Asian Fellowship teacher: Ed van Ouwerkerk Last time we discussed the “People of the Promise”, the descendants of Abraham: Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses, and how God leads the Hebrew people in Egypt out of slavery. Today we discuss “the call to walk in the ways of God” and “the need for a deliverer”.

Watch the movie “The Hope” Chapter 7: Called to walk in the ways of God in English onlineonline or in on DVD.

7 The Call to Walk in the Ways of God 7.1 God gives the Hebrew people the Law What did God ask the people to be and do for Him? Read Ex. 19:5-6. The people promised that they would keep God’s law. Read Ex. 19:7-8 They were to obey Him and keep His covenant; and they were to represent Him to all the nations of the earth. God brought the people to the same mountain (Horeb or Sinai) where He had appeared to Moses in the burning bush. Read Exodus 3:12.

God gave Moses and his people the Ten Commandments Ex. 20:1-17. Because of the sin nature of man. God knew that the people would not be able to keep them. Why couldn’t they? Moses with the Ten Commandments, Rembrandt, 1659

Why then did God give His Law to Israel? What was the purpose of the animal sacrifices? Why did they have to be continually repeated? Read Hebrews 10:1-4. He wanted them to know that they could never be accepted by God through their own efforts. God did not just give the law for Israel, but so that all people would know about their sinful nature, and that only by God’s mercy and the work of the deliverer anyone can be accepted by God. These sacrifices merely covered sin; they could not take the sin away. How did these sacrifices relate to God’s promise of a deliverer?

7.2 The need for a deliverer After 40 years in the wilderness God led the people into the land He had promised them. See death of Moses in Deuteronomy 34 and Read Joshua 1:1-5. The Hebrew people were led by Judges, and then by Kings. In the wilderness God had them build a tent (tabernacle) where they were to worship and bring their sacrifices. When they settled in the land they built the Temple in Jerusalem.

Throughout their long history, the people of Israel continually disobeyed God. God punished the rebellion of the people in various ways, often by using a foreign nation to oppress them. But, God remained faithful to Israel and forgave them when they repented. God sent prophets to call the people back to Himself. Read Ezekiel 18:31. Judges 2:11-23, Introduces the cycle of sin, judgment, repentance and deliverance during the period of the judges. The prophets predicted the coming Deliverer who would conquer sin, Satan, and death, forever. Isaiah 53:2-12, His crucifixion and resurrection See the prophet: Micah 5:2, the place of His birth Isaiah 9:6, To us a Child is born “Messiah” Händel

Next time we’ll discuss Jesus, His life and ministry

From Egypt, God let the Hebrew people to a mountain in a desert, called Sinai. It was here, God said that if the Hebrew people obeyed Him, then they would be blessed as His treasured possession. And they would represent Him to all the nations of the earth. The people said they would do whatever God asked. And so it was with lightning and thunder and smoke and fire, God descended upon the mountain and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. On tablets of stone God wrote laws by which to live and be blessed, He gave them to Moses to give to the Hebrew people. It was a sacred trust, a holy calling for these laws with the ways of God. Now God knew that because of the sin that had infected human kind, the people would not be able to keep these laws. So God told Moses how to build a sacred place where His presence would dwell among them, and the people could bring animals to be slain as offerings for sin. The blood of the animals would be as a covering so that God would not look upon their sin. “You should not have any other god before me”. While these sacrifices covered sin, they did not take away the sin. Transliterated text of The Hope, Chapter 7

In time, the Hebrew people filled the land of Canaan, which God had promised to their fathers. Over time they developed a strong sense of identity with many traditions. In the main city of their land, Jerusalem, they built a sacred place, known as the temple. It was here they offered sacrifices to cover their sins. For over a thousand years the Hebrew people attempted to live as God has commended them, but many time they drifted away from God, sometime even following false gods. When they did not turn back to God He would discipline them, often by sending a foreign nation to invade their land and rule over them. The Hebrew people would then acknowledge their unfaithfulness and call to God for deliverance. God would then rise up a leader to free the people from their oppressors, and the people would renew their commitment to live according to the ways of God. From blessing to bondage, to blessing to bondage, over and over, again and again. The Hebrew people had been called to show the world what God was like. But because of the sin that infected the world they could not walk in the ways of God without falling. In the Garden of Eden God promised to send the deliverer. Though Hebrew prophets God gave hundreds of promises concerning this deliverer, who would one day concur Satan, sin and death forever. In the temple the smoke from sacrifices ascended day after day, year after year, generation after generation, giving the Hebrew people a constant reminder of humankind’s need for the deliverer. But when would He come? How would He come? By now some must have wondered if He would come at all.