A Brief Outline of Salvation History
Opening Prayer
A reading of the Holy Gospel, according to
Luke (1:41-55)
41
And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of
Mary,
the infant leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy
Ghost.
42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said:
Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me that the mother
of my Lord should come to me?
44 For behold as soon as the voice of thy
salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for
joy.
45 And blessed art thou that hast believed,
because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to
thee by the Lord.
46 And Mary said:
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour.
48 Because he hath regarded the humility
of his handmaid: for behold
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49 Because he that is mighty hath done
great things to me: and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is from generation unto
generations, to them that fear him.
51 He hath showed might in his arm: he
hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
52 He hath put down the mighty from their
seat and hath exalted the humble.
53 He hath filled the hungry with good
things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.
54 He hath received Israel his servant,
being mindful of his mercy.
55 As he spoke to our fathers: to Abraham
and to his seed for ever.
This
Reading contains the Magnificat (46-55), or Canticle of Mary. It is also the
reading from day 5 of the Novena of the Immaculate Conception.
What does this have to do with Salvation
History?
- The
Magnificat points back to Abraham and Israel and indeed, much of the
song can be seen as echoing the events of salvation history
- Mary herself, is pregnant with the fulfillment of Salvation History,
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
- Mary is part of Salvation History!
Advent
The Season of Advent is a celebration of the past, present and future coming
of Christ – it is all about Salvation History!
Outline of Salvation History
- Creation (Gen 1, Gen 2)
- Fall of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:1-6) (humanity)
and promise of salvation (Gen 3:13-15)
- Descendants of Adam and Eve fall further and
further into sin and rebellion to God (Gen 4-6)
- Noah and the Flood (Gen 6) and God’s Covenant
(Gen 8:15-22, Gen 9)
- Abraham (Gen 12-25), Promise (Gen 15, Note
15:13) and Covenant (Gen 17)
- Jacob (Gen 25:20-25, 29-49) who becomes Israel
(Gen 35:10) . Note Gen 49 for prophesy about the 12 sons (tribes).
- Sojourne (Gen 46) in Egypt (Joseph Gen 37-50)
- Moses and the Exodus. Passover (Ex 11-13). Flight
from Egypt (Ex 14-15) and God’s Covenant with Israel (Ex 20)
- Israel
requests (1 Sam: 8) and is given kings, and David is declared to
be
stem of Jesse from which the Messiah will come (2 Sam 7:12-16)
- Israel
breaks the Covenant and is punished, and forgiven (many times)
(i.e. 1
Kg 18) , a Messiah is promised (Is 7:13-16, Is 9, Is 11, Is 53)
- Nativity (Lk 1:26-38)
- Passion of Christ (Lk 22-24. Note Mt 26:26-28)
Note
that there are seveal covenants made through the course of salavation
history. A covenant is a promise between two parties. It is more than a
contract. If a contract is broken, then the agreement is over. If a
convenant is broken, there is the sense that party breaking the
convenant should be broken, destroyed. In ancient times, this was often
symoblized by splitting the carcass of animals and having the parties
to the convenant walk between the pieces symbolizing, "if I break this
covenant, let what has happened to these animals happen to me."
1 Creation
God
makes everything. He finds it all good, including humanity. He made us
in his image, thus with free will – capable of choosing good or evil.
God is spirit, so we are spirit as well as flesh.
Gen 1:27 God
created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and
female he created them
2 Fall and Promise
Gen 3:1-6,9-14
1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth
which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God
commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?
2 And the woman answered him, saying: Of the
fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:
3
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God
hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not
touch
it, lest perhaps we die.
4 And the serpent said to the woman: No, you
shall not die the death.
5
For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof,
your
eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and
evil.
6
And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the
eyes,
and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did
eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.
9 And the Lord God called Adam, and said to
him: Where art thou?
10 And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid,
because I was naked, and I hid myself.
11
And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but
that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou
shouldst not eat?
12 And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion,
gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And
she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said to the serpent:
Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle,
and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth
shalt
thou eat all the days of thy life.
God discovers this sin (original sin) and says the
following:
Gen 3:15 I
will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring
and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel.
