1. God
Delivers His People (Exodus 3:1-10; 12:23-31, 50-51)
2. The
Covenant Established (Exodus 19:1-8; Deuteronomy 7:6-11)
3. Israel’s
Inheritance Affirmed and Realized (Joshua 1:1-9; 24:1-15)
Central Truth:
God
established His covenant with the people of Israel.
Focus: Consider God’s faithfulness
to His covenant people and trust Him.
Evangelism
Emphasis:
God, through Israel, brought Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.
Memory Text: “Because the Lord loved you [Israel], . . . the Lord brought
you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you” (Deuteronomy 7:8).
INTRODUCTION
God promised that the descendants of Abraham and Sarah would be
a “great nation” (Gen. 12:2). When the children of Israel moved to Egypt under
the leadership of Joseph, they numbered less than a hundred. But each of
Abraham’s descendants had the promise of God’s blessing. As the centuries
progressed, the children of Israel (the Hebrews) flourished in Egypt.
Eventually, a new Egyptian government gained power which had no
knowledge of Israel’s privileged status as the family of Joseph. The new
government enslaved the descendants of Abraham. It seemed the promise of God
was nothing more than an ancient memory. The Egyptian pharaoh confined the
Israelites to slave labor, building temples dedicated to the gods of Egypt.
Even so, God’s predestined purpose ensured that He would keep the promise to
Abraham and deliver his descendants.
Moses, a descendant of Abraham, was born during dangerous
times. Pharaoh feared the growing number of Israelites, so he decreed that all
newborn males were to be executed (Ex. 1:22). Moses’ mother refused to allow
her son to die. She set him afloat in a waterproof basket in the Nile River
near the place where Pharaoh’s family bathed. Pharaoh’s daughter rescued the
infant, allowed the baby’s mother to nurse him, and eventually brought Moses
into the house of Pharaoh as her son (2:1-10). Moses was an Egyptian in language,
dress, and culture, but his heart was Hebrew (Heb. 11:24-27).
Moses became angry over the suffering of the Hebrews. When he
saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, Moses intervened and killed the
Egyptian. He fled Egypt to avoid prosecution for the crime and settled in the
land of Midian (Ex. 2:11-15). Many years later, as Moses was tending a flock of
sheep near Mount Sinai, “the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the
midst of a bush” (3:2 NKJV). God called Moses to be the deliverer of the
descendants of Abraham.
1. GOD DELIVERS HIS PEOPLE
A. God’s Call to Moses (Exodus 3:1-10)
7 And the Lord said, I
have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard
their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am
come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them
up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites,
and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore,
behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen
the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and
I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the
children of Israel out of Egypt.
Egypt was a great and powerful civilization with a prosperous
economy and a mighty military. The descendants of Abraham were suffering the
oppression of slavery. But one of their own, Moses, was tending sheep on “the
backside of the desert” (v. 1). There God spoke to him from a burning bush,
identifying Himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob” (v. 6). This indicated God remembered
His covenant with them. The Hebrew slaves may have felt abandoned, but they
were not.
In verses 7 and 9, God
says He heard His people’s prayerful
groanings, which were expressions of hope in the promises of God. The people
who suffered oppression cried out, and God responded to their cries. God has
“also seen” the oppression. God does not turn a deaf ear, nor a blind eye, to
human sufferings.
In verse 7, God said, “I know.” God knew beforehand every
possible alternative for Israel’s destiny. When God led the children of Israel
into Egypt to escape the famine in the days of Joseph, He knew the Egyptians
would eventually enslave them. But He also knew the way out of Egypt and into
the Promised Land.
God called Moses and sent him “unto Pharaoh” (v. 10). In the
mythology of Egypt, the pharaoh was a god—the son of the sun-god Atum-Ra. Moses stood before the mighty
son of Atum-Ra as a prophet of the God of Hebrew slaves. This was a
confrontation between the God of Abraham and the gods of Egypt. God sent nine
plagues upon Egypt, and each plague was an attack on an Egyptian deity. The
first plague turned the Nile River (the birthplace of the gods) into a river of
blood, signifying the death of the gods. The plague of frogs was a curse
against the Egyptian goddess of fertility. The plagues of lice, flies, boils,
hail, and locusts were attacks against the Egyptian deities of the earth, wind,
and sky. The plague of darkness demonstrated the impotence of Egypt’s sun-god.
