about over by the study of Jeremiah. (Jer 25:11 & 29:10: Dan. 9:2)

The Exilic Period (606-586 or 536)
Fall of Jerusalem to the return from Babylonian Exile under Zerubbabel.
 1.  Jeremiah was given the right or privilege to go wherever he wanted.  So he stayed for a short time at Jerusalem, then he went down to Egypt where he was slain by his own people for rebuking idolatry.
 2.  Ezekiel landed at the river Chebar.  Some say it was 300 miles up the Euphrates River quite near its source.  Others say it was the name of a canal quite near Babylon.  There Ezekiel did his best to guide the captives and to keep them God conscience.  There he probably wrote his book and there also Psalms 137 was written.
 3.  Daniel rose high as a statesman.  First with Nebuchadnezzar and then with the Persian Darius then in Babylon Daniel wrote his book and there we are told of the fiery furnace and the Lions Den.  Apparently he was about 94 and he did not return to Jerusalem.

The Post Exilic Period (536-about 400 BC)
From the return of Zerubbabel to the end of the Old Testament Canon.
1. The return was as distinctly foretold as the captivity.  The return was closely connected with the fall of Babylon.  Babylon had caused Jerusalem to fall in suffering and now it falls and suffers.  This return, like the captivity itself was in three sections.
Monday Dec. 10, 1962.
A.  Cyrus issues the Edict to return to the city of Jerusalem in 536 BC and Zerubbabel (a prince of the royal line) headed a group of probably fifty thousand and also carried back the temple vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had taken and Belshazzar had it defamed at his infamous feast.  Much history with regard to this first return is found in Ezra 1-6.  After this first return but before the second return the events of the book of Esther takes place.
1.  Ahasuerus the Xerxes of Greek and Persian history was displeased with his queen, Vashti and divorced her.  (She was the only decent person in the whole group).
   2.  He then married a beautiful Jewish girl.  The uncle of this girl was Mordecai.
   3.  Haman, a high Persian officer and captain, hated Mordecai.  So he planned to have him hung.  He also planned to exterminate the Jews as a people, for the civilized world was under his sway.  Haman’s plans backfired and he was hung on the gallows on which he had prepared to hang Mordecai on.  The Jews were spared and were given a chance to avenge themselves of their enemies.  (Footnote:  if Saul had taken care of Agag and destroyed the Amalekites (I Samuel 15:9) then there would have been no Haman).  The lesson in this book in which the word God does not appear once neither does the word prayer, is that God is able and will look after his own people, even in the most sinful environment that can be forced upon them.  He will do this during the tribulation. 
  B.  The second major return was directed by Ezra himself (Ezra 7-10) 458 BC.  This was about 80 years after the return under Zerubbabel.  Ezra was a priest and led about 7000 back to Jerusalem.  He found that the Jews in Judea had intermarried with the surrounding people.  He then staged a great reform and read the law of God to them.
  C.  The third return was under the direction of Nehemiah.  445 BC.  Many of the Jews never returned at all but remained scattered throughout the Persian Empire.  He, too, corrected mixed marriages and Sabbath breaking and other abuses.  Shortly after this time the last prophetic voice sounded in the person of Malachi (400 BC). 
 Notes:  the seven annual feasts had its rise during the time of Esther.  The seven in order are:
 1.  The Passover Feast: about April 14; a weeklong.  It commemorated their departure from Egypt.
 2.  The Feast of Pentecost; about June 6; a weeklong.  It commemorated the giving of the law on Mt. Sinai.
 3.  The Feast of Trumpets; about October 1; it opened the civil year.
 4.  The Day of Atonement; about October 10; it completed the yearly atonement for the people.
 5.  The Feast of Tabernacles; about October 15; it commemorated their wilderness experiences before entering Canaan.
6.  The Feast of Dedication; about December 25; it commemorated the re-dedication of the temple during the time of the Maccabees.
 7.  The Feast of Purim; the 14 Th of Adar, or about March 14 or 15; it commemorated their deliverance from the hand of Haman during the time of Esther.

