Having looked at the first 5 books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy – it is worth reviewing these pivotal books, collectively called The Pentateuch, or Torah (The Law), before we go with God’s people into the Promised Land.

In Genesis, God created the heavens and the earth. He made everything very good, including the first humans, Adam and Eve, to live in perfect relationship with Him. But they disobeyed His command, breaking that relationship with God and bringing sin and death into the world. Even so, God gave a promise: one day, a descendant of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. That promise pointed forward to Jesus, who would ultimately defeat sin and Satan.

As humanity spread and sin increased, God chose one man -Abraham - to advance His plan of redemption. God made a covenant with him, promising land, descendants, and that through his offspring, all nations would be blessed. This promise was kept through Isaac, then Jacob, whose twelve sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. One of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his brothers but later rose to power in Egypt, where he saved many lives from starvation. His story foreshadowed Jesus, who was rejected by His own people yet exalted to bring salvation.

In Exodus, Israel had become a large nation but was enslaved in Egypt. God raised up Moses to deliver His people. Through signs and plagues, God displayed His power, culminating in the final ‘plague’ – the angel of death taking the life of all the first born in Egypt. The Israelite’s first born were spared because they had marked their doors with the blood of sacrificed lambs. (This event pointed to Jesus, the true Lamb, whose blood would save from eternal death.) Pharoah relented and let the Israelites go.