The Great Search
Bible Drama
~ Act Three ~
MR. VANCE: Well,
Gentlemen, may I first tell you that this is the most exciting book I have ever
read! The story of creation and
the beginning of everything answered questions that I have pondered often in the
last few years of my life. There have been times when I have wondered about the
purpose of life and even doubted its value, but not any more! This week of study has removed
many of these doubts.
I have learned that man is more than just a highly advanced
animal, and to verify this and other points that I will be making, I have
highlighted words in special passages and made some pictures, and
illustrations. The first one is in
Genesis 2:7.
“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.”
Then
I read in Genesis 1:26, “Then God
said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.”
This
taught me how important mankind is compared to the rest of God’s creation.
The garden that God made for this
first couple must have been beyond anything we have ever seen today. In fact, it seems to me that it was a
place that this couple should have wanted to enjoy forever.
But God placed in the middle of the garden a special tree
called, “the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil” to test this couple to see whether or not they would
obey Him. The serpent appeared and
convinced Eve that it was best to eat of this tree even though God had promised
death for disobedience.
I
was sorry to learn that their happiness was spoiled by eating of this tree, and
I still wonder why man and woman did what God told them not to do, for in so doing, they brought death upon
themselves. However, I was happy
to learn that God promised them hope through the “Seed
of woman.” Mr. Preacher, I took note of this promise in Genesis 3:15 that God made:
“And I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your
head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
Now,
I would like to have the following questions answered at the end of this
report, “Who is this “Seed of woman?”
And, “Has this seed come?”
The story of mankind continues as man and woman are driven from the beautiful garden. Cain and Abel were born to this first couple, but it seems that sin continued to have its harmful effect.
It
was at this point that I learned of the first
murder—Cain slew his brother Abel. Cain is described as an evil person because it says that God
had no respect for Cain or his
offering. He had followed the
example of his parents, Adam and Eve, and disobeyed God.
In
fact, as the human race multiplied, wickedness increased to the point that God
was sorry that he had made man.
Each generation became more evil
until it became almost impossible to find a good man. It was refreshing, though, to learn of a man named Enoch who walked with God, but at the age
of 165, God took him.
To
show you how evil the people became, I learned where God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually.
About
the time I was ready to lose complete hope—a righteous man appeared. His name was Noah! Noah found grace in the eyes of the
Lord. He is described as a just man, perfect in his generation, and
one who walked with God.
The
Lord God announced that the end of all flesh
has come before Me due to violence.
Noah was also commanded to build a large boat called an ark.
This
great ark was described to Noah in specific
details. God wanted it
made from gopher wood with three stories divided into rooms. It was to be coated inside and out with
pitch, and would have only one door and one window. Noah was to build a great ark that would withstand a destructive flood that God would bring upon
the earth. Its design must be a
house for pairs of every living thing
of all flesh, such as fowls and creeping things:
“So
Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, went into the ark because
of the waters of the flood. Of clean animals, of animals that are unclean, of
birds, and of everything that creeps on the earth, two by two they went into
the ark to Noah, male and female, as God had commanded Noah. And it came to
pass after seven days that the waters of the flood were on the earth,” (Gen. 7:7-10).
This
great flood was upon the earth for one hundred fifty days destroying all flesh that moved upon the
earth. Finally though, God remembered Noah, ended the flood and brought the ark
to rest on Mt. Ararat. Noah and family went out from the ark
and God was pleased when Noah offered burnt offerings on
the altar.
God
further made a covenant with Noah and
sons that he would never again destroy all flesh with water. He even set His bow in the cloud as a
token of this covenant.
After
the flood, the years passed and the earth began to be populated again. God chose a man called Abraham to begin a nation through his
seed. God’s promise to him was
that his family would grow into a large nation and would inherit a special land
is called the land of Canaan.
But
Mr. Preacher, He gave another promise that I don’t understand. God told Abraham:
“In
your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have
obeyed My voice,” (Gen. 22:18).
