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The book of Exodus picks up around 400 years after Genesis ends and immediately informs the reader that the descendants of Jacob had become numerous and filled the land.  Any special treatment they had during the time of Joseph is gone and their life in Egypt is now characterized by suffering and “rigor.” (Exo 1:13)  The Exodus is the primary event of redemption in the Old Testament with God delivering His people from Egypt, establishing a covenant with them and eventually bringing them into Canaan, the land of promise.  Though the book only covers the trip to Mt. Sinai, the term Exodus oftentimes refers to the whole journey from Egypt into the Promised Land.  Exodus is the story of God, by His grace and mercy, rescuing the nation of Israel from a life of slavery. But the book is also a book of beginnings, like Genesis, wherein God defines their relationship after the exodus from Egypt.  The book describes two major events:  (1) The departure from Egypt; (2) The establishment of an alliance (relationship) with God.  The Exodus took place during the “heyday” of the Egyptian empire and at a time when the socio-political conditions were perfect for the nation to enter into and settle Canaan without the threat of a dominant world power.  As the book begins, hundreds of years after Israel and his sons moved to Egypt, we see their situation has changed dramatically.  They are now slaves and suffering great oppression, including the heinous act of infanticide committed by the Egyptians in an effort to control their exploding population.

Exodus chronicles the birth and providential adoption of Moses, a Hebrew, into the Egyptian royal household to escape execution by Pharaoh.  Moses is born to Hebrew parents and raised in the Egyptian court until he kills an Egyptian in an effort to defend a Hebrew slave.  However, his chivalry is lost on his brethren and he is forced to escape to Midian to protect himself.  This shows us that Moses was well aware of his origin and race.  Outcast by both sides, Moses flees to Midian to start his life over.  Though Moses may have left the Hebrews behind and forgotten his calling, God had not forgotten and remembered His covenant with the Patriarchs at the end of second chapter of Exodus.  In Midian Moses meets his future wife Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro the “priest of Midian”, when he protects her and her sisters from a group of unruly shepherds trying to deny them water for their sheep.  The text mentions that in the years while Moses was in Midian, Pharaoh died and God heard the misery of His people and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  As a result of this remembrance, God appeared to Moses in a burning bush on Mt. Horeb (called the Mountain of God) declaring Himself the great “I AM”, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and instructed Moses to return to Egypt to deliver a simple message to the current Pharaoh:  “let my people go.”   In calling Moses at the burning bush to go back to Egypt Moses famously objects asking God to “send someone else” (Exo 4:13).    This sudden transformation from Shepherd to deliver is so radical that it prompts Moses’ objections.  In the ensuing exchange between God and Moses several items of great theological importance are enumerated:  (1) the revelation of the divine name of God “YHWH” or “I Am who I Am”; and (2) Moses is identified as a prophet.  It is important to note that Moses represents the first of formulaic “Thus says the Lord” class of prophet that comes into its fullest use later, after the reign of Solomon in the period of the Monarchy.

Moses returns to Egypt at the age of 80 (Exo 7:7) with his family and is met by his brother Aaron along the way whom God sent to act as Moses’ spokesman to Pharaoh.  Moses gains the trust of the Israelites by demonstrating the wondrous signs God had given him for that express purpose: turning his staff into a snake and making his hand leprous.  In Exodus 5-14 we see Moses’ confrontation with Pharaoh beginning with the simple request to let the people leave to have a feast to the Lord in the desert.   Pharaoh’s response of “who is the Lord that I should obey His voice” is the beginning of the obstinate attitude that characterizes his behavior throughout these chapters.  After being denied his request to feast in the desert Moses proceeds to demonstrate God’s power through the snake staff sign that God gave him as proof of His power.  Unwilling to acquiesce God sends 10 terrible plagues which serve two distinct purposes: (1) force the Egyptians into compliance with God’s will; (2) Teach both the Egyptians ad Israelites about the sovereign character of the God of Israel.  The plagues prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that Yahweh was “in control of the cosmic order” and not the “god-king” Pharaoh.

It is worthwhile to note that some scholars erroneously believe that because the literary structure of the plagues indicates a long history of textual transmission that they are not historic fact but rather symbolic accounts.  Additionally, some, while critical of the extreme “symbolic” assessment of the plagues, do feel a compelling need to prove the historical likeliness of the events based on what they perceive as logical and rational similarities to natural phenomena of Egypt.  They conclude that the plagues 1-9 are most likely a series of natural disasters set off by the occasional extreme flooding of the Nile region.  They have no “natural” explanation for the final plague where the firstborn of every Egyptian is killed.  In spite of these theories the Bible in no way indicates that the account of the plagues is in any way symbolic, figurative, or natural in origin.  These plagues took place supernaturally in the way the Bible describes them.

Pharaoh’s magicians are able to mimic the snake staff, the plague of blood, and the plague of frogs but none of the other plagues.  Each of the plagues affects the Egyptians but not the Hebrews, who are spared from each horrible judgment.  The following is a list of the plagues God sent into Egypt: (1) God turned all the water in Egypt into blood; (2) God sent swarms of frogs to overrun the land; (3) God sent clouds of lice to cover Egypt; (4) God sent swarms of flies; (5) God sent a pestilence that afflicted and killed the livestock and animals; (6) God sent a pestilence of painful boils that affected all creatures both man and animal; (7) God sent large hail stones, which would kill anyone caught out in the open; (8) God sent a plague of locusts which ate every plant; (9) God covered the land of Egypt with a darkness that could “be felt” (Exo 10:21); (10) Finally, God took the firstborn of every Egyptian including Pharaoh’s heir.  As an extra instruction to protect the Children of Israel from the final, horrible plague, God implements the Passover ritual, a ritual that points very clearly to the substitutionary work of salvation performed by Jesus on the Cross at Calvary.

