Making Sense of the Old Testament: 7 Key Moments. Seven Key Moments in the OT

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1 Making Sense f the Old Testament: 7 Key Mments Hly Gd, We thank yu fr the gracius gift f faith. With the apstles befre us, we ask that yu pen ur hearts t the pwer f yur Wrd and increase ur faith that we may be bld fllwers and jyful witnesses t the message and missin f yur Sn, Our Lrd, Jesus Christ. Amen. 1. Overview frm Hly Peple, Hly Land by Dauphinais + Levering the biblical stry reveals that human beings were created t dwell harmniusly with Gd. The stry f Eden depicts hly peple living in a hly land a harmny that is ruptured by sin. The rest f the Bible shws hw Gd seeks, thrugh a prgressin f cvenants, t restre his created images t hliness. Gd calls Abraham and prmises him land and descendants, a hly land and hly peple The cvenant with Mses centers n the law t instill righteusness in the peple and the tabernacle that is Gd s dwelling in the midst f the peple during their jurney. The cvenant f David establishes his thrne f kingship as the instrument fr instilling righteusness amng the peple and fr building the temple in which Gd wuld make his name dwell. The peple f Israel, nnetheless, lse the thrne f David and enter a perid f exile. Even when they enter back int the physical hly land, there is n mre Davidic king and the glry clud never descends upn the recnstructed temple. The prphets nt nly fresee and explain the destructin f the kingdm f David, but they als prmise a time when Gd will restre his blessings f hliness upn his chsen peple. The lng awaited restratin becmes a reality with the cming f Jesus Christ, the hly ne f Gd. Seven Key Mments in the OT 1. Exdus The Exdus Event - Cry f the peple Ex 2: Gd s divine pwer mbilized Ex Jy f liberatin Ex 15: New Identity / Cvenant Ex 19 - New Respnsibilities / Law Ex 20 - Cvenant Cmmunity Cnclusins - Gd listens, cares passinately, respnds cf. Ex 3:7-8 - Gd is a freedm-giver, wh liberates us frm ppressin cf. Isa 61:1-2, Lk 4: Cvenant fidelity brings life - Cvenant identity demands utreach t pr and vulnerable cf. Deut 10:17-18, Psalm 112 1

2 2. Abraham The Stry f the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacb; Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel - Abraham called, prmises made Gen 12:1-5, 7 - Gen 15:6 Abram put his faith in the Lrd, wh credited it t him as an act f righteusness cf. Rm 4:1-25, Gal 3:6-9 - Gen 17:9-11 Cvenant f circumcisin Sacrificing Isaac Gen 22 - Gd put Abraham t the test Gen 22:1 - because Abraham beyed me Gen 26:3-5 Abraham, the great mdel f faith, emerges as a curius mixture f faith and dubt, f certainty and cnfusin In the Bible, faith is nt viewed in the sterile and ratinalistic sense f assent f the mind t certain truths r prpsitins abut Gd. It is nt the mind that believes; it is rather the persn Faith, in the Bible, is a lving trusting cmmitment f the whle self t Gd, a hlding n securely t Gd in spite f everything. At times we are cnfused; we struggle and dubt. This is nt ppsed t faith; it is part f faith, the part that says we care enugh abut ur relatinship t Gd t questin and argue (Gen 15:2-3) and even at times t laugh (Gen 17:17). Fr. Michael Guinan OFM, The Pentateuch Cnclusins - Faith invlves frging a relatinship with Gd built n trust - Gd is trustwrthy. Prmises are hnred - Faith invlves a jurney - Faith Includes Challenges / Uncertainty - Hpe Is Necessary / Gd has a Plan Fr Reflectin - Faith is essentially trusting in Gd s plan and letting g f ur wn. When d yu find it difficult t d this? Hw can yu get better at it? - The stry f Abraham is tld as a jurney. What des this metaphr say abut faith? 3. Creatin Psalm 8 - O Lrd, ur Lrd, hw glrius is yur name ver all the earth! Yu have exalted yur majesty abve the heavens What is man that yu shuld be mindful f him, r the sn f man that yu shuld care fr him? Yu have made him little less than the angels, and crwned with glry and hnr Creatin Accunt #1 Genesis 1:1-2:4a Creatin Accunt #2 Genesis 2:4b 3:24 These tw narratives tgether attest t the grandeur and preciusness f creatin, t the wellrdered generativity f the wrld willed by Gd, and t the extreme vulnerability f that rder, which can readily be put at risk. W. Brueggemann 2

