history – The Core of the Bible

The Bible: A Divine Revelation

What is the Bible and what does it say about itself?

Core of the Bible podcast #104 – The Bible: A Divine Revelation

Today, we will be looking at the Bible itself and what some of the historic creeds have stated about the nature of the Scriptures. I will also be sharing some of my own views on the Bible and aspects of these creedal positions. Before we end today, I would also like to discuss how these positions influence the core Bible principles we discuss here each week.

So I’d like to begin by describing my view of the Bible and its purpose.

The word Bible comes from the Greek “ta biblia” meaning “the books”. It is a collection of books that have been written over a period of one and a half millennia. They were written by a variety of Hebrew people primarily to and about the Hebrew people during various stages of their history as a nation, from approximately 1,500 BC to the 60’s AD.

The Hebrew Bible is generally what would be called by Christians the “Old Testament”. In Hebraic communities, it is known by the acronym TNK, or Tanakh. TNK stands for the Hebrew words Torah (Instruction), Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings).

Here is a broad outline of the categories of books contained within the whole Bible:

Beginning with the Tanakh, the Torah (Law or Instruction) is considered to include primarily the first five books of the Bible, and they are attributed to Moses. They describe the beginnings and the establishment of the nation of Israel and its religious system of worship. These books provide a foundation for the rest of the Bible story to be contextually understood and built upon.

The Nevi’im or prophetic books were largely written as urgings to God’s people to return to the right ways of God when they had gone astray, and described the hope for future reconciliation.

The Ketuvim or Writings include the historical books explaining the origins and out-workings of the physical kingdom of Israel, and the rise and fall of various Hebrew leaders. Through these stories we learn of God’s faithfulness and justice with his people and with those of the nations surrounding them. The Ketuvim also include other poetic writings which describe God’s wisdom and care for his people through elaborate word pictures, hymns of praise and worship, and proverbs.

Now as we move from the Tanakh into the “New Testament” writings, we also move from Hebrew documents into Greek. The New Testament or Apostolic Writings is a collection of books written in Greek in the early first century by the followers of Yeshua. Some believe these also may have been originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. These books relate stories and instruction regarding the life of Yeshua (the Gospels) and the lives and experiences of those who would form new communities based on his teachings (Acts and the letters to the various congregations). They include historical narratives, correspondence between communities, and a form of Hebrew literature known as apocalyptic prophecy (the book of Revelation). They are all filled with references to and quotes from the Tanakh and its stories.

Different groups today will categorize the books of the Bible in different ways, and some will include different books here and there. The important thing to remember, however, is that within these pages, I believe God has revealed his mind and purposes for the benefit of his creation.

Okay, so that’s my perspective on what the Bible is. As we consider the writings in the Bible, it is important to keep in mind that these books are a collection of ancient middle-eastern writings that cover a wide variety of literary styles and are not all literal “newspaper accounts” of God’s dealings with men. They were not written specifically to us in our present day. They were written to the Hebrew people in a context appropriate for their moment in the history and culture of that nation. However, even though they were not written to us, we can say they were written for us, that is, for our benefit. Through these writings we are privileged to see how God has chosen to express himself and work with and among those whom he has chosen to do so. Understanding this distinction is one of the most important aspects of coming to know what the Bible narrative is really all about.

With that background, if we take all of these books as collectively telling a cohesive story, let’s see what the Bible books have to say about themselves.

2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

This statement, attributed to the apostle Peter, demonstrates how the books of the Bible, and here specifically speaking primarily about the Tanakh, claims to be divinely inspired. Believers in Messiah will typically include the New Testament writings within this category of divinely inspired writings, since they are completing the narrative of the Tanakh.

Besides considering the writings to be inspired, the Bible also teaches God has chosen to reveal himself through nature, the people of Israel, and most significantly through his Son, Yeshua.

In regard to the natural revelation of God in nature, the psalmist writes:

Psalm19:1-4 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world…

The apostle Paul also used the creation as a basis of his speech to the Greeks assembled in Athens:

Acts 17:22-27 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all [people] life and breath and all things; and He made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us…

The Scriptures also portray God specifically revealing himself and His will for men to and through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel.

