Introduction to Second Chronicles

Second Chronicles covers the time from Solomon’s ascension to the throne (971 BC) until the southern kingdom of Judah was finally carried into exile in Babylon in 586 BC. The focus of the book is on Judah. The author was more concerned with telling the story of David’s descendants, who reigned over Judah, than with the history of the northern kingdom of Israel.

Purpose: Unify the nation around true worship of Jehovah who has shown his standards by judging Kings. The righteous Kings of Judah and their religious rivals under their rule are highlited and the sins of Hebrew Kings are exposed.

AUTHOR: Ezra

A post-exilic (after the exile) Jewish scholar compiled material from many historical resources to chronicle the history of his people. This person is not named and remains unknown, though Ezra has been cited as a possible candidate.

WRITTEN TO: All of Israel

KEY PEOPLE – Solomon, Queen of Sheba, Rehoboam, Isa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Joaz, Uzziah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Mannasah and Josiah.

•  Second Chronicles opens with Solomon establishing his throne over a unified nation, solidifying his authority and squashing early rebellions (1 Kings 2). He then built the magnificent temple of God, using the plans God gave to his father, David. Six of the nine chapters devoted to King Solomon focus on the temple construction, a task reserved for him since before his birth (2 Chronicles 2–7).

KEY PLACES: Jerusalem and Temple.

• Second Chronicles includes a detailed record of the Temple construction. The centrality of Jerusalem, where the temple was located, falls in line with the book’s overarching focus on the priesthood as well.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

1. Temple – Build by Solomon according to God’s plan as a symbol of God’s presence; and a place set aside for worship and prayer; the spiritual center of the nation.
2. Peace – As Solomon and his descendants were faithful to God, they experience victory in battle, success in government and peace with other nations. Peace was a result of the people unified and loyal to God and his law.
3. Prayer – After Solomon died David’s kingdom was divided. When the king led the people to idolatry, they suffered. When the kings and people prayed to God for deliverance and they turn to him in repentance, God delivered them.
4. Reform – Although idolatry and injustice was common, some Kings turned to God, renewing their commitment and reforming their society. Revival included the destruction of idols, obedience to the law and the restoration of the priesthood.
5. National Collapse. In 586 BC the Babylonians completely destroyed Solomon’s beautiful temple. The form of worship of God was ended. The Israelites had abandoned God. As a result, God brought judgement upon his people and they were carried off into captivity.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF FIRST AND SECOND CHRONICLES

– Does God forgive his people and restore them to usefulness?

Writing in neither the best of times nor the worst of times for the Jews, the writer of first and second Chronicles sought to give hope to a people returning from exile and punishment. Languishing in the sea of transition, they were tempted to doubt God’s faithfulness and be disollutioned over past days. They had gone from the mighty military days of David, to material splendor of Solomon, to humiliation in the time of captivity.

Returning from exile and renewal of the temple had not fulfilled expectation of renewed Israelite Kingdom of a Messianic ruler from the land of David.  Jews needed to understand their roots and needed to hear reaffirmation of God’s covenant promise to Israel.

The season of transition, unfulfilled hope and uncertainty, presented several options for the people.

1. First of all, they could settle down to routine life and religious routines of Israel’s God, Persia’s gods or national Canaanites gods of Palestine. In so doing, religion would be another means of seeking security in an insecure world, without having real hope of expectation of change.
2. Second, they could develop religion of legalism, in which they attempt to earn God’s favor and demand his blessings because of their righteousness.
3. Three, they could give up on God and surrender to the religions of victories in battles, worshipping persian gods, accomodating themselves to persian lifestyles and political domain.
4. Four, they could develop cult life sect of the religious lifestyles, separating themselves to form an isolated religious community, undefiled by the world and ready for God to  act.
5. They could develop intricate apocalyptic theology determined the signs of God’s time, and expecting God’s imminent apocalytic actions to bring in the day of the Lord.
6. They could study the history of their people, learn a new the lessons of their decline as a nation, and as faithful people renew the commitment to covenant worship and obedience.

Chronicles was written to call Israel back to covenant commitments. The author wrote, not from the perspective of bitterness, but from brokenness of the faith in God’s continuing purpose for His people.

Chronicles depict the ongoing plan of grace and redemption, from Adam to post-exilic community. He wanted the Jews to see themselves of the true Israel of God. He emphasized the place of the temple, true worship and continued validity of the promises to the land of David. The apostate northern nation could be excluded because of its poor example.

Chronicles use History to teach Israel the lesson of History and their old past failures. God will not tolerate disobedience even from the chosen people. He will hear prayer of petinence. His final word is one of grace and mercy.

Chronicles provide renewed Identity for God’s people in transition by reminding them of God’s holy and gracious work in the life of Israel.

Renewed identity is based on five doctrines.

1. The nature of God
2.  The necessity of covenant commitment by his people
3. The importance of worship
4. The imperative of godly leadership
5. The redemptive plan that God is working through his people.

God controls all greatness – power, glory, victory, including all above all and through all the events of history. All idols are abomination to him and must be rudelessly thrown away.

God can move heart of a powerful, unbelieving ruler to accomplish his purpose. He can restore his people to providence and fulfill his divine purpose for them. Such restoration may not come as soon as some people expect.

Remembrance of God’s victories based on his people’s faith and obedience gives should give confidence in God’s ability to do what he has promised to do. Hope based on God’s power does not relive a generation from responsibillity. God is a holy God, so Holy that he could not allow Israel’s king to continue without rejection. He could not allow priest to handle the ark of the covenant without extreme discipline. Because he is holy, God punishes sin and demand righteousness. At the same time, he is merciful and forgiving. Accordingly, Rehoboam and Manasseh were forgiven after their sincere repentance. His love is everlasting. God’s people are called to respond to holy, yet loving God in covenant commitment.

Writer of Chronicles emphasize the importance of seeking God with a whole heart. Seeking God involves commitment to his covenant. God’s covenant promises has not been unknown despite the sinfulness of unfaithfulness to the covenant by His people. The call is not to shame and despair for the opportunity lost, but to hope and remembrance and renewal through humble commitment. Sin is not the end of the road for God’s people, but an occasion for confession and renewal of covenant vows. Covenant renewal led to devotion to covenant worship.

The temple, its personal and its worship occupy center stage through much of first and second chronicles. Sincerity, however, is more important that proper ritual. Levites could assume levite functions. Lay persons who had not been ceremonially cleansed might observe the passover. Worship moved beyond precint to the temple, to the field of battle. Worship was thus a way of life as well as a specific ceremony in the temple. Still, the worship was important. The Lord manifested himself in glory in presence in the ark that latter in the temple resulted in praise and thanksgiving.

Much of Chronicles centers on David’s elaborate and careful planning and preparation for the temple along with the people’s willingness and cooperation in the building. Building the temple represented giving to God what he had given to people.

The purpose of worship was to bring praise and thanksgiving to God. Some of the greatest prayers of praise and thanksgiving are found in first and second Chronicles. Worship is not for priests and kings alone, but for all people. Kings were accessed according to the treatment of loyalty to God’s temple.  Their loyalty greatly influenced that of the people. This made godly leadership imperative.

During the post-exilic period, the High priest tended to usurp the context reserved for the King. The writer of Chronicles pays little attention to the High priest except in the execution of specific rituals and imperative in the historical line. Emphasis on the Kings in maintenance of proper worship may reflect the writer of Chronicles’ skillful way of maintaining hope in God – messiah, a new David.

Godly leaders are to model sincere obedience and faithful worship, calling the people to covenant commitment. Their rule as forerunners of the king of kings was so essential that the writer of Chronicles did not want to tarnish that reputations by mentioning about the sins of David and Solomon. The sons of David held the Lord in his hands. The king rule for the Lord. God was still the  true King.

Leadership is made holy in the rule of one person. The king exercised greatly spiritual leadership, but he was not allowed to usurp the role of God’s priest. Lots of priest played the role of godly leader.

The writer of Chronicles also focused special attention on the LEVITES. Worship thus require strong leadership from many of God’s chosen leaders. No one person could claim credit for temple worship. Worship is possible because of God’s redemptive plan for his people.

First and Second Chronicles uses history to show that every event, even the darkest event like the tragedy of exile, was all part of God’s plan. God revealed his personal plan through his chosen people, the Jews. The Jews were to be  a faithful nucleus, not an exclusive clique. God’s eternal plan to use Israel as the channel of his blessing remained in form.  Isolation and separation from the world was not God’s direction. God sought truely committed people through whom he could work out his plan of world redemption.

MODERN DAY APPLICATION OF FIRST AND SECOND CHRONICLES

• Reminds of God’s righteous and holy work among his people
• God can use Chronicles to give new identity to his people as he gave identity to the Jews in transition to exile.
• God calls us to understand his true nature. We must not understand God through our empty concept or attempt to confine his power to our limited goal. We should look for his continued working in human affairs and cooperate with him as he continues to carry out his plan of redemption.
• Seeing God in holiness, we can repent of our sins, to receive his mercy.
• God still wants to bring revival to his people. He calls us to covenant commitment so we can see continued fulfillment of his covenant promise.
• The temple as a building is God’s. The need for worship is not. Physical bodies of the people is now the temple of his Spirit.
• We need to commit ourselves to moral purity and holy worship. We need to regain a holy sense of  praise and thanksgiving in all elements of life. We need to revitalize the special location of worship in God’s house.
• God’s miracles are not just history. God is still at work among and in his people.
• Living prayer brings true victory and success in life.
• God uniquely uses available and surrendered leaders to model his holiness and to call his people to covenant commitment.
• Leaders should know the history of God’s people as the write of first and second Chronicles and teach his lesson to his people.
• God is working through his people continually.  All the saints are important to his plan. Every believer is called to pass on from generation to generation the good news of God’s redemption.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

• Chapter 10 of First Chronicles we see the death of Saul and the beginning of the reign of David. This takes place around circa 1011 BC.
• David made King of all Israel 1004 BC
• David brings the ark to Jerusalem in 1000 BC
• Solomon is made king and shortly thereafter David dies in 971 BC
• Solomon begins to build the temple in 967 BC
• Temple is completed and dedicated to God in 960 BC
• Solomon dies and Rehoboam succeeds him in 931 BC.

Old Testament arrangement is not CHRONOLOGICLY. Old testament is arranged by SUBJECT-MATTER. Books with particular subject are placed together without any consideration of date. There are bibles available in bookstore that are arranged chronologically.

Introduction to First Chronicles

The English title CHRONICLES comes from the 5th century scholar Jerome, who referred to the book as a chronikon; in Hebrew it is called Divrei Hayyamim“The Matters [of] the Days”, and in Greek, Paralipoménōn (Παραλειπομένων), “things left on one side”

PURPOSE: Chronicles was written to unify God’s people, trace Davidic line and teach that genuine worship ought to be the center of all individual and national life.

• Chronicles begins at the beginning of the history of humanity, with Adam, and the story is then carried forward, almost entirely by genealogical lists, down to the founding of the Israelite monarchy (1 Chronicles 1–9).
• The bulk of the remainder of 1 Chronicles, after a brief account of Saul, is concerned with the reign of David (1 Chronicles 11–29).
• The next long section concerns David’s son Solomon (2 Chronicles 1–9), and the final part is concerned with the kingdom of Judah with occasional references to the kingdom of Israel (2 Chronicles 10–36).
• In the last chapter Judah is destroyed and the people taken into exile in Babylon, and in the final verses the Persian king Cyrus conquers Babylon, and authorises the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the return of the exiles

Why do we need the books of 1–2 Chronicles when we already have the history of 2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings?

• The books of 2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings reveal the monarchies of Israel and Judah—in particular the sins of the nations that resulted in the exile. But the books of Chronicles, written after the time of the exile, focus on those elements of history that God wanted the returning Jews to meditate upon: obedience that results in God’s blessing, the priority of the temple and priesthood, and the unconditional promises to the house of David.
• David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:10–19 summarizes the themes the chronicler wished to communicate: glory to God, gratitude for gifting David’s family with leadership of the nation, and the desire that David’s descendants continue to devote themselves to God. Remaining faithful to God would reap blessing.

KEY PEOPLE: David and Solomon

• 1 Chronicles lists priests, Levites, armies, temple officials, and other leaders of various ministries. The history of Israel is told through a priestly perspective. The chronicler devoted significant attention to proper worship of Yahweh and adherence to the regulations of His Law.
• The author included David’s decisions on the proper manner in which to undertake moving the ark of the covenant (1 Chronicles 13, 15–16) and detailed descriptions of its return to Jerusalem.
• The chronicler even highlighted one of David’s psalms (16:8–36). We read the story of how David purchased the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, which he then designated as the future site of the temple (21:15–30). Though David desired to build the temple, God revealed to him that David’s son Solomon would have that honor (17:1–14).

KEY PLACES – Hebron, Jerusalem and the Temple

• When the book was written, David’s descendants no longer ruled as monarchs over Israel. But the chronicler desired the people to remember the royal Davidic lineage, for God had promised a future ruler would rise from that line.
• After the seventy-year exile in Babylon, Jewish political and social power resided more with the religious rather than political rulers. Telling Israel’s history through a priestly and kingly lens was intended to prepare the people for a future Messiah.

DATE:

• The last events in Chronicles take place in the reign of Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who conquered Babylon in 539 BC; this sets an earliest possible date for the book.
• It was probably composed between 400–250 BC, with the period 350–300 BC the most likely.
• The latest person mentioned in Chronicles is Anani of the eighth generation of King Jehoiachin. Anani’s birth would likely have been sometime between 425 and 400 BC.
• Chronicles was most likely written during the time of Ezra or Nehemiah, while the Jews were dispersed throughout Persia, some having returned to Israel. Archaeological evidence supports this premise. “Fragments of an actual manuscript of Chronicles found at Qumran makes a date in the Persian period (538–333 BC) almost certain.”

