The Maker chose Abraham to start a nation to reflect His beauty. There were problems from the start because Abraham tried to help The Maker by having a child called Ismael by natural means. No miracles were needed but this was not the son they were promised and many troubles came because of this. The miracle finally happened and his name was Isaac. Only one of Isaac’s sons inherited the promise of being the special nation; he is called Israel. Israel had twelve sons. They were all saved from a great famine by going to Egypt where Joseph, one of the twelve was sent ahead, ready to receive them with plentiful supplies. A few generations later, having multiplied lots, they became oppressed slaves. Through Moses, The Maker sent ten terrible plagues which forced people to choose to be either counted with Israel or on Pharaoh’s side. They were rescued wonderfully and were promised the land of Canaan as a home. If they followed The Maker's instructions it would go amazingly well for them. If not, they would end up being kicked out into the nations for a very long time. At Israel’s height there was a good King called David who listened to the Maker. Here is where the plot thickens; after David died the nation was split into two parts! The northern part eventually, because they kept refusing to follow The Maker's instructions, went off as prisoners to Assyria and then later wandered off deeper into obscurity - we will leave that there to gain some suspense! The southern part (now called the Jews) themselves shortly after went into captivity in Babylon - we can follow their story as they never lost their identity. It is through the Jewish part of Israel we received Messiah and the instruction/story book intact.
Because the hope of the restoration of Israel was delayed, many looked elsewhere for their hope, taking some of the things Messiah said and fitted them into a different hope of a “less earthly” kingdom. This distorting of all the promises robbed them of much understanding about what is going on “down here”. By this they separated themselves from Israel in their minds and made up something else called “church” (though the word always used to describe a gathering of the people of the Maker - k’hal/congregation - was always only used for the nation of Israel). This new group teach people that they no longer need to follow The Maker's instructions, which they say were never even possible to keep. They pick and choose which commandments/instructions are still valid. Many of them also hope to be beamed up before the big predicted trouble comes.
Meanwhile here on earth......Israel is awaiting the great promise of being brought home AFTER this time of trouble (just like it was after the plagues in Egypt when they left). It will be trouble like there has never been before or never will be again. Now, you need to know that the foundation of Islamic belief is that Israel was rejected permanently and now they get to rule the world through force. This detail sets the stage for the last few years of trouble which come before the great restoration where the two parts of Israel are joined back together with a big celebration! Messiah will unite both parts of the nation. The revealing of Joseph, ooops, I mean The northern part of Israel (wink wink nudge nudge),..... is the biggest twist in the book!
Through Messiah we can be forgiven for our sins (i.e. for not following The Maker's instructions) and be joined back into the nation of Israel which will soon, once again, reflect His beauty here on EARTH by keeping all the instructions, with a soft heart. These instructions are described as life throughout the good book!
What a wonderful story which is right now reaching such a climax.
