Old Testament Survey (part two) -
Genesis; Job; Abraham, Dispensations, Exodus to Deuteronomy

Genesis Outline

The Fifth Dispensation      

In Genesis 12:1, the Lord appears to Abraham (Acts 7:2; John 8:56) and tells him to leave his family, his nation, and his government. God is now going to build a very separate nation where he will establish his own government and his law will be passed down from generation to generation. This culture of people will all stem from Abraham and his offspring.

“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation…” (Genesis 12:1, 2)

Israel
The purpose of the formation and preservation of Israel on the earth was so that God might communicate with and bless all nations. God told Abraham:

            “…you will be a blessing…all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Israel would bring other nations information that would help them better understand God and walk in his light. And through Israel would come the foretold “seed of the woman”—the one who would have the power to crush Satan’s head.

During the years 2000 to 1750 BC, Abraham had a son named Isaac who had a son named Jacob who had 12 sons. These 12 sons and their families were oppressed as slaves in Egypt for 400 years. At the end of that time, the 12 sons of Jacob had become 12 tribes of people. In total, they numbered 603,550 men 20 years of age or older, plus women and children. Moses led these men and their families to Mt. Sinai to receive instructions from God.

Those instructions included:

1. God’s standard of morality and righteousness
2. A sacrificial system by which he could teach them spiritual truths so they could obtain forgiveness
3. A governmental code they should use

God then led the people to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob more than 400 years earlier. It was in this land that Israel was supposed to set up their nation. It was from this land that Israel would become a blessing to all other nations. And it was also from this land that the seed of the woman would rule as the King of Israel and lead all nations on earth in a prosperous and righteous age known as the Kingdom of God.

During the years 1400 to 586 BC, Israel lived in the land promised to Abraham. But when the ten northern tribes of Israel became corrupt and started worshipping idols, God used another people group (the Assyrians) to remove the corrupt tribes from the land of Israel. This happened in 721 BC, and those 10 tribes have never returned to the land.

In 605 BC, God also temporarily removed Israel’s southern kingdom of Judah by allowing the Babylonians to take them into captivity. After 70 years in captivity, what was left of Israel returned to the promised land and rebuilt the capital city of Jerusalem. They stayed in the land throughout the Persian and Greek empires. Then, during the days of the Roman Empire, the seed of the woman, as promised in the garden, came through the family of Abraham to the people of Israel. He was a man named Jesus.

The leaders of Israel rejected Jesus and his “crazy” talk about the Kingdom of God. Jesus warned them that if they didn’t listen to him and believe, the kingdom would be taken from them. After several months of trying to talk to them, Jesus told them:

“I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people   who will produce its fruit.”  (Matthew 21:43)

The Jewish nation was going to be rejected by God and set aside, no longer to be his representative to the world. The group of people that was supposed to represent the Kingdom of God to all nations had rejected its king. That king would now call upon a new group to proclaim his message of truth to the world.

The Old Testament Books in Chronological Order:

Jewish Holidays (Leviticus 23)

What is the Torah, the Mishna and the Talmud?

• The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament.  This is the law the Jews lived by.
• The Mishna was the explanation of the Torah.  There were many questions concerning how to follow the Torah.  This teaching about the Torah was handed down orally until 220 AD when Rabbi Judah wrote it down in 63 volumes.
• The Talmud came after the Mishna was written down.  By the 400’s AD the Mishna, which was written to explain the Torah, became too confusing. The 63 volumes of the Mishna was explained in many more volumes called the Talmud.  The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishna.  There is a Babylonina Talmud and a Palestinian Talmud. Find the Babylonian Talmud online.
• The Tanakh is the Hebrew Scriptures, or the Christian Old Testament.

Old Testament Survey

The Old Testament is a collection of 39 books that are still considered scriptures by the Jewish religion.  The Old Testament, or the Old Covenant, records God’s covenant with Israel and the revelation he gave them.  One way of categorizing the Old Testament books is into five sections (three sets of five books and two sets of twelve books):

1. The Torah (Hebrew) or Pentateuch (Greek) are the first five books Genesis through Deuteronomy.
2. The Historical Books which are the twelve books Joshua through Esther.
3. The Poetic Books which are the five books Job through Song of Solomon.
4. The Major Prophets which are the five books Isaiah through Daniel.
5. The Minor Prophets which are the final twelve books Hosea through Malachi.

The Bible begins with fifty chapters in Genesis, the book of beginnings.   In chapter one the account of creation is given when Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth or the physical universe in verse one.  Elohim is the one of the Hebrew names for God.  The “im” makes the Hebrew noun plural but it is used as a singular when referring to the the Creator. In the second verse the earth is covered with darkness, chaos and emptiness.  The Hebrew “tohu wa ’bohu” is translated “without form and void”.  Isaiah 45:18 says uses the same word:

            “For this is what the Lord says – he who created the heavens, he is God; he who       fashioned and made the earth, he founded it he did not create it to be empty    (“tohu”) but formed it to be inhabited.”

 The rest of the chapter records Elohim separating the light from the darkness, organizing the chaos and filling the earth with life.

The dark, empty chaos of Genesis 1:2 may have been a result of the angelic rebellion recorded elsewhere through out scripture that would have occurred after the physical creation of Genesis 1:1.  Job 38:7 indicates the angels were in existence and observed the creation of the physical universe.  Jesus said he witnessed Satan fall like lightning to the earth in Luke 10:18.  Ezekiel 28:12-19 and Isaiah 14:12-17 also record the rebellion and fall of Lucifer.

God’s intention for the creative acts in Genesis 1 is fulfilled in the creation of man.  Man is placed in the position of rulership and responsibility in the Garden of Eden, the headquarters of earth.  Having been created in God’s