In my last post, I suggested that the Bible should primarily be read as an epic story and not a list of doctrines. Obviously that claim begs the question: what is the story which the Old and New Testaments tell? In response to that question, I now propose to do the seemingly impossible: summarise the whole Bible in two posts! Prepare to feel slightly dizzy:
Creation, fall and promise (Genesis - Deuteronomy)
In the beginning God created everything to demonstrate his glory. That's why he did it; it all points towards him. As the climax of his creation he made a creature which reflected him in a way the rest of creation couldn't. This creature (whom the most discerning of you will have identified as mankind) was given the mission of multiplying and filling the earth in order to reflect God's glory in all creation (that's what being in the image of God means). Instead of obeying that command, mankind rebelled against God and was therefore cast out of God's presence. Along with the arrival of sin in the world, so came death and judgement (Genesis 4-11) most strongly represented by the flood and the scattering of the nations at Babel.
In Genesis 12, in the aftermath of God's judgement, God's mission of rescuing his creation was truly kickstarted. In order to do so, he chose a pagan worshipper called Abraham and promised to bless him. God promised to make Abraham the Father of his very own people, a people whose very purpose was to bless all of the nations.
God's promise to Abraham is absolutely massive. If you don't understand the significance of it, you won't get the rest of the Bible in all its fullness. Think of the story of the Bible as a bike; the promise to Abraham (Genesis 12-21) is like a wheel – it's what carries the whole narrative along. Without it, the rest makes no sense!
Anyway, to cut a long story short, Abraham has a son, his son has sons, they have sons and after a while God's people (Israel by name) end up being slaves in Egypt. Now God had promised Abraham that his people would possess their own land and so he fulfils that promise by using a man called Moses to set his people free from Egypt and to bring them into their land. On the way to the land, the people receive their aw from God which reveals what God requires of his people. The idea is that by living by his Law, Israel would reflect God's character and ultimately bless all nations (Exodus 20-40; Leviticus & Deuteronomy).
Conquest, Kings and Split-ups (Judges – 2 Chronicles)
After a slight hiccup (40 years of wandering in the wilderness for their grumbling), God's people take (partial) possession of their land (Joshua). Then comes the period of the judges (Judges) in which there is no centralised political structure in Israel and everyone does whatever they want. The book of Judges is basically a cycle of disobedience and obedience which screams out the message: Israel needs a King!
A King is exactly what they get (although they ask for one for the wrong reasons; c.f 1 Samuel 8). Saul becomes the first king of God's people, but he soon messes up and is replaced by king David, who is the king par exellence in the Old Testament. Under David's rule, the whole of Israel became united. At this point we get another incredibly important promise. In 2 Samuel 7, God promises David that there would always be one of his descendants on the throne ruling over God' people. Put that promise in your promise-log as along with the promises to Abraham, that is a huge promise!
Solomon, David's son, extends the kingdom of Israel even further than David, but because of his disobedience later in life, the Kingdom of Israel is split in two: the ten tribes of Israel in the North (the bad guys) and the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin (Judah for shorthand) in the south (the goodish guys). Following this split, Solomon's descendants (and therefore David's) rule over Judah and Jeroboam and his son reign over Israel. (1 Samuel – 2 Chronicles)
Extermination and Exile (2 Kings; 2 Chronicles)
Israel (northern tribes) falls away from God devastatingly fast and is destroyed by the Assyrian empire in the 8th century BC. About 150 years later (in 586BC), Judah is devastated by the Babylonians and many of God's people are taken into exile in Babylon. This period from the split of the Kingdoms to the Babylonian exile is dominated by the preaching of many of the prophets (Isaiah – Malachi) who keep predicting God's judgement if his people don't return to him. Judah listened to the prophets a little longer than Israel did, but ultimately they were both Judged for their disobedience to his commands – they were not blessing the nations by obeying God's law as they should.
That's a lot in one go, but here's what the situation is: Israel is now non-existent and Judah is in exile in Babylon because God has judged them for their unfaithfulness. But what about God's promises to Abraham? What about God's promises to David …
No comments:
Post a Comment