The Bible Exploring the Torah

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The authoritative Word of G-d on earth A written history of G-ds redemption of mankind o G-ds POV o DO not think what it means to you Proverbs 1:8 2 Timothy 3:16 2 questions to always ask yourself: The sender, the messenger & the receiver o What did this mean to the original hearers/readers o How does the message apply to us The Pentateuch or Torah Chapter one of the history of G-d & His people One of the main events is the Exodus, the history permeates the entire Bible and sets the stage for G-ds redemptive relationship with humanity. Represents the first 5 books of the Bible Written by Moses Also known as the Books of the Law o Moral law o Social or ceremonial law o Making a point or a matter of principle Why is it important? History with a motive behind it; a deep, religious motive Many discard its significance due to its religious tone, and thus adopt low views of its reliability. In its letters, G-d breaks upon the consciousness of Israel Himself as the redeeming G-d. To the Christian, its significance is critical as it is G-ds initial revelation of Himself

Contents: Genesis: Creation and its spoiling, the call and promise to Abraham and his offspring Exodus: The Rescue of Israel out of Egypt Leviticus: The Book of G-ds law

Numbers: The travelogue, Israels journey from Mt. Sinai to River Jordan Deuteronomy: Moses addresses Israel before entering the promised land and reminds them of their journey and covenant.

This week I will post scriptures to reveal something about G-ds word in the Pentateuch for someone to answer. These points will be tallied to be included in class competitions throughout the month.

The Bible The Historical Writings

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Review the 5 books of the Torah Consists of the 12 books after the Pentateuch leading up to Job: The Conquest and Settlemen t of Canaan: o Joshua (1240BC): The Israelites conquer the land G-d has promised to them o Judges (1050BC): A repeated pattern of disobedience to G-d and deliverance from enemies Ruth: The story of a foreign girl whose courage and devotion won her a place in Israels history in the family line of King David and the Messiah The Monarchy and the Divided Kingdom: o 1 Samuel: The change from judges to kings and the reign of king Saul o 2 Samuel: the reign of King David o 1 & 2 Kings (ends ~561BC): The history from King Solomon to the exile o 1 & 2 Chronicles: The selective history that focuses on the kings of Juday The Babylonian Exile and the Return from Exile: o Ezra: The Jews return from exie, rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and re-establish G-ds law o Nehemiah: The Story of Governor Nehemiah who made Jerusalem a city again o Esther: The story of a Jewish girl who becomes the queen and foils a plot to eradicate the Jews. Key Points Kingship o King Davids dynasty and prophetic message of the Messiah. o Evils prior to the crowning of Saul was attributed to the leaderless nation. o Although G-d was their king, they wanted an Earthly king to be like the nations of the world. o As a result, the nations fate hinged on the Kings righteousness or wickedness. Prophecy

o Several prophets are weaved into the fabric of the historical books, including Deborah, Nathan, Gad, Elijah and Elisha. o They were men of power directed by the Word of G-d o This Word controlled the history as the spoken Word of the prophet inevitably came to pass o The Former Prophets: A Prophetic History Joshua to 2 Kings Called this in the Hebrew Neviim which was comprised of all of the prophets. Mainly because the books were meant to teach, as opposed to simply recite the history of Israel The History of the way in which G-ds Word was being unfolded

Temple o Davids close watch and care of the Ark of the Covenant o Solomon builds the temple o Ezra rebuilds the temple Worship o The standard of measure for each king o The kings of Israel, in general, failed the test as they perpetuated worship at Bethel and Dan sanctuaries (Bethaven meant house of idols and Micahs idol) o The kings of Judah were tempted, and some succumbed to that temptation. Ultimately there were those who did well in the sight of the Lord and others who led Judah in wickedness. o Written into the annuls of the kings . . . in much the same way the history of our lives are written in the book of life. The Chronicles o A second account of 1 Samuel through 2 Kings o More of a historical account of the legacy of kings and the leadership of the kingdom

