Introduction to
the Bible Week 2
Old Testament Historical Books
Editors note:
· italics (lower case or ALL CAPS) show what students should write in their student outline
· bold (including bold italics and bold ALL CAPS) shows what appears in the student outline
· regular text is used for lecture notes; ALL CAPS are used for emphasis
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Looking back on last week’s readings, was there questions? (check the homework for their written questions)
Remind them that the Bible is:
The Story of His Loving Pursuit of Rebels in Jesus Christ
The
error of “Moralism” Puts the emphasis on your pursuit of God
over His loving
pursuit of you. Moralism looks at examples and says “try harder” without lifted
up Jesus as the One who does what we cannot.
God’s loving pursuit
The
steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand. (Ps. 37:23,24)
The Old Testament term for loyalty of devotion (“lovingkindness,”chesed) is used almost exclusively, not of our devotion toward God, but of His devotion toward us. It is not my grip on him that is most important, but His grip on me. (Clowney, Unfolding Mystery, 154 )
In Psalm 23:6, it says that “your lovingkindness will follow me. “Follow” would be better translated “pursue.” Usually, we think of being pursued in a negative way (by the police). God is coming after you to GIVE you something!
Introduction to Old Testament Historical Books
“…the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” – 2 Timothy 3:16,17
Notice the purpose of these writings: “to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Notice again the focus on God’s pursuit of rebels in Jesus
The Bible is selective in its focus. It does not answer everything we are curious about. And we are often not curious about what is most important (salvation, our own and other people’s). As we will see tonight, the Old Testament narratives are about salvation in Jesus.
Notice also that the Scriptures are “God-breathed” and they are useful to teach you, to rebuke you, to correct you and to train you. God wants you to apply your learning. Let it teach, rebuke, correct and train you as much or more than you use it to teach and correct others or you will be a self-righteous Pharisee.
“…everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” – Romans 15:4
I’m sure you would like to experience hope in your life. Seek the encouragement of the scriptures over the “encouragement” of ease and comfort. It is in the Old Testament narratives that you will find lot of encouragement.
Bible books: Genesis-Esther
Timeline: Creation to 400 BC
Why OT history is important:
· It’s a __huge part__ of scripture!
God teaches though redemptive ACTS and redemptive WORDS. The narrative portions of the Bible show God’s redemptive acts.
Stories are how we learn! That’s how we think, we live stories, not abstractions. We learn in location as we relate to people, as we fail, as we do.
Our faith grows as we learn about God’s Past Faithfulness.
Hebrews 12:1,2
Psalm 77:3-9; 11-14
The logic is clear: Asaph urges us to REMEMBER these stories and RETELL them our children that they would trust God. “Remembering” is an important theme in the Bible you’ll see again and again. These stories aren’t just part of the Jews national heritage. They are for us as well. We are strengthened as we remember what God has done.
· The events they describe ultimately point to Christ.
Luke 24:13-45
The Setting: despair
When Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, he discovered that they were in despair because their Messiah had been crucified. He responds, "'how slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken!'... And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself." (Luke 24:25, 27)
Jesus blames the confusion of the disciples on their inability to see that all the Old Testament is about him and his salvation. He shows them that "all the Scriptures" point to him and that each part — the Law, the Prophets, and the Wisdom Literature — are all about Him.
Why are they despondent? The key is in 24:21—“We were hoping...” They were hoping that Jesus was the one who would “redeem Israel.” “We were counting on him—but he didn’t come through. We were banking on him—but he got himself killed.” They were hoping—but now they’re going back to their home-town with shattered dreams and hopes. They had a certain kind of Messiah in mind, one that could get them what they wanted. You and I are this way too. We want to use Jesus to something we want. When we don’t get it, we are disappointed in Jesus.
Despondency is the result of putting our ultimate hope in something or someone who disappoints us—someone or something other than Jesus.
If we do not see that every prophet, every priest, every king, every hero in the Old Testament points to Jesus, then we will see each of them as only examples. As moral examples, they will load us with guilt! But they are not just that. They are pictures of our Savior — and when we see them as that, we learn hope and how God's grace works, and we are then motivated (out of that hope and grace) to live as we should.
There are great stories in the Bible ... but it is possible to know Bible stories, yet miss the Bible story ... The Bible has a story line. It traces an unfolding drama. The story follows the history of Israel, but it does not begin there, nor does it contain what you would expect in a national history.... If we forget the story line ... we cut the heart out of the Bible. Sunday school stories are then told as tamer versions of the Sunday comics, where Samson substitutes for Superman…. (Edmund Clowney, The Unfolding Mystery)
Jn. 5:39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me.”
5:46,47 "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"
What kind of history do these books record?