1 Kings 8:53 “For You have separated them [Israel] from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord Yawheh.”
2 Kings 17:13-14 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in Yahweh their God.
Nehemiah 9:30 “However, You bore with them [Israel] for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Finally, the Bible claims that the ultimate revelation of God has been through his Son, Yeshua:

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things…
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Yeshua, Messiah.
John 14:6 Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
1 John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

The Bible therefore claims to reveal God in nature, Israel, and most significantly, through his Messiah, Yeshua. It is in this sense that I believe the Bible to be a divine revelation.

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Now let’s take a look at some of the creedal descriptions of various organizations and denominations. All denominations and faith traditions within the Christian tradition understand that if we desire to have a biblical worldview, then we need to recognize some basics about these documents that shape our faith.

Here are a few examples of some random organizations that I pulled up in a quick search for “Statements of Faith”:

National Association of Evangelicals: “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”
BasicChristian.org: “We believe the Holy Bible is God’s word Personally spoken by God for mankind for the purpose of revealing who He is and it is without error in all issues to which it speaks.”
Chicago Statement on Biblical Application: “We affirm that this God can be known through His revelation of Himself in His inerrant written Word.”
Church of God in Christ: “We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible written Word of God.”
Torchbearers International: “The Bible is, in its entirety, the revelation of God for mankind, inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
Simplyscripture.org: “We believe the Bible to be the only revealed, pure, complete and preserved Word of God throughout all the ages. Scripture is solely contained within the 66 books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible, unchangeable Word of God and is the final authority for all matters of faith and practice.”

Okay, so you get the idea. Among the list of qualities about the Bible, it is considered by churches and para-church organizations to be revelatory, inspired, inerrant, infallible. So let’s define some of these qualities for a better understanding of what they are saying, and then I will add some comments about my own perspective on each of these qualities.

First of all is the idea that the Bible is REVELATORY: God has revealed himself in the Bible and he can be known through his workings as related within its pages.

I don’t disagree with this, other than different groups may define what God has revealed about himself differently from one another. I would simply say that God, who is unknowable outside of his own revelation of himself, desires his people to honor and represent him, living according to the principles his kingdom. I would also include the fact that nature itself is a form of God’s revelation of his power and majesty. And while general principles about God can be deduced from nature, it is only in the written revelation of the Bible where the specifics of God’s desires for mankind are revealed.

Secondly, these creeds say that the Bible is INSPIRED: The writers of the Bible were inspired by God or the spirit of God to convey what he wanted to communicate.

Based on my previous statement about God being unknowable, then it follows that those who would write about the nature and workings of God would necessarily have to be inspired to do so. This type of inspiration is typically recognized as God working through the various authors of the Bible to communicate. Again, many different groups define this inspiration differently, whether being immersed in God‘s spirit, or receiving ideas and wisdom from God and writing it out in their own way. Even Jewish thinkers throughout the centuries have had varying opinions about levels of inspiration for the various writings. In my mind, I am simply content to recognize God‘s influence over those who wrote the actual texts to ensure his will would be made known.

Thirdly, these creeds assert that the Bible is INERRANT. Now the specifics of inerrancy are typically defined further by the organization, but in general, it means the Bible is 100% without error. However, this is usually qualified by saying inerrancy was only in the original written documents, not necessarily the many manuscripts we have today. This qualifier is necessary because, quite honestly, there are errors in the manuscripts that we use for Bible versions that we have today. There are spelling differentials, numerical differences in some generations or years of a king’s reign, and some insertions into the text from later hands.

However, for me, this makes for a more robust understanding of the reality of just how old these documents really are. If we had perfectly preserved autograph documents from the original authors there would be more questions as to how something could be so perfectly preserved when everything else in the natural world of antiquity has been diminished. Therefore, they would more likely be considered forgeries of some type. In reality, the Bible can’t win with this type of logic. Either it’s too perfect, or not perfect enough.

The reason these minor grammatical areas do not pose a problem for me is that through tireless research they have been identified, and we know where they are and how little they impact the overall message of the Bible as a whole. So stating that the Bible is inerrant is kind of not true unless it is defined further. For me, to say the Bible is inerrant is difficult to do. Even to say that the original written documents had no errors is a stretch, because they no longer exist anywhere. Therefore that is a statement that cannot be validated.

