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Although the primary meaning of what a prophet says always emerges from the historical context in which he writes, what he says will sometimes foreshadow messianic or eschatological (“end time”) events. It is our responsibility as educated readers of Scripture to determine when such foreshadowing occurs and when it does not.

Revelation is the easiest book in the Bible to read and to teach—providing you have read all the books in the Bible that precede it! We noted at the very start of our study together that the Bible—in its final, finished form—is a unified literary work: The curtain rises in Genesis and it falls in Revelation. In between we have a linear narrative: God is the main character; sin is the conflict; redemption is the theme. Thus, reading Revelation is like reading the final chapter in a 2,000-page novel.

Written during a period of intense persecution under the Roman emperor Nero in 64-68 B.C., Mark offers an urgent message for a community in crisis. With its fast start (“Beginning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God... as it is written in Isaiah the prophet”), Mark hits the ground running, and he doesn’t slow down until the final episode at the end, in which the women who see Jesus’ empty tomb say nothing, for they were terrified." Mark’s Gospel is a clarion call to action. Master story teller, Dr. Bill Creasy, sounds the trumpet!

The Minor Prophets are minor because they are shorter in length than the Major Prophets, not because they are less important: Isaiah is 66 chapters long; Obadiah is 1 chapter. All of the Minor Prophets write during the time of the kings, 1050 – 586 B.C., or after the return from Babylonian Captivity, 539 – 430 B.C. Most tell us when they are active. Hosea, for example, begins: “The word of the Lord that came to Hosea son of Beeri during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah…” (Hosea 1: 1).

What happens next is a delicious reversal! In the end the Jews not only survive, but they kill and plunder the Persians who attempt the holocaust; Haman is impaled naked on a pointy-pole; Esther becomes the heroine of her people; and Mordecai replaces Haman as Xerxes’ number-two man!

From a literary perspective, Isaiah may be divided into three parts: 1) Part 1 (chapters 1-35) is written in dramatic form, and its theme is judgment; 2) Part 2 (chapters 36-39) is written in narrative form, and it serves as an historical interlude; and Part 3 (chapters 40-66) is written in poetic form and its theme is grace. In Part 1, we encounter a courtroom scene in which God sits as judge—with Israel in the defendant’s seat—as witnesses come forth and accuse Israel of sin and unfaithfulness: The verdict, guilty; the punishment, exile.

In this lecture we introduce the four foundational principles upon which our Logos Bible Study program is built. The Bible is: 1) rooted in geography; 2) it emerges from history; 3) it is—in its final, finished form—a unified literary work and 4) it is the Word of God.

When the exiles return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity in 538 B.C., they begin to rebuild the temple that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. But very quickly resistance arises from the local population - not from military or mob attacks, but from an army of lawyers!

As the Davidic psalms take us inside the heart of David, so do Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs take us inside the heart of Solomon. In 1 Kings 4: 32 we read that Solomon “spoke three thousand proverbs.” In the book of Proverbs we have 375 of them. In the classical genre of “advice to a son” literature, Proverbs offers sound advice for a young person going out into the world for the first time.

Left to our own devices, humanity is incapable of resolving the issue of sin. God must do it for us, and here he introduces his plan.

If Isaiah is the “thundering prophet”, then Jeremiah is the “weeping prophet”. Jeremiah holds the terrible position of being both a priest and a prophet; he represents both the people before God, and God before the people—not unlike a lawyer representing both husband and wife in a contentious and bitter divorce! Join Logos Bible Study’s Dr. Bill Creasy as he follows Jeremiah, the “weeping prophet”, through his many trials and tribulations.

Isaac survives, and our story continues with tales of Isaac and his twin sons, Jacob and Esau.

With the death of Ahab and Jezebel, Jehu (841-814 B.C.) murders all of Ahab’s family, consolidating power in the north. Meanwhile in the south, Athaliah (the only female king) murders her grandchildren and crawls over their butchered bodies to seize the throne, initiating a 7-year reign of terror. With the ensuing chaos, both kingdoms weaken and begin to crumble. Black storm clouds gather in the north as Assyria (Northern Iraq of today) emerges on the stage as a world power.

With the death of Solomon, his son Rehoboam, ascends the throne. All twelve tribes gather at Shechem to anoint him king—but they demand two concessions: 1) lower the taxes and 2) end conscripted labor. Rehoboam refuses, triggering a civil war. In 930 B.C., the united monarchy splits, ten of the twelve tribes forming the northern kingdom of Israel, with its capital in Samaria, and two of the twelve tribes forming the southern kingdom of Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem.

By the end of Joshua, the Israelites have a foothold in the land of Canaan, but the conquest raises several critical issues: 1) strategically, how do the Israelites conquer a much stronger and more numerous enemy; 2) can a land conquered so brutally result in a peaceful and blessed life for the conquerors; and 3) what about the moral and ethical issues involved in such a conquest? Joshua is a deeply disturbing story on several levels.

With the conflict of sin fully resolved and “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” a memory, our linear narrative doubles back on itself: Revelation 20-22 bring us back to a new beginning. In Revelation 21: 1-5 we read: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband."

Jesus’ entire public ministry leads to his death, burial and resurrection. Indeed, Jesus tells us himself that he came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20: 28). We often are given the impression that Jesus was the innocent victim of corrupt religious authority and political intrigue. That is wrong. Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he left Galilee for Jerusalem on Passover in the third year of his ministry.

With good intentions David’s commanding general, Joab, engineers Absalom’s return from exile to an uneasy peace between father and son. All the while, Absalom chafes under David’s refusal to reinstate him as his eldest surviving son and heir to the throne, and as time passes, Absalom gains support, raises an army, and marches against his father. If David stays in Jerusalem and defends the city, he knows he will ultimately face his own son in battle, and when he does, David will kill him.

The march to the Promised Land takes 40 years. But the Israelites do not wander aimlessly in the wilderness during that time. (Recall the old explanation that Moses, like most men, was too stubborn to stop and ask for directions!) Refused passage through Edom on the King’s Highway, Moses diverts northwest to Kadesh Barnea, a large oasis, where the Israelites spend nearly 37 of the 40 years, finally entering the Promised Land through Moab, by a remote and very dangerous desert route.

The curtain goes up on our story as we view creation, both from God’s perspective and from man’s.