The
serpent is the devil. The sin is pride – to be like God. The serpent
will be destroyed by the descendants of Eve. The new
Eve is the Blessed
Virgin Mary. Christ, Mary's offspring, will crush the serpents head (the
devil) once and
for all. This is the first covenant.
As pointed out above, this is the first reading on the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception. It is called the proto-evangelicum
for proto-Gospel. God still cares for his children as he clothes them
(they are still naked!) before he sends them from the safety of the
garden.
3 Evil and Sin in the World
God finds that humanity gets more and more wicked and decides to punish it.
Cain and Abel
Gen 4:1-10
1 And Adam knew Eve
his wife; who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have
gotten a man through God.
2 And again she
brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a
husbandman.
3 And it came
to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the
earth, gifts to the Lord.
4 Abel also
offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the
Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.
5 But to Cain
and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceeding angry,
and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord
said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7
If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin
forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be
under
thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
8
And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when
they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and
slew
him.
9 And the Lord
said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered: I know
not: am I my brother's keeper?
10 And he said
to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth
to me from the earth.
Gen 6:5-7
5
And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth,
and
that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all
times,
6 It repented him that he had made man on the
earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,
7
He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of
the
earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to
the
fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
God is
unchangeable and not capable of repentance, grief, or any other
passion. The words are used to declare the enormity of the
sins of men, which from a human viewpoint, only the destruction of humankind
would be a just punishment.
4 Noah – Flood
God
found favor in Noah, but destroyed the rest of evil creation with a
flood. Humanity has broken the first covenant. Then God ends the flood and
makes a covenant
with Noah.Gen 8:15-22,9:1-15.
15 And God spoke to Noah, saying:
16 Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy
sons with thee.
17
All living things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as
in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring
out
with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.
18 So Noah went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his
sons with him.
19
And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon
the earth, according to their kinds went out of the ark.
20 And Noah built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and
fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.
21
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse
the
earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man's
heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more
destroy every living soul as I have done.
22 All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.
9-1 And God blessed Noah and his sons. And he said to them: Increase,
and multiply, and fill the earth.
2
And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth,
and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth:
all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.
3 And every thing that moveth, and liveth shall be meat for you: even
as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:
4 Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.
5
For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast,
and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother,
will I require the life of man.
6 Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man
was made to the image of God.
7 But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth and fill
it.
8 Thus also said God to Noah`, and to his sons with him:
9 Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed
after you:
10 And
with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds, as in
cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark,
and
in all the beasts of the earth.
11 I will establish my covenant with
you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a
flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the
earth.
12 And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I
give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you,
for
perpetual generations.
13 I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a
covenant between me and between the earth.
14 And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in
the clouds:
15
And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul
that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to
destroy all flesh.
God
will not punish all of
humanity again and humanity is given a few rules to obey for their part of
the convenat. Shem is blessed by
Noah, and thus the descendents of Shem become blessed. Shem becomes the
Semites. Note the narrowing of the blessing to this group from which
salvation will come. We start in the Garden with everyone being
“priest”, in contact with God. We find people failing and God choosing
the Semites as the course to Salvation, to Jesus. Note the use of water
to cleanse the world of sin. Also note the saving of humanity by the
use of an Ark. An Ark also is key in the covenant
with Moses and of
course, we refer to Mary as the Ark
of the Covenant, in this case, the New Covenant promised
by our Lord.
5 Abraham
Abram, a just man, next finds favor with God. God promises to make a great
nation through Abram.
Gen 12:2-3
"I
will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your
name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who
bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the
earth shall find blessing in you."
Note that eventually, through Jesus Christ, all the communities of the earth are blessed.
Gen 15:1-18.
1
Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram
by
a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy
reward
exceeding great.
2
And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without
children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus
Eliezer.
3 And Abram added: But to me thou hast not
given seed: and lo my servant, born in my house, shall be my heir.
4
And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall
not
be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt
thou
have for thy heir.
5
And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven
and
number the stars, if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy
seed
be.
6 Abram believed God, and it was reputed to
him unto justice.
7 And
he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the
Chaldees, to gibe thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.
8 But he said: Lord God, whereby may I
know that I shall possess it?
9 And
the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a
she goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also,
and a
pigeon.
10 And he
took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two
pieces
of each one against the other; but the birds he divided not.