Lastly, we come to the topic of the Bible being INFALLIBLE. This theological term simply means the Bible is considered unable to be wrong on the topics it covers.

Again, I don’t necessarily have a problem with this concept in theory, because I do believe the Bible contains the word of God, but infallibility isn’t something practical and readily understandable to the general person. Infallibility is a theological term that for me connotes a high religious supremacy of some type. This is not untrue about the Bible. But with the concept of infallibility comes judgments of infallibility about practice based on fallible interpretations of these ancient texts, and this is why I try to avoid this type of terminology.

I believe it is simpler to say I believe the Bible is true primarily because Yeshua believed in what the Scriptures said. Since I am a follower of Yeshua, then it makes sense that I would also place the same level of regard on the Scriptures as being God’s word as he did. He repeatedly referred to the authority of Scripture by saying “it is written” and then quoting it, and by using the argument that “Scripture cannot be broken” when making an argument with the religious leaders. Since he trusted the writings as authoritative and reliable, then I also do. To me, this is the crux of the issue: not inerrancy and infallibility but reliability. I want to know the textual basis of my worldview and belief system is reliable.

Now as for the New Testament writings which were penned after Messiah, a primary reason I believe these books are also trustworthy as inspired records is due to the evidence of recurring patterns and consistent themes throughout all of the writings. Many of the patterns and themes begun in the Tanakh are carried over to fulfillment in the writings of the New Testament.

Tanakh	New Testament
Paradise lost	Paradise regained
Scattering of God’s people due to disobedience	Reconciliation and return provided for
Seeking of God’s Anointed leader (Messiah)	Messiah realized in Yeshua
Natural principles of instruction	Spiritual principles based on the natural
Hope for God’s future kingdom	God’s kingdom a present reality

These types of parallels is what makes the Bible such a cohesive whole, and is the joy of those who study it deeply.

I believe it was God‘s good design to entrust the bulk of his communication with the Jewish people who were extremely faithful in maintaining his revealed word. Even in the past one hundred years, this has been evidenced by documents discovered among the dead sea scrolls which were much earlier than previous manuscripts texts available to us. These earlier documents showed remarkable consistency with manuscripts generated centuries later.

So for my own creedal position on this issue, I want to make it clear that I do believe the Bible, as a repository of the witness of God about himself to mankind, is a reliable collection of books in which the truth of God is found. I have come to recognize that even though there are legitimate textual questions about specific biblical passages, the Bible is still trustworthy, and maybe even more authentic because of them.

So if I was to make a declaratory statement regarding the Bible, it would be something like this:

I believe that complete message of the Bible points to the faithfulness of God with his people Israel, culminating in the person and ministry of the Lord Yeshua.
Through God’s holy Spirit and his Word, the Bible, God desires to lead people to faith in Yeshua and to guide them in a life of faithful obedience to his will.
I accept the entire Bible as authoritatively testifying to the nature, work, and wisdom of God. These are the Scriptures or sacred writings concerning God’s revelation of himself to mankind.
God’s purpose in these revelations has been an exhibition of his own glory and the establishment of his Kingdom on the earth.

In summary, the broad statements of my own understanding and faith concerning the Bible are:

The Bible is the authoritative revelation of God for us, for the purpose of establishing his Kingdom on the earth.
It was not written to us in this 21st century, but it was written for us, for our benefit.
I believe it’s a stretch to say the Bible is inerrant, and it’s equally vague to claim infallibility where poor interpretive principles are usually apparent; however, I also believe the intent behind those claims of inerrancy and infallibility are made with the intent to honor God.
I do believe the Bible is absolutely reliable and contains the Word of God for people today. Indications of its reliability are found in its recurring themes and patterns.

It is because of the Bible’s reliability we can see the broad basis for the importance of understanding its core principles which I believe God has revealed through the Ten Commandments and the principles of the Sermon on the Mount:

Separate yourself to seek first the Kingdom with vigilance.
Love God with all of your heart, mind, and strength, trusting him for everything.
And love others as yourself with integrity, forgiveness, and compassion.

Next week, closely aligned with this topic of the Bible, we will take on the concept of the Eternal Torah.