AUTHOR – Ezra

• Jewish tradition speculates that Ezra could have written 1 and 2 Chronicles, which—like Samuel and Kings—originally formed one work.
• Chronicles appears to be largely the work of a single individual, with some later additions and editing. The writer was probably male, probably a Levite (temple priest), and probably from Jerusalem. He was well read, a skilled editor, and a sophisticated theologian. His intention was to use Israel’s past to convey religious messages to his peers, the literary and political elite of Jerusalem in the time of the Persian empire.
• Christian tradition identified the author as the 5th century BC figure Ezra, who gives his name to the Book of Ezra; Ezra was also believed to be the author of both Chronicles and Ezra-Nehemiah, but later critical scholarship abandoned the identification with Ezra and called the anonymous author the Chronicler.
• The last half of the 20th century saw a radical reappraisal, and many now regard the author as anonymous.
• One of the most striking, although inconclusive, features of Chronicles is that its closing sentence is repeated as the opening of Ezra-Nehemiah.
• Several indications throughout the book reveal the author’s reliance on a variety of source materials—“annals,” “books,” and “records”—which are cited as dependable historical documentation. “Whoever the author was, he was a meticulous historian who carefully utilized official and unofficial documents.”

The chronicler focused on David’s reign in 1 Chronicles, including and omitting different events recorded in the other biblical histories, so that his document recorded those events significant to his purpose. For instance, 1 Chronicles does not include David’s adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11), which was a well-known fact even before the chronicler began his work, and so it did not bear repeating.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

1. Israel’s History – Chronicles lays down the true spiritual foundation of a nation. God kept his promise.
2. God’s people – God established Israel’s true heritage – all one family in Adam; one nation in Abraham; One Priesthood in Levites; one Kingdom under David.
3. King David – David was God’s appointed leader – devoted to God, law, temple, worship, people and justice which set  the standard for true leadership.
4. Worship – David brought the ark of Covenant to Jerusalem to restore true worship to the people. God gave the plans for building the Temple and David organized the priests to make worship central to all Israel.
5. Priest – God ordained the priest and levites to lead the people in true worship according to his law. Priest and Levites were an important safeguard to Israel’s faith.

On Southern Seminary’s History.

Article By Bob Allen

https://baptistnews.com/culture/social-issues/item/30207-mohler-won-t-remove-slaveholder-names-from-seminary-buildings

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s oldest seminary says he agrees with the denomination’s ethicist that it’s time to take down the Confederate flag, but he has no plans to remove the names of slaveholders from campus buildings.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said in an essay June 23 that founders of the seminary started in Greenville, S.C., were “heretics” in their belief that whites were inherently superior to blacks.

“To put the matter plainly, one cannot simultaneously hold to an ideology of racial superiority and rightly present the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Mohler said. “One cannot hold to racial superiority and simultaneously defend the faith once for all delivered to the saints.”

Albert Mohler (center) leads a dedication ceremony of the renovated home of Boyce College last August. (Southern Seminary photo)

Mohler said he gladly stands with Southern Seminary founders James P. Boyce, Basil Manly, Jr. and John A.Broadus “in their courageous affirmation of biblical orthodoxy, Baptist beliefs, and missionary zeal.” But he acknowledged placing their names on buildings, professorial chairs and endowed scholarships “do not represent unmixed pride.”Boyce, the seminary’s first president, described himself as “ultra pro-slavery.” In 1860 he owned 23 slaves. He served six months as a chaplain in the Confederate army before being elected to the South Carolina legislature. He ran unsuccessfully for the Confederate Congress in 1863.

Broadus, the seminary’s first professor of New Testament interpretation and homiletics, served as an evangelist to General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. In 1886 he delivered an address at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville declaring that fallen Confederate soldiers had not died in vain.

Manly was one of the seminary’s four founding professors and drafted the Abstract of Principles that still serves as the school’s doctrinal statement. His father, Basil Manly Sr., owned 40 slaves and was an ardent supporter of slavery who used the Bible to justify the institution and on occasion resorted to whipping disobedient servants.

All three were Calvinists. In 1982 seven men met at a hotel in Euless, Texas, to discuss ways to recover emphasis on the “doctrines of grace” that were embraced by the denomination’s founders. The outcome was an annual Founders Conference that over time gave rise to the New Calvinism nicknamed as “Young, Restless, Reformed” that is sweeping across evangelicalism, including within the Southern Baptist Convention. Mohler is considered a leader in the movement, and his Southern Seminary its flagship school.

After last week’s deadly shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., Russell Moore, head of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission who before taking the job taught at Southern Seminary and served as one of Mohler’s top administrators, penned a commentary that appeared in the Washington Post saying that displaying the Confederate flag as a symbol of pride “is out of step with the justice of Jesus Christ.”

“The cross and the Confederate flag cannot co-exist without one setting the other on fire,” Moore wrote.

Others have called for even further distancing Southern states from their segregationist past. Two top Democrats and the state Republican Party chairman called Monday for removal of a bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a figure in the early days of the Ku Klux Klan, from the Tennessee statehouse.

“Symbols of hate should not be promoted by government,” U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) said in a statement to The Tennessean. “South Carolina should remove the Confederate battle flag from its Capitol, and Tennessee should remove the bust of Forrest inside our Capitol.”

Pulpit and Pen, a group watchdog blog often critical of SBC leadership, suggested June 22 that it is hypocritical for Southern Baptist leaders to call for removal of racist symbols from the public square while walking past buildings named not only after Confederate chaplains but founders of a denomination that asserted the “right” of white Southerners to own slaves.

Mohler said he is uncertain all that will be required for Southern Baptists to keep their 1995 pledge “to eradicate racism in all its forms from Southern Baptist life and ministry” but for now he intends “to keep those names on our buildings and to stand without apology with the founders and their affirmation of Baptist orthodoxy.”

“I will not remove those names from the buildings, but I bear the burden of telling the whole story and acknowledging the totality of the legacy,” Mohler wrote. “I bear responsibility to set things right in so far as I have the opportunity to set them right. I am so thankful that the racist ideologies of the past would rightly horrify the faculty and students of the present. Are we yet horrified enough?”

“I will not remove those names from the buildings, but I could never fly the flag that represented their cause in battle,” he continued. “I know full well that today’s defenders of that flag — by far most of them — do not intend to send a racial message nor to defy civil rights. But some do, and there is no way to escape the symbolism that so wounds our neighbors — and our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Today, most who defend that flag do so to claim a patrimony and to express love for a region. But that is not the whole story, and we know it.”

Mohler said 150 years after the Civil War, “I do believe that racial superiority is a heresy,” but as far as he knows no one ever confronted the SBC founders about their false teaching while they were living and it is impossible to confront the dead. He said the same is true of Protestant reformer Martin Luther, who for the most part was certainly not a heretic but made statements that today are understood to be anti-Semitic.

– See more at: https://baptistnews.com/culture/social-issues/item/30207-mohler-won-t-remove-slaveholder-names-from-seminary-buildings#sthash.XCeESYlS.dpuf

Introduction to Second Kings

 

Purpose: Demonstrate the faith  that awaits all who desire to make God the true leader.

Author:  1 and 2 Kings originally comprised one book of history. The author is neither indicated in the text nor known by scholars. He was most likely a prophet, because many of the historical events were recorded in light of Israel’s and Judah’s faithfulness—or unfaithfulness—to their covenant with God. Ezra, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah have all been named as possible authors.

Key People; Elijah, Elisha, Shunamite woman, Namaan, Jezebeel, Jehu, Joaz, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Mannasah, Josiah, Jerohakim, Zedekiah and Nebuchnazer.

• Second Kings continues the history of the divided kingdom, picking up the story around 853 BC.
• In 722 BC, the powerful nation of Assyria invaded the northern kingdom, scattering and taking captive the people of Israel. Only Judah remained intact. But then Assyria suffered a stunning fall to the Babylonians, who took the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC. By 605 BC Babylon dominated Judah, had taken some captives away, and in 586 BC Babylon destroyed Jerusalem and took additional prisoners into captivity. Many people who were considered valuable to the invaders, such as the prophet Daniel and members of the royal family, were taken to Babylon early on.
• By the end of Kings, the people of God no longer inhabited their Promised Land. Many areas of the country had been rendered virtually uninhabitable due to the razing, burning, and other destructive tactics of the Babylonian army, while the people had been enslaved, scattered, and decimated by their enemies.
• The book ends with an epilogue of sorts, giving a peek into the good fortune of Jehoiachin—Judah’s last true ruler before a series of puppet kings were installed by Babylon. If Jeremiah did write much of Kings, he could not have written this section, set in Babylon, for he had been taken away to Egypt years earlier.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

1. ELISHA – More Elisha’s miracles are recorded than those of any one else in the Old Testament. The purpose of his message was to restore respect for God and his message. By faith and prayer, he revealed God’s judgement of sin, and his mercy, love and faithfullness to his people.  The purpose of Elisha’s ministry was to restore respect for God and his message.
2. IDOLATRY – Every evil King in both Israel and Judah encouraged idolatry. People began to take on the characteristics of idol worship that is displayed in war and sexual acts. Although they had God’s law and priest to guide them, the evil Kings assumed control and manipulated people.
3. EVIL KINGS vs GOOD KINGS – Northern Kingdom – Israel had nineteen evil kings and no good one. Southern Kingdom of Judah had twelve evil kings and 8 good ones. Twenty percent of all kings followed God. Evil Kings were short-sighted. They thought they control the nation’s destiny by following other religions and forming alliances. The good Kings had to spent their time undoing the evil done by the evil Kings.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE FOR FIRST AND SECOND KINGS

I and II Kings provide Prophetic interpretation of the nation of the history of Israel from the reign of Solomon to the 37th year of Jehoakim in the Babylonian Captivity. The time of Solomon was a time of unprecedented glory. However Solomon experienced the blessings of God extended toward him for David’s sake rather than Solomon’s personal goodnews. Although Solomon loved the Lord, his obedience was tainted by disobedience. In later life, disobedience let to apostasy which caused the kingdom to be divided. Solomon’s sins cast a spell of doom and ruined achievement.  The kingdom divided into North and South in 934 BC  and the fall of Israel in about 722 BC. Israel, the Northern Kingdom was born in sin. Its first King Jeroboam led the people from true worship of God into worship of fertility gods that involved prostitution. Israel never had a king who walked right in the sight of God and never experienced a revival of true religion. Many Kings of the Southern Kingdom – Judah were devoted to the Lord, God of Israel. Judah experience revival from time. God maintained a son of David upon a throne of Judah in Jerusalem, in faithfulness to His promise. God stood alone when Israel was taken to captivity. Wicknedness of Manaseh’s reign led Judah to cross the line of God’s grace and Judah was send to desctruction despite repentance of Manaseh and reforms of Josiah. Deportation of Israel into captivity marked the end of God’s people. Book of Kings conclude with the story of Jehoakim which foreshadows the coming of a King who will establish the Kingdom of David forever.

• Second Kings features many unique events and people. Two people were raised from the dead (2 Kings 4:32–37; 13:20–21). The prophet Elijah left this earth without dying (2:1–18); Enoch was the only other man in the Bible to do so (Genesis 5:21–24). The waters of the Jordan River rolled back twice (2 Kings 2:8, 14). These and other miraculous events testify to God’s continuing work among His people.
• The time period covered by this book saw the emergence of the first writing prophets in Israel. Amos and Hosea went to the people of Israel, while Isaiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, and Jeremiah prophesied in Judah, both groups calling the people to repentance and warning them of God’s coming judgments. The author devoted extensive space to Elisha’s ministry after Elijah was taken to heaven, giving special attention to the numerous miracles Elisha performed.
• None of the kings of Israel are described as having done right in God’s eyes; each led the people deeper into idolatry. Several of Judah’s kings were righteous, notably Joash, Uzziah, Hezekiah, and Josiah. Hezekiah held off the Assyrians by trusting in the Lord for deliverance. Josiah later instituted an even greater spiritual reformation. Neither effort, however, was enough to stem God’s eventual judgment on the nation in fulfillment of the curses of the Mosaic Covenant (Deuteronomy 28).

• World affairs played a heavy role in Israel’s and Judah’s destinies. The author of 2 Kings directly connected the Israelites’ apostasy—led by their wicked kings—to their national destruction, pointing it out as God’s judgment on His wayward children. Despite repeated warnings from God’s prophets to turn from their ways and return to God, the people continued to live in sin. To their regret, they did not believe that God would allow their nation to be ruined by foreign invaders. Yet God did not forget His promise to David, either. God saved a remnant from among the people and kept the royal line intact so that one day His people could return to their land to await the promised Redeemer.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE OF FIRST AND SECOND KINGS

The conditions covered in the books of Kings were very much like conditions today. God’s people were plagued by such things as false religion, wickedness in high places, poverty, debt, disease, death and etc. God’s people were constantly harassed and tempted to forsake the Lord God of Israel and seek refuge in the fertility gods of Baal who was thought to have power to create new life among crops, animals and people.

Fertility religion was made appealing by its promise to fulfill sexual desire and its easy access in the local high places. God’s people were also pressed to adapt their worship to include the religious practices of their conquerors. With the fall of the nation, distress of the times and exile of the leaders citizens despaired as conquered people. The God of Israel appeared to be death.

The prophetic authors of Kings saw history from a different perspectives. They uphold a call on the part of the people to worship God of Israel with the whole of their heart. Their national and personal problems were due to their disobedience to God and to compromise of true worship. God still rule the History. He had exercised his power to punish his people just as it was in other times when he had punished foreign nations.

The prophets wrote first and second because of their allegiance to God. They used the books to encouraged the Israelites who would soon be brought back from captivity to establish themselves in their land in full obedience to God. These prophets divinely interpreted historical events to call a people back to God as the only way to build an enduring and blessed nation in society, church and society and even individual life.

The prophets used the introduction and concluding formula for each King to show God’s evaluation of their king on the basis of their faithfulness to him. Notice especially the accounts of the Kings of Israel and of Judah. For the kings of the Northern nation of Israel, the author included the date of the King’s ascesion in terms of the reign of each King of Judah, second, the length of the King’s reign, and third, the condemnation of the King’ for his walking in the ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. The name of the capital from which each king reign is listed, but not each time.

For the Kings of Judah, (the Southern Kingdom) the introductory formula is extended to include the age of the King when ascended to the throne, the name of the queen mother, (and sometimes that of the father,)  in comparison to David, for-bearer who was right in the eyes of the Lord and only Hezekiah and Josiah are given unqualified approval. Six of the Kings are given modified praise. The remaining ten kings were condemned because they did evil in the sight of the Lord.

