OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY I Law and the Former Prophets

Transcription

1 OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY I Law and the Former Prophets Institute of Grace Grace Immanuel Bible Church, Jupiter, FL October 23 December 11, 2018 Whitney Oxford (whitneyo@gibcjupiter.org) The great want of our church, at the present day, is a clear comprehension of the meaning of the Old Testament, in its fullness and purity, in order that the God of Israel may again be universally recognized as the eternal God, whose faithfulness is unchangeable, the one living and true God, who performed all that he did to Israel for our instruction and salvation, having chosen Abraham and his seed to be his people, to preserve his revelations, that from him the whole world might receive salvation, and in him all the families of the earth be blessed. 1 Jesus came and will come again to fulfill the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings (Matt 5:17; Luke 24:44). How well, then, can we know Him or His task if we do not know the contents of what He came to fulfill? The better we understand whatever was written in earlier times (Rom 15:4), the more intimately we can know our God and Savior. Indeed, the apostle Paul testified that he had stated nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles (Acts 26:22 23). 1 C. F. Keil, Preface to Joshua. Cited from E. J. Young, Preface to An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1949), 10. 1

2 PART ONE: THE LAW I. The Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) A. Percentage of the Bible by percent The Old Testament is of the Bible. My NASB (Pages) Percent My ESV NASB in MS Word Percentage of the Bible by Testament (Words) Percent NASB a KJV b KJV c Original Languages d OT (969) 77 (970) 78 (1,266) 76 (622,771) 77 (609,245) 77 (602,585) 77 (473,204) 77 NT (295) 23 (279) 22 (406) 24 (184,590) 23 (180,381) 23 (180,552) 23 (138,020) 23 a As accounted at b As accounted at c As accounted at d As accounted at The author used Logos Bible software to count from the Lexham Hebrew Bible, NA 27, and the NASB with reference to the Aramaic. 2

3 B. Contents Tanak (Torah, Navi'im, Kethuvim) T N K Torah 5 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy Navi im 4 4 Former Prophets Latter Prophets Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, The Twelve Kethuvim Poetic/Wisdom Megilloth Exilic/Postexilic Psalms, Job, Proverbs Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles C. Relationship to Jesus 1. Written about Jesus (Luke 24:25 27, 44; John 1:45; 5:39 47) 2. Jesus use of and view of the Scriptures (Matt 5:17 18; Luke 16:17) 2 II. The Book of Moses A. Designations B. Author and date 1. Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch: among other internal testimony 3, see 2 Cf. Matt 4:1 11; 21:42; 22:49; Mark 14:49; John 6:45; 15:25. 3 Exod 17:14; 24:4; 34:27; Deut 31:22; Josh 1:7 8; 8:31 32; 23:6; 1 Kgs 2:3; 2 Kgs 14:6 (cf. Deut 24:16); 21:8; 23:25; Ezra 3:2; 6:18; Neh 8:1; 13:1; Dan 9:11 13; Mal 4:4; Matt 19:8; Mark 12:26 (cf. Exod 3:6); Luke 16:31; 3

4 Numbers 33:1 2; Deuteronomy 31:9, 24 27; John 5:46 47; Acts 15:21. Forty Years: Egypt Upbringing and Murder (Exod 2:11 14; Acts 7:20 28) Flight to Midian (Exod 2:15; Acts 7:29) Moses Life in Thirds (b. ca BC a ) Forty Years: Midian and Sinai Shepherd (Exod 3:1) Burning Bush (Exod 3:2 4:17; Acts 7:30 34) Forty Years: Egypt, Sinai, Moab Deliverer/Lawgiver (Exod 7:7; Acts 7:35 44) Death east of Canaan (Deut 34:5; cf. Exod 7:7; Num 33:38 39; Deut 31:2; 34:7) a Archer, Jr., Old Testament Introduction, 236. This, according to Archer, puts Moses birth during the reign of Thutmose I ( BC). 2. Date: 1446 BC 1406 BC C. Unity of contents D. Structure Though it uses various genres (including historical narrative, legal code, prophecy, praise, and exhortation/preaching), the Pentateuch is one unified whole: The book of the law (Josh 8:34) The book of the Law of Moses (2 Kgs 14:6) The book of Moses (Mark 12:26) Broadly, the Pentateuch may be called The Book of Five Lives (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses). One way to view the structure of the Pentateuch is to see it as following God s purposes through the lives of these five men: I. Primeval (Gen 1 11:25) A. Adam (Gen 1 5:27) B. Noah (Gen 5:28 11:25) II. Patriarchal (Gen 11:26 Deut 34) A. Abram/Abraham (Gen 11:26 25:26) B. Jacob/Israel (Gen 25:27 Exod 1:22) C. Moses (Exod 2:1 Deut 34:12) 24:27, 44; John 7:19; Acts 3:22 (cf. Deut 18:15); 13:39; 15:5; 26:22; 28:23; Rom 10:5 (cf. Lev 18:5), 19; 1 Cor 9:9; 2 Cor 3:15; Rev 15:3. 4

