Canaan Revisited: A Chronological Synopsis of the Old Testament

Prologue

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The Old Testament is the foundation of three of the world’s great religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. As such, it should be the best read, understood, enjoyed, and personally rewarding text in all of literature. Unfortunately, this may not be the case due to its intimidating length, subject juxtaposition, repetition, and the fact that humankind’s interests and values have changed dramatically over the past 3,500 years.

Honoring a pledge I made to myself to read the Old Testament straight through, all 39 books and 984 pages (my Bible), I commenced my study as though I was preparing for a test by summarizing the key highlights of each book. In the course of my venture, my outline gradually took on a life of its own and morphed into Canaan Revisited: a Chronological Synopsis of the Old Testament. The result is a book that will appeal to individuals such as myself, who for various reasons never had the opportunity to read the Old Testament, or if they did, they failed to accomplish their objective. That said, Canaan Revisited is intended for the flock, and not the shepherds. Clergy will benefit from the CHURCH MEMBER REGENERATION action plan included in the APPENDIX.

The principal Bible I used was my family heirloom Scofield Reference Edition (written in 1909), which I crossed referenced with my King James (written in 1611). I specifically chose the oldest Bibles available, as I felt the older the Bible, the closer to the unrevised truth. The Scofield was literally heaven sent as it incorporated a chronological timeline developed by James Ussher, Archbishop of Ireland (1581 – 1655), which combined with my synoptic approach enabled me to consolidate and reorganize the books in linear order. In order to place the Old Testament’s chronological events in perspective, I included the chronology of major mid-east nations’ noteworthy events that occurred during each book’s time-frame and included them at conclusion.

While Ussher’s timeline was wonderful for improved Old Testament book organization and understanding, he was born 370 years too early to be able to take advantage of present-day scientific dating techniques which estimate the earth’s age at 4.7 billion years. Accordingly, Canaan Revisited begins its narrative following Adam and Eve in 4004 BC.

The synoptic reorganization made the Old Testament easier to read and understand. Of far greater importance, it significantly improved the Old Testament’s narrative flow from one book to another, from beginning to end. In the process, all the separate devotional books (four) were consolidated into one book, and all the separate prophetic books (20) were combined, by name and prophesy, into one book. In total, the number of Old Testament pages and books were reduced from 984/39 to 175/15.

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Upon completion of Canaan Revisited, I was surprised by the number of Old Testament prophesies that have been realized and proven true, and those that are unfolding at the present time. Of particular concern to me is the decline in the United States of America’s and other free world nations’ (as applicable) societal morality, that has worsened with each succeeding generation following WWII.

Canaan Revisited provides examples of the decline, along with corrective action recommendations for improvement.

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Given the Old Testament’s significant importance, Canaan Revisited is a good way to obtain increased knowledge of, and appreciation for, God and God’s omnipotent powers. Thusly, readers may wish to have a Holy Bible handy to study subjects of interest in greater detail when reading Canaan Revisited, and as such, it should earn a place on everyone’s bookshelf next to the Holy Bible.

Book 1 - Genesis

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Period covered:

4004 BC to 1689 BC

Genesis initiates the self-revelation of God, which builds throughout the Old Testament, leading to the introduction of the Messiah.

CREATION

Genesis starts at the beginning – the creation of all things: the heavens (sun, moon, and stars), light, waters, earth (life, fish, fowls, beasts, and cattle) and man in the image of God.

The first four, and the most fundamental of God’s eight covenants (perpetual promises or agreements) with humankind, occur in Genesis.

The First Covenant, EDENIC… outlines man’s responsibilities for creation.

The Second Covenant, ADAMIC… introduces the eating of forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve’s sin, and their and humankind’s punishment.

4004 BC

As they were unable to experience life everlasting following their sin, God sent Adam and Eve east – out of the garden of Eden. There, knowing the difference between right and wrong, Adam and Eve commenced their lives as husband and wife, and Eve gave birth to sons: Abel and Cain. Cain killed Abel, humankind’s first murder, and was cursed by God.

2353 BC

As humankind multiplied, they adopted sinful and incestual behavior. God’s wrath and resolution to the practices was to obliterate humankind from the face of earth.

God remembered Noah and his family as being righteous, and instructed Noah in the construction of an ark that would accommodate Noah and his family as well as male and female pairings of every form of beast and fowl.

2349 BC

Upon completion of the ark, God caused a great flood which lasted for one hundred and fifty days, drowning every man and beast on earth. The flood waters then subsided, settling the ark on Mt. Ararat. When the ground was dry, God instructed Noah to disembark his family and all the beasts.

Upon disembarking, God made His Third Covenant, the NOAHIC… stating that He would never again destroy the earth by flood. Following God’s promise, Noah and his family continued their lives and the reproduction of their offspring.

2247 BC

As the issue of humankind increased and expanded, they all spoke the same language. One group, wanting to distinguish themselves from the others, decided to build their city’s tower taller than any other, tall enough to reach heaven. In order to impede their project, God created diverse languages. The variations precluded different workers from understanding one another, thus foiling their tower building initiative (think Tower of Babel – Babylon). God then scattered the diversified individuals and groups throughout the world.

2126 BC

God made His Fourth Covenant, the ABRAHAMIC. God favored Abram, a descendant through Shem. As Abram was traveling through Canaan, he was visited by God, who told him that He would make Abram a present of Canaan. God then told Abram that He would make Abram’s name great, and that Abram would have many descendants, making him the father of many nations. God then described Canaan and its boundaries.

Abram was married to Sarai, who was beautiful but barren. Abram and Sarai journeyed through Canaan, where they experienced famine conditions. To avoid the situation, they traveled to Egypt, where because of Sarai’s beauty, Abram asked Sarai to pose as his sister. This was because he feared he would be killed (out of jealously) by the Egyptians.

Sarai’s beauty was immediately observed by the princes. They recommended her to the Pharoah, who subsequently took her into his court.

As her brother, Abram prospered immensely as he amassed large herds of sheep, oxen, he and she asses and camels, in addition to menservants and maidservants.

God punished the Pharoah with plagues for taking Sarai. The Pharoah then confronted Abram for his trickery, and ordered him to take Sarai, his wealth and herds and leave Egypt.

God reconfirmed His fourth covenant, and presented Abram the gift of the land of Canaan to own and populate. Two years later, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham. Sarai’s name was subsequently changed to Sarah.

Upon returning to his home in Canaan after rescuing his nephew Lot from raiders and retrieving Lot’s property, Abraham stopped in Salem (Jerusalem) where he was hosted by the king, who was also a high theocratic priest, Melchizedek, who served him bread and wine. Abraham was impressed by the high priest and presented him a 10% tithe of the bounty he obtained in rescuing Lot. Note: this meeting had historical significance: (1) Abraham’s tithe was the first in humankind’ existence [Hebrews 7:2], (2) one thousand nine hundred eighteen years later, Jesus Christ was born in Abraham’s genealogical chain in the order