The Story of Our Life with God: An Introduction to the Old Testament

Introduction

Hi! So you decided that you want to read and know more about and the Old Testament. Great! The Old Testament tells us a lot about Who God is, who we are, and how God has reached out to us from the very beginning. Many of the saints have said it is impossible to understand Who Jesus is without first understanding what led up to His Incarnation. So if you want to know more about your Faith, you’ve started in the right place!

Whenever we are in unexplored territory (which this is for many of you), we need a map to help us find our way. This series of short introductions to the Bible provides readers with background information about the general content of the Bible. Each introduction either provides a summary of the themes and important persons and events of several books, or a survey of a section of one book of the Bible.

This packet introduces the major themes of the Old Testament Story of Salvation from the Beginning of the World (as told in the Book of Genesis) to the time of the Prophets who proclaimed to God’s People the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

Note: The purpose of this readers’ guide is to help someone who has not read a lot of the Bible understand the basic themes of the Old Testament. It is NOT meant as a replacement for reading the entire text.

Following each introduction are readings taken primarily from the Old Testament books. Some are short, often one or two Psalms or small chapters related to the theme. Others are long, often several chapters or longer. Don’t think you need to read these longer sections in one sitting. Try to read a little each day and spread it over several days in a week.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with how references are given to the Bible, the format is as follows:

Book Name Chapter # : Verse numbers

Genesis 1: 1-10

When things are separated by a semicolon, it means the next thing listed is another chapter. For example Genesis 1:1-10; 2:4 means the book of Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 thru 10, and chapter 2 verse four.

Questions are provided with the readings to help you think about the meaning of these passages for your life and faith. Space is provided for you to make a few notes, or you may prefer to use a small journal to write down your thoughts or any questions that you might ask of a priest, teacher, or friend.

The Period of Pre-history – The Beginning of Time Itself

God created the world and man. He created the world out of nothing but His love. Before the world ever existed, there was God in three Persons: God the Father, God’s Son (Word), and God’s Spirit (Breath), Who abided together in an ever-existing Love. There was never a time when (the three Persons of God were not fully united together in a perfect unity of love.

Love is something that is freely shared. Love is always giving. It is something that flows outward to other things. God decided to create something and someone beyond Himself in order to share His Love. God created all matter — light and darkness, the land and the seas, animals and humans. God’s Love created life! God created everything that exists, and He looked at His world and said “it is good!”

God created every human person in His image. He placed us in His world to love Him and all of His creation. We are in called to care for it in the way He intended. As God’s own images, we are created to be free — free to accept God and all His gifts. We are free to choose to live in communion with God, and fulfill His will. But freedom also means that we can choose to deny God, to reject His love and His gift of creation. Free choice, however, also implies that we are ready to accept the consequences.

In the book of Genesis (which means birth or origins, i.e., “beginnings”), the symbol of our acceptance or rejection of God’s will and love is represented in a story. In this story, God gives us one condition for life and eternal communion with Him (Genesis 1:1 - 2::25). It was God’s way of giving us freedom _ the freedom to choose to do God’s will or to reject it. The story reminds us that choosing to disobey God is the choice to reject life—God’s Life—itself.

Genesis 1:1 to 2:4

What does this passage’s message say about my place in this world?

Genesis 2: 4-25

How does this world compare to the world I live in?

Psalm 104

According to this passage, is God distant or close to His Creation?

How can I respond to Him?

Psalm 8

When I reflect on all of God’s creation like the author of the psalm, I ...

Psalm 148

What can I learn from inanimate things (trees, stars, etc.) about praising God?

John 1:1-5

What is one way I can connect more with God today?

Sin and Death vs. Communion and Life

When we accept God’s life (and do so freely), we enter into communion with Him and enjoy life forever. When we reject God’s will, we reject the life He gives us. When we separate ourselves from God, we separate ourselves from the very source of life¼and the result is death. God is the only source and breath of life. There is no life apart from Him.

When we choose to “go our own way” and live “our own life” apart from God we are choosing death, as did Adam and Eve. We cannot live without God’s life in us. Only God can breathe into us the breath of life. Turning away from God is like turning away from the power that gives us life. Just as an electrical appliance goes dead when its cord is pulled from the socket in the wall, we also lose our life as we wander far from God.

The consequences of this sin against God’s love and life affect all of creation. The whole world, therefore, suffers from sin and death and is in need of salvation – the restoration of its communion with God, the only source of life. We only need to look around us at the world in which we live to see the effects of sin and the destruction of the world God made.

God loves who and what He created and does not abandon us. As with Adam and Eve, whom He clothed with garments, God continually reaches out to save and protect His people (e.g., Cain, Noah, and others). God truly wants all of His children to live forever with Him, but He does not and will not force us to accept Him. This means we can only accept God freely out of love, showing our love for Him by loving others and all of His creation.

Evil and sin bring destruction and death to the world and to the people God created in love. Only our love and communion with Christ and others can bring us back into life and communion with God. Having lost our immortality, we know we shall inevitably die. We have no way to return to God, except by the help of God Himself. God chooses others to help prepare the way (Genesis 3-11).

As you read these passages think about the ways we turn away from God every day. How do we compare with the people in these stories and the other stories throughout the Bible? How can we “turn around” (i.e., repent) and help make the world the kind of place God intended it to be?

Genesis 3:1-24

What are some of my big temptations — times when I want my way vs. God’s way?

Genesis 4:1-16

When do I do the right thing but with the wrong spirit?

