1 Books of the Bible

I wrote this for someone who had some time on their hands and I thought it would entice them to read the bible themselves... so if that happens with you... you have been blessed.. Here are some benefits of actually studying the Bible

God in His great love and mercy wants us to reap the benefits and rich rewards that await those who genuinely seek and obey Him. Each of us should study His Word, the Bible, and make its teachings part of our daily lives. Life will take on a new and exciting dimension never experienced before.

The Bible is our anchor in an increasingly unstable and dangerous world. It is the only source of real hope among the uncertainties that daily confront us. Keep studying and applying its words, and you will see your life change... for the better.


Books of the Bible Old Testament – 39 Books

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
Samuel 1
Samuel 2
Kings 1
Kings 2
Chronicles 1
Chronicles 2
Ezra
Nehemiah
Ester
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Songs of Solomon
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

Jesus and Paul and the disciples constantly refer back to God’s word in the Old Testament Books

New Testament – 27 books

Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
Corinthians 1
Corinthians 2
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
Thessalonians 1
Thessalonians 2
Timothy 1
Timothy 2
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
Peter 1
Peter 2
John 1
John 2
John 3
Jude
Revelation

Here is one of my paintings...
PRESS OLDER TO CONTINUE

2 The Bible is the story of God's creation

Simply put, the Bible is the story of God's creation, the fall of humankind into sin and finally God's sacrifice in Jesus, paying the price for the sin of all people. That is us! We are the sinners. Everyday there is something that comes up with me.. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with my sins every day. But I know there is a great outcome in the end.. if I keep with it.. Knowing the whole Bible story helps me put each of the books and stories that I have read in context. It helps me understand how it all fits together and I get an amazing picture of God's love for me and everyone for that fact. The more I read the more it becomes clear to me. You are put on this earth to find God.. and to Glorify God. Some it takes longer than others. Took me 50 years. No excuses.


Check it out...but please read the Bible for yourself. It will change your life. I cant stress that enough.


Something you should understand is that God in the Old Testament gave us Prophets.. for a reason so that they could interpret dreams, visions, and talk to. That is right, in the Old Testament God spoke to people. Only in the Old Testament though. People needed direction, so God gave it to them. God gave us prophets, who were selected people that spoke for God and they interpret his will to human beings. They also revealed God’s plan for the future. There was no Holy Spirit then, these holy men spoke as if they were moved by the Holy Spirit. Prophecy is big! Bible prophecy warns people to repent, so they can avoid punishment. Prophecy is the future given in advanced. And there is tons of it in the bible and proven. More to come.. Also understand that in the Old Testament, people didn't have a conscience, they acted like animals at that time.. and very hard to understand sometimes.. they had hearts of stone.. not like today.

God spoke to people in the Old Testament. Even when God spoke to these intermediaries (mediators or links to God), we see infrequent communication rather than frequent regular communication. It was not an every day thing. You had to have alot of patience to wait to hear from God.

He spoke to Noah 5 times over 950 yrs, Abraham 8 times over 175 yrs, Isaac 2 times and 1 time to Rebekah over 180 yrs, Jacob 7 times and 1 time to Laban over Jacob's lifetime. These are just some examples. Also God changed our lifespan to 120 years.. so no more old old people in the bible. That was just in Genesis.

We also see that God does not address personal issues, only issues that involve his redemptive plan. Which is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

In the Old Testament, God did not speak to his intermediaries regarding personal matters unless it involved his redemptive plan.

3 Genesis

Ok to begin with the first book in the bible is Genesis….This is the beginning and it is actually the foundation to the understanding of the whole Bible. It is a book that speaks about relationships, like those between God and his creation, between God and us humans and between us humans …… its rather interesting to read how people lived and how we are pretty much the same now…….

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Think about it.. or if you read about it.. the world was formless, empty and dark.. blah.. In six days God created day and night, oceans and sky, land and plants, the sun, moon and stars, fish, birds and land animals. Finally, in His own image He created a man called Adam, the first man.. and a woman called Eve – to help him and be a companion, then placed them in a garden in Eden. God rested on the seventh day – He was very happy with His creation and had great high hopes for the world. So He kicked back and rested and pondered on His creation. Something we should do once a week.. preferably Saturday, just like God did.. Read, ponder or just sit back and take in the wows of this world and be thankful. Our wonderful Earth is approximately 6000 years old, and don't let anyone tell you any different. Here is what I took from the bible.. its in the first few pages of the bible if you want to check it out.

Day 1 - God created light and separated the light from the darkness, calling light "day" and darkness "night." That is light, the earth is round so from the light there is still day and night.. but no sun.. not yet.
Day 2 - God created an expanse to separate the waters and called it "sky." So He separated the water below, from the water above – the sky. Well that is what I get from it. So there was the sea and lakes and oceans.
Day 3 - God created the dry ground and gathered the waters, calling the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters "seas." On day three, God also created vegetation (plants and trees). Everything we needed to live.
Day 4 - God created the sun, moon, and the stars to give light to the earth and to govern and separate the day and the night. These would also serve as signs to mark seasons, days, and years.
Day 5 - God created every living creature of the seas and every winged bird, blessing them to multiply and fill the waters and the sky with life.
Day 6 - God created the animals to fill the earth. On day six, God also created man and women – which is Adam and Eve in his own image to commune with him. He blessed them and gave them every creature and the whole earth to rule over, care for, and cultivate.
Day 7 - God had finished His work of creation and so He rested on the seventh day, blessing it and making it holy.



I believe this information was given to Moses when he was up in the mountains with God.. he wrote it down for us to know. God used to dictate to his prophets what He wanted them to write down. So Moses did. You can go into more detail and this is the basics… Our understanding of science should never make us question whether we take God’s word literally of not. If you read the Bible it gives you a consistent account of how the land rose from the sea and its boundaries were set. The action of this is always attributed directly to God. There is no reason to try and explain it in natural terms, it was a creative miracle. If you have any doubts, then check it out. Lack of knowledge is a very bad thing. You should never be unwilling to ever investigate the evidence for creation. Every thing you need to know is right there in the bible.

4 Adam and Eve Trouble in Paradise - Genesis

So where were we.. Oh yeah…… Adam and Eve. Then trouble started in paradise. You often hear people say that.. ohhh there is trouble in paradise, when people are having problems with their relationships… well actually that was from the beginning of time. Adam and Eve were in trouble. temptation walked into their lives. In walks the devil, satan, whatever you want to call him. Let me tell you who satan is. He was God’s right hand man. The most beautiful, the smartest, the strongest angel of them all. Then he got it in his head that he wanted what God had. he wanted to be better than God, and he rebelled against him. And along with that he talked a ton of other angels into taking his side. God was very upset with him and cast him out of heaven along with his sidekicks. So he comes to earth and takes on human likeness. Him and all his fallen angels. And believe me, they are here. Satan hates God for this and continues to try to manipulate and get as many followers as he can while he is here. He is the reason people are rebellious, he is the reason people lie, he is the reason people hate or have fits of rage or are jealous, no patience, etc.. all this comes from satan. He owns this earth at the moment.. Ok enough here, you know what I mean. All evil comes from satan, and all good comes from God.

So one day, the serpent (who is satan, he can take on any form) well he tricked Eve into eating fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The one and only thing God told them not to do. Tricked into thinking she would have the same knowledge God had, she ate and shared the fruit with Adam. They instantly realized they had disobeyed God and tried to hide from him in the garden. Not wanting the man and woman to eat from the tree of life and therefore live forever, God drove them out of the garden, not without consequences though. There is always consequences for your actions no matter who you are… so God sentenced Eve to pain during childbirth and Adam to work the ground for food (that is why we have all those weeds!!), that applies to all of us. In removing them from the garden, God also pronounced a sentence of death on Adam and Eve by not allowing them to eat from the tree of life and live forever. So that is why we die. That is where death came from. If they had just followed the rules there would be no death. The Son of God comes back to save us from death though, that is where we will have a second life, the good one.

