01 - cmi student reading

8/9/2019 01 - Cmi Student Reading

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BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEWOF THE OLD TESTAMENTReadings for Session 1, From Creation to Captivity

Reading this material should take you approximately 2.0 hours

After reading this material, you should be able to: Understand the nature and structure of the Hebrew language Explain the origin of the Aramaic language Differentiate the groupings of the Hebrew scriptures from our Bible Defend whether an ancient Jewish writing should or should not be

canonical Label all of the key geographic features (lakes, rivers, seas, deserts) of

Palestine on an unmarked map Explain what the Jewish Scriptures were in Jesus day

Read the material below. Read a study Bibles notes giving an overview of theOld Testament and the handout that we will review in class.

Remember that you are not to teach your table everything having to do with thistopic, nor everything written below, but to help learners in Session 1 to gain an

overview, to get the big picture of the Old Testament.

After teaching the session to learners, you should be able to Differentiate the Old Testament from every other ancient writing Give someone an overview of the Old Testament in five minutes

THE LANGUAGES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

History of the LanguagesThe Old Testament was originally written in what we today call Hebrew,except for Daniel 26 and Ezra 36, which were written in a cousin languagecalled Aramaic. The odd thing is that there is no mention of a languagecalled Hebrew anywhere in the Old Testament; Hebrew people arereferred to as speaking the language of Canaan.

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language group thatoriginated from the old Phoenician alphabet from which all alphabets incurrent use, Semitic and non-Semitic, were ultimately derived. It was adialect of the Canaanites, acquired by Abraham after his migration toCanaan, and employed by most of the surrounding nations. Hebrew was


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Session 1 Background and Overview of the Old Testament

already in use when Moses and the Israelites came up out of Egypt (1440BC).

About 900 years later, common use of the Hebrew language was endingduring the 5th century B.C. because it was replaced by Aramaic, a cousin

Semitic language developed during the 70-year Babylonian captivity.Aramaic was the language Jesus used, and it is still in use in somecommunities in the Middle East today. Hebrew has been cultivated by the Jewish scholarly class, and was occasionally revived for patriotic reasonswhen the Jews were under Greek and Roman conquerors.

Structure of HebrewHebrew has a predominance of guttural sounds, and the vowels are kept instrict subordination to the consonants, it being a rare and exceptional casewhen a word or syllable begins with a vowel. Words are made up of three-consonant roots for the most part, and variations in meaning are indicatedby the vowels inserted between the consonants.

Hebrew conveys much thought in a few words; a powerful, concentratedmode of expression admirably suited both to poetry and prophetic oratory.Hebrew is written from right to left and from the top to the bottom of thepage.

THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

In Jesus day, the Scriptures had two divisions: The Law (Genesis-Deuteronomy) and the Prophets (Joshua-Malachi). Hebrew versions of theScriptures (since the fourth century) have twenty-four books; they aregrouped in three divisions: the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nebhiim), andthe Writings (Kethubim).

THE LAW (or Pentateuch) Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

THE PROPHETSThe Former Prophets

Joshua Judges 1 and 2 Samuel 1 and 2 Kings

The Latter Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel

The Twelve (Hosea-Malachi)

THE WRITINGSThe Poetical Books

Job Psalms Proverbs

The Five Rolls Ruth Esther Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Lamentations

The Historical Books Daniel Ezra Nehemiah 1 and 2

Chronicles

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SCRIPTURES HEBREW THE


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Because the books were Gods Word communicated to his people, greatcare was taken to preserve their texts precisely as they were written.Priests were responsible for the preservation of the law. They were to storeit beside or in the Ark of the Covenant. The kings of Israel were required to

have the law before them as a guide in their administration of the kingdom.

The reason we do not possess many older copies of the Hebrew Scripturesis because of reverence they ceremoniously disposed of worn copies; thiswould protect readers from misreading Gods Word because of worn spotsin older manuscripts.

The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, composedto meet the needs of Greek-speaking Jews in 250 BC. Prepared by seventy(Greek septa) learned Jews, it became known as the Septuagint and wasabbreviated as LXXUntil 1947, the oldest complete manuscript of the Old Testament datedfrom around 1000 AD, 1400 years after the completion of the OldTestament. The most important Old Testament manuscript discovery evermade, the Dead Sea Scrolls were originally placed in caves by a Jewishsect called the Essenes back in the first century and preserved over almosttwo millennia in clay pots. The collection contains portions of every book ofthe Old Testament (except Esther), which includes a complete scroll ofIsaiah accurate word for word from 200 B.C., and an important fragment ofSamuel from 400 B.C. The scrolls were word-for-word identical to the

modern Hebrew copies, evidence of the complete faithfulness of the Old Testament text to the originals in spite of transmission through longcenturies.

THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

Canon means rule or measuring rod. If a sacred writing held up to themeasuring rod criteria, it was accepted as the Word of God. The measuringrod criteria for writings to be received into the Old Testament canon were:

1. Authorship Test: The author had to be known, and he had to bea prophet, a priest, or a king2. Internal light and dignity (some were immediately canonized

because of proximity to divine revelation such as the Book of Exodus)3. Had to support or build off of the Pentateuch4. The writer treated the writing as sacred because he knew it wasfrom God Moses in Deuteronomy 31:9 - to be read every 7 years5. Other contemporary leaders treated the writing as from God6. Universal acceptance and usage by the people of God

Some ancient books (like the books of Adam and Enoch) were lost. Somebooks were rejected due to failure to meet the above tests. The OldTestament canon was closed by the Synod of Jamnia in 90 AD (20 yearsafter the Jewish Temple was destroyed and the Jews scattered), but most all

books had been received before the time of Jesus Christ. Josephus and Philo(historians living just after Jesus life) mention the 39 books of the OT from

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Moses to Artaxerxes. Some 28 books are mentioned or quoted from in theNew Testament 295 times 34 books are alluded to 700 times; Jesus madereference to the Old Testament 35 times, and the apostles first preachedfrom the Old Testament.

The book of Esther, which doesnt mention God, had the hardest time beingaccepted into the canon (even the Dead Sea Scrolls rejected the book), andEcclesiastes also had a difficult time due to its anthropocentric (man-centered) views. Jesus and the New Testament writers affirmed the JewishOld Testament by calling the collection of writings the inspired Word ofGod, and citing their stories as true. They quoted from 32 of the 39 books.Jesus, who was known for exposing error, never challenged the canon (forinstance, he never challenged the Book of Esther).

The Apocryphal books (Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, etc. written between 200BC and the time of Christ) were rejected by Protestants because Jesus andthe apostles made no mention of them, the Jews had rejected them, theydidnt meet the authorship test, and they contained some strange ideas notfound in other books (i.e., potions for casting out demons, praying for thedead in purgatory, etc.). The Catholics accepted these books because theysupported some of their doctrines.

CHRISTOLOGIC INTERPRETATION

Jesus claimed five times that He was the theme of the entire canon of theOld Testament Scriptures (Matt. 5:17, Luke 24:27, Luke 24:44, John 5:39,and Hebrews 10:7). Because the Old Testament builds Gods plan of a

coming Messiah, and Jesus is that Messiah, it is all about Him. In the Old isthe New Testament concealed; in the New is the Old Testament revealed.

You can find Christ in every book of the Old Testament, and there aredozens of types (figures and analogies) of Christ in the Old Testament.Many study Bibles explain at the beginning of each book where you can findChrist. We will point these out as we go along.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Bibles teachings are universally applicable. People in any place, time,class or culture can find in its pages all they need for guiding their lives andfinding Gods plan of salvation. Yet the events spoken of in the Bible tookplace at certain times and in definite places which can be visited by ustoday. It is amazing how often the Bible refers to cities, regions, mountains,deserts and roads any Bible student should have a good workingknowledge of Bible Lands.

When we speak of nations in the Bible, we are talking about ethnic groupsrather than modern political entities (i.e., Zulus rather than the Republic ofSouth Africa). Based on archaeology, which has made huge strides in thelast two centuries, the map below shows where ancient ethnic groups(Genesis 10) started in 2500 BC. Just after the flood.

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Session 1 Background and Overview of the Old Testament 5


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THE MIDDLE EAST

Almost all of the events recorded in the Bible took place in what is knowntoday as the Middle East, an area in which three continents Europe, Asiaand Africa come together. It is the cradle of civilization. It is here wherethree major religions Christianity, Judaism and Islam had their

beginnings. All three religions honour the holy city, Jerusalem.

Climate

The area of the Middle East has a Mediterranean climate. Winters are mild to cold depending on the altitude. Jerusalem has frost

on many Winter nights. Winter is the rainy season (Deuteronomy 11:14, James 5:7), and occasionally snow falls on the plains. Mt. Hermon issnow-capped five months of the year. The amount of rain decreases asyou move south or east until you reach Arabia where there is virtually norain. So Galilee has more rain than Judea which has more than theNegev.

Summers are hot to extremely hot and very dry. Temperatures reach45-48*C in the Jordan River Valley compared with 35-38*C on the coastalplain.

The Rivers

Obviously, the big rivers of the Middle East are the Nile to the west in Egypt,and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the east. The Nile is predictable and has regular manageable flooding. Because

Egypt gets almost no rain, its agriculture totally depends on irrigationfrom the Nile.

The Euphrates is a large river which historically was the main channelof trade and communication between the Far East and the West. It ispredictable, and was home to the early empires of mankind.

The Tigris runs along the base of the Zagros Mountains and is subject togreat and unpredictable floods when the snows melt in the Spring.

The Coastal Plain was never heavily settled by the Jews because the Iron-Age Philistines were there; today, this is the Gaza Strip which thePalestinians rule. South of Gaza, everything turns to desert and there areno towns except for oases like Kadesh-Barnea. In the Wilderness of Paranwere the Amalekites, camel nomads.

The Dead Sea is the lowest spot on earth (above water) at -395meters.The landscape almost looks like the moon, and the minerals from the desertwash down into the sea making it some of the hardest and most buoyantwater in the world. The Dead Sea takes in but never gives out. It receivesits water from the mountains of Lebanon which stream down into the Sea ofGalilee (also Chinnereth or Tiberius) and then flow down the Jordan into thesea. From there, the water only evaporates in the extreme heat leavingminerals behind. The town of Zoar was at the bottom indicating Sodom andGomorrah may be under the south end of the sea.

The Jordan River Valley has more vegetation the further you go north.

Ten kilometers north of the Dead Sea there is a road going west andclimbing sharply on the way to Jericho and eventually to Jerusalem. In

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Galilee is a region beginning in the south with three dolomite mountains Mts. Carmel, Gilboa and Tabor. Mt. Carmel near the coast at 546 metersbegins a ridge running down to Mt. Gilboa. Just north of the ridge runningnorthwest to southeast is the Valley of Esdraelon (also known as Jezreel -sown by God), which is the largest farming and fruit area in Israel.

Because of the dominance of a fortress town on the ridge named Megiddo,this valley is also known as Armageddon.

Northern Galilee is full of high rolling hills (600 meters) with granite cliffsand rocks. Some orchards are there, but it is ideal guerilla country. Thefishing in Galilee was good. The hills rise to mountains (1900 meters)northeast of the Sea of Galilee, now known as the Golan Heights, part ofSyria.

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THE ORDER OF OLD TESTAMENT BOOKSThere are two ways of looking at the Old Testament. As you can see in thechart below, the order of the Old Testament books in our Bibles is bycategory: Law, then History, then Poetry, then Prophecy. Within eachcategory, the books are in chronological order.1

OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS BY CATEGORY OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS BY CHRONOLOGY

LAW (Pentateuch or Torah) ANCIENT HISTORY

Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy

Job (2000 B.C.) Genesis (1445 B.C.)

HISTORICAL BOOKS BEGINNINGS OF ISRAEL

Life in Canaan; Judgment in Exile Joshua Judges Ruth 1 & 2 Samuel 1 & 2 Kings 1 & 2 Chronicles

Rebuilding After Exile Ezra Nehemiah Esther

Slavery and Escape Exodus (1405 B.C.) Leviticus (1405 B.C.) Numbers (1405 B.C.) Deuteronomy (1405 B.C.)

Conquering and Living In Canaan Joshua (1405-1390 B.C.) Judges (1380-1045 B.C.) Ruth (1150 B.C.)

WISDOM LITERATURE ERA OF THE KINGS

Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Solomon

1 & 2 Samuel (1105-971 B.C.) Psalms (1050 B.C.) Proverbs (1000 B.C.) Song of Solomon (1000 B.C.) Ecclesiastes (975 B.C.)

1 Kings / 1 Chronicles (971-851 B.C.) 2 Kings / 2 Chronicles (851-586 B.C.)

THE PROPHETS ISRAEL IN EXILE

Major Prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Lamentations Ezekiel Daniel

Minor Prophets Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah

Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi

Prophets Before Exile Obadiah (840 B.C.) Joel (835 B.C.) Amos (760 B.C.) Jonah (760 B.C.) Hosea (755 B.C.) Isaiah (740 B.C.) Micah (735 B.C.) Nahum (660 B.C.) Zephaniah (630 B.C.) Jeremiah (627 B.C.)

Habakkuk (607 B.C.) Lamentations (586 B.C.) Daniel (605-535 B.C.) Ezekiel (592 B.C.)

Prophets After Exile Ezra (530 B.C.) Haggai (520 B.C.) Zechariah (520 B.C.) Esther (480 B.C.) Nehemiah (445 B.C.) Malachi (432 B.C.)

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One of the greatest deterrents to Bible study is not knowing where to find specific passages, and therefore having to go to the tableof contents all the time. It is very highly recommended that you memorize the books of the Bible so that you know your way around.

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The PentateuchThe first five books of the Bible were written (or overseen in their writing)by Moses. They are sometimes called the Torah, the Pentateuch (Pentad =five), or The Books of the Law. They cover human history from the Creationto the time where Israel is ready to enter Palestine in about 1400 B.C.

Remember, in the time B.C. (before Christ), we count the years backward,so for instance 524 B.C. is followed by 523 B.C.

Genesis Overview: The Book of Genesis covers more time than any otherbook of the Bible (over 1/3 of human history). Think of the book as coveringfour events (pre-historic earth) and four people (the Patriarchs):

Creation Genesis 1-2 +4000-+8000 BC Fall (and prehistoric earth) Genesis 3-5 4000-2700 BC Flood Genesis 6-9 2700 BC Babel (and spread of nations) Genesis 10-11 2300 BC Abraham Genesis 12-25 2090 BC Isaac Genesis 21-35 1990 BC Jacob Genesis 25-49 1930 BC Joseph Genesis 29-50 1890 BC

Most of the Old Testament is a recordof God dealing with His speciallychosen people Israel. The Fathers(Patriarchs) of the Jewish nation wereAbraham, his son Isaac and Isaacsson, Jacob. Abraham lived in about2,000 B.C., just after the time of Job.

He lived in Chaldea an area whichwould be in modern-day Iraq butwith Gods direction, moved toPalestine. It was here that Isaac and Jacob lived. Jacobs name waschanged by God to Israel (meaningPrince with God), and he had twelvesons. One of these sons, Joseph, wassold into Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers who, many yearslater during a famine came to Egypt

only to find that Joseph had risen tobecome Prime Minister of Egypt.

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Joseph forgave them, and the brothers and the very old Jacob moved toEgypt.

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Exodus & Leviticus Overview:Exodus means to come out of. There is a gap of 400 years betweenGenesis and Exodus. During that time, the descendants of Jacob (thechildren of Israel) became a large ethnic group in the Goshen area ofeastern Egypt, and a Pharaoh who didnt know the history of Joseph, viewed

them as a threat to national security. He therefore put them in slavery.Toward the end of the 400 years, during Pharaohs extermination campaignagainst Hebrew baby boys, tiny Moses was floated on the Nile to the houseof Pharaoh where he was raised by Pharaohs daughter.

After killing an Egyptian slave-driver, Moses fled to the desert and became ashepherd for almost 40 years. Then God revealed himself to Moses atopMount Sinai and told him to lead Israel out of Egyptian slavery. God sentten severe plagues to break Pharaohs will and release the Jews. When a re-angered Pharaoh pursued them, God parted the Red Sea so that the Jewscould cross, but brought the waters back upon Pharaoh and his army. Fiftydays later, again atop Mt. Sinai, God gave Israel the Ten Commandmentsand the rest of His Law (recorded in the last half of Exodus and Leviticus).The date was about 1,445 B.C.

Numbers & Deuteronomy Overview:After receiving the Law in Sinai, the Jews traveled northward and came tothe Promised Land of Palestine. But because they feared the people andthe fortified cities in the area, they refused to obey God. God thensentenced them to meander in the desert for 40 years until the disobedientgeneration died off. The new generation finally came to the east bank of

the Jordan River and prepared to cross. It was here that the aged Mosesgave a second statement of the Law (the Book of Deuteronomy) to Israel,handed the leadership of the people over to Joshua, and then died.

Joshua, Judges & Ruth Overview:Joshua led the twelve tribes of the new generation into the then green andfertile land of Canaan (Palestine) in about 1405 B.C. God miraculouslydestroyed the city walls of Jericho, and divinely assisted Israel in routing the

various pagan people groups over a period of seven years. God had chosento lead His people through prophets like Moses, but when the Hebrews

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became comfortable in Canaan they ignored, rejected and even killed Godsprophets, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes includingworshipping idols, offering infant sacrifices, and inter-marrying with theCanaanite people. God then sent other nations to afflict Israel until the Jewscried for mercy. Then God sent prophet-judges to preach repentance and

set the people free. But it wasnt long before the Jews were back to theirold ways. There were seven cycles of sin, servitude, supplication andsalvation over a period of 300 years. During the days of the Judges, theBible records a wonderful love story about the great-grandmother of KingDavid, a woman from the neighboring country of Moab, named Ruth.1 & 2 Samuel, 1 Kings & 1 Chronicles Overview:A few dozen years after Ruth died, Israel demanded of Samuel the prophetthat they have a king like all the other nations they didnt want to followGod through His prophets. Israel had only three kings Saul, David andSolomon before the nation fell apart in a civil war. Samuels first bookrecords for us the triumphs and troubles of Saul, who was likely anunbeliever. During his reign, a young shepherd named David rose to fameas a warrior; jealous, Saul spent years hunting to kill him. Samuels secondbook records the reign of David who, although having a heart for God, madesome huge errors and lived a sorrow-filled life. Davids struggles,celebrations, and wisdom are found in the Psalms. The first Book of theKings records the rise and fall of Solomon (who ruled with wisdom, but laterin life with folly) and the division of the nation into ten northern tribes(known as Israel) and two southern tribes (known as Judah). FirstChronicles gives an expanded topical treatment of the same events as 1Kings.

2 Kings, 2 Chronicles & The Prophets Overview:The new Israel in the north had no godly kings just 19 bad ones anddespite the warnings of Gods prophets like Elijah, Elisha, Amos, Hosea,Nahum and Obadiah, they continued to sin, were conquered by theAssyrians in 722 B.C. and taken off into captivity. They inter-married withthe Assyrians, some returning to Palestine later as the Samaritans of Jesusday whom the pure Jews despised.

Only half of the kings in the southernkingdom of Judah were good, and

despite the warnings of Gods prophetslike Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah andothers, they were conquered by KingNebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 605-586B.C.

Those from Judah were first calledJews during this time of captivity, andthey began speaking and writingAramaic; portions of Daniel and Ezrawere written in Aramaic, and Jesus

likely used this language during his life.

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Daniel, a Jewish teen who had been taken captive, became a leader inBabylon and received visions about the future of Israel.

About 70 years later, the Persian Empire took over Babylon, and with theblessing of Persias King Cyrus, the Jews returned under Ezras leadership to

rebuild the Temple. Some 60 years after that, under Nehemiah, the Jewsrebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. There they lived for another 400 silentyears (without new revelation from God) under Persian, then Greek, thenRoman rule until the time Jesus the Messiah was born.

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