The prophets who wrote Kings shows how God blessed those Kings who wholeheartedly obeyed him and honored his house. A notable example is Hezekiah. A notable exemption is the death of good King Josiah who was killed in battle by Nego, the King of Egypt. However, the narrator explains that Josiah died because he ignored the word of God that came to him through Nego.

The main purpose of the prophets is to show God’s overthrow of the Hebrew Kingdom because of their sin. Those who reject God, he rejects. The prophets show how the Kingdom was divided and taken away in prophetic culmination of the kings and their people. If you note careful, you see the division of the Kingdom in the days of Solomon’s sons – the taking of the Kingdom from the house of Ahab, Ahaz, Jehu. God rejects and justices those who disobey him.

The book of first and second King magnify the use of God’s spokesmen – the prophets, to rebuke sin and to inspire faith in God. The convince the people that the God of Israel was the only true God and that they reverently followed him.   God’s control and reassurance of his leadership of his people is seen in the commission of Elijah. Elijah’s prayers triumph over the purposes of Baal resulting in the wrath of Jezebel who vows to kill him after Elijah kills the prophets of Baal.  Elijah fled south-ward and finally came to Mt. Sinai where God revealed himself once again. The meaning of God’s revelation seems to be that God would not punish central Israel and destroy baal worship through a spectacular event such as a tornado or earthquake but God would destroy this by the quiet course of daily life. Accordingly God would avenge himself through the controlled ministry of Ahaziah King of Syria, Jehu King of Israel and Elisha the prophet, all of whom Elijah was to appoint to their respective offices. God’s destruction of Baal worship shows God’s hatred of sin and determination to remove sin from his people. Sin is whatever separates God’s people from himself.God wants all sin removed from his people.

The prophets also demonstrated God’s faithfulness in fulfilling his promises to David to establish forever his house and his throne. Disobedience on the part of descendants will bring justisement but not forfeit of the covenant. God is seen to have maintain descendants of David throughout. God spared Joaz and raised him to the throne of David. When sin of Manasseh produces corruption, necesisating the closure of the land, God maintain the life of David in exile. God’s faithfulness led to the coming of Christ and the fulfilling of God’s promises.

APPLICATION

Books focuses on God’s sovereign control of History to fullill his kingdom purpose; God will indeed his Kingdom purpose.
To obey and serve God with our whole heart is the only basis for his blessings. To turn from sin and that which separates from God entails his purpose;  To fulfill our own role as spokes people for God, rebuking sin and inspiring faith in God. And to utilize the divinely interpreted events of the book of first and second kings to call nations to God as the way of receiving God’s blessings.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

• Reign of Solomon was 40 years
• Death of David Circa 971 BC
• Solomon Made King 971 BC
• Solomon’s wisdom 971 BC
• Solomon builds the Temple – 967 – 956 BC
• Death of Solomon – 931 BC
• Rehoboam becomes king 931 BC
• Contest on Mt. Carmel – 870 BC
• Call of Elisha – 860 BC
• Elijah taken up – 850 BC
• Death of Jezebel – 841BC
• Elisha’s death – 798 BC
• Captivity of Israel by Assyria – 732 BC
• Fall of Jerusalem by Nebudchnazer, King of Babylon – 586 BC

I KINGS 18

– Contest between Elijah and 400 prophets of Baal in Mt Carmel. The theological context – why this took place and why God did this. as he did. Main Purpose is to show the people that YAWHEH is the main GOD and is superior over any other pagan gods.

Introduction to First Kings

 

Purpose: To contrast the lives of those who live for God with those who refuse to live for God. It does show through the history of the Kings of Israel and Judah. In the books of 1 and 2 Kings, each king is evaluated by “his reaction toward his covenantal responsibility to the Law of the LORD. That was the acid test of whether he ‘did evil’ or ‘that which was right in the eyes of the LORD.’” See Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament (Chattanooga, Tenn.: AMG, 2002), 447.

Author: Unknown.No one knows the author of 1 and 2 Kings, though some commentators have suggested Ezra, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah as possible authors. Because the entire work encompasses a time period of more than four hundred years, several source materials were used to compile the records.

Certain clues such as literary styles, themes woven throughout the book, and the nature of material used point to a single compiler or author rather than multiple compilers or authors. This person assembled the manuscript while God’s people were in exile at Babylon (see 2 Kings). But he didn’t complete the work until the Babylonians released King Jehoiachin after thirty-seven years in prison (560 BC), most likely completing it within another twenty years. –

Key People – David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Elijah, Ahab and Jezebeel.

• First Kings opens describing the final days of King David (around 971 BC) and the conspiracies surrounding his succession. When David died (1 Kings 2:10), Solomon ascended the throne and established himself as a strong and wise leader. In the early years of Solomon’s reign, Israel experienced its “glory days.” Its influence, economy, and military power enjoyed little opposition; its neighbors posed no strong military threat.
• Shortly after Solomon’s death in 931 BC (1 Kings 11:43), the kingdom was divided into northern (Israel) and southern (Judah) entities. First Kings follows the history of this divided kingdom through the year 853 BC.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

1. KINGS – Solomon’s wisdom, power and achievement brought honor to the Israelite nation and to God. First Kings reveals Solomon’s relationship with Yahweh, emphasizing Solomon’s divinely given wisdom and wealth. Solomon’s reputation reached far beyond Israel’s borders to modern-day Yemen, the queen of Sheba’s likely home (1 Kings 10:1–13). Solomon’s numerous marriages and extensive harem are the stuff of legends, but they led to his wandering faith in later years. Solomon did, however, build the temple, God’s permanent dwelling place among His people.All kings of Israel and Judah were told to obey God and to govern according to His law. But there were tendencies to change worship of God and style of governing to fit their own desires. Neglect of God’s law led to downfall. Those kings who reigned under God’s authority—who remained faithful to the Law—experienced God’s blessings. But those kings who deviated from the Law experienced curses.
2. TEMPLE – Solomon’s Temple was a beautiful place of worship and prayer. The sanctuary was the center of Jewish Religious. It was housed the ark of the covenant containing the Ten Commandments.
3. OTHER gods – Although the Israelites had God’s presence, they became attracted to other gods. When this happened, their hearts became cold resulting in a litanny of trouble in government, families and eventually leading to the destruction of the whole nation.
4. THE PROPHET’S MESSAGE – The prophet’s purpose was to correct any deviation from God’s law. Elijah’s messages and miracles were warning to rebellious Kings and people. First Kings introduces the prophet Elijah, who pronounced God’s judgment on the evil northern king Ahab. In addition to performing other miracles, Elijah won a dramatic confrontation with false prophets on Mount Carmel (18:1–46).
5. SIN AND REPENTANCE – Each King had God’s word. All people had same resources. Whenever they repented and turned to God, God heard their prayer and forgave them.

Introduction the Second Samuel

First Samuel introduces the monarchy of Israel, and 2 Samuel chronicles the establishment of the Davidic dynasty and the expansion of Israel under God’s chosen leader. Second Samuel is set in the land of Israel during the reign of David and follows the course of his forty years as king of Israel (1011–971 BC).

PURPOSE: To record the history of David’s reign; to demonstrate effective leadership under God; to reveal that one person can make a difference; to show personal qualities that please God and to depict David as an ideal leader of an imperfect kingdom and foreshadow Christ who will be the ideal leader of the new and perfect Kingdom.

• The book opens as David learned of Saul’s death. His lament over the deaths of Saul and of Jonathan (2 Samuel 1:19–27), David’s unlikely best friend, demonstrated David’s personal grief over their demise. The Lord soon set David over the tribe of Judah (2:4) and then over all Israel as His anointed king (5:3), uniting all twelve tribes into a tight-knit nation.
• The first ten chapters show David as victorious in battle, praised by the people, compassionate to the sick and poor, and righteous in God’s sight. We see David dance before the Lord in the streets of Jerusalem as his men brought the ark of the covenant back home (6:12–16). We also meet Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathan to whom David extended grace, “for the sake of [his] father Jonathan” (9:7).
• Yet biblical writers did not overlook their heroes’ flaws. In the chapters that follow, we note that David’s adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1–27) was followed by a series of tragedies: their child’s death (12:18), David’s daughter Tamar’s rape by his son Amnon (13:1–39), Amnon’s murder (13:28–30), David’s own political overthrow by his son Absalom (15:1–37), and Absalom’s subsequent death (18:1–33).
• Despite the turmoil in his later years, David enjoyed the Lord’s forgiveness and favor. His genuine sorrow and regret over his sins revealed his repentant heart, with which the Lord was pleased.

 

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

KINGDOM GROWTH – Under David’s leadership, Israel kingdom grew rapidly. Israel went through major changes from tribal groupings to centralized government; from leadership of Judges to a monarchy; from centralized worship to worship at Jerusalem.

PERSONAL GREATNESS – David’s popularity and greatness increased greatly. David realized that God wanted to pour out his kindness on Israel. David regarded God’s interest as more important than his own.

JUSTICE – King David showered justice, mercy and fairness to Saul’s family, his enemies, rebels, allies and friends. His just rule reflected his faith in, and knowledge of God. God’s perfect moral nature is the standard for justice.

CONSEQUENCES OF SIN – David abandon his purpose in times of peace and prosperity. This led him from triumph to trouble. Because David committed adultery with Bethsheba, he experienced consequences of sin and ruined both his family and the nation

FEET OF CLAY – David not only sinned with Bethsheba, he murdered an innocent man. He neglected to discipline his sons when they got involved in rape and murder.  The man of iron had feet of clay.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

A. God is gracious:

• 1. This is not because man demonstrates love toward God, but in spite of man’s disobedience.
• 2. He raises David to king (7:9, 19)
• 3. He forgives David of his evil of adultery and premeditated murder (cf. Lev 20:10; Ex 21:14)
• 4. He suspends judgment before the angel attacks Jerusalem (24)

B. God is Judicious:

• 1. God brings Saul’s contempt for God and His covenant upon his descendants who, except for Mephibosheth, either die violently or with the shame of barrenness (cf. Michal in 2 Sam 6)
• 2. God brings David’s evil upon his family as the son of his adultery dies along with Ammon, Absalom, and Adonijah, as his daughter is raped, and as his concubines are taken in Absalom’s public bid for the throne
• 3. Although spiritual forgiveness is provided, the consequences of evil are still felt

C. God is Sovereign:

• 1. YHWH will be the one who will bring David’s rule into being (2:1-2)
• 2. The Lord rejected Saul’s line (perhaps including the barrenness of Michal) 6:16, 20-23.
• 3. David considers the verbal abuse of Shimei (16:5-14) to possibly be of God’s sovereignty (16:10)

TIMELINE APPLICATION

• David made Kingd over Judah – 1011
• David Made King of Israel 1005
• David and Bethseba – 990
• Birth of Solomon – 990
• Death of Absolom – 985

2 SAMUEL 12

• “You are the man!” Nathan goes to David and tells him a story. David was very upset and Nathan says to David – “Thou art the Man!” David had struck down Uriah and took his wife to be his wife. God was displeased with David.

• David is known as a “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) because, though he sinned greatly and made mistakes, he acknowledged those failures and repented before God. Repent means to turn away from sin and turn toward righteousness. Our Father knows we are not perfect. So His Son, Jesus Christ, paid the price for our sins so that we can become righteous in God’s sight through faith. And although our salvation is secure, our daily sins can hinder our relationship with God. When we confess our sins, turning to the Lord in humility, He will forgive us and restore our relationship with Him.

Introduction to the Book of First Samuel

Together, 1 and 2 Samuel form one book in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek translation of the Bible, the Septuagint, was the first version to divide the material into two parts. First Samuel chronicles the beginning of Israel’s monarchy, following the lives of the prophet Samuel, the ill-fated King Saul, and God’s ultimate choice of David as king.

PURPOSE:  To record the life of Samuel, Israel’s last judge, to narrate the reign and decline of Saul the first King, and to show how God prepared David to be Israel’s first King.

AUTHOR: Probably Samuel. It includes writings from the prophet Nathan and Gad

• Though named after its main character, the prophet Samuel, the book does not claim an author. However, Samuel may have written, and he certainly supplied, the information for 1 Samuel 1:1–24:22, which is a biography of his life and career up to his death.
• First Chronicles 29:29 notes that Samuel, along with Nathan and Gad, recorded the “acts of King David.”
• Evidence in the writing suggests that the books of 1 and 2 Samuel were compiled by someone from the prophetic school who used documents from Samuel, Nathan, and Gad.

KEY PEOPLE & SETTING: Eli, Hannah, Samuel, Saul, Jonathan and David,

• First Samuel 27:6 refers to the divided monarchy, when the ten tribes of Israel rebelled against the two tribes of Judah, which occurred after Solomon’s reign. From this we can conclude that the book came together sometime after the death of David (971 BC) and perhaps even after the death of Solomon (931 BC). Because the book contains no reference to the Assyrian invasion in 722 BC, it likely originated before the period of the exile.

  The events that happen in 1 Samuel took place over a period of about 110 years, stretching from the closing days of the judges, when Samuel was born (ca. 1120 BC) through the death of Saul (1011 BC). We see the birth of Samuel, his call from God and subsequent prophetic ministry, the rise and fall of King Saul, and the anointing and maturity of young David.

  First Samuel is set in the land of Israel, where the Hebrews invaded and settled (see Joshua). Numerous other peoples continued to dwell alongside Israel, often disrupting the peace and encouraging the Israelites to stray from their faith.

  In this critical period of Israel’s history, the people of God transformed from a loosely affiliated group of tribes into a unified nation under a form of government headed by a king. They traded the turmoil of life under the judges for the stability of a strong central monarchy.

  First Samuel focuses on the establishment of that monarchy. The people demanded a king, similar to the kings of the surrounding nations (1 Samuel 8:5). Saul, the first king, though “head and shoulders above the rest” did not have a righteous heart, and his line was destined never to inherit the crown (9:1–15:35). God instructed Samuel to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem, as the next king (16:1–13).

