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!