The seventh day was the Sabbath and also at special feasts the eighth day was a Sabbath.  Also the seventh year was a year the land and everyone rested.  The 50th year was the great Jubilee in which almost all debts were cancelled and slaves were released and the land was restored to its original Jewish owner. 
Tuesday Dec. 11, 1962
The Book of Psalms
I.  The book of Psalms is called in Hebrew, Tehillim, meaning psalms of praises.  Some times called Sepha Tehillim (book of praise).  In Greek it is called Psalmos and Psalmai (plural).  Thus the term psalm refer to metrical composition written and able to be sung.  It is the Hebrew hymnbook.
II.  The book of Psalms is sometimes called the Psalms of David because more of them were composed by him than by anyone else.  For this reason it is called the Book of David. 
(Second Maccabees chapter 2:13)
The Book of Psalms grew from Moses’ time to the post-exilic time.  It was the Hebrew hymnbook, which they always used in the temple services.
III.  The known authors are:
 1.  David wrote at least 73
 2.  King Solomon wrote at least 2 (Ps. 72&127)
 3.  Korah and his house wrote 10
 4.  Asaph and his house wrote 12
 5.  Heman wrote at least 1 (Ps. 88) (it is the saddest Psalm in the book.  He was supposedly a leper when he wrote it).
 6.  Ethan wrote 1 (Ps. 89)
 7.  Moses wrote at least 1 (Ps. 90) (the most majestic Psalm).

We are reasonably sure about who wrote 100 and we don’t know for sure who wrote the other 50.

IV.  There are five sections to the book.  Thus we have a Pentateuch to the Psalms as well as to the books of Moses.  Those five sections are:
 1.  Psalms 1-41; This section ends in a doxology and a double Amen.  It begins with one of the most beautiful literary psalms in the whole book.  (Ps. 1 was probably written by Ezra but not stated as his.
 2.  Psalms 42-72; This section ends in a doxology and a double Amen.  The divine being in this section is spoken of as Elohim.  There is then a post script “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse are ended” (Ps. 72:20).
 3.  Psalms 73-89; This section ends in a doxology and a double amen  (so let it be).  The divine being is also spoken of as Elohim.
4.  Psalms 90-106; This section ends in a doxology and a single Amen and a hallelujah (meaning praise the Lord).  The divine being is usually referred to as Jehovah.
5.  Psalms 107-150; This section ends with a crescendo of Hallelujahs.  The divine being is Jehovah.
V.  Psalms 119 is the longest Psalm and the longest chapter in the Bible.  It is a perfect alphabetical or acrostic Psalm.  There are 22 stanzas in it and there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. Each stanza corresponds to a Hebrew letter.  There are 8 verses in each stanza and each 8 verses begins with a Hebrew letter.  The subject of the Psalm is Jehovah and the perfections of him.  It is a magnification of Jehovah. (176 verse).
VI.  Psalms 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible.  It is the central chapter of the Bible and is a doxology and declares that Jehovah is the center of worship of the whole earth.  So it probably should be the center of the Bible.
VII.  Psalms 23 is declared to be the best known chapter of the bible.  “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”.  It could be that what we call the Lords Prayer could be better known in churches.
VIII. Psalms 137 is referred to as a funeral hymn or a durge.  They, the Israelites, were asked to sing the Lords songs while in captivity, and they thought they could not sing them there.  They should have sung them while they were in captivity.
Friday Dec. 14, 1962 
IX.  Some Psalms are regarded as Messianic in that they set forth-different aspects of Jesus Christ’s life.
 1.  Christ is set forth as king in several Psalms.  “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion” Ps. 2. Verse 12 of the same chapter suggests that Christ is King.  Psalms 35; 72; 110; 132 are all Messianic psalms.
 2.  The sufferings of the Christ upon the cross are better described in the book of Psalms than in the Gospels.  We have this in Psalms 22 and also Isaiah 53.  We are told of much that happened on the cross.  Verse 1 is the first word from the cross.  Psalms 41:9 describes the betrayal of Judas.  Psalms 65: 12-14 describes Judas’ actions in betraying Christ.  Psalms 69: 20-21 we are told that they would give him vinegar to drink and they did.
 3.  In Psalms 16:9-10 we are told that his physical body was to be raised from the dead without harm to it and that his physical body was to arise.  Paul and Peter both refer to this Psalm as having been fulfilled in the resurrection of Christ.  (Peter in Acts 2:25.  Paul did it in, Acts 13:25-30)
 4.  The accession is set forth in Psalms 68:18.  “Thou hast ascended on higher, thou hast lead captivity captive and has received gifts for man”. 
 5.  Pentecost and pardon are also set forth in Psalms 25; 32; 38; 51; 130.  Psalms 51 is the great classic on repentance.
 6.  Then conversion and heart purity are also set forth in psalms.  Three great Psalms on heart purity are Psalms 40:24; 4; 51; 10; 73:1-24.
 7.  The imprecatory psalms are those psalms, which denounce and threaten judgement or even pray for punishment upon souls.  An imprecatory in the Psalms is a prophecy for that person if he does not change.  Psalms 35; 52; 59; 69; 109; 137.
X.  There are also Psalms of Praise or Hallelujahs Psalms.  There are Psalms of adoration.  There are Psalms of Thanksgiving.  There are pilgrim’s Psalms.  There are historical Psalms.  There are prophetic and didactic Psalms.  There are creation Psalms.