11 And the fowls came down upon carcasses, and
Abram drove them away.
12 And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep
fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.
13And
it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a
stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under
bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.
14 But I will judge the nation which they
shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great
substance.
15 And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace,
and be buried in a good old age.
16
But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet
the
iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present
time.
17 And when
the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a
smoking
furnace and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.
18
That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I
give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river
Euphrates.
Note verse 5. God states again his promises to make Abram a great nation,
more numerous than the stars.
Read Gen 17.
1
And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared
to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and
be perfect.
2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply
thee exceedingly.
3 Abram fell flat on his face.
4 And God said to him: I AM, and my covenant is with thee, and thou
shalt be a father. of many nations.
5
Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be
called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations.
6 And I will make thee increase, exceedingly, and I will make nations
of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
7
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy
seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a
God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
8 And I will give to thee,
and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan
for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.
9 Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my
covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.
10
This is my covenant which you shall observe, between me and you, and
thy seed after thee: All the male kind of you shall be circumcised:
11 And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be
for a sign of the covenant between me and you.
12 An
infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man
child in your generations: he that is born in the house, as well as
the
bought servant shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not of your
stock:
13 And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual
covenant.
14
The male, whose dash of his foreskin shall not be circumcised, that
soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he hath broken my
covenant.
15 God said also to Abraham: Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call Sarai,
but Sara.
16
And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I will
bless, and he shell become nations, and kings of people shall spring
from him.
17 Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in
his heart: Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a
hundred
years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?
18 And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before thee.
19
And God said to Abraham: Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou
shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him
for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for
Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless him, and increase,
and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will
make him a great nation.
21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring
forth to thee at this time in the next year.
22 And when he had left oil speaking with him, God went up from
Abraham.
23
And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his house:
and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house: and
he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the very same
day,
as God had commanded him.
24 Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the
flesh of his foreskin.
25 And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of his
circumcision.
27 And
all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his house, as
the bought servants and strangers were circumcised with him.
28 The selfsame day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.
Abram’s
name is changed to Abraham (from high father to father of multitude),
as is Sarai changed to Sarah (my Lady to absolutely Lady). God makes
this promise forever. It is unconditional. God never goes back on His covenants, but
here he requires only circumcision as ascent to the covenant.
Abraham will have a son, who will also be blessed and
become a great nation (Note: Abraham is father of nations). God’s covenant will be
with Isaac, not Ismael.
Note Gen 18:1-3
1 And the Lord
appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door
of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
2 And
when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men
standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them
from
the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
3 And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in
thy sight, pass not away from thy servant:
This
is an Old Testement prefigurement of the Trinity. This chapter also is the
prophesy of the Lord that Sarah will bear a son, for nothing is
impossible with God.
Gen 22:2-18
2
He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and
go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for an
holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.
3
So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with
him
two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the
holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.
4 And on the third day, lifting up his eyes,
he saw the place afar off.
5
And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass; I and the
boy
will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped,
will
return to you.
6
And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his
son;
and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they
two
went on together,
7
Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt
thou,
son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the
holocaust?
8 And Abraham said: God will provide himself a
victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.
9
And they came to the place which God had shown him, where he built
an
altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had bound
Isaac
his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.
10 And he put forth his hand, and took the
sword, to sacrifice his son.
11 And behold, an angel of the Lord from
heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered:
Here I am.
12
And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou
any
thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared
thy
only begotten son for my sake.
13
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, amongst
the
briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a
holocaust instead of his son.
14
And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon,
even
to this day, it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.
15 And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham
a second time from heaven, saying:
16
By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done
this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:
17
I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven,
and as the sand that is by the sea shore; thy seed shall possess the
gates of their enemies.
18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.
God
tests the faith of Abraham. Abraham's faith is so strong, that even
though this is his only son, he does not withhold him from God. Again,
God promises that all nations will be blessed through the seed of
Abraham. This great blessing is Jesus, the Son of God. Note the
contrast here: God saves the son of Abraham, but in Jesus, he gives his
Son to save the world and does not
withold him!
6 Jacob – Tribes of Israel
Read Gen 25:20-25.
Jacob is chosen at birth.
