The document explores the biblical narrative, focusing on the story of ancient Israel, its covenant with Yahweh, and the implications of human failure and divine promises throughout history. It highlights the themes of exodus, exile, and redemption, emphasizing the promise of a new humanity and the establishment of God's kingdom through Israel. Ultimately, it reflects on the consequences of Israel's unfaithfulness and the hope for restoration and a new creation under divine rule.

1. THE SHADOW
SPREADS…
CHAOS THREATENS TO RETURN,
BUT HOPES ARE RAISED …AND THEN DASHED
AS THE NEW HUMANITY IS CREATED AND THEN FAILS…
The bible as “story” # 3
December 14, 2017 @ St. Luke’s (D-D-O)

2. LOTR
“Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.”

3. WHAT IS THE “OLD TESTAMENT”?
•A STORY…
•About ancient Israel
• About the whole ancient world
• About the whole world; all of human history
•About YHWH (« Yahweh », i.e. the LORD)
• About what Yahweh has done to save his world

4. WORLDVIEW
•Who are we?
•Where are we?
•What’s wrong?
•What’s the solution?
•When will things be
put right?

5. “it is good”

6. EXILED
FROM THE
GARDEN

7. THEMES FROM GN. 1 – 11
• Divine blessing
• « Be fruitful and multiply… »
• Divine cursing
• « you will eat bread by the sweat of your face; you will have pain in childbirth; you will be a
fugitive on the earth »
•False starts …new beginnings
• Adam & Eve …
• Cain & Abel …Seth
• Flood …Noah and his sons
• Ham …
• Tower of Babel …Abram

8. Adam Abraham

9. IT’S TIME FOR THE WORLD TO
BE RESCUED
“Now the LORD said to Abram,
“Go from your country …and your father’s
house to the land that I will show you.
I will make of you a great nation, and I will
bless you, and make your name great, so
that you will be a blessing. I will bless those
who bless you, and the one who curses
you I will curse; and in you all the families
of the earth shall be blessed.”
(Genesis 12.1-3)
“Look toward heaven and count the
stars, if you are able to count them.”
Then [Yahweh] said to him, “So shall your
descendants be.”
(Gn. 15.5)
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful …and
kings shall come from you.
I will establish my covenant between me
and you, and your offspring after you
throughout their generations, for an
everlasting covenant, to be God to you
and to your offspring after you. And I will
give to you and …your offspring … all the
land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding;
and I will be their God.”
(Gn. 17.6-8)

10. THE PROMISE…
• A new « world » (i.e. « Canaan »)
• Innumerable descendants (= « new
humanity »)
• Source of « blessing » for all nations
• Everlasting « covenant »
• Binding agreement on Yahweh’s part
to always be faithful to Abraham’s
offspring (i.e. the nation of « Israel »)

11. A JOURNEY OF A THOUSAND MILES…

12. THE
NEXT
EXILE

13. YAHWEH & THE IDOLS

14. THE PARTNERSHIP
YAHWEH
• Promises …to be Israel’s God
• …to bless Israel
• …to protect Israel
• …to renew all the world
through Israel
ISRAEL
• Promises …to be Yahweh’s people
• …to be faithful to Yahweh (no
idols)
• …to keep Yahweh’s laws
• …to represent Yahweh to all the
nations of the earth
• …to be Yahweh’s agents of new
creation

15. THE LAW OF MOSES

16. BACK TO
CANAAN
(ISRAEL)

17. DAVID AND THE MONARCHY
“When your days are fulfilled
…I will raise up your offspring after
you …I will establish the throne of
his kingdom forever.
I will be a father to him, and he
shall be a son to me
…Your house and your kingdom
shall be made sure forever before
me; your throne shall be
established forever.”
2 Samuel 7.12-16

18. THE PROMISE
EXPANDED…
•Original promise
•New land, new people, everlasting
covenant btw Yahweh & Abraham’s
descendants
•UPDATE
•a descendant of David will always
rule over the offspring of Abraham…
and the whole world

19. THE PROMISE EXPANDED
“He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord has [the kings of the nations] in derision.
Then he will speak to them in his wrath,
and terrify them in his fury, saying,
“I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”
I [i.e. the king of Israel] will tell of the decree of the Lord:
He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
(Psalm 2.4-9)

20. THE DREAM
• The Creator will establish a new creation, his kingdom of healing
justice, which he will rule through the king of Israel, the nation
who is the new humanity which will demonstrate genuine
humanity to all the nations of the earth. The land of Israel will be
a new Eden, gradually expanding to cover the entire earth with
the “knowledge of the glory of the Lord”. Justice and peace shall
be the norm and even the created order itself – the entire
cosmos – will burst out in joyful praise to the Creator for his
goodness and for the sheer delight of being alive.
• “…the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (Is. 55.12)

21. « SIN » IN THE HEBREW BIBLE
• NOT primarily individual acts of immorality
• Wrong god = Idolatry (and the behaviour associated with it and
flowing from it)
• Wrong way to be human = Failure to live up to the calling to be God’s
nation amidst the pagan nations of the world
• “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought
you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my
treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be
for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation…” (Exodus 19.4-6)
• Wrong way of being in relationship to YHWH = Faithlessness to the
covenant (as embodied in the law of Moses)

22. JUDGMENT = ANOTHER EXILE
…BACK TO BABYLON

23. PAGAN IMPERIAL DOMINATION OF ISRAEL
(6TH – 1ST CENTURY B.C.)

24. CONSEQUENCES
OF EXILE
“Here we are, slaves to this day—
slaves in the land that you gave to
our ancestors to enjoy its fruit and
its good gifts. Its rich yield goes to
the kings whom you have set over
us because of our sins; they have
power also over our bodies and
over our livestock at their pleasure,
and we are in great distress.”
(Nehemiah 9.36-37)

25. CONSEQUENCES OF EXILE
• No LAND; even when back in land, dominated by pagan empires
• No KING
• No BLESSING; the idea of Israel being the special people of the Creator has
become a bad joke
• “You have made us the taunt of our neighbors, the derision and scorn of those
around us. You have made us a byword among the nations, a laughingstock
among the peoples. All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has
covered my face…” (Ps. 44.13-15)
• Israel has broken the covenant; Yahweh abandoned his temple (cf. Ezekiel 10-11)
and, by the time of John the Baptist, has been « gone » for 600 years…
• If there is no hope for Israel, there is no hope for the world…