You
don’t have to answer me now, but I wonder—is He promising here the same “Seed of Woman” promised earlier in the
Garden of Eden?
It
was an interesting story how this nation grew. I have prepared a chart showing the development of this
nation. It makes it easier for me to keep these families in my mind.
What
a joy it must have been to Abraham and Sarah
when it was announced to them from God that they would have a son in their old
age. Since nothing is impossible
with God, at the proper time, as you can see indicated on the chart, Isaac was born.
When
this son grew up, God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to offer up his son
in death. He loved his son, but he
loved God more, and would have carried out the command, but God stopped him and
allowed him to use a ram on the altar.
Later
on, Isaac married and had twin sons, Jacob and
Esau. But, from the
two, God chose Jacob to develop this
important nation. Over a period of
several years, Jacob had 12 sons
whose families and generations would form the nation of Israel.
These
sons sold one of their brothers, Joseph
into slavery thinking this would be the last of him, but actually, this evil
turned out to be a blessing.
Because in later years, Joseph saved his family from a famine, and
obtained for them a fertile land in Egypt
where they grew into a strong nation.
For
many years, all went well in Egypt for them until a king came along who did not
know Joseph and all that he had done for Egypt. Consequently, this nation was forced into slavery! There were taskmasters set over them and they were made to
build cities for Pharaoh. But the harder the Egyptians worked
them, the more they multiplied.
The
Egyptians continued to increase their burdens even to the point of seeking to
kill the male babies who were
born. It was during this heavy
persecution that God began His plan to deliver them.
A
baby boy named Moses was born and
hidden from the evil ways of Pharaoh for three months. However, to save his life, baby Moses
was placed in a small floating ark near the place where Pharaoh’s daughter bathed, hoping she would have
compassion and save him. She did,
and Moses’ own mother was allowed to care for him until he was old enough to be
delivered to Pharaoh’s daughter.
Moses grew to manhood and later chose his own people, the Israelites, rather than the Egyptians. However, he was forced to leave Egypt and went to Midian where he became a shepherd for forty years. It was here that Moses had an experience that affected his life, and the future of the nation of Israel.
Moses’
attention was attracted to a flaming bush
that burned without being consumed.
God called to Moses out of the bush and informed him that the cry of his
people in slavery had been heard, and that Moses would visit
Pharaoh to deliver them.
Moses felt his weaknesses and expressed them, but God assured him that
He would stand by him with power.
Moses
left the bush and obeyed God.
While Moses appeared to Pharaoh asking him to let the people go, God
sent a total of ten plagues upon the land
of Egypt. They were: The waters
turned to blood, frogs over the land, lice in the
dust, swarms of flies, death of cattle, boils,
hail, locusts, darkness, and finally the death of the Egyptian’s firstborn.
You
would think that these plagues would convince Pharaoh to let them go without
doubt, but in the face of all these things, when Israel began marching from
Egypt, Pharaoh and his army pursued.
But
Gentlemen, this all had a happy ending as God delivered
His people safely across the Red Sea, and allowed the enemy to be drown in the
sea. What a great victory God’s
people won that day, and what freedom they must have felt!
Some
time after this deliverance, God gave this nation of Israel a written law at Mt. Sinai. From the context of the book you gave
me, it seems that He was trying to keep this nation pure from other sinful
nations so they could inherit the land of Canaan, and bring the promised Seed to the world.
These
people did not keep this law as they were commanded, but often turned to
rebellion and disobedience. To my surprise, they were even
worshiping a golden calf when Moses
returned with the tables of stone containing Ten
Commandments from God.
Their sins are recorded throughout their history.
God
even gave them a special tabernacle
for worship and commanded a special priesthood to care for their spiritual
needs, but they still showed a lack of faith.
This
was shown especially when they first made an attempt to enter the land of
Canaan. Twelve
spies were sent to spy out the land, but when they returned, ten of
them were afraid.