20 Who when he was forty years old, took
to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia,
sister to Laban.
21 And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren:
and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.
22
But the children struggled in her womb, and she said: If it were to be
so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult
the Lord.
23 And he answering, said: Two nations are in thy womb,
and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall
overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.
24 And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found
in her womb.
25
He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name
was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his
brother's
foot in his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob.
Read
Gen 35:9-13
God changes Jacob’s name, to Israel – one who prevails
with God. God promises that Israel will be the father of many nations –
the 12 tribes of Israel turn into nations.
9 And God appeared
again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he
blessed him,
10 Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more
Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.
11
And said to him: I am God almighty, increase thou and be multiplied.
Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall
come
out of thy loins.
12 And the land which I gave to Abraham and
Isaac, I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.
13 And he departed from him.
7 Sojourne in Egypt
All
the sons of Israel go to Egypt. As God told Abraham, they were held
there against their wishes, “in a foreign land.” The Isralites became
so prosperous that Pharaoh became concerned and enslaved them. After
Israel joins Joseph in Egypt, he makes the following prophesies just
before dying.
Gen 49
1
And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves
together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in
the
last days.
2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye
sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father:
8 Juda,
thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand shall be on the necks of
thy
enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.
9 Juda
is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting
thou
hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?
10 The
sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his
thigh,
till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of
nations.
29
And
he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people:
bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of
Ephron the Hethite,
To be
gathered to my people... That is, I am going to die, and so to follow
my ancestors that are gone before me, and to join their company in
another world.
30 Over
against Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought
together
with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in.
31 There they buried him, and Sara his wife:
there was Isaac buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth
lie buried.
32 And
when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his
sons,
he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to
his
people.
A
lion's whelp, etc... This blessing of Juda foretells the strength ofhis
tribe, the fertility of his inheritance; and principally that the
sceptre and legislative power should not be utterly taken away from
hisrace until the time of the coming of Christ: as in effect it never
was.
8 Moses – Exodus
Read Ex 12:1-18. Unleavened bread.
Passover. This is the celebration of Jesus at the Last Supper.j And on
Calvary, Jesus becomes the unblemished lamb whose blood redeems us.
1 And the Lord said
to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:
2 This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be
the first in the months of the year.
3
Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to
them: On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by
their
families and houses.
4 But if the number be less than may suffice
to eat the lamb, he shall take unto him his neighbour that joineth
to
his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to
eat
the lamb.
5 And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year;
according to which rite also you shall take a kid.
6
And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and
the
whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the
evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it
upon both the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses,
wherein they shall eat it.
8 And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and
unleavened bread with wild lettuce.
9
You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but
only
roasted at the fire; you shall eat the head with the feet and
entrails
thereof.
10 Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning. If
there be any thing left, you shall burn it with fire.
11
And thus you shall eat it: you shall gird your reins, and you shall
have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you shall
eat in haste; for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the Lord.
12
And I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will kill
every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast: and
against
all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the Lord.
13
And the blood shall be unto you for a sign in the houses where you
shall be; and I shall see the blood, and shall pass over you; and
the
plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I shall strike the
land of Egypt.
14 And this day shall be for a memorial to you; and
you shall keep it a feast to the Lord in your generations, with an
everlasting observance.
15 Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread: in the first day there shall be no leaven in your houses;
whosoever shall eat any thing leavened, from the first day until the
seventh day, that soul shall perish out of Israel.
16 The first
day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day shall be kept with
the like solemnity: you shall do no work in them, except those
things
that belong to eating.
17 And you shall observe the feast of the
unleavened bread: for in this same day I will bring forth your army
out
of the land of Egypt, and you shall keep this day in your
generations
by a perpetual observance.
18 The first month, the fourteenth day
of the month, in the evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until
the
one and twentieth day of the same month, in the evening.
Ex 14 discuss the Exodus itself.
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2
Speak to the children of Israel: Let them turn and encamp over against
Phihahiroth, which is between Magdal and the sea over against
Beelsephon: you shall encamp before it upon the sea.
3 And Pharo will say of the children of Israel: They are straitened in
the land, the desert hath shut them in.
4
And I shall harden his heart and he will pursue you: and I shall be
glorified in Pharo, and in all his army: and the Egyptians shall know
that I am the Lord. And they did so.