5 Cain and Abel - Genesis

Adam and Eve then had two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain worked the ground, he was the gardener and Abel was a keeper of sheep, the shephard. Overcome with jealousy for his brother, Cain one day killed Abel in the field. First murder here on earth. Adam and Eve had another son, Seth, who also had children. As people populated the earth, God saw that human hearts and thoughts were constantly filled with evil. Satan was here and he was doing his best to ruin everything. It was a sad state. Everyone was doing whatever they felt like doing, major evil was going on in the world. Satan and all his sidekicks!. God was sorry he had ever made humans. There were tons of people on earth at that time, but only one man named Noah pleased God. In the old testament God spoke to people, so he gave Noah instructions on what he wanted to see happen.

6 Noah - Genesis

God told Noah to build an Ark. He built the ark in a desert land for 100 years. No water around for miles. Constantly telling the people to have faith and change their ways, because God was going to put an end to the sinful human race. Did they listen, nope, they kept on living their lives wickedly. Noah built the Ark as God commanded and filled it with a male and female of every kind of animal. God flooded the entire earth, and destroyed all sinful people. It rained for 40 days. God was trying to control evil. When the flood subsided, God promised Noah that he would never again, curse the ground, because of humankind or destroy every living thing. He placed a rainbow in the clouds as a reminder to the human race of his promise. We can see that from time to time even today so that we can have faith in God that this will not happen again. Wooohoooo, I love seeing a rainbow when they appear, it’s a reminder to me.

So the way I see it, because of Noah’s righteous example, he became the father of the world when it started over after the flood. Even though Noah lived during a time of intense wickedness, he persevered and taught his family the principles of God. As the only righteous man alive at that time, Noah’s behaviour actually saved his children. While I know I cant force salvation on you, I would hope that my righteous example will help lead you to God. Like Noah, I tried to be a good mother and teach you faith even in this wicked world we live in.. and we really have no idea how very sick this world is because we live in a great part of the world. Same rules though, and it took Noah an entire lifetime to build that ark, but his patience and perseverance saved the human race. So I look at it as being a parent, it is a long term goal, and we wont see the results for years. So parenting is the greatest test of patience. I have tons of it….. soooo

7 Tower of Babel - Genesis

Then the survivors got to work and population grew, but the sinful desires of humans led them to build a tower to the heavens at Babel, attempting to establish their own glory, not that of God. It was ordered by Noah’s great grandson, his name was Nimrod. (Even today people say “don’t be such a Nimrod” That is a saying that comes from the bible) I think he thought if he built a tower so high that if God flooded the earth again, they would survive. But God said he would never do that again, so they didn’t have faith obviously. Like gimme a break, they still didn’t get it. God destroyed the tower and scattered the people and their languages all over the earth. At that time there was only one language, so with all these new languages now, there was no way to communicate together to finish the tower of babel, so the Tower building was kaput.. and they took to different parts of the world.

8 Abraham and Sarah - Genesis

At this point, God decided to deal with the problem of sinful people. He chose one man, Abraham, from whom would come an entire nation that would worship God. He promised this nation a special land where they would live. It was to be from this nation that a Saviour would come who would be a blessing to the people of the world. Abraham was called at the age of 75, to go to the land of Canaan. Leave his family, friends the place he was raised, Ur which is Iraq today! Abraham was first called Abram – he became God’s friend and was blessed with the name Abraham – father of many nations. He obeyed unquestioningly the commands of God, from whom he received repeated promises and a covenant that his “seed” would inherit the land. And his wife Sarai was called Sarah (which means Princess). This happened when Abraham was 99 years old. Sarah was only 90. Abraham was promised – numerious decendents and major prosperity.

At this time the cities of Sodom and Gommorah were totally evil - I will briefly tell this one. God (yup God in the old testament) and two angels came to see Abraham, while they were there, God told Abraham, finally his wife would have a child and they would continue on with their family. Sarah over heard them and laughed cause she was well past the child bearing age, she was like 89 years old! Retirement age! But this is God we are talking about. He says to the two angels with him, go destroy Sodom and Gommorah. everyone there is evil and corrupt. But at that time, Abrahams nephew Lot was living there with his wife and two daughters. So Abraham asked God. If they find 50 decent people will you not destroy them. and He said no.. then he said well how about 40? then 30 right down to if you find 10 decent people will you not destroy it.. and God said yes.. well guess what.. there were not 10 decent people in the whole city. The two angels that went there were taken aside by Lot who said come stay with me where you will be safe. well they were not safe, a gang of men came looking for them and said. Send out the strangers so that we can have sex with them, they said - low and behold. Homosexualty. Im assuming when you are charged with Sodomy.. this is where that came from, it was wrong. These people were blinded and Lot and his wife, and daughters got out of there pretty fast. Now they were told not to look back. but Lots wife did look back. big mistake because she turned into a pillar of salt, she didn't believe I guess. The cities were totally destroyed so that no more evil could be birthed and passed on anymore, enough was enough I would say.

9 Isaac - Genesis

Abraham and his wife Sarah finally had a son, Isaac. Isaac was the first born of Abraham and Sarah, and was loved dearly by both, he was a long time coming. Abraham has major faith in God. Who wouldn’t if God spoke to them eh. God told Abraham to sacrifice his one and only child Isaac. Which was the true test of time for sure. He took his son up to a mountain and raised a knife to him and before he did anything an angel of the Lord stopped him. You see Abraham knew that no matter what, he would obey God and he knew in his heart that he would see his son again. Isaac was spared though. Isaac went on to grow up and later found a women called Rebecca, when he as about 37 years old, she came from another town, but was from his family. This was a pretty cool story too, Abraham sent ahead one of his friends to find a wife for his son Isaac, when he was on his way to find a wife for Isaac he prayed to God to help him find the one. He prayed that God would give him a sign. He asked that she (the women he was looking for) offer him water and also offer water for his camels.... and waalaa.. Rebekah appeared and asked him if he would like water and proceeded to water his camels. Rebecca was the sister of Laban. and she was the one! Off she goes back to marry Isaac and have children. But like Sarah, Rebecca took awhile before she had any kids… like 20 years! then she had two sons, Esau and Jacob.

10 Jacob - Genesis

How do I ever make Jacob into a short story, there is so much to tell. I did it for Abraham, so I can do it for Jacob.. cause there is so much more to Abraham, but I want to summarize this for you.

Jacob was a key figure in the Old Testament, at times he was also a schemer, liar, and manipulator. Abraham was his grandfather. Isaac was his father, and when Isaac was old, Jacob and his mother cheated his brother Esau out of his inheritance. Well his birthright and blessing actually. After he did this he had to leave town. Sad for his mother because she never got to see him again. Esau, his brother, was so angry he just wanted to kill him.

When he left town, on his way to another village he had a vision. They call it the stairway to heaven, sound familiar. One of my favorite bands wrote a tune with the same name. Jacob had a vision of a ladder reaching up to the sky. There were angels going up and down the ladder. Jacob saw God standing above the ladder. God repeated the promise of support he had made to Abraham and Isaac. He told Jacob his offspring would be many, blessing all the families of the earth. He told Jacob that he would be with him where ever he went and then promised to bring him back eventually.

Jacob goes on to find a wife, actually two. Leah and Rachel. He worked 7 years on the land and gained one wife (Leah). Then worked another 7 years to gain the love that he really wanted, Rachel. With these women (and two others - their handmaidens Bilhah and Zilpah. ) he had 12 sons and one daughter. So you can see here who was his family. His father was Isaac, and his mother was Rebecca, he had a twin brother called Esau, Wives Rachel and Leah and his 12 sons were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali and his daughter was called Dinah. Jacob struggled with God his entire life, as many of us do. He worked hard and everything seemed to come together for him, but he thought it was because of himself, not God. As he matured in faith, Jacob depended on God more and more. But the turning point for Jacob came after a dramatic, all-night wrestling match with God. In the end the Lord touched Jacob's hip and he was a broken man, but also a new man. From that day forward, Jacob was called Israel. And for the rest of his life he walked with a limp, demonstrating his dependence on the Lord. Jacob finally learned to give up control to God. He actually teaches us that an imperfect person can be greatly blessed by God, not because of who he is, but because of who God is. This is very brief, for a beautiful story, because Jacob does go back to the land God promised and he sees his brother again, who has forgiven him. It does get confusing here when the bible starts calling him Israel.. or at least I thought it did.

