Old TestamentNarrativeEssay
Cameron Cestari
BIBL105:OldTestament
March 5,2018
Creation/PrimevalHistory
TheBiblestartsinthebestplacepossible;thebeginning.TheBiblebeginswiththesentence, “In the
beginning God created the heavens and earth”(Genesis 1:1 ESV). Spokenout of nothing, all of a
sudden, there was life; nature, space, and creation. This could quite possibly be the most amazing
and profound verse of the Bible. Without creation, nothing would be the way it was.
The only difference in the world before humans was that there was no sin. God was God before
time and God is still God to this day. That is the only constant since the beginning. God is the
same God, he is neverchanging. Heis the Alphaand the Omega, and he is thecreator, the story-
maker. Onthesixthdayof creation, Godcreatedman. “SoGodcreatedmaninhisownimage,in the
image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27 ESV).
Something that is interesting about the creation of man is that because there was no sin in the
world, everythingwasperfect, AdamandEvewereabletobenakedandnotashamed. Afterman was
created and Adam and Eve were seeing what God had blessed them with, God was specific and
said, “’You may surely eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in
the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (Genesis 2:17 ESV). Eve came in contact with a
serpent that had tempted her to eat of the tree that God had said not to. Being ill-willed, Eve and
Adam were tempted and followed fleshly desires and ate of the forbidden tree. This is what
changed the world…because sin has entered. From then on, we have lived in a sin filled world.
Years after The Fall, was Noah and the Flood. Noah was someone who was blameless in his
generation. At this point, “…the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with
violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corruptedtheir way
on the earth” (Genesis 6:11-12 ESV). God wanted an end to the corruptness and
violence on the earth and he told Noah that he would destroy them with the earth. God had
warned Noah and his family and told him to build an ark. God also said to take two of every
animal to keep themalive. IfIhad toplace myselfin Noah’s shoes, I would have been terrified.
Howcouldyoupossiblybeokaywiththeinformationgiventoyouandnotquestionit.Thetrust and faith
thatNoah had inGod isadmirable because it issomething thatisnot simplyjust done. God sent
afloodthat lasted for aboutayearand when theearth wasdry, Noahgot outoftheark and had built
and offering to God. God had made a promise to Noah through the symbol of a rainbow,
promising to never curse the ground because of men. God has never broken his promises.
Everything he says he will do, he does.
ThePatriarchal Period
The three patriarchs were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God made a covenant with Abraham
saying, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will
showyou. AndI willmakeof youagreatnation,andI willblessyouandmakeyournamegreat, so that
you will be a blessing…” (Genesis 12:1-2 ESV). Abraham was obedient to the Lord and moved
to where the Lord wanted him to. He picked up everything in his life and listened to the voiceof
God. Again,weseean obedient servant.Abraham did notargue,instead helistened and trusted. God
promised to bless Abraham’s offspring. God was faithful. In Sarai’s old age of 99, she gave birth
to a son, Isaac, and God showed favor and his promise. God had spoken to
Abrahamatleast10yearsafter thebirthofIsaac, andhadsaidtohim,“Takeyourson, your only son
Isaac, who you love, andgo tothe landof Moriah, and offerhim there as a burnt offeringon one of
the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:1-2 ESV). Without hesitation, Abraham did
exactly what God had asked. He brought Isaac to the top of the mountain to sacrifice him as an
offering and when God saw his faithfulness, he provided a lamb to sacrifice.
To this day, the mountain is called the Lord shall provide. This is a foreshadowing of
whatwouldtakeplacewithJesusyearslater,exceptthis time,Jesuswasthesacrificiallamb.Isaachad
sonswhenhewas60yearsold.Thedivineelectionof JacoboverEsauisseeninGenesischapter 25 verse
23, “Two nations arein your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one
shall be stronger than theother, the older shall serve the younger”(Genesis 25:23 ESV). Esau
despised his birthright and sold it to Jacob. The Abrahamic covenant was reaffirmed when God
told Isaacthathewould continuallyblesshimand protecthim.Deception isathemeseen as Isaac
wason hisdeath bed. Rebekah and Jacob took it intotheirown handstoearnIsaac’sfavor. In the
endof allofthis, God was stillfaithful. Hispromises are never-ending. Jacob ran from his family to
escape the rage of his brother. After 20 years of hiding, he went back to the promised land in
Bethel and this was the turning point of his life. These were the first leaders, or the Patriarchs
and used them to show God through them.
EgyptianBondageand Exodus
These books are all about God’s redemption and redemptive spirit. Jacob’s descendants moved
to Egypt, but once Jacob died and anew Pharaohcame into power that didnot knowthefamily
and was threatened by the Jewish population, he enslaved the Hebrew race. Moses had power.