God established the memorial of the Passover to commemorate where God miraculously freed them from the bondage of the Egyptians.  Again, it is worthy of mention that some believe that this is an adaptation of a spring festival practiced by shepherd people during the time, which does not reduce or negate its significance in anyway.  The Passover changed throughout the history of Israel several times from an in-home personal celebration to a public festival.  The “Last Supper” that Jesus celebrated with His disciples was patterned after the Passover and through this event the Passover was transformed from the Jewish ritual into the Christian “Lord’s Supper” also called the “Eucharist” or “Communion”.  In the Passover ritual described in Exodus 12, each Israelite household was to prepare a lamb as a sacrifice, using the blood to mark the door of their homes as marker for the Lord to “pass-over” that house, sparing the people within from the wrath of God that was unleashed on Egypt.   Additionally, out of this ritual the people developed their “feast of unleavened bread” wherein they ate the sacrificed lamb with unleavened bread, fully clothed and ready for a quick departure as God knew that this last plague would be the “last straw” for Pharaoh and that they would be released from captivity shortly thereafter.  In a climactic finale to the encounter with Pharaoh, the Israelites are released from captivity, carrying with them many riches that were ironically given as gifts from the Egyptians.  However, Pharaoh, changing his mind and hardening his heart one final time and pursued the Israelites. To save the fleeing Israelites God miraculously parted the Red Sea allowing them to pass through.  However, when Pharaoh tries to chase the people through the open path, God caused the waters to cover the Egyptians up, killing them all.

After being delivered from Pharaoh’s army miraculously at the Red Sea, or more literally the “Sea of Reeds”, Moses composed a song of victory and praise uniquely about God solidifying the fact that the Exodus story is the standard of divine redemption only to be exceeded by the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary.  After escaping Egypt the Israelites traveled across the “Wilderness of Shur”, the “Wilderness of Sin”, and into the “Wilderness of Sinai” over a period of three months.  During this period the people surprisingly began to question God and complain about their circumstances.  As one theologian puts it, “sin and rebellion often fly in the face of the facts”.  During these months God showed His faithfulness and power by miraculously preserving the Israelites from thirst, hunger and defeat at the hands of the Amalakites before eventually leading them Sinai where He intended to give them the most precious gift they would receive, the Sinai Covenant.

The last section of Exodus records the arrival and time spent at Mt. Sinai where God, through Moses delivers to them the His covenant.  The Sinai covenant was anchored in the 10 commandments and followed up with a casuistic law showing specific examples of how the principles of the covenant laws are applied to life.  The giving of the law was concluded with Moses leading the nation in a highly symbolic ceremony where blood was used to sanctify the people for the service of God.  This ceremony points forward towards Jesus and His redemptive work and nature of His blood.  However, before revealing the actual details of the covenant with them, God informs them of the purpose of the covenant they are about to receive.  He tells them they will be a “special treasure” to Him among all the peoples of the Earth and a holy kingdom of priests IF they indeed obey and keep His covenant (Exo 19:5-6).  Unlike the Covenant with Abraham which was given without condition, the Mosaic Covenant is clearly established as a conditionally based contact that is dependent on the faithfulness of the Israelites.  The nation accepts the Covenant, sanctifies themselves God speaks to them directly to which they respond by requesting to Moses that he deal with God because He is too awesome and they are afraid they will die if they hear His voice anymore.  After Moses agrees to be the intermediary he delivers the commandments of the Covenant starting with the 10 commandments in chapter 20.  In chapters 20-31 the covenant regulations are presented and cover social, moral, religious, military and diplomatic themes as well as outline detailed instructions on how to construct the Tabernacle, the specific place of worship for the one true God.  The purpose of the Tabernacle is clear from the beginning.  Instead of primarily being a place of gathering for the people, like a modern day church or arena, it was God’s way of living in the midst of His people.  The word tabernacle in the Hebrew literally means “dwelling place”.
In the midst of the godly obedience shown in receiving the law and building the Tabernacle, the people disappointingly rebel, creating a golden calf idol to worship as a representation of God they have fashioned out of collected jewelry.  While Yahweh was creating a nation that would reflect His moral likeness, the Israelites were trying to create God in their image.   It has been said that the failure of the people could be attributed to the fact that they felt leaderless during Moses’ long absence on the mountain.  Regardless of the reason for their grievous transgression, Moses responded by: (1) destroying the calf; (2) making them drink the ground-up idol; and then (3) killing all of those (around 3,000 people) who were not on the “Lord’s side” (Exo 32:26).  After the debacle with the calf, God judged Israel.   There is an important message about the power of Intercessory prayer held within the pleading of Moses for God to spare the people after this incident with the calf.  God granted Moses’ petitions and reestablished His Covenant with the people, helping Moses to re-create the stone tablets.   After all was said and done Israel brought an abundance of offerings, builds the Tabernacle and in the culmination of the book of Exodus, God fills/inhabits the newly built Tabernacle with His glory.