“But
the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against the
people, for they are stronger than we.’ And they gave the children of Israel a
bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through
which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the
people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from
the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in
their sight,’"
(Num. 13:31-33).
Thus,
the people refused to enter the land and God promised that He would send them
back to wander in the wilderness for
40 years. Those who were of age,
twenty years and upward (except Joshua and Caleb the two spies who had faith)
would never inherit the land. They
would die during the forty years of
wandering. For forty years these people wandered in the wilderness, but they
were never happy. They constantly
found fault and murmured in the face
of many miracles.
Even
their leader, Moses, on one occasion disobeyed God. He was commanded to speak to a rock to get water for the
people, but instead, he struck it with a rod. By the time the forty years
ended, God had kept His promise and the unbelievers had died in the wilderness.
At
the end of the wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites were once again
encamped near the land of Canaan
ready to cross the Jordan River to conquer the land that God for many years had
promised. Just before marching across the River Jordan to Canaan, Moses died. God allowed him to climb to the top of Mt. Nebo and view the
land, but because of his disobedience at the rock, he was not allowed to enter.
After Moses’
death, God chose Joshua to become
their new leader. Several days passed in preparation, but finally, at Joshua’s
command, the people marched across Jordan as God turned the water aside. After these many years of wandering,
they finally reached the Promised Land.
There are six subjects that I believe
will sum up the history of these people in Canaan. Let me review each of these briefly:
1.
The
Conquest
Even
though God promised to give them this land, it was His will that they conquer it. They were to trust God’s power to help them win the
battles. When these people fought
the enemy while faithful to God, He
gave them victory; when there was sin and rebellion among them, there was defeat! So, the period of conquest had its problems because of sin,
but with God’s help and forgiveness, they were able to conquer most of the land
and later divide it among the 12 tribes that made up this nation.
2.
The
Judges
Next came the time of the
Judges. Joshua lived and guided these
people through the years of conquest, but now that he is dead, they are without
an earthly leader. God intended
that they look to Him for leadership, but they were human enough to forget
this. Therefore, over the many
years of this period, they sinned and
became oppressed by their enemies and God would raise up a Judge to lead them
out of trouble. If I counted
correctly, there were fifteen of
these Judges. Some of them were
very colorful and I was fascinated at the events of this period.
3. United Kings
During
the rule of Samuel, the fifteenth Judge, the people of Israel decided that they
wanted a King to rule them. Samuel felt personal rejection and
talked it over with God. However,
God told Samuel that these people had not rejected him; they had rejected their
God. Then God agreed to give them
a king. There were three kings who ruled over Israel during
the next one hundred twenty years of their history. These three were: Saul,
David, and Solomon. Now this nation had a lot of problems, but
over all, God blessed them as a United Kingdom.
4. The Conquest
At
the death of Solomon, something very serious happened to Israel. Solomon’s son,
Rehoboam was in line for the next
king, but when he refused to lighten the burdens that Solomon had placed on the
nation, ten of the twelve tribes refused to serve him.
This
caused a division in the
kingdom. The ten tribes that
rebelled, moved to the northern part of Canaan and chose another man, Jeroboam to be their king, and the other
two tribes remained in the south and Rehoboam,
Solomon’s son, became their King.
It
was somewhat sad to study the history of this divided kingdom, because both
kingdoms became sinful. In fact,
they both turned to idols and
practiced the sins of the nations around them.
God
sent prophet after prophet to both nations to warn them to return to God, but
they continued in their sinful course.
Out of the two kingdoms, the Northern
kingdom was more evil, but it finally reached the point that God,
through his prophets, foretold that both kingdoms would be carried away by
enemies into captivity because of their rebellion and sins.
Over
the years of the divided kingdom, the Northern Kingdom had nineteen kings, and
the Southern Kingdom of Judah had twenty.
The majority of these kings
were evil.