The Bible Poetic Justice

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POETRY & WISDOM Not the systematic and grammatical approach to language, but rather a measured oratory; i.e., Lincolns Gettysburg Address or MLKs I Have a Dream speechwhere reiteration and or rhythm make it more memorable o Reiteration [restatement for impact and memory]: Judges 5:30 o Rhythm [a matter of stresses or beats, not of fixed syllables (Haiku)]: 2 Samuel 1:25 o Parallelism [echoing of thoughts]: Numbers 23:19 & Isaiah 55:8 o Other more literary methods are also found throughout the Bible Due to the deep nature of G-ds Word, the poetic properties of these books are free for the binds of language and is therefore no reason to suggest that one can only draw meaning from its original form. Poetry is often seen in instances of prophecy and thus throughout the entire Word of G-d

THREE BOOKS: They have been given a more elaborate system of prose than the rest of the books in the Bible. Job: his story revolves around suffering and how we are to understand it. It is a conversation between Job and his friends until G-d steps in to finish the conversation. Hailed as one of the poetic masterpieces of the world literature. Psalms: the timeless hymns of ancient Israel, broken down into 5 sections. Its poetic intentions are to bring worship into song, heavenly poetrywords for festivals and public occasions. Proverbs: a textbook of wise sayings to school the young in the right way to live. True wisdom is based on reverence unto the Lord. WISDOM: Inclusive of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastesthe voice of experience and reflection, rather than preaching or command. Wisdom persuades us see the connection between G-ds order in the world and His

orders to people; and the foolishness of going against the grain of His creation. Ecclesiastes: the meaning of life; without G-d it is totally meaningless. Songs of Solomon: A series of love poems celebrating human sexuality and the passionate love of a man and a woman. Does not mention G-d, but rather speaks of His creation and the glory for which He has bestowed on us in Love. Breaking down PSALMS The Psalms have multiple uses: Hymns, Community laments arising from a national disaster, Royal Psalms originating or commemorating the occasions in the life of a reigning king, Individual laments and Individual thanksgiving The Psalms cover 3 periods o The First Temple (95-587 BC) o The Exile (587-520 BC) o The Return and Rebuilding of the Temple (520~167 BC) The settings of the Psalms The Festival setting Individual in Distress Piety in later times In all, the psalms were especially related to the Messianic kingdom Three Sections: o Book 1 Psalm 1-41: The Hebrew Bible titles this section Belonging to/by David o Book 2 Psalm 42-47: titled Sons of Korah with the exception o o o o of Psalm 50 written by Asaph, who belongs to another Temple Group in a later section of the book. Some Psalms in this section ascribe Davids name and one bears Solomons. o Book 3 Psalm 78-89: while some are still attributed to the Sons of Korah, many carry Asaphs authorship; also includes others from the temple group. o Book 4 Psalm 90-106: Few have Hebrew titles but many are meant for public worship.

o Book 5 Psalm 107-150: Most are titled under David with the last 6 beginning and ending with Praise the Lord or Hallelujah. Korahs Sons o Korah was of the Kohathites, sons of Levi o Responsible for the care of the Sanctuary o Unlike the others (Gershonites and Merarites) they had to carry the items from the Sanctuary by hand when they traveled (Numbers 4:15) o In Numbers 16 they rebelled under the leadership of Korah and judgement was executed when G-d swallowed them up into the earth. o Korahs sons were spared from the rest of Korahs household (Numbers 26:9-11) o After 7 generations, the prophet Samuel arouse from the lineage of Korah (1 Chron 6:31-38). o The Korahites became doorkeepers and custodians in the tabernacle (1 Chron 9:19-21) and some participated in the military exploites of King David (12:6). o They became great leaders in choral and orchestral music in the Tabernacle and the Temple. o Hemen the Korahite was a lead singer (Psalm 88), along with Asaph the Gershonite (Psalms 50, 73-83) and Ethan the Merarite (Psalms 89) o Altogether 25 Psalms were written by the Sons of Korah