Remember that out of Jacob (who now is called Israel) came the 12 tribes, they all became leaders.. there was one though that was Jacob’s favorite. Jacob's favourite son, Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers. Now let me tell you about Joseph. He was the first born to Rachel his wife who he loved dearly, he had a brother Benjamin too. Jacob really showed his favoritism with Joseph. he actually made him this awesome multi coloured coat to wear, and it was amazing, and his brothers saw how he paid attention to him and they didn't like it one bit!

11 Joseph - Genesis

Joseph really was a good boy and very clever. God spoke to Joseph in his dreams. He really was special.. Joseph told his brothers about his dreams. “I dreamed,” said Joseph, “that we all had bundles of wheat. And your bundles bowed down to mine.” (and actually they do bow down to him later in life)
“I dreamed,” said Joseph, “that the sun and the moon and the stars bowed down to me.”‘ Joseph’s brothers were jealous. “We will never bow down to Joseph,” they said. They really didn’t like him at all.

One day they sold Joseph to some men who were going to Egypt. Then they told their father that Joseph had been eaten by wild animals. Joseph’s father Jacob (now called Israel) was very upset with this news, but they all carried on their lives without him, thinking he was dead. But he was not dead, he went off to Egypt to become someone very looked up to. He could interpret dreams, he got himself in a bunch of trouble. Not by any faults of his own though. While he was in jail he began to get control there too, and he interpreted some dreams there too, but that would make the story longer. Actually I will tell you a little bit. He was thrown in jail cause the man he was a servant to, had a wife, and she had eyes on Joseph. She wanted him bad and tried everything to attract him, and he refused her advances every time and she was getting upset with him. So when they were alone, she started screaming rape. and the man he was working for believed him, but had to take the words of his wife and throw him in jail. Two years!!! So sad but true, but while in jail he impressed people by interpreting their dreams. Later that would help him get out of jail. Once out of jail, he impressed Pharoah, and after proving himself with him he became a faithful servant. He was actually put in charge over all of Egypt. He warned Pharoah to store food in preparation of a coming famine, which was a dream he interpreted. He gained favour with the Pharoah and he headed up the whole operation. Now there came a time when people were starving and turned to Joseph for food. His brothers actually went to Egypt to get food. Their families were starving because there was no food in Canaan. When they saw the man in charge of food, they all bowed. They didn’t know that he was their brother Joseph, because it had been so many years. Joseph’s dream had come true, they were now bowing down to him. Joseph forgave his brothers for what they did. Then he invited his whole family to come to Egypt, where there was enough food for everyone. Joseph’s father was very happy. His favorite son was alive, and his family was saved. And after all that Joseph went through, he realized his slavery, imprisonment and promotions into what he had become were all a part of God’s plan to settle his family in Egypt. I love this story in the bible.. one of my favorites. Way more details if you read it yourself.. it’s a great story.

12 Joseph little more

I feel like I am leaving so much out, but I just want to grab your attention at the moment and give you an idea of the people in the bible

Now lets get back to where we were yesterday in summarizing what God has to say to you. I cant stress enough to you how wonderful a book the bible really is, I got myself a new bible delivered to me the day before yesterday. It’s the fifth bible I am about to read. And I know they are all the same words, but this one is a study bible, so I may get some more insight to God with this one. I am going to tell you its worth studying for a life time.,you will get it someday. For now I want to give you 7 reasons to why I think it’s a good thing for life for us little humans living here in this world. Seven being one of the strongest numbers in the bible, along with others like 3, and 12, but 7 being a big one. So here are some reasons I think are good.

Ya gotta do Right…… one of the reasons I read the bible was to find out what God says and how to obey Him. You know the Ten commandments, that is a good start but its certainly not all the Bible has to say about loving God and our friends, well our fellow man. Jesus teaches us the spirit of the law in the New Testament. A good story to read about obeying God is Joseph what I wrote to you in the last letter. He certainly had his share of hard times and difficult situations to deal with, but he was guided with the simple principle of obeying God and doing right by others around him.

So for number 2. I would say……. Ya have to submit to authority. I can think of many people in the bible who had gotten themselves thrown in prison or sentenced to death. Of course we have to submit to authority, cause its Mans law. We in this world just don’t like to submit to authority because we want to do things our own way, cant be done with God. Its His way or no way.

Now the third thing is to Love others. Love means doing right towards others. Love is not always easier or convenient. But Love is always right. Love may mean giving something at great personal sacrifice. Love is doing what is right and best for the other person in each situation. No matter what. Ya gotta love…..

Now forth will be. Be humble. God is touched by our humility. If we humble ourselves by not being proud or arrogant, not thinking we are better than anyone else, not thinking we are King Kahhoona.. then God loves that. If we humble ourselves before God, and confess our sins, He will hear our prayer and forgive our sins. Without this humility, we would still be in our sins. I am thinking of Pam, my friend that died two years ago almost to the day. She did not believe. She died without the Lord as her saviour because she refused to allow Christ to forgive her sins. She thought she could save herself with her own good works. She was one of the sweetest, kindest women I have ever met. Everyone loved Pam, yet she was too proud to allow Jesus Christ to forgive her for her sins. She would give you the shirt off her back, and judged no one, but didn’t believe. She did many wonderful things in her life, and was loving to everyone around her. She was very much like many people I know who feel they can earn their way to God and didn’t need to humble herself for God’s forgiveness. Worst thing she could ever do for herself, because now I don’t think I will ever see her again. It makes me sad, because its so easy, but she was stubborn and stupid at that same time. I miss her. Ok enough on that one.

Next is.. what number am I on.. oh yea.. 5. Be wise with your money. I have learned from the Bible that the love of money is a major problem in this world. People worship the love of money. And think it’s the be all of this world. I never really did that, I just wanted to have enough money to raise my kids and pay my bills, but there were times I have to admit. Certainly money is necessary to live in this world. We shouldn’t lust over money, but we do need to be wise with the way we handle it. In reading the Bible, I realize that God gives us things to enjoy. There is nothing wrong with having money and enjoying nice things. There is a problem though in thinking stuff will make us happy. you know that one anyway. You know how to enjoy life without money.. Im so happy about that one. Ya gotta trust in the Lord though, not in money. I think that the point in the Bible is, we should do what is right and be content with what God has given us.

Ok. number 6 - Ya reap what you sow, I find that if you do good, You get good. If you do bad, then you get bad. The more good you do, the better life will be. You have to think about things. Like think of it this way..I will use my garden for an example. If I planted one turnip seed, then I would reap one turnip and get a buck for that one turnip. Im using turnip because its growing like crazy and its all good. Now if I plant many turnip seeds, I will have tons of turnips and get tons of money for the work I did by looking after it. So the more good you do in this world, the more good will come to you. Don’t think God doesn’t see it. there is nothing secret before God. So think about that one.

Ok.. Number 7.. which is one you know because I told you so….. Treat others the way you want to be treated. I taught you the Golden Rule as a child, and it still holds today, that is straight out of the Bible. You have to learn to live peaceably with those around you. You have to learn to resolve any problems you have with people, and go to the person that has wronged you and try to work things out. If that doesn’t work then take a few people with you to that person, that way you have others to help you with their input to the real problem. sometimes this doesn't work though, cause you have the wrong people with you that want to make it bigger than it is and blow it further out of proportion. It is always better to deal with problems on your own, without others around. Don’t go around gossiping and making your private matter a subject of public news. I learned that one the hard way So .. read about Joseph. in Genesis. it is in the beginning of the bible, you will be able to identify big time with Joseph, I know I briefly told you the story in the last letter I wrote you but there is so much more in the Bible. Remember what I told you ….. well again.. here I go with more.