3 Gd s rder vs. chas Ps 74:12-17 dragns in the waters, cf. Isa 51:9-10, Ps 89:9-11, Isa 45:18, Isa 27:1, Jb 26:12-13, Ps 104:5-15 Cnclusins - Gd is a life-giver, creatin is gd, Gd is t be praised, given thanks + beyed - Gd has created the wrld as a place f blessing, rder, prductivity + justice - Sin / chas is present in explitatin, disrder, abuse, ppressin, etc. - Gd has the pwer / will t turn chas t new creatin, death t life, esp. in Christ Reflectin - If Gd is a life-giver with pwer t turn chas t creatin, hw d I / can I participate in this endeavr? Cf. Psalm 8 - Reflect n Zacchaeus (Lk 19) and the prdigal sn (Lk 15) where new life replaces deathly existence. Where have yu encuntered new life in Christ? 4. Mnarchy ( BC) The mst imprtant perid f OT Israel is that f the mnarchy the time f David and Slmn, the time in which prphecy develped and flurished. Fr. Jseph Jensen OSB The Lrd is King - Ps 93 thrne stands firm, trustwrthy - 96:10-13 gverns with equity, justice - 99:4 justice and judgment wrship - 146:3-10 raises up thse bwed dwn Israel Requests a King 1 Sam 8:6-22 Israel s Ideal King Deut. 17:14-20 Saul c BC David c BC. Slmn c BC. Hezekiah BC He put his trust in the Lrd, the Gd f Israel, and neither befre him nr after him was there anyne like him amng all the kings f Judah. Lyal t the Lrd, Hezekiah never turned away frm him, but bserved the cmmandments which the Lrd had given t Mses. The Lrd was with him and he prspered 2 Kings 18:5-7 Manasseh c BC Jeremiah t Jehiakim BC in Jer. 22:15-17 Must yu prve yur rank amng kings by cmpeting with them in cedar? Did nt yur father eat and drink? He did what was right and just, and it went well with him. Because he dispensed justice t the weak and the pr, it went well with him. Is this nt true knwledge f me? says the Lrd. But yur eyes and heart are set n nthing except yur wn gain, n shedding inncent bld, n practicing ppressin and extrtin. Cnclusins - The king was t be Gd s aninted representative + mediatr - Mnarchy, verall, failed because kings inattentiveness t Trah expectatins 3

4 - Israel lked t a future messiah wh wuld enact Gd s will + rule rightly cf. Isa 9:2-7, 11:1-9, Jer 23:5-6, Ezek 34:23-24, Ams 9:11-12 Fr Reflectin - Deut. 17:14-20 indicates that the primary activity f the king is t study / knw / enact Gd s law. Culd this be true fr wrld leadership psitins tday? In the Church? Wrk? Family? - Hw has Gd called yu t be a leader? What stresses and challenges d yu encunter in fulfilling yur rle? 5. The Prphets The prphets prclaim a radical redemptin f the Peple f Gd, purificatin frm all their infidelities, a salvatin which will include all the natins. CCC #64 Pr-phetes speaks fr anther Nt frtune-tellers, but frth-tellers - nt a muthpiece, but a partner, an assciate with Gd - lives nt nly his wn persnal life, but als the life f Gd - Shares a fellwship with the feelings f Gd Abraham Heschel, The Prphets Prphetic Task - Criticize / Grieve Dismantle the dminant cnsciusness Penetrate the numbness f sin Cunter the plitics f injustice + explitatin cf. Jer 8:18ff. - Energize = prvide hpe, assurance, cnslatin cf. Ezek 37, Isa 43:1-6 3 majr targets fr OT prphets - Idlatry Jer 10:3-16, Hs 8:1-6 - Religius Frmalism Ams 5:21, Hs 6:6, Isa 1: Scial Injustice Isa 58:1-9, Ams 2:6 Cnclusins abut the Prphets - were attuned t Gd s will, and knwing Gd well, spke fr Gd - warned f cnsequences fr sin and ffered cnslatin fr fidelity - were universally persecuted - were peple f hpe! Nt just dmsayers - anticipated future messianic era cf. Jer 31:31ff., Ezek 36:

5 Fr Reflectin - Can yu recall a time when yu had the pprtunity / challenge t be prphetic? What was that experience like? Cmpare yur respnse t Jeremiah s in Jer 20: Where / hw is the Church prphetic in her missin? 6. The Exile BC Why Exile? Detach frm land Destry spirit / resistance Suppress natinal identity - Only plitical, ecclesiastical and intellectual leaders exiled 4600? - Diaspra - Jerusalem Attacked - 2 Kings 24: Nebuchadnezzar besieges city, deprts king and elites - 2 Kings 25:9 Temple destryed Life in Babyln - Physical Jeremiah 29:4-7 - Spiritual Temple, Hly f Hlies, sacrifices, priests, kings, sacred city / land, natinal freedm are gne Davidic dynasty ends cf. 2 Sam 7???? - Emtinal Lamentatins, Psalm 137, 74 Prphetic Cmfrt - Deuter-Isaiah ch , is filled with images f cmfrt, hpe, rebuilding, renewing, recreating a new Exdus - Ezekiel 37 dry bnes - Jeremiah 31:31-34 new cvenant Psitive Develpments in Exile - identificatin with cvenant cmmunity is intensified esp. Law + Traditin - Mntheism + Trah + Sabbath emphasized - Synaggues develp Cnclusins abut Exile - Was due t Israel s infidelity t the cvenant - Israel learned t pray / live differently: n Temple, n cultic sacrifice, n kings - Trah-centered, priests-driven - Gd was with them thrughut Fr Reflectin - Have yu ever been part f a cmmunity (religius/secular) that experienced exile? Where was/is Gd in that experience? 5

6 - As a persn f faith, have yu experienced perids f spiritual exile? What are the psitive + negative aspects f thse experiences? 7. The Restratin 1-2 Chrnicles, Ezra, Nehemiah King Cyrus f Persia releases exiles Ezra 1:1-4, 6:3-5, Isaiah 44:28-45:1 - a new Temple? Haggai 1: Beginning f mdern Judaism: prayer, wrship, ritual purity, cultic priests as leaders Nehemiah - cupbearer t the king f Persia Neh 1:11 c BC - Rebuilt walls f Jerusalem in 445 BC Neh 2:17ff. - Appinted gvernr f Judah fught ff surrunding enemies + cancelled harsh debts - Oppsed marriages with freigners Ezra - c. 458? 398? - father f Judaism + a secnd Mses - Jewish priest + scribe devted t study f Trah Ezra 7:6 - Regularized / rerganized religius practice within Jewish cmmunity Neh 8 - Refused intermarriage Ezra 9-10 Cnclusins frm Exile and Restratin - Gd is an Exile-ender + hme-bringer - Religius life f Jewish cmmunity was intensified - Mntheistic faith celebrated in Trah/Law - replaces idlatry - Synaggue cmplements Temple as place f wrship + life - Renewed interest in Sabbath bservance Fr Reflectin - Des restratin (i.e. new beginning) ccur in the Church tday? In the past? What des it say abut Gd? - Which f these 7 mments made the deepest impressin n yu? Why? King David s Prayer 1 Chrnicles 29:10-13 Blessed may yu be, O Lrd, Gd f Israel, ur Father, frm eternity t eternity. Yurs, O Lrd, are grandeur and pwer, majesty, splendr, and glry. Fr all in heaven and n earth is yurs; yurs, O Lrd, is the svereignty; yu are exalted as head ver all. Riches and hnr are frm yu, and yu have dminin ver all. In yur hand are pwer and might; it is yurs t give grandeur and strength t all. Therefre, ur Gd, we give yu thanks and we praise the majesty f yur name. Amen. 6

7 Assignment Questin: Select ne f the abve seven OT mments and respnd t bth f the fllwing: a) Briefly describe the significance f this mment fr the peple f Israel, i.e. what did they cme t knw abut Gd? Abut themselves? b) What wisdm des this mment bring t yur life / ministry / spirituality? r mail yur respnses within tw weeks t: Jhn McGrath Ministry Frmatin Office PO Bx 7044 Rckfrd, IL JMcgrath@rckfrddicese.rg r Jsartin@rckfrddicese.rg Christians shuld accept with veneratin the [Old Testament] writings which give expressin t a lively sense f Gd Dgmatic Cnstitutin n Divine Revelatin #15 7