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God’s faithfulness should inspire faith toward him within us

God has provided abundant evidence that he is faithful to his people.

For the ancient Israelites in Yeshua’s day, trust in Yahweh was based on tangible traditions that were built into the fabric of their culture and society. As they participated in the annual feasts of the biblical calendar, they were reminded of all that God had done for them and how he was always willing to forgive and protect them.

For example, at Passover and Unleavened Bread, they would rehearse all of the wonderful things Yahweh did for them in setting them free from their former bondage to Egypt. At Shavuot, this early summer harvest festival became associated with the giving of the Torah at Sinai, and how God himself had pronounced the Ten Commandments from that fiery summit.

As autumn approached, the beginning of the festival season was announced with the blowing of the shofar or rams horn on Yom Teruah, or Day of Trumpets. As this led up to Yom Kippur or the the Day of Atonement, the first week and a half was a call to repentance and renewal that would be provided through the scapegoat ceremony at the temple on Yom Kippur. Afterwards, preparations were made for building shelters for the week-long festival of Sukkot or Tabernacles, representing the journey in the wilderness after leaving Egypt.

And finally, as the week of Sukkot came to its conclusion the seven-day festival was extended by one day celebrating Eighth Day which came to be known as Shemini Atzeret, or the Eighth Day of the Assembly. On this day, thanks were provided for the abundance of that fall harvest that had just been celebrated, along with a prayers for abundant rains and provision into the next year. This would also be the final day of the water ceremony, referencing abundant provision and the holy Spirit.

With all of this reference to the history of their people and the constant provision of God, not only for their physical needs, but for the provision of forgiveness of their wrongdoing, it is amazing to me that it had not just been normal for every Israelite to trust in Yahweh and in his provision for the faithful.

Yet we find Yeshua having to spell out the provision of God, and how they had no need to be anxious for any of their needs; God already knew what their needs were.

Matthew 6:25-26, 28, 30, 34 – “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? … And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. … If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you–you of little faith? … Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Using examples from God’s own Creation, Yeshua mentions God’s provision of food to all birds, and the beauty of flowers, even though they are transient in nature. If God could manage his Creation, how was it that they could not trust in him to manage their needs, as well?

The beauty of Yeshua’s instruction is that he takes the aspects of the mighty national God down to the level of the individual. If God was continually represented in the annual festivals which called to mind all of his oversight and protection for them as a nation, how could they not allow for his provision of their personal needs, as well?

In our modern expression of our faith, we may not observe all of the festivals of the Torah, although I believe there is much benefit in doing so, even if they are to be considered only object lessons to what I have represented here. However, as we review these aspects of God’s word and the outworking of his provision throughout the history of Israel, we are faced with a similar challenge: can we not trust him to meet our individual needs, since he has clearly demonstrated himself as abundantly faithful with his own people throughout all of history?

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God’s historical resume of faithfulness

God has demonstrated himself as being faithful and completely trustworthy through his actions with Israel.

Core of the Bible podcast #48 – God’s historical resume of faithfulness

Today we will be exploring the topic of trust, and how God has demonstrated himself as being faithful and completely trustworthy through his actions with Israel as revealed in the Bible. The story of Israel is a story about God’s faithfulness. He has demonstrated himself as worthy of trust because whatever he has committed to his people has come to pass. Time and time again he has proven himself as fulfilling what he has promised, whether in blessing or in judgment. In essence, the Bible story of Israel is a type of historical resume that God has provided us.

From a quick online search of definitions, we find that a resume can be defined as “a formal document that provides an overview of your professional qualifications, including your relevant work experience, skills, education, and notable accomplishments.” Now let me quickly add that it certainly isn’t necessary for God to provide us all of that information, since, well, he’s God and can do whatever he wants. It’s not as if he is encouraging us to hire him to be our God from among the choices of other gods that are out there. But isn’t that kind of how we look at this information contained in the Bible? We evaluate it critically against the claims of other beliefs and religious systems out there to see if it is a reasonable system of faith.

Since God certainly has nothing to prove, and yet we still need some sort of understanding of who he is, how does the Bible stack up as a demonstration of God’s “skills and notable accomplishments”?

