Five books it means, the first five books of the Torah and also called the books of Moses. The Pentateuch ends with the death of Moses, but it starts with the creation and human history. It says that God created the heavens and the earth and on the seventh or Sabbath day, He rested from His work. He looked at what He had made, and now at this point it was clean, good; their was no deceit, no arrogance, no lie to be found in His creation. Everything was there and everything was in it's original intent, creation glorifies God.
But God made the earth by his power; _ he founded the world by his wisdom _ and stretched out the heavens by his understanding
Then God said, “Let us make man[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1: 26 & 27
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1: 26 & 27
We see here also the plural reference of God, that He is in community and are given the reflection of this in Christ own words.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. John 17: 3-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it. John 1: 1-5
God is one in Being and three Persons, God the father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and some will say that the plural reference is God talking to His angels, for they do not accept a Triune God, like the Sadducees do not accept the resurrection of the dead.
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
And He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
Who stretches out the heavens [c]all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; Isaiah 44:24
And He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
Who stretches out the heavens [c]all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; Isaiah 44:24
God needed no one, He did not take counsel of created beings to whether He should create, He said, "let us" and was speaking to His Son. There are many things, that I, like the Sadducees, cannot quite wrap my head around. It is hard to visualize the Trinity. It is beyond difficult for me to comprehend holiness, and the redemptive work of God through His Son. I accept that God is Holy, that He is just and He is all of these things in eternal existence. If He is truth, then He must hate the lie. If He is righteous then He must not only refrain from condoning sin, but actively deal with it, rebuke it and end it's rain. God by all rights is a God of love and has created us from this, but He is also infinitely holy and therefore so opposed to our sin. Being that He does not change, that He remains truth, love and holiness from all of eternity, then to redeem those that have fallen away and embraced sin, there is only One way, One sacrifice, One Spirit to satisfy the infinite. It cannot be a created thing, cannot be a mere man, cannot be an angel for they again are created. Only the infinite can satisfy the infinite, the Holy and the Just. He would have to send Himself, His Son. In this was the Love of God manifested in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:8-10
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. Colossians 2:8-10
We see the fall in Genesis, but right away we hear of God's redemptive plan.
So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all livestock, and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3: 14 & 15
Satan will strike Christ a temporary blow that will leave the devil permanently defeated. He will no longer be the uncontested ruler of this world.
Who is affected by the fall? The scriptures tell us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Death enters the world through Adam for the wages of sin is death. Everyone is affected, infected and born into a sinful existence. Adam and Eve chose as did the father of lies, Lucifer, to exalt themselves in pride, to act against the words of God, to believe the lie. It seemed like a small thing to me as a young man, and I rejected the story all together for a time, but was it a small thing to walk in the garden with the Creator, to converse with the living God? They had a freewill, and with this chose sin, the opposite of love, truth and life.
The Bible also tells us that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. It also says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. It wasn't because some were better, some sin is more tolerable, or that some found a way to be made right with God. It is by grace, through faith, and that not of yourselves. What, I thought when I was young that faith came from me that I mustered that up like men shadow boxing or talking to themselves in a mirror, psyching themselves up for a fight. No, it's not of yourself, for it is the gift of God and not of works lest any man should boast. We are still here because God has a plan, God is love and He is gracious. He is not illogical and while He can do anything, He will not act against His character, He is holy. In order to have communion with a fallen creation, he will have to justify it, and to be sure since He sees the heart and is not an idol nor an inflamed ego, He will also sanctify those who are His children. The scriptures tell us if we confess our sins that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
We see in scripture that not everyone will come, and some receive sins wages before their natural time. This is in the story of the flood, where Noah is by God's choice and volition pulled out from the rest of humanity. God's opposition to sin is fixed, and no man has the right to decide that something is not sin because he feels a certain way. God saw that mankind was constantly invested in violence, lust and greed, and sets the hour glass at 120 years. He had made a promise in the garden that He would send His seed, and so as part of His redemptive plan, He sets aside Noah and his family. For 120 years Noah builds an ark and is thereby the prophet unto God's just nature, but mankind has decided upon a culture that embraces everything that opposes God, so for all this time they laugh at Noah. They think their argument logical, for they have not seen God, nor rain or flood like this, and besides, there will be time, there is always time to head to higher ground. What they don't realize is there is no higher ground. The only ones that survive are the 8 people in the ark, the ark that Noah built by faith, from God's direction and provision.