5. The
Captivity
Due to the severe wickedness of the Northern Kingdom, it was the first of the two to be captured by an enemy and carried away to captivity. The Assyrian army invaded their land and finally took them away. After reading this entire book, I did not find where God let them ever return. But God did not allow this to happen without first faithfully warning them. Yet, the great prophets that God sent them were ignored and the punishment of this nation became necessary.
You
would think that the Kingdom of Judah
would learn a lesson from this captivity of the Northern Kingdom, but they
didn’t. Steadily, over the years
they rebelled against God. Likewise, God pled with them through
His prophets, but to no avail. Finally,
their punishment became certain.
God sent a prophet to foretell their captivity, but to my surprise, it
was also foretold that they would return
out of captivity after 70 years.
Well, just as God had said through His prophets, Judah was overrun by the Babylonians and carried away into captivity. God truly kept His promise to punish them for their sins.
6. The Return
At
the end of 70 years, the Persian army
overran the Kingdom of Babylon that had Judah in captivity. Although Judah would still be subject
to this new kingdom, the Persians, it was agreed to allow Judah to return to
their land and to their city of Jerusalem to
restore it. What a
joyful occasion it must have been for them to march homeward to rebuild that
which had been destroyed. Surely
God was guiding this nation of Judah.
I
found also in this first book you
gave me to study that during all this history, the same prophets who spoke of
the immediate problems of these people, also looked into the future and told of
the time that the promised seed would
come. They spoke of an everlasting
kingdom, the word of God flowing out of Jerusalem, the giving of a new covenant, and the receiving of a new name. This book closes with the promise of sending Elijah the prophet before the great and
dreadful day of the Lord.
I
could spend all morning relating the many wonderful stories from this book, but
let me hurriedly get to some of the Scriptures that I have underscored.
In
Genesis 49:10 it says, “the
scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes.” Is this the same one as the “Seed of woman” that God
mentioned in the Garden of Eden?
In
Isaiah 9:6, it seems that the prophet
is describing the same person when he writes: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be
upon His shoulder. And His name will
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace.”
Moses
said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet
like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,” (Deut.
18:15). Again I ask, is
this still talking about the “Seed of Woman” or “Shiloh?”
Now,
Mr. Preacher, in summation, my real questions are: “Has the Savior that God
promised come?” and “Have these prophecies been fulfilled?” It seems that this whole book you gave
me is looking forward to this one’s coming,
but when I read the last page of this book, he had not as yet come.
It seems that all is ready, but I failed to find in this
book whether or not it has been fulfilled. Now, I’m ready for your answer!
PREACHER: Mr. Vance, you have studied well and
have obviously learned this first book, and your sketches have brought the
facts of this book to life.
However, it seems to me that the best way to answer your questions is to
give you the second book that we’re
asking you to study. Please take
this book, which is Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John from the Bible. Read it carefully as you did the first
book for one week. Then when you
return to report, we will see if these questions that you have raised are
answered.
MR. GOLDSTON: Let me say, Mr. Vance, that you have
done an excellent job so far. In
fact, I found myself leaning things from this book that I have never heard
before. You even have me wanting
to know more about this promised one.
MR. VANCE: Well, thank you, gentlemen for your
encouragement. I am very anxious to read this second book,
especially if it can answer these many questions that are on my mind.
PREACHER: Then suppose we adjourn for now and
let Mr. Vance get busy. If it is
agreeable with all, we’ll meet here one week
from today at the same time. Just
be sure, Mr. Vance, to highlight any passages you don’t understand and jot down
any questions that you need answered.
NARRATOR: As the men went their separate ways,
the Millionaire felt that he had done right in making all of this possible, the
preacher was happy with the forcefulness of God’s Word, and Mr. Vance was
thrilled to be learning more about God and His dealings with man. Each person believed
more strongly in God than ever before. —BBBristow
(Please continue this drama by clicking on Act 4)