Well, if we review the story of Israel as related in the Bible books, we find a consistent narrative that has a logical beginning, middle, and ending that has been borne out in time. We can see that there is a flow and a lasting evidence to how God has worked with the nation of Israel within history to help us understand who he is.

The story of Israel begins most notably with the events in the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as related in the book of Genesis. After Abraham leaves the Ur of the Chaldees to go to a special place in which God is calling him, his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, carry the story forward to the twelve sons of Jacob. In the course of time, they needed to temporarily leave the area that God had called them to due to severe famine. However, God had promised that they would be returning in fulfillment of what he had promised them.

Genesis 28:15 – “Look, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

In this vision that Jacob experiences, God recounts the promises made to his grandfather Abraham and his father Isaac. He promised that they would receive the land, that his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth, and that all the tribes of the earth would be blessed through him and his descendants.

Genesis 28:13-14 – “I will give you and your offspring the land on which you are lying. “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out toward the west, the east, the north, and the south. All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.”

Of course, the story reveals that in traveling to Egypt for salvation from the famine, they became a numerous people that began to be a threat to the Egyptians, so they were forced into slavery. God then sent Moses to deliver them, and separate them to himself as his own people.

After the events of the Exodus and the receiving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, they are relegated to the wilderness in preparation for returning to the land that God had promised them.

As Moses and Aaron pass from the scene, God raises up Joshua to be their leader in purging the land from its pagan atrocities so the land can prosper under the auspices of the torah of God.

Deuteronomy 9:5 – “You are not going to take possession of their land because of your righteousness or your integrity. Instead, Yahweh your God will drive out these nations before you because of their wickedness, in order to fulfill the promise he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

After the battle campaigns, we find that everything had come to pass just as God had promised. On his deathbed, Joshua recounts God’s faithfulness:

Joshua 23:14 – “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know with all your heart and soul that not one of the good promises Yahweh your God made to you has failed. Everything was fulfilled for you; not one promise has failed.”

So we can see, at least as far as Joshua was concerned, God had demonstrated himself worthy of faith based on everything that he had promised to their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

In reviewing God’s resume in relation to the Israelites, we find another historical aspect that has been borne out in time, and still exists to this day. Just prior to the nation entering and taking the land of Canaan, God had set some pretty strict covenantal standards in place. You may recall the blessings and the curses that were pronounced upon them if they were to keep the conditions of the covenant, or if they were to fail in doing so.

Deuteronomy 28:1, 15, 63-65 – “Now if you faithfully obey Yahweh your God and are careful to follow all his commands I am giving you today, Yahweh your God will put you far above all the nations of the earth. … “But if you do not obey Yahweh your God by carefully following all his commands and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overtake you: … “Just as Yahweh was glad to cause you to prosper and to multiply you, so he will also be glad to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess. “Then Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known. You will find no peace among those nations, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot. There Yahweh will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a despondent spirit.”

Again, we find that both of these examples, the blessings and the curses, have come to pass in the life of the nation.

As they demonstrated faithfulness and maintained worship of the one true God, the nation rose to power in the ancient world, coming to a pinnacle in the lives of David and Solomon. At that time, Israel was not only bountiful within the borders of its own land, but David had also won the peace of surrounding nations who became subservient to Israel, from Egypt all the way to the Euphrates river. This was a monumental territory that was a fulfillment of all that God had promised to Abraham.

Genesis 15:18 – “On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “I give this land to your offspring, from the brook of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River…”

Solomon lived to enjoy the fulfillment of that promise.

1 Kings 4:21 – “Solomon ruled all the kingdoms from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines and as far as the border of Egypt. They offered tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.”

Sadly, Solomon also lived to see the beginning of the curses of the covenant fall upon the nation, as he himself was the catalyst of events that would lead to the removal of Israel from their territory that God had promised them.

1 Kings 11:4, 6 – “When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been. … Solomon did what was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to Yahweh.”

In his later years, his heart went after foreign women and their gods. He began to compromise with the religions of the surrounding nations, and due to his unfaithfulness he triggered the activation of the covenant curses, beginning with his own son.