5 And it was told the king of
the Egyptians that the people was fled: and the heart of Pharo and of
his servants was changed with regard to the people, and they said:
What
meant we to do, that we let Israel go from serving us?
6 So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people with him.
7 And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots that
were in Egypt: and the captains of the whole army.
8
And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharo, king of Egypt, and he
pursued
the children of Israel; but they were gone forth in a mighty hand.
9
And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were gone
before,
they found them encamped at the sea side: all Pharo's horse and
chariots and the whole army were in Phihahiroth, before Beelsephon.
10
And when Pharo drew near, the children of Israel lifting up their
eyes,
saw the Egyptians behind them: and they feared exceedingly, and cried
to the Lord.
11 And they said to Moses: Perhaps there were no
graves in Egypt, therefore thou hast brought us to die in the
wilderness: why wouldst thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt?
12
Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying: Depart
from us, that we may serve the Egyptians? for it was much better to
serve them, than to die in the wilderness.
13 And Moses said to
the people: Fear not: stand, and see the great wonders of the Lord,
which he will do this day; for the Egyptians, whom you see now, you
shall see no more for ever.
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
15 And the Lord said to Moses: Why criest thou to me? Speak to the
children of Israel to go forward.
16
But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the sea, and
divide it: that the children of Israel may go through the midst of the
sea on dry ground.
17 And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians
to pursue you: and I will be glorified in Pharo, and in all his host,
and in his chariots and in his horsemen.
18 And the Egyptians
shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be glorified in Pharo, and
in his chariots, and in his horsemen.
19 And the angel of God, who
went before the camp of Israel, removing, went behind them: and
together with him the pillar of the cloud, leaving the forepart,
20
Stood behind, between the Egyptians' camp and the camp of Israel: and
it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that they could
not
come at one another all the night.
21 And when Moses had stretched
forth his hand over the sea, the Lord took it away by a strong and
burning wind blowing all the night, and turned it into dry ground: and
the water was divided.
22 And the children of Israel went in
through the midst of the sea dried up; for the water was as a wall on
their right hand and on their left.
23 And the Egyptians pursuing
went in after them, and all Pharo's horses, his chariots and horsemen,
through the midst of the sea. 24 And now the morning watch was come,
and behold the Lord looking upon the Egyptian army through the pillar
of fire and of the cloud, slew their host.
25 And overthrew the
wheels of the chariots, and they were carried into the deep. And the
Egyptians said: Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fighteth for
them
against us.
26 And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch forth thy hand
over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon
their chariots and horsemen.
27 And when Moses had stretched forth
his hand towards the sea, it returned at the first break of day to the
former place: and as the Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came
upon them, and the Lord shut them up in the middle of the waves.
28
And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen of
all the army of Pharo, who had come into the sea after them, neither
did there so much as one of them remain.
29 But the children of
Israel marched through the midst of the sea upon dry land, and the
waters were to them as a wall on the right hand and on the left:
30 And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of the
Egyptians.
31
And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the mighty
hand
that the Lord had used against them: and the people feared the Lord,
and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.
Note
the imagery of a “people in bondage.” This prefigures the idea of
Christ freeing us from the bondage of sin. Also note the passing
through the waters of the Red Sea to reach freedom from bondage. This
prefigures Baptism, which removes sin and frees us from the bond of
sin. Note also, that after the birth of Christ, Joseph was told to go
to Egypt to
escape Herod. They returned to Israel after Herod died. This has the
sense of completing the cycle.
After they are safe, the people
soon forget the works of God and grumble about the lack of water.
So God gives them water but also warns them: in Ex
15:22-27
22
And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went forth into
the
wilderness of Sur: and they marched three days through the wilderness,
and found no water.
23 And they came into Mara, and they could not
drink the waters of Mara because they were bitter: whereupon he gave a
name also agreeable to the place, calling it Mara, that is,
bitterness.
24 And the people murmured against Moses, saying: What shall we drink?
25
But he cried to the Lord, and he showed him a tree, which when he had
cast into the waters, they were turned into sweetness. There he
appointed him ordinances, and judgments, and there he proved him,
26 Saying:
If thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and do what is right
before him, and obey his commandments, and keep all his precepts, none
of the evils that I laid upon Egypt, will I bring upon thee: for I am
the Lord thy healer.
