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God’s Story of Salvation
The Pentateuch: Overview for New Bible Students
Purpose: To be able to explain the content of Old and New Testament books for a new Bible student, but do it in a way that explains God’s Story of Salvation.
Summary: The first five books is what the Jews referred to as the Torah, or the Law. All five books were called the “Law of Moses” by Jesus, and thus Moses was the author (Luke 24:44). These five books were originally spoken to Israel so they could understand who God is, and their unique identity and mission from him.
Genesis 1-2: God’s Eternal Intentions
- God created man in his image (“icon”). We are intended as God’s image-bearers, filling the earth with his image (1:26-28). We are also created like him in order to live with him.
- God “rested” the 7th day and created the Garden in which he and man can dwell together. Hebrews tells us the 7th day has never ended and we still have an opportunity to enter God’s rest and dwell with him forever.
- Marriage was also given as a gift from God with the ultimate plan of a similar relationship between man and God (Eph. 5:32).
Genesis 3-11: Sin Fractured the World
- Three curses now dominate the world:
- Death
- Painful childbearing and raising (to produce image-bearing offspring)
- The ground (the is corrupted; man cannot rest)
- 3:15 God’s prophetic response to sin: the offspring of the woman will defeat the Serpent and his offspring. The battle is on!
- God judges a sinful world in the Flood. Only eight are saved, but sin again dominates.
- The purpose of the Flood is to show how God’s heart has been broken over humanity and that God restarted the world with a new Adam (Noah). However, God also foreshadows another world judgment for those who reject Jesus.
Genesis 12-50: God Promised to Reverse the Curses Creating a Nation from a Dead Couple
- Through Abraham/Sarah the world will be blessed.
- The curse is illustrated in the barrenness of Sarah. The birth of Isaac illustrated how God would bring life to a dead world. Man has no power to save himself from judgment.
- Salvation would come through Abraham’s offspring, Isaac. Jesus will be of this lineage and will be born of a virgin: life only comes from God’s power.
- God blessed the offspring of Abraham: Isaac–Jacob (Israel)–12 sons–Israel nation. God also cursed those who try to destroy the offspring of Abraham.
- God saved the family from famine by bringing them to Egypt. The family and the future nation would not survive without God’s promised blessing.
Exodus 1-18: God Blessed the Nation by Delivering Them from Slavery
- Israel is enslaved. Pharaoh exemplifies the work of the Serpent: cruel bondage. It is picture of the results of sin.
- Women become the means by which God provides deliverance: midwives, Miriam, Pharaoh’s daughter, Zipporah (Cf. Gen. 3:15).
- Moses foreshadowed Jesus as Lawgiver and Deliverer.
- God used two pictures to foreshadow the world’s deliverance from sin:
- The Passover (blood is shed): Jesus is now our Passover Lamb.
- Red Sea crossing: Paul described this as a baptism, separating the old life from the new (1 Corinthians 10:1-4).
Exodus 19-40: God Renewed His Promise to Dwell with Man
- A covenant is made summarized by the 10 commandments: keep the covenant, find mercy, and live. Break the covenant and you will return to bondage and die.
- Instructions for a tabernacle so that God’s would again dwell with his people (mercy, protection, blessings, and marriage relationship).
- When completed, God’s glory fills the tabernacle
Leviticus: “Without Holiness, No One Will See the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14)
- “Holy” is used 95 times indicating that God cannot dwell in the presence of his people if they are not “holy as he is holy” (Lev. 11:45). Only God can solve this problem.
- Man’s “uncleanness” is illustrated by man’s physical conditions (illness, death, foods, etc.). “Unclean” used 128 times.
- Two primary principles:
- Man cannot approach God in worship unless he uses that which is holy (whatever God designates as holy). See Leviticus 10:1-10
- Man cannot dwell in the presence of God unless he lives a holy life lest he die (Lev. 24:10-16). Only God can make him holy.
- Five sacrifices give us a picture of Jesus as the perfect sacrifice:
- Burnt (offered completely)
- Grain (Jesus proves true spiritual bread)
- Fellowship (Jesus brings us to God for an eternal fellowship meal with God)
- Sin Offering: Jesus makes it possible for our sins to be take away
- Trespass Offering: Jesus takes away the eternal consequences of sin
- Day of Atonement: blood brought into the Most Holy Place once a year, thus reminding Israel that their sins have not yet been completely atoned. Jesus becomes the final atonement sacrifice.
Numbers (Hebrew – “In the wilderness”): Preparation to Enter the Promised Land Foreshadowing God’s Rest
- The men are numbered for war: 603,550 age 20 and up.
- Kadesh: the border of the Promised Land, but only two men have faith to enter. The rest will die in the wilderness over the next 38 years.
- Judgment is illustrated through those who do not trust in God. It is God’s power to save. Without trust in him, death is the result. Failure just like the Garden.
- The children of the faithless are numbered (601,730). These will enter Canaan and conquer. Because of the sins of the Canaanites, the land is “vomiting” them out. Israel is warned of the same end.
Deuteronomy: Moses’ Final Speeches Preparing Israel for the Promised Land
- “It was an eleven day journey…and in the 40th year…”
- “Remember and obey” – remember the consequences suffered by your fathers.
- Preparation for life and worship in the Promised Land
- Warnings against idolatry
- “Be careful to obey” – warnings against changing God’s commands in worship
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and teach your children
- Prophecies of Israel’s failure to keep God’s covenant.
- Curses are pronounced
- Their end will be a return to bondage
Joshua – 2 Kings is the fulfillment of the prophecy. Israel rejected the Lord and are removed from the land (just as from the Garden), and they return to captivity.
Message: Man cannot keep the law. Sin always dominates. There is something broken in the hearts of the people. They need a new prophet & deliverer, who will give them new hearts that will love, trust, and obey God.
Summary of the Pentateuch: God’s Unstoppable Purpose to Dwell with His People