BIBLE LIT NOTES
9-3-2001
-Revelation- communication of truth by God to human beings – “reveal”
-Apokalupsis=apocalypse- uncover
-Hebrews 1:1-2 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
-General Revelation- Information about God accessible to anyone on earth
- Through nature
- Through conscience – sense of right and wrong
Special Revelation
- Written word (Bible)
- Living word (Jesus Christ)
9-5-2001
Inspiration – Recording of revealed truth
- Process by which the word of God is brought to us in written form
- II Tim 3:16 - All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.
- II Peter 1:21 – For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
- Latin inspiro- breathe into
- Greek theopneustos (Paul’s word)
o Theo= God
o Pneusto= Breathe
- Mechanical diction- God dictated, human wrote verbatim (extreme)
- Human documents only (other extreme)
- Dynamic Interaction – recording in our own way
Illumination
- II Peter 1:20 – Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.
- John 14:26 – But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you allthings and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
- I Cor. 1:18 – For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- I Cor. 2:14 – The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Hermeneutics – interpretation of revelation
- Literary genre
o Parable – one main lesson
o Allegory – two parallel meanings
o Apocalyptic
- Grammar – What does it say?
- Historical – What was the historical contexst?
- Cultural – differences in cultures –
o What elements of scripture are cultural?
9-7-2001
Hermeneutical Principles
- Take plain, obvious sense
- Interpret in context
- Let scripture explain scripture
- Compare difficult passages with whole
- View O.T. in light of N.T.
- Consider Christian consensus
- Leave room for suspended Judgment
Exegesis – Discover the meaning of a text as the author would have understood it
Eisegesis – Read into the text one’s own ideas
Exegesis – What does it say?
Hermeneutical Principles – What does it mean?
Principal sources of Bible content
- Direct revelation
- Contemporary history
- Historical Records
- Oral Tradition
- Poetry, Lyrics
- Words of Christ
- God-inspired Common Sense
Bible
- Used since A.D. 400
- From Greek “biblos” = book (66 books)
- Ta biblia (plural) – scripture manuscripts
- Entire collection became known as “the book”
O.T. book divisions
- Pentateuch – 5 book
o Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
- Historical Books – 12
o Tribal Government - 3
§ Joshua, Judges, Ruth
o Rise and Fall of Monarchy - 6
§ I, II Samuel; I, II Kings; I, II Chronicles
o Exile and Return –3
§ Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
- Poetic and wisdom books – 5
o Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
- Major Prophets –5
o Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentation, Ezekiel, Daniel
- Minor Prophets - 12
o Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
NT Book Divisions
- Gospels – 4
o Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
- History
o Acts
- Pauline Epistles – 13
o Romans, I + II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I + II Thessalonians, I + II Timothy, Titus, Philemon
- General Epistles – 8
o Hebrews, James, I + II Peter, I -> III John, Jude
- Prophecy – 1
o Revelation
OT = Hebrew
NT = Greek
66 books, 39 old, 27 new
How long did it take to write?
- Moses – 1400 -> 1300 B.C.
- 1400 -> 400 B.C. = OT – 900, 1000 years to write
- A.D. 50 -> A.D. 100 = N.T. – 50 years to write
9-10-2001
Apocrypha
- Hidden
- Religious + Historical Books written between 300 B.C and A.D. 100
- Some used by early Christians, but never part of the Hebrew O.T.
- Since the reformation in the 1500’s, not in the Protestant Bible (66 books), but in the Roman Catholic Bible (73 books)
- R.C. Church calls them Deutero-canonical, or the “second canon” books”
o Listed in Cragie pg. 19
o Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, I + II Maccabees, and additions to Daniel and Esther
Pseudepigrapha
- Pseud = false
- Epi = upon
- Graph = write
- False name written upon the work; true author anonymous
- Some Pseudepigrapha in Apocrapha
o The Wisdom of Solomon
o But most are never in any bible
Canon
- Hebrew word qaneh – stalk, reed, rod
- Greek kanon = rule
- Church Law
o Measure short from long
o Straight from crooked
o True from false
- List of accepted (authentic & authoritative) books
Criteria for O.T. Books
- Written by a prophet or one with a prophetic gift
- Inspired by God
- Widely Accepted
Criteria for N.T. Books
- Written by Apostle, or in agreement with the teachings of the apostles
- Agree with the Christian Rule of Faith
- Widespread use
Canon is not determined but recognized by church
Autograph
- The actual original document
o e.g.. Paul’s first letter to Rome
o We have none
- Inerrant – without error
- Infallible – without fault
9-12
Criticism
