Jesus the Christ, the Son of God,
and some chief priests, scribes and elders:
And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders, and spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: the baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.-Luke 20:1-8***When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, the Israelite elders believed the words of the Lord God that were spoken by Aaron, the older brother of Moses. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Egypt and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. During the 40th year of their journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, 123-year-old Aaron the priest died upon Mount Hor, and Moses went upon Mount Nebo. The Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' successor from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to Abraham's son Isaac, and to Isaac's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel), and to their descendants. After 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, the elders served as leaders among the Israelites, and spoke and made decisions for the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. When Samuel the priest, prophet and judge from the tribe of Jacob's 3rd born son Levi, the birth tribe of Aaron and Moses, was old, and Samuel's sons Joel (Vashni) and Abiah (Abijah) were not obeying the commands of the Lord God, and King Nahash and his Ammonite army were preparing to attack, the Israelite elders demanded that Samuel appoint a king to lead them. Samuel anointed Saul, from the tribe of Jacob's 12th and last son Benjamin, to reign, according to the command of the Lord God. David, from the tribe of Jacob's 4th born son Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. Solomon, the 2nd child born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to reign. The elders sometimes gave advice to David and Solomon. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam ignored the advice of the elders and gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. Less than 200 years after Jeroboam's son Nadab became the 2nd king to rule the northern nation of Israel, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Less than 140 years after Samaria was conquered, Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Zedekiah (Mattaniah) became the 19th king to rule Judah. During the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Before taking more Israelites to Babylon, the Babylonians looted and burned the temple. Sometime after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, the Israelites built a less grand temple. Over 400 years after the Israelites built a new wall around Jerusalem, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites. Before Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, and after Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven less than 3 1/2 years after he was baptized, the Roman Empire was ruling the land whereupon the kingdoms of the Israelites previously stood.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26