Was it how good a person was or how bad that determined who was chosen?  If the Bible was being written today would any of us qualify?  It appears that those who were selected had a story that illustrated to us want God wanted us to know about life.

The Bible had to start with Adam and Eve.  How else would we have known what caused the downfall of man and the result of sin?  Next we have Cain and Abel.  From them we learned the importance of tithing and how destructive envy can be.  Cain was envious of Abel because God favored Abel due to his obedience to God whereas; Cain displeased God through his disobedient actions.

The enviousness and the immorality of people before the flood caused God to start over again.  He made a covenant with Noah.  Noah worked for 120 years building the ark.  We learn the importance of trusting God, hard work and diligence pleased God.

Nimrod, a mighty warrior elected to build a city and a tower that reached into the heavens so they could make a name for themselves.  God caused confusion in their language so they could not understand each other.  Before that, they all communicated with the same language.  They were unable to complete their tower.  This caused people to scatter over the face of the earth.  From Nimrod we learn the importance of humility and God is displeased with egotistic people.

God selects Abram because of his faith to become a nation.  We learn from Genesis 12:3 – “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”  God uses Israel to teach the world that there is a God and He can either bless or curse those who are obedient or those who are disobedient.  Throughout the Old Testament God blessed and prospered some and others were cursed.  God teaches that He requires faith and we are to trust in Him.

Abraham and Sarah decided to use Hagar to produce a son for Abraham.  Ishmael was born and then the two had a son, Isaac.  Isaac received much more attention from Abraham and Sarah than they gave to Ishmael. Because of envy, Hagar and Ishmael mocked Isaac.  It resulted in Hagar and Ishmael having to leave.  God promised Hagar that a great nation would come from Ishmael.  (Genesis 21:18) From these two sons two nations occurred.  The problem Cain had with Abel also was between Ishmael and Isaac, envy.  To this day they are unable to live with each other in peace.  (Maybe it is time to define envy: It is wanting something so badly that they will do anything to get it.  If someone else has what they want they will do whatever is necessary to either get it or keep others from having it.)  Does that sound like the Palestinians vs. the Israelites?

We learn that Isaac has two sons Jacob and Esau.  Esau, the oldest gave his birthright to Jacob.  Later Esau wanted his birthright back but does not get it.  Envy and hatred develops.  To this day their descendants cannot live in peace with each other.

God used judges and prophets teaching people how to live and what was required.  We were given illustrations of what happened to people who were devoted believers and those who rejected God.  Prophets were used to predict the future.  It was knowing we had a Creator that could plan the future, provided people with hope and security.  As a result, we can live believing that the future ahead of us is foretold in the Book of Revelation and we can trust it will happen as described.

We skip to the birth of Christ.  Jesus comes to bring us a New Covenant and a different description of God’s love, grace and character.  Christ selects 12 common people to be His disciples. I believe this is to illustrate that the average person can do all things if the Holy Spirit is within them. He trains His disciples to teach God’s “WILL” to all sinners.  Which is: To accept Christ as the Son of God and Savior of the world, to study the Bible daily and live the way it says and do not deviate from God’s requirements.

Those named in the New Testament were instrumental in sharing the Gospel that Christ came to communicate to all of us.  We learned that God can forgive, we can receive His Spirit and our name can be entered in a book as important as the Bible.  That is the Book of Life.  Those, whose names are entered in that Book, will spend eternity with God and Christ.  Having your name entered does not depend on how hard you worked but have you accepted the offer of salvation?  If so, your name will be entered and probably in BOLD letters.

P.S.  I started blogging March 2009.  This is my 300^th blog.  God willing, I will continue every Monday and Thursday as long as people continue to read them.  There are about 20 hits per day.  Thanks for your participation!