- Investigates origin, motivation, history, etc., of literary documents including scripture
- Types of Criticism:
o Textual / lower criticism – restore texts to what the original writer wrote and produced
o Source criticism – endeavor to determine which sources were used
o Redaction criticism – what the editorial process was, and what parts are editorial comments
o Form criticism – identify literary form
o Historical / higher criticism – determine authorship, date of writing, and authenticity
History of Bible Translation
- Need produces new translations
- O.T. mostly written in Hebrew, with some Aramaic
- Alexander the Great’s Conquest – Jews spoke Greek
o The Septuagint (LXX) was written in Greek
- N.T. Written in Koine (common) Greek
- Jerome – commissioned to write a Latin Version
o Jerome’s Latin Vulgate (vulgar or common tongue
- Next 1000 years were the Middle Ages
o Very little translation was done due to the illiteracy of the average person
o Monks produced Latin Monastic editions
- Masoretic text
o Masoretes were Jewish scholars who realized that because Hebrew was a dead language, they should preserve the O.T. texts
o Standardized the pronunciation of Hebrew using dots and dashes as stress marks
- Change brought about by three things:
o The Renaissance around A.D. 1200
o Printing by moveable type around A.D. 1450
o The Protestant Reformation in the 16th century
- Results of the change:
o Several English translations which the church opposed
o William Tyndale
§ “Father of the English Bible”
§ Strangled and burnt at the stake
o John Wycliffe
§ Shortly after Tyndale was executed, the church exhumed and burnt his body
- There was a need for an “authorized” version
o King James’ Version in 1611
9-14-2001
No translation is Final
- Language changes constantly
o KJV Examples
§ To wit; suffer the children to come to me
o Each year 10,000 to 20,000 new words come into use
o RSV examples
§ I will accept no bull from your house = I will not accept a bull from your house (NRSV)
§ Once I was stoned = Once I received a stoning (NRSV)
- Textual Criticism corrects text
o Thousands of Manuscripts in the possession of Scholars
o Hundreds of thousands of variant readings
§ Mostly minor – spelling, grammar
§ In the KJV, I John 5:7 - Only 5 out of 5000 manuscripts have this passage, and none of the older ones
· This is not part of John’s original writing
· Suspected that Erasmus stuck it in
§ Also in the KJV, Matt 6 – For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever
§ Some manuscripts were not “discovered” for the KJV
· Some were not available when translated into this version
- Tischendorf – scholar
o Discovered the Codex Sinaiticus in a monastery near Mt. Sinai
§ Codex is a document in book form
§ Codex Sinaiticus was Greek Manuscripts written in the 4th or 5th century A.D. and was virtually the whole bible
o Discovered the Codex Vaticanus in the Vatican – Same thing as the Codex Sinaiticus
- Other Discoveries of Biblical Translations + Copies
o Another Codex (Alexandrinus) discovered by someone else in Alexandria, Egypt
o Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS)
§ Discovered in caves near Qumran, near the site of an ancient monastic settlement by the “Essenes”
§ Essenes forced out of homes, hid important documents in jars in the caves nearby
§ Have taken us back 1000 years to the 3rd century B.C.
§ Among the documents were copies of all the O.T. books except Esther
Archaeology
- An ongoing task, recent science
- New information on text and customs of the bible
o Validates what we read in the Bible
o Mari + Nuzu tablets written contemporarily with the time of Abraham
o Confirms existence of the Hittite Empire
o 1947 – Dead Sea Scrolls
o 1975 – Ebla tablets – over 15,000 clay tablets discovered in Northern Syria that are over 4,000 years old
§ Confirm the descriptions of lifestyles in the bible are accurate
Terms to Distinguish
- Translation – the work of an individual
o Moffat Bible, Barclay N.T.
- Paraphrase – because of idioms and language, it helps to relate and understand
o Living Bible (Ken Taylor), Phillips N.T. (J.B. Phillips), The Message (Eugene Peterson)
- Version – best because done by many people/scholars
§ King James Version, New King James Version, American Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, Revised Standard Bible, New Revised Standard Version, New International Version (100 scholars)
9-17-2001
Liberal Higher Criticism and the Old Testament
- JEDP theory / developmental hypothesis, or documentary theory
- Began with Graf and Wellhausen – German scholars
- Additions to the oral tradition
- J Document
o First written material, about 900 B. C.
o J for Jehovah
o Jehovah was the preferred name for God in this document
o Judah, Jerusalem are other J’s that it stands for
o Viewed as primitive anthropomorphic
§ Ascribing to God human characteristics
- E document
o Written about 800 B. C.