27 And the children of Israel came into Elim,
where there were twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees:
and
they encamped by the waters.
Again, the Israelites grumble
about leaving Egypt only to starve in the desert. Moses is angry with them
for not relying on God.
Ex 16:12-14
12
I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, say to them: In
the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have
your
fill of bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God.
13 So it
came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up, covered the camp:
and in the morning a dew lay round about the camp.
14 And when it had
covered the face of the earth, it appeared in the wilderness small,
and
as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the hoar frost on the
ground.
The
bread, manna in the desert is food for the body, but Jesus (Jn
6:31-35) compares manna to
the “Bread of Life come down from heaven.” which will satisfy forever, which
is Jesus himself and Holy Eucharist.
Ex
20 describes the 10 Commandments – a Covenant
between God and Israel.
This covenant
requires that the people keep the law.
Jesus preaches that the law should be in your heart, not just on your
lips as with the Pharisees and Saducees.
The Ark of the Covenant is built (Ex 37)
and in Ex 40 God
inhabits the Word of God is also placed within. Mary becomes the Arc of
the New Covenent and Jesus, the Word, is carried in her womb.
Note
also that only one of the tribes of Israel is to become the priests of
Israel. We see that originally all men are priests, then we have the
sons of Shem, then the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are in a
priestly relationship with God. Now only the tribe of Levi. Finally,
Jesus comes and he becomes the only High Priest as St. Paul writes.
9 Kings and Promise of Christ
1
Sam 8 describes the Israelites asking for a King and God’s
response.
God gives them a king, though up until then he had ruled the people by
his Covenant and law. But the king will take their goods and their sons and
daughters..
4 Then all the ancients of Israel being
assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha.
5
And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in
thy
ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.
6 And the
word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give
us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the
Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that
they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I
should not reign over them.
8 According to all their works,
they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until
this
day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they
also
unto thee.
9 Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet
testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall
reign over them. The right... That is, the manner (misphat) after
which
he shall proceed, having no one to control him, when he has the power
in his hand.
10 Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had
desired a king of him,
11
And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over
you:
He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make
them his horsemen, and his running footmen, to run before his
chariots,
12 And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his
centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to
make
him arms and chariots.
13 Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be
his cooks, and bakers.
14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best
oliveyards, and give them to his servants.
15 Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues
of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants.
16
Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and
your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work. 17 Your
flocks
also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.
18 And you
shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have
chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will not hear you in that day,
because you desired unto yourselves a king.
19 But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said,
Nay: but there shall be a king over us,
20 And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us,
and go out before us, and fight our battles for us.
21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in
the ears of the Lord.
22
And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a
king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his
city.
Read 2 Sam 7:12-16.
God makes a covenant
with David that an everlasting king will come from his descendants.
12
And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out
of the bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
13 He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the throne
of his kingdom fore ever.
14
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and if he
commit any iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, and with
the stripes of the children of men.
15 But my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took it from Saul,
whom I removed from before my face.
16 And thy house shall be faithful, and thy kingdom for ever before
thy face, and thy throne shall be firm for ever.
The seed of David is Christ, who is called
the son of David in
scripture, and who is the builder of the true temple, which is the
church, his everlasting kingdom, which shall never fail.
10 Israel Breaks Covenant – Prophecy of Christ
Israel
breaks the Covenant and is punished, and forgiven (many times). The
(major) prophets Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah and Jeremiah are involved in
much of this to warn the people and to bring them back to God. Prophet
mainly means to witness to the truth. Onc instance of this is in 1
Kg16-18, 38-39.
16 Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and
told him: and Achab came to meet Elias.
17 And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest
Israel?
18
And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's
house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have
followed Baal
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed
the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked
up the water that was in the trench.
39 And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and
they said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.
Read Is 7:13-16.
The prophecy of the Virgin birth of Jesus from Mary. Emmanuel means "God
with us."
13 And he said:
Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be
grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also?
14 Therefore
the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall
conceive,
and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel.
15 He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil,
and to choose the good.
16
For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the good,
the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two
kings.
Read Is 9:2-7.