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. 1 Peter 3: 20-22
The flood does not eradicate sin and soon after we see the story of the tower of Babel where men exalt themselves in typical humanist fashion, they build a monument. A tower reaching the heavens so they can save themselves, since the flood was not that far behind them and in their knowledge, this makes sense to them. But what did God say? He promised to never destroy the whole earth by water again. This is what the rainbow should remind you of, but as God looks at the tower He observes that here they are all together in one place and this is what they decide to do. They honor themselves in vain, and being of one body, one government, they will all be of one purpose and find one dictator to lead them. God puts an end to some of their foolishness and confounds their language. They can no longer understand each other and finally spread out across the earth as they were supposed to. It is funny being a man, how easily we fall in love with our own words and talent, yet we didn't create ourselves. Knowing that there was a God, Who created the earth, the dirt they used to make bricks, the mind to design such things, the plants and animals they used to fuel their bodies, it still did not invoke humility. What is wrong with us? Everything should humble us, but we instead try to apply it as reason to exalt ourselves. Men think this freedom but it is slavery to insanity.
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b] 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2: 1-10
We speak much about the freewill and their is always human responsibility, for the ability to know and perceive right and wrong, but you are already dead in your trespasses and sins. We are still born, slaves from the start, sinners, the children of wrath. All God owes any man is the object of His holiness, for we were made in His image, and if we are reflecting back other than His goodness, then He Who is holy must judge. So if sin is already judged and the wages of sin is death, we are all sinners, why are we still alive? Why does history continue?
The Bible also tells us that God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. It also says that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. It wasn't because some were better, some sin is more tolerable, or that some found a way to be made right with God. It is by grace, through faith, and that not of yourselves. What, I thought when I was young that faith came from me that I mustered that up like men shadow boxing or talking to themselves in a mirror, psyching themselves up for a fight. No, it's not of yourself, for it is the gift of God and not of works lest any man should boast. We are still here because God has a plan, God is love and He is gracious. He is not illogical and while He can do anything, He will not act against His character, He is holy. In order to have communion with a fallen creation, he will have to justify it, and to be sure since He sees the heart and is not an idol nor an inflamed ego, He will also sanctify those who are His children. The scriptures tell us if we confess our sins that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
We see in scripture that not everyone will come, and some receive sins wages before their natural time. This is in the story of the flood, where Noah is by God's choice and volition pulled out from the rest of humanity. God's opposition to sin is fixed, and no man has the right to decide that something is not sin because he feels a certain way. God saw that mankind was constantly invested in violence, lust and greed, and sets the hour glass at 120 years. He had made a promise in the garden that He would send His seed, and so as part of His redemptive plan, He sets aside Noah and his family. For 120 years Noah builds an ark and is thereby the prophet unto God's just nature, but mankind has decided upon a culture that embraces everything that opposes God, so for all this time they laugh at Noah. They think their argument logical, for they have not seen God, nor rain or flood like this, and besides, there will be time, there is always time to head to higher ground. What they don't realize is there is no higher ground. The only ones that survive are the 8 people in the ark, the ark that Noah built by faith, from God's direction and provision.
Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. 1 Peter 3: 20-22
The flood does not eradicate sin and soon after we see the story of the tower of Babel where men exalt themselves in typical humanist fashion, they build a monument. A tower reaching the heavens so they can save themselves, since the flood was not that far behind them and in their knowledge, this makes sense to them. But what did God say? He promised to never destroy the whole earth by water again. This is what the rainbow should remind you of, but as God looks at the tower He observes that here they are all together in one place and this is what they decide to do. They honor themselves in vain, and being of one body, one government, they will all be of one purpose and find one dictator to lead them. God puts an end to some of their foolishness and confounds their language. They can no longer understand each other and finally spread out across the earth as they were supposed to. It is funny being a man, how easily we fall in love with our own words and talent, yet we didn't create ourselves. Knowing that there was a God, Who created the earth, the dirt they used to make bricks, the mind to design such things, the plants and animals they used to fuel their bodies, it still did not invoke humility. What is wrong with us? Everything should humble us, but we instead try to apply it as reason to exalt ourselves. Men think this freedom but it is slavery to insanity.
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it Job 38:1-5
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it Job 38:1-5
Then we meet Abraham, and God chooses him out of all of humanity and makes a covenant with him. He promises him that he will be the father of many. Abraham believes God but when his faith is tested he tries to make his own way. In Isaac shall thy seed be called, but when it doesn't happen right away, and then it becomes perceivably impossible, Abraham listens to another voice and chooses Ishmael. This was not God's choice and He brings Isaac to the barren, because this is His plan for humanity and those dead cannot save themselves nor understand without His help. Now when Abraham is tested with Isaac, he complies, takes him to the mount to be sacrificed, knowing that Isaac belongs to God and that God will carry out His will. This is where we get an early glimpse at substitution, for God holds back the knife and provides a ram in place of Isaac.