The Book of Job
I.  The book of Job is stated to be one of the greatest pieces of literature known to man.  Victor Hugo said it was the greatest.  There was no written revelation in its day at least none is referred to in Job.  Just writings and the sayings of those currently alive were their only authority.
II.  It probably refers to the great pyramid in Egypt in ch. 3:14.  And it probably refers to the Noahic flood in ch. 22:16.  Destruction by fire of the city plain 15:34.  No later event than that is mentioned in the book.  Not even the Exodus from Egypt.
III.  Job lived 140 years after his calamity was removed and he was supposedly to be an elderly man when the calamity came.  He was about 70 when all this happened to him. He would be 210 at his death.  Terah died at 205, Abraham died at 175, Isaac died at 180, Ishmael died at 187, Jacob died at 147, Joseph died at 110, Moses died at 120, and Miriam died at 135. 
IV.  Before Moses and the burning bush God was generally known as El Shaddai or Shaddai.  This is a name, which God is called in the book of Job.  The father was the priest and the king of the clan.  This was true of Job.
V.  The land of Uz was thought to be east of the Dead Sea.  The names of the places from which Job’s friends came were right around there, too.
VI.  The book does not say by whom it was written or when it was put into writing.  It might have been written by Job himself after all the trials were over or by Moses when he was herding the sheep in the desert, or by Solomon, or by Isaiah, or by Baruch or by Jeremiah himself or by Hiriski. 
VII.  The problems discussed on earth were:
 1.  Upon what grounds were prosperity and adversity, happiness and unhappiness bestowed? 
 2.  Is there such a thing as disinterested Goodness, that is, will man serve God for love of God alone, even when he loses when so doing?
3.  What of future destinations?  Does death end it all?  If death ends all, then this world is it, if death does not end it all, then this earth is a small piece of the whole.
 4.  Can man be just before God?
 5.  To what extent can we know God?
VIII.  The problem discussed the question; can God fix up man so that he will serve God in pure disinterested love without being paid for it in this life?  God said that it could be done, Satan said it could not.  Man had to be paid before he would serve God.  Satan declared that if God removed all that Job had; Job would renounce him.  God said not so but that Job would still serve him.
IX.  The contenders in the spirit world were God and Satan.  The contenders on earth were:
 1.  Job, who delivered ten speeches in all.
 2.  Eliphaz, who delivered three speeches in all.
 3.  Bildad, who delivered three speeches in all.
 4.  Zophar, who delivered two speeches in all.
 5.  Elihu, who delivered one long speech or four shorter ones.
 6.  God who delivered one long speech or two shorter ones.
X.  There were thus twenty-four speeches in all and six speakers.  The main argument went in cycles of six speeches each, that is Job made one then Elihu made one then Job then Bildad then Job then Zophar failed to appear the third time.
XI.  The three friends relied on nature and the sayings of the ancients.  Job relied on these but he also relied on his inner-God consciences.  When the arguments were over, God declared that the three had not spoken the things, which were right about him.  Whereas Job did.  They had to provide a sacrifice and then they had to ask Job to pray.  God heard Job when he prayed for them and also lifted Job’s calamity.
XII. This debate lasted between two and one-half years and three and one-half years.  It is probably the first part of our scriptures to have been written and is in relation to heart purity.  Job said that there was such a thing and that he had it.  His three friends said he did not have it and that no one had it.
Jan. 4.1963 1963
 1.  Job himself claims heart perfection (Job 9:21&22 27:5&6). 
 2.  Job’s wife testified to the fact that Job had heart perfection (Job 2:9&10). 
 3.  His three friends claimed that he said he was perfect. (Job).
 4.  Satan said that Job claimed, but was paid by God for so doing (Job 1:9&10; 2: 4&5).
 5.  The inspired author declares Job to be perfect. (Job 1:1&22).
 6.  God states that Job was perfect. (Job 1:8 2:3 42:7)  God’s statement really should settle it.
XIII.  Job was a descendent of Uz “The son of Nahor who was the brother of Abraham” (Gen 22:20 &21) Nahor and Abraham were believers in the one true God.  Hence it says that “the God of Abraham and of Nahor” Gen 31:5 3