The kingdom will last forever. Christ's Kingdom on heaven and earth is
eternal. The kingdom on earth is the Church.
2
The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them
that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen.
3
Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy. They
shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as
conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils.
4
For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the
sceptre of their oppressor thou hast overcome, as in the day of
Madian.
5 For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled
with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire.
6
For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the
government
is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the
Prince
of Peace.
7 His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no
end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his
kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with
justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts
will perform this.
Read
Is 11:1-5.
The type of kingdom that will come. Note the reference to
the rod of Jesse (as in the O Antiphons and the hymn "O come, O come,
Emmanueal"). Also note the similarity in
tone to the Magnificat.
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of
the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.
2
And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom,
and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the
spirit of knowledge, and of godliness.
3 And he shall be filled with
the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to
the
sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears.
4
But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with
equity
the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of
his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
5 And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle
of his reins.
Read Is 53.
This
is a prophecy of the death that Jesus would face. It tells how Christ
bears all our sins, and suffers for us. That God will do this out of
love for us, willingly offering up his Son, our Lord, Jesus. Through
this many will be justified and he will be rewarded above all others.
1 Who hath
believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
2
And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out
of
a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we
have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be
desirous
of him:
3 Despised,
and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with
infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised,
whereupon
we esteemed him not.
4
Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we
have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and
afflicted.
5 But he
was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are
healed.
6 All we
like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his
own
way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7
He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his
mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be
dumb
as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth.
8
He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall
declare
his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the living:
for the wickedness of my people have I struck him.
9
And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his
death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in
his mouth.
10 And
the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay
down
his life for sin, he shall see a longlived seed, and the will of the
Lord shall be prosperous in his hand.
11
Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his
knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear
their iniquities.
12
Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide
the
spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death,
and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many,
and hath prayed for the transgressors.
11 Nativity
Read Lk 1:26-38
26 And in the sixth month, the angel
Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David: and the virgin's name was Mary.
28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying and thought with
herself what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found
grace with God.
31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son:
and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
32
He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And
the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father: and he
shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever.
33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know
not man?
35
And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And
therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called
the
Son of God.
36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath
conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her
that is called barren.
37 Because no word shall be impossible with God.
38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me
according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Note that Jesus is of the house of David (vs 27). He shall have an
everlasting kingdom as prophesied by Isaiah. The
fathers of the church and others have commented that “full of grace”
must mean without sin. Since Mary could not have the joy of Baptism to
remove original sin, she must, therefore, have been born free of sin
(Immaculate Conception). The name Jesus means “Jehova is salvation.”
12 Passion
The
Passion of Christ (Lk 22-24) illustrates that Jesus is the new
sacrificial lamb, just as in Exodus the blood of the lamb set the
people free from the bondage of Egypt, thus the Blood of Christ sets us
free from true bondage, that of sin. Recall also Isaac in the story of
Abraham and how God saves Isaac, but his own Son is not withheld. Note Mt
26:26-28). Jesus
calls this the new Covenant.
26
And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread and blessed and
broke
and gave to his disciples and said: Take ye and eat. This is my
body.
This
is my body... He does not say, This is the figure of my body--but This
is my body. (2 Council of Nice, Act. 6.) Neither does he say in this,
or with this is my body; but absolutely, This is my body: which plainly
implies transubstantiation.
27 And taking the
chalice, he gave thanks and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of
this.
Drink
ye all of this... This was spoken to the twelve apostles; who were the
all then present; and they all drank of it, says Mark 14:23. But it no
ways follows from these words spoken to the apostles, that all the
faithful are here commanded to drink of the chalice; any more than that
all the faithful are commanded to consecrate, offer and administer this
sacrament; because Christ upon this same occasion, and at the same
time, bid the apostles do so; in these words, Luke 22:19, Do this for a
commemoration of me.
28 For this is my
blood of the new testament, which shall be shed for many unto
remission of sins.
Blood
of the new testament... As the old testament was dedicated with the
blood of victims, by Moses, in these words: This is the blood of the
testament, etc. [Hebrews 9:20]; so here is the dedication and
institution of the new testament, in the blood of Christ, here
mystically shed by these words: This is the blood of the new testament,
etc.
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