o E for Elohim
o E also stands for Ephraim, a tribe of the north
o Northern Kingdom
o Viewed as more sophisticated, written 100 years later
- D document
o D for Deuteronomy
o Josiah – cleaned out the temple in Jerusalem, found this book
o Some argue that it is a pious fraud
- P document
o P for Priestly
Genesis - Beginning – comes from Septuagint
Exodus – Way out – from Egypt
Leviticus – Levites, laws of the levites
- Including priests for worship of God
Numbers – Numbering and Organizing Israel
- For march to land of Canaan
Deuteronomy – Second law, repeated law
Beginnings in Genesis
- The World and universe
- Human Beings – Adam + Eve
- Sin, death and redemption
- The Hebrew nation of Israel
- Covenant Theocracy
I. Primeval History – Chapters 1 – 11
a. Creation – Chapters 1-2
b. The fall – Chapters 3-4
i. Cause – Chapter 3
ii. Effect – Chapter 4
II. Patriarchal History – Chapters 12 – 50
a. Abraham – Chapters 12 – 25
b. Jacob – Chapters 26 – 36
c. Joseph – Chapters 37 – 50
Genesis 1 and 2 – Creation
- Two accounts in the bible
o 1:1 –> 2:3 AND 2:4 –> 2:25
o Complementary – not Contradictory
- Theocentric- God is the center
- Anthropocentric – Human beings are “center stage”
- First Account (1:1 –> 2:3)
o Symmetric
o Linguistic symmetry – evening and morning
o Schematic symmetry – day seven is climactic
Model of Creation
(Day) (Day)
1. Light filled with 4. Luminaries
2. Water and Sky filled with 5. Fish and Birds
3. Land and vegetation filled with 6. Beasts and Man
9-19
Some views of the Beginning
- Naturalistic Evolution
o Simple to Complex
o Not compatible with biblical text
- Theistic Evolution
o God evolved life from simple organisms to man
- Threshold Evolution
o God made certain things after a kind
o Evolving of species within a group of animals
§ i.e. dogs and birds
o Closer to the biblical account
- Literal Creationism
o God created the word in six twenty-four hour days
o Recent creation – 10,000 years ago
o God never hurries
- Progressive Creationism
o God began, and allowed long periods of time for animal development and plant growth
o God added certain things at certain times
§ New ingredients
- Conflict between intelligent design and naturalistic and Darwinistic Evolution
Genesis Chapter 1
- Neither scientific description of what happened
- Nor unscientific – it is not contrary to science
- But nonscientific – we don’t have all the information
- In the beginning
o No reference to time
o “whenever that was”
- God
o God was there
o Mentioned 35 times in the first 34 verses of the bible
§ Very important
- Created
o Only God can make things out of nothing
o Bara – creating – used only three times in the bible
§ Genesis 1:1 (earth), 1:21 (animals), and 1:27 (man)
§ God is always the subject for this verb in the bible
- Asah – (verb) to make or to do
- Yatzar – (verb) used when God fashioned Adam
o Same verb used as pottor fashions clay into a pot or vessel
- Banah – (verb) used when God created Eve
o To build – God built women
- Yom – day – unsure what is meant – 24 hours? Or a span of time?
The Bible is used to determine
- Who, What, and Why
Science is used to determine
- When and How
“Science can tell us how the heavens go; Scripture tells us ho to go to heaven.”
- Galileo
“Science without religion is lame; Religion without science is blind”
- Albert Einstein
Extra-biblical account – Enuma Elish (Babylon)
- Attempts to explain the origin of the universe
Original Human State
- Innocence – before sin, they were like innocent children
- Imago Dei
o Image of God
o Not Physical
o God is spiritual being – we have a spiritual connection to God – soul
§ Animals don’t have this
o God is person – given us person Lord and personality
§ Intelligence – capacity to think reason, rationally
§ Emotions – hate, love, anger, and jealousy
§ Will – how to choose, make decisions
o A royal role
§ God’s assents to share his rule of earth’s resources and creatures
The Tempter / Serpent
- Hebrew nahash – bright and shining being
o Compare Hebrew Satan – adversary, opponent, enemy
- The temptation – inclination that we have to fulfill legitimate God given emotions and desires and drives through illegitimate means
- Sin – attitude, bend to sin, natural inclination to oppose God
o Action, or lack of action
o Repentance – change of heart, mind, and attitude
o Confession – to say back to God what he said to us, acknowledging to him our sin
9-24-2001
The Punishment
- Death – Genesis 2 + 3 – If you eat fruit, you will surely die
o Spiritual death – separation from God
o Physical death – Adam and Eve eventually died
o Eternal death – eternal separation from God
§ Unless we take advantage of Christ’s offer of redemption, Physical death leads to Eternal death
o Sin can only be atoned for through death
§ Old Testament – animal sacrifice
§ New Testament – Jesus’ death
The Provision
- Genesis 3:15
o And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.
o Jesus descended from Eve – crushed Satan
o Satan struck at Jesus’ heel - crucifixion
- First three chapters unlock the rest of the bible
- God promises a redeemer
- Principle of reduction
- Abraham (Genesis 12) was about 2000 B.C., therefore, more time is covered in the first eleven chapters of the Bible than from Abraham to modern times
o At a conservative estimate, creation was was 8000 B.C.