The Major Prophets
The Major Prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel.

I.  Isaiah was a courier in Jerusalem, he was a historiographer.  He wrote and preached during 740-700 BC.  His book falls into three major divisions.
1.  Chs. 1-35 are prophetic and deal with then or near present.  It also deals with his own call and his own sanctification and with the surrounding nations.
2.  Chs. 36-39 deals with Sennacherib's attempt invasion of Judah in the times of king Hezekiah.  Hezekiah prayed and God relayed the answer by way of Isaiah to Hezekiah.  Sennacherib's camp was hit. (Isaiah 37:6ff).
3.  Chs. 40-66 are also prophetic and deals with the distant future; Namely the Babylonian captivity.  Some use the term Isaiah and then deutro-Isaiah meaning the second Isaiah.  Then would divide the book into two sections.  Those two sections would be Chs 1-39 & 40-66.  They hold that the second section was written later and by a different author.  We hold to one Isaiah.
II.  Jeremiah was also in Jerusalem and lived through the Babylonian invasion of Judea.  He was thus living and writing about 600 BC and before.  He was called when he was quite young, about 16 and given a message that the people would not hear.  His book records constant battles between himself and the ruling people of Jerusalem, with the religious people giving him more trouble than the secular princes do.  He advised surrender to the enemies.  This placed him in a peculiar position.  His first copy of the book was burned but God had him reproduce it and add a little too.  He was a man of sorrow and probably died in Egypt at the hands of his own people.
III.  Lamentations was also written by Jeremiah. It lamented the fall of Jerusalem or possibly the death of Josiah.  It is a book composed of five poems and is alphabetically acrostic. 
IV.  The book of Ezekiel was written by the man whose name it bears down in Babylon.  It naturally falls into three major divisions. 
1.  Prophecies of Judgement of Isreal (ch. 1:1 24:27)
2.  Prophecies of Judgement concerning foriegn nations (ch. 25:1 &32:32)
3.  Prophecies of mercy concerning Isreal (ch. 33:1&48:15).
V. The book Daniel is believed to have been written by the man whose name it bears and it probably would have been written between 586-536.  It was written at Babylon or Persia.  It falls into two basic divisions.  There are two major languages, Hebrew, Aramaic.  The first part takes up to ch. 6:28.  The second part 7:1-12.  Chpt.1 - Daniel, and his three friends, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah.  Hebrew names.  Those names (all 4 of them) are changed to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Ch. 2 - Nebuchadnezzar dream.  He was the first world power: the dream was about a metal image.   He is represented by the head of the image.  And that image is Gold, the Medes and Persians kingdoms are represented by the silver arms, The Greeks are represented by the Brass belly and thighs, and the Romans by the feet of Iron and clay.  Therefore the Medes and Persian kingdom would overthrow Babylon.  The Greece Empire would overthrow the Medes and Persians, and the Romans with Iron mixed with clay would overthrow the Greeks.  Ch. 3 - Daniel’s three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego cast into the fiery furnace.  Ch. 4 - the dream of the tree, where Nebuchadnezzar goes mad and Daniel predicts it.  Ch. 5 - Belshazzar's has a great feast.  He was thirty on the day of the feast of Bel.  This was a peak in blasphemy.  Ch. 6 - Daniel is cast into the lion’s den.  Belshazzar was not king now.  Daniel’s three friends were absent at this time (Daniel is between 88 & 94) Ch. 7 - vision of the four beasts.  They all rose up out of the sea.  They are a repeat of the metallic dream.  Ch. 8 - Daniel’s vision of the ram and the he goat.  Ch. 9 - Daniel prays and God gives him a vision of seventy weeks and explained how long before the return of Isreal.  Ch. 10 - Daniel again prays and God informs him that he, God, will look after the Hebrew people when danger comes and that he, Daniel, would go his way and rest and at the end of the day he would stand in his lot before God.
Tuesday Jan. 8, 1962

