Old Testament in 2013

   As Christians, many times we focus on the New Testament of the Bible and place the Old Testament on the back burner (especially the less popular books like Numbers, Haggai, Nahum . . . you know what I'm talking about). It is more difficult to read, more difficult to understand, really long, and our favorite guy (Jesus) isn't around yet. But the Old Testament has its importance too! God created the world, man entered into a state of sinfulness, and our desperate need for Christ was revealed.

   Throughout this new year, we here at American Christian will be reading through the entire Old Testament, book by book. We will be looking at the historical & cultural context of the text and trying to understand the information given to us in light of the New Testament. You can see our full schedule for the year here, as well as the week we're currently on and the suggested reading schedule. This week we're starting at the beginning, with Genesis 1-17 (split up across 6 days that's 2-3 chapters a day, not too bad).

   I'll talk more about the passages themselves next week, once we've read through them. But for now I'd like to share some information about the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, and the book of Genesis as we get started reading.

   I think it's best to look at the Old Testament like the first half of one big story. It is the story of the one true God who creates the world and everything in it. Man chooses to rebel against its loving yet righteous God and therefore God prepares a pathway for them to be redeemed. God brings the family of Abraham into a covenant relationship with him, rescues Israel from slavery, and then creates a theocracy for Israel so that they might display him for the world to see. Israel continually breaks its side of their covenant relationship, but God continues to fulfill his. All of that being said, not all of the Old Testament is set up in narrative form. There are laws, genealogies, wisdom literature, songs, and poems that can be read in relation to the story as a whole.

    The Pentateuch is the name given to the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). The Hebrew term for them is torah, meaning "law" or "instruction". The Pentateuch is the foundation of the Bible, setting the stage for all that follows. The theme is introduced in the first section of Genesis that we're reading this week - the call of Abraham. The storyline revolves around the promises made to Abraham and God's fulfillment of them. The Pentateuch also presents the laws of Israel's theocracy and the story & importance of Moses.

Genesis Quick Facts:  

   - It is debated as to whether Genesis (and the rest of the Pentateuch for that matter) was written by Moses and later revised or entirely composed by many authors over a long period of time.

   - Chapters 1-11 are the primeval history of the world, before Abraham; Chapters 12-50 are the history of the patriarchs, starting with Abraham.
   - There are various views of Genesis as historically accurate, depending on the readings of the creation story and genealogies. Genesis does not attempt to be a scientific account (in a way that conforms to modern science), but can be reconciled with modern science.
   - The book does not answer every question a reader may have, but that does not mean that it can't be the true, inspired word of God. Like any piece of writing, it has a purpose to fulfill and provides the information for just that. Example - Genesis seeks to praise God's creation of the world, not explain exactly how he did it.
   - Adam, as mankind's first representative, received consequences for all of mankind. This sets the stage for Jesus representing mankind in the New Testament, as a second Adam with a very different set of consequences.

   Why are we doing this? It is definitely easy to become confused and uncertain of the purpose of the Old Testament in our lives today. We hope that reading through it, researching it, prayerfully analyzing it, and discussing it with one another will help us to better understand the intentions and applicability of this equally important section of the Word of God.

   We would love for you to read along and discuss the Scripture with us! For now, we would like to hear your initial thoughts of and experiences with the Old Testament. It will be interesting to see how (if) these develop as we trek through the books this year! And, as always, if you have any questions, please ask.

Happy reading!

Courtney