HEROES AND VILLAINS IN THE CONTINUING THREAD FROM ANCIENT ISRAEL TO THE LONG-AWAITED MESSIAHThis is a story of survival-of a dispersed, disgraced, and defeated people who miraculously held together, restored their nation, and turned disgrace to dignity.Through this story, we see God's amazing protection, provision, and life-changing restoration for His people, often done in the most unlikely and unusual ways. However, it is all really just a prelude, for God's greatest work is yet to come. The time is not yet, but it is getting closer, and more pieces need to be put in place. That is what this story is really about.