A Sketch of the Minor Prophets.

Some of the so-called Minor Prophets are important persons.  For the most part they were more preachers than writers and because such was the case they are called Minor Prophets.  During the monarchy of the Northern Kingdom the Minor Prophets who were living and prophesying were Jonah, Amos, Hosea and Micah.   The prophets of the Southern Kingdome, Judah: Joel, Nahum, Zephaniah, and Habakkuk.  During the captivity we have Obadiah.  After the captivity we have Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.  The period during which they prophesied was from 800 BC or 750 BC down to 400 BC or 397 BC.
 

Minor Prophets:
I.  We shall deal with those of the Northern Kingdom.
 1.  Jonah prophesied with some success during the reign of Jeroboam II.  750 or 800 BC.  He was contemporary to Hosea and Amos and he was the famous foreign missionary to Nineveh.
 2.  Amos was an older contemporary to Hosea and probably went from Judah to prophesy to the Northern Kingdom.  Amos is called the prophet of Justice. 775 BC.
 3.  Hosea wrote during the time of Jeroboam II.  781-741 BC.  He is called the prophet of love.  He set forth the love of God for his erring people by his own unhappy marriage relations.
 4.  Micah dates his work during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.  750-714 BC.  He condemned the rich of his day and upheld the poor.  His greatest statements had to do with the coming of the Messiah.  (Micah 5:2 & Matt 2:46 & Micah 6:8)

II.  The Minor Prophets of the Southern Kingdom
 1.  Joel’s book was presumed to have been written quite early. The King James Version places it at 800 BC.  He is the great foreshadower of Pentecost and of the full outpouring of the Spirit at the beginning of Christ’s life.
2.  Nahum prophesied of the destruction of Nineveh or Assyria when it was at the zenith of its power.  Nineveh was destroyed by the Persians and Babylonians.  607 BC.  Hence he must have prophesied some time before then 663 BC.
 3.  Zephaniah; called for repentance and warned of the day of wrath and told of the coming of the day of the Lord.
 4.  Habbakkuk is the prophet of revival.  He saw the Babylonians about to sweep up on the Hebrews as God’s instrument to punish sin in Judah.  He therefore called the Hebrews to repentance.  626 BC.