  Much of 1 Samuel follows David’s exploits as a young musician, shepherd, and warrior. We witness his underdog victory over Goliath (17:1–58), his deep friendship with Jonathan (18:1–4), and his growing military prowess (18:5–30). He waited patiently for the throne, often pursued and driven into hiding by Saul. The book concludes with Saul’s death (31:1–13), which serves as a natural dividing marker between 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

• KING – Because people suffered during the reign of Judges, the people wanted a King. They wanted to be organized like the surrounding nations. Though Samuel was against the original purpose, God choose a king for them.
• GOD’S CONTROL – Israel prospered as long as people regarded God as their true King.  When the leaders strayed from the ways of the law, God intervened and over-ruled their actions.  This way God maintained ultimate control over Israel’s history.
• LEADERSHIP – God guided his people using different forms of leadership – Judges, Priest, Prophets and Kings. Though he chose for these offices portrayed different styles. Success of each leader depended on his devotion to God not his position, styles, age or strength.
• OBEDIENCE – To obey God is better than sacrifice. God wanted his people to obey, serve and follow him with the whole heart and not just give superficial commitment and ceremonial symphony.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

Would God choose David and his descendants to lead Israel and Judah? Was David God’s chosen leader for his people?

For these people who had been given land, had to pay taxes, form armies, choose sides in civil wars and move into a new system of Kingship, the question could neither be escaped nor taken lightly. It became a matter of life and death as challenges to David’s throne forced the people to take sides .

Through the period of Judges, the Hebrew tribal groups had settled in their territory. Life revolved around these groups. Every one stayed in the land they had chosen. They had no central government to impose restrictions on the tribes or making demands on them. Likewise, they had no king and no army to defend them as other people such as the Philistines, who threatened to drive the Israelite out of their homeland. The Israelite were forced to ask whether the system of their tribal organization was  divinely ordained.

Would it be godly to choose a King to check the threat of invasion? For many of the Israelites, the answer to this question is Yes.  To have an earthly King was to abandon faith in the Lord. Others believed that God could and would act through a King and approached Samuel to appoint a King to become the nation’s leader.

Transition fro present establishment to a new establishment of King brought anxiety and confusion for a leader like Samuel. Samuel warn the people. People demand a King. Samuel describe to the people what the new form of government would cost them. Ultimately the people choose to have a King to provide military protection. God instructed Samuel to give them a King.  The book of Samuel, using the masterful language of Hebrew describes this transition to Kingship under Saul and the emergence of David’s dynasty.

When David succeeded Saul, the country remained strikingly divided over whether David was God’s chosen ruler. David’s kingdom was made up of two major groups – Judah – the Southerner and Israel – the Northerner. Saul had been identified closely with the Northern tribe.

When the Northern people elected David as their King, they affirmed that the Lord said to you, you will shepherd my people Israel. A number of events led to the people in the North to question David’s leadership’s after he became king. The death of Saul’s son and the execution of seven of Saul’s sons, the Gibeonites with David’s approval and the murder of Saul’s commander Abmon’ while traveling under David’s commander, many of these events cause people to doubt and conclude that they had been wrong.

The write of First and Second Samuel indicates that God indeed called David and used him. The writer confronted every issue that caused people to question David and dealt with each forthrightly, describing David as guilty when he was guilty, but defending him clearly when he knew to him to be guiltless.

Obviously, these events lies at  the very foundation of messianic cop in Israel. In them God everlasting covenant with David emerges as the basis for righteousness, hope that yet lives.

The books of First and Second Samuel deals with the central themes of the Bible and they are three.

1. The activity of God in our History
2. The Consequences of Human Sins
3. The grace of God that is greater than all our sins.

The books of First and Second Samuel recounts human events as they happened. They also do much more.  The writer chose those accounts to show God’s work in Israel’s history. Each account is intended to show how God was working. The writer intended to show human events with God’s hand at work in all of it. The larger portion given to events of human affairs of Elkanah and his family. In this story we see a jealous wife, a frustrated husband and a miserable praying barren woman. Who can doubt that writer wanted us to understand that even in the midst of a terrible personal situation God is at work bringing into being a family; or later a David whom God has just anointed, becoming a musician in Saul’s court.

Was the appointment of David to Saul’s court a mere chance? The writer does not say God sends David to Saul’s court, but clearly assumes that we can see that God was clearly at work bringing about his purpose in the world. The great theme of the Bible is that God incarnate his word. It was done supremely in Jesus of Nazareth, but in some degree in all those who would be used by him and how magnificently shown in the lives of David, and yet even Saul.

The books of Samuel also shows that sin has ultimate consequence. There is no mathematics of sin, but it produces the same results every time. Sin does effect on the individual and the world. Sin can cause great suffering. Just as one person’s positive act has a great effect so do one negative act. Look at the account of Amnon’s sin. Amnon could have succeeded his father, but his sin led to assassination and the exile of his brother Absolomon.

The books of Samuel, thankfully, magnifies the grace of God that is greater than all our sins.  Sinners are not simply discarded. There is no clear demonstration than the Old Testament that we were favored by God while were still sinners than the account of David. This is not a testimony to God’s grace than that David overcame his sin to be a model for all kings to come.

The theme of the Books of Samuel is set clearly in the context of God’s everlasting love and grace. God made an everlasting covenant with David that was not depended on perfect righteousness. This aspect of God’s love of those who continue to sin became the foundation for the Messianic Hope, that God will not leave his people without a Savior. David testifies at the end that God had made with him, everlasting covenant.

APPLICATION

GOD PROVIDES –  God repeatedly made everyday events work for His purposes. He used Hannah’s contentious relationship with Peninnah (1 Samuel 1:1–28), led Saul to Samuel during Saul’s search for lost donkeys (9:1–27), and caused David to learn of Goliath while taking food to his brothers (17:1–58). These are but a few examples.

GOS ID THE DIVINE KING: As the divine King, God designated a human vice-regent, David, to rule over His people. This history validates David’s house as the legitimate rulers of Israel. It also fulfills Jacob’s promise that the scepter will never depart from Judah, David’s tribe (Genesis 49:10).

GOD CAN REVERSE HUMAN FORTUNES: Hannah’s barrenness gave way to children (1 Samuel 1:1–28; 2:21); Samuel became prophet instead of Eli’s sons (2:12; 3:13); Saul rose to prominence though he was from a lowly tribe; and David was anointed king though he was the youngest son (16:1–13). Normal human patterns were reversed by God so that His plan could be furthered, showing His sovereignty over all.

God is still sovereign in the twenty-first century. He will accomplish His purposes with or without our cooperation. But as was true in the lives of Samuel, Saul, and David, our response to God’s call affects our outcome. Will we obey Him as Samuel and David did and live lives marked by blessing? Or will we, like Saul, try to live on our own terms? “To obey is better than sacrifice,” Samuel told Saul (1 Samuel 15:22). That truth still speaks to us today.

• God is not tied to political system. God is supreme and can be worshiped or abandoned.
• Events can never be separated from those who witness and interpret it. David kept God’s promises. David grieved when he could not prevent the consequences of sins.
• We must check our motives and biases when we are prone to be critical of others.
• We must look for the hand of God at work even in the lives of those we distrust.
• God is in our every day world. We read of stories in the book of Samuel that shows that God used a family, some of who hated each other. We need to see God at work in our daily lives.
• We can enter in the Holy Places of God to praise his name as Hannah did.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

• Birth of Samuel – 1070 BC
• Call of Samuel – 1060BC
• Saul chosen & Anointed as King – 1040
• Samuel reproves Saul in 1040
• God rejects Saul in 1030
• David anointed King – 1020
• David Killed Goliath – 1020.
• Death of Samuel – 1015
• Death of Saul – 1011

Introduction to the Book of Ruth

The book of Ruth opens with a report of famine, which drove Naomi’s family out of Bethlehem into neighboring Moab. Naomi eventually returned with Ruth because she heard “that the LORD had visited His people in giving them food” (1:6).

• The book of showed the Israelites the blessings that obedience could bring. It showed them the loving, faithful nature of their God.
• This book demonstrates that God responds to His people’s cry. He practices what He preaches. Watching Him provide for Naomi and Ruth, two widows with little prospects for a future, we learn that God cares for the outcasts of society just as He asks us to do (Jeremiah 22:16; James 1:27).

PURPOSE: To show how three people remain strong in Character and true to God even when the society around them is collapsing.

• The book was written from Naomi’s point of view. Every event related back to her: her husband’s and sons’ deaths, her daughters-in-law, her return to Bethlehem, her God, her relative, Boaz, her land to sell, and her progeny. Almost without peer in Scripture, this story views “God through the eyes of a woman.”

  Naomi has been compared to a female Job. She lost everything: home, husband, and sons—and even more than Job did—her livelihood. She joined the ranks of Israel’s lowest members: the poor and the widowed. She cried out in her grief and neglected to see the gift that God placed in her path—Ruth.

  Ruth herself embodied loyal love. Her moving vow of loyalty (Ruth 1:16–17), though obviously not marital in nature, is often included in modern wedding ceremonies to communicate the depths of devotion to which the new couples aspire. The book reveals the extent of God’s grace—He accepted Ruth into His chosen people and honored her with a role in continuing the family line into which His appointed king, David, and later His Son, Jesus, would be born (Matthew 1:1, 5).

AUTHOR: Unknown

• According to the Talmud (Jewish tradition), the prophet Samuel wrote the book of Ruth. The text itself says nothing of the author, but whoever wrote it was a skilled storyteller. It has been called the most beautiful short story ever written.

DATE – Circa 1100 BC

• The events of Ruth occurred sometime between 1160 BC and 1100 BC, during the latter period of the judges (Ruth 1:1). These were dark days, full of suffering brought about by the Israelites’ apostasy and immorality.
• The final words of the book link Ruth with her great-grandson, David (Ruth 4:17–22), so we know it was written after his anointing.
• The genealogy at the end of the book shows David’s lineage through the days of the judges, acting as a support for his rightful kingship. Solomon is not mentioned, leading some to believe the book was written before David ascended the throne.

KEY PEOPLE : Ruth, Naomi, Boaz

• Ruth’s sacrifice and hard work to provide for Naomi reflected God’s love. Boaz’s loyalty to his kinsman, Naomi’s husband, reflected God’s faithfulness. Naomi’s plan for Ruth’s future reflected selfless love.

KEY PLACES: Moab and Bethlehem

THEOLOGICAL THEMES

• FAITHFULNESS – Ruth’s faithfulness to Naomi as a daughter in law and friend is a great example of love and loyalty. They are also faithful to God and his covenant. Ruth, Naomi and Boaz are faithful to God and is law. God remains faithful and true to His covenant.
• KINDNESS – Ruth shows great kindness to Naomi and in turn Naomi shows great Kindness to Ruth.  God shows his kindness by bringing Naomi, Ruth and Boaz together
• INTEGRITY – Ruth shows high and moral character by being loyal to Naomi. Ruth  shows hard-work in the field. Boaz shows his integrity in his moral standards and by following through on his commitments.
• PROTECTION – God protects and cares for Noami Ruth, giving them His security. He guides the mind and activities of people to fulfill his purpose.
• PROSPERITY AND BLESSING – God came to Bethlehem as poor windows. They soon became prosperous through Ruth’s marriage to Boaz. Ruth became the great grandmother of King David. The great blessing was in quality of love between Boaz, Ruth and Naomi.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

We ask where is GOD in the times of crisis and great pain? Is there any information of God’s presence among his people when they lack and face other tragedies in life? The beautiful story of the book of Ruth is God’s response to such question. The story of Ruth emerges from the early periods of Israel’s monarchy.

BITTERNESS OF NAOMI – Book of Ruth begins by introducing the family of Naomi. Naomi is bitter. Bitter at God, bitter in life itself. God’s presence seems to be far from her, especially that she had to move to foreign territory, the land of the enemies. For Naomi, God’s blessings were in the past.

SURPRISING PROVIDENCE – The surprising providence of GOD is the theme of the book of Ruth. Biblical narrative often uses the element of surprise to emphasize the mystery of God. We cannot program God. He finds ways to break through to his own people on their way to himself. Trials and tragedy brings surprises and surprising responses from God’s people and from God.

TRIALS AND TRAGEDY – Naomi’s family sought to escape from the promised land. God moved mysteriously with them. Trials and tragedy may lead people to loose faith at the moment. But trials and tragedy cannot move God away from his people. God can use surprising people to accomplish his purpose.

Moabites epitomize pagan worship. The serve as Old Testament model of wrong and pagan worship. Yet Ruth, a Moabite began part of the story of God’s redemptive work and ancestor of the Messiah. Human categories, boundaries and biases do not limit God as we works out his purpose.

SURPRISING SACRIFICE – There is a element of surprising sacrifice in the book of Ruth. Ruth left he land, her blood kin and her god to follow her mother-n-law. God uses LOYALTY to establish his saving will for the family and through them for the world.

THE SURPRISE OF GOD’S PRESENCE – The great surprise is that of God’s presence. God relieves Naomi’s bitterness by working through Boaz, a relative. Through Boaz’s action, God suddenly became the main hero of the story as he is of all the life. God is truly present in crisis and he is ready to provide, heal and give eternal redemption.

APPLICATION

Ruth gives us a realistic portrayed of life that is filled with tragedies and frustrations. Most of us can readily identify with Ruth or Naomi.

Love and loyalty may separate us from the family. It may also lead us to God’s will for our lives. In the moment of tragedy, God is present even if we are not aware of his presence.

No person or people should ignored or condemned. God may use the hated enemy to bring his purpose to fruition. We need to be good neighbors to all people regardless of their heritage of culture. God may surprise us by the way he works through us to help us.

God can be trusted in the darkest hour. We need to seek his presence and wait for him to provide his will and fulfill his promise.  Despair is not the end of faith. Naomi became bitter, but God continued to bless her and lead her on a new journey to faith and redemption.

What caused Naomi to be bitter and turn against God?

Naomi is married to Elimelech. A famine causes them to move with their two sons, from their home in Judea to Moab. While there Elimelech dies, as well as his sons who had gotten married in the meantime. Near destitute, Naomi becomes bitter at life and at God. She returns to Bethlehem with one daughter-in-law, Ruth, whom she could not dissuade from accompanying her.  Her other daughter-in-law, Orpah, remains in Moab.

Naomi is so changed by poverty and affliction that her old friends hardly recognize her. She tells them, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara (מרה), for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me”. Naomi has been made bitter through bereavement, dislocation and poverty. Her husband and sons are dead and now she has two daugthers in law to provide for and care for.