As he got older, he matured spiritually to be prepared to be a deliverer. Moses came in contact
with God at the burning bush. God had said to Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my
people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their
sufferings, and I have come down to deliver themout of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring
them up out of that land to good and broad land…” (Exodus 3:7-8 ESV). God was preparing
Mosestoleadhispeopleoutofenslavement. IlikethewaythatMosesrespondstoGodbecause I think
that it is realistic. Moses has little faith in himself, which I think is a natural reaction
anyone would have, but God said to him that he would be with him throughout it all.
PharaohhadfinallyliberatedthenationofIsraelandgavethempermissiontoleave.Godprovides. Godis
faithful in every trial and every tribulation and the people during this time period could attest to
that. After the people were freed from slavery, they were preserved. God was redeeming the
nation. He provided the Mosaic covenant. This covenant was to show the people how to live out
lives under God’s kingdom. Leviticus, Numbersand Deuteronomy werebooks that showed how
to live. Leviticus dealt with living with personal holiness and God’s people need to be different
than the rest of the world. The book of Numbers talks about God’s faithfulness and the way he
provides and takes care of his children. Deuteronomy is a book of the law, showing on display
the laws that needed to be followed, almost a follow up of Exodus.
TheConquestandPeriodofthe Judges
The book of Joshua talks mainly about the conquest of the Promised Land, under Joshua’sruling.
Joshua had delivered the Israelites in their time of need. Going back to the promise that God
gave Abraham, Joshua was fulfilling this promise, because he had acquired Canaan after400
years of slavery and oppression. This book not only shows the conquest of Canaan and the
faithfulness that God had shown, but the continual victory for the people to come.
Somethingthatisshowninthefirst5chaptersofJoshuaisthespiritualpreparationthatthepeopleneededto
go through. It says in chapter 1, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to
inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them” (Joshua 1:6 ESV). I think that it takes
so much faith and constant spirituality to trust the Lord with big tasks handed to you like this.
Especially a task such as, you will conquer this land. Something that is shown in the first 5
chaptersof Joshua isthe spiritual preparation thatthe people needed to gothrough. It saysin chapter
1, “Bestrongandcourageous,foryoushallcausethispeopletoinheritthelandthatI
swore to their fathers to give them” (Joshua 1:6 ESV). I think that it takes so much faith and
constant spirituality to trust the Lord with big tasks handed to you like this. Especially a tasksuch
as, you will conquer this land. I know myself and I would have been terrified and told God that I
wasn’t the best for the job, that someone else was better, but Joshua listened to God. The first
place that needed to be conqueredwas Jericho, and this was where the walls came tumbling
down. For 6 days, Joshua and his army marched around the city and on the seventh day,
thewallsfelltotheground.Intotal, therewere31citiesthatwereconquered;Jericho,Ai,Jerusalem,
Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, Eglon, Gezer, Debir, Geder, Hormah, Arad, Libnah, Adullam,
Makkedah, Bethel, Tappuah, Hepher, Aphek, Lasharon, Madon, Hazor, Shimron-meron,
Achshaph, Tannach, Megiddo, Kedesh, Jokneam in Carmel, Dor in Naphath-dor, Goiim inGilgal
and Tirzah. There were still nations that had not been conquered, but those were for the people
after Joshua’s time. Joshua knew what he did was all because of God and he praised him for that.
HewarnstonottakethecovenantGodgaveforgranted.Everythingthatisgiventousis a blessing from
God. Everything that Joshua had conquered was because of God and for him.
Thebookof Judgestakesplaceover 350yearsinJewishhistory. Inthebook, “What’sInThe Bible, by
R.C. Sproul and Robert Wolgemuth, it states that, “Judges describes a transitional period of
Jewish history where Israel existed as a loose confederation of city-states” (85).
Because there was no one leader to rule the country, it was led by various groups which were
called the Judges. These were a set of rulers appointed by the Holy Spirit to bring Israel from
their enemies. Somemajor characters in thebookof Judges are, Samuel, Samson andDeborah.
Samuel showed priestly duties, Samson showed military leadership and Deborah showed the
skillsneededinordertobeadministrative.ThisbookisallaboutGod’sgracefor usbecausewe
arehumanandweallhavesinfulnatures.Eventhoughalotoftimesusashumansarefaithless, the book of
Judges shows how even when we are faithless, God is faithful.
