Back to the Old Testament!
Can you remember the four events of the Nothing Era? Remember the main characters? Answers at the end.
This Era is called the Something Era God chose the Hebrew race and turned it into something. This something refers to two things, the significance of the Hebrews and their size. This happens when God tells Abraham to leave his homeland and go to a new country, the land of Canaan. God, in turn, promises to make Abraham into a great nation. Abraham's offspring become the Hebrew nation.
It took the Hebrew nation almost 200 years to become a great nation. Why? For many years, the men kept marrying barren women. Abraham's wife, Sarah was barren, but gave birth at age 89. That son, Isaac, married a barren woman Rebecca. Finally, they have two sons. One of those sons, Jacob, marries a barren woman, Rachel. However, as God is always faithful to His promises, he gives them 12 sons, which become the 12 tribes of Israel.
One of Jacob's sons, Joseph, ends up being sold as a slave and taken to Egypt at the hands of his jealous brothers. Good thing, too, because a few years later, Joseph is the one who saves the Hebrew nation in Canaan from 7 years of famine. That's when they grow into a great multitude.
Abraham is referred to as the Father of Faith. Aside from going to a strange country with nothing to go on but God's command, he shows his great faith in God. Believing he and Sarah will give birth to a child, though they are past the age of child bearing, also shows great faith. Probably the most significant example of his faith comes when God tells him to take his son Isaac up to a mountain and sacrifice him there. He takes him, a few servants, some wood, a knife, and fire. He ties his son down and raises his knife to kill him. Just then an angel of the Lord calls out to Abraham and tells him to stop. He looks up to see that God has provided a ram for the sacrifice. Now remember God had promised Abraham years earlier he would become a great nation. Somehow from Abraham's seed, this would happen, but God has asked him to kill his son. At that time, the culture often sacrificed their children so it wasn't too far a stretch to do this. How did Abraham equate God's promise and God's command to sacrifice? Most experts believe that Abraham thought God would raise him from the dead.
Here are the lessons we can learn from Abraham:
1. We can have faith in what God tells us because God is faithful. That's part of who He is.
2. A person's faith in God can grow.
3. You grow your faith when you trust God to do what He said He would do. Sometimes you have to put yourself in a position for your faith to be tested. The area of giving comes to mind. Sometimes you have to give first, then see God provide for your family. As this happens repeatedly, your faith in God will grow and you will learn to trust Him more and more. I don't know anyone who is giving generously and not making ends meet. I know lots of people who are stingy with what God has given them, and are always short in their finances and worrying about it.
4. Sometimes God waits a long time to do what He said He would do. Be patient.
5. The opposite of faith is fear, so if you find yourself fearful, you have the wrong focus. Immediate place it back where it belongs, on God and His faithfulness.
Christ revealed: In the Nothing Era we learned that Christ was coming to overcome the works of the serpent. In the Something Era, we learn from which nation Christ would come, from the seed of Abraham, the Hebrew nation. God blessed the Hebrews SO THAT they would be a blessing to all the other people groups of the world by announcing that a Deliverer was coming to overcome sin and Satan.
There you have it, the Something Era. Next we will look at the third Era, Exiting Egypt.
To prepare for next time, you can read Exodus 1-40, covering the plagues, Moses, and the 10 commandments.
Creation - Adam and Eve
Sin/Fall - Cain and Abel
Flood - Noah
Tower of Babel - God
Showing posts with label Old Testament Bible Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Old Testament Bible Study. Show all posts
Monday, August 3, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Old Testament Era #1
It's been about 5 days since the OT overview. Did you memorize the Eras? How about the books of the Old Testament? Did you read Gen. 1-11? We're plunging ahead with Era #1.
Quiz: Without looking, how many books are in the Historical category of the OT?
How many Poetical books? How many Prophetical books? Answers at the bottom of this blog.
This Era is called the Nothing Era. It is followed by the Something Era, but that's next time.
During the Nothing Era, God created the human race. He made it from nothing. There were 4 major events in the nothing era. The first was Creation, found in Gen. chapters 1-2 and the main character was . . . God!
The second major event was the Fall. It is found in Gen. 3-5 and the main characters are Adam and Eve.
The third major era was the Flood, found in Gen. 6-9. The main character was Noah.
The fourth major era was the Tower of Babel, found in Gen. 10-11. The main character again, was God.
The Nothing Era occurred from Creation to 2090 BC. These 4 major events in the Nothing Era occurred in the Fertile Crescent. The Garden of Eden is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This is actually located where Iraq or maybe Syria and Turkey are located. Noah's ark, which landed in the mountains of Ararat, is the land of Turkey today. The Tower of Babel, where God confused man's language and divided the human race into cultures, was erected in what is today called Turkey.