While there is no direct historical evidence (outside of the Biblical account) for the events of Exodus, the conviction that they became a nation at the Exodus event is deeply rooted in Israelite tradition.  Furthermore it is unlikely that the Israelites would invent a story about being slaves in a foreign land as this would not be a likely beginning for a group that thought as highly of itself as Israel has throughout the ages.   On the subject of the date of the Exodus many scholars are quite convinced that the real date lie in the 13th century BC instead of the 15th century, which is the other likely date.  The dates cannot be exactly and precisely determined to the lack of external historical references in the text. On the subject of the route of the Exodus it is, once again, impossible to exactly determine the route.  However the most plausible route, given the information, is most likely a southern route with the traditional location for Mt. Sinai being in a southerly location at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula.  Generally speaking if a scholar has a problem with the book of Exodus it is in one of three areas:  (1) the historicity of the account; (2) the date of the Exodus; (3) the route of the Exodus.  On the first there is little reason to doubt the historicity of the document because the account is so central to later Israelite thought and theology and so uncomplimentary in its nature that it is inconceivable that the events have no basis in the reality of their national history.  On the issue of dating the Exodus, is difficult due to the lack of extrabiblical evidence and references to other more well-know historical events.  The  Bible itself in 1 Kings 6:1 and Judges 11:26 indicates a date in the 15th century though some scholars date the Exodus in the 13th century one of the reasons being because the Israelites worked on the city of Ramesses , which is believed to have been built by Ramesses II who lived in the 13th century.  In the end whether the event happened in the 15th or 13th centuries makes little difference with respect to the narrative and theological components of the book.  The third issue has to do with the route the nation took after leaving Egypt en route to Mt. Sinai.  There are three potential routes that have been proposed: a northern, central and southern.  The southern route is the most traditional and answers more of the questions than the others.  This southern route has the nation traveling across the “Reed Sea”, just north of the Gulf of Suez, down through the wilderness along the Gulf of Suez and eventually to Mt. Sinai, located on the southern end of the Sinai Peninsula.  Again, whichever route the nation took has little to no bearing on the narrative or the theological message of the book.
 Theologically, there are three main points within the book of Exodus:  (1) deliverance, (2) Covenant, (3) Presence of God.  The first 18 chapters of the text deal with the concept of deliverance, with the people of God suffering under the bondage of the Egyptians.  The Israelites were freed through no merit of their own God as showed mercy and grace becoming their deliverer and savior.

The second section of Exodus, chapters 19-40, focuses on the covenant that God would establish with the nation.  This covenant was to be built on top of the patriarchal covenant with one big difference; there would now be a condition and requirement for ethical behavior to maintain their relationship with God.  Though the covenant promises are in a sense permanent due the promises God mad to Abraham, the covenant itself now required faithful obedience. This obedience was for their own good as the laws were all for their well-being and moreover obedience to them was a response to the salvation God had ALREADY provided them.  This is to say that the covenant was not a means by which they would be afforded salvation in the future; their salvation was given to them first.  In the Abrahamic covenant God places Himself under an oath and this He is bound irrevocably to Abraham and his posterity;  whereas , in the case of the Sinai covenant Israel takes the oath and there is now an obligation to obedience to the covenant stipulations.  Moreover, the structure of this covenant is very similar to the structure of the international treaty used in the ancient Near East between an overlord and his people.  This is important because it shows that the Ten Commandments were never intended to institute a system of legal observances by which one could earn God’s acceptance but rather they are stipulations of a covenant relationship anchored in grace.  While an overlord could crush and dominate the general populace they would graciously use these covenants to establish the terms under which they would afford protection and prosperity to the people.  While deliverance and covenant are the themes of the two largest sections of Exodus, the undercurrent for the whole book is the preparation of the nation for the arrival of the presence of God in their midst.  The Patriarchal covenant had Promised Land and descendents but also had the intrinsic promise of living in the presence of Yahweh through the statement “I am with you”.  The Exodus and events on Mt Sinai are central to the Old Testament in the way that the Cross is central to the New Testament.

General Information, Old Testament Survey Bible, christianity, Covenant, Exodus, God, Jesus Christ, Old Testament, Sinai

Genesis 12-50 focuses on the lives of three primary individuals, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph. Despite the fact that Isaac is a Patriarch and Joseph is not, his inclusion in this section is minimal and grouped in with the history of Abraham.  After the Tower of Babel the genealogy leading to Abram is detailed. Abram is called out of Ur to go to the land of Canaan where God has promised to bless him and give him the land He will show him.  Abram takes Lot, his nephew, with him on his journey.  Additionally, his father Terah dies along the way in the northern town of Haran.

Abraham and his son Isaac are covered in Genesis 12-25.  As important as Abraham is we know very little about the first 75 years of his life.  The Bible is less concerned about his history than it is with his obedience to God’s call on his life.  This call on Abram, as he was known before chapter 17, held three promises:  land, descendents, and the blessing  His presence   Abram was called out of Ur in southern Babylonia to travel to Canaan to reestablish his family there.  Having no children and no family in the area, this was an extremely risky move that required a lot of faith on his part. This section recounts the story of Abram’s failures but also of his recurring success in God’s eyes by believing in the promises that God was making to him.  This faith is foundational for Christians and is referenced by Paul in Romans 4 as a perfect example of saving faith.  Genesis 15 also holds a key event that shows God’s commitment to His promises.  God performs a covenant ritual with Abram, in effect invoking a curse on Himself if He should fail to keep the promises He has made to Abram.  This section also includes the story Sarai’s failure in giving Hagar to Abram thus producing Ishmael.  Though Abram and Sarai attempt to help God by providing Hagar as a surrogate mother, Ishmael would not be the son spoken of by God in His promises to Abram.  While God established His covenant with Abram in Genesis 15 He actually brings that covenant to life in Genesis 17 where He reiterates the importance of the faith that Abram has and that it is the basis for the covenant relationship that they have.  The covenant ritual of circumcision is also introduced as a physical sign of this special relationship.  Additionally, in this same section Abram and Sarai both are renamed to the more familiar names Abraham and Sarah.  This section also chronicles the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the moral decay of Lot, Abraham’s nephew, and his family.  Eventually God miraculously gives Abraham and Sarah the child He promised, Isaac, who grows to manhood in Canaan.   Surprisingly in chapter 22 God tests Abraham’s faith by calling him unambiguously to sacrifice Isaac to Him.  Isaac was not a child at this time but rather a young adult.  By faith Abraham passes this test, trusting that God would bring him back from the dead (Heb 11:19).  God eventually “provided for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering” (Gen 22:8), Isaac is spared and Abrahams faith is proven.  At every turn Abraham quickly and quietly obeyed the word of God, first giving up his past by leaving his home and lastly by giving up his future by willingly offering Isaac up in sacrifice.   Abraham’s servant (most likely Eliazar) is sent to Mesopotamia to get a wife from his own peoples where he providentially encounters Rebekah, a not too distant relative of Abraham. 