The final plague, the death of the firstborn, attacked the very house of
Pharaoh and endangered Egypt’s posterity. Throughout the story, Egypt’s gods
remained unnamed, which signifies their utter lack of authority. They were not
gods at all.
·
Do Christians still have
“holy ground” (v. 5) encounters today?
·
What did God see and hear
(vv. 7, 10), and why should that encourage us?
B. God Reveals the
Divine Name (Exodus
3:13-15)
13 And Moses said unto
God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them,
The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What
is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT
I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath
sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto
the children of Israel, The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for
ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.
Moses was reared in the house of Pharaoh, which was dedicated
to the worship of Egypt’s gods. Moses would have been very familiar with the
religion of Egypt. But, he also knew of the God of his mother who had nursed
him as a small child. When Moses encountered God in the burning bush at Mount
Sinai, he had one primary question: “Who are You?” Or, “What is Your name?” God
replied, “I AM WHO I AM” (v. 14 NKJV), or, in the Hebrew language, Yahweh.
In older English versions, the name of God is transliterated as
Jehovah. Most English translations of
the Bible resist using the divine name and most often translate Yahweh as “Lord” or “God” (all capital
letters). The divine name, Yahweh,
signifies God is the self-sufficient One, or the self-existing One. Whereas the
gods of Egypt supposedly emerged from the primeval swamps of the Nile River,
Yahweh is eternally self-contained. Before time and space, before light and
darkness, before the earth and the heavens, there was Yahweh.
Prior to Moses confronting Pharaoh, the name of the God of Abraham was unknown to the people of Egypt (5:2). However, by the end of the plagues, all of Egypt knew the name of the God of Abraham (9:16). Yahweh is Israel’s warrior who has defeated the gods of Egypt and the mighty army of Pharaoh (15:3ff.). The psalmist exclaimed, “Great is Yahweh, worthy of all praise, more awesome than any of the gods. All the gods of the nations are idols!” (Ps. 96:4-5a NJB).
· Why is “I AM WHO I AM” (v. 14 NKJV) such a powerful name?
C. The Passover—A New
Beginning
(Exodus 12:23-25)
23 For the Lord will
pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the
lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will
not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. 24 And ye
shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. 25
And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the Lord will give
you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service.
The Passover signified a new “beginning” for the people of
Israel (v. 2). The Passover was the final judgment plague against Egypt, and it
signified the climactic act of Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel. Yahweh passed
through the land of Egypt as Destroyer and passed over the homes of Israelites
as Savior. The gods of Egypt were powerless to protect the children of Egypt
from the judgment of Yahweh. The Passover signified Egypt’s defeat, Israel’s
redemption, and Yahweh’s victory.
Israel’s redemption was signified by a blood ritual that involved
the slaughter of an unblemished male lamb (v. 5). In the Garden of Eden, God
clothed Adam and Eve in animal skins, which suggests the slaughter of animals
(Gen. 3:21). Abel offered to God “the firstborn of his flock and of their fat,”
which suggest a burnt sacrifice (4:4 NKJV). After the Great Flood, Noah “built
an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird,
and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (8:20 NKJV). When Abraham was about
to slaughter Isaac as a sacrifice, God interceded and provided a lamb (22:8,
13-14). According to the worship traditions of Israel, animal sacrifices
signified two concepts: (1) the blood represents life as God’s gift; and (2)
the sacrificed animal is a substitution (cf. Lev. 17:11). Sacrifices
represented the mercy and grace of God who provides redemption (Jay Sklar, Leviticus). In the Passover, Israelites
were to smear the blood of the lamb on the door post of Israelite homes. The
blood signified deliverance and life for the children of Israel.
The Passover was an opportunity for non-Israelites to become
children of Abraham. When God established the covenant with Abraham,
circumcision was the covenantal sign (Gen. 17:10-14). When the Israelites were
making their exodus from Egypt, they were accompanied by a “mixed multitude”
(Ex. 12:38). Foreigners were prohibited from celebrating the Passover (v. 43).
However, if a foreigner desired to express faith in the God of Israel and
celebrate Passover, they could do so, provided they were first circumcised (v.
48). The Passover anticipated the salvation of the Gentiles.
