FOUR MAJOR EVENTS IN BIBLE HISTORY THAT CHANGED GOD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH
MEN AND MAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
Throughout
the History of mankind there have been certain events that have precipitated a change
in the relationship between God and men (and correspondingly between men and
God); the following essay is a brief treatise of those events (that were
recorded in the Holy Scriptures) and the changes that ensued.
According
to the Holy Scriptures, at the very beginning of man’s existence, Adam and Eve
lived in the Garden of Eden in perfect harmony and fellowship with Almighty
God. That perfect relationship was changed
by SIN.
1. Adam’s (& Eve’s) transgression in the
Garden of Eden (The Fall)
a. Initiated by man’s failure to obey God (i.e. Disobedience to God’s words = SIN)
b. Resulted in: separation from God; (not the death of man’s spirit); the loss of fellowship with God; expulsion from the Garden of Eden; and a life filled with hardship, troubles, sickness, pain, sin, and death (for Adam & Eve and all of their descendants).
2. Cain’s murder of his brother Abel (Until this event God dealt with just one family on earth)
a. Initiated by Cain’s evil deed (i.e. the SIN or Murdering his brother)
b. Commenced a separation (or division) of all of mankind into two camps – between all those men who’s “works were evil” and who followed after “the way of Cain”; and the men who “call upon the name of the Lord” (the saints “of old”) and whose works were “righteous”. {Of whom Seth, Enoch, and Noah were examples - before the Flood; and Job & Abram were examples – after the Flood, but before Abram’s (i.e. Abraham’s) call.}
c. The Biblical Flood did not change mankind’s relationship with God (it remained the same as “b” above); however it did change the earth and the environment, and shortened the lifespan of man. God also changed certain requirements of man concerning eating blood (or flesh with blood in it) and murder.
d.
The confusion of languages at the
3. The Abrahamic Covenant (God chose Abraham and his descendants to be His “chosen people”)
a. Initiated by God - rooted in and founded upon God’s love. [Deuteronomy 7:6-8]
b. Altered the existing relationship between God and men by establishing a new, or substitute, separation (or division) of all of mankind into two camps – between God’s “chosen people” (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews) and the Gentiles. {Ordained by God Himself}
c. The establishment of The Law (the Mosaic Covenant) and the written Oracles of God (i.e. the Holy Scriptures) by God’s servant Moses did not change God’s relationship between Himself and all of mankind or with His people (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews). The instituting of The Mosaic Covenant simply codified the Laws and Ordinances God expected His people (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews) to follow and obey, and it established the Priesthood, the Tabernacle of God, and the specific form of worship that God required of all of His people (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews).
d. The establishment of The Kingdom of the nation of
e. The division of the Kingdom (Israel = 10 Tribes and Judah = Judah & Benjamin); the eventual dissolution of the Kingdom - i.e. the captivity and dispersion of Israel first (approximately 721 B.C.), and then the captivity of Judah afterwards (approximately 135 years later – around 586 B.C.) and the subsequent destruction of the Temple; and the eventual return (to the land of Israel) of a remnant of the Israelites (under Ezra and Nehemiah); and the subsequent rebuilding of the Temple, did not change God’s relationship between Himself and all of mankind or with His people (i.e. Hebrews – Israelites - Jews); it simply set the stage for the “Four Hundred Years of Silence” (from the prophet Malachi to the prophet John the Baptist) and the introduction to the nation of Israel to her Messiah and King.
f. The first coming of Jesus Christ (heralded by the prophet John the
Baptist – i.e. “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness” Isaiah 40:3) did not change God’s relationship between
Himself and all of mankind or with His people (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews). During
the Lord Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry (in the Gospels) Christ presented
Himself exclusively to the nation of
g. The nation of
Luke
Did God the Father accept His
Son’s final prayer for
h. After the Lord Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, and before His ascension into Heaven, He distinctly commands His apostles to “not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father” [Acts 1:4-5] and on the day of Pentecost they are all filled with the Holy Spirit and they begin to preach a message of “repentance” and “reconciliation”, exclusively to the nation of Israel (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews), for having consented to the killing of their Messiah. So far, God’s relationship between Himself and all of mankind and with His people (i.e. Hebrews/Israelites/Jews) still has not changed.
i. All during the period of time from Acts
Chapter Two through Acts Chapter Seven the apostles preach their message of
“repentance” and “reconciliation” exclusively to the nation of
Soon after the stoning death of
Stephen (at the hands of the leaders of the nation of
Acts 28:23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came
many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of
God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of
the prophets, from morning till evening.
24 And some believed the things which
were spoken, and some believed
not.
25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that
Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto
our fathers,
26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and
shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull
of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be
converted, and I should heal them.
28 Be it known therefore unto you,
that the salvation of God
is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they
will hear it.
29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great
reasoning among themselves.
4. The New Covenant: God turns to the Gentiles “to take out of them a people for his name” [Acts
a. This event (initiated and undertaken by God) was in response to the nation of Israel’s (especially its leaders) rejection of God the Father (in the Old Testament); and its rejection of God the Son (in the Four Gospels); and its rejection of God the Holy Spirit (Who was living in the Apostles) in the early Chapters of the Book of Acts.
b. This New Covenant was initiated by God (and is rooted in and founded upon God’s love).
John
c. The New Covenant altered (temporarily) the existing relationship
between God and the nation of Israel and established a distinct separation of all of
mankind into three camps between the Jews;
the Gentiles; and the church of God (God’s chosen
people who have believed on His Name and have received Him as their
personal Saviour), i.e. the body of Christ on earth,
where there is neither Jew nor Gentile. [1Corinthians
The three outstanding characteristics that all of God’s people (the saints
throughout all the ages) in all of the circumstances and events listed above
had in common are:
1. They BELIEVED in God and in His words [Genesis 15:6; Hebrews 11:6]
2. They trusted (i.e. had FAITH) in God and in His words [Psalms
3. They endeavored to OBEY and to KEEP God’s WORDS [Psalms 119:101; Luke
God’s people in the New Testament
were commanded (and still are today) to: “Study
to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.” [2 Timothy
2:15]. In order for us to
understand the momentous change that took place in the Book of Acts we
must first understand the unique relationship the Lord Jesus Christ had with
the nation of
Bible believing Christians should be aware of these four historical
events that changed God’s relationship with man (and man’s relationship
with God). If a Christian does not understand these things, and if we fail to
discern between the Jew, the Gentile, and the church of God, there will be
portions of the Scriptures that will not make any “sense” to us; and we
might be tempted to change the holy
words of God, or twist and wrest them, in order to make them “fit” our limited and imperfect
understanding of the Holy Scriptures [1Corinthian 13:9-12]. We are not told to HARMONIZE “the word of truth”; we
are commanded to RIGHTLY DIVIDE it.
Hebrews