Yahweh is salvation

Isaiah was a prophet who lived in 8th century Judah. The name Isaiah means Yahweh is salvation. Yahweh is the Hebrew name for God (Jesus). The book of Isaiah is the first of the major prophets and contains many prophecies.

Overview

Leviticus is in the middle of the Torah and lists the rules that the Israelites had to follow in order to be close to God. Among the rules designed to make them different and holy are the seven festivals or feasts. Christians believe that all of these feasts foreshadowed the life of Jesus.

Overview

The story of Balaam takes place in the book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Torah. God promised Abraham the land of Canaan. His descendants were rescued from Egypt and went to Mount Sinai, where Israel accepted a covenant offered by God. They built a portable temple called the Tabernacle, where God lived among them. The book of Numbers describes the journey from Mt. Sinai to the edge of Canaan. God led the Israelites through the wilderness until they were disciplined enough to return to the edge of Canaan.

Isaiah

Isaiah calls Jerusalem Sodom in the first chapter of his book. Isaiah says that even donkeys know their owners, but the people of Israel don't know their God. He describes them as a wicked and corrupt nation that has forsaken God and is therefore in a state of moral decay.

Isaiah says that God doesn't want empty rituals and sacrifices; He wants people to do good, seek justice, help the oppressed, and care for widows. God is willing to forgive their sins if they are obedient, but they continue to rebel like the Sodomites did.

Early life

Born in England in 1761, William Carey grew up in a poor family with only a basic education. Nevertheless, he developed a love of reading and a passion for sharing the Gospel. He eventually became a Baptist minister, preaching in small churches near his home.

Overview

The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah which means the Law. When the Bible mentions the Law, it is referring to the covenant between Israel and God which is based on the Ten Commandments.

The Bible also mentions laws. These are the rituals for keeping the feasts and the rules about food, sex, and justice. There are hundreds of individual laws, but they are all based on two main laws: The Israelites couldn't worship other gods, and they had to be kind to their neighbors.

The destruction of the Temple

Judaism was based on the laws and prophecies of the Old Testament. The Temple was where God lived among the Jews and was at the center of their rituals. When the Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., as Jesus prophesied, the Old Covenant was destroyed along with it.

Two new forms of Judaism emerged, Messianic Judaism and Rabbinic Judaism. In Messianic Judaism the New Covenant is the Gospel, while in Rabbinic Judaism the New Covenant is the Talmud.

Jesus appears to His followers

As soon as the Sabbath ended, some of the women who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem went to the tomb to put ointments on the body. They wondered who would help them roll the large stone away from the entrance of the tomb. But much to their surprise, when they looked, they saw that the stone was already gone.