Although Isaac is a Patriarch and the son of the covenant he soon fades from view after his twin sons, Jacob and Esau, are born.  Despite the fact that Esau is the firstborn, Jacob supplants his position.  This is a seemingly common occurrence in the OT.  Privilege position by birth has little to do with our standing before God. Chapters 25-36 chronicle the story of Jacob.  Isaac’s wife Rebekah has twins, Esau and Jacob.  Esau is the elder but God tells Rebekah that Jacob will be the one to inherit the promise and blessing from God.  In a very deceptive set of circumstances Jacob purchases Esau’s birthright for a bowl of stew and steals the paternal blessing from Jacob by pretending to be Esau.  For this reason Jacob flees for his life to Padan Aram to hide out and seek a wife from the relatives of his mother Rebekah.  The question of the Jacob stories is “what will become of God’s covenant promises?”  God answers that question unequivocally in a dream that He gives to Jacob while he is fleeing from his bother Esau.  On his way to Haran God confirms in a dream that He is with Jacob and that the covenant promises He made to Abraham and Isaac, He would continue to keep through Jacob.  After many years of service to his deceitful relative Laban, Jacob returns to Canaan a wealthy man with two wives and two concubines:  Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah.  After one of the most enigmatic sections of Scripture within the Bible wherein Jacob wrestles with God, most likely a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus (also known as a christophony).  In this encounter Jacob fights hard to recieve the blessing from God and as a result not only was he permanently crippledbut his name is changed to Israel,marking a significant change in his character.  He was no longer “cheater” and “heel catcher” but now he was one who “strives with God” or another translation “soldier (or prince) with God.”  Once back in Canaan, Jacob is reconciled with Esau.   Jacob has 13 offspring by these women: From Leah there were Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulon; from Rachel there were Joseph and Benjamin; from Bilhah there were Dan and Naphtali; from Zilpah there where Gad and Asher.  Leah also bore Jacob a daughter, Dinah. 

The final section of Genesis, chapters 37-50, focuses on the life of the last major character detailed in Genesis, Joseph.  Joseph was the eldest son of Rachel, the wife that Jacob oved most.  Unlike the Patriarchs, Joseph is not in the direct, Messianic line of the covenant. In a sense he is a peripheral character but his story is important for two reasons:  (1) He is a superb example of how to live a life dedicated to God in the face of extreme temptation and persecution; (2) The story of Joseph explains his the Israelites came to be in Egypt instead of Palestine where God had called Abraham to go.  God gives Joseph dreams foretelling his eventual position of prominence over the whole family.  These prognostications and the favoritism shown by Jacob incite intense jealousy among Jacobs’s brothers who eventually capture him and sell him to Ishmaelite slave traders who take him to Egypt and sell him.  Genesis chronicles Josephs patient and humble rise to power in Egypt where he suffers many wrongs only to eventually become the second most powerful many in Egypt.  By God blessing Joseph with the ability to interpret dreams and the wisdom to administrate He puts Joseph in a position where he is capable of blessing not only the Egyptians during a severe famine but also his own family.  Eventually is able to bring his family down to live in Egypt where a great theological truth about the providence of is revealed in Gen 50:19-20.  The book ends with Both Jacob and subsequently Joseph dying.  Jacob is carried back up to Canaan for burial but Joseph makes the children of Israel swear an oath to eventually carry his bones back to Canaan for burial.

Genesis 12-50 is the story of the Patriarchs.  The term Patriarch refers to the individuals who stand at the “fountainhead” of the faith:  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Many biblical scholars cover the Patriarchal History by looking it from four perspectives:  the historical background, the date and historicity of the narratives, the literary genre of the text, the religion of the Patriarchs, and finally the theology of the narratives.  On the subject of the historical background of the texts there are some scholars that have come to view the Patriarchal narratives as having almost no historical worth.  These critics view the Patriarchs as figures of Canaanite deities, heroes drawn from folklore, or personifications of tribes from the area represented in the texts.  However, when these critics developed their views, the history and culture of the 3rd and 2nd millennium were virtually unknown.  The subsequent discoveries that have been made have transformed the period from a “dark ages” into a period of time that is well known and documented.  We can break this time in the Ancient Near East into three distinct time periods:  Prehistory (before 3000), Third Millennium (3000-2000), and the Patriarchal Age (2000-1500).  The Patriarchal Age is the timeframe that is of primary importance to readers of Genesis 12-50.  This timeframe is considered the Middle Bronze Age II (MBII) and includes important figures as Hammurabi (1728-1626) who developed a code of laws very similar to the Law of Moses that was given by God at Sinai somewhere between 15th and 13th century BC. This section of Scripture describes events that occurred over centuries of time but since there is such a lack of references to concurrent historical events in other ancient Near Eastern nations it is difficult at best to date this section.  Scholars suggest a date range somewhere between 2200 BC and 1200 BC and the descriptions (archeological, cultural and literary) seem to fit well into the Middle Bronze Age.  It is imporant to note, as ridiculous as it is, there are those that deny the very existence of these Patriarchs claiming that they were simply created to explain the Hebrew’s own existence.  Despite this skepticism, this does not disprove the existence of the Patriarchs and Christians have every reason to believe the narrative as archeologists and historians have corroborated many of the features and accounts of the text and will undoubtedly continue to make discoveries that back the text up to even greater degrees in the future.  On the subject of the date and historicity of the Patriarchal narratives we first see that a literary study of these texts reveals a historical focus even though the message is primarily theological. Many hististonians make the distinction that since these texts have been delivered through a long process of oral and written transmission the resulting narratives are neither basic messaging nor history in the modern sense of the word.  We can say with absolute clarity that due to the similarities in the names of biblical character to Amorite names, the descriptions of the stable and peaceful way of life experienced by the Patriarchs, the naems of the cities mentioned within the texts, the nomadic lifestyles of the Patriarchs, and finally the general picture of Patriarchal religion (God being the personal God of the Abraham and his clan) that this places the narratives within the 2nd millennium BC.  One point of contention that is often raised is the fact that there is a the lack of evidence that the Negev, an area frequented by Abraham, was occupied in MBII though it is well known that by the Middle Bronze I it was extensively inhabited.

With respect to literary genre in Genesis 12-50, it is important to remember the aims of the biblical authors were primarily theological.  For this reason the accounts are of events and incidents showing how God acted to bring about His desires and what God has done to inspire faith in His followers.  The narratives in no way falsify history but are highly selective about what they represent because of the purpose of the narratives.  Although there are some accounts in Genesis 12-50 that are difficult to harmonize with history, they are only problematic if interpreted as history in the modern sense as opposed to “remembered past”.  While there is not enough information to gather a complete picture of the religious life of the Patriarchs, we do have enough information to gain a general knowledge of their religion in its cultural context.  It is clear that when Abraham left Haran for Canaan, he left his old religious traditions to follow God with  a single-minded devotion. This same god appeared to each of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), choosing them and promising to be with them; thus God was identified in relation to the family, “the God of Abraham”, “the God of Isaac”, and “the God of Jacob”. This important section of Scripture reveals God to be a personal God, one who desires to have a relationship with individuals  which is in stark contrast to the Canaanite gods, who were primarily associated with places and uninterested in individuals.  This section marks a change in the way that this personal God deals with the problem of His ruined creation.  Before the Patriarchs came onto the scene God dealt with the world in a very universal way and scale.  However starting in Genesis 12 God begins to deal with the problem of sin by way of the faith of a single man, a very unique and interesting change.  A cornerstone truth held in this section is “how the faithful obedience of a single individual has universal significance.  The Patriarchal history begins with the call of Abraham (know as Abram at the time).  This call represents a demonstration of grace in the face of the disobedience and judgment of the first 11 chapters of Genesis. These chapters theologically answer the question about God’s relationship to fallen and scattered humanity.  As mentioned previously, Genesis 12-50 is primarily a theological text and several key points are dealt with within its chapters:  Election and the promises of God; Faith and Righteousness; and the concept of Covenant.  .  The promises of Abraham, while stated in a grandiose fashion  in both Gen 13:16 and 15:5, come in conflict with his real life journey:  (1) he is to be a great nation but Sarah is barren; (2) the land belongs to his descendents but the Canaanites occupy it.  Despite the odds being against him, God comes through and proves His faithfulness; and not just for Abraham but also for all of the Patriarchs, each of which receive the promise that is eventually fulfilled (at least in part) by God’s deliverance of Israel from the Egyptians in the book of Exodus.  The story of Joseph is important in this area as we see the first stage in the transition from a patriarchal family to an independent nation upon which God can enact His promises.  The theme of salvation in Genesis is a forward looking one, pointing to the book of Exodus and eventually to the ultimate salvation provided by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Faith and Righteousness is the cornerstone of the Patriarchal stories, especially when having to do with Abraham. As a precedent, at the point of Abrahams’ call, we see the simple and terse response of “So Abraham went, as the Lord told him” (Gen 22:4).  This simple verse serves as a paradigm of faith for the rest of the Bible.  In fact this faith that Abraham exhibits is so important in the scope of things that God “accounts it to him as righteousness”.  This very basically means that God considered Abraham, a sinful man like you or I, righteous due to his unwavering trust in the promises that God made to him.  God’s highest test for Abraham culminated in God’s commandment for Abraham to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.  It is important to remember that Isaac represented the fulfillment of the promise and thus this challenge was extremely difficult but Abraham meets it in with the same stoic and unrelenting faith, declaring directly to Isaac himself that “The Lord will provide Himself” a sacrifice (Gen 22:8). 

