A Brief Outline of Salvation History

<Home>

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?

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

  1. Creation (Gen 1, Gen 2)
  2. Fall of Adam and Eve  (Gen 3:1-6) (humanity) and promise of salvation (Gen 3:13-15)
  3. Descendants of Adam and Eve fall further and further into sin and rebellion to God (Gen 4-6)
  4. Noah and the Flood (Gen 6) and God’s Covenant (Gen 8:15-22, Gen 9)
  5. Abraham (Gen 12-25), Promise (Gen 15, Note 15:13) and Covenant (Gen 17)
  6. Jacob (Gen 25:20-25, 29-49) who becomes Israel (Gen 35:10) . Note Gen 49 for prophesy about the 12 sons (tribes).
  7. Sojourne (Gen 46) in Egypt (Joseph Gen 37-50)
  8. Moses and the Exodus. Passover (Ex 11-13). Flight from Egypt (Ex 14-15) and God’s Covenant with Israel (Ex 20)
  9. 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)
  10. 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)
  11. Nativity (Lk 1:26-38)
  12. 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.

<Home>