Taken a look at the Fall, we see Eve, tempted by the devil in the form of a serpent, to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was God's only rule. The devil tempts her to question God, then twists God's words, minimizes the consequences and maximizing the perceived benefits of disobeying God. Note how the devil does this in Genesis 3:4-5. Eve sins in a way which we still sin today:
Eve saw the fruit.
Even wanted the fruit.
Eve ate the fruit.
Eve shared the fruit.
God had tried to protect Adam and Eve from the consequences of disobedience. They "die" and the rest of the human race "dies" with them. Scripture uses the word "die" in two ways: First, to die physically, separating man from the earth. Second, to die spiritually, separating man from God.
There are a few lessons to be learned from the Fall:
1. Whenever God gives a command it is to provide us with benefits and to protect us from consequences.
2. The devil entices us to disobey God by maximizing the benefits of sin and minimizing the consequences of sin.
3. Our sin tends to follow this pattern: it starts in our head, moves to our heart, and ends with our hands.
Temptation is the desire to fulfill a God-given drive in a God-forbidden way.
4. There are two wrong ways to handle disobedience: hiding from God and blaming our wrong-doing on others.
5. Adam and Eve's original sin broke fellowship with God and brought us death, both physical and spiritual death.
The main topic of the Bible is God receiving glory by restoring fellowship between the human race and Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. This era explains God's purpose for man (fellowship with Him for eternity) and God's problem with man (fellowship broken because of man's disobedience). This era also shows God's solution for man - God would provide a Messiah to save man from the consequences of his disobedience. Where does it say God would provide a Messiah?
Look at Genesis 3:15 when God rebukes Satan, who has taken the form of a snake. God says, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." This verse speaks of two future events: Satan bruising the heel of mankind and the seed of woman crushing the head of Satan. The seed of woman refers to Jesus Christ who would one day come to overcome the works of the devil. First John 3:8 says, "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."
There's a brief overview of the Nothing Era. For next time, memorize the 4 major events of the Nothing Era. You can also read Genesis 12-36. Memorize Gen. 1:27. (There will be a quiz at the beginning of each Era.)
Answers to today's quiz: 17 Historical books, 5 Poetical books, 17 Prophetical books.
Have a blessed warm Friday evening!
Quiz: Without looking, how many books are in the Historical category of the OT?
How many Poetical books? How many Prophetical books? Answers at the bottom of this blog.
This Era is called the Nothing Era. It is followed by the Something Era, but that's next time.
During the Nothing Era, God created the human race. He made it from nothing. There were 4 major events in the nothing era. The first was Creation, found in Gen. chapters 1-2 and the main character was . . . God!
The second major event was the Fall. It is found in Gen. 3-5 and the main characters are Adam and Eve.
The third major era was the Flood, found in Gen. 6-9. The main character was Noah.
The fourth major era was the Tower of Babel, found in Gen. 10-11. The main character again, was God.
The Nothing Era occurred from Creation to 2090 BC. These 4 major events in the Nothing Era occurred in the Fertile Crescent. The Garden of Eden is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This is actually located where Iraq or maybe Syria and Turkey are located. Noah's ark, which landed in the mountains of Ararat, is the land of Turkey today. The Tower of Babel, where God confused man's language and divided the human race into cultures, was erected in what is today called Turkey.
Taken a look at the Fall, we see Eve, tempted by the devil in the form of a serpent, to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It was God's only rule. The devil tempts her to question God, then twists God's words, minimizes the consequences and maximizing the perceived benefits of disobeying God. Note how the devil does this in Genesis 3:4-5. Eve sins in a way which we still sin today:
Eve saw the fruit.
Even wanted the fruit.
Eve ate the fruit.
Eve shared the fruit.
God had tried to protect Adam and Eve from the consequences of disobedience. They "die" and the rest of the human race "dies" with them. Scripture uses the word "die" in two ways: First, to die physically, separating man from the earth. Second, to die spiritually, separating man from God.
There are a few lessons to be learned from the Fall:
1. Whenever God gives a command it is to provide us with benefits and to protect us from consequences.
2. The devil entices us to disobey God by maximizing the benefits of sin and minimizing the consequences of sin.
3. Our sin tends to follow this pattern: it starts in our head, moves to our heart, and ends with our hands.
Temptation is the desire to fulfill a God-given drive in a God-forbidden way.
4. There are two wrong ways to handle disobedience: hiding from God and blaming our wrong-doing on others.
5. Adam and Eve's original sin broke fellowship with God and brought us death, both physical and spiritual death.
The main topic of the Bible is God receiving glory by restoring fellowship between the human race and Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ. This era explains God's purpose for man (fellowship with Him for eternity) and God's problem with man (fellowship broken because of man's disobedience). This era also shows God's solution for man - God would provide a Messiah to save man from the consequences of his disobedience. Where does it say God would provide a Messiah?
Look at Genesis 3:15 when God rebukes Satan, who has taken the form of a snake. God says, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." This verse speaks of two future events: Satan bruising the heel of mankind and the seed of woman crushing the head of Satan. The seed of woman refers to Jesus Christ who would one day come to overcome the works of the devil. First John 3:8 says, "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."