III.  The One Minor Prophet During the captivity is Obadiah.  His book is dated about 587 BC.  His book has but one chapter and deals with the destruction of Edom and the salvation of Jacob’s Isreal.

IV.  After the Return of Babylonian Captivity.
 1.  Haggai was elderly and probably remembered the former temple.  He returned and boosted the construction of Zerubbabel's temple.  He also prophesied of the restoration of Isreal and the fall of Babylon.
 2.  Zechariah dated about the same time as Haggai.  520 BC.  He too, was concerned with temple reconstruction.  There are also some strictly Messianic passages in the book. (9:9-12).
 3.  Malachi is the last of the twelve Minor Prophets in their order and point of time.  He calls them back to the life of righteousness, he tells of John the Baptist by his references to Elijah.  (Malachi 4:5 & Matt 11:13&14).  He refers also to the cleansing of the people at Pentecost, (Mal. 3:1ff) and called for a revival in honest with God.
 

Bible and Life: Tuesday Jan. 22, 1963

13th Major division: Intertestemental period; from the close of the Old Testament canon to the birth of Jesus the Christ.  400 BC down to 4 or 5 BC.

  Introduction
I.  Malachi was the last of the Old Testament prophets to write and preach. His time of prophecy is thought to have been shortly after Nehemiah’s second visit to Jerusalem.  Nehemiah’s first visit was about 445 BC.
II.  There was thus a period of about 400 years of silence or semi-silence as far as the voice of prophecy was concerned.  Malachi himself intimates that the next voice will be that of the forerunner of Christ, John the Baptist, who would introduce the Christ.  Malachi 4:5 - “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the Lord”
 1.  The Jews asked John the Baptist if he was Elijah, meaning the person of Elijah.  Without explanation he merely said no (John 1:21)
 2.  Jesus told his disciples that John was Elijah, not in person but in office and in message and in power and in manner.  In this sense Elijah was a type of John and John was the fulfiller of that type (Matt. 11:14).  There is no discrepancy with those three passages of scripture.
III.  We shall divide the 400 years period into six sections for the sake of convenience instead of the usual four.
 1.  The Persian Period
 2.  The Macedonian Period.
 3.  The Egyptian Period
 4.  The Syrian period
 5.  The Maccabean Period
 6.  The Roman Period
The literature of the general area for the most part.
               1.  The Apocrypha Books
 2.  Josephus Antiquities
               3.  Herodotus
 4.  Other Greek and Roman Writing

