From a letter written by the apostle Paul
to believers in Rome
Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.-Romans 9:27-33***Isaiah (Esaias) was an Israelite and a prophet of the Lord God. Sodom and Gomorrah (Sodoma and Gomorrha) were cities in Canaan. Lot lived with his family in Sodom. Lot and Milcah were born to Haran. Haran, Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), Nahor (Nachor), and Sarah (Sarai) were born to Terah, and Terah was the great-great-great-great-great-grandson Arphaxad, and Arphaxad was born to Shem, and Shem was born to Noah the ark builder. Noah was the great-grandson of Enoch. Enoch was the great-great-great-grandson of Seth. Seth was born to 130-year-old Adam and Eve. Adam was the 1st man. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, and on the 6th day the Lord God created Adam, and on the 7th day the Lord God rested and was refreshed. The Lord God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, and the Lord God made Adam's wife Eve, the mother of all living, after taking a part out of Adam. The Lord God blessed them, and gave them commands, and gave Adam commands about the trees in the Garden of Eden. Eve was deceived, and Adam listened to Eve and disobeyed the command of the Lord God. Sin entered into the world through Adam and death entered through sin. Sometime after the Lord God sent Adam out of the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel were born to Adam and Eve, and sometime after Cain killed Abel, Seth was born. Abraham was living with his family in Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, when the Lord God appeared to him and told Abraham to go out from his country, kin and father's house and come into the land he would be shown. Abraham journeyed away from Ur with his wife Sarah, their father Terah and nephew Lot and began living in Canaan, land inhabited by idolaters that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham's descendants and childless Abraham. During a famine, Abraham, Sarah and Lot went to Egypt, and they returned to Canaan with the servants and animals that Abraham received from Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, due to an incident involving Sarah. Strife arose between Abraham's herdsmen and Lot's herdsmen. Abraham wanted peace and suggested that Lot settle in whatever place in the land he desired. Lot chose to live near Sodom and at least 2 daughters were born to Lot and his wife. Bethuel the Syrian (Aramean) was born to Nahor and Milcah. Shem's son Aram was the forefather of the Arameans. Ishmael was born to 86-year-old Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord God gave him the covenant of circumcision, and Abraham circumcised 13-year-old Ishmael, and Abraham and the males throughout Abraham's household and property were immediately circumcised. While in Mamre, Abraham was in the doorway of his tent when 3 visitors arrived. Abraham spoke to the visitors, and spoke to Sarah, and food and milk were prepared and served to the visitors. One of the visitors was the Lord, and the Lord spoke to Abraham, and Sarah silently laughed after she heard the words spoken. Abraham led 2 of the visitors, angels, towards Sodom, and returned and spoke with the Lord about possible righteous inhabitants in Sodom. Lot saw the 2 angels and insisted they stay overnight in his home. Men throughout the city surrounded Lot's house in Sodom and made demands about the visitors. Lot went outside and the angels grabbed Lot, shut the door, and struck the men at the doorway with blindness, and questioned Lot, and told Lot about the upcoming destruction. In the morning, the angels grabbed Lot's hand, and the hand of Lot's wife, and the hand of Lot's oldest daughter and youngest daughter, and told Lot to escape. Lot made a plea and went to Zoar before the Lord God rained brimstone and fire out of the heavens upon Sodom, Gomorrah (Gomorrha), Admah, Zeboim, and the surrounding region. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. On the 8th day after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised Isaac. Laban the Syrian (Aramean) and Rebekah were born to Bethuel. Forty years after Isaac was born, he was married to Rebekah. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was Isaac's favorite, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Laban's daughters Leah and Rachel. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel and Joseph were Jacob's favorites. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi to Amram and Jochebed. Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. The elders believed the words of the Lord God spoken by Aaron. Pharaoh did not believe, and he made work for the Israelites more difficult. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to get the Israelites and their animals and go worship the Lord God. Moreover, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to bless him. Before Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, into the desert wilderness of Shur, and the desert wilderness of Sin, the Israelites asked for and were given an abundance of valuable goods, fulfilling the words that the Lord God spoke to Abraham. 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, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, and the Israelites said they would obey the words of the Lord God. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai 40 days and nights with the Lord God, the Lord God gave Moses commands about the offering willing Israelites were to bring, and the Lord God described to Moses and showed Moses the likeness of the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the other sacred items the Israelites were commanded to make, and the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron, and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Meanwhile, the Israelites thought they were abandoned and told Aaron to make gods to lead them. Aaron told the Israelites to bring him their gold earrings, and Aaron made a golden calf that the Israelites sacrificed to and worshiped, and Moses burned and ground. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. When 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' aide and 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, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. Over 300 years after 110-year-old Joshua died, and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, became the 1st king to reign. David, from the tribe of Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. Solomon, a son born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king. Rehoboam, the son born to King Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam 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. Approximately 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. Rehoboam's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Uzziah (Azariah) was the 9th king to rule Judah. Jotham, the son born to Uzziah and Jerusha (Jerusha) was the 10th king. Jotham's son Ahaz was the 11th king, and Hezekiah, the son born to Ahaz and Abi (Abijah) was the 12th king. When Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned, Isaiah received revelations from the Lord God. The Lord God gave Isaiah messages about Sodom and Gomorrah, and Isaiah was divinely inspired to reveal that the Lord God is the God of the Israelites' salvation and the Rock of their stronghold. Uzziah's great-great-great-great-great-grandson Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was 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. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, the angel Gabriel appeared to elderly, childless Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and told Zechariah that his prayer was heard, and told him about the conception, birth and purpose of the son who would be born to Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). The angel Gabriel told Zechariah to name the child John, and said the birth of John was going to cause rejoicing and gladness, and John would be great in the eyes of the Lord, and would be filled with the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) while in Elizabeth's womb, and would bring many Israelites back to the Lord, and prepare people for the Lord. During the 6th month that elderly Elizabeth was carrying John the Baptist in her womb, the Lord God sent the angel Gabriel to Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin. The angel Gabriel said Mary was favored with grace, and the Lord was with Mary, and Mary was blessed among women. The angel Gabriel told Mary not to fear, and said Mary had favor with the Lord God, and Mary would give birth to a Son, and Mary was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus, the Son of the Highest (the Most High), would be conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb. Joseph was the craftsman pledged to wed Mary. After Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb when Mary was a virgin, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph when Joseph was asleep and told Joseph, in a dream, not to be afraid to receive Mary as his wife, and explained that the child in Mary's womb was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and Joseph was to name the Son Jesus, and Jesus will save his people from their sins. Months after John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah and Elizabeth, Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. On the 8th day after John the Baptist was born, he was circumcised, and on the 8th day after Jesus the Christ was born, Jesus was circumcised. During the 12th year after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Joseph and Mary found Jesus in Jerusalem, in the temple of the Lord, listening, asking, understanding, and answering. 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, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites. Jesus said that the law and the prophets were until John the Baptist and from that time the kingdom of God is preached, and Jesus said that he had come to fulfill, not abolish, the law or the prophets, and Jesus spoke about Sodom, Gomorrah and Lot, and in a synagogue in Nazareth, Galilee, Jesus read some of the words that Isaiah was divinely inspired to transcribe. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot the disciple and apostle, and Jesus was arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven. Paul (Saul) was an Israelite and a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin and did not believe Jesus to be the Christ. Throughout Jerusalem, Paul persecuted and imprisoned Israelites who believed Jesus to be the Christ of God. 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 Israelites and Gentiles, people not born into the Israelite tribes, the good news of Jesus the Christ and everlasting life. Paul was divinely inspired to reveal that love works no evil to the neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra 1:1-11, Isaiah, 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
Reference Information
Sabaoth = tsaba/tsvaoth = hosts, armies
Reference Scriptures
Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.-Isaiah 8:13-14
For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall overflow with righteousness.-Isaiah 10:22
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.-Isaiah 28:16
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.-1 Peter 2:6-8
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