Briefly again, When the famine strikes, even Canaan is affected, where Josephs family lives, and Jacob (his dad) sends ten of his sons to Egypt to buy grain. While there, they meet their long-lost brother, whom they do not recognize. Joseph’s brothers bow down to him, remember? Joseph then reveals his identity to his brothers and forgives their wrongdoing. Jacob (his dad) and his family move to Egypt to be with Joseph. Jacob’s descendants stay in Egypt for 400 years, Joseph lived to be 110 years old. And his only request before he died was to take his bones back to be buried in his home. Then comes the time of Moses. When Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt, he takes the remains of Joseph with him, as Joseph had requested. So think about that.. Those people carried Joseph's bones around for 40 years. That makes me feel that bones are important, that is why I want mine buried not burned. Just my personal preference, people can do what they want when they die. When I read the bible I see that the faithful people were being buried, and the baddies were being burnt... makes me think its important. God knows who is in His book.. so does it really matter....... probably not. Moses is my next letter.

There is much to learn from Joseph’s story. As a mother, we have warnings concerning Jacob’s favoritism and the effects that can have on other children as seen in Joseph’s youthful pride and his brothers’ envy and hatred. We have a good example of how to handle sexual temptation—run! , and we have a clear picture of God’s faithfulness. He does not forsake His children, even in the midst of suffering: “the Lord was with Joseph”

There may be many distressing circumstances we find ourselves in, and some of them may even be unjust, as were those in Joseph’s life. However, as we learn from the account of Joseph’s life, by remaining faithful and accepting that God is ultimately in charge, we can be confident that God will reward our faithfulness in the fullness of time. Who would have blamed Joseph if he had turned his brothers away when they were in need? Nevertheless, God desires that we exercise mercy above all other sacrifices we may offer Him in our lives.

Perhaps most profoundly, Joseph’s story presents amazing insight into how God works to overcome evil and bring about His plan. After all his ordeals, Joseph is able to see God’s hand at work. As he reveals his identity to his brothers, Joseph speaks of their sin this way: “Do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. It was not you who sent me here, but God”. Later, Joseph again reassures his brothers, offering forgiveness and saying, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good”. Man’s most wicked intentions can never prevent the perfect plan of God. Joseph did live a good life, regardless of all the crap that he had to go through.. Read it you will see…

13 Moses - Exodus Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy

Now here we go again. please tell me you are reading this, I don’t want to think I am wasting my time. Mind you its good for me too, so its never a waste of time, and I get just as much out of all this as you will. Its very brief, but you will know the bible before I am done. Or at least the main focus, of course you will read it yourself someday and see there is so much more. In the bible it says that anyone that reads the word of God is blessed, that so makes me feel so good. I'm blessed, but actually I was long before I read that, lol. just makes it better…. Soooooooooooooo where were we .. oh yea.. Moses.

Now life goes on, for many years like hundreds of years. Josephs family and their decedents had been enslaved in Egypt for more than 400 years actually, God chooses an unlikely candidate to lead his beloved people to freedom and into the Promised Land. Moses. Moses was a baby of one of the faithful, his mother was a believer, she put her little baby in a basket and let him go with a prayer (God’s plan) and he gets picked up by the Pharoah’s daughter. She raised him as her own til he was about 40 years old. Moses was raised like a prince, but he hated the way they were treating the slaves and in his anger he killed a man. Once they found out about this, he was on the run, for 40 years. At this time the slaves were gaining power (having lots and lots of babies) and the King didn't like this. He was a different King then the one of Josephs time, and he used the people as slaves. They cried out day and night to God to help them, and he heard their cries. That is when Moses was chosen. Moses was elected to lead them all to freedom. Moses while he was away, found a wife and was living his life looking after his family tending to sheep, now you have heard of the burning bush. Well that is how it all started with Moses. He was out on a hill tending the sheep when he saw a bush, it was on fire... burning, but wasn't burning, glowing but not being destroyed. It was God, about to talk to him and give him a huge job. something he didn't want to do. He wanted Moses to go back to Egypt and save his people. Moses didn't think he was good for the job because he hated talking in front of people, so God hooked him up with his brother Aaron to help him out, and off they go to see the King to get him to let the people go. Of course Pharoah denied his request. He needed them for his own good, and you also have to understand that the people of Pharoah did not worship the True God. They had there own man made Gods. So they weren’t about to listen to Moses. But God has the power and these are the plaques he forced on the unbelievers.

Moses requested to let his people go ...and here is what happened.

The First Plague
All of the water in Egypt - right from water already in buckets and jars, to ponds, canals, streams, even the Nile River - turned to blood. Then all of the fish of the river died, causing a terrible stench.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Second Plague
Frogs miraculously multiplied in number, so many that the land was infested with the normally aquatic creatures. Even people's houses had them inside.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Third Plague
Vast swarms of gnats (lice) tormented people and animals. Of course only those of the unbelievers.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Fourth Plague
Vast swarms of flies through the land, spreading disease.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Fifth Plague
Disease on the livestock - horses, donkeys, camels, cattle, sheep and goats - but those of the Israelites (Moses people) were unharmed.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Sixth Plague
Festering boils on people and animals through the land.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Seventh Plague
Powerful hail storms that destroyed the standing crops. The hail stones were so big that any people or animals caught outside in the storm were killed.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Eighth Plague
Locusts in such great numbers that the ground was covered with them. They devoured everything that survived the hail storm.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Ninth Plague
Darkness over the entire land for three days - but the Israelites had light in Goshen.
Moses requested to let his people go
The Tenth Plague
Death of the firstborn. The Passover. The final plague killed all firstborn children, except those of the Israelites (the believers, Moses people) who were instructed to put the blood of a lamb on their doors. This would protect them.

Along with the instruction to apply the Passover lamb’s blood to their doorposts and lintels, God instituted a commemorative meal: fire-roasted lamb, bitter herbs, and unleavened bread. The Lord told the Israelites to “observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever”, even when in a foreign land.

To this day, Jews all over the world celebrate the Passover in obedience to this command. Passover and the story of the exodus have great significance for Christians also, as Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law, including the symbolism of the Passover. Jesus is our Passover. He was killed at Passover time, and the Last Supper was a Passover meal. By (spiritually) applying His blood to our lives by faith, we trust Christ to save us from death. The Israelites who, in faith, applied the blood of the Paschal lamb to their homes become a model for us. It was not the Israelites’ ancestry or good standing or amiable nature that saved them; it was only the blood of the lamb that made them exempt from death

After plundering the entire nation of its silver and gold jewelry and clothing (the Egyptians gave everything to them, the Israelites left Egypt, following God as a pillar of cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at night. By the time the Israelites came to the Red Sea, Pharaoh had changed his mind and was pursuing them. God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites escaped. They came to Mount Sinai where God entered into a covenant with the people to be their God. Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God.

Which were..

1. You shall have no other gods before Me. God and only God!
2. You shall not make idols. Like worshiping animals, plants the sun the moon, the earth.. and so on.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. You know this one well,lol. OMG is a very bad thing.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Lie
10. You shall not covet. Want what everyone else has..

There are actually 613 commandments in the old testament, but these 10 pretty much sum them all up. As you can see here, God does not like unbelievers. God’s desire has always been to have fellowship with mankind, but our sin prevented that. He gave the Law to set a standard of holiness—and, at the same time, to show that we could never meet that standard on our own. That’s why Jesus Christ had to come - more on that later.