§ 6000 years in first eleven chapters
o Broad, sweeping strokes across more time
Covenant Theocracy – covenant line
- Adam – Seth - - - Noah
- Europeans descended from Japheth; Shem = Semites, Semitic, Jews
- Abram – exalted father, father is exalted
o wealthy person – personal army of 318 people
o Genesis 12:1-3
§ Challenges and promises given to Abram by God
§ Leave your country
§ Go to the land I will show you
§ I will make of you a great nation . . . all peoples will be blessed through you
o Genesis 15 – Abram encounters the Holy one
§ God enters a covenant with Abram
o Genesis 17:5 – Abram gets new name
§ Abraham – father of many nations, multitude
o Genesis 17:1 – Walk before God and be blameless
o Genesis 17:9-10 – keep my covenant – circumcision
o Ishmael – custom to have a son through wife’s personal servant if wife is barren
o Isaac + Rebekah –> Jacob + Esau
o Jacob – “heel grabber,” “deceiver”
§ Genesis 27:36 – Esau affirms Jacob was well named
· “he deceived me two times”
· birthright – Esau sold it for stew
· Father’s blessing – Jacob deceived father to get blessed instead of Esau
§ Genesis 32:28 – Jacob wrestles with angel
· Name changed to Israel
§ Israel – because you have struggled with God and men and have overcome
- Ephraim + Manasseh – Joseph’s children
o Tribes of Israel
o Levi also doesn’t have a land portion because his tribe is the “priest” class
Exodus
- The most important event in the Old Testament
- God directly intervened to bring his people (Hebrews) out of bondage in Egypt
o Slavery + obscurity –> glory of Lord fills tabernacle
9-26-2001
Ark of the Covenant
- Ten Commandments
- Pot of Manna
- Staff, rod of Aaron
Levi’s sons
- Kohath – descendents are responsible for the furniture when the tabernacle moves
- Gershon – descendents are responsible for the curtains and coverings when the tabernacle moves
- Merari – descendents are responsible for the boards and pillars when the tabernacle moves
Leviticus
- Chapters 1 – 10
o The way to the holy one
§ Approach through priests and through sacrifice
- Chap 11 – 27
o The way to holiness
§ Practical – sanitation
§ Spiritual - sanctification
o Both priests and people must be holy because God is holy
Some categories of types of laws in the Old Testament times
- Civil law – how people should treat one another
- Ceremonial law – system of sacrifices and special days
o Been perfected today – Christ is the sacrifice for the world
- Moral Law – 10 Commandments
- Casuistic laws – case by case basis
- Apodictic law – absolute commands
o 10 Commandments – thou shalt not
o Consequence of breaking was death
The Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur (Kippur = covering)
- Holiest day of the Jewish year
- High priest offers a bull as a sacrifice for his own sins
- Sprinkles bull blood on the Mercy Seat (lid of the Ark)
- Sacrifices a goat as a sin offering for the sins of the people
- Sprinkles goat blood on the Mercy Seat
- Placed both hands on the head of a live goat, and confessed the sins of the people
- Sent goat to the wilderness, and released
o Removal of sin from camp
o “Scapegoat”
Numbers
- Chapters 1 – 14 – Possession of Canaan EXPECTED
o 10 were bad and 2 were good
- Chapters 15 – 25 – Possession of Canaan Postponed
- Chapters 26 – 36 – PREPARATION for the POSSESSION of Canaan
Deuteronomy
- Three addresses to Israel by Moses
o First – God’s Acts in History
§ Remember what God did for you
o Second – God’s laws for the Present
o Third – God’s Covenant, warning for future
10-1-2001
Covenant
- Definition
o An agreement between two or more persons
o Committing oneself to keep agreement
- Old Testament, Old Covenant
o Covenant to Moses
o Way to God is through sacrifice
- New Testament, New Covenant
o Way to God is through Jesus
Old Testament Terms
- Berit (n) or Barah (v)
o Word used for covenant
o To tie together, to bind, to fetter
- Karat Berit
o Karat (v) – to cut
o “ I cut a covenant with you”
o Cutting process, shedding of blood
o Animals, Circumcision, Christ
- B’hai Berith
o Sons of the Covenant
§ Promote Jewish-ness today
Ratification and Confirmation
- Historically, partaking of the blood of covenant parties, or the blood of a sacrificial animal (similar to tribal Africa)
o Similar to being a “blood brother”
- In the Old Testament, they used the blood of animals
- In the New Testament, they used the blood of Christ
o Without the blood of Christ, there is no remission of sins
o The wages of sin is death
o Communion
§ Wine = blood
§ In a way, we partake of the blood
Covenant Parties
- Between Humans (Individuals and nations)
- God and Human beings
o We can enter into it, or we can ignore him
- Man and Woman
o Vows
Kinds of Covenants
- Parity
o Between two or more persons of equal social status
o On “par”
- Suzerainty
o Between two or more persons of unequal social standing
o God and man- we are not equal to God
10-3-2001
Covenant Theocracy
- The covenant line
- Abraham to Jesus
o Adam was the first created human
o Abraham – God chooses the peoples (the Semites)
o Jacob – God chooses the nation (Israel)
o Judah – God chooses the Tribe (Judah)
o David – God chooses the family (House of David)
o The Christ – God sends the redeemer
o Psalm 89:3-4 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, ‘I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all the generations.’”
