After forty years of wandering, the people of Israel stood on the edge of the Promised Land. What had begun as a journey out of slavery was now entering a new chapter: a home they had never seen, but had been promised generations before. God’s covenant with Abraham—that his descendants would inherit a land “flowing with milk and honey”—was now coming to pass (Genesis 12:7; Exodus 3:8).

Under Joshua’s leadership, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River—again miraculously, as the waters parted at flood stage—and stepped into their inheritance. Their first battle came at Jericho, where God brought down walls with nothing but their obedience and a shout. Along the way, redemption stories emerged too—none more beautiful than Rahab, a Canaanite woman of questionable past, who protected Israel’s spies and was folded into God’s story, even becoming part of the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

After walking through walls of water on dry ground, the Israelites found themselves free—delivered by the hand of God from the grip of Pharaoh. What lay ahead was not just a path through the desert, but a journey of transformation, as God began shaping His people for the land He had promised.

About 50 days after the exodus, the people arrived at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:1), where they would remain for almost a year. Here, God gave Moses the Law—the covenant that would define their identity and relationship with Him. He also gave detailed instructions for building the Tabernacle, a visible reminder that God would dwell among them.

Abraham, originally named Abram, was born around 1951 BC in Ur of the Chaldeans, a descendant of Shem, son of Noah. His journey of faith began when God called him to leave his homeland and promised three blessings: land (Canaan), seed (a great nation through his descendants), and blessing (Abraham and his lineage would bless all nations). This promise, recorded in Genesis 12:1–3, is foundational in both Old and New Testament theology.

Despite his and his wife Sarah's old age, God assured them they would have a child. This miraculous promise was fulfilled 25 years later with the birth of Isaac, through whom the covenant would continue. Abraham’s faith in God's promise was counted to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6), establishing the pattern of salvation by faith.

After 370 days Noan and his family depart the ark from the global flood, God commands them in Genesis 9:7 “But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it.” However, Noah and his family did not follow God’s command. Genesis 8:4 informs us that the ark after the flood came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, likely in the region of modern-day eastern Turkey.  Noah and his entire family migrated eastward, where they settled in a plain in the land of Shinar, which is now southern Mesopotamia, corresponding to parts of modern-day Iraq, particularly near Babylon. After approximately 100-150 years the people, unified in a single language and staying in the same location, decided to build a city and a tower "with its top in the heavens" to make a name for themselves and prevent their dispersion over the earth. Genesis 11:4 states, "And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.'"

The Bible story of Noah is filled with faith, perseverance, and promise. Noah was a man who found great favor in God's eyes. The entire population of mankind during the 1656 years since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden had become evil and wicked and God decided to bring a global flood to the earth to destroy everyone but Noah and his family.

Noah is warned of the flood and given directions for building the ark. (Genesis 6:12-21) God told Noah his purpose to destroy the wicked world by water. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, Psalm 25:14. “The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.” It is with all believers, enabling them to understand and apply the declarations and warnings of the written word.

In the Garden of Eden disobedience (Genesis 3:6-7) caused humans to be separated from God. From there humanity plunged into a state of total depravity (Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12–21). Our entire being—mind, body, will, and spirit—has been corrupted by the power of sin.

Sadly, humans lost what God had given them-- dominion, divine part of the image of God (righteousness and holiness), the personal relationship with God, and eternal life on this earth--death is instituted.

God gave Adam the responsibility to be fruitful and multiply, to subdue the earth and have control and dominion over it (Genesis 1:28). In essence, God handed over the title deed to this earth to Adam and Eve. The Fall, described in Genesis chapter 3, happens after humans were tempted by Satan to eat a fruit. This seems fairly innocent and does not rank on our radar of crime. However, it was a deliberate choice to disobey God which was a sin and separated them from God.

On our tiny planet many scientists theorize that a human with 37.2 billion cells in his/her body and highly developed brains came through billions of years of evolution. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) Copilot describes the theory of evolution as follows:

“Humans started as simple, single-celled organisms like amoebas in primordial seas, evolving into complex, multicellular life forms over billions of years from simple bacteria to fish, then amphibians, reptiles, and eventually mammals. Each step was shaped by natural selection and environmental changes. Feels a bit sci-fi, right?”

(You will find AI’s last sentence above is exactly where reality lands. Even AI questions this manmade theory as sci-fi.)

The very first verse in the Bible is Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. The Hebrew word for create “bara” in Genesis means to make something out of nothing. Using a faith-based literal interpretation of Genesis, 4004 BC is the most commonly cited date for the creation of the world.

A vast number of scientists, astronomers, and cosmologists believe the “Big Bang Theory” was the beginning of our universe with a current estimate of 200 billion trillion stars and planets. (They also put this theory in the context of an understandable “something”.)   Artificial Intelligence (AI) Copilot describes it as follows…

(This article provides excerpts from the book “Journey Through the Bible and Your Story” which will be available on Amazon books later in the summer.)

As mentioned in the previous article on angels, angels are created beings, subject to temptations and flaws. Angels, while given approach to God, are not perfect beings, for only God is perfect. Angels do not share in God's sovereignty and attributes. They are not omnipresent (everywhere present), omniscient (all knowing), or omnipotent (all powerful).  

Ezekial 28:14-15 describes that God placed Lucifer, a created angel, in a high position. “You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you.”

(This article provides excerpts from the book “Journey Through the Bible and Your Story” which will be available on Amazon books later in the summer.)

Our culture takes angels seriously, if not accurately. A number of popular magazines have carried articles about angels including Time, Newsweek, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook and others. ABC aired a two-hour special titled “Angels: The Mysterious Messengers”. The bookstores abound with books on angels. A television series entitled “Touched by an Angel” was so popular that it lasted 9 seasons with 211 episodes. All of these illustrate our fascination with the topic of angels.

What we “truly” know about angels comes directly from the Bible. Psalms 148:2 and 148:5, state that God created angels, “Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts…Let them praise the name of the LORD! For He commanded and they were created." Angels are eternal beings; they are not mortal and do not die, unlike humans. When humans die, they do NOT become angels.

This new shoeleatherfaith.com series will use the book, “Journey Through the Bible and Your Story”, (available on Amazon books later this summer) as an introduction to major biblical characters and themes in chronological order, providing a clearer picture of history, from the world's creation to the end times. Whether you approach the Bible with strong faith or curiosity, you are invited to explore its living and powerful message—one that is essential for navigating this complex and often challenging world.

During these weekly articles we will be taking short excerpts from this book for our journey together. This journey most definitely includes your story which started many centuries before you were born and will continue through eternity.