While at Mount Sinai, God gave further instructions to Moses concerning sacrifices, offerings and worship, ceremonial cleanliness as well as feasts and Holy days. God's desire was for his people to be holy. He required a response of submission and obedience from the people. The whole time these people were wandering around the desert God fed them. He fed them with something called Manna, it was on the ground every morning when they got up and there was enough for one day, twice as much on Friday so that they could rest on Saturday. Every single day he fed them. Their cloths did not wear, out or their shoes. Ever!

After a year had passed at Mount Sinai, God led the Israelites to the edge of the Promised Land where they sent out spies. The spies reported that while the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, there were also significant adversaries present (big huge men) . The people complained against God, Moses and Aaron, they had become a group of constant complainers! God then sentenced the Israelites to years of wandering in the desert until that generation of unbelieving adults had died.

After 40 years in the desert, Moses retold the story (of what had happened) to the new generation of Israelites and reminded them of the commandments and requirements God had given them. Moses then went up Mount Nebo where God allowed him to see the Promised Land, saying that this was the land he had promised to give to Abraham. Moses died without entering the land.

Here is one of my paintings..

14 Joshua and The Promised land

Why does God condone so much war and killing? You will read all about this in Joshua...

First of all, this war for the land where God’s people would settle, was Gods war. Gods ways are NOT our ways.. Its very difficult to understand, but God is God.. he gave us the right to live, and can take it away when He sees fit. Throughout the early chapters of Joshua, we see God overwhelmingly presenting Himself to the Canaanites (Rehab admit it that the Canannites realized Israel's God was the God of the universe) only to be rejected. They chose their pagan lifestyle over Him, and God, allowing them to suffer the consequences of that choice….. consequences He had forwarned if they would not repent, He gave them lots of time to repent.. like 400 years!! And nope they would not listen.. they wanted to live the way they wanted to live.. ) The Canaanites wer quite aware of God’s power.. and all they had to do was repent.. some did.. most didn’t.. They had a choice to turn from sin.. or.. die.. they continued to rebel against God to the bitter end.. Second, the Canannite religion was based on the concept of sympathetic worship (worshipping one's god, by behaving as he or she does). Consequently, Baal worship was perhaps the most degraded and degrading form of idolatry ever practiced. …And it existed in its rawest form in Canaan. The Cannanites engaged in temple prostitution, drunken sexual orgies, snake worship, homosexuality and even infant sacrifice. Everything about this stood in absolute and total contradiction to everything God had revealed about Himself to His people and His holiness demanded a response!!. The New Testament states that the law of Moses was only a shadow of the good things to come. (Hebrews, 10:1) in the Old Testament, the “ shadow “ of those good things was literal warfare against neighboring nations that were thoroughly contaminated with evil. The incarnation of Christ brought the reality - warfare against evil itself

The Promised Land

Joshua was with Moses throughout the desert journey, he was probably around 20 years old when he left Eqypt.. so he saw everything God had done for his people. All of it.. God appointed Joshua to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. When they entered the land, God's 700 year old promise to Abraham was fulfilled. Jericho's walls collapsed before Joshua's army as they took possession of the land. Then at this point the land was divided up among the twelve tribes (named after Jacobs 12 sons). After the death of Joshua, there was no formal leadership except for judges that were called from time to time by God as the need arose. The judges had several functions: military leadership, spiritual leadership and as judge in case hearings and administering justice in Israel. However, during the 200 years Israel was governed by judges, there was little law and order. There were 15 judges all together. One women Debrah - the judges I know most of are Sampson, Eli and Samuel.

I can tell you about them.. briefly of course cause I dont want to loose your attention. So I will tell you about them in another letter ok……

Ok before I continue I must tell you.. we have gone over Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, I just want to let you know about Joshua. Because he was important in the Bible too. He took over when Moses died, Moses publicly appointed Joshua his successor, he had huge faith. God uses Joshua to conquer Canaan. The Canaanite were evil people, engulfed in such things as religious prostitution, many kinds of sexual perversion, and human sacrifices. Like big time evil ok. He sends forth two spies to see what is going on in Canaan before they take it over. When the spies get caught in the city, a prostitute hides them in her home, her name is Rahab. She gets them safely out of the city with one request, do not harm her or her family. She is a believer. She was a very special woman, God seeks out righteous people from the nations and draws them to His faith. So off they go back to Joshua and they start on their mission to take the city over. They are carrying the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant is described in the Bible as a sacred container, inside this container rested the Tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and manna (the only food they had when they were with Moses in the desert). According to the Biblical account, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses’s prophetic vision on Mount Sinai. God communicated with Moses "from between the two cherubim" on the Ark's cover. It is important to know about this because it was carried with them for years. It was like a protection for them. Only the Levites who where like the priests back then, could carry the ark.. When they reached the Jordan River before they crossed it with the ark.. the waters parted for them, same as when the waters parted for Moses. I thought it was important to tell you about that before we moved on.

And this too.. God commanded Joshua to say this after they crossed over the Jordan River, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." Thus the sons of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, just as the LORD spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the lodging place and put them down there. Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day. When looked upon this memorial on the bank of the Jordan, it would cause the people to remember the Lord’s goodness, when He led them into the Promised Land.

Joshua’s mission was clear. He was to enter the land, conquer its inhabitants, and divide the land into portions for all the tribes. God promised him success in his conquest; “No man shall stand up before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so shall I be with you. I will not weaken My grasp on you nor will I abandon you. Be strong and have courage; for you will cause this nation to inherit the land that I have sworn to their ancestors to give to them.”


In Joshua’s conquest of the Holy Land, God was with him every step of the way, and in certain instances the supernatural was clearly at work. The first city the Jews conquered, Jericho, had impenetrable walls. God commanded Joshua to circle the walls for six days and on the seventh to have the priest blow shofars, which is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes, it is like the modern day bugle. When they did so on the seventh day, the city walls were swallowed up by the ground and the Jews conquered Jericho with ease. Only Rahab and her family were spared. And she converted at that point and went on to marry Salmon, and had a baby named Boaz.

Another time, when the Jews were fighting the five Emorite kings at Gibeon, night time was approaching and the battle was going to have to be put off. Joshua prayed to God for the sun to stand still until his soldiers achieved victory. The sun stood still and the day was extended, enabling the Jews to defeat the Emorites on that day. Joshua prayed, and God supernaturally provided the light necessary for Joshua’s army to win its battle. The lengthened day was indeed unlike anything ever seen, but in Joshua’s mind the greater miracle may just have been that God listened to him and answered such an amazing prayer.

15 Sampson and Delilah - Judges

Judges is a book titled after the judges of Isreal, who the Lord raised up to assume leadership in Isreal following Joshua's death because Joshua didnt appoint a man to succeed him. Joshua's conquest had been effective, but pockets of resistance continued to plague the Isrealites. The judges were military champions who led the tribes of Israel against the enemies and completed the conquest. The 12 tribes of Isreal had no other center leadership during this time. So needless to say. it was not good. There are several stories to tell about judges, Gideon versus the Midianites is a great story.. but I picked Samson instead.. read on.

Now about Sampson……

Sampson, this is a cool story. His mother again was a women that could not conceive a baby. This seemed to be a problem for many women in the bible.

The story of Samson begins because the Israelites were once again getting into trouble with God. The Israelites just couldn't seem to stay out of trouble for very long. Even after God saved them from the Egyptians, helped them through the Red Sea, and miraculously sent manna from the sky to feed them, they still complained. Even when Moses went to get the Ten Commandments these people started worshiping another god.

So when they started misbehaving again God decided something had to be done. So to punish the Israelites he put the Philistines in charge of them for forty years.

This is where Samson came in. He would help free the Israelites from the Philistines. Except Samson's mom actually couldn't have any children, but an angel of the Lord came to her and told her she would have a child, a son, and that he would be special and to never cut his hair, because his hair would give him super strength. He would be there to save the Isrealites from the Philistines, that was his main purpose. but ...he really went about his life and wasn’t doing what God wanted him to do. Sure he was strong, so strong that he killed a lion with his bare hands and defended himself with ease against his enemies, (the Philistines) they didn't like him very much for sure, and hated his ability to be so strong, so they were constantly trying to figure out how they could get rid of him.