§ God promised to David that his descendents would rule over his people
Signs of Obedience to the Covenant
- Old Testament, Old Covenant
o Keeping of the Decalogue “10 words”
§ 10 commandments
o Circumcision
§ seal of the covenant people
o Proper worship
- New Testament, New Covenant
o Keeping of the Decalogue
o A new commandment
§ Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself.
§ Love self and respect self
o Baptism
§ Replaces circumcision as outward proof that one has chosen to take the Christian pathway
o Proper Worship
§ Not the same, because no sacrifices
§ Romans 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.
o Decalogue
§ Apodictic Law
· Absolute commands
· No bargaining or negotiating
§ To use “no” or “not” in Hebrew is the most emphasized way of saying don’t do it
· Strongest possible language
· “You must absolutely never”
§ Is “you” plural? (you shall not)
· No. It’s singular
· Personal and individual
§ Exodus 20:20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”
Book of Joshua
- Crossing of the Jordan River
o During flood season
o Maybe a mudslide upstream at Adam (pronounced Adom) stopped waters, but it was still miraculous because the priests had to step into the water before the waters ceased, and they walked on dry ground
- Conquest of the land of Canaan
o Remove all evil and witchcraft
- Division of the land
o Partitioned for the Twelve Tribes
- Renewal of the Covenant at Shechem
o Joshua 24
o Joshua asked Israelites to choose for themselves whether or not to serve God
o “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Book of Judges
- Key statements
o Israel (could / did) not drive out the inhabitants appears 7 times in Chapter 1:19-33
o Judges 2:2-3 . . . you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? Now therefore I tell you that I will not drive them out before you; they will be thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.
o Judges 17:6 and 21:25 In those days, there was no king in Israel . . . people did what was right in their own eyes.
§ “In those days” indicates that it must have been written during the kingdom era
- Cycles in Judges
o Apostasy
§ People sin against God
o Oppression
§ God raised up an adversary
o Repentance
§ People cry out to God
o Deliverance
§ God raised up judges, resulting in times of peace
o Went through the cycle many times
- Charismatic Leaders
o Individuals selected by God and gifted by God
o Judges, David
- Judge to Oppressor
o Othniel – Mesopotamia
o Ehud – Moab
o Shamgar – Philistia
o Deborah and Barak – Canaan (Hazor)
o Gideon (Jerub-baal) – Midian
o Abimelech, Tola, Jair
o Jephthah – Ammon
o Ibzan, Elon, Abdon
o Samson – Philistia
o We don’t know if the judges were sequential or overlapping
Book of Ruth
- Historical setting
o Time of the Judges
- A picture of village life and customs
- Levirate Law
o Man dies, leaves a widow
o Brother is obligated to take widow as a wife and bear to her an heir
o A law that protected widows
- Property Rights
10-8-2001
- Persons:
o Elimelech
o Naomi (his wife)
o Mahlon and Chilion (their sons)
o Orpah and Ruth (Mahlon’s and Chilion’s wives)
o Mahlon and Chilion and Elimelech die
o Naomi returns to Bethlehem, Ruth follows
o Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz
o Boaz marries Ruth, fathers Obed
o Boaz –> Obed –> Jesse –> David
§ Covenant Line
- Emphases
o Boaz and Obed are links in the covenant line
o Redeemer theme
§ Kinsman redeemer – Boaz
o Ruth – a Moabite, a part of the covenant
§ God’s all inclusive covenant
10-10-2001
Old Testament History
- After the Book of Ruth, there is lots of intervening
- Theocracy period
o 2000 – 1050 B.C.
o Crisis occurs in each shift, resulting in change
o People demand a king
§ Civil crisis
§ Crisis because of their improper motive
- United Kingdom
o 1050 – 950 B.C.
o Personal Crisis
o Solomon
- Divided Kingdom
o 930 – 721 B.C.
o National Crisis
o Assyrian crisis
§ Rise up in power and strength
o God used Assyrians to rise up and scatter the northern kingdom
- Judah Alone
o 721 – 586 B.C.
o International Crisis
o Babylonian crisis
o Rise of neo Babylonian empire
o God uses Babylonians to judge Judah
o 586 B.C. – sacking off Jerusalem
o Babylonians take Judeans as slavess
- Exile and Return
o 586 – 400 B.C.