Genesis 6:1-13; 7:6-10

“... for the earth is full of violence with them...”

Do I ever think that the world has gotten so bad that God should start over?

Genesis 8:1-22

What would it be like to be one of a few people who got a fresh start, like Noah and his family?

Psalm 1

What are the pros and cons of not “walking in the counsel of the wicked?

Psalm 50/51

How can I use my feelings of guilt in a positive way?

The Time of God’s Promise of Salvation

At the time when history began to be recorded, God chose a people to carry His message of salvation to the rest of the world. God called Abraham to be the father of a new nation, a nation of people that would be faithful to God. Abraham trusted God and was faithful to him, so God sent Abraham to a new country and gave him a promise. God said He would bless Abraham and make of his descendants a great nation. In blessing Abraham – the ancestor of Mary, the Mother of God and, therefore, the ancestor of Jesus – God promises that all Christians shall be blessed. (Gen. 12:1-3).

God made a covenant (agreement) with Abraham and promised to give him a son, Isaac. One day, God tested Abraham’s faith (Gen. 17-18; 21-23), foreshadowing when God will allow His Son to be sacrificed in order to save the world. Abraham passed the test and serves as an example of faith for all Christians. We become “children of Abraham” by having faith in God like he did.

The covenant between Abraham and God was later renewed again by Isaac, and by Isaac’s son Jacob. God blessed Jacob and changed his name to Israel. Israel’s sons and descendants became the leaders of the 12 Tribes of Israel. The period beginning with Abraham is that of these Old Testament Patriarchs. Each of the patriarchs were faithful to God and made a covenant or agreement with Him. They believed and worshiped Him as the One true God. God is referred to in the Bible as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – the God of Israel.

The period ends when eleven of Jacob’s sons sell their brother Joseph into slavery, leading the way for all of Isreal to reside in Egypt. (Gen. 17-18; 21-23) Eventually, the Egyptians enslave the people of Israel, setting the stage for the Exodus.

The time of Abraham and the Old Testament Patriarchs is a time of promise. Through the covenants God made with His people, He promised to free the people of Israel and bring them back to their own land. But this promise is to all of us. It is a promise to restore all people to a new relationship with God – the way God meant it to be – to make all of us God’s Holy People.

Genesis 12:1-3

Because of God’s promise, Abraham left everything and everyone he knew to go somewhere totally unknown.

Could I have that kind of faith?

Genesis 17-18, 21-23

Based upon Abraham’s example, how would I describe faith?

Genesis 37, 39-50

What can I learn from Joseph about dealing with people who want to harm me?

What can I learn about my relationship with God during those times?

Psalm 105

How would I describe God - the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - to someone?

Luke 1:26-56

Mary, the Theotokos, was a child of Abraham.

What can I learn from her about having faith in God?

The Time of Preparation for the Coming of the Messiah

The First Passover (Pascha), Kings and Prophets

God chose Moses to lead his people from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land of Canaan, where Abraham had lived. After years of slavery in a foreign land, God helped Moses to oppose the Pharaoh and to insist that he “Let my people go!”

The Exodus from Egypt took place after the first Passover (see Exodus 12). During 40 years of wandering in the desert, God gave to Moses the commandments of the Law, which his people carried in an ark into the land beyond the Jordan River, and directions for how to worship God. Moses died before the people crossed over the Jordan, but he saw the land that God had given to his people. Joshua led the people and the ark into the land that God had shown them (Exodus and Deuteronomy). This is where the Tribes of Israel settled.

God raised up Kings and Prophets to serve Him in this new land. David the King was a great leader, known for the psalms he wrote and his repentance to God for his sins. His son Solomon built the great Temple in Jerusalem and was known for his wisdom.

When God’s people turned away from God, they were conquered and sent into exile in Babylon. Several times, the Temple was destroyed. God’s prophets called the people to repent, to turn from sin, to act rightly and justly, and to renew their covenant with God for, as the prophets warned, the Day of Judgment, the Day of the Lord is coming!

The prophet Jeremiah spoke of a new covenant with God, and the prophet Isaiah proclaimed the coming of the Emmanuel–God with Us, the One who would inaugurate this new time. According to Isaiah, He will have many wonderful titles describing His greatness.(Isaiah 9:6) But Isaiah also calls him a Suffering Servant who gives his own life as an eternal covenant that brings new life mankind. (Isaiah 53) This One would be the Lord God of Israel, the Messiah (meaning the anointed One – see the Old Testament books of history and prophets). Through the prophets, God prepared His people for the coming of the Messiah, the very Son of God and Savior of the world – God with Us!

As you read these passage reflect on how they helped prepare the people in the story to receive God’s Son and how they also help prepare us.

Psalm 106

What about this passage most impresses me?

Exodus 1-4

In what ways can I relate to the way Moses responds to God’s calling?

Exodus 11-12

How do I react to the fact that the Passover is part of my history?

Exodus 13:17-15:21

What does this passage say about me? How does it relate to what I believe about God?

Isaiah 7:10-17; 9:1-7; 53

How do these passages relate to what I know about Jesus?

Jeremiah 1:4-10;31:31-34

How has God acted in my life to prepare me to be part of His Holy Nation and one of His children?

What can I do today to show my love and deepen my commitment to Him?

How has my understanding of God been affected by completing this Readers’ Guide? What have I learned?

Based upon what I have read and prayed about, what do I want for my life?

In what ways could I change my life to accomplish this?