As he got older he got very interested in women, seemed to be his big desire in life. He had lots that is for sure. but there was one women who struck his fancy big time, Delilah, and don't think the Philistines didn't notice that she was getting the attention from Samson. So they struck up a deal with her, find out why he is so strong. They offered her some big money and she fell for it.

So Delilah went home and started to think about how she could get the secret out of Samson. She tries several times. but Samson lies to her and wont give in to her, until she says. How can you say you love me, when you don’t trust me with your thoughts and secrets, she nags at him day and night til finally he gives in and tells her his hair has never been cut. He took certain vows when he was born and was given this gift by God. If his head was shaved he would become as weak as any other man. No more strength!
So when he fell asleep, she cut off his hair! Called in the Philistines and when they grabbed him he realized he had no strength to fight them off. I guess he lost his faith in God. What a big mistake that was, and don’t think he didn’t realize it!

The Philistines had captured Samson but his hair began to grow again. God still had plans for him. In the end Samson regained his strength before they could kill him. They tied him up to two large pillars that held a large temple up and he was able to break free, but when he did the temple fell on him and a large number of Philistines. So this was how God freed the Israelites from the Philistines. Samson didn’t seem to take Gods rules seriously. if he had of taken God seriously, he could have done so much more with his life.

God made each of us for a reason too. He made you exactly how he wanted, and remember God doesn't make mistakes. You have the family you do because that's who God wanted you to be with. You live where you do because that's where God put you. Your life might not be perfect but he wants you to learn and grow with what you have.

Take the time to read Gideon too. Its an amazing story of a man that had HUGE faith in God. He totally understood the power of God. There are many lessons to learn from Gideon, now I wish I had written about him. Read it, its worth it.

16 The story of Ruth

In the Beginning…

Our story begins around the time that all that good stuff in the Book of Judges is happening. Mostly, judging and things like that. We meet a nice Jewish family who live in Bethlehem in Judah: a guy named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. They're the perfect family. But all is not good for Elimelech and company. A famine hits Bethlehem and the family is forced to leave. They go to Moab where they have a bite to eat, settle in, and get acquainted with the people. The two sons marry two nice Moabite girls, Orpah and Ruth. Later, Elimelech dies and Naomi is left with only her two sons. Then, after the family has been there about ten years in total, both Naomi's sons die, too. Neither Mahlon or Chilion had any kids with their wives, so Naomi is very unhappy.
Since the famine in Bethlehem also happens to be over around this time, Naomi decides to make her way back to Judah. Her daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, pack up their suitcases to join her. But, Naomi begs the women not to follow her. She can't provide for them (no men around means no way to earn money). She tells them to head back to their mothers' houses. There they'll be able to find some nice husbands to take care of them. Naomi kisses the girls and wishes them well, but they refuse to turn back. They beg to go with her to Judah. But Naomi won't give in even though it's clear she loves both women because she calls them her daughters.
So Naomi lays it all on the line. There's no use in going with her. It's not like she can provide Orpah and Ruth with more husbands.

She's too old to get another husband and too old to have more sons. Even if she did, would they want to wait until those babies were old enough to marry? What will they have if they keep following her? Not much hope here. Orpah is pretty sad, but she's finally convinced. She takes her mother-in-law's advice and turns back home. Ruth isn't giving up though. She pledges to follow Naomi wherever she goes. Ruth tells her "your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die—there will I be buried.”

Now that Ruth has agreed to throw off her religion and cultural identity and become a Jew living in Judah, Naomi lets her come along. Back in Judah, Naomi's arrival after ten years being gone is big news. The people start talking about her instantly—Naomi's back in town! But, Naomi warns them not to call her by that name anymore. She tells them to address her as Mara (which means "bitter") The famine is now over, because the barley harvest is about to begin in Bethlehem. Well, it just so happens that Elimelech (Naomi’s husband) has a male relative in town named Boaz. Boaz is well known and really well off. Ruth tells Naomi she's gonna go to the barley fields and try to glean some ears of grain. That just means that she's going to gather some of the barley that's left behind after the workers harvest it. It's a form of charity for really poor people, which Naomi and Ruth definitely are. Coincidence of coincidences, she just so happens to pick the part of the field that Boaz owns. God has His hand in this one. Naturally, Boaz just happens along at this very moment. Boaz inquires about the new girl. The servant explains how Ruth left her home and family so she could stand by Naomi when the going got tough.

Boaz goes over to Ruth and offers her all kinds of gleaning perks. She's welcome to work in his field all season (she won't have to go from property to property) and drink from the same water the workers do. Oh, and he's also told the harvesters not to bother her. Ruth is so grateful, She wants to know why Boaz is being so kind to her.
Boaz explains that he knows all about her devotion to Naomi and how she left Moab and all her family and friends to come to Judah with her mother-in-law. He tells Ruth that he hopes God will take her under his wing since she's devoted herself to him and his people. Later, when it's time to eat, Boaz tells Ruth to go ahead and eat with him and his workers. She eats bread and wine with them.

When Ruth leaves to go glean some more, Boaz tells his workers that she is allowed to take the non-charity grain and that they should help her by leaving some nice barley stalks lying around for her to pick up.
Ruth comes back home that evening with alot of barley. Naomi eats and wonders where Ruth worked. Obviously, someone really nice has been kind to her and Naomi wants to know who the man is. Ruth tells her she set up shop in Boaz's field and Naomi instantly recognizes him as one of her dead husband's relatives. Naomi encourages Ruth to keep going back to Boaz's field . And the wheels in Naomi's head are starting to turn.

Naomi tells Ruth that she "needs to seek some security for her." Naturally, she means that she wants to try to secure Ruth a husband. She tells her daughter-in-law to wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes and go visit Boaz, who will be sleeping on the threshing floor that night, guarding the barley that was harvested at the end of the day. When Ruth sees Boaz lie down, she's supposed to go lay by his feet.
Ruth agrees and heads out to lie with Boaz. In the biblical sense. She sees him eat dinner and start to sleep on the threshing floor, and then she sneaks over, uncovers his feet, and lies down. At around midnight, Boaz wakes up and is surprised to see Ruth. Ruth identifies herself and tells him to "spread his cloak" over her because he's her next-of-kin. In other words, Boaz is family, and she is interested. Boaz seems pretty happy about it. He tells her that she's clearly a wonderful lady because she's come to him (a family member) instead of going to someone else. He knows she's a "worthy woman."

Boaz tells her that he's a relative and all, but he's not the closest relative to her late husband. There's another guy around town who has more of a claim to her than he does. Boaz says he'll go see this guy and check in with him. If this man isn't willing to marry her then Boaz will. Ruth "lay at his feet until morning" and leaves before the sun comes up (since Boaz is a little bit concerned about someone seeing her there and stirring up a scandal). He does give her a bunch of barley to take back with her.

Ruth returns back home. There, Naomi instantly wants to know what happened with Boaz and Ruth explains. Naomi seems satisfied and the women settle in to wait and hear who Ruth with marry—an unnamed man who she has never met or Boaz.

Sure enough, Boaz goes out to find the other man first thing in the morning. He heads into the city and finds the guy at the gate. Boaz arranges for the man to come talk with him and ten elders in the city. He tells the other kinsman that Naomi is looking to sell some land that belonged to her husband. Boaz lets him know that he can buy the property, but if he's not interested then Boaz is next in line. This man is interested in the property, but Boaz tells him it comes with a condition. If he decides to buy the property he also gets Ruth as his wife. So this deal isn't turning out to be the bargain the other man thought it would be. He turns the whole thing down and tells Boaz to go for it. To seal the deal, one of the guys takes off his sandal and gives it to the other. That was the custom back then. All the elders nod in agreement. It's witnessed by ten people, so it is done. They offer all kinds of blessings for the newlyweds and wish them well.

