Damian Secol Old Testament 302 Bro.

Satterfield From Joshua to the Second Coming Bruce Satterfield

Article Summary

After the 40 years of wandering, there were finally those willing to follow the Israelites new leader, Joshua, into the promised land. They were then led across the Jordan River in the same manner as the Red Sea, and then circumsized as per the Abrahamic Covenant. So they went in and started conquering the Canaanites and were instructed to destroy everything and everyone so that they werent tempted to take on the same accursed practices. After conquering the two cities of Jericho and Ai, they stop at the land of Shechem where the covenant was first given, between two mountains, and renew their covenant to honor the Lord and the law of Moses, as this was the last command Moses gave before he left them. Six tribes were on each of the mountains, and as part of the renewal of the covenant, from the southern mountain the blessings from obedience were shouted out such as posterity and the Lords protection. From the northern mountain, the curses were shouted that would remove those blessings and even the land that had been promised to them. The division of the two mountains also represented the consequence of separation from the Lord and being cut off from the blessings. The mountains also have significance in their location, as east instead of north is the primary direction for orientation. So it the southern mountain with the blessings in on the right side, and the northern mountain with the curses is on the left. This also makes sense as many of the invading countries mainly came from the north and it was to the north that Israelites were eventually scattered. Then after the death of Joshua, there was a lack of strong leadership, and the Israelites had a hard time staying faithful to the Lord. There was then a pattern of falling into idolatry, and then being conquered, and then the people being sufficently humbled. In the Book of Judges, there were several judges that relied on the Lord and brought the Israelites to victory over their enemies, but the later half shows their rapid decline and loss of faith in the Lord. Israel had many encounters the Philistines, a conquering people to the southwest. It was Samsons job to deal with them, but because of marrying a Philistine and the breaking of his vow, he failed. Then Samuel, the last of the judges and a prophet, led the people back to the Lord. It is in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings that we begin to see the failing faith within the Lords chosen people, and their eventual scattering. Eventually the people wanted a king, which disappointed Samuel and the Lord, but they were given one by the name of Saul. He started out humble, but then he began to disobey the Lord and was eventually replaced with David. David brought together the people under the Lord, encouraged them to continue to worship Him, and even built a tabernacle for the ark since the last one had been destroyed. However, David eventually fell prey to the sin of lust and committed adultery and murder. David did go through the process of repentance and was forgiven for everything but murder. The Lord did allow the succession to continue through his

line, and Solomon was made king next. A permanent temple was built over the site where the tabernacle had been, and once dedicated, the glory of the lord was present as it was with the tabernacle during the time of Moses. However, because of his wives, he fell into the practice of following after other gods. Angry, the Lord told him that upon his death the kingdom would then be split into two. The kingdom was split, with Jeroboam ruling the northern country of Israel, and Rehoboam (Solomons son) ruling Judah in the south. Through a succession of wicked kings, Israel was then given the full brunt of the curses and was taken over and destroyed by the Assyrians from the north, with most of the survivors taken into the north. The southern kingdom of Judah did somewhat better for a while there were kings that led the people in righteousness with the aid of prophets, but then it would be all reversed by another who would then lead the people to reject God. At various times Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians and many of the people were taken captive such as the prophets Daniel and Ezekiel. Many prophets were sent to warn the people, most notably was the prophet Jeremiah, of the cit ys eventual destruction. At this time, Lehi also was among them, and this started the Book of Mormon. However, because of poor decisions in constantly changing allegiances between Egypt and Babylon and their refusal to listen, it was conquered and utterly destroyed by the Babylonians and its people were taken into captivity for the next 50 years, but they never forgot where they came from. However, the scattering of the Jews became a blessing to the gentiles, as then mixed with the different peoples, a certain degree of the gospel was also mixed with them. This fulfilled part of the blessing given to Abraham when it was said that his posterity would be the means of giving the gospel to the world. Then the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians and their king, Cyrus, allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild it and its temple, which is told through the books of Nehemiah and Ezra. Through Ezra, the Law of Moses was reintroduced and idolatry vanished. Scribes were taught in the ways of the law, who then replaced the priests in interpreting and teaching the law. Malachi was the last of the old testament prophets and spoke out against the priests and their laxed attitude that began to affect the people. He also prophesied of the Lord sending Elijah before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord to turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers (Mal 4: 5 -6). Alexander the Great led the Greeks to victory over the Persian Empire and this led to the Greek influence of Hellenism, Greek architecture and philosophy. However, this then led to affecting the choice of High priest and then Jewish rituals were made forbidden, with even a statue of Zeus being erected on the temple altar itself. This led to the Maccabean Revolt that freed the Jews, which became celebrated as Hannukah. Judaea, as it was then called, was now independent, but that wasnt to last, as in 63 B.C the Romans took control and put Herod as king. Even though he tried to get the loyalty of the people by remodeling and improving upon the temple, his conduct and cruelty did not win over the people. As apostasy began to blanket the world after the apostles death , the Jewish people continued to mingle and spread throughout the gentile world. Then after centuries, a land was prepared to allow the restoration of the gospel. It was the simple faith and prayer of a young man named Joseph Smith that brought about a complete restoration, the priesthood, the ordinances, and the sealing power once more. The Lord

revealed the land of Missouri as their eternal inheritance but it would only be after much tribulation. The keys were given for the gathering of Israel when after the Kirtland temple dedication, Joseph Smith was visited by Moses, Elias, and Elijah and was given the necessary keys to fulfill the Abrahamic Covenant. No longer do those who have become part of this covenant need to gather to Utah. Now Zion is wherever the Church happens to be. The lost tribes will have to come to Lord spiritually, which means accepting and becoming a part of His church and then will they be physically gathered after the coming of Christ. The world will gather around Israel to destroy it, and right at the brink of destruction, Jesus Christ will stand upon the Mt. of Olives, causing the Mt. to split into two halves, one to the north and the other to the south with the Jewish people fleeing between them, just like the mountains of Shechem, just like the Red Sea. The earth will then be restored and the Abrahamic covenant will then be finally restored.