· Prophetic history
“Prophetic” history means that the history is written from the view of God, that it is God’s telling of history. He moved the authors by his Spirit.
2 Peter 1:20,21
Therefore, they are true history, and selective history. Like all histories, biblical history is selective, not exhaustive. God includes what it is important to him, and leaves out the rest. Scripture emphasizes details that bear on God’s plan to rescue man from the effects of the Fall. As a result, people and events that might seem important to a modern reader are often ignored. Other events that seem incidental are seen to have great significance because they disclose important features of God’s plan.
· The Unfolding of God’s Plan
as He fulfills two important promises (from last week):
1. God’s Promise to Abraham – nation, land, blessing to the world.
2.
God’s Promise to David-- one of his descendants will sit
on his throne and rule the world forever.
As you read individual stories in the Bible, watch for how these promises unfold.
Biblical history shows God’s faithfulness in spite of opposition and human weakness. Neither enemies of God or his sinful people can thwart His plan.
Examples: Abraham had fear and he lied about Sarah; Pharaoh tried to oppress and control the Jews
Enjoying Narratives
When you read a narrative, look for:
· The tension between what was promised and the circumstances of the main characters. Are there perceived obstacles?
Examples of Tension:
The promise of Genesis 12:1-3 and the obstacles of:
11:30 old age and Sarah’s barrenness
12:6 dangerous Canaanites in the land
12:10 famine
Everything in Abraham and Sarah’s experience argued against God’s promise in Genesis 12:1-3. That is how it often will be in your life.
The promise of 2 Samuel 7:11-16 (last week) and the crisis in Daniel 1:1,2:
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure house of his god.
If you were witnessing the destruction of the very place that God showed His glory and the defeat of the king who was David’s descendent, do you think you might have struggled with doubt about the promise to David? Your experience would seem to totally contradict the promise. God would seem absent!
· God’s faithfulness to His promise.
Abraham and Sarah did have a child, they did become a nation, eventually his descendents did receive the land.
God brought the nation out of exile in Babylon, preserved them as a nation, and continued the Davidic dynasty, and Jesus the Messiah did come.
· The characters’ faith or lack of faith. Do they act ways that indicate they trust God’s promise?
Abraham was scared in a self-protective way when he lied to the Egyptians about Sara being his sister (Gen. 12). If he really believed God about having children, he would have realized no one could harm him or Sarah. Abraham did grow in faith over the years—he passed the test with his willingness to offer Isaac.
· Look for foreshadowing of Jesus (“types”)
We are not talking about predictions here, but patterns (types). What are types?
Types are persons, institutions, or events that were designated by God to be models, previews, or pictures of something that was to come in the work of the Messiah (Jesus). (suggest CT series on Jesus and the Old Testament)
Illustration: a “photomosaic.” (see power point slide) A photomosiac is made up of many individual pictures which together form a pattern. Up close all you see is an individual picture (a bible story). When you step back you see the pattern (Jesus).
Examples of “Types”
The “Sacrifice” of Isaac (Gen. 22 & Jn. 3:16)
A preview of God providing His own Son for you.
God provides the sacrifice, not Abraham. People are bothered by God asking Abraham to offer his son. But the story is effective because as you put yourself in the place of Abraham, who only imagined what it would be like to give his son, you can feel what God actually went through for you by offering Jesus (who offering Himself willingly).
The Exodus from Egypt
The Exodus from Egypt is the pattern of redemption
It is the theme) of salvation/deliverance, the defining event of Israel’s history—more than our 4th of July).
BACKGROUND FOR THE TEACHER: God repeats this self-description many, many times in the Bible: “I am the Lord God who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” (Exod. 20:2; Lev. 11:45; Dt. 4:20; Josh. 24:6; Judges 2:1, 12 forsook the one who brought them out of Egypt;” 1 Sam. 8:8; 2 Sam. 7:23; 1 Kings 6:1 a marker, 480 years after the Exodus;1 Kings 8:51-53; 2 Kings 17:36; Nehemiah 9; Ps. 78; 81:10; 105, 106; Is. 10:24-26; 11:16 compares deliverance from Assyria to the Exodus; Dan. 9:15; Haggai 2:5)
The NT compares the Exodus to the Work of Jesus (it is a “type”)
Jesus & Israel (Exodus 4:22; Matt. 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1 “out of Egypt I called my son”)
both led out of Egypt
both led into the wilderness
both experienced hunger & thirst
Israel puts the lord to the test…
Exodus is the story of the son of God who stands in need of salvation, failing at every point of life and even of privilege; Matthew tells a story of the Son of God who brings salvation, perfect and righteous at every pint in every circumstance and test. (Alect Motyer, Exodus, 23)
Exodus lies at the heart of the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises and the Passover lies at the heart of the Exodus.