o Shift in world power allows Israelites to return from the Babylonian Captivity
11th Century B.C. (1000’s)
- Samuel
o Time of transition
§ Judges to Kings
o Unique individual
§ Nobody else close to him
o Fills the role of a Judge (Last Judge)
o Priest
§ Served under Eli
o Prophet
§ Speaks word of God
o The people demand a king
§ Trying to replace God with a human figure
§ God sends Samuel to anoint first King
- Saul
o First King of the United Kingdom of Israel
o Selected by God
o Began as a humble man
§ Saul hid in the luggage during his coronation ceremony
o Striking Appearance
o Able military leader
o Steps in Saul’s downfall
§ Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
§ Offered sacrifices, which is the Priest’s function
· Before a battle against the philistines,
§ Disobeyed God
· Told to destroy Amalakites
· Saul took spoils of war, against God’s will
§ Blamed others
· After confronted about spoils of war by the prophet Nathan, he said that the people wanted the animals for a sacrifice
· I Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
§ Rejected God as King of Israel
· Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin
· The earlier parts of the bible say that the King will come from the tribe of Judah
§ Evil Spirit replaced God’s Holy Spirit
· Holy spirit fills people anointed by God
o i.e. Judges
10th Century B.C. (900’s)
- David
o Tribe of Judah
§ Selected by God
§ Samuel sent to house of Jesse
o I Samuel 13:14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s commands
o Secured Jebus/Jerusalem
§ Central capital
o Centralized religion in Jerusalem
§ Brought Ark of the Covenant
o Desired to build a house (temple) for God
§ God liked idea, but wouldn’t let David build it because he was a “man of the sword”
§ David did everything possible, gathering supplies, etc, but did not build anything
o Subdued Philistines
o Wrote many Psalms
§ Contributed more of our Psalms than any other individual
o Given everlasting covenant promise
o Sinned against God and man
§ Bathsheba
o Prophet Nathan rebuked David with a parable of the sheep
o Prayer of repentance
§ Psalm 51
10-12-2001
Solomon
- Third and Last king of the United Monarchy
- Son of David, although not the eldest
- Selected by God
- Son of Bathsheba, but not through David’s affair with her
- When given the opportunity to receive anything from God, he chose wisdom
o His wisdom is legendary, and people came from all over the world to consult with him
- Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge
- Wrote many Proverbs, and other wisdom literature
- Built the Temple in Jerusalem
o A permanent, central place of worship
o Same structure as the tabernacle with the holy and most holy place
§ Double the dimensions – 30’ x 90’
- Became unwise
- Caused the division of the kingdom by some of his practices and policies
Israel’s Golden Age
- The United Kingdom / Monarchy under David and Solomon
- An era of prosperity and productivity
o Political
§ Empire under its greatest expanse
§ Broad control of territory
o Material
§ Wealthy nation
§ Solomon received gifts from other Kingdoms when they consulted his legendary wisdom
o Spiritual
§ The Temple was built
o Literary
§ Psalms, Proverbs
Religious Leaders in the Old Testament
- Priests
o Maintained the Law of God
o Worship according to God’s plans
- Prophets
o Speak the word of God for Guidance
o Definition – Spokesman for God
o Spoke of future, past, and present
§ Future – If you don’t change, this will happen
§ Past – Remember what God has done for you
§ Present – Look at what you are doing
- Wise men
o The counsel or wisdom of God for everyday life
o Practical Application of knowledge
The Poetic / Wisdom Books
Job
- A dramatic poem with prose introduction and conclusion
- Main issue
o Theodicy
§ A vindication of God's goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil
§ Problem of divine justice in view of the suffering of the righteous
§ Why does God allow the righteous to suffer and the ungodly to prosper
§ Where is God when I hurt?
o Example of man who suffers, but remains faithful
o Cursing God is far worse than death
Psalms
- Hymn book of the Hebrews
- Collection of lyrics and poems
- Expression of deep human emotions
o The Bible is God’s word to humans
o The Psalms are words of Humans to God
o God has given them back to us as his word
- Five divisions or books
o Each ends with a “doxology”
o Psalms 1 – 41
o Psalms 41 – 72
o Psalms 73 – 89
o Psalms 90 – 106
o Psalms 107 – 150
- Some classifications of the Psalms
o Personal – Psalms 23
o Historical – Psalms 137
o Penitential – Psalms 51
o Liturgical – Psalms 135
o Messianic – Psalms 22
- Shortest chapter in the Bible – Psalms 117 – 2 verses
- Longest chapter in the Bible – Psalms 119 – 176 verses
o Alphabetic Acrostic, with 8 verses per letter
- Best known and Best loved chapter in the Bible – Psalms 23
Proverbs
- Short moral and religious statements
- Practical everyday advice
- Proverbs 1:2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight;
- Proverbs 1:3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and fair;
- Proverbs 1:4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young;
- Proverbs 1:7 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
Ecclesiastes
- Ecclesiastes 1:1 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem
- A realistic look at life
- An example of “Pessimism Literature”
o Ecclesiastes 1:2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
- Ecclesiastes is a sharp contrast to ancient pessimistic literature
o Life without God is meaningless
o Life with God is meaningful
10-15-2001
Ecclesiastes
- Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”.