TIMELINE

Story of Ruth – 1100 BC

Introduction to the Book of Judges

PURPOSE: To show that God’s judgement against sin is certain and his forgiveness of sin and restoration of relationships is just as certain for those who repent.

• The primary message of Judges is that God will not allow sin to go unpunished. As Exodus established, Israel was God’s people—He was their King. They had forsaken the covenant established at Mount Sinai. In Judges, He disciplined them for following other gods, disobeying His sacrificial laws, engaging in blatant immorality, and descending into anarchy at times. Yet because they were His people, He listened to their cries for mercy and raised up leaders to deliver them. Unfortunately, even these godly individuals did not wield sufficient influence to change the nation’s direction. The people’s inability to resist sinful Canaanite influences eventually revealed their desire for a centralized monarchy, led by a righteous king whom God would choose as His intermediary.

AUTHOR: The text of Judges gives no indication as to who wrote the book, but Jewish tradition names the prophet Samuel as the author.

• The author of Judges certainly lived in the early days of the monarchy. The recurring statement, “in those days there was no king in Israel” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25), points out a contrast between the events happening in the book and the time of its writing. Clues within Judges suggest it was written before David established his throne in Jerusalem (1004 BC), yet after Saul was anointed king (1051 BC) (compare Judges 1:21 with 2 Samuel 5:6–7 and Judges 1:29 with 1 Kings 9:16). Also, Samuel was known to write on occasion (1 Samuel 10:25).

KEY PEOPLE: Othniel, Ehud, Debra Gideon, Abimelech, Jeptha, Samson and Delilah

• In this book we meet many heroes of faith: Othniel, Gideon, Samson, Shamgar, Deborah, Jephthah, Ehud . . . flawed individuals who answered God’s call to deliver the Israelites in sometimes dramatic form.

SETTING

• The period of the judges began after the death of Joshua in the early fourteenth century BC (Joshua 24:29) and continued until Saul was crowned king of Israel by the prophet Samuel in 1051 BC (1 Samuel 10:24).

  Events within the book of Judges span the geographical breadth of the nation, happening in a variety of cities, towns, and battlefields.

  The book begins soon after the death of Joshua and ends in the years just before the entrance of Samuel onto the scene, a period of about three hundred years.

  The contents of Judges were likely not written chronologically. The final few chapters (Judges 17–21) give an overview of the moral climate during those days and, rather than occurring after the period of the judges listed earlier in the book, they probably happened in and around the times of various judges mentioned in earlier chapters.

  The time of the judges brought about great apostasy in Israel. The nation underwent political and religious turmoil as the people tried to possess those parts of the land that had not yet been fully conquered. The tribes fought among themselves, as well, nearly wiping out the tribes of Manasseh (Judges 12) and Benjamin (20–21). The pattern of behavior in the book of Judges is clear: the people rebelled through idolatry and disbelief, God brought judgment through foreign oppression, God raised up a deliverer—or judge, and the people repented and turned back to God. When the people fell back into sin, the cycle started over again.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

• DECLINE AND COMPROMISE – Whenever a judge dies, the people faces a decline and compromise their spiritual values, abandon their mission to drive all people out the land and adopt custom other nations
• DECAY AND APOSTASY – Israel’s moral downfall had its roots in fierce independence that the people sought and each tribe cherished, leading to each person doing what was right in their own eyes. There was no unity in government or in worship. Law and order broke down and finally Idol worship and man-made religion led to abandonment of faith in God.
• DEFEAT AND OPPRESSION – God used evil oppressors to punish Israel for their sins, to bring them to a point of repentance and to test their allegiance to him.REPENTANCE – Defeat caused the people to cry out to GOD for help. They bow to him, turning from idolatry to God for mercy and deliverance. When they repented, God delivered them.
• DELIVERANCE AND HEROES – When Israel repent, God raised up Hereos  to deliver his people from the path of sin and oppression it brought. He used many kinds of people to fulfill his purpose.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

• In the Exodus God fulfilled his promise. At Sinai he provide a covenant. That covenant held the tribes together. During the times of Judges, Israel made the difficult decision to be a settled people with organization. Still Israel become a loosely organized group of tribes. The tribes could gather at Shiloh to seek YHW’s presence and renew their covenant with God. Serious threats from nations with military strength threatened individual and tribal autonomy. It distabilize them. At times a judge would appear, inspired of the Lord. This inspired leader who rally the clan and lead the voices into the army and expel the foe. The leaders with authority were temporary and entirely on the personal, charisma quality of the leader as felt by the presence of the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  As soon as the danger passed, the leader and the tribe went back to their comfort zone – worshiping canaanites gods in place of YWH, the God of Israel.
• The days of the judges brought a litny of  apostasy, failure and defeat. What was wrong? That is the question the author raised and answered.  God blessings carries a condition. If Israel remained faithful and obedient to the Covenant given at Sinai God would give them victory. Israel disobeyed and forfeit victory. Israel tried to worship YWH and the gods of Israel, violating the terms of the covenant. YWH alone is responsible for Israel’s welfare and exitence. Him alone deserve worship, reverence and obedience.
• Writing under Kings, the author finds chaos and destruction were the resut. Hope was found in confessing disobedience and return to YWH who would forgive them and deliver from the enemy. Failure to repent meant  distraction of the land, rejection from the land and captivity in a foreign land.
• Book of Judges adds new insight to obligation. YWH accepted God’s rule. God’s kingdom is God’s rule over his chosen people. Covenant is Israel accepting conditions for a superior rule. Maintaining stipulating terms which include worship YWH exclussive was necessary. God who made a covenant is a God who is a covenant- keeping GOD.
• The covenant people learned they needed a God-directed leader who will not lead people on the road to self destruction.

APPLICATION

• Judges show the characteristics of YWH – transcendent, personal, righteous, purposeful, faithful. He is the creator and LORD of History. What he promises, he will perform. We must become like him in attitude – this is righteousness anything else is disobedience and sin. Confession of sin restores our relationship with God who is able to provide, a righteous God who keeps his promises.
• God is able to provide what we truly need in this. The primary mover God’s deliverance is the Spirit of GOD. When God is acting on our behalf, it is the spirit of God in action.
• The rule of God over his people is the only way people can know his will regardless of national or political rules. When the will and rule of GOD controls a believer and the church, the kingdom of GOD is at hand.

TIMELINE

Judges – Circa 1390 BC

Story of Othniel  – 1390

Ehud – 1331

Debra – 1225

Gideon – 1150

Abimelech – 1115

Jephthah – 1110

Samson – 1100 – 1075

Introduction the Book of Joshua

Joshua means “Yahweh saves,” an appropriate name for the man who led Israel, under God’s command, to victorious conquest of the Promised Land.

AUTHOR

• Scholars believe that Joshua himself or a scribe under his direction penned most of the book. Early chapters include firsthand experiences (the NIV uses the pronouns “we” and “us” in Joshua 5:1, 6, for example) and military details worthy of being known and recorded by a general. Joshua 24:26 refers to Joshua writing a portion of the book himself.
• After Joshua’s death, the high priests Eleazar or Phinehas may have supplemented some material in this book that alludes to events after the conquest (15:13–19; 19:47; 24:29–33).

PURPOSE :

• Give the history of the conquest of the promised land.

• The book of Joshua records the culmination of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land. Here we see God fulfill His promise to give the land of Canaan to Jacob’s descendants. Joshua portrays the Lord as their general, the One who would lead His people in victorious battle if they would trust and obey. Joshua recounted a story of contradictions. On the one hand, God gave the land that He had promised to the nation. On the other hand, the people failed to possess the land completely, allowing some inhabitants to remain. God fulfilled His side of the bargain, but the Israelites did not finish the job. The Canaanite peoples became a damaging influence on Israel as years went by.

  The book of Joshua celebrates God as general, defender, and king. It shows the geographical boundaries given to each tribe of Israel. Even more significantly, the book of Joshua serves as the connecting narrative between the days of Moses and the days of the judges, during which the book was first circulated. That which Moses began and endured in the wilderness, Joshua was able to claim victoriously in the land. God’s promises through the ages were being fulfilled before the people’s eyes. “Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass” (Joshua 21:45).

  The last few verses of Joshua narrate three burials: Joshua (Joshua 24:29–30), the bones of Joseph (24:32), and Eleazar the high priest (24:33). All three men were associated with Israel’s days in captivity (Joseph long ago when Jacob’s family first settled in Egypt, and Joshua and Eleazar as young men on the long journey through the wilderness). And now all three lay at rest in the land of promise, witnesses to God’s faithfulness.

AUDIENCE:

•  This history was written to the victorious Israelites who had settled the land. Though they were newly established as conquerors, Joshua reminded them that the conquest was incomplete: “very much of the land remains to be possessed” (13:1).

KEY PEOPLE & EVENTS: Joshua, Rahab, Achan, Phineas and Eliezar

• In this book we find accounts of faithfulness: Rahab the harlot (Joshua 2:1–21), the battle of Jericho (6:1–27), and Caleb the warrior (14:6–14). We also witness disobedience and its consequences: Achan’s sin (7:1) and the resulting loss at Ai (7:5), failure of some tribes to annihilate the enemy as God commanded, and even Joshua making a treaty with the Gibeonites without first seeking the Lord (9:1–27).

KEY PLACES & DATES: Jericho, Ai, Mt. Nebo, Gilgal, Shiloh

• The events of the book of Joshua span about twenty-five years, starting soon after the death of Moses (Joshua 1:1) around 1406 BC, before the conquest commenced. The conquest of Canaan took about seven years, and Joshua’s final address and subsequent death came almost twenty years later. The book begins with the nation of Israel poised at the banks of the Jordan River, across from Jericho. It records the details of numerous military campaigns that defeated the inhabitants of the land. The book ends with Joshua’s regathering of the nation for his final exhortation.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

• SUCCESS – God gave success to the Israelite when they obeyed his master plan and not when they went after their own desires. Victory came when they trusted in him rather than their military power or their money.
• FAITH – The Israelites demonstrated their faith by trusting in God daily to save and to guide them. By looking back at God’s saving actions, they developed strong confidence that he would be faithful in the future.
• GUIDANCE – God gave instructions to Israelites for every aspect of their lives. His law guided them daily in their lives and His specific matching orders gave them victory in battle.
• LEADERSHIP – Joshua was an example of an excellent leader. He was confident in God’s strength, courageous in the face of opposition and willing to seek God’s advice.
• CONQUEST – God commanded his people to conquer the Canaanites and take all their land, completing this task fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham and pronouncement of judgement to people living there.  Unfortunately, the Israelite never finished the job.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

When the book of Joshua was written, the Israelites were living in Canaan. This was the country that God gave them in fulfillment to the promise made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Canaan was called the place of Israel’s rest. God gave Israel a period of success and prosperity. As Israel enjoyed rest and fellowship with God in Canaan, God wanted to keep alive the memories of the good things done in the past and to direct their hopes to things to come in the future.  Last events had made it clear than people are prone to forget their God and his promises. God wanted to prevent future generation from forgetting. The book was written to remind the people. Joshua goes into the details of the ceremonies – see Joshua 24:1-7.

Israel’s history, after Joshua, proves how the people needed reminder of what God has done… Again and again, Israel forget God and suffered punishment through invansion and depravity in the hands of their enemies. In such circumstances, Israel could remember God’s kindness and plead for his guidance. Recalling God’s deeds in the past gave Israel confidence that he would act on their behalf. Stories of success and prosperity serves as foundation for warning and admonition. God use the lengthy story of Achan to teach them that the holy land that he had led them required solemn allegiance on the hearts of the people.

Final aspects of the book are the future of God’s people which is founded on God’s promise to Abraham that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This promised is fulfilled in the the person of Jesus Christ. This goes back to the promise God gave for the crushing of the head of the serpent. The initial enjoyment of inheritance should not allow them to forget the greater glory that was still to come. The present fulfillment of God’s promise should be coupled with the not-yet promise.  Joshua speaks of land, not yet possessed. Joshua of future yet to be fulfilled – a promise of a land that both Jews and Gentiles would have a possession in it.

God reveals his redemptive past in stages. The theological themes of Joshua must be light the coming savior, Jesus and in the future hope Christ has given us. Abraham possessed Canaan only in the form of promise. In the time of Joshua they possessed the land – God had fulfilled his promise and God can be trusted to fulfill his promise. The blessing God gave the Israel through the leadership of Joshua fails in comparison to the blessings that comes through Jesus. Think of the city build four square with names written on the twelves tribes. Joshua describe the time in Canaan as a time of rest. Moses had promised this rest.  God gave Joshua  and Israelites of his time rest from their enemies. King David possessed this rest even more when he finally evicted Jebusites from their stronghold.   David desired to built God’s temple as a sign of God’s presence among his people. Today we look forward to a rest that GOD will give to his people, a rest greater than ever before.

Modern Christians must heed warnings found in the book of Joshua. To go against God’s covenant is a far more serious and invites God’s punishment.

God depicted in the book of Joshua is a faithful God. Through faith in Christ, Christians have become Abraham’s decendants. Faithfulness applies to all people. Covenant had both blessing and curse. At its very core, the covenant was of grace and not of works. Israel experience curse when they faith to keep the covenant and Achan were put to death.

God sends sunshine to both just and unjust thus witnessing his greatness to all people. When Israel stood at Canaan’s border the Canaanite’s sins had reached the full measure. God’s patience had run out and were about to be destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. God showed Mercy to Rahab because she showed Mercy to God’s people.

APPLICATION

Today there is still a battle between God’s people and those who are not. Christ teaches his people to pray that his Kingdom may come so that all people will obey God. We are to put on the full armor of God. God is victorious over those who oppose him. There is celebration in heaven when God’s people fight a good fight of faith.

• God is present with is people
• God will give his people an inheritance that outshines that of Israel
• God demands obedience from his people
• God’s royal priesthood may claim God as their possessor in manner levites never attained.
• God will reward those who favor God’s call and his people like Rahab did
• God’s people can match shoulder to shoulder to the rest that God has prepared for them.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

• Entrance into the Promised Land – Circa 1410 BC
• Conquest of the Promised Land – Circa 1410
• Apportionement – Circa 1400 BC.
• Joshua calls the people to Covenant Loyalty – Circa 1390 BC.

