was next allowed to return from exile, and the king put him in charge of rebuilding the city-state walls and organizing the people who were still regularly being overrun by neighboring tribes or marauders and looted. So while Ezra was re-instituting the religious practices, Nehemiah was rebuilding the city, and as the judges and kings dealt with the foreign powers the chastised nation again started to grow.
The scriptural prophets were now held in admiration for their earlier messages about the destruction of Jerusalem. With their newly held advantage they next attacked with a vengeance any and all forms of cosmic religion. The natural world and its forces of seasons, winds, and sun and moon rhythms were denounced as idolatry. All stones, streams, foods and flowers were considered unclean and only the desert was considered clean and holy, for it was only among the sand dunes that the Israelites remained faithful to God. No longer would the sacred dimension of the fertility of foods and flowers, or the mystery of floods or droughts, or the joy of birth, or dance of song, be allowed to be celebrated or revered amongst the faithful. Only the will of God could account for the wrath or the wealth of their world.
While the Biblical books of poetry and prophecy were being written, the new nation would learn to be subservient to the invading Persians, Greeks and Romans and was now but a shadow of its former self. The great power that had been born of its pre-kingdom days and prospered during its kingdom days, now found penance during its post-kingdom days and thus was forged its character to become the nation it is today.
They had well learned the lesson … God’s will will be done.
Many prophets would be chosen to speak for God in words of picturesque poetry, proverbs or prophecy. The words of wisdom communicated from the Creator were now preserved for future generations. These books carried the history forward and would provide the answers for profound or confusing questions. The expressions of prophecy would provide only an element of foretelling the fluid future by encouraging good behavior which would be rewarded, and words of warning to those who would forget the revelations, rites and rituals of their religion. The echoes of Abraham’s and Moses’ words would forever reverberate in the prophets’ messages.
The days of reckoning for bad behavior remained in the minds of all exiled Israelites as the promised people now lived in lands that practiced polytheism or kings that crowned themselves as gods. But they retained their religious roots for the prophets’ words were read and revealed that Israel’s greatest days were still ahead.
The Old Testament draws to an end by continuously reminding the chastised citizens that only their behavior will always chart their future glory or gloom.
The New Testament time starts three or four centuries after the Israelites’ return from exile and now it was the time of Jesus of Nazareth. He was said to be the long promised Messiah foretold by Jeremiah and all the prophets.
Many people did not believe that Jesus was the “Messiah” or “The Son of David” or “The Coming One” or “The Righteous One” or even “The Son of God”. He himself used only the title “The Son of Man”. Jesus was not proclaimed to be the Messiah until His resurrection and ascension into heaven, after which his disciples could then fully understand his ministry’s messages.
The gospels recorded His life as the ultimate fulfillment of the Old Testament’s prophesies. These eye witnessed accounts begin when He reached the age of thirty except for the story of His birth and some early childhood stories about his education. Where He was or what He did during those missing years is still a mystery. Jesus was said to be descended of David who was born in Bethlehem and in His formative years raised in Galilee. He was baptized by John the Baptist who was preaching the all too familiar message that the nation should repent of its sins. The people’s cleansing in the Jordan River was to symbolize the forgiveness of sins. Even though John recognized that Jesus was a more powerful and important prophet than he, the Son of God still insisted that John baptize him instead of reversing their roles.
Jesus spent the next forty days and nights being tempted by the devil alone in the wilderness. Then the miracles along with His messages started multiplying. It seemed to become almost commonplace for Jesus to heal cripples, give hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind and even raise the dead. He also fed thousands of His followers a feast when a few fish and loaves of bread multiplied to stop the hunger they felt. Jesus used these displays to satisfy his disciples’ needs. He even commanded a fig tree to wilt and wither away, and He walked on water, but He refused to use His talents to prove to outsiders that he wasn’t a false prophet.
All in all, there are twenty-three recorded healing miracles mentioned by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as nine commandments over the forces of nature, and on three occasions Jesus was witnessed bringing the dead back to life. But none of these miracles mattered to the masters of the masses after He threw the money changers out of the temple.
As His ministry taught the sick and discouraged masses that better days would come their way, His popularity became a thorn in the side of the Roman and Jewish authorities in charge of state and church affairs. Although He continued to discourage or deny being the Messiah to the masses, to His disciples He admitted that He was more than just a prophet. After Jesus affirmed that He was the Son of God, He also told His closest disciples that He would be crucified and rise from the dead after three days of lying in a tomb.
Although His faithful followers were slow to believe His words, soon the authorities conspired to have Jesus nailed to a cross. His death demoralized His disciples, but His resurrection stirred their souls and instilled substance in their spirits.
Jesus’ teachings were recorded by the four gospels that emphasized how the kingdom of heaven will fulfill the prophesies of His prophets, and these words were spread near and afar by His chosen twelve disciples. As these twelve bore witness to what they heard and saw, they committed their knowledge to writing the books of His acts.
Jesus charged his apostles to go forth into the world and tell His story. After His crucifixion and resurrection, they went town to town undertaking this dangerous task which could result in persecution, imprisonment and death.
Mouth to mouth the words of Jesus spread and soon Gentiles as well as Jews began to receive the Messiah’s message. When a Pharisee named Saul was enlightened by a brilliant light, he then stopped opposing and persecuting the disciples and became the apostle Paul. He had an extensive knowledge of the scriptures, and God called him into service to spread the good word to both the Gentiles and Jews.
Saul traveled throughout the land preaching the message to all men which was equally received with humility or hostility. He created a system of teaching centers whose elders, overseers and pastors spread the Lord’s lessons into each surrounding region. Once done he would move to the next city and start all over again. After opening the faith of ancient Israel to all of the world, the book of Acts ends with him under arrest in Rome, which was then considered the center of the world.
By the power of his conversion, Saul who became the apostle Paul proved to the world by his preaching the words of Jesus Christ and teaching the vision of the kingdom of God, that monotheism would always conquer polytheism and that only one God was the true and forever loving deity.
The letters of the apostles would now become the media to spread their messages. The persecution, imprisonment and incarceration the apostles faced gave them the time to minister their message by the written word. These communications were hand delivered by apostolic helpers who were the mailmen to pass the messages forward to many different communities.
Although the messages deal with specific problems that plagued each city, such as the ever-increasing problem of false teachers, collections for the poor, motives of the messengers, encouragement of good acts, to treat each other as brothers, of sustaining faith, hope and a love in every day living … all of the messages which were read in public