The transition from election to becoming God’s covenant people is not simple, historically nor theologically.  Where we see a great man of faith in Abraham, we see a very worldly man, a model of guile and self-reliance, in the person of Jacob/Israel. Eventually we see the work of God in the man’s life culminating in wrestling encounter with God where he is “subdued” and become a true follow of the living God.  Theologically there are three main ideas that are key to the Patriarchal  stories:  (1) Election – God‘s sovereign choosing of man for the purposes of his service; (2) Promise – the sure promises of God are the foundation of the Patriarchal accounts but are only partially fulfilled and are therefore forward looking with a future generation experiencing the ultimate fulfillment of them; (3) Covenant – covenant is related to promise and establishes a theological framework for redemptive relationships throughout the Bible and Christian theology. While the promises told the Patriarchs of the great things they could expect from God, the covenant informed them what was expected from them in their relationship.  The covenant promises of God are an element of great importance within the history of the Patriarchs.  As mentioned above, Covenant is a central theme of this and all Scripture.  In establishing the covenant with Abraham, God lowers Himself to place Himself symbolically under a curse so as to affirm to Abraham the certainty of His promises.  It is God alone who takes the oath; nothing is required from Abraham, (except circumcision as a sign of the covenant).  This dramatically differs from the Mosaic covenant, which we will see very shortly, because only God alone lays Himself under obligation wherein the covenant given to Moses at Sinai is conditinal based on the response and obedience of the Israelintes.  In the Mosaic Covenant Israel takes and oath which places the nation under the stringent stipulations of the covenant.  Abraham’s covenant depends solely on the unchanging character of God Almighty, whereas the Mosaic Covenant is clearly linked to the response of the nation of Israel.  Despite this difference both have their origin in the sovereinty, grace and overflowing mercy of God who desires nothing more that that we would receive His free gift of salvation and spend eternity with Him. 

If you are not “born again”, having actively received the salvation that God has freely given us, than you do not have the hope that these promises from God are for you.  However, this is easy to fix.  If you desire to have peace with God and peace in your heart the scriptures say that all you must do is believe in what the Bible declares about Jesus the Christ.

Step 1:  Understand the problem - you are a sinner like everyone else:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23)

Step 2:  Understand the implication of that problem:

“For the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23a)

Step 3: Understand the hope that you can have in Christ Jesus:

“but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23b)

Step 4: Understand the love that God has for you:

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8)

Step 5:  Understand the solution to the problem:

“WHOEVER CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED.” (Rom 10:13)

Step 6: Understand the result of trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ:

“if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9)

The Bible declares that today is the day of salvation so choose today whom you will serve:  He who is able to save you to the uttermost; or he who desires your destruction.

God bless you

Erick

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The first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis start with the creation of the known universe by a highly personal and intimate God (Gen 1-2).  Genesis declares that God was alone at the beginning of creation and formed the universe from nothing, which is know as creation ex nihilo.  The fact that man was created in God’s image is of inexhaustible theological significance.  This fact is one of the major differentiating factors between the Hebrew story and the other Mesopotamian creation stories where man was an afterthought created to serve as a slave force for the Gods.  The creation story is followed by the story of man’s fall from innocence and his continual moral failure.  This moral failure is in stark contrast to God who is perfect and just and whose creation was absolutely perfect before man ruined it.  The story of man’s fall is followed up by the subsequent promise by God in Genesis 3:15 of his eventual salvation through one of Adam’s seed.  In speaking about the eventual victory Jesus Christ would have over Satan (and death) God says, ”He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel(Gen 3:15b). The results of sin are significant in that that man lost his innocence, lost access to God and lost access to the peaceful paradise and freedom of Eden.  Sin was not an accident but rather a willing rebellion against God.  After the fall, the depravity of the pre-flood man is chronicled, starting with Cain and culminating with the creation of a new line of God-worshipers descended from Adam’s son Seth.  Sin increased in humanity until God decided that all creation should be destroyed because “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)  God accomplished the destruction of man through the flood. The Bible documents this flood as being global, not local, destroying all living creatures except for those saved within the walls of the arc that God instructed Noah to make.  The Gilgamesh Epic, Enuma Elish, Atrahasis and other accounts contain similarities to the story of Noah and the flood but these similarities only prove the validity of the biblical account and do not in any way diminish its believability or authority.  Noah and his family are in the arc for one full year and after they leave they embark upon the daunting task of repopulating the earth. 

After the flood the Bible records God’s promise to never again flood the earth despite the fact that every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart remained only evil continually (see Genesis 8:21).  The Bible documents the generations descending from Noah and his sons as they populate the earth and quickly forget about God and His salvation.  This section of Scripture chronicles the first human governments, empires, and powerful tyrants like Nimrod.  This section ends with the story of the Tower of Babel where God confused man’s single language making every person speak in a different tongue, thus thwarting man’s arrogant attempt to be like God once again.  The pride and rebellion of humankind is epitomized in the story of the Tower of Babel.   The emphasis from Genesis 3-11 is the tragic avalanche of sin that has ruined God’s perfect creation and humanity itself.  The universal situation for man on the earth is nothing but despair.  Onthe basis of literary structure the book of Genesis can be broken into 10 parts, all separated by “and these are the descendants of…”.  This literary structure is referred to as the “toledoth formula” and is not just a boundary marker in the book but also serves as a sign of the survival and continuity of God’s plan for creation despite the ravages of human sin.  None of the Genesis 1-11 story is “myth” but it is important to recognize that neither is it “history” in the modern sense of eyewitness, objective reporting.  Instead, the accounts convey absolute theological truths about events in a pictorial literary style.  This does not mean that Genesis 1-11 conveys any historical falsehood; the fact is that it does not claim to contain objective descriptions despite the fact that it does claim to declare and declare objective and fundamental universal truths.  Though there are some similarities with other ancient Near Eastern mythology the differences vastly outweigh the similarities.  With respect to the similarities it is safe to say that  of all of the accounts of creation found in the region, the Mesopotamian accounts are the closest to the Hebrew account.

