Introduction to the Bible
Class Two – Introducing the Old Testament
1) Opening Prayer – (Advent Two) – BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace, and ever hold fast, the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
2) Questions and review from last time.
3) Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God…”
a) As Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music “Lets start at the very beginning, a very good place to start”
i) In studying the bible, we should not be asking ‘what is being revealed?’; but rather, we should ask ‘Who is being revealed?’. The right answer is Jesus Christ. (Tarsitano, Outline to an Anglican Life)
ii) “The Old Testament is the written record of God’s revelations and promises made to the Hebrew people and the Jewish Church in preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the whole world” (Tarsitano).
iii) The Old Testament explains the background and the necessity for the Incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(1) It shows how Jesus Christ stands at the head of God’s redemptive activity (pp 19)
(2) It explains the origin and nature of the human predicament
(3) “It prepares for Christ’s coming by detailing how He is both the fulfillment of divine promises and the means by which the consequences of human sin will be addressed” (pp 19-20).
4) Parts of the Old Testament
a) Creation and the fall – Genesis 1-3
b) Primeval era – Genesis 4-11
i) Continued descent (Cain and Abel)
ii) Generations
iii) Noah
(1) Destruction and salvation
(2) Fall again
iv)
(1) What is God teaching us with this history?
(a) Man is full of pride and fallen (Adam/Eve, Cain and
(b) God’s justice demands punishment.
(c) God is sovereign over both material and ‘intellectual’ parts of our being.
c) Patriarchal Period
i) Key Patriarchs
(1) Abram/Abraham
(2) Isaac (child of the promise to Abrham/Sarai)
(3) Jacob/Israel – Jacob receives Esau’s blessing
(4) Joseph – the youngest and despised by his brothers, becomes a slave and, finally, counselor to Pharaoh.
ii) God demonstrates his sovereignty over His people and history by flouting primogeniture – God uses the weak or unexpected in order to demonstrate His power.
d) Moses and the formation of the nation
i) God’s sovereignty over the strongest nation of the time
e) Possession of the Promised Land, time of the Judges, God’s rule over His people.
f) The monarchy; division and fall of the Kingdoms.
g) Exile
h) Restoration
5) Sections of the Old Testament
a) Pentateuch
i) Period from creation up to entry in to the Promised Land
b) Historical Books
i) Early period in the life of
c) Poetic and Wisdom Books
d) Prophets – God’s messengers sent to call
6) Cultural Conditions and Genre
a) Culture
i) The Bible was written in a certain cultural setting.
(1) That does NOT change its truth or lesson is application to our lives; nor does it mean we can disregard things simply because they are culturally foreign to us.
(2) It does mean we are usually best served understanding the cultural setting so we can correctly interpret the theological message.
ii) The bible has many historical narrative aspects to it. Much of this history is descriptive, NOT prescriptive.
b) Genre - When we read a story that begins with “Once upon a time….” we immediately recognize its genre.
i) The bible is NOT fairly tale; however, it does contain different styles of writing and misunderstanding that style, or genre, can lead to gross misunderstanding of the text and what it is saying to us.
ii) To further complicate things, some writings may have multiple genres at different levels (i.e., Psalm 98is both Hebrew poetry and hymnody – Dillard and Longman, An Introduction to the Old Testament)
c) Types of Genre:
i) Historical narrative/epic: Genesis and the first half of Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Jonah
ii) Law: the last half of Exodus; also Leviticus, Deuteronomy
iii) Wisdom: Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
iv) Poetry: Psalms, Song of Solomon, Lamentations
v) Prophecy: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
vi) Apocalyptic: Daniel, Revelation
vii) Gospel: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and possibly Acts
viii) Epistle (letter): Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, Jude.
7) Moral Law versus Ceremonial Law
a) (Hebrews 10) – The Ceremonial Law was given to
b) The Moral Law is given to show us what a righteous life, living as God would have us life, would look like. As such, it remains binding on Christians today.