The Bible Prophets of YHWH

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In my humble opinion, one of the most difficult set of books to simply read through. There must be a working knowledge of the culture and the times to truly understand the impact of the prophets. Keys to understanding: What is the historical setting, what is the story behind the passage? Is the writing poetic or symbolic? What was the original purpose of the prophecy? Finally, one must be inspired by the Holy Spirit to gain insight as to how the prophecy transcends time and can apply even to this day and age. G-d is the ruler of all history: prophets understood this and went so far as to depict great and powerful nations as tools unto the Lord to bring about His purpose and desired effect in His people. The prophets lives stretched from ~730 450 BC They were G-ds messengers in a time where Israel had all but forgotten Moses direction and instruction to live as the people of Gd. They are the spiritual conscience of the nation A true prophet was: called by G-d; received messages from G-d and spoke that message regularly; and would speak to G-d regularly on behalf of the people through Prayer. Some of the best examples of prophets were Elijah and Elisha. They did not write a book but were written of in 1 & 2 Kings. Elijah prevented Israel from completely forsaking G-d (1 Kings 18). Along with Samuel these prophets were considered the Early Age prophets. Other prophets are grouped into the Assyrian Age (A) [770-700], Babylonian Age (B) [650-530], and Persian Age (P) [530-440] Although the majority were men, there were women with a prophetess ministry; such as Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah The messages circled around topics such as: the need to get right with G-d, religion with right living (not just being pious), judgement and hope, and the Messianic kingdom.

Listeners had the responsibility to heed the things spoken by the propheteffectively to turn their faith into action and live out the justice and holiness and love of their G-d. The books are broken up into two sections MAJOR PROPHETS: Isaiah (A): Prophecies of G-d the Holy One, Lord of history, and the salvation of his people o aka the Messianic Prophet o Chap 1-39 are for warnings and promises to Judah and the nations from 750 on. o Chap 40-55 refer to comfort and encouragement for the exiles, from 538 on. o Chap 56-66 are difficult to assign a specific time to o On the whole the prophecies point to the long-term coming of the Messiah. Jeremiah (B): A reluctant prophets anguished warnings of G-ds judgement in the years leading up to the fall of Jerusalem o Began in Josiahs reign o When calls to repentance were ignored, he warned people they must submit to Babylonian rule o Also produced salvation prophecies toward the end of the book, as well as foreshadow G-ds pending new covenant. Lamentations: A series of 5 laments which grieve for the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army 587 BC Ezekiel (B): Ezekiels prophecies in Babylonia before and after the fall of Jerusalem o Was called in Babylon itselfa new breed of prophet o Judgement prophecies at first

o Followed by salvation prophecies after the fall of Jerusalem in 587 BC. Daniel (B): Stories of Daniel, an exile in Babylon, and his visions of the future. MINOR PROPHETS: Hosea (A): the relationship between G-d & Israel (or the Church) is vividly displayed in Hoseas marriage o speaks to unfaithfulness, breakdown and healing

o G-ds love is emphasized in the midst of judgment. Joel (P): a locust plague in Judah warns of the Day of the Lord, but G-d is willing to bless and forgive if the people will turn toward Him Amos (A): known as the shepherd prophet, he delivers G-ds warning of judgment to the Northern Kingdom of Israel Obadiah (P): a prophet against Edom (descendants of Esau) o prophesies against Edom for their treatment of Judah when Jerusalem fell Jonah (A): the story of the prophet sent to Nineveh o Rejects G-ds call to preach in protest of G-ds forgiveness o swallowed by a whaleplays powerfully into Jesus sign to an unbelieving generation o Nineveh repents and G-d speaks to Jonah o Although the prophet belongs to the 8th Century, it is believed that the book was written later Micah (A): prophesies against Samaria and Judah for crimes against the people o G-d will punish and later restore o Predicts the birth of a ruler from of old, in Bethlehem Nahum (B): preaches G-ds judgment against Nineveh and the whole Assyrian Empirerejoices for Ninevehs destruction Habakkuk (B): asks great questions like, why does G-d let the wicked flourish? Or is there no justice? Although he struggles with problems of evil, G-d responds Zephaniah (P): prophecies of G-ds day of universal judgment and His judgment of Judah; followed by G-ds promise to restore the faithful few Haggai (P): Speaking to the returned exiles in Judah and Jerusalem to set their priorities straight if they want to enjoy G-ds blessings o Haggai & Zechariah encourage the people to rebuild the Temple Zechariah (P): prophets messages and visions of judgment and restoration o Chap 1-8 deal with the same time as Haggai o Chap 9-14 are a later time

o Both look forward to a time when all nations may participate in G-ds salvation Malachi (P): the prophet speaks to a dejected Israel to call Judah to a full commitment and looks forward to the future appearance of the Elijah