The primary purpose for the teaching within the primeval prologue is theological and is characterized by four major themes:  (1) God is the Creator; (2) Original creation has been radically altered by the introduction of sin; (3) God’s judgment meets human sin at each and every point; and (4) God’s grace preserves both humans and the creation. The various stories of Adam, Cain and Noah show the constant coupling of God’s judgment with His grace and mercy.  Adam disobeys God knowing it will mean his immenent death but God spares his life and even sacrifices innocent animals to cloth his now naked frame.  Cain kills his innocent brother in the first murder ever committed but instead of meeting out the death penalty Cain is marked to ensure that no one harms him in any way for his crimes.  But while the final story of Babel seems to lack that same conclusion the story of God’s subsequent grace is shown in Genesis 12-50 through the story of the Patriarchal lineage.  The Patriarchal lineage represents a radical new way in which God will be dealing with man to begin bring about His eventual and final salvation through the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.  The Primeval Prologue prepares the way for the history of redemption and relationship it is characterized by is one of man’s problem and God’s solution and for that reason its chapters carry utmost importance for understanding all of the rest of Scripture.

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The Pentateuch comes from the Greek “pentateuchos” which means “five-volume book” or “five scrolls”.  The Jews called this body of work the Torah, which means instruction, and it is often rendered “the Law” in English.  Biblical evidence supports the view that Genesis, Exodus Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy belong together as a literary unit.  The theological building blocks of the Pentateuch are promise, election, deliverance, covenant, law, and land.  The theological concept of promise is primary and fundamental to the Pentateuchal document.   According to Genesis 12:1-2 the concept of promise is threefold in its structure.  The three elements of the promise are: the promise of Land; the promise of Nationhood; and the promise of Blessing in the form of a relationship with God.  Several key themes are held within the Pentateuch with the first theme, the sovereignty of God, being foundational for the other themes.  The other themes are:  history, the fallen condition of humanity, salvation and holiness.

Although the Pentateuch is complex it is believed, both by biblical sources and streams of tradition, that Moses wrote the documents including the narrative, legislative and poetic literature found within its pages.  Moses’ role in the production and formation of the Pentateuch cannot be denied though according to some scholars it is unlikely that Moses wrote the Pentateuch as it exists today in its final form.  The Pentateuch is complex and has a long history of transmission and formation and it is by faith the believer affirms that this development was superintended by the same Spirit of God that Prompted Moses to act and write the work in the first place.  The Pentateuch itself inherently claims Moses as its author and that this is strongly corroborated by both Christian and Jewish tradition; In fact, the Talmud refers to the Pentateuch as “the Books of Moses”.  There has always been some level of challenge to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch.  Towards the end of the 19th century a new paradigm surfaced that stated that the books had been compiled from four separation sources: J, E, D, P. This approach is known as “source criticism” and is a theory (not a fact) referred to as Documentary Hypothesis.  Unfortunately, this theory discards many of the staple beliefs of the faith, like monotheism and single temple worship, branding them as “late additions.” (Arnold and Beyer)  Source criticism can also be referred to as “documentary theory”.   This method seeks to separate out various “sources” that they believe lie in the “textual strata.”  These scholars believe that these textual strata are separated our by various textual elements like specific subject matter and the use of different divine names.  The opposition to such theories was clear by conservative scholars.    The conservative scholars cited that these theories ignored the archeological record and were based on evolutionary philosophies from the 19th century. It is widely believed that this type of textual criticism will survive the critical efforts of contemporary scholarship.  Although the Pentateuch is a complex literary work its thematic unity is more important. Regardless of the process of transmission and growth it is the final outcome that is of paramount importation to the community of believers.  Canonical criticism seeks to study this final form and the theological message of the Old Testament (OT).  Though conservative scholars may differ on the date of the final form of the Pentateuch, they do agree that the books written by Moses are inspired, historically trustworthy and speak with authority.

The Pentateuch is the story of God’s people, the nation of Israel.  It explains where they came from, how God saved them from extinction, and chronicles their various struggles with God.  The Pentateuch is not a complete history but rather traces the actions of God and Israel within history.  The Pentateuch can be broken down into two distinctive parts.  Genesis chapters 1-11 are considered the primeval prologue and address the fundamental universal questions about God and his relationship to the creation.  These questions are answered in Genesis 12 through Deuteronomy 34, which deal with the particularistic history of promise, election, deliverance and covenant.  This is best summed up in Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  Unfortunatelywhen the when the OT ends, Israel is still looking for the final consummation when hope will be fulfilled and promise become fact.   ThePentateuch can also be broken down with a bit more detail in the following manner.  Genesis 1-11 presents a problem.  God created a universe that was “good” but humanity ruined what He had accomplished. Genesis 12-50 is the story of Abraham, his family and their journey of faith.  The point of this section centers on the faith of the people which God used as the solution (or at least the beginning of the solution) to the sin problem in the world.  The book of Exodus is the story of God’s salvation of Israel through the preparation and calling of Moses.  Exodus represents the OT equivalent to the Cross in the New Testament (NT).  This book also describes God’s new special binding relationship (covenant) with His people.  The third book, Leviticus, seems to interrupt the historical flow of the writings but is indispensible to the total message of the Pentateuch. Leviticus calls God’s people to moral and ritual purity showing them how they can maintain the special relationship that God has established with them.  The book of Numbers continues the story of Israel’s journey to the Promised Land.  Numbers chronicles his God’s people tragically wander the desert for forty years due to their unbelief.  Deuteronomy, the final book of the Pentateuch is a series of Moses’ farewell speeches given on the plains of Moab on the eastern side of the Jordan River just before the population entered into the Promised Land.  Moses restates the Law and the Covenant, preparing the people for the future; Deuteronomy literally means “second law”.