Just as the Passover reminded the Israelites of God’s redemptive love, the Lord’s Supper is a memorial of God’s redemptive love in Jesus Christ. Israel celebrated God’s deliverance with a Passover meal of roasted lamb, bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and wine (vv. 8-11). Passover was “an act of remembering.” God remembered Israel by delivering them from Egypt. Israel remembered God by celebrating Passover and telling the Exodus story generation after generation. Without the Passover, succeeding generations would have been born in slavery. Passover was more than remembering a historic event that liberated ancestors; it was an annual reenactment celebrating the liberation of successive generations.
· What was the significance of the blood on the doorposts?
D. Christ, Our Passover (Exodus 12:26-27, 50-51)
26 And it shall come to
pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27
That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover, who passed over
the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and
delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
50 Thus did all
the children of Israel; as the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they. 51
And it came to pass the selfsame day, that the Lord did bring the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies.
Paul stated, “For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed
for us” (1 Cor. 5:7 NKJV). Jesus reinterpreted and fulfilled Passover through
His sacrificial death. Just before He was crucified, Jesus celebrated Passover
with His disciples. “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it,
and gave it to them and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the
cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from
it. And He said to them, ‘This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed
for many’” (Mark 14:22-24 NKJV).
Christians gather to eat the holy meal to remember the sacrificial death of Christ. To remember Christ’s passion through the Lord’s Supper is to participate in the event.
· Why must parents initiate discussions about spiritual matters with their children?
Foundation for Human
Liberty
The history of humanity has
many documents that seek to promote human liberty. The Great Charter of
Liberties, also known as Magna Carta, was agreed to in 1215
and protected the rights of citizens against a tyrannical king. The Declaration
of Independence, signed in 1776, asserted that “all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, which led to the
thirteenth amendment to the Constitution which abolished slavery. The ancient
story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt is the Biblical foundation for human
liberty.
2. THE COVENANT ESTABLISHED
After departing Egypt, the Israelites camped at the shores of
the Red Sea. The Egyptian pharaoh and his armies pursued the Israelites, but
God parted the seas and made a way of escape for the Israelites. The Egyptian
army perished in the waters of the Red Sea. Moses brought the children of
Abraham to the place where he had encountered God—Mount Sinai. There God and
Abraham’s descendants entered into a covenant which transformed a mixed
multitude of escaped slaves into a holy nation.
A. Kingdom of Priests (Exodus 19:5-8)
5 Now therefore, if ye
will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar
treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 6 And ye shall be
unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which
thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called for
the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the
Lord commanded him. 8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that
the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people
unto the Lord.
In Genesis 1, God created the cosmos by speaking. In Genesis
12, God established a covenant with Abraham by speaking. Now, at Mount Sinai,
Yahweh speaks to all of the descendants of Abraham to create a holy nation.
Yahweh has demonstrated devotion to Israel by bringing them out of Egypt and to
Mount Sinai (Ex. 19:4). The Israelites are to respond in obedience to Yahweh’s
voice by keeping the covenant. This is a choice of faith by which the nation is
reborn. The reborn Israelites will be Yahweh’s “peculiar [special] treasure”
(v. 5). Yahweh claims possession of all the peoples of the earth—“all the earth
is mine.” But the nation of Israel will have priority above all other nations
because they serve as Yahweh’s priestly people—“a kingdom of priests” (v. 6).
The word kingdom
asserts Yahweh’s authority over all the earth. The ancient peoples believed the
gods were bound to their geographical domain and their kings were descended
from the gods. The gods ensured the power, wealth, and security of the nation.
In the Passover, God demonstrated His power and authority over Pharaoh and the
gods of Egypt. “Yahweh will be king for ever and ever” (15:18 NJB).
Priests are mediators
between God and humanity. They are custodians of divine revelation (see Rom.
9:4). As a priestly nation, the Israelites were to be a missionary people,
proclaiming the name of Yahweh throughout the world (Ex. 9:16; Rom. 9:17). The
ultimate goal of God’s reign is that it be extended throughout the earth (Isa.
2:1-4; Mic. 4:2f.; Zech. 14:9).
God decreed Israel to be a “holy nation” (Ex. 19:6). The
concept of holiness signifies “a
compelling moral demand” (Alan Cole, Exodus:
An Introduction and Commentary). Yahweh revealed the moral obligations of
the covenant in the Ten Commandments. As a holy nation, the people of Yahweh
are to reflect God’s character: “And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the Lord
am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine” (Lev.
