Last time we heard about an old priest, called Zechariah, and his childless wife, Elizabeth. And one day when Zechariah was doing his job in the temple, an angel came out of no-where, told him not to be afraid, said his prayers were being answered, and that his wife Elizabeth was finally going to have a baby. And this baby would make them, and lots of other people, very glad. The baby would be filled with the holy spirit and he would be the drumroll for, guess who? The Lord! That’s right, after all these hundreds of years of waiting, God is finally going to show up. 

Hear more about how he entered the world and what happened next in this episode.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

After King David's son Solomon, things went downhill for Israel. During those years prophets tell the people to keep waiting for God to keep the blessings promised to Abraham...

They point the people to wait for God to rescue them from the oppression of sin and evil.

They point the people to wait a time when God will forget their sins forever and will live permanently with them in a covenant of peace that can never be broken.

And they remind the people to wait for the descendent of David who will secure these blessings for them, and become their King forever.

The prophets didn’t know exactly how or when God would send this deliverer. But they were given many little hints and clues. Isaiah prophesied the deliverer would be born to a virgin. Now how was that possible? Another said he would be born in the tiny insignificant town of Bethlehem where King David had come from. The Jews waited and waited and hundred of years passed. During that time empires rose and fell, and eventually the Roman Empire came to be. As the Jews waited, and suffered under the oppression of foreign armies, expectations grew. They longed for God to send his King marching in and give the Romans the boot and restore Israel to prominence and glory.

No-one had any idea what God actually had planned.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

After David’s death, his son Solomon becomes king, and although Solomon is exceedingly wealthy and wise - in the end, he trusts in his own wisdom rather God’s, and he chooses political comfort rather listening to God voice. From then on the kingdom of Israel declines. It weakens and divides into two parts - a northern and a southern kingdom. Over the next 400 years each Kingdom has it’s own kings - most of these Kings lead the people to completely ignore God and his commands. Occasionally there are Kings in the Southern kingdom who are like David - they do trust God, they recognise that they’ve sinned, and they try to lead the people back to trusting God, but there’s never lasting success. Things get so bad that God ejects them from the land, and his people are taken as prisoners to live in foreign places.

If God’s people are ever going to permanently experience life and peace, they are going to need a leader who is better than David. They need a King who is able to do something far greater than win them temporary peace from a few human bullies. The need a King to come and rescue them from their closest and most unconquerable enemy - sin itself. It’s sin that keeps getting in the way of them receiving the blessings promised to Abraham. Without a permanent fix to sin, there’s no permanent peace.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

David, the shepherd boy chosen to be the next King of Israel, shows so much promise. He has remarkable trust in God, and God uses him to rescue the Israelites from their enemies the Philistines. But there remains an enemy more powerful and deadly which even David cannot conquer.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

After 40 years of wandering in the desert, the next generation of Israelites had come to edge of the land of Canaan, as we heard last time. Moses was now dead, and Joshua was their new leader.

We heard that Joshua secretly sent in two spies into the Canaanite city of Jericho, where they were protected by a resident of the city, a prostitute named Rahab. In due course, Joshua and the Israelites entered Canaan. Rahab was saved, but the city of Jericho fell. The fall of Jericho was so miraculous it could have only happened because the God of heaven and earth was indeed fighting for Israel, just as Rahab had so intelligently predicted. The story of what happened next is told in this episode...

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

God promised Abraham that his descendants would occupy the land of Canaan. But what if those descendants refuse to believe God can give it to them? 

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

Last time we heard how Israel rejected God at the very mountain he had spoken to them from. How could God ever be in friendship with them? 

Picture of tabernacle

High Priest garments

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

God has shown the Israelites his power to rescue them, protect them, provide for them. Surely they have enough evidence to trust and follow what he says?

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

The Israelites experienced God's spectacular provision of a way through the sea. But walking through the desert towards the land promised to Abraham is no picnic. Thirst and hunger hit, and they start to have regrets...

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved