Opening Up the Bible¹

3. Old Testament Overview

St. Paul Lutheran Church, Cambridge ON

Sunday May 4, 2008

10:00 a.m.

Children's Message:



- Last week I mentioned Noah's Ark.

- Noah's Ark is about God saving Noah and his family,

and God is always working to save us.

-Today I thought it would be fun to sing a funny song

about Noah's Ark!

Noah’s Ark

1. The Lord said,

“Noah, there’s gonna be a floody, floody!” (2x)

Get those animals out of the muddy, muddy,

Children of the Lord.

Refrain: (rise)

So, rise, and shine, and give God the glory, glory,

So, rise, and shine, and give God the glory, glory,

Rise, and shine, and (clap) give God the glory, glory,

Children of the Lord.

2. The Lord told Noah to build him an arky, arky (2x)

Build it out of hickory barky, barky,

Children of the Lord.

Refrain.

3 The animals,

they came, they came, by twosies, twosies (2x)

Elephants and kangaroosies, roosies,

Children of the Lord.

Refrain.

4. It rained and poured for 40 daysies, daysies (2X)

Almost drove the animals crazies, crazies,

Children of the Lord.

Refrain.

5. Now Noah sent Dove to find a twiggy, twiggy (2x)

Dove came back with a twig in his beaky, beaky,

Children of the Lord.

Refrain.

6. The sun came out and dried up the landy, landy (2X)

Everything is fine and dandy, dandy.

Children of the Lord.

Refrain.

-I have some more pages for you to add

to your Bible books.

-Who didn't get one last week? (hand out extras)

-Last Sunday I mentioned

that the Bible looks like one book,

but it's really many books in one – a bit like a library,

so here's a page about that ....

-And when the Bible was first used,

it wasn't put together into a book like now,

it was written on a long scroll like this (show handout).

-So here's another page to put in your Bible book ....

Prayer: Thank you God, God for helping the church put together the Bible. Help us to want to learn about it and read it, so that you can meet us through the words of the Bible. Amen.

Sermon:

-Two weeks ago we began a sermon series

called “Opening Up the Bible.”

-We noted that the Bible was formed

through a long process of discernment and inspiration.

-Over centuries,

Jews and Christians

gradually sifted through various writings,

eventually choosing the best,

which would be considered Scripture.

-Last week, we looked at the first 2 chapters of Genesis,

and noted that there were clearly

two different accounts of creation!

-There are two different orders

in which things are created.

-The Creator is known by two different names,

and is presented in two very different concepts.

-We also looked at the biblical account of Noah's ark,

and noted two different versions again.

-We learned that scholars believe

that there were four different documents

behind these early Old Testament books

– J, E, D, and P –

documents compiled at different times

and with different emphases.

-Whenever there were differences in the accounts

from J, E, D, or P,

rather than choosing one,

the editors simply included both versions.

-And so, we have two creation stories,

and differences in how many of each kind of animal

Noah took on the ark.

-Reading Scripture carefully,

and noting these differences

allows the Bible itself to show us

how it's meant to be read:

not as a history book or science book,

but as a narrative which speaks deep truths

about our relationship with God,

and the reality in which we find ourselves:

as creatures who are imperfect,

but have been endowed with god-like powers

and put in charge of creation.

-Thanks to Veggie Tales, Hollywood enactments,

and Hanna Barbera, cartoons,

many of us are familiar with dramatic tales

from the 1^st Testament,

such as the Exodus, David and Bathsheba,

David and Goliath,

Daniel in the Lion's Den, and so on.

- “But few us us are very familiar

with the sweep of history

that is the background to the Hebrew Bible,

and how the various biblical books

fit into the historical picture.”

-Today we'll begin an overview² of the 1^st Testament,

so that we are better equipped

to take account of the context

in which various stories are told.

-Jewish history

begins with the story of Abraham and Sarah,

the ancestors of the Israelite people, about 2000 BC.

-God promises Abraham and Sarah

that they will become a great nation

which will be a blessing to all.

These foundational stories

are in the book of Genesis.

-The book of Genesis ends

with the story of Jacob and his sons,

descendants of Sarah and Abraham.

-Jacob eventually has 12 sons

for whom each of the 12 tribes of Israel will be named.

-One brother, Joseph,

seems to think that he's destined for great things,

so the jealous other brothers sell him as a slave.

-Joseph is eventually tossed into prison

on a trumped-up charge.

-Just when it looks like God has deserted Joseph,

Joseph gets an opportunity to interpret Pharaoh's dream

which warns of an impending famine.

-As a result, Joseph is released from prison

and put in charge of the programme to store-up food

to prepare for this famine.

-Eventually Joseph's brothers hear that there is food

in Egypt,

and appear – unbeknownst to them – before Joseph.

-Joseph acts forgivingly;

his family moves to Egypt,

and Joseph gives them the best farm land.

-As the book of Exodus opens,

we learn that the Hebrews

are becoming such a large group within Egypt,

that they come to be seen as a potential threat.³

-Pharaoh therefore enslaves them

in order to keep them under control.

-God then calls Moses –

a central character in the story of the Hebrew people –

to lead the Hebrews out of slavery,

out of Egypt,

to the Promised Land, where they remain to this day.

-On the way from Egypt to the Promised Land,

God gives Moses the Ten Commandments,

written on stone tablets.

-During their 40 years in the wilderness,

God instructs the people in the way they should live

and forms them,

by giving them the Law.

-The story of the Exodus from Egypt

and the return to Canaan

occurs from about 1300 to 1200 BC

and is told in the books of Exodus, Joshua, Judges,

and Ruth.

-Once they've settled in Canaan,

these 12 tribes relate

as a loose confederation of nations

under the leadership of a series of judges.

-Amazingly enough,

at least one of these leaders was a woman: Deborah.

-But it isn't long until

the people eventually beg God to let them have a king,

just like other nations.

-God reluctantly allows this,

and the first kings are Saul, David, and Solomon,

about 1000 years BC.

-Together these first 3 kings reign for 120 years.

-But after King Solomon,

the single, united monarchy became divided into

the Northern Kingdom of Israel,

and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

-These divided kingdoms, these 2 nations,

are ruled by a succession of less-famous

and less-faithful kings

for just over 200 years.

-These stories are recorded in the biblical books

of 1 and 2 Samuel, Chronicles, and Kings.

-Then the kingdoms run into trouble with world powers.

-In 722 BC,

the northern kingdom Israel falls to the Assyrians.

-The southern kingdom, Judah,

continues on for another 135 years.

-But in 587 BC, Judah is taken over by the Babylonians,

and Solomon's magnificent temple is destroyed.

-After that, no independent Jewish nation exists

until the 20^th century.

-After 50 years in exile,

the Persian king Cyrus

allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem,

and they begin rebuilding the temple.

-When nearby residents ask if they could help,

they are harshly refused.

-The returning Jews

did not consider these inhabitants

to be true Israelites –

neither by race,

nor by religious observance.

-That distaste for these local Samaritans

cans still be seen centuries later

as Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

-This return to Jerusalem

is told in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

-So, about 2,000 BC,

stories of the Patriarchs took place

and are recorded in Genesis.

- The Exodus and wilderness wandering

occurred about 1300 BC,

and is recorded in the books of Exodus, Joshua, Judges,

and Ruth.

-The united monarchy

under kings Saul, David, and Solomon,

is recorded in the books of Samuel, Chronicles,

and Kings,

and took place about 1000 BC.

-Then the Israelite nation

became a divided monarchy –

each having their own king.

-Eventually both kingdoms fell

and the Jews lived in exile.

-Many of the writings of the prophets

came from this period.

-In 538 BC, thanks to King Cyrus of Persia,

the exiles of the southern kingdom Judah

were allowed to return to their land

and rebuild the Temple.

-The story is told in Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

-Those are the overarching historical settings

of the 1^st Testament.

-Throughout this long story,

God's people continually turn away from God,

and are then brought back by God.

-In the relatively short timespan

covered by the book of Judges, alone,

this cycle is repeated 7 times.

-Throughout this long story,

God uses imperfect, sinful and disobedient people

to accomplish God's purposes.

-From Abraham to Moses,

through judges like Samson to King David,

through the kings of the divided monarchy,

and even when the Jews were in exile,

God continued to work with them

remaining faithful to the covenant promise

that they would be a blessing

to all nations of the earth.

-Next week, we'll turn to the beginning

of the Jewish people,

as we recap in more detail

the story of Abraham and Sarah.

1242 words at 115 wpm: 10 ¾ minutes

#522 As We Gather at Your Table



Sending Thought: Apocalyptic Literature

• The last book of the Hebrew Scriptures to be written was the book of Daniel.

• The author was a faithful Jew

  living through the persecution of the Jewish people

  under Antiochus Epiphanes,

  165 years before Christ.

• In times of persecution,

  a type of writing called “apocalypse” is common.

• In veiled form for safety,

  apocalyptic writings interpret then-current events.

• Due to the danger inherent in criticizing any despotic ruling government,

  apocalyptic literature bears its message indirectly,

  through symbols and signs.

  • An apocalypse contains hidden meanings

    which would only be understood

    by those to whom it was addressed.

  • Daniel, an example of apocalyptic literature,

    is a kind of encoded message.

  • In the New Testament,

    the Revelation of John is also an example

    of apocalyptic literature.

• One of the most familiar parts of Daniel

  is the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

• In this symbolic story,

  3 youth remain faithful to God

  even when it is dangerous to do so.

• Turn with me to Daniel chapter 3,

  beginning at verse 17 to read the climax of the story

  • In these verses, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego appear before the King,

    charged with disobeying his orders.

  • They're sentenced to death in a fiery furnace,

    and these are their final words to the King

    before their sentence is carried out::

    If our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire and out of your hand, O king, let him deliver us. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods and we will not worship the golden statue that you have set up.”⁴

  

• The most-intriguing aspect of the story

  is that these youth have no assurance

  that their God will save them:

  they say “If our God ... is able to deliver us.”

  • Yet they still choose to remain faithful,

    even knowing it might just cost their lives.

• The story ends

  with God saving them from the fiery furnace;

  King Nebuchadnezzar is converted by God's actions,

  and these young men end up with a promotion.

• Apocalyptic literature

  is not written to predict the future,

  and it's a misuse to interpret it that way.

• The main purpose of apocalyptic literature

  is to give people hope

  in the midst of current persecution,

  encouraging them to remain faithful,

  for we know that God is always working,

  using imperfect, and even evil people

  to bring about God's purposes.

The Benediction follows ....