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THE OLD TESTAMENT STORY

The Story Set-up:


God Creates a Good World

• God creates the universe and


people
• God tells man how to live
• Everything is in harmony with
itself and God
• Life is beautiful and people can
live forever as long as they
follow God
Genesis 1 & 2
The Conflict / Problem:
People Rebel and Throw the World Into Disarray

• The first people choose to


disobey God
• They experience shame, guilt
and fear for the first time
• As a result, God says life will
now be full of pain, futility,
conflict, and death
• People are cast out of God’s
presence on earth
Genesis 3
• Within one generation, we have the first
murder—brother kills brother

Genesis 4
• As people multiply, violence and corruption
spreads across the world

Genesis 5 - 6:5
• God grieves over how bad things get. He
sends a worldwide flood to destroy all but the
family of Noah and one pair of each animal
who can repopulate the earth.

Genesis 6:6-9
• Noah’s descendants ignore God and seek to
build a city and tower to their own greatness.

Genesis 11:1-4
• God breaks them up by separating them into
different languages and nations across the
world.

Genesis 10; 11:5-11


• In summary, people have turned away from
God, messed up their lives and the world, and
they keep doing this over and over.
Puzzle: How can a world of corrupt people in
separate nations be turned back to God and
experience life as God originally intended?
The Solution
1) God’s Call to Abraham (1900 BC)

• God talks to a man Abraham.


God says he will bless
Abraham, make of him a great
nation, and through him all
nations will be blessed.

Genesis 12-20
• Though imperfect, Abraham believes God and
follows him, even though he and his wife are
very old and have no son.

Genesis 12 - 20
• After 25 years of waiting, God gives Abraham
and his wife a son, Isaac, who will inherit
God’s promises.

Genesis 21 - 24
(Job is set sometime around this time period)
• When he grows up, Isaac has twin sons. God
chooses the younger twin, Jacob, to inherit his
promises.

Genesis 25 - 27
• Jacob is a deceiver, but
God changes him, and
changes his name to
Israel.

Genesis 28-35:15
• Israel has 12 sons. One
son, Joseph, trusts in
and obeys God. But
the other brothers are
jealous of Joseph and
sell him into slavery.

Genesis 35:16-38
• Through amazing
circumstances, Joseph
becomes prime
minister of Egypt, and
the rest of the family
comes to join him.

Genesis 39-50
• Puzzle: How can God bless all nations and
restore the world through these people?
2) Exodus Experience (1250 BC)
• Many years later, Israel’s descendents have
grown to hundreds of thousands, but they are
now all Egyptian slaves.

Exodus 1
• God raises up a man, Moses, to lead them out
of Egypt.

Exodus 2 – 7:13
• After a series of divinely caused plagues, the
Egyptian king agrees to let Moses and the
Israelites leave miraculously.

Exodus 7:14 - 18
• Once they are out of Egypt,
God gives Moses and the
Israelites 10
commandments and other
laws to follow, saying they
will be blessed if they obey,
but cursed if they disobey.

Exodus 19 – Numbers 12
• The rescued Israelites keep
rebelling against God. So
God says He will not permit
them to enter their
promised land. They have
to travel in the wilderness
until their generation dies
out.
Numbers 14 - 36
3) Entry into the Promised Land (1200 BC)

• After 40 years, God renews his covenant with


the next generation of Israelites. Then Moses’
successor, Joshua, leads them into
the promised land.

Deuteronomy 1 - Joshua 24
• However, the very next
generation turns to
worshipping other gods.

Judges 1 - 2
• For the next 300 years, the Israelites follow a
pattern: They face a foe, they call out to God,
God sends someone to help them, but once
their problem is solved, they turn away from
God again.

Judges 3 - 1 Samuel 7
4.) Creation of A Monarchy (1020 BC)

• The Israelites ask God


for a king, and after
warning them about
how kings act, God
chooses Saul to be their
first king.