Introduction the Book of Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy means “second law,” a term ‘mistakenly’ derived from the Hebrew word mishneh in Deuteronomy 17:18.

Deuteronomy records the “second law”—namely Moses’s series of sermons in which he restated God’s commands originally given to the Israelites some forty years earlier in Exodus and Leviticus.

PURPOSE:

• To remind people of what God has done and encourage them to rededicate their lives to him. The adult Israelites were too young to have participated in the first covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai. Therefore, Moses reviewed the Law at the doorstep to the Promised Land, urging a new generation to re-covenant with Yahweh, to recommit themselves to His ways.

• In Moses’s conclusion, he entreated the people,

  “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days.” (Deuteronomy 30:19–20)

AUTHOR: –  Moses and last part Joshua.

• Several times, Deuteronomy asserts Moses as author (1:1; 4:44; 29:1). Speaking to Joshua, Moses’s successor, the Lord referred to this “book of the law” as that which Moses commanded (Joshua 1:8). And when future Old Testament and New Testament writers quoted from Deuteronomy, they often referred to it as originating with Moses (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 14:6; Ezra 3:2; Nehemiah 1:7; Malachi 4:4; Matthew 19:7; Luke 20:28). “These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel,” says Deuteronomy 1:1.
• Moses could not have written the final chapter, which dealt with his death. Joshua’s authorship of the last part finds the usual support from Jewish tradition.

DATE AND KEY PLACES

• Deuteronomy was written around 1406 BC, at the end of the forty years of wandering endured by the nation of Israel. At the time, the people were camped on the east side of the Jordan River, on the plains of Moab, across from the city of Jericho (Deuteronomy 1:1; 29:1). They were on the verge of entering the land that had been promised centuries earlier to their forefathers (Genesis 12:1, 6–9). The children who had left Egypt were now adults, ready to conquer and settle the Promised Land. Before that could happen, the Lord reiterated through Moses His covenant with them.

AUDIENCE:  “All Israel”

• Moses addressed his words to “all Israel” at least twelve times. This phrase emphasized the nation’s unity, initiated by their covenant with God at Mount Sinai and forged in the wilderness. In the midst of widespread polytheism, Israel was distinctive in that they worshiped one God, Yahweh. Their God was totally unique; there was none other like Him among all the “gods” of the nations surrounding them. Deuteronomy 6:4 codifies this belief in the Shema, the basic confession of faith in Judaism even today. “Hear, O Israel! The LORD [Yahweh] is our God, the LORD [Yahweh] is one!” Deuteronomy also restates the Ten Commandments and many other laws given in Exodus and Leviticus. The book delivered to Israel God’s instructions on how to live a blessed life in the Promised Land. Chapters 27 and 28 specify the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES

• HISTORY – Moses reviews the might acts of GOD. He recounted how God had helped them and how the people had disobeyed.
• LAW – God reviewed his law with his people. This had to be renewed by a new generation entering promised land.
  LOVE – God’s love is portrayed more often that his love. In response God desire loves from the heart of people
• CHOICES- God reminded the people that they must choose a path of obedience. Rebellion will bring sever calamity. Obedience brings blessings
• TEACHING – God commanded the Israel to teach his ways using rituals, memorization and pass them on to the next generation.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

• How do people of God respond when God reveals his promises?

Because of a sin of unbelief, the people of God had wandered for 38 years. Now they are to enter the promised land without their leader Moses.

Moses performed on last task – he preached three sermons –

• Chapter 1: 6 : 4: 43 recounting wondrous acts of God and how God had performed on behalf of his people
• Chapter 4:44 – 26:68 – expands on the Law of Yahweh
• Chapter 29:1- 30:20 – Leads the new generation to renew the covenant that reflect the intimate relationship between God and his people.

In Deuteronomy the issue facing the people of God are addressed. Would people trust YAHWEH as one true God? If and when the people move to the promised, would they assimilate or they would recognize the greatness and faithfulness of God? Would they live in the land in the way God would like them to?

Central THEME – loyal love of GOD for his people. God is loving – this is the mostly startling aspect of GOD. The sole God of the universe is unique. Only God of Israel is TRUE. He demands total devotion of his people. His holiness and righteousness is seen in his law. His grace is seen in choosing Israel as His people. Israel are to reflect his character. God’s election and gift of the land reveal his goodness. Human rulers can become sovereign but  in no way compare to GOD’s sovereign Lord of his covenant.

Chapters 6:5- 9 – Love the LORD Your GOD.. Worship to God is to be total and nonequivalent. The command to love is based on prior demonstration of God’s love for his people.  God expect the highest moral standard for his people. Obedience to God is necessary for the community of God to maintain purity, unity and effectual witness. Disobedience disrupt relationship with God. Obedience to God brings blessing. Disobedience brings a curse.

APPLICATION

Our relationship with God is to be marked by faithfulness, loyalty, love, and devotion. Think of an ideal marriage—that’s the picture of how God wants us to cling to Him (Ephesians 5:28–32).

Book of Deuteronomy draws us to a deep relationship with God and his word. We learn what God is like. what he has done for his people and what he requires of his servants. Deuteronomy shows us eight important facts.

1. God is a Sovereign Lord of History, nature and our lives. We must place anything, instructions or person to replace, compare or imitate his Lordship.
2. God loves us enough to show us how to enter into a holy relationship with him by faith.
3. God gives abundantly to provide for the needs of his people.
4. God wants and requires his people to solely and totally devoted to him.
5. We should love God with a totality of our being and share that love with others, family, neighbors
6. God has chosen us by His grace to be a special and unique people, reflecting his nature to the world.
7. God has given us guidance which is his word to enable us fulfill the purpose of revealing his character to the world.
8. God blesses those who obey him and judges those who rebel against him.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

Moses preached three sermons in Circa 1410 BC

Introduction to the Book of Numbers

The name “Numbers” is a translation of Arithmoi, from the Septuagint, titled thus because the book contains many statistics, population counts, tribal and priestly figures, and other numerical data. The Hebrew name comes from the first sentence of the book and means “in the desert of ”; it is perhaps an even more accurate description of the book’s content, which follows the Israelites through almost forty years of wandering in the desert.

AUTHOR – Moses

• Moses is the central figure within the book, and in at least two instances Numbers mentions him recording events by the Lord’s commands (Numbers 33:2; 36:13).

SETTING –

• The events of the book began in the second year after the Israelites departed Egypt, as they camped at Mount Sinai around 1444 BC (Numbers 1:1). The narrative ends thirty-eight years later “in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho” (36:13) in 1406 BC.

AUDIENCE: Israel

• The Lord directed the message of Numbers toward the younger generation of Israel, children of the former slaves who escaped through the Red Sea. Except for Joshua, Caleb, and Moses, the older generation—everyone twenty years old or older at the time of the first census—died before the completion of Numbers, due to their disobedience and disbelief (Numbers 14:22–30). Moses completed the book before his death (Deuteronomy 31:24).

PURPOSE :

• Numbers tells the story of how the Israel prepared to enter the promised land, how they sinned, and were punished and how they prepared to try again. In this book, the people of Israel tested God’s patience, and He in turn tested their endurance and faithfulness. Though the people failed many times, God showed His own faithfulness by His constant presence leading the way: through a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
• Numbers records the people’s long wandering in the desert of Sinai, their time at the oasis of Kadesh-barnea, and their eventual arrival at the banks of the Jordan River across from the Promised Land. In this journey, God reminded Israel that He does not tolerate rebellion, complaining, and disbelief without invoking consequences. He taught His people how to walk with Him—not just with their feet through the wilderness but with their mouths in worship, hands in service, and lives as witnesses to the surrounding nations. He was their God, they were His people, and He expected them to act like it.
• Numbers takes the reader on a long and winding path through a desert of excruciating detail. The book records census results for all twelve tribes not once, but twice; it documents priestly instructions for handling the Ark of the Covenant and the tabernacle; and it even spells out the placement of the tribes when they camped. But through it all, we cannot doubt God’s unfailing direction over the nation.

KEY PEOPLE:

• Moses, Aaron, Miriam, Joshua, Caleb, Eleazar, Korah, Balaam.

KEY EVENTS

• Joshua and Caleb alone among the twelve spies encouraged Israel to take possession of the land (Numbers 13–14; Joshua 14:7);
• Moses struck a rock and water spouted forth (Numbers 20:11; Psalm 106:32);
• Moses lifted up a bronze serpent on a pole so that believing Israelites might be healed of their snake bites (Numbers 21:6–9; John 3:14); and
• Balaam was rebuked by his donkey (Numbers 22:21–34; Revelation 2:14).

KEY PLACES :

• Mt. Sinai, Promised Land, Kardesh Barnea, Mt. Horeb and Plains of Moab

THEOLOGICAL THEMES

1. Census – Moses  counted the people twice. First was to  prepare them for military. The second was to prepare them to conquer the country east of the Jordan River.
2. Rebellion – At Kardesh Barnea, twelve spies were sent to the promised land. Ten return with bad report and people decided to go back to Egypt. People rebelled against Moses and against God.
3. The Wandering – Because they rebelled, the Israel wandered 40 years in the wilderness. This shows how God can punish sin. God gave time israel to regenerate and redicate themselves to the ways of GOD.
4. Canaan – It is the promised Land. It was the land God had promised to Abraham. This was to be the dwelling place of God’s people

The journey of the Israelites through the wilderness earned the apostle Paul’s notice when he penned his first letter to the Corinthian church. “These things happened,” he wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:6, “as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.”  With humility and sincerity, pray for a soft heart, open to God’s guiding hand.

THEOLOGICAL OUTLINE

• How does GOD lead a rebellious people?

Numbers records God’s redemptive dealing with his people from the time of the departure fron Southern end of  Peninsual to the triumphant entry into the promised. It is a remarkable story of how God delivers slaves, accompanies them by cloud, repeats relapses into distrust and rebellion in a set of challenges they face of any problems or crisis that arose.

Numbers shows a group of God’s warriors who were  were materialistic, self-centered warriors who lost every courage and complained bitterly in the face of any testing that came their way. They blamed God and thought of returning in disgrace to the land of their oppressors. God had condemned them to lifetime of wandering until all who rebelled had died in the desert. God promised to grant the victory and complete conquest. God wanted to increase not their numbers of military personnel, but increase of faith and the quality of their commitment to GOD and leadership of Joshua.

A new generation later arose and received marching orders. IMPORTANCE decision faced them.

1. Firs they could accept the status quot and try to settle where they were without the risk of entering the promised land.
2. Second, they could retreat to the security of the past, even if it meant eternal slavery to foreign powers.
3. Third, they could continue complaining and fighting among themselves for leadership position and power.
4. They could try to set up their own isolated religious system that they had invented themselves rather than obeying what God had commanded. This way they could avoid the challenge of following God and contamination of the world.
5. Fifth- cut themselves off from the ways of their fathers,  search out God’s will as revealed in his inspired word, and crossed into the promised land, depend on God to fulfill his promise and be commit themselves to be the people of God -the people God had always wanted them to be.

The long list of names, places and rituals might cause us to loose the theological teaching.

• God’s faithfulness and wisdom provides a reason for hope even in darkest situation.
• History depends on God’s leadership and human obedience and statistics or human calculation.
• Stubborn human rebellion faces  punishment – even faithful leaders must expect punishment for disobedience.
• God’s people need proper organization and leadership to accomplish God’s mission
• Proper worship is identifying mark of God’s people
• God has  a future for his people that their rebellion cannot destroy.
• Yahweh is the only hero providing physical needs for a rebellious people – a people of his promise

History in numbers is a narrative of God’s amazing ability to salvage victory out of a failure and to maintain the basic requirements of righteousness and holiness even in the face of unstable generation and double-minded people. Increase in military numbers did not promise victory.  Increase in faith and in quality obedience to God gave hope for history. God’s prophetic word announce the direction of history. No amount of human resources of human deception could overthrow the word.

As God’s people face the challenge to conquer the land, they faced the call for unity and obedience to GOD.

God does not take stubborn rebellion lightly. Several episodes shows that Israel were dedicated to their own goals and dependence and their own capabilities. But they learned that faithfullnes of God does not nullify his ability to punish sin.  Israel were depended on God and they learned that God can punish a rebellious people. No leaders grows beyond the need to trust and obey God.

The issue of rebellion always affects leaders. Moses and Aaron missed the moment of victory because in anger they disobeyed God. No leader is indespensable to God. God rewards faithful leaders… even when they must lead a rebellious people. God prepares new leaders to replace leaders.

Organization is a must for God’s people. Numbers shows this. God organized a people to fulfill a mission of taking the land. God’s people do not fulfill God’s mission through chance or fortune. They plan, organize and see what God calls them to do.

When victory does  comes they are prepared to distribute the blessings and settle – with God when his mission is accomplish.Life in the land is life with GOD.
God’s people must learn how to respond to God and gratitude and in regular worship. Worship leaders must be selected and provided for. The priesthood survived national disastors such as exile even when political leadership was no longer available. Rebellion, self pity fill the pages of Numbers. Numbers is a book of hope for a people with a history of Rebellion. Rebellious people found God providing for physical need and prepared new generation to realize his hope.

God’s history is a history of hope. It is a call to victory even in the face of defeat.

APPLICATION

God’s principle of divine power and grace can overcome the power of imperfect people

In frailty of Israels we see a mirror of ourselves. Numbers calls us to a humble confession of our tendency to rebel against GOD

1. Despite our rebellion, God will fulfill his promise and his purpose
2. Although God remains faithful to his promises, he will punish unfaithful generation
3. Punishment administered by God can prepare us for greater task
4. God’s faithful and wise present is the center of life.
5. faith in God brings physical necessities.
6. We are to respect all leaders, Unfaithful leaders faces God’s discipline
7. Worship is the central activity of God’s people and should properly planned and organized
8. Hope is God’s lasting word and will motivate God’s people even though we go through the darkest time

TIMELINE

1450 -first Census

1430 – Aaron Dies

1410 – Second Census

1410 –  Joshua appointed Moses’ successor

1410 – Direction for settlement in Canaan were given.

Introduction to the Book of Leviticus

The word Leviticus derives from the tribe of Levi, whose members were set aside by the Lord to be His priests and worship leaders. The content was originally meant to instruct the new nation of Israel in proper worship and right living, so that they might reflect the character of their divine King. Leviticus is composed of two basic genres – Narrative History and Law.

