From a letter written by the apostle Paul
to believers in Ephesus and everywhere:
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.-Ephesians 4:1-6***When Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) was living in southern Mesopotamia, in Ur, the Lord God told Abraham to leave his country, kin and father's house and come into the land he would be shown. Abraham moved to Haran in northern Mesopotamia with his wife Sarah (Sarai), their father Terah, and nephew Lot. Sometime after 205-year-old Terah died in Haran, 75-year-old Abraham journeyed with Sarah, Lot, their servants and possessions to Canaan. A multitude of idol worshiping groups inhabited Canaan, including the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, and Jebusites. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that Terah worshiped many gods. Abraham only worshiped the Lord God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The Lord God told Abraham that he would make a great nation of Abraham, and bless Abraham, and make Abraham's name great, and Abraham would be a blessing, and have an innumerable amount of descendants, including a son. The Lord God told Abraham that he would give Canaan to Abraham's descendants and Abraham, Abraham would be the father of many nations. When Abraham was in a deep sleep, the Lord God told Abraham that the descendants would undergo 400 years of affliction in a foreign land. The Lord God said he would bring judgment on the land, and Abraham's descendants would depart from the land with a vast amount of valuable goods and the descendants would live in Canaan. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. When Abraham was 100 years old, Isaac was born to Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. When Isaac was 40 years old, he married Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. When Isaac was 60 years old, fraternal twin sons Edom (Esau) and Jacob (Israel) were born to Isaac and Rebekah. Decades thereafter, Jacob married Rebekah's nieces Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel. When Jacob was 130 years old, he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt, the country wherein Joseph was second-in-command. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt and his body was buried in Canaan, and Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. When Moses was 80 years old, he saw a fiery sight and had a conversation with the Lord God. The Lord God sent Moses and 83-year-old Aaron to speak to the Israelite elders and to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, and the Egyptians gave the Israelites a vast amount of valuable goods. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes, and laws for the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. The Lord God spoke to Moses about the relevance of the commandments, judgments, statutes, and laws to the people among them who were not Israelites. Over 1,400 years after Joshua, Moses' successor, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by Mary's relative 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 for 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. Jesus revealed that his Father, the Lord God in heaven, loved the world and gave Jesus for the people in the world to believe in him and have eternal life. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, and returned to heaven. Paul (Saul) was an Israelite from the tribe of Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin. Throughout Jerusalem, Paul persecuted and imprisoned any Israelite who believed Jesus to be the Christ. When Paul was journeying to the synagogues in Damascus, Syria, to find, bind, and take to Jerusalem any Israelite believers he found, Paul and those with him saw a light from heaven flash around them. Paul heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him, and Paul spoke to Jesus, and obeyed Jesus. In Damascus Paul was baptized. From thenceforward, Paul the apostle journeyed and wrote divinely inspired letters, teaching the good news of Jesus the Christ and everlasting life to Israelites and Gentiles, people not born into the Israelite tribes.-Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, 6:1-8:4, 9:1-31, 11:19-28:31, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
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