Ruth and Boaz get married. Soon, Ruth gets pregnant and has a son. Naomi is thrilled and realizes that God hasn't left her. He's given her a grandson and a daughter-in-law who's awesome. They have a son and the women in town name him Obed.
The story goes onto say that Obed became the father of Jesse, who was the father of King David. So Ruth is actually the great-grandmother to one of the most awesome, celebrated kings in Jewish history.

Now let me explain Kinsman Redeemer.

The kinsman-redeemer is a male relative who, according to various laws of the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble, danger, or need. The Hebrew term for kinsman-redeemer designates one who delivers or rescues or redeems property or person. Boaz.

In the New Testament, Christ is often regarded as an example of a kinsman-redeemer because, as our brother , He also redeems us because of our great need, one that only He can satisfy. In Ruth we see a beautiful and poignant picture of the needy supplicant, unable to rescue herself, requesting of the kinsman-redeemer that he cover her with his protection, redeem her, and make her his wife. In the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ bought us for Himself, out of the curse, out of our destitution; made us His own beloved bride; and blessed us for all generations. He is the true kinsman-redeemer of all, who call on Him in faith.

17 Hannah- Samuel 1

Then there were many judges. Lots to read about in the bible. Then comes Eli, he is a priest, well I guess I have to tell you about Hannah first. Hannah was another women that wanted a baby, really bad. She would go to church and pray and pray and nothing. She prayed one time and said “Please God give me a baby and if you do, I promise I will dedicate him to you for his whole life” She was praying one day in the church and was so upset, Eli, the priest asked her if she was drunk!! she of course said no, and said she was praying to God to give her a baby. Eli told her to go home and that he would pray for her. Eventually Hannah got pregnant. wooohooo She had a son, and she named him Samuel.

Hannah had waited so long for this child and she loved him so much, but she remembered that she made a promise to God. Hannah was an honest woman and when she made a promise she meant it. Again, Hannah had a good attitude and wanted to give Samuel back to God, she wasn't mad at herself and did not change her mind. Hannah kept her promise.

When Samuel was old enough she went back to the place where she had prayed and said to Eli the priest, "Do you remember me? I am the woman that cried and prayed for this child and He answered my prayer. Now I give him to the Lord and I will leave him with you to learn and work with you." She did go on to have other children, as the bible says. And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD. but this one was special and she knew it. God’s gift.

18 Samuel

So Samuel gets to live with Eli. Eli had other sons himself, but they were all evil. Samuel learned from Eli. One night while he was laying in bed he heard someone call his name. He gets up out of bed and asks Eli if he called him. Eli says no, he goes back to bed and he hears his name again. off to Eli he goes again, at this point Eli realizes that this is God speaking to Eli. So he tells him to go back to bed and when he hears it again, reply, and let God know you hear him..

From then on Samuel knew when God wanted to talk to him and he always listened. God blessed Samuel and he grew up to be a great prophet or spokesperson of the Lord. So Hannah did the right thing when she kept her promise to God. Her son Samuel helped many people know God better. He was the last Judge. There were many Judges, in the section called Judges in the bible. The story about Ruth, I love. it’s a love story, Gideon, is a cool story, but most of the book of Judges is very disturbing. The primary message of Judges is that God will not allow sin to go unpunished.

Samuel brought peace and security to the nation of Israel. But the people rejected God as their ruler and began to want a king like the surrounding nations to provide military leadership and protect them from their enemy, the Philistines. God warned the people of the consequences of having such a king, he said, you want a king.. ok I will give you a king.. and granted the people their request. Saul became Israel's first king.

.. for now.. lets continue on ok….. hang in there with me.. and you will know every character in the bible.. you wont be ignorant to anything anyone every talks about.. you will know a little about everyone….. how cool is that.. here we go again, to continue with our story…….

19 Saul - Kings

Saul became Israel's first king. Saul did not follow God's commands and did not trust God. Because of this, God rejected his kingship. Let me tell you a little about King Saul. He was weak, not a leader actually. There were some people called the the Amalek people. very evil evil people. One of the key commandments that the Jewish people are given upon entering the Land of Israel is "to wipe out the Amalek."

Amalek is the ultimate enemy of the Jewish people in history. These are the people that symbolize evil, and there is a commandment in the Bible to wipe them off the face of the earth, because their pathological hatred for Jews is so great, if they have a chance they will wipe the Jews off the face of the earth. Evil evil people, their main ambition is to rid the world of the Jews and their morale influence. They have one thing in mind. Get back to evil and return everyone to idolatry, sinning, etc. So you can see, these people need to be rid of or the world will become corrupt again, just like back in the time of Noah. And God promised to never wipe the world out again, but there has to be some way to control all the evil. So if you don’t believe ya gotta go.

So God tells King Saul to get rid of them. wipe them out, but King Saul is weak. Even though God helped him win many battles, this one he was weak with. The one he should have paid full attention to. He did battle against them, but gave in, he even spared the King of the Amalek’s life! Bad bad bad, so he failed miserably with God. Then in comes David. A young boy chosen to replace King Saul.

20 David - Kings 2

David was an Isrealite, so of course he had problems with the Philistines. Same as every other Jew or Isrealite. The problem with the Philistines was that they had many giants living in their land. One of the strongest and biggest giants was named Goliath. He was over nine feet tall, which is taller than any person recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records. He would've had to bend way down to get through a regular door. David’s brothers were with King Saul, and Goliath fought someone every single day, so David’s father sent him to check on his brothers to see if they were alright. David sees Goliath and asks why his brothers had not fought him..(they were all scared) He then says he will fight him.. Ya gotta realize, David was a young boy. Fighting Goliath would be death for him. He told everyone, no problem, I have God with me on this one. So off he goes to fight the Giant, he defeats the giant with a stone and a sling shot. Right between the eyes so that he falls down dead in front of everyone. He is now very important in this community. A Hero, because he put his trust in God. Now King Saul was out for David and David was constantly on the run from him. Eventually King Saul has his day and dies along with his son Johnathan in a battle. David becomes the King of Jeruselam. And he was a good king. He was a great Military leader and fought many battles with God on his side. Trusting in God for protection. David was a man after Gods heart. But he made many mistakes, he lusted after another mans wife, and had him killed. He got her pregnant, and then married her, but the baby died. He then took a census of the people when God told him not to do it. Although King David fathered Solomon, one of Israel's greatest kings, he was also the father of Absalom, whose rebellion brought bloodshed and grief. Absalom fought his father the whole way, his entire life. David was weak when it came to him. King David's life was a roller coaster of emotional highs and lows. He left us an example of passionate love of God and dozens of psalms in the bible, some of the most touching, beautiful poetry ever written. He ruled over the entire Promised Land from the 'river of Egypt' to the River Euphrates. Through it all, David's first and foremost drive was to have a relationship with God.

After David makes Jerusalem his capital, he buys the upper part of the hill above the northern boundary of the city. This hill is Mount Moriah and what it may lack in physical size, it more than compensates for spiritual greatness. This is important to note, because from the earliest period of Jewish history, the Jewish people recognized the tremendous spiritual power of Mount Moriah. This is where Abraham, sensing God's presence, went up to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. This is also where Jacob dreamt of a ladder going to heaven (Stairway to Heaven). No wonder this is a spot that every major conqueror in all of human history has wanted to own. Today on this spot stands an Islamic structure known as the Dome of the Rock. Under this golden dome is an exposed piece of the bedrock of Mount Moriah-metaphysically known as the "drinking stone." Or "water of life." According to Judaism, the world is spiritually nourished from this spot, this stone-which is the metaphysical center of the universe.