20:26). Israel’s creed expresses the heart of a holy nation: “Hear, O Israel;
The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul . . . and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:29-30).
After Moses finished declaring this message from the Lord, “all
the people responded together, ‘We will do everything the Lord has commanded’”
(Ex. 19:8 NLT).
· How does 1 Peter 2:9 echo Exodus 19:5, and why is that significant?
B. A Chosen People (Deuteronomy 7:6-8)
6 For thou art an
holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a
special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the
earth. 7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye
were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8
But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had
sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and
redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of
Egypt.
Yahweh is gracious. Israel was not a powerful and wealthy
nation. They were a mixed multitude of slaves—“the least of all peoples” whom
God “set His love on” (v. 7 NKJV). The Hebrew word āšaq (translated as “affection” or “love”) suggests an intense form
of love at work in Yahweh’s choice of Israel (Edward Woods, Deuteronomy). Predestination is an exercise of God’s intense love. In love, God
predestined Abraham of Ur to be the father of a priestly kingdom. In love, God
chose Jacob over Esau to be the son of promise. In love, God chose Israel over
all the nations of the earth to be a “special people.” God’s choosing is called
election. The doctrine of election
means that God chooses a person, or a people, for a special redemptive purpose.
In verse 8, the word redeemed
suggests the paying of a ransom for the purpose of legally freeing a slave and
giving the slave the rights and privileges of a freed person (Woods).
Redemption effected a transformation of status for the nation of Israel. Yahweh
transformed a nation of slaves into a royal priesthood. God elected Abraham to
bless all the nations of the earth. God elected Israel to be a priestly nation
so all nations of the earth would come to know Yahweh.
Yahweh is “the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a
thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (v. 9
NKJV). The almighty and all-knowing Yahweh will overcome any obstacles to the
divine redemptive plan. God knew Abraham’s descendants would suffer Egyptian
oppression. But He promised that Israel would be delivered from Egypt as a
prosperous nation (Gen. 15:13-14). As the nation of Israel wandered through the
wilderness, they faced many threats and obstacles. But God’s promise will
endure “for a thousand generations.” Throughout Israel’s long history, the
people will again and again exclaim, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is
good! For His mercy endures forever” (Ps. 107:1 NKJV).
·
How did God show the Israelites
that they were His chosen people?
The Church’s “Mixed
Multitude”
The redemption language of
the Old Testament is used throughout the New Testament to speak of the Church
as a new Israel. The apostle Peter used the terms from Exodus 19 to define the
church as “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, [God’s] own
special people” (1 Peter 2:9 NKJV). The apostles often referred to the church
as the “elect of God.” The apostle Paul appropriated the language of
predestination and election to speak of the Church (Eph. 1:4-5). In Revelation,
the Church is a priestly kingdom comprised of many nations (1:6; 5:9-10; 20:6).
Just as the Israel of the Old Testament comprised a “mixed multitude” who
embraced the promise of Yahweh, the New Testament church is comprised of a
mixed multitude of Jews and Gentiles who embrace the lordship of Jesus Christ.
3. ISRAEL’S INHERITANCE AFFIRMED AND REALIZED
Moses led Israel to Mount Sinai, where they became a holy
nation. Then Moses led the people through the wilderness toward the Promised
Land. The journey would take forty years and was fraught with peril because of
the stubborn unbelief of the people. The majority of the Exodus generation
perished in the wilderness. Moses died just before the nation of Israel crossed
the Jordan River into the Promised Land, but God remained faithful. Now a new
generation of Israelites were to receive the promised inheritance.
A. Inheriting the
Promised Land (Joshua 1:1-3, 5-6)
1 Now after the death of
Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass, that the Lord spake unto Joshua
the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, 2 Moses my servant is dead; now
therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land
which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. 3 Every place that the
sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto
Moses.
5 There shall not
any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with
Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. 6 Be
strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an
inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
With the death of Moses, the nation of Israel needed a leader.