Passover (Exodus 12)
Why is it called “Passover?” The angel of death in his judgment “passed over” those houses where lamb’s blood was smeared on the doorpost. The center of Exodus, Passover, was an event of deliverance from slavery and from wrath
Jesus is the lamb of God
Manna (Exodus 16 and John 6)
Manna sustained physical life for the Israelites in the wilderness. Jesus, as the bread of life makes what was lost in Genesis 3 (the tree of life) available through Him and His sacrifice.
Jesus is the Bread of Life
John 6:35 “I am the bread of life.” John 6:51 “the bread which I give for the life of the word is my flesh.”
The Rock (Exodus 17:1-7)
Background on this amazing event:
Moses has led the Israelites out of Egypt. He has begun to lead them through the Sinai desert on the way to the Promised Land. On two different occasions, the people have complained about lack of water or food—and both times God (through Moses) has provided them with water and food. Instead of trusting God, they were testing him—accusing him of being unloving or impotent.
17:1. This is another test. There is no water. This is a life-threatening situation!
17:2-4. Only it’s worse than it looks. The language here makes it clear that the people are not just complaining—they are bringing legal charges against Moses and God!
“Quarreled” (riyb, root of “Meribah”) means to sue, to conduct a legal suit. “Put to the test” (nassa, root of “Massah”) means to put someone on trial.
They are charging God with criminal negligence, and they are demanding justice. And since God is not available, they accuse his representative (Moses) and are arranging a formal execution! This is why in 17:7, Moses names this site “Meribah” and “Massah”—the place where God’s people put God and Moses on trial for their lives.
God, of course, understands that he is being put on trial. He also understands that it is the people who are guilty—not him or Moses! So he directs Moses to compose the “courtroom” (17:5,6a). Moses is to bring some of the elders to represent the people in their complaint. Moses is to bring his staff, which is the symbol of authority and judgment (e.g., RED SEA)—in other words, Moses is to act as the judge who inflicts God’s punishment on the guilty party. The courtroom is to be a specific rock, and God will visibly appear there for the trial.
Think about how differently Moses and the elders would view this trial. The elders would (wrongly) view themselves as witnesses for the prosecution and God as the defendant. But Moses would (rightfully) view the elders as the defendants and God as the witness for the prosecution.
This event illustrates fallen humanity’s relationship with God. In spite of our sin and guilt, God not only continues to let us exist—he also provides our needs for us over and over again. Yet we take for granted God’s mercy and provision, and we interpret every difficulty as an outrageous offense, as evidence that God is neither loving nor faithful. We constantly put God on trial to condemn him, when in reality it is we who deserve to tried and condemned by God!
What God says next is absolutely stunning (read 17:6b). Israel is guilty—but Moses’ rod is not raised against Israel! Instead, God tells Moses to strike the rock on which God “stands!”
Think about how “backwards” this is: Israel is guilty of rebellion—but God appears before Moses as the guilty party! Israel deserves to be judged—but God takes the penalty that is due them!
After God bears the penalty though he is innocent, Israel receives abundant water though they are guilty!
The type here: Jesus bears the penalty due us (1 Cor. 10:4 the rock was Christ)
The Bronze Serpent (Numbers 21:6-9; John 3:14; Gal. 3:13)
In the story in Numbers 21, the people were being bitten by snakes as God’s judgment for sin. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. Whoever looked to the bronze serpent would live. Their way out of judgment was to gaze upon the agent of judgment. In John 3:14, Jesus said that He would be lifted up like the serpent, and looking to Him will save you. In this way, Jesus “became a curse for us” (Gal. 3:13) to deliver us from the curse of judgment. He who knew no sin became sin (2 Cor. 5:21)
Jesus is identified with sin in God’s eyes
Joshua & Rest (Joshua 21:44; Hebrews 4:8,9)
Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land and gave them rest from their enemies.
Jesus is our rest from our works. Because He worked, you can rest from works of the law to secure God’s acceptance.
Offices:
The OT has three offices that foreshadow the work of Jesus: prophet, priest, and king. Each office brought out human failure. Jesus is the fulfillment of those offices, succeeding where they were limited or failed.
Prophet: revealer of truth
Deut. 18:15, 18 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, (Cited by Peter in Acts 3:22)
Priest: merciful mediator
King: bringer of justice, protector of the weak
TEACHER BACKGROUND: When the house of David was in evident decline, the prophets intensified the promises and pointed to the Messiah yet to come.
Jer.
23:1-5 "Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep
of My pasture!" declares the LORD. 5 "Behold, the days are coming,"
declares the LORD, "WHEN I WILL RAISE UP FOR DAVID A
RIGHTEOUS BRANCH;
And He will reign as king
and act wisely
And do justice and
righteousness in the land.
There was a hope… that what a mere person could not do, God could. When Jesus was born, His birth was announced in the categories above, and when He began his earthly ministry, he himself played on these themes.
King David
“The Lord’s Anointed” (Psalm 2)
Remember the promise of 2 Sam 7. As “The Lord’s Anointed,” David was God’s representative to and for the nation of Israel. Although imperfect, his role typifies the role of Jesus, THE Lord’s Anointed (THE Messiah).
He was God’s representative: a picture of King Messiah Jesus
Five hundred years after David is dead, Ezekiel can say "Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant DAVID, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant DAVID will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken. (34:23,24)
In this sense, David is a type of Jesus. Therefore, we can look at David’s actions as typical of Jesus’ work on our behalf. An excellent example of this is David’s battle with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.
David’s battle with Goliath (1 Samuel 17)
David and Goliath were each “champions,” or representatives of their nations. A victory by a champion would be a victory for the whole nation. Jesus was a champion who fought the serpent on our behalf. His victory over Satan is my victory over Satan.
To be sure, the battle between David and Goliath was a real historical battle with its own significance. But on another level, it is a perfect picture of the great battle that the greater David, the greater “Lord’s Anointed” won.
A picture of the greater David’s battle with the Serpent
Applied in a moralistic way, the battle is simply used to urge you to fight your personal “Goliaths.” So, “man up” and try harder. Applied as a type of Jesus, the battle story encourages you that the greater David has fought and will continue to fight on your behalf. It is the Lord’s battle, not yours. As David said to Goliath, “I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied…for the battle is the Lord's.” (1 Sam. 17:44,45)
In the New Testament, we are urged to “be strong IN THE LORD and the strength of HIS MIGHT” (Eph. 6:10) and to “put on the Lord Jesus,” which is “the armor of light” (Romans 13:12-14).
Jesus Christ, the mightier warrior, has gone to battle on behalf of you even though you rose up in rebellion against Him.
Reading OT History: 2 Chronicles 20:1-30
ANALYSIS
Larger Context:
King Jehoshaphat (873-848 BC)
• God’s Promises to Abraham & David
• King Jehoshaphat is a descendent of David (part of Jesus’ genealogy)
• King J is one of “the Lord’s Anointed”(like David, a representative of God on earth)
Read the whole passage to the class
Outline the passage
· The people of God are threatened (1-4).
· Jehoshaphat’s prayer as a representative (5-12)
· God’s answer through Jahaziel (13-17)
· Jehoshaphat and the people are emboldened (18-23).
· God defeats the enemies (22-26).
· The results: joy and peace (27-30).
Look for repeated words or concepts:
don’t be afraid” (15,17), believe (20)
“you don’t need to fight” (15,17)
He is not saying “don’t feel fear,” but don’t take the counsel of your fears.
Is this story related to God’s promise to Abraham or David? If so, how?
Yes. Jehoshaphat recounts how God gave Abraham the land (vs 7). Remembering this promise gives Jehoshaphat confidence that God will defend them.
APPLICATION:
Prayerfully consider questions like:
Are there principles about the way God operates in this passage that have relevance for my life today?
A principle is the idea behind a specific action (specific action was engaging in a government-led military action by showing up and singing; the principle is faith in Jesus when under attack from God’s enemies)
WARNING: Watch
for special circumstances in the OT
The special circumstances were that God had a particular nation (Israel) founded upon a covenant with Him that included a monarchy and religious war. There is now no such nation and no so wars. God’s people are to live under the secular governments were they live. So, we are not to imitate the specific actions of Jehosphaphat, but the principles in the spiritual war we are.
Principle: Victory comes through faith in Jesus (1 Peter 5:6-9; Eph. 6:10-18. 2 )
Listen to God’s word rather than the counsel of your fears
What have I learned and how can I put it into practice this week?
Identify some “threats” you feel and identify & reflect on promises in the Word
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Fear or threat |
Why are you afraid? |
Promise |
Steps of Faith |
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Rejection Commitment Conflict Failure Relational Closeness
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Threats IDOLS (or “ultimate concern,” “ultimate hope”)A functional god is “what or who actually controls your actions, thoughts, emotions, attitudes, memories, and anticipation's.” Your ‘functional god' in a particular situation often stands diametrically opposed to your ‘professed God'”. --David Powlinson
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“I am with you always” (Mt. 28:20) Phil. 4:13 1 Jn. 4:18 Romans 8:14-16; 28; 31-39 Ephesians 1-3
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Enter the fear with God as your “shield” Psalms 3:3
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FOR THE TEACHER: Here a chart for you own use for thinking about fear and idols. It comes from the thinking of David Powlinson.