AUTHOR –  It was written by Moses about 1445-1444 B.C.

• We find more than fifty occasions when the text says something like, “The LORD spoke to Moses” (Leviticus 1:1; 4:1; 5:14; 6:1). The New Testament also refers to Moses as the author of passages from Leviticus (Matthew 8:4; Luke 2:22; Hebrews 8:5).

 

DATE: Between Circa 1445 and 1444 BC.

• The Law found in Leviticus was spoken by God to Moses at or near Mount Sinai, where the Israelites camped for some time. Because God delivered these detailed laws after the original Ten Commandments, the most probable date for their revelation is 1446 BC. Whether every law was written down at that time is impossible to determine; it may be that they were codified progressively during the ensuing forty-year wandering

PURPOSE:  – Handbook for the priest and levites outlining the duties and a guide book for Holy Living.

• “The book of Leviticus was the first book studied by a Jewish child; yet is often among the last books of the Bible to be studied by a Christian.” See More at Raymond B. Dillard and Tremper Longman, III, An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 73.
• It was written to draw the Israelites to the understanding of the infinite holiness of God, and that He desires them to act in a holy manner toward Himself. The overall message of Leviticus is sanctification. The book communicates that receiving God’s forgiveness and acceptance should be followed by holy living and spiritual growth. Now that Israel had been redeemed by God, they were to be purified into a people worthy of their God. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” says Leviticus 19:2. In Leviticus we learn that God loves to be approached, but we must do so on His terms.The world Holiness is mentioned 152 times. It is mentioned here more than any other time.

• God established the sacrificial system so that His covenant people might enjoy His fellowship through worship; it also allowed for repentance and renewal:. When an Israelite worshiper laid his hand on the animal victim, he identified himself with the animal as his substitute . . . this accomplished a symbolic transfer of his sin and a legal transfer of his guilt to the animal victim. God then accepted the slaughter of the animal . . . as a ransom payment for the particular sin which occasioned it. Many years after Moses wrote Leviticus, Jesus came to offer Himself as the ultimate sacrifice, holy and perfect, once for all, fulfilling the Law and rendering future animal sacrifices unnecessary and void (Hebrews 10:10).

The key personalities of Leviticus include Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu Eleazar, and Ithamar.

How can a simple people know God and enter into His presence? 

• People of Israel lived among the people of the world and they knew themselves to be God’s people removed from  presences of God? How could they re-inter into God’s presence? They desire to lived in perfect’s relationship to God’s covenant. Leviticus defines a way. It is gives definition in the entire framework of how sinful people might  relate with GOD.
• Leviticus forms the centerpiece of Pentateuch.  The background stands is God’s perfect creation and human rebellion (Gen 1-11). God’s begins a process of redemption, election and human mission to bring blessing to the whole earth. God demostrates his Lordship offer the Egyptians and guideline  for covenantal relationship with his people. God provides a place for worship, guidelines for service to him and renewal for his people. Israelites knew they did not live upto God’s expectation. They were sinners. How could they deal with their sin? They had only one God. They had to depend on him for leadership and blessing and all areas of life such as military, health, politics and etc. How could they gain favor in each of these areas? What type of worship was appropriate to his leadership? Was prostitution and sexual immorality appropriate to Yahweh as it was appropriate for the gods of their neighbors? Were they to sacrifice their children to gods as they did some of their neighbors?
• In Leviticus, God encourages his people to center their lives around his presence. Now that Israel had been redeemed by God, they were to be purified into a people worthy of their God. God showed them how to respond to his presence in the tabernacle and his presence in their mist in the camp. He had instructions for living and ways that his people might experience his presence. Modern day ready might look at the book of Leviticus as an ancient ritual with no relevance to today.  Leviticus continues to inform the modern reader about the problem of sin.

Book of Leviticus reveal the Holy God and allows the reader to know him and enter into his presence. There are four major theological themes thus

• Grace of GOD– God’s grace fill the book of Leviticus. Israel’s existence depend on God’s act in history. God choose a group of slaves to reveal himself to the world. God’s love created Israel and delivered his people from Egypt. God’s love created Israel. God made a covenant with Israel at Sinai. Because God wanted to be known, he chose by his grace to give his  directions to his people in the wilderness and for the day they would inhabit Palestine.
• Importance of preparation for meeting GOD –  In his grace, God showed his people how to approach his presence. God’s people must prepare themselves for such a sacred event. Leviticus remind worshipers of the Holiness of GOD and the necessity for cleansed life. The emphasis in Leviticus is on purity, holiness and cleansing and this indicate the importance of preparation to meet God. Standing before the presence of GOD is not  a mundane ritualistic event. It is the greatest opportunity for human being.
• Necessity of righteous living – Entering into the presence of the Holy One requires proper preparation of life. GOD is holy and God accept sacrifices and offerings that removes the barriers between people. God appeared to the people at Sinai and directed people to live holy lives. Made a covenant. God wanted to dwell among people and to be known by them.  The sacrificial system allowed sinful people to approach a holy God. God accepted the sacrifices. People who appear before GOD must cleanse their lives and their actions. Various laws indicated God’s desire for righteous living.  Leviticus calls for ethical action. Jesus quoted Leviticus 19:18. Leviticus show God’s concern for the poor. It shows the importance of worship. Leviticus teaches us how to worship GOD. God calls for people to prepare their lives for worship through confession of sins, reconciliation with neighbors and gratitude toward GOD. A life will be reward by knowledge of GOD and dwelling in his presence.APPLICATION FOR TODAY
• In Leviticus we learn that God loves to be approached, but we must do so on His terms.
• Leviticus reminds us of today’s eternal realities of life – presence of God and need to know him.
• Obedience to God must be the primary concern in our lives.
• Relationship to God involves right-living with others. There is correct behavior toward others – love your neighbor as yourself.
• God always pursues the sinner seeking to restore the fallen one. God desires forgiveness and
• God is willing to do a costly work  of sacrifice which show depth of GOD’s love
• Worship requires preparation and purity. Jesus fulfilled the sacrificial system. In Jesus God worked a perfect work of bringing people to him. In him we experience forgiveness and holiness and in him we can stand before a holy GOD.
• Leviticus communicates that receiving God’s forgiveness and acceptance should be followed by holy living and spiritual growth. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy,” says Leviticus 19:2.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

1450 BC – a very busy year.  Most events of Leviticus occurred during this time.

Major Theological Themes

1. Sacrifice and Offering  – First kind of offerings  that fulfill main purposes thus to show praise, thankfulness and devotion. The other purpose is for atonement – the covering and removal of the guilt of sin. Animal offering show someone was giving his life to GOD through the life of an animal. Those who are redeemed by the mercies of God offer different sacrifices today; they offer themselves (Romans 12:1).  Jesus offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice on our behalf, taking the punishment that we deserved so that we might be forgiven. Those who place their trust in Jesus’s atoning act become God’s children, saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8–9).
2. Worship – Some of the feast were designated for religious and national holidays. These events teach us today about worship God and
3. Health– Some rules and physical principles for healthy living. Israel was to be different from the surrounding nations. God was preserving Israel from diseases and community problems.
4. Holiness – Holiness means separated. God removed his people from Egypt. Now he is removing Egypt from his people. He was showing them how to exchange Egypt ways of living and thinking about his ways.
5. Levites – Instructed people in worship. Were ministers of the day. Regulate the moral and civil and ceremonial laws, supervise the health, justice and welfare of the nation.

BOOK OUTLINE

 From chapter 1-7, Sacrifice and Offerings are laid out for Priests and individuals in detail. These passages also describe how to use the altar for the sacrifices and the offerings to God.

•    In chapters 8-10, Moses describes the instructions for the Levitical Priesthood, since Israel is to be “a kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19:6). He does this from the doorway of his tent. Moses consecrates his brother Aaron and his sons who are the priests.

•    From chapters 11-15 Moses teaches the importance and procedures for things that are unclean. These include food, diseases, animals, insects, dead bodies, birth, cleaning and many others. God’s purpose of all this is to protect His people from the illnesses and diseases that come from these sources.

•    In chapter 16, Moses gives instruction about the Day of Atonement. This was the day out of the year that the High Priest cleanses and prepares himself ceremonially to meet with God. This ceremony only takes place once a year. The High Priest enters into the Holy of Holies and offers a sacrifice to God for sins on behalf of the entire nation of Israel.

•    Chapters 17-27 pertain to the laws that apply generally for living a holy life. These are many laws including sexual immorality, idolatry, land laws, more priestly laws, religious festivals and celebrations, the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee.

Introduction to the Book of Exodus

The title “Exodus” comes from the Septuagint, which derived it from the primary event found in the book, the deliverance from slavery and “exodus” or departure of the Israelite nation out of Egypt by the hand of Yahweh, the God of their forefathers.

•  ……

AUTHOR – Moses

• The text reads: “Moses then wrote down everything the Lord had said,” (Exodus 24:4 NIV). Additionally, other biblical books refer to “the law of Moses” ( Joshua 1:7; 1 Kings 2:3), indicating that Exodus, which includes rules and regulations, was written by Moses.
• Jesus Himself introduced a quote from Exodus 20:12 and 21:17 with the words, “For Moses said” (Mark 7:10), confirming His own understanding of the book’s author.

DATE: Between Circa 1450 BC and Circa 1410.

• The book covers a period of approximately eighty years, from shortly before Moses’s birth (c. 1526 BC) to the events that occurred at Mount Sinai in 1446 BC.
• The book was written in the Wilderness during the time of Israel’s wondering somewhere in the Sinai Peninsula.
  Exodus begins in the Egyptian region called Goshen. The people then traveled out of Egypt and, it is traditionally believed, moved toward the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula. They camped at Mount Sinai, where Moses received God’s commandments.

KEY PEOPLE – Moses, Miriam, Pharaoh, Pharaoh’s daughter, Jethro, Aaron, Joshua and Peca

PURPOSE – To record the events of Israel’s  deliverance from Egypt and development as a nation.

• In Exodus we witness God beginning to fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Though the children of Israel were enslaved in a foreign land, God miraculously and dramatically delivered them to freedom. He then established Israel as a theocratic nation under His covenant with Moses on Mount Sinai.
• Exodus shares more miracles than any other book in the Old Testament and of course the Laws. The ten plagues, the Passover, the parting of the Red Sea, the fearsome majesty of God’s presence at Mount Sinai, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the building of the tabernacle . . . these events from Exodus are foundational to the Jewish faith. And they provide crucial background context to help future readers of Scripture understand the entire Bible’s message of redemption.

THEMES –  The overall theme of Exodus is redemption

• God delivered the Israelites and made them His special people. After He rescued them from slavery, God provided the Law, which gave instructions on how the people could be consecrated or made holy. He established a system of sacrifice, which guided them in appropriate worship behavior. Just as significantly, God provided detailed directions on the building of His tabernacle, or tent. He intended to live among the Israelites and manifest His shekinah glory (Exodus 40:34–35)—another proof that they were indeed His people
• Under the Mosaic Covenant, people annually sacrificed unblemished animals according to specific regulations in order to have their sins covered, or borne, by that animal. The author of the New Testament book of Hebrews tells us, “But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:3–4 NIV). Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross fulfilled the Law. As the perfect Lamb of God, He took away our sin permanently when He sacrificed Himself on our behalf. “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (10:10 NIV).

Five Themes in Summary;

1. Slavery – Israelites were enslaved for 400 years.
2. Rescue and Redemption – God rescues the Israelite through Moses and mighty miralce
3. Guidance – God guided the people of Israel out of Egypt by using the plagues and Moses’ leadership.  and God proves he is a trustworthy guide
4. Ten Commandments – God’s law has three parts. First is the ten commandments giving spiritual guidance. Second is the civil law  giving people rules by why to rule their lives. The third is the ceremonial law showing the pattern for building the tabernacle and Temple worship.
5. The Nation formed by God– God formed the nation of Israel to be source of truth and salvation to all people. Israel had no king, no governors and no police. God showed them how to worship and have national holidays.

Exodus 20:40

The Hebrew people lived in Egypt 400 years. Exodus 1:8 – a King who did not know Joseph arose in Egypt. The Israelite lived in the far North area now called Goshen. Nationalistic rulers saw them as a threat. What happened was discrimination and oppression.

What happens when people live in a country different from their own with enticing religious culture and sophisticated way of living?

Polytheistic thinking and Syncretism becomes a great temptation. Music of the Egyptians was attractive with enticing magical and sexual performances.

How do God’s people keep on believing in GOD?

First they could have given up and be like the Egyptians. Without question, some converted. Others hold on to the God of their fathers, the true Creator God. Others chose to stand in the middle. In such situation, God called Moses to serve. Egypt was a very powerful nation and had been in existence for more than 100o years.

Moses had experience that changed him at the burning bush. He realize that God did really care for his people. Mose faced incredible problem convincing his people. He overcame opposition and let the children of Israel through the most desperate area of the land. He became the most influential person in the entire Old Testament. God kept his promise to Abraham. God tabernacles with them in the wilderness. He is mighty and powerful, bringing water from the rock. He acted in great power.

SIX THEOLOGICAL CONCLUSION

1. God is the covenant making and covenant- keeper. He made a covenant with Abraham and keep his covenant with his descendant. If people break his covenant, he will go after them and renew the covenant.
2. God is LORD of History. He introduces himself as YAHWEH. He reveals himself and works in History to carry his purpose. God’s people need to know and do his purpose. God wants his people to be a kingdom of priest.
3. God is the compassionate deliverer of the oppressed. God is loving, gracious and compassionate. Not only is he EL SHADDAI, God almighty, God of Awesome power. He is a redeeming God and hears the prayers and groaning of His people. God is mighty yet listens to prayer.
4. God calls and uses committed leaders. To lead a group of Slaves to become a people of God shows exceptional leadership.
5. God is holy and demands righteous  living – Ten Commandments shows what relationship to God and to others should be.
6. God cares about worship and demands obedience among his people.  God is a jealous God. Ethical and Moral Living is our response to GOD. God gave directions for the building of the tabernacle. It was God’s presence that made the difference in the tabernacle.

