...................................................................LET US LEARN TOGETHER WHAT IS GOOD. Job 34:4b(NIV)................................................................Some people see the Bible as a long and boring book filled with incidents and events from the lives of ancient people who probably never existed. The biblical stories are seen as fables. In this blog, many of the situations and conversations found in the divinely inspired Holy Scriptures have been placed in categories that correspond to expressive sayings and phrases. Reference information, background information and links connecting the people and places are given to help you find a place to begin reading the Bible for yourself.

Friday, January 26, 2024

The Lord God Himself

 And Samuel called the people together unto the LORD to Mizpeh; And said unto the children of Israel, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: And ye have this day rejected your God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations; and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes, and by your thousands. And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken. When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. Therefore they inquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king. Then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. And Saul also went home to Gibeah; and there went with him a band of men, whose hearts God had touched. But the children of Belial said, How shall this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents. But he held his peace.-1 Samuel 10:17-27***Saul and his fellow Israelites in the tribe of Benjamin  descended from Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob (Israel) and his 2nd wife Rachel, and Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin. Aaron and his younger brother Moses were from the tribe of Levi, descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Jacob and Rachel's firstborn son Joseph and his wife Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. Before Joshua and the Israelites destroyed Jericho and its inhabitants and animals in the Promised Land, Joshua sent spies to Jericho and Joshua received instructions from the Lord God. Joshua told the divine instructions to the Israelites, and told the Israelites that they must not take any accursed thing from Jericho for themselves. However, during the destruction of Jericho, an Israelite took an accursed thing, and the anger of the Lord God burned against the Israelites. Thus, The 1st time that the Israelites went to attack Ai, they were defeated. Joshua and the elders tore their clothing, fell face down to the ground before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, put dust on their heads, and Joshua prayed to the Lord God. The Lord God told Joshua that the Israelites had sinned and had taken an accursed thing and therefore could not stand before their enemies. The Lord God said that the Israelites were doomed to destruction and the Lord God would not be with the Israelites unless the accursed thing was destroyed. Joshua obeyed the commands of the Lord God, brought the Israelites according to their tribes, and the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah was taken. Afterwards, the Zarhites from the tribe of Judah were taken, and Zabdi was taken, and Achan was taken from Zabdi's household. The Zarhites (Zerahites) descended from Zerah (Zarah), a twin son born to Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. Joshua spoke to Achan, and Achan confessed. The accursed loot was taken from Achan's tent, and Achan was stoned to death. Over 250 years after 110-year old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Samuel the priest, prophet and judge from the tribe of Levi was leading the Israelites. When Samuel was elderly, and his 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 prayed to the Lord God, and obeyed the command of the Lord God, and spoke the words of the Lord God to the elders, and described the behavior of the king to them. Notably, over 300 years earlier, Moses spoke to the Israelites about their future desire to establish a king. When Samuel spoke about the king, the elders refused to listen. Samuel repeated the words of the elders to the Lord God, and the Lord God told Samuel to listen to the elders. Afterwards, Samuel told the elders to return to their cities, and the Lord God spoke to Samuel about a man from the tribe of Benjamin. The Lord God sent the man, Saul, to Samuel, and the Lord God identified Saul to Samuel. Saul spoke to Samuel, and Samuel identified himself to Saul. Shortly thereafter, Samuel anointed Saul to reign, and Saul became the 1st king to reign over all of the Israelites in the Promised Land, the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. After Saul's sons Jonathan, Malchishua and Abinadab (Ishui) were killed by the Philistines, and Saul's self-inflicted death on the same battlefield, 37-year-old David, from the tribe of Judah, eventually became the 2nd king to reign over all of the Israelites. Over 900 years after 70-year-old David died and his body was buried in the City of David, 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 in Bethlehem, approximately 6 miles from the City of David, into the tribe of 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, from the tribe of Levi. 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, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the disciple and apostle. Jesus was arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, and returned to heaven. Paul (Saul) was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin. Paul 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.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra 1:1-11, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, 

Reference Scriptures:
Now the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the LORD for bringing them out from the land of Egypt: this is that night of the LORD to be observed of all the children of Israel in their generations.-Exodus 12:40-42

Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it.-Acts 13:16-17...And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years.-Acts 13:20-21

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