Numbers
Mar 19, 2009 Old Testament Book Summaries
Numbers
Author
Moses
Date
1440-1400
Theme
Once out of Egypt, it should have taken the Israelites roughly a week and a half to make it to the Promised Land. Instead, it took 40 years! This book details the time they spent wandering in the desert. This book paints a clear picture of rebellion and unbelief and their results. At the same time, it shows that even while we are unfaithful, God is always faithful. He continues to care for his people and doesn’t let them die out in the desert.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
Just like Exodus, this book is chock full of imagery that points to Jesus. Here are my favorite two:
A bronze snake is lifted up on a pole to provide healing for the people – This foreshadows Jesus on the cross
A red heifer “without spot or blemish” was sacrificed for the people – This foreshadows Jesus (as one without spot or blemish) being sacrificed for our sins.
Random Thoughts
Numbers gets it’s name from the two big census’ of the people that took place in the book.
Leviticus
Mar 18, 2009 Old Testament Book Summaries
Leviticus
Author
Moses
Date
1440-1400
Theme
Leviticus is one of those books we don’t naturally like to read. It shows very clearly what God’s expectations are for his people: holiness and nothing short of holiness. This book breaks down God’s instructions for his people and it showed them how far they were from his standard. It also shows that when they missed the mark, something had to be done to pay for this rebellion. This came in the form of a sacrifice, which usually came in the form of a life. Blood is shown (just like in Exodus) as the requirement to satisfy God’s judgement. Sin is that big of a deal in God’s eyes and it should be that big of a deal in our eyes.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
This book, perhaps more than any in the Bible, shows we cannot meet God’s standards. We have all rebelled, we have all sinned, we all deserve judgement in the form of spilled blood. And Jesus has done this for us. Because of his sacrifice, our sins have been paid for.
Random Thoughts
Leviticus is named for the “Levitical” priests who were in charge of leading the people in worshipping God.
Exodus
Mar 17, 2009 Old Testament Book Summaries
Exodus
Author
Moses
Date
1440-1400
Theme
God redeems. This book essentially paints this cool picture that God saves his people based solely on his decision to do so. We are introduced to Moses and we see how God uses this flawed man to help his people make their “exodus” from Egyptian slavery. We then see God’s people move toward the land that God had promised Abraham.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
Exodus has so many cool pictures that foreshadow Jesus and how God will use him to redeem. Here are two big ones:
The Passover – The blood of a spotless lamb is shed and it is used to mark God’s people. God’s wrath then “passes over” those who are marked by the blood. This foreshadows the work of Jesus on the cross.
The concept of a High Priest that intercedes on the people’s behalf. – Jesus has now become our High Priest.
Random Thoughts
Even though the Israelites constantly showed themselves as unfaithful to God, they remained his people. This gives me hope as I struggle to follow him with my whole life.
Genesis
Mar 16, 2009 Old Testament Book Summaries
A few years ago, I blogged a quick survey of the New Testament over the course of a month or so. We have since turned this into a paper entitled “Interpreting the New Testament Normally.” Now that I am teaching a series at Riv on the Old Testament, I figured it was time to survey the Old Testament. I am going to use generally the same format I used for the New Testament, with a few changes:
I am going to drop the category “Intended Audience” because pretty much the intended audience throughout the Old Testament was the Jews.
Instead, I am going to add two new categories. The first is “What this book teaches me about Jesus.” This is inspired by Jesus in Luke 24: 27:
Luke 24:27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
The other new category is “Date Written” because as a history nerd, I like this bit of detail. Of course, we can only approximate many of the dates, but this is standard historical practice.
I’m going to do my best to cover a book a day until I am done with the Old Testament, but no promises. If I get super busy, there may be a lag here or there.
Please post any comments, questions, or thoughts you have throughout this series. Last time, you guys were very helpful in the final paper I wrote.
Today, we start right at the beginning:
Genesis
Author
Most people give Moses credit for writing Genesis, although the author is never specifically identified. I don’t see any reason to reject Moses as the author and I think Deuteronomy 31 gives a decent argument for his authorship of the first five books of the Bible.
Date
1440-1400
Theme
“Genesis” means “beginning,” and it not only serves as the beginning of the Bible, but also as the beginning point of our understanding of major doctrinal themes (sin, justification, grace, election, God’s sovereignty, etc). It also serves as the starting point of prophesy about what God will do down through history, specifically through the offspring of a man named Abraham. In fact, one of the most important parts of Genesis is the Abrahamic Covenant, which details God’s unconditional deal with Abraham. He promises him land, descendants, and blessing. This unconditional promise explains why Israel (Abraham’s descendants) always has and always will seek to take possession of the land God promised them.
God also promises that the entire world will be blessed through Abraham’s descendant: Jesus.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
Throughout Genesis, we see tons of prophesies and hints about Jesus. In fact, the first prophecy is in God’s words to Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:15). Jesus is referred to as the “second Adam” in Romans, which refers back to Adam. We also see that spilled blood is required for salvation in the story of Cain and Abel.
Some even think that when the phrase “Angel of the Lord” appears here and elsewhere in the Old Testament, that it refers to Jesus. I tend to agree with this, although I don’t know that we can be certain.
Random Thoughts
In Genesis, we meet a lot of the Bible characters we are most familiar with: Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Abraham, Sarah, Noah, Jacob, Joseph. At the same time, there are a ton of stories we are very very unfamiliar with. Which ones? Read it for yourself to find out!
