As you read through this section you may like to refer back to the diagram which gives an overview of God’s plan of salvation.  See also this map.

The need for preparation

There was once an obstinate and ill-tempered man who became ill.  At first he didn’t feel very bad but only rather tired, and he took little notice of it.  His friends, however, were worried about him and thought that unless he saw a doctor he would become very ill indeed.  So one day they suggested that he should make an appointment and see a doctor.  This annoyed the man who said, “I’m not a bit ill, and I’m certainly not going to bother to see a doctor”.  “Well”, they replied, “shall we ask him to come and see you?”  This made him extremely angry.  “You can if you like”, he said, “but I won’t open the door to him”.  It was only after some weeks that he realised he was ill and needed a doctor, and then he called one in who was able to make him better.

In the same way, it was of little use for God to come into the world in the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ until the world, or part of it, realised that it needed him and was ready to receive him.  First of all people had to learn to love him, and to grasp the fact that their sins and wickedness were keeping them from him. Only when they knew that, would they want him to save them from being separated from him for ever after this life was over.  So, before God became a human being in the Person of Jesus Christ, he spent 2,000 years in making the world ready to receive him.

He did this by choosing one people – the Hebrew people, the People of Israel (later known as the Jews) – among whom he would be born.  And then all the nations of the world, all the families of the earth would have the chance of being brought by him to Heaven.  But we must go back in time now to the days of Abraham.

Abraham

From Ur to Haran

About 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, there was a man who lived with his family in a city called Ur, one of the oldest cities in the world.  The man’s name was Abram.  After a time he left Ur and travelled north to another city called Haran, some 600 miles away.  There he grew rich and became the chief of a small tribe.  This was the tribe which God had decided to use.

However, there was a problem with Haran.  In it was a big temple where the people worshipped the moon as their god; in fact the city was a great centre for moon-worshippers.  For this reason God had to get Abram and his tribe away from the place.

A special land

A man was once given a little plant by a friend who told him that, if he looked after it properly, it would grow into a lovely flower.  When the man got home he put the plant in his garden, but some days later, when he came to see how it was getting on, he found that a lot of thistles were coming up round it.  He knew that thistles are difficult to get rid off and because they were spoiling the growth of the plant, he prepared a little bed for it in the corner of his garden free from weeds.  Then he replanted it in the new bed by itself and there it grew into a beautiful flower.

So God had prepared a little land called Canaan or Palestine for his Chosen People to live, away from the influence of pagan nations where the people worshipped objects like the moon and made these objects their gods.

From Haran to Canaan

One day God told Abram that he must leave Haran: “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.  I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (NRSV, Genesis 12:1-3).  So Abram left Haran as God had told him.  Abram and his people packed all their belongings and travelled south until they came to Canaan where they settled.  The years passed and Abram, who was now known as Abraham, died.  His grandson’s name was Israel and the tribe took its name from him.  They were called the children of Israel or the Israelites.  Later on they were called Jews.

Moses

Famine

After they had been in Canaan a long time there was a great famine in the land and it was very difficult to get enough to eat.  Only in one place was there sufficient food and that was the land of Egypt.  So the tribe went there with all their flocks and herds and settled down in a part of the country called Goshen.

Slavery in Egypt

They lived there quite happily for about 400 years until a new Pharaoh, or King of Egypt, came to his throne.  He didn’t like the Israelites because by now they had become a strong nation of 12 tribes, and he was afraid that they might join his enemies and fight against him.  He therefore made them slaves and set them to work on making great public buildings.

Escape from Egypt

God decided that the time had come for them to leave Egypt as they had left Haran, and to settle in Canaan for good.  They could not escape without a leader and so God chose a man named Moses who asked Pharaoh to let the people go.  Pharaoh refused but one night Moses led them out.  In the morning Pharaoh found that they had escaped and sent his army after them to catch them.

When the Israelites got to the Red Sea they saw on the skyline behind them the cloud of dust thrown up by the wheels of the Egyptian war chariots as they came racing towards them.  The Israelites, however, were able to cross the Red Sea during the night because God sent a strong east wind to keep the tide back.  But when the Egyptians tried to cross, the tide came up, their chariot wheels stuck in the sand and they were drowned.  “Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.  Israel saw the great work that the Lord did against the Egyptians.  So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses” (NRSV, Exodus 14: 30-31).

SUMMARY

1. Before he was born into the world as Jesus Christ, God had to prepare the world to receive him.  His ‘Chosen People’ were the Hebrew people, also known as the Israelites, and later the Jews.

2. First God brought Abraham from Ur to Canaan or Palestine where Abraham’s family became a tribe known as the children of Israel or the Israelites.

3. Because of famine they went to live in Egypt where later they were enslaved, but God rescued them through Moses, their leader.