I.  The Persian Period (538-332 BC)
1.  This period begins with the capture of Babylon by Cyrus the Great and ends with the capture of Babylon by Alexander the Great.  The Jews had been carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar.  The first group in 606 BC, the second in 597 BC, the third group in 586 BC.  Thus the Jews merely transferred their allegiance from one conquering overlord to the other.
2.  Judea formed part of the province of Syria and was governed by a Satrap although Judea had its own local government.  The Jews were left alone and could worship as they pleased and enjoyed freedom and many of them rose to high office.
3.  The power of the high priest grew.  He was the religious head and often the political advisor or head of the Jewish group.  His office was a hereditary life office.  The office became the office of great ambition and several disgraceful contests for it took place.  Jeshua (Joshua) a brother of Jonadab endeavored to secure the honor for himself but was slain by Jonadab in the temple.  The Persian governor Bagases imposed a tax of 50 drachmas for every lamb offered in the temple for seven years.  Each drachma was worth 19 cents.
Thursday Jan. 24, 1963
4.  The Samaritans were descendents of both Jews and Assyrians. (II Kings 17:24).  According to Josephus, Jonadab was succeeded in the high priesthood by his son Jeddah, whose brother was Manasseh, married the daughter of Sanballat, governor of Samaria.  Sanballat and his helpers offered to help build the temple.  Zerubbabel and his helpers and Nehemiah scornfully rejected the offer (Ezra 4:1-3 & Nehemiah 13:28).  Manasseh then went with a group to Samaria and built the temple on Mt Gerizim where the Pentateuch was used and God was worshiped and Jacob was the father patron, 400 BC or before (John 4:20)
5.  Zerubbabel and Nehemiah and their helpers formed what later was known as the great synagogue that ruled and governed Isreal pretty well.  Persia was also mild and tolerant to the Jews and many Jews rose high in governmental offices.  The Jewish nation in Judea however was caught in a squeeze between Persia and Egypt.  Egypt finally fell (346 BC fall of Egypt.)
II.  The Macedonian Period (332-328 BC) Alexander at the age of twenty (336 BC) assumed command.
 1.  About 334 BC. He conquered the Persian Empire and moved against Tyre and took the city after the siege of seven months. 
 2.  He then moved toward Egypt to settle matters with her.  She held Tyre.  He was to pass Jerusalem while going to Egypt.  The Jews in response to a promise made to the king of Persia helped the Tyrians and had refused to help Alexander.  Alexander was going to punish them but Jeddah the high priest led a procession in homage to Alexander.  He then read part of Daniel’s prophecy foretelling Alexander, that he was going to conquer the world.  Alexander was moved and spared them and even worshiped their God in their temple.
 3.  Alexander spread Greek culture and Greek language over the world.  Then the world became BI-lingual.  Alexander also founded cities, among them Alexandria in Egypt.  He then encouraged the Jews to settle in these cities.  Alexandria became a Jewish center and seat of learning.
 4.  Thus Alexander tried to Helenize the orient.  “Alexander himself married the Bacterian princess, Roxanne, called “the pearl of the Orient” Eighty of his general as well as thousands of Macedonian soldier followed the pattern he set.  They celebrated five days in a brilliant fashion.  Held in the Persian City of Susa or Shushan ”.  Alexander died 323 BC. And that brought the union of the East and West to an end.  Had he lived it is hard to say how the union of the two would have gone.
III.  The Egyptian Period (323-204 BC)
 1.  After Alexander’s death his empire was divided among his four leading generals.  Ptolemy was the first, Lysinsachus was another, Cassander the third, Seleucus was the last.  The eastern section, Syria and Persia went to Seleucus and Egypt and close lying areas went to Ptolemy.
 2.  Palestine first went with Syria but shortly (310 BC) it went to Egypt.   It remained with the Ptolemies for about a hundred years.  (197 BC)  The century under the Ptolemies was in the main a period of prosperity.  The most noteworthy event was the translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek.  It was called the Septuagint.  It was made for the Great Alexandrian Library.  This was done by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus (285 BC)
 3.  Many Jews went to Egypt and built synagogues in all their settlements.  The city of Alexandria became very influential.