United Monarchy
This was the first time that instead of not having any ruler, the Israelites demanded to have a
king. The first king that the Israelites had was Saul. Saul was a handsome man, but he was an
arrogantman.Hedidn’tcarewhatGodhadtosay,hewantedthingsdonehisway. BecauseSaul was not
faithful to God, God removed the blessing that he gave to Saul.
TheDividedKingdom
The divided kingdom started like a snowball effect. One thingled tothe next. There weremany
issueswiththepeoplethatKingSolomonhadhired, Jeroboambeingoneofthem.Jeroboamhad a
prophet tellhimthat he was goingto takeover asking and not Solomon’s son. Solomon heard this
news and was furious and Jeroboam fled Israel to Egypt until he knew that Solomon was dead.
When Solomon’sson had overtakenthethrone, Jeroboam hadreturned back toIsrael.The elders of
Israel were fans of Jeroboam and not Rehoboam, Soloman’s son. A total of 10 tribes had left
King Rehoboam to follow Jeroboam. From that moment on, Israel was divided. This is when the
prophet, Amos, had declared that God would bring back the fallen people of David.
Yet again, God always prevails. He is the one who has continually restored hope and keep the
promisesthathehasmade.SomemajorprophetsduringthistimeperiodwereElijah,Isaiah, and
Jeremiah. Elijah was the most noteworthy prophet to the history of the Israelites. The Israelites
had completely lost the promise that God made to the Patriarchs. They had also forgotten about
God and how he delivered them from captivity. They completely took the life they had for
granted. They had stopped worshipping God and giving him thanks for all the blessings in their
lives. Elijah was the first and the most magnificent messenger to God’s people. He exemplifies
God’s message of judgment for sin and promised forgiveness. Isaiah was called by God to be
God’s mouthpiece. In chapter 6 of Isaiah, we see the conversation between God and Isaiah.
Isaiah wasmoved by thepersonal callon hislifebecauseherealized that in order todo workfor
thekingdomof God,heneedstoworkonhimselffirst. R.C.SproulandRobertWolgemuthsaid, “The
book of Isaiah is filled with glimpses of the coming Messiah, words that would have been hard
to understand or believe in the midst of severe judgement” (128). Isaiah’s works 100 percent
anticipated the coming of the Messiah. Jeremiah had such a tender heart. He allowed things that
broke God’s heart to break his because he knew it was breaking God’s heart.
Jeremiah’s call was not only to his nation, but to all the nations. Jeremiah’s ministry lasted for
over 50years.EventhoughJeremiah’sministrywaspainfulandhard, heknewthatwhathewas doing
was right because he knew he was pleasing his Savior.
Exile
The beginning of the Exile started in 722 B.C. when Israel fell to the Assyrian’s. The Jews had
justfollowedalifeofdisobedience,idolatry,andsinfulness.Foreignpowershadbrokenthrough the
borders and came andkilled anddestroyed andcaptured God’s chosen people. TheSouthern
Kingdom, also known as Judah, had survived for more than 140 years but was eventually taken
over by the Babylonians in 586 B.C..
ThePost-ExilicPeriod
The Post-Exilic Period arethe books of, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Malachi. Ezra is thebook
after the70-year exileperiod.Thebookisabouttherestorationofthetempleandthereformation of the
people. The book shows Gods sovereignty through the exile period. Nehemiah is thebook is truly
an example in how even though there could be great leadership on Earth, the people on Earth
arestill in need of a Savior and that is Jesus Christ. Nehemiah preserved theTemple of all
the evil, because he was doing it for God. He showed how God is a forgiving God and wants
what’s best for his children. In the book of Haggai, there are 4 main messages, the first message
was rebuking, the second was recharging, the third was ruling and the fourth was reigning. The
peopleduringthistimehadmisplacedtheir priorities. Theydevotedmoretimetothemselvesand their
own personal issues rather than focusing on God. The recharging message in Haggai chapter 2
had to deal with the blessings that God had in store because the people had finally started
focusing on God again. The ruling message was also to show how God would bless his people.
The fourth message of reigning was that God was going to bless the ruler of Judah. The book of
Malachi was teaching how to repent from your sins. People had questioned God’s love for
themandinthisbook,itwasrestated. Peoplehadstartedquestioningmanythingsaboutwhat God had
said about worship, divorce, justice, tithing, and rewards. Also, God’s messenger was promised,
the prophet Elijah.
Bibliography
Hindson, EdwardE.,andGaryYates,editors.TheEssenceoftheOldTestament:A Survey.B&H
Publishing Group, 2012.
Sproul,R. C., andRobertD. Wolgemuth. What'sintheBible: aOne-VolumeGuidebooktoGod's
Word. Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2000.