Song of Solomon
- Also known as the Song of Songs – “The best of songs”
- Canticles
- A celebration of the joy and beauty of God’s gift of intimate human love in marriage
- Shows importance God places on love
- Picture of the intimacy between Christ and the Church
o Christ as the groom and the church as the bride
Parallelism in Hebrew Poetry
- Synonomous
o Idea repeated in different words
o Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
- Analytic
o Second line gives a consequence of the first
o Psalms 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
- Antithetic
o Second line gives contrast to the first
o Proverbs chapter 10
o Proverbs 10:1 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.
10th Century B.C. (900’s) Continued
- 950 B.C. – celebration of the completion of the temple
- 930 B.C. – Kingdom splits
o Causes
o Deuteronomy 17: 14-18 14When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. 16The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you “You are not to go back that way again.” 17He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must no accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.
o Solomon:
§ Horses
· Used for military
· Put trust in military, not in God
· Excessive dependence on military
§ Wives
· Polygany
· 700 wives, and 300 concubines
· Built shrines for the idols of the women
§ Increased taxes
o Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, refused to reduce the tax burdens based on the advice of his young advisors, and ignoring the advice of the seasoned advisors.
o Two nations resulted
§ Judah in the South
· Rehoboam was the first King
§ Israel in the North
· Jeroboam was the first King
· Built shrines in Bethel and Dan so people could worship without going to the temple in Judah
· Introduced idolatry and syncretism
o Syncretism – inconsistent attempt to unify or reconcile differing schools of thought
- Northern Kingdom: Israel
o Lasted about 210 years
o 930 – 721 B.C.
o 19 Kings ruled
§ Four different Dynasties
· Five independent Kings
§ Not one king “did what was right”
- Southern Kingdom: Judah
o Lasted about 345 years
o 930 – 586 B.C.
o 20 monarchs ruled
§ One continuous dynasty
· Except for Queen Athaliah
§ Several “did what was right”
9th Century B.C. (800’s)
- Israel’s Kings
o Omri
§ Built Samaria as the capital city
o Ahab (married to Jezebel)
§ I Kings 16:30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.
§ Baal worship became the state religion
§ Prophets in Israel
· “Non Written”
· Elijah and Elisha
- Judah’s Kings
o Jehoshaphat
§ Godly
§ Promoted teachers of the law
· Itinerant teaching, appointed Levites to tell people laws
o Queen Athaliah
§ Wife of Jehoram
§ Daughter of Ahab and Jezebel
§ Killed “all” heirs to the throne, but missed one
o Joash
§ The “boy king”
§ Came to power at an age of 8 years
§ A Godly ruler
§ Preserved the line of David and Solomon
10-17-2001
8th Century BC (700’s)
Israel
Kings
- Jeroboam II
o Notorious King – Middle of the century
o Capable, but ungodly
o Ambitious
o Time of political and material prosperity
o Retakes lost territory
o A second, mini-quasi-golden age
o Religious and moral corruption
§ Syncretized at best
- Hoshea
o Last King of Israel
o Nation collapses during his reign
Prophets
- Jonah
o 2 Kings 14:25 [Jeroboam] was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher
o God cares about all men
o God’s grace is universal
§ Even pagan Assyrians in Nineveh
- Amos
o Justice or Judgement
- Hosea
o The Heartacehs of Love
o Married a prostitute because Israelites have prostituted themselves before God
- 721 BC – Fall of Samaria
8th Century BC (700’s)
Judah
Kings
- Hezekiah
o One of the two most Godly kings
o Constructed water tunnel to springs outside Jerusalem
o Assyrian Crisis – 701 BC
§ Sennacherib threatens Jerusalem
§ Hezekiah consults Isaiah
§ 185,000 enemies die overnight
· No fighting
§ Jerusalem is spared
Prophets
- Isaiah
o Warned of judgment on Judah
o Literary style is best in the old testament
§ Uses more vocabulary words than any other book in the bible, including Psalms
o Most predictions of Messiah
§ Isaiah 17:14 In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us
§ Isaiah 53 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us great peace was upon him, and by his wounds are healed
- Micah
o Condemned sins of Judah
o Predicted PLACE of Christ’s birth
§ Micah 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
7th Century BC (600’s)
Judah
- Manasseh – King
o Son of Hezekiah
o Most UNGODLY king of Judah
o Responsible for human sacrifice
§ Reached “the point of no return”
o But he repented in II Chronicles 33
- Josiah – King
o Other of the Two most Godly kings
o Reforms in 621
§ Didn’t last
§ People so engrained in ungodliness
o Had there been more kings like Josiah and Hezekiah, Jerusalem could have avoided the fate of Samaria
10-22-2001
7th Century BC (600’s)
Judah
- Zephaniah
o Prophet
o Sins of Judah
o Predicted fall of Assyria
o Wrath of God’s judgment
§ Describing Holocaust on Judah
§ Universal judgment of God at the end of time
o Hymn – “Day of Wrath, Day of Mourning”
§ Hymn #237
§ Minor key
o Zephaniah 1: 14-18 “The great day of the Lord is near – near and coming quickly. Listen! The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior there. That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress, and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. I will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord. Their blood will be poured out like dust and their entrails like filth. Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to save them on the day of the Lord’s wrath. In the fire of his jealousy the whole world will be consumed, for he will make a sudden end of al who live on the earth.”
