History: Understanding His Story Series

Route 66 came to life in 1926, when the diagonal route from Chicago to Los Angeles was assigned its number in the federal highway system. By the 1930s, thousands would use the road to escape the Midwest Dust Bowl in search of a better life. In 1939, Route 66 was immortalized in John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath. It was he who first referred to the highway as "the mother road". Route 66 was popularized even more in the 1940s, when Bobby Troup penned his ode to Route 66, "Get Your Kicks on Route 66". The road would gain cult status in the 1960s, with the television show, Route 66, which showed two modern adventurers traveling the road in their Corvette traversing eight states. The road cuts a diagonal line across the country, offering an unparalleled view of small town America by way of Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Route 66 cuts its way through what many regard as the “real America”, our heartland, crossing woodlands, rolling hills, farmland, rivers, mountains, and deserts before finally ending at the Pacific Ocean at Santa Monica’s famous pier. Perhaps that is why it was also known as America’s Main Street. I wonder if we have that same type of respect and sense of adventure when we think about God’s Route 66. The journey begins in Genesis and traces its way across centuries until it reaches Revelation. Along the way, we encounter unique landmarks, important events and people during every segment of our journey. Today as we prepare for our journey, we are going to discover four ways to take this memorable journey along God’s Route 66. These four different methods for making the journey will enable us to always be able to find our way across the entire span of human history on the straight and narrow road of God’s Word.

I. Various methods for making our journey through Scripture memorable.

A. The first method is to remember the key people you meet on the journey.

1. Genesis: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.

2. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy: Moses.

3. Joshua: Joshua and Caleb.

4. Judges: Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson.

5. Ruth: Ruth and Naomi.

6. 1 and 2 Samuel: Eli, Samuel, Saul and David.

7. 1 and 2 Kings-1 and 2 Chronicles: Solomon and then a long list of kings and prophets from the divided kingdom.

8. A series of books now come bearing the name of the significant person it features: Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther and Job.

9. Psalms: David. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon: Solomon:

10. Isaiah: Isaiah. Jeremiah and Lamentations: Jeremiah.

11. The books of the Prophets: Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

12. After Malachi there is 400 years of silence and absolutely no word from God until the beginning of the New Testament.

13. Key Individuals of the New Testament era: Jesus, John the Baptist, Jesus’ twelve disciples who authored portions of the New Testament.

a. Peter led the early church and wrote two letters bearing his name.

b. John wrote one of the four Gospels, three letters that bear his name and Revelation.

c. Mathew (Levi) wrote the Gospel bearing His name.

14. Paul wrote all but eight of the New Testament letters and the majority of the Book of Acts provides us with an account of his ministry and missionary journeys.

15. James and Jude who were the brothers of Jesus each wrote a book bearing their names.

B. The second method is to take note of the significant events.

1. Events have a way of completely changing the landscape and forever altering the course of human history.

2. Events such as the fall of man, the giving of the Law and the birth of Christ are examples of events that had a tremendous impact upon mankind.

3. Taking note of these significant events and the books in which they are found is an excellent way to gain perspective about how God works in history.

C. The third method is to follow God’s chosen people.

1. The starting point for this method is Genesis 12 where God’s promise to make Abraham a blessing to all nations through his son Isaac is found.

2. Through Isaac’s son Jacob the nation grew rapidly and resettled in Egypt under the leadership of Jacob’s son, Joseph.

3. Within a couple of generations the Egyptians grew to fear and resent the Israelites and they proceeded to enslave them.

4. God sent the Israelites Moses to lead them from slavery in Egypt to the land that He had promised to Abraham.

5. The Israelites will go through cycles of great prosperity, great spiritual health and unfortunately times of spiritual apathy and indulgence.