5 E. Major themes 1. (elohim) The Bible is emphatically God-centered, not man-centered. 2. a. The creator God (Gen 1 3) b. The powerful God (Gen 1 3; 6 9; Exod 7 11; 14; 16; 17; Lev 9:22 10:2; Num 16:20 49) c. The faithful God (Gen 8:1; 19:29; 30:22; Exod 2:24; 6:5 6; Lev 26:42, 45; Deut 7:9; 32:4, 35 36) d. The sovereign God (a conceptual strand throughout the Pentateuch and is directly related to His faithfulness to fulfill His promises; Gen 50:20) To make a covenant, in Hebrew, is to cut a covenant (e.g., Gen 26:28; Exod 34:10). The Ancient Near East covenant was a binding together of two parties, made formal by solemn oath, often accompanied by the cutting up of an animal as a sign of the terrible consequences that would befall the party which broke the covenant (cf. Jer 34:18 20). 5

6 3. Death Emphasis Emphasis Type Texts In the day that you eat from it you will surely die Gen 2:17 Death entered the world and he died (8x in Gen 5) Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish (Gen 6:17). All flesh that moved on the earth perished, birds and cattle and beasts and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark (Gen 7:21 23) He said to them, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor. So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day (Exod 32:27 28). Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and offered strange fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD (Lev 10:1 2). Even those men who brought out the very bad report of the land died by a plague before the LORD (Num 14:37). The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit universal reach of death; direct judgment literary emphasis of the universal reach God s promise; universal reach of death across the animal kingdom; literary emphasis; direct judgment Gen 3 Gen 5:5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27, 31 Gen 6:5, 17; 7:21 23 direct judgment Exod 32:26 35 direct judgment Lev 10:1 7 direct judgment Num 14:36 37 direct judgment Num 21:4 6 the people, so that many people of Israel died (Num 21:6). Those who died by the plague were 24,000 (Num 25:9). direct judgment Num 25:1 9 The LORD will send upon you curses, confusion, and rebuke, in all you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken Me. The LORD will make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from the land where you are entering to possess it. The LORD will smite you with consumption and with fever and with inflammation and with fiery heat and with the sword and with blight and with mildew, and they will pursue you until you perish (Deut 28:20 22). God s promise Deut 28:

7 4. (Gen 11:10 12:20; 25; 49; Deut 4:37; 7:7 8; 10:15 cf. Eph 1:4 5) Abel Seth Shem Abram Isaac Jacob Levi Judah Ephraim Moses was not the firstborn son of Adam (Gen 4:1 2, cf. 4:25; Matt 23:35; Heb 11:4) Adam (Gen 4:1, 25) Noah (Gen 5:32; 6:10; 7:6; 9:22 25; 10:21; 11:10) Terah (Gen 11:26 27, 32; 12:4; Acts 7:4) Abraham (Gen 16:11, 15; 17:19 21) Isaac (Gen 25:23 26) Jacob (Gen 29:32 35) Jacob (Gen 29:32 35) Joseph (Gen 41:50 52; 48:14, 17 19) Amram (Exod 6:20; 7:7) 5. The exodus 6. Law Of all the nations of the world, God chose Israel (Deut 7), and the LORD declares Israel to be My son, My firstborn (Exod 4:22). Gen 15:12 16; 50:24 26 (cf. Exod 13:19); Exod 12 15; 19:4 6; 20:1 2; Deut 5:6, 15 Psalm 114 views the great exodus from Egypt as archetypal salvation. Gen 26:5; Exod 20 23; Lev 1 7; 11 15; 17 27; Num 5 6; 18 19; 28 30; Deut 5 26 There are many purposes of the Law, including order and peace in the theocracy, a testimony to the nations, a revelation of God s character, etc. But these must be penultimate, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom 10:4) 7. Other significant themes Other significant themes of the Pentateuch include the tabernacle, the 7