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. Hebrews 11: 8-19
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, 18 even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”[c] 19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death. Hebrews 11: 8-19
Abraham had a nephew named Lot, and when they decided where to settle in regards to the land and their herds, Abraham took a very high road towards peace letting the younger choose. Lot chose the best looking valleys which also allowed him to live in an established city, which was Sodom and Gomorrah. God had chosen these cities out for final judgment and was sending his messengers to remove Lot and his family. The angels came into the city and were seen by the men of the town and though they were guests of Lot, the men of the town asked that they be sent out to them. Prior to this Abraham had interceded for this city probably because of his nephew, but there could not be found even 10 who feared God inside it's walls. Now the men wanted to know the angels, but the answer was no, and Lot even offers his own daughters, for he is not without error either, and this is not the answer. The angels blind the eyes of the men, but even then they stumble in the dark trying to find and rape the messengers. Does society decide right and wrong? This one is corporately corrupt, delusional and facing the wrath of God. God removes Lot and his family, but his wife looks back, her heart is still in Sodom, and so God takes her body to their state. She turns into a pillar of salt.
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,[a] putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh[c] and despise authority. 2 Peter 2: 4-10
From here we come to understand and yet again that it is not man who makes himself, decides what is right, or creates his own salvation. Isaac preferred the more robust of his twin sons, the one marked as the elder, but God had chosen to carry out His redemptive plan through the line of Jacob. It is written, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated. The elder despised his own birthright, willing to sell it for a bowl of beans. He was ruled by his appetite, a strong man, hunter, warrior type, beloved of his father. God was not impressed.
Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. 11 Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: 12 not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”[d] 13 Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[e]
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Romans 9: 10-15
14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Romans 9: 10-15
Jacob becomes the father of the tribes and his name becomes Israel, and I am skipping a lot here but this is mostly a summation of the Pentateuch highlighting moments. I would recommend that you read all of the 5 books as it has been more of a blessing to me than I can convey with words. Anyhow, Jacob has many sons, but one named Joseph, who is sold by his brothers into slavery. He ends up in Egypt where he becomes Pharaoh's right hand, and not only forgives his brothers but saves his family from starvation. Israel moves to Egypt and becomes a nation of many while living there, but things go south in their relationship to later pharaohs. They are treated unkindly, as less than and abused by the Egyptians. Egypt has allowed an irrational fear of them due to their numbers and this peoples ability to prosper under such conditions.
Pharaoh decides to enact his own population control of the Jewish people and tells the midwives to kill all the baby boys. One woman does not comply with this and hides her son in a small ark made of bull rushes in the river. He is found by one of pharaoh's daughters and at his sister's suggestion, weaned by his own mother till he is brought to Pharaoh's house. This is Moses, and he will be the next figure in the continuance of God's redemptive plan. He will be God's prophet, knowing the voice of God, leading the people out of Egypt, teaching them the law, which reveals men's sin and the sacrifice which reveals men's need of a substitution. The tabernacle, the sacrifices, the red heifer, the altar and the law all point to men's fallen state, need for redemption and God's love and patience.
Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a]
4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’[b] 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[g]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h] 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’[i] 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[j] beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l]
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” Acts 7: 1-53
2 To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. 3 ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’[a]
4 “So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Harran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. 5 He gave him no inheritance here, not even enough ground to set his foot on. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. 6 God spoke to him in this way: ‘For four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated. 7 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,’ God said, ‘and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.’[b] 8 Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs.
9 “Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
11 “Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our ancestors could not find food. 12 When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our forefathers on their first visit. 13 On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph’s family. 14 After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. 15 Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our ancestors died. 16 Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased. 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[c] 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[d] For three months he was cared for by his family. 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us? 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[e] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.
30 “After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. 31 When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say: 32 ‘I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.
33 “Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 34 I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.’[g]
35 “This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness.
37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.’[h] 38 He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors; and he received living words to pass on to us.
39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’[i] 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made. 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars. This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings
forty years in the wilderness, people of Israel?
43 You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.
Therefore I will send you into exile’[j] beyond Babylon.
44 “Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 45 After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 46 who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.[k] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him.
48 “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
Or where will my resting place be?
50 Has not my hand made all these things?’[l]
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 53 you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.” Acts 7: 1-53
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