This is the place where God's presence can be felt more intensively than in any other place on the planet earth. Therefore, this is the logical place to build a permanent resting spot for the most holy object that the Jewish people have ― the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant. So David had a plan when he bought that land, he is going to bring back the Ark of the Covenant, that the Isrealites have been carting around since Moses and build a Temple for it to remain in. Now although David loves God, and he repents for all his sins, when he brings up the Ark of the Covenant to Mount Moriah, he is not allowed by God to build the temple it will go in. For a number of reasons. One is that the Temple is a house of God and a house of peace and David has alot of blood on his hands from subduing the enemies of Isreal. At this point his son is promised to build it, that being Solomon.

David's greatness shines in both his ability to take responsibility for his actions, and the humility of his admission, and the repentance that follows. This is part of the reason that the ultimate redeemer of the Jewish people, and the world, will descend from David's line ― he will be "Messiah son of David." Jesus..!!

I think I will stop here.. this is a good time to stop and ponder.. There is so much more to say about David.. He was a key player in the bible that is for sure. Read it.. its good stuff.

So.. we sorta covered Judges, which was not a good time in the Bible. The judges didn’t take on good leadership, that is for sure. In the Judges section is Ruth, Ruth and Esther were the only two women that had books named after them.. There were mentions of other women, but none as big as Ruth and Esther. Ok.. then there is Samuel 1 and Samuel 2. Then we are onto Kings.. which all the Kings in Isreal are evil, and only 2 Kings of Judah were good…. That being Asa and Jehoshaphat. My father used to say Holy Jehoshphat.. don’t know why he did.. but he did…… didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.. but in the bible .. Jehoshaphat was a good King.. and of course David.

21 Elijah - Kings

Then comes Elijah.. I have to talk about Elijah here, cause he was pretty awesome. First off there was a queen - Jezabel..evil evil women. Deceitful evil women that didn’t worship God, she worshiped Baal instead. Anyone that didn't and was a prophet for God she wanted dead. She was married to the King and definitely had control over him. So in comes Elijah. God was with him and needed him to show the world again how to worship only God, one God. So Elijah goes to the king and tells him. "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word." God was working through Elijah. Elijah took off to live by the river He was brought bread and meat to eat, then with no rain the river dried up. No God, no rain! There was a widow that lived nearby, and Elijah went to her looking for something to eat. She said she only had enough oil and flour for her and her son. God blessed the womens oil and flour and it never ran out, the whole time Elijah was with her and her son. Unexpectely, the womens son died. Elijah stretched himself over the boys body three times and God restored the boys life. He was a prophet with God in his heart, it was not Elijah that saved this boys life, it was God, of course.

Now this is an awesome story in the book of Elijah. Off Elijah goes to challenge the King, and wicked Jezebel, his wife. He challenged 450 prophets of the Baal worshipers along with 400 prophets of another false god. He said. ok go to work and let me see your god rain down fire upon your sacrifices. Show me your stuff. So they went to work praying to their gods, and nothing - nothing happened. So confident in the power of God Elijah sets up. He put out his burnt offering, then he doused it with water just to show them it was totally soaked, did it three times just to make sure! Then Elijah called out to God, and God’s fire fell from heaven, consuming the offering, the wood, the altar and the water! The people around seeing all this happened dropped to their knees. Then then believed in God.

Elijah prayed and then rain fell on Israel, Jezebel was furious and swore she would kill him. This freaked Elijah out and he headed for the hills, he didn't want to live anymore. He slept in a cave and an angel brought him food, strengthened him for 40 days and 40 nights. Then God appeared to him in a whisper. He told him to go and annoint Elisha as his successor, to continue on. Elisha carried on the word, Elijah did not die, God sent chariots and horses of fire and they took Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, while Elisha stood watching. Elijah did not die, he was taken up by God. He is one of the very few in the bible that this happened to. Same as Moses.

Under God's guidance, Elijah struck a heavy blow against the evil of false gods. He was an instrument for miracles against Israel's idolaters.

22 Elisha - 2 Kings

Elisha did double the amount of miracles as Elijah. Elisha protected the kings and armies of Israel. He also showed the common people that God was concerned with their individual lives and was present among them. The one story in the bible that stuck with me was that after he died. Of Elisha's death, 2 Kings 13:20 simply says, "Elisha died and was buried." But the passage goes on to talk about Moabite raiders who came to Israel every spring: "Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet". It seems that God chose to demonstrate His power through the prophet even after his death.

There are many well-known accounts of Elisha's service as prophet. He healed the waters of Jericho and was jeered by youths upon whom he called a curse resulting in their death by mauling bears. He multiplied a widow's oil. He prophesied a son for a wealthy Shunammite family who hosted him and later restored to life that same son. Elisha also removed poison from a pot of stew and multiplied twenty barley loaves to feed one hundred men. He cured Naaman of leprosy and made a borrowed ax head float. The miracles Elisha performed are, for the most part, acts of helpfulness and blessing. Others strongly resemble some of the miracles of Christ, such as the multiplying of food and the healing of lepers.

God parts the seas for both Elijah and Elisha as he did for Moses. It is all in the Bible.. but that is enough for now.

23 Chronicles 1 and 2

Then in the Bible comes Chronicles 1 and 2, and that is where Solomon comes in. So actually, we have covered quite a bit so far. Of course, much more in detail when you read the whole Bible.

After David, his son Solomon became king of Israel. I have to tell you a little bit about Solomon.

King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and also one of the most foolish. God gifted him with wisdom like no other, which Solomon squandered by disobeying God’s commandments. He totally blew it. God appeared to Solomon in a dream and promised him anything he asked. Solomon chose understanding and judging the people justly. God was so pleased with the request that he granted it, along with great riches and power. Solomon's downfall began when he married the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh to seal a political alliance. He could not control his lust. He loved women and back in the day, I guess they could have as many as they wanted. Soooo Among Solomon's 700 wives and 300 concubines, were many foreigners, which angered God. The inevitable happened: They lured King Solomon away from God into worship of false gods and idols. (women are trouble in the old testament) The one thing God warned him about. Over his 40-year reign, Solomon did many great things, but he succumbed to the temptations of lesser men. The peace a united Israel enjoyed, the massive building projects he headed, and the successful commerce he developed became meaningless when Solomon stopped pursuing God. He did accomplish many things. Solomon built the first temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, a seven-year task that became one of the wonders of the ancient world. He also built a majestic palace, gardens, roads, and government buildings. He accumulated thousands of horses and chariots. After securing peace with his neighbors, he built up trade and became the wealthiest king of his time. There has never been anyone more wiser or wealthier than Solomon.

King Solomon possessed great wisdom, granted to him by God. He was a prolific writer and poet, you should read it.. . His skills in architecture and management turned Israel into the showplace of the middle East. As a diplomat, he made treaties and alliances that brought peace to his king, but he had weaknesses, just like everyone else.

To satisfy his curious mind, Solomon turned to worldly pleasures instead of the pursuit of God. He collected all sorts of treasures and surrounded himself with luxury. In the case of non-Jewish wives and concubines, he let lust rule his heart instead of obedience to God. Solomon taxed his people heavily, forced them into his army and into slave-like labor for his building projects.

King Solomon's sins speak loudly to us, in our materialistic culture. When we worship possessions and fame over God, we are headed for a fall. When Christians marry an unbeliever, they can also expect trouble. God is our first love. We should let nothing come before him.

Solomon was a wise king who built the temple in Jerusalem and extended the wealth and boundaries of Israel to levels never before attained. To the Israelites, it looked as though God's promises to Abraham had finally been fulfilled. But as Solomon grew old, he gave way to pressure from his 1,000 foreign wives and concubines to build temples for their gods. God grew angry with Solomon and the peace and security Israel had experienced collapsed. When Solomon died, Israel split into two countries: Israel (in the north) and Judah (in the south). It was a disaster. In the bible it says you have to love God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind. Solomon fell for the earthly life. When he got old and was close to dying, he realized all he had done. He realized that all the things in this world were worthless, without God. You can have everything, but you have nothing in the end if you do not have God in your life. I agree.