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Historians do not have enough evidence to give precise dates for many of the Old Testament (OT) events and since absolute chronology is impossible archeologists have divided the millennia before the Christian into periods according to the technology available at the time.  According to Archeologists there were various stone ages including the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Chalcolithic that predated the existence of traditional human civilization.  This is not to say that man “evolved” from some sort of monkey or cave creature, it is just describing the graduial development of the use of materials and tools after the flood destroyed all mankind and his civilizations.

The Early Bronze era from 3300-2000 BC brought the invention of writing and the birth of human civilization in both Egypt and Mesopotamia.  The early bronze was the period of time of the old Kingdom in Egypt when the great pyramids were built.  The Middle Bronze age from 2000-1550 BC is marked by the movement of ethnic groups and the changing of old powers into new empires including the well knows Hammurapi who was famous for his collection of laws which bear a striking resemblance to the Law of Moses in the Pentateuch .  This is also the time when Israel’s patriarchs existed though their exact dates of existence are not known.  During this time Abraham traveled from Ur to Haran and then to Canaan after which Isaac and Jacob’s stories respectively played out.  During the time of the middle bronze age a group of Semites called the Hyksos ruled in Egypt but by the time of the Late Bronze age in 1550 BC “a new king arose in over Egypt who did know about Joseph” (Exodus 1:8) probably referring to a native Egyptian dynasty coming to power in the region and enslaving the Israelites.  The Late Bronze Age was a time of international trade and tenuous balance of powers in the civilized world with Syria-Palestine caught in the middle.  Egypt entered into its New Kingdom dynasties and was dominant throughout the period, whereas Mesopotamia experienced a time of political weakness after the fall of Hammurapi’s empire.  Sometime during the Late Bronze Age the Israelites suffered under the heavy burden of slavery in Egypt.  Moses was born to the tribe of Levi and miraculously escaped being killed by the Egyptians who were killing Israelite children to control their exploding population.  Moses was raised with the finest Egyptian education, prepared and called by God to lead the Israelites out of bondage which he accomplished through the dramatic story of the ten plagues.  God then led the Israelites out into the Sinai Peninsula to establish a covenant with them.  The Israelites rejected God’s leadership and they were punished by having to wander in the desert for 40 years while the rebellious generation died off.   Moses also died on the plains of Moab and was succeeded by Joshua. Exact dating of the Exodus story is impossible, it is clear that it occurred sometime during the New Kingdom period of Egyptian history.  Scholars have suggested that the events of the Exodus occurred either abound 1446 BC or 1275 BC; the key factor in the question being who the pharaoh was at the time.

Around 1200 BC cataclysmic changes began to occur in the ancient near east.  Major powers like the Egyptians and Hittites began to decline suddenly and other events like the fall of Troy and other Mycenaean cities disrupted all of the major powers of the ancient world.  One of the results of the many new immigrants to the area of Syria-Palestine (known collectively as the “Sea-People”) was the arrival of the Philistines to the southern shores of the Syria-Palestine coastal plains.  Palestine gets its name from the tribe Pelishtim (Philistines), a tribe numbered among the “sea people” that settled the area in the 12th century BC.  The arrival of these Sea-Peoples brought two major changes.  First, the old international military powers were replaced by local and regional ethic groups.  Second, with these new immigrants came the spread of new metal working technology, particularly the use of iron for making weapons. This period after 1200 BC is referred to as the Iron Age.  The Iron Age is broken down into three stages:  the Iron Age I (1200-930 BC), the Iron Age II (930-539 BC), and the Iron Age III (539-332 BC).  The first stage of the Iron Age began after the time of Joshua in the period of the Judges and continued through the unification of Israel under Saul, David and Solomon.  Unfortunately, Solomon’s apostasy caused division in Israel between the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. 

The second stage of the Iron Age (Iron Age II) was characterized by the religious apostasy in the north as kings, such as Omri and Ahab, combined Mosaic Yahwism with Canaanite Baalism in an attempt to gain greater political control.  Israel was also plagued with political instability, having 19 kings in little more than 200 years.  Judah continued to have one royal family of the Davidic dynasty but also eventually fell into religious apostasy and was conquered by the Babylonians in 587 BC.  During the Iron Age II the Assyrian Empire rose to power and remained dominant for two centuries.  The moral decay and rise of the Mesopotamian powers that would judge Israel was the backdrop for the first of the classical prophets that existed in this time period:  Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah.  Assyria during the 7th century became the first truly world empire and were able to conquer from the Indus River in the east to Egypt and Libya in the west.  Despite this success the Assyrians struggled constantly with the threat of the Chaldeans of southern Babylonia who eventually replaced their world empire.  The Babylonians under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar conquered Assyria and became the next great world empire.  Eventually the Babylonians would conquer and destroy Jerusalem and deport much of the Jewish population of Judea.  This history would serve as the backdrop for some of Israel’s most significant prophetic figures:  Jeremiah, Habakkuk and Ezekiel.

The final archeological age of the OT is the Persian age also known as the Iron Age III.  The reign of King Cyrus marks the beginning of the Persian Empire.    The Persians controlled the ancient world for two centuries until Alexander the Great conquered the Persians in 330 BC ending the string of world empires based in Mesopotamia.  This time frame from a biblical standpoint covers the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon including the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah.  The OT ends with God’s people restored to the land and a new temple for the proper worship of God.  However, this was clearly not a “Kingdom of God” with a descendent of David on the throne of an empire with worldwide significance.  Thus the promises of God were forward looking to the coming of the Messiah and His eventual establishment of a permanant righteous kingdom on the Earth.

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