1 Samuel 8 - 10
• Saul begins well, but he
starts disobeying God
and God tells Saul
(through a prophet) he
will replace him.

1 Samuel 11 - 15
• God chooses David to be the next king, David
obeys and trusts in God, and Israel prospers.

1 Samuel 16 - II Samuel 10; 1 Chronicles 11 - 20


(David wrote many of the Psalms)
(~1,000 BC)
• God promises David that a dynasty and a
kingdom will come from him that will last
forever.
(Puzzle: how can this be?)

2 Samuel 7; 1 Chronicles 17
• When David gets older though, he commits
adultery and murder, and he and his kingdom
starts to deteriorate.

2 Samuel 11-23; 1 Chronicles 21


• David’s son Solomon becomes
king next, and he rules wisely.
But eventually he worships
other Gods. God says he will
remove most of Israel from his
dynasty because of this.

1 Kings 1 - 11; 2 Chronicles 1 - 9


(Solomon many of the Proverbs, plus
likely Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs)
• After Solomon dies, Israel splits into two kingdoms.

The Northern Kingdom—”Israel”


- Ruled by many dynasties of kings

The Southern Kingdom—”Judah”


- Always ruled by a descendant of David
and Solomon

I Kings 11 - 12; 2 Chronicles 10 - 11


5. Fall of the Northern Kingdom to the
Assyrians (722 BC)
• For the next few hundred years, Israel’s kings
and people keep disobeying God. After
sending many warnings through prophets,
God has the northern kingdom overrun by the
Assyrians. Most are shipped away, never to
return.

I Kings 13 - 2 Kings 17
Hosea, Amos, Jonah
6. Southern Kingdom Falls and the Exile (587-
537 BC)
• During this same time period, a few kings and
people in Judah trust in God, but most don’t.
After many warnings, after Israel’s fall, God
has Judah conquered also. However, God
promises he will bring a remnant
back to their land.

I Kings 13 - 2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 10 - 36:21


Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel , Habakkuk ,
Micah, Zephaniah
• The Judeans (i.e., “Jews”)
live in exile in Babylon.
But 70 years later, the
Persian king who
conquered Babylon says
Jews can return to their
land and rebuild their
capital and temple.
2 Chronicles 36:22 - Ezra 1
Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
7. Return, Rebuilding and Renewal of the
Covenant (537-428 BC)

• These returning Jews are the first generation


to permanently forsake worshipping other
gods, and they show concern to obey God.

 However, they soon


start growing cooler
toward God.
Ezra 2 - Esther 10
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
• There was relative peace in Palestine under the rule
of the Persians until they were conquered by the
Greek, Alexander the Great.

• The Jews remained strong in their conviction that a


Messiah-king would reestablish their former political
glory.
8. Tribulations under the Greeks (332-175 BC)
• Alexander the Great brought to Palestine
Greek culture and thought.
• His successors, the Ptolemies, exiled a large
number of Jews to Egypt.
• But, generally speaking, the Jews prospered
under the Ptolemies,
though they were
forced to pay
exorbitant taxes.
Daniel 1-3, 7-8, Ruth 1-4
1 Maccabees 1-4
Ecclesiasticus, Tobit, Wisdom
• After the Ptolemies came the Seleucids. The worst
of these rulers was Antiochus IV, who came to hate
the Jews as dangerous enemies.
- attacked Jerusalem on the Sabbath
- gave orders that Greek gods be worshipped
- a pig was sacrificed on the altar.
9. Maccabean Revolt and Hasmonean Rule
(164-63 BC)
• Their reaction to Antiochus was a revolt lead by the
Maccabean family which eventually led to self-rule
for almost a century under the Hasmoneans.
• It ended when the Roman general Pompey captured
Jerusalem in 63 B.C.
• During the rule of this
last oppressor, the
Romans, was born the
KING OF KINGS,
Jesus the Christ.

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