- Habakkuk
o Prophet
o Dared to question God
o Latter part of chapter 3
- Nahum
o Prophet
o Fall of Nineveh
o And thus the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC
Important Dates
- 621 BC – Josiah’s reforms
- 612 BC – Fall of Nineveh and Assyria
o Rise of the Neo-Babylonian empire
- 605 BC – Battle of Carchemish
o Pharaoh Necho came to intercept King Nebuchanezer
- 605 BC – First Captives from Jerusalem
o Daniel Taken
7th – 6th Century (600’s – 500’s)
Jeremiah
- Prophet
- Frustrating and lengthy (30 years) ministry to Judah
- “The Weeping Prophet”
- Acted out prophecies
- Knows that a remnant will return
- Witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah
- Given choice of being left behind and took it
Lamentations
- Jeremiah’s lament over the fall of Jerusalem
- Alphabetic acrostic, except chapter 5
o 22 verses, 1 for each Hebrew letter
- Chapter 3 – 66 verses – 3 for each Hebrew letter
o Emphasis of Acrostic
o Great is thy faithfulness
6th Century BC (500’s)
Important Dates
- 597 – captives taken
o Including King Jehoiachin and Ezekiel
- 586 – Jerusalem falls to Babylonians
o Zedekiah, the last king, was taken captive
- 582 – more captives taken
Ezekiel
- Prophet
- In captivity in Babylon
- Called to be a prophet in 592, before the fall of Jerusalem
- Key points:
o Judgment is NOT complete
o Restoration is certain
- Acted out prophecies
Obadiah
- Prophet
- Prophecy against Edomites
- Edom, founded by Esau (Jacob / Israel’s brother) looted Jerusalem
Daniel
- Prophet
- Came from an influential family
- Statesman prophecy in captivity
- Displayed the superior power of the living God
- God is greater than any pagan deity
Belshazzar
- Last ruler of the Babylonian Empire
- Handwriting on the wall
o Babylon would fall
Cyrus II the Great
- 540 – Babylon falls to Medo (Persia)
- Diverted flow of river, which passed through the Hanging Gardens
- Walked through riverbed and took the city
- 538 – edict: captives may return
10-26-2001
6th Century BC (500’s)
Zerubbabel
- Civil governor
- First Group returns by 536
- About 40,000 people return then
- Temple altar rebuilt first
- Temple foundation stones laid
- Descendant of David
Haggai
- Prophet of the restoration era
- 520 BC – Temple is still in ruins
o 16 years since return
- “Finish God’s House”
Zechariah
- Prophet of the restoration era
- Visions to challenge; “Build the Temple”
- Zechariah 4:6 Not by might . . . but by my spirit.
o Enabling to finish the job
- Visions to encourage; future redemption
o Triumphal entry of Christ
Zerubbabel’s Temple
- Under construction from 520 to 516 / 515 BC
- 70 Years of Captivity
o 1. 606-536 – Judeans gone
o 2. 586-516 – Temple in ruins
Joel
- Prophet – date unknown
- Locust plague
- Reminder of God’s devastation
- “Alas for the day of the Lord”
- “I will pour out my spirit on all”
o Pentecost – Acts 2
5th Century BC (400’s)
Three Groups of Returning Captives
- 538 BC – Zerubbabel
- 458 BC – Ezra
- 444 BC – Nehemiah
Esther
- Between First and Second groups of returning captives, probably around 481
- Xerxes I, King of Persia, and Queen Vashti
- Mordecai, Haman
- “Who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this”
- No reference to God
- “If I perish, I perish”
- Feast of Purim, celebrated in mid-February or March
Ezra
- 458 BC – Second return
- 80 years after first group
- Spiritual leader known for:
o Scribe / priest – descended from Aaron
o Re-established religious law
o Formed Old Testament canon
o His book at the end of the Old Testament, with Moses at the beginning
o Author / compiler of I + II Chronicles
o Beginning of Orthodox Judiasm
Nehemiah
- Cup bearer to Persian King Artaxerxes
- 444 BC – third return
o Over 90 years since the first
- Political governor of Judah
- Rebuilt the Walls of Jerusalem
Malachi
- Prophet, perhaps the last in the Old Testament
- Condemned corrupt worship and life
- No idolatry now
- Predicted that a messenger will precede the coming of Christ