Upon his death, Solomon’s son Rehoboam inherited the kingdom and infuriated the people with his obstinance. As a result, Jeroboam, a servant of Solomon, rebelled and began to rule over ten of the tribes, leaving Judah and Benjamin to Rehoboam. A civil war was to commence that would never be physically healed.

Over the next several hundred years, the country would degrade further into idolatry and rebellion against God, until the ten tribes were finally overpowered by Assyria and removed from the land. Less than two centuries later, Babylon would rise to power and remove Judah and Benjamin from the land. The prophecy that Moses had given to their forefathers came to pass in horrifying reality.

Deuteronomy 28:63-64 – “…You will be ripped out of the land you are entering to possess. Then Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you will worship other gods, of wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.”

Assyria invaded in 721 BC and Babylon in 586 BC. The Israelites were indeed “scattered among all peoples from one end of the earth to the other.” Even when the Jews in Babylon were allowed to return to Jerusalem 70 years later, many of them chose to remain in Babylon. The ten northern tribes that had been taken by the Assyrians were so widely spread and co-mingled with the nations that they also never fully returned.

Once again, the truth of God and his faithfulness to his word were demonstrated with Israel. Yet there remained a significant and enduring promise that was still to come to pass.

Long after the physical blessings and curses of the covenant had come to pass, there was still a work that God had committed would happen. Beyond the physical promises of a land and numerous people stood God’s promise to the forefathers of Israel that all the families or tribes of the earth would be blessed through their descendants. God had brought a small remnant of his people back to the land to ensure that the final stage of his drama with Israel could still be fulfilled.

One of the other major prophecies that God had declared to Moses was that of a prophet who was to come, who would faithfully speak God’s words within his generation.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19 – “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.”

Additionally, God had yet to fulfill a prior prophetic commitment that he had made to Abraham.

Genesis 18:18 – “Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.”

The good news of the Bible is that God fulfilled these promises in the person of Yeshua. As God’s Son, the anointed One, he spoke the words of the Father to his generation of brothers and was appointed the judge who was to hold them accountable to the truth of God’s torah.

John 12:49 – “For I have not spoken on my own, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have said.”

John 8:16 – “And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

Additionally, as a true descendant of Abraham’s lineage, he fulfilled every promise and prophecy for the nation, and became the springboard of faith to the rest of the world.

Genesis 21:12 – But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed about the boy and about your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your seed will be traced through Isaac…

Galatians 3:28-29 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”

Just as Isaac was a miraculous son of promise, so Yeshua was a miraculous son of promise. We see the fulfillment of these promises made to Abraham and to Israel through Moses that came to pass in the days of Yeshua. The early believers recognized these promises being fulfilled, and came to faith in Messiah.

Additionally, in recognition of these fulfillments, the apostle Paul reached out to the Israelites everywhere who were still scattered among the nations with the hopes that they would be restored to the one true God, and that as lost sheep they would be restored to the fold. Many did return to the faith of God, thereby fulfilling the torah by becoming a faithful remnant through whom God would reach out to all nations. In the process of these lost and scattered Israelites coming to faith in Messiah, many others of the nations did so also, demonstrating how all nations would be blessed through him.

Every faithful life needs a narrative, otherwise the Bible merely becomes a collection of stories and platitudes. The Bible stands as God’s resume of faithfulness, a narrative corroborated through the annals of history. Through this brief recounting of God’s faithfulness with the nation of Israel, we can see how God has provided us a resume of his accomplishments within the history of his people. We know historically that they were brought dramatically out of Egypt, how they flourished in the land that God had promised them, and yet were ultimately scattered among all nations, even down to this day. We see through these inner workings that God has done all things in wisdom by caring for his people, yet holding them accountable to their covenant. All of this was so that his glory would be made known to the whole world, and that all nations would be able to recognize him for who he is.

Like Paul, we can hold all of this in amazement when we realize the intricate care and detail in how God works all things to his own glory:

Romans 11:33, 36 – “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! … For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.”

The promises that were made to Abraham and Moses were recognized by the earliest believers in Messiah as coming to fulfillment in Yeshua. They have continued to come to pass up to our day, multiplying believers in the one true God and blessing all of the tribes within each generation of the earth into the future. As we honor God by trusting in him and his Messiah, we demonstrate we are participating in the ongoing consummation of his faithfulness to all people.

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