After forty years in the desert, the Israelites, known also as Jews, entered the promised land of Canaan. Although the inhabitants of Canaan knew of God's mighty miracles for the Jews, they rejected Jehovah as God, and fought against the Children of Israel. But God protected the Jews as they resettled in the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Once a year the appointed High Priest went behind a sacred veil which separated the people from the Holy presence of God.

The Lord ordained priests to oversee the animal sacrifices and to lead in worship. Once a year the appointed High Priest went behind a sacred veil, which separated the people from the holy presence of God. There the priest represented the whole nation before the Lord.

After many years, the Israelites crowned a king, David, whom God called, "A man after my own heart."

God spoke to the Jews through David and other godly men, called prophets, reminding them to be holy as a witness to all nations. When the Israelites sinned, the Lord warned Israel through these prophets, that if they continued to sin, He would allow a foreign nation to overrun their country.

In spite of these warnings, Israel was disobedient and rebelled against God, rejecting His laws and killing the prophets who testified against them.

Finally, after eight hundred years of rebellion, Israel was taken out of her own land and was made captive in the nations of Assyria and Babylon.

But God continued to speak through prophets during the Jews' captivity. Some of the messages were calls to repentance, while others were prophecies about the Savior who would come to rescue sinful mankind.

The prophet Micah foretold the exact city where the Savior would be born and described His eternal nature saying, "Out of Bethlehem shall the one come who will rule in Israel, whose existence is from old, from everlasting."

God even revealed that the coming Savior would descend from the royal line of David. Through the writings of the prophet Malachi, the Lord described a special messenger who would announce the coming Savior and prepare the people to receive Him.

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