8 F. Unity of purpose priesthood, sacrifice (Exod 25 Lev 16), and the land (Gen 10:19; 12:7; 13:14 17; 15:7 21; Exod 3:8; Num 13:17 33; 34:1 15; Deut 1:7 8). Following are two ways of seeing a broad-stroked theme running throughout the Pentateuch. They are two sides of the same coin one being a God-oriented perspective and the other being a man-oriented perspective. They are Promise- Fulfillment and Faith-Failure. 1. Promise-Fulfillment This God-oriented theme is seen especially in Genesis 3:15 and 12:1 3 and in the following structure: I. The Need for Abraham (Gen 1 11) II. The Promise and Its Fulfillment to Abraham (Gen 12 Deut 34) A. The Giving of a Lineage (Gen 12 50) B. The Giving of the Law (Exod 1 Lev 27) C. The Giving of the Land (Num 1 Deut 34) 2. Faith-Failure This man-oriented theme is seen especially in Genesis 3; 4:1 16; 5 6; 11; 15:6; Exodus 32; Numbers 14; 20; 25; Deuteronomy 31:16 32:52, and other key harmartiological threads. Such a history rouses within the believer a longing for the future Judge- Prophet-Priest-King and His New Covenant. G. Role in the canon of Scripture The book of the Law of Moses (Josh 8:31; 2 Kgs 14:6) is the foundation of the rest of the Bible. The rest of the Bible records the unfolding history of man s response to the Law of God namely,. Observe its reference at the Deuteronomy 31: of the book of Moses (Torah) in Observe its reference at the of the Prophets (Navi im) in Joshua 1:7 8. Observe its reference at the of the Writings (Kethuvim) in Psalm 1:1 3. It contains much about the coming Messiah (Luke 24:27, 44), and it is the very thing Jesus came to fulfill (Matt 5:17). 8

9 III. Genesis A. Designations B. Author and date (See author and date of Pentateuch above.) C. Structure The text of Genesis reveals a structure based on ten toledoth ( generations ) of key individuals (and the creation account). The ten toledoth may be divided into sections of five, Primeval and Patriarchal. I. Primeval (1:1 11:26) A. Toledoth of the heavens and the earth 1:1 4:26 (cf. 2:4) B. Toledoth of Adam 5:1 6:8 C. Toledoth of Noah 6:9 9:29 D. Toledoth of Sons of Noah 10:1 11:9 E. Toledoth of Shem 11:10 26 II. Patriarchal (11:27 50:14) A. Toledoth of Terah 11:27 25:11 B. Toledoth of Ishmael 25:12 18 C. Toledoth of Isaac 25:19 35:29 D. Toledoth of Esau 36:1 (cf. v. 9) 37:1 E. Toledoth of Jacob 37:2 50:14 The structure of the toledoth gives the big picture, then focuses down, down, down to the chosen line: D. Significant themes of Genesis 4 d The heavens and the earth d Gen 2:4 I Adam d Gen 5:1 d Noah d Gen 6:9 I Sons of Noah d Gen 10:1 I Shem d Gen 11:10 I Terah d Gen 11:27 Ishmael Isaac s Gen 25:12 / 25:19 s Esau s Gen 36:1 dd Jacob s Gen 37:2 (~2,000 years) The Seed of the Woman (Gen 3:15) 4 For other key themes of Genesis, see the major themes of the Pentateuch (above). 9

10 1. Christians count and classify covenants in different ways. Following are the first two of the five biblical covenants this study recognizes. 5 a. : the wickedness of man (Gen 6:5 18) b. The giving of the covenant (Gen 8:21 22; 9:8 19; cf. Jer 5:22 24) c. : God promised a stabilized earth in its axis, rotation, and orbit, and will never again destroy the earth by water. d. : Rainbow (Gen 9:12 17) : the sky. The sky is the place of universal view and the place associated with the rain. e. : unconditional and unilateral by God. f. : everlasting (Gen 9:16) 2. 6 a. Background: (Gen 3:1 11:26) b. The giving of the covenant (Gen 12:1 3, 5 7; 13:14 17; 15:1 21; 17:1 21; 18:17 19; 22:15 18; 26:2 5, 23 25; 28:10 17; 35:9 12) c. Essence: Abraham s seed will become a great nation, will receive the land God promised to Abraham, will receive blessing, and will be a blessing to all the families of the earth.. (1) A great nation from his seed (Gen 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 17:4 6 [cf. 21:13, 18]; 18:18; 22:17; 25:23; 26:4, 24; 28:14; 35:11; 46:3) (2) The land (Gen 12:1, 7; 13:14 18; 15:7 21; 17:8; 23:1 20; 24:7; 26:3 4; 28:13 15; 35:12; 50:24 26) 5 The third, fourth, and fifth are the Sinaitic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant, respectively. 6 Cf. the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Genesis 26:24; 28:10 17; 35:12; 50:24; Exod 2:24; 6:4 8; Lev 26:40 45; Deut 9:5; 2 Kgs 13:23. 10