IV.  The Syrian period (204-167 BC)
Seleucus founded the famous city of Antioch on the Orontes River as his capital.  Thus the Syrian period would be administered from Antioch.
 1.  The Seleucidae finally recovered Palestine from the Ptolemies (198 BC).  This Syrian Period for the Jews was the darkest of the four hundred years.  The Seleucidae were dissolute tyrants.
 2.  Antiochus Epiphanes (rulership 175-164 BC) was the worse of them all.  He met a few setbacks at the hands of Rome, once in Egypt he was defeated by Rome.  The Jews heard that he had died and so they celebrated.  He was not dead and this angered him and he returned to Jerusalem and tried to persecute the Jews and their religion. (168 BC)
  A.  He devastated Jerusalem and put to death forty thousand Jews and sold many into slavery.
  B.  He forbade the people to worship in the temple and to observe Hebrew customs.
  C.  He destroyed all copies of the scriptures that he could get and slaughtered everyone who had in their possession a copy.
  D.  He defiled the temple by sacrificing a sow on its altar and sprayed the broth all over the sacred and holy area. December 25th 168 B.C.
  E.  He erected an alter to Jupiter and demanded that the people worship at that altar and if not, death.
  F.  Many of the Jews fled to other cities and areas.  Thus was Jerusalem’s darkest hour.  Darker by far than its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar.
V.  The Maccabbian Period (167-63 BC)
This was Israel’s proudest hour during the four hundred years of Intertestemental period.
 1.  A family of the priestly class led a revolt.  This family is sometimes referred as the asamanaeans or the Maccabees.  There are two possible sources for the name Maccabees. 
  1.  Makkal, from which the word Maccabee is derived, means hammer.
  2.  The first letter of the Hebrew words in this sentence:  “Mi camoka babeiem Jehovah “meaning who is like unto thee among the god’s Oh Lord.”
 2.  The father of this family was Mattathias who was a priest and had five sons like himself in Hebrew patriotism.  The eldest was Johanan, next Simon, next Judas, next Eleazar, and the youngest Jonathan. The emissaries of Antiochus Epiphanes came to Mattathias and urged him to conform to heathen worship.  He flatly refused.  Later he saw a Jew sacrificing to heathen gods and he killed him and then fled. 
 3.  He hid in the caves and dens of the mountains as did David a thousand years before, and collected a group of like-minded people and defied Antiochus Epiphanes.  He was successful in several battles but being a very old man he died, not living to see the triumph of his family.  When he died his son Judas took over and won three or more brilliant victories close together and gained independence.
 4.  The temple was rededicated and the religious life of the people was restored.  But they were again attacked by the Syrians and Judas was slain.  His brother Jonathan assumed leadership and was murdered.  Simon then took over and was recognized by the Syrians.  Simon was followed by his son Jon Hyrcanus I.  This person established the Hasmonean line of priesthood.   The Hasmonean house came to and end when Herod the Great had his queen Marianne murdered and saw to it that her brother Aristobulus III who was the high priest was drowned (37BC). 

VI.  The Roman Period (63BC-70AD)
1. Judas Maccabees had appealed to Rome for help.  And several others of the Maccabean house had appealed to Rome.
  Palestine became a Roman province in 63 BC. Under the first triumvir consisted of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus.  The Jews were granted full religious and political liberty.
 2.  These appointments were made by Caesar:
  A.  Hyrcanus was appointed king.
                             B.  Antipater was appointed procurator of Judea
  C.  Herod, the son of Antipater was appointed governor of Galilee (47 BC).
 3.  After the assassination of Caesar, Syria and the East fell to Anthony who made Herod king.  Under Jewish pressure Herod made Aristobulus III high priest.  Herod the Great married Marianne, the sister of the priest.  Those two were the grandchildren of Jon Hyrcanus.  Herod, fearful of his position had both Marianne, and Aristobulus III murdered and thus the Hasmonean house came to an end and Esau was ruling Jacob.
 4.  At first Jerusalem refused to accept Herod as king.  The result was the second siege of Jerusalem in 37 BC after which the Jews accepted him as king.  He respected the religious freedom of the Jews and rebuilt the temple in 20 BC.  This structure was not fully finished until 60 AD.  Just ten years before it was destroyed (John 2:20)
 5.  Summarization
  A.  The world was bilingual- Greek was known as well as their native tongue.  This was Alexander’s contribution.  The early missionaries had no language problem.
  B.  The dispersion of the Jewish people had scattered the Jews everywhere with their knowledge of God and Gentile followers with which Paul worked.  Pilate’s wife was a member.
  C.  Roman roads where everywhere over which Paul and others traveled.  They connected the whole Mediterranean area.
  D.  Roman law and order to which Paul appealed often for protection was everywhere.
  E.  The Jews had been socialized by every great world power that existed during those 400 years.  Thus they were aquatinted with the customs of the people to whom they were to carry the gospel.
 

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