It was common practice in the ancient world for a king to be succeeded by his
oldest son. But Israel was different; God (Yahweh) was their King, and Moses
was God’s prophet. Moses’ eldest son, Gershom, would not assume the leadership
of Israel. God would choose a new prophet for a new generation. Just as God
called Moses to shepherd Israel out of Egypt, He called Joshua to shepherd
Israel into the Promised Land (Num. 27:15-23). God chose Joshua because he was
“a man in whom is the Spirit” (v. 18 NKJV). The name Joshua (Hebrew, Yehoshua)
means “Yahweh saves.” Joshua had two primary responsibilities: to be Israel’s
military leader to conquer Canaan, and to administrate the allotment of land to
the tribes of Israel.
The task before Joshua was fraught with peril. Warlike peoples
with strong walled cities populated Canaan. Yahweh promised Joshua, “I will be
with you. I will not leave you, nor forsake you” (Josh. 1:5 NKJV). God is
faithful generation after generation. Yahweh’s exhortation to Joshua, “Be
strong and of a good courage” is repeated throughout the conquest of Canaan
(vv. 6-7, 9, 18; 10:25). Joshua’s success depends on his and Israel’s
faithfulness to the covenant Law (1:8). As Joshua and Israel’s army marched
through Canaan, they were assured “Yahweh your God is with you” (v. 9 NJB).
God had promised Abraham that his descendants would receive the
land of Canaan as an inheritance (Gen. 13:14-17). Even though the land was
populated with many Canaanite tribes, the land was God’s property, and He had
given it as Israel’s inheritance (Josh. 1:6). God declared that the Promised
Land was given as “an everlasting possession” (17:8) to their “descendants
forever” (13:15 NKJV).
·
List the promises God gave
to Joshua in this passage.
B. Remembering the
Covenant (24:1,
13-15)
1 And Joshua gathered
all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and
for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they
presented themselves before God.
13 And I have
given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not,
and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do
ye eat. 14 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in
truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the
flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15 And if it seem evil unto you to
serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which
your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of
the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve
the Lord.
Just as Moses had gathered Israel at Mount Sinai to make a
covenant with God, Joshua gathers his generation at Shechem to covenant with
God. Joshua rehearses the redemptive history of Israel from the days of Abraham
through the conquest of Canaan. God delivered their ancestors from idolatry and
Egyptian slavery. He delivered Israel from the peoples of Canaan (24:2-13).
Throughout the centuries, God has proved faithful. The conquest of Canaan was
successful because of Yahweh’s faithfulness, not the military skill of Israel’s
warriors.
The Exodus generation perished in the wilderness because of
unfaithfulness. The Joshua generation also struggled with unfaithfulness. As
they settled in Canaan, they began to worship the gods of Canaan. Each
generation of Israelites must remember who they are—a people in covenant with
Yahweh. Joshua reminds the people that Yahweh is a jealous God who must be
feared. Yahweh is Israel’s Savior; but Yahweh is also Israel’s Judge (vv.
19-20).
The people of Israel cannot serve Yahweh with a divided
allegiance. Yahweh must be served in sincerity and truth. The word serve is strongly emphasized (used seven
times in vv. 14-15). Joshua commanded, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve”
(v. 15). Each subsequent generation of Israelites must remember and reaffirm
the covenant with God. Each generation must choose to forsake the gods of the
nations and choose Yahweh. The continued possession of the Promised Land is
contingent upon Israel’s continued faithfulness to Yahweh.
·
Have you made the same
resolute choice (v. 15) Joshua made?
“We
urgently need people who encourage and inspire us to move toward God and away
from the world’s enticing pleasures.”—Jim Cymbala
GOD’S PROMISE ENDURES
Four thousand years have passed since God first called Abraham.
God’s promise to Abraham remains valid today, because God is faithful through a
thousand generations—His mercy endures forever. Throughout the millennia, God’s
people have faced many obstacles and enemies, many trials and tribulations.
Even so, the promise endures. That which God has predestined—the redemption of
the cosmos—will be fulfilled. The people of faith will inherit a new heaven and
a new earth.
Daily Devotions:
M. God’s Promise to
Bless Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3)
T. God’s Covenant Name Revealed (Exodus 3:13-15)
W. God’s Promise to Restore Israel (Jeremiah 29:10-14)
T. Paul’s Compassion for Israel (Romans 9:1-5)
F. Abraham’s Seed (Galatians 3:15-21)
S. A Chosen People (1 Peter 2:4-10)