Book of Exodus shows act of deliverance by our only GOD. It shows what GOD can do through a life of just one person. God is not a fictitious figure of oriental speculation. he is a living God and God of History. He acted in History to deliver Israel. He acted in the time of Roman Empire to deliver us. He sets us free by his grace and power. Bread and Blood reflect God’s mighty deed of redemption. People are oppressed today. God cares and works to redeem them. We should obey whenever and wherever he calls us to serve. Our GOD is covenant making and covenant renewing GOD.

Exodus leads us to now that a Holy God desires a holy people. It shows us that GOD demands ethical conduct.  God is a just God and will punish sin. he leaders us to pray for other people and lead them to compassionate, redeeming God. We must live in deep gratitude for that is God’s great desire as he delivers us from the bondage of sin.

TIMELINE APPLICATION
Birth of Moses –  Crica 1530 BC

Burning Bush Event, return of Moses to Egypt, Plagues, and the Crossing of Red Sea, the Giving of the Ten Commandments- Circa 1450 BC

1450 BC – Setting of a Tabernacle – demanded by GOD and consecrated

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BOOK OUTLINE

Chapters 1-7 of Exodus, introduce Moses and the Israelites in bondage in Egypt. This setting is approximately 400 years after Joseph and his families were living in Goshen at the end of Genesis. God protects baby Moses and spares his life, as Moses is adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter and is raised as an Egyptian. God calls Moses with a special revelation, through a burning bush to release His people from slavery in Egypt. Moses obeys and with his brother Aaron, confronts Pharaoh to let God’s people go free, but Pharaoh ignores the warning.

•    In Chapters 7-13, Moses through the power of God releases 10 plagues of different sorts on the land of Egypt which included, turning all the water to blood, plagues of insects, boils, and hail. Finally, the death of every first-born son, this included the death of Pharaoh’s eldest who would someday inherit the kingdom of Egypt. However, the Israelites obeyed God and followed the ordinance of the Passover and God spared them.

•    Chapters 14-18 describe the Exodus or “Exit” from Egypt. Pharaoh can no longer endure the plagues that God poured on Egypt and himself and allows them to leave. Moses and the Israelites escape making it to the Red Sea. Shortly after, Pharaoh changes his mind and pursues them, but God destroys his army with the sea.

•    Chapters 19-24, Moses presents all of the Laws to all the people at Mt. Sinai as God has commanded.

•    From chapters 25-40, Moses gives the Israelites the tabernacle, priest and worship instructions.

Introduction to the Book of Genesis

The first book of the Bible is titled “Genesis” in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures. The word means beginning or origin and is a foundational theme that runs throughout the book.

Author: Jewish tradition and other biblical authors name Moses, the prophet and deliverer of Israel, as the author of the entire Pentateuch—the first five books of the Old Testament.

• His education in the courts of Egypt (Acts 7:22) and his close communion with Yahweh—the Hebrew name for God—support this premise.
• Jesus Himself confirmed Moses’s authorship (John 5:45–47), as did the scribes and Pharisees of His time (Matthew 19:7; 22:24).

To whom Written: Moses wrote Genesis for the people of Israel, whom he led out of slavery in Egypt back to the land of their forefathers.

• Genesis provides a history of those forefathers—their origins, their journeys, and their covenants with God.

Date: Between Circa 1450 B.C  and Circa 1410 B.C ( approximate dates).

Key People – Adam, Eve, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob and Joseph.

• The first eleven chapters of Genesis paint the early history of the human race in broad strokes. After the great flood, the focus narrows to God’s dealings with one family living in Mesopotamia, a family headed by Abram, later called Abraham. From the Euphrates River (in modern-day Iraq) over to what is now Syria, events move south into Canaan (modern-day Israel) and Egypt.

MAJOR THEOLOGICAL THEMES –

If you were an Israelite just released from slavery and reading the book of Genesis for the first time, would you marvel at God’s power over creation? Or His anger over sin?Or the way He fulfilled His promises to everyone?

• BEGINNINGS:

Genesis tells the story of how God created the world and dealt with all humanity until He initiated a personal relationship with their forefather Abraham. Genesis explains the beginnings  e.g earth, universe the beginning of people, of God and salvation, the begin of sin and beginning of God’s salvation.  The beginning of disobedience to God. Sin ruins people’s lives. It happens when we disobey God. Praise be to God that he makes promise and never breaks. Prosperity is deeper than material. True prosperity and fulfillment comes as a result of obeying God. God started the nation of israel in order to have a people who have authentic way of communicating the world who is and preparing a people through whom he could send his son to save the world.

• COVENANT:
  Covenants figure prominently into the story of Genesis, for they help define God’s relationship with His people at various times. Sin broke the perfect peace between God and humanity (Genesis 3) and instead of enjoying the blessing God intended, humanity was burdened with the curse. But God established His plan for redemption and blessing through covenants, first with Abraham (Genesis 12:1–5), reaffirmed with Isaac (26:1–35), then with Jacob (28:1–22). These promises applied to the Israelites in Egypt and to later generations.
• HOPE.
  Genesis provided comfort and hope for the downtrodden Hebrews as they waited to return to their “promised land.” In a larger scope, Genesis sets the stage for the rest of God’s plan to redeem the world through His Son, Jesus Christ. Genesis introduces us to the basic doctrines of hope in God,  It was written in a day that people believed in many gods. Israel had to learn of a different GOD of the different other nations. Ancient nations did not think of a god with morality. The moral nature of the one CREATOR GOD, is one who could be believed. Ancient GOD could be manipulated. Magic is an attempt to manipulate for personal purpose. Faith, however, is submissive and human beings have problems with submission. Ancient gods had material representation, which is the foundation of idolatry. God of Israel had no material representation. Israels were at first called atheist. Ancient gods did things for people. God of Israel demanded faith and rested on a long sweep of fulfillment through history not some particular instance. Ancient gods did not make change in people’s lives. They were tired in with seasons, rituals, sacrifice and even sexual activity. Children of Israelite were tempted to follow ancient gods.
• GOD.
  Genesis describes the Lord God, who is infinite and all-powerful, creating everything that exists, by the power of His spoken Word, out of nothing. He essentially creates material matter out of nonmaterial nothing. The God of the book of Genesis is different from ancient gods. He expect his people to be different, because he was different. We have example of heroes of faith whose lives were different from those of their neighbors and kinsmen. Knowing him affect ed every aspect of life. It revolutionizes one’s life, the life of one’s family, and all aspect society and transforms attitudes toward the world and relationships with other people.  Genesis was written to show how different the true God really is. The one and only God created the whole world and he is thus ruler of all people and nations. It shows that our God is the creator.
• IDENTITY & REDEMPTION
  The book of Genesis shows how God’s people receive their identity. It shows that our God  is the only creator. Other makes a claim, but it is only our God, the God of Israel  who is the creator and sustainer. Our trouble is sin. Immorality and lack of concern is our problem. God created us and this world is very God. This forms the basis of potential grace. But we are formed in God’s image. Our sin faces God’s punishment. and God punishes sins Our sin hurts us, other people and affects our relationship with GOD. God seeks constantly to restore relationships with us and cares enough to teach us of the dangers of sin, by punishing us. Our hope lies in God’s redemption. From the very beginning God has desired to redeem all people from sin. God begin all this by dealing with those who responded to him. At first He selected one family. He worked with one family- Abraham to make redemption that rest of God’s love possible to all people. From the beginning God has worked to bless all people. God’s people are blessed so they can be a blessing to his people. Our remains the ruler of all the world  bless other people. The power struggle with nations shows existence of other gods. Our identity centers in the extend purpose of God despite our family quarrels. God reveals himself through utmost faithfulness to his purpose and promises. He blesses those who respond to him. The story of creation is a story of God. God blesses far in excess of what we desire. Genesis calls God’s people to understand their identity a new. As people created by God, we need to accept responsibility to care for the world. We need to join God’s missionary purpose of blessing the world. We should let God lead us abandon the ways of jealousy and hatred. We should recognize our sins as rebellion against loving God. We should let him lead us to his ways for his ways of love. We should let the sovereign God rule our history as we serve him and serve his people. We should place our trust in God and not in our own intelligence, ability or material goods. Knowing God makes us different. he changes our we respond to other people. They are his people too. They are created in the image of God. We must be considerate of the disadvantaged, oppressed and the less fortunate. God is a God who comes to us. He speaks to us. He still looking for modern Noah’s, Abraham, Jacobs and Joseph who will respond to what he wants him to do. God speaks to his people. It is God’s choice that he has decided to work through people to minister to other people. God has chosen to used people to minister to others. It is God’s choice that he has decided to work through his people to minister to other people In the book of Genesis is where it all started.

TIMELINE APPLICATION

• Genesis covers the most extensive period of time in all of Scripture, longer than the other books in the Bible combined! While the ancient history recounted in the first eleven chapters gives no indication of time span, Abram’s story begins around 2091 BC (Genesis 12:1), and the book ends with Joseph’s death in Egypt around 1805 BC (50:26).
• Creation is undated because no one knows the date creation was done. God alone knows that. We don’t know the time of Noah. It is undated. We don’t know the time.
• The birth of Abraham – Circa 2166 BC.
• Abraham enters Canaan Land – Circa 2901 BC.
• Birth of Isaac – Circa 2066 BC.
• Birth of Jacob and Esau – Circa 2006 BC.
• Jacob’s flight from Esau because of deception –  Circa 1929 BC.
• Joseph’s Birth – Circa 1915 BC.
• Joseph sold into slavery – Circa 1898 BC.
• Joseph rules in Egypt – Circa 1885.
• Death of Joseph – Circa 1805 BC.

BOOK OUTLINE

•    In chapters 1-11:28, Moses explains the creation of all things, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). He quickly switches to the fall of man in sin and separation from God in chapter 3; then, how God implemented His judgment on the wicked earth. Through a universal flood and by selecting and sparing Noah, a faithful man, and his family, God wipes out humanity and starts again, with one secluded family.

•    From chapters 11:28-36, God begins to carry out His plan of redemption in the beginning stages of establishing His own nation of Israel. It is through Abraham, again one faithful man, which God calls and promises to bless with a multitude of people and through them bless the entire world, “…and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed” (12:3).

•    In chapters 37-50 God faithfully raises up and protects the generations from Abraham as He had promised, all the way through unto Joseph while in Egypt. God blesses Abraham’s son and their son’s. Through their disappointments and failures, He displays His power and sovereignty in their lives; but in at the end of the book of Genesis, God’s people are in a foreign land and wondering about the promise land.

Introduction to Old Testament Theology

Concerning Theology

• World Book Dictionary says theology is the study of God and His relations to man
• The American Heritage Dictionary says theology is the study of the nature of God and religious truths.

Theology is the study of the various doctrines of the Bible. Theology has four departments

• (1) Exegesis Theology
• (2) Historical Theology
• (3) Systematic Theology
• (4) Practical Theology

It is impossible to understand the bible without placing it in time and place – geographic considerations, political events, social situations and etc.

The Bible is the WORD of GOD. It makes that claim for itself when it says all scripture is inspired by GOD. God choose to work through men even though we have fallacies.

In the scripture you see different views but that does not take away the truth of the Bible. The bible is without error and complete.

PENTATUACH

• There are beliefs and foundations within the five books that lays the foundation for everything we believe throughout the bible.
  Genesis 1:1 starts by saying, In the Beginning, GOD…. Moses doesn’t explain who GOD is. His assumption is that everyone already know who GOD is. The non-Jewish nations may ask, “In the Beginning of what?”
  Man things he is the center of the universe. Man is so arrogant and self-centered that he things the beginning of all things start with mankind. Christians realize that is not true because GOD was always. So it is in the beginning of God’s dealing with me for there is no time with GOD. Human beings are time-constraint. Therefore it is hard to conceive that GOD is always was…
• Roy Zach says, the origin of sin remains a mystery. It is never addressed in the bible… That is the arrogance of man saying that….  When was the first sins? When we all meet together in paradise we shall understanding
•  PENTA means five TUACH means Book. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books were written by Moses.  The five books were originally one book. These books were divided later to make the reading of scripture in synagogue services easier.  The scrolls were one paper and were long enough to cover one one. The division of the Pentateuch was necessary and was attested by Law and Josephus.
• Pentateuch gives simple instruction of Israel’s theocracy. Pentateuch is called the Law or torah in Joshua 1:7. The book of the Law of Moses  8:31. The book of the Law 8:34, The book of the Law of GOD Joshua 24:26 the Law of Moses I Kings 2:3. Book of the Law and the LORD in 2 Chronicles. The Law of the Lord in Luke. The Book of the Law in Galatians. Law of the Lord in the Gospel.

The importance of the importance of the Pentateuch

• (1) Religious importance. – It is the foundation of all substance. Both Judaism and Christianity rest on the inspired revelation of Pentateuch books. It describes the beginning of  cosmic universe, of man, of human civilization of sin and of redemptive plan of GOD and prophecy. The primary names of God in Pentateuch are Jehovah, Elohim and Adonai. Christ is the central theme of the Pentateuch. The coming redeem I Cor. 10:¹¹ Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.  Christ is throughout the Old Testament.
• (2) Historical Importance – Pentateuch is bound up in Archeology and history. History and Philosophy of the history of redemption. It prepares the stage for the blessed redeemer – Jesus Christ. Pentateuch is history yet more than history.  Pentateuch narrates the origin of the Israel’s people and their relation to Jehovah and God’s redemptive purpose for the Word today. Babylonian Tablets illustrates the flood and other historical documentations. The longevity of Patriarchs is illustrated by a list in Samaritan Writings. The table of Nations is listed as authentic history. The exodus is in Egyptian writings. There is historical importance to Pentateuch.

• (3) Cosmic Importance– The Pentateuch accounts of creation stays unique in all accounts. It stands in striking contract to any other writing. The unifying concept is the omnipotent GOD. Ancient Mesopotamian writings attempts to address this but never comes to conclusion that God reveals himself. Sciences is consumed with the HOW of creation. IS the universe expanding? All things were made by GOD. God reveals himself in Pentateuch. Bible discloses that the universe exist because God made it and has redemptive purpose in it. The key word is redemption.

Obedience and Humility

“And when we obey him, every path he guides us on is fragrant with his lovingkindness and his truth” (Psalm 25:10, TLB).

In obedience, there is humility, peace, joy, prosperity, etc.