There's a brief overview of the Nothing Era. For next time, memorize the 4 major events of the Nothing Era. You can also read Genesis 12-36. Memorize Gen. 1:27. (There will be a quiz at the beginning of each Era.)
Answers to today's quiz: 17 Historical books, 5 Poetical books, 17 Prophetical books.
Have a blessed warm Friday evening!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Old Testament Overview
Since I finished a book on the Old Testament, I thought I would try my hand and trying to make it an online study. Some of the reason I'm doing this is completely selfish. I figure if I have to regurgitate it, I'll learn it better. Who knows, this might be the beginning of a class we offer at church. Who knows! I hope you enjoy it. I hope I do too! :-) Taken from the book "Putting Together the Puzzle of the Old Testament" by Bill Jones.
We find that this puzzle has 39 pieces, the 39 books of the Bible. They are arranged from Genesis to Malachi.
There are 3 categories of books of the old testament. First, the first 17 books are Historical in nature. They tell "His-story", chronologically from creation to the years before the coming of Christ. The first 5 of these 17 are called the Law or the Pentateuch. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) The next 12 are called History (Joshua through Esther) Follow along with your table of contents in your Bible.
The next 5 are Poetical books. (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) Job teaches us how to respond to suffering. Psalms teach us how to worship God, Proverbs is known as the book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes teaches how to live a life of significance by showing how much of what we do leads to vanity or emptiness. Sons of Solomon speaks about true love.
The last 17 are prophetical books. The first 5 of these are called the major prophets. (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) The next 12 are called the minor prophets. (Hosea through Malachi)
Each of these three areas or categories has a particular focus. The historical books focus on the past. They cover "His-story" 8 times. The poetical books focus on the present and contain 5 topics of interest. The prophetical books focus on the future and contain 5 types of prophesy. Cool, huh?
When we look at the first 17 or historical books, it is important to note that not all the books contain historical content. All but 4 do however. The four that don't (Ruth, 1 & 2 Chronicles, and Esther) contain historical commentary.
Now that you have a good structure to start with, let's look at giving a name to each of the 8 eras of the old testament. As I go through this study, I will explore each era in more detail. For now, here is the starting place.
Nothing Era------The human race out of nothing
Something Era---The Hebrew race into something
Exiting Era-------Exiting Egypt
Entering Era-----Entering Canaan
United Era-------United kings stand
Divided Era------Divided kings fall
Scattered Era----Scattered Judah
Gathered Era-----Gathered Judah
If you can memorize the eras, that would be a big help. If you would like to read in preparation for the next lesson, you can read Genesis chapters 1-11. As a bonus, memorize the books of the old testament. It's good exercise for your brain!
Next time we'll cover the nothing era. Have a blessed sunny, cool, breezy Monday!
We find that this puzzle has 39 pieces, the 39 books of the Bible. They are arranged from Genesis to Malachi.
There are 3 categories of books of the old testament. First, the first 17 books are Historical in nature. They tell "His-story", chronologically from creation to the years before the coming of Christ. The first 5 of these 17 are called the Law or the Pentateuch. (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) The next 12 are called History (Joshua through Esther) Follow along with your table of contents in your Bible.
The next 5 are Poetical books. (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon) Job teaches us how to respond to suffering. Psalms teach us how to worship God, Proverbs is known as the book of wisdom, Ecclesiastes teaches how to live a life of significance by showing how much of what we do leads to vanity or emptiness. Sons of Solomon speaks about true love.
The last 17 are prophetical books. The first 5 of these are called the major prophets. (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel) The next 12 are called the minor prophets. (Hosea through Malachi)
Each of these three areas or categories has a particular focus. The historical books focus on the past. They cover "His-story" 8 times. The poetical books focus on the present and contain 5 topics of interest. The prophetical books focus on the future and contain 5 types of prophesy. Cool, huh?
When we look at the first 17 or historical books, it is important to note that not all the books contain historical content. All but 4 do however. The four that don't (Ruth, 1 & 2 Chronicles, and Esther) contain historical commentary.
Now that you have a good structure to start with, let's look at giving a name to each of the 8 eras of the old testament. As I go through this study, I will explore each era in more detail. For now, here is the starting place.
Nothing Era------The human race out of nothing
Something Era---The Hebrew race into something
Exiting Era-------Exiting Egypt
Entering Era-----Entering Canaan
United Era-------United kings stand
Divided Era------Divided kings fall
Scattered Era----Scattered Judah
Gathered Era-----Gathered Judah
If you can memorize the eras, that would be a big help. If you would like to read in preparation for the next lesson, you can read Genesis chapters 1-11. As a bonus, memorize the books of the old testament. It's good exercise for your brain!
Next time we'll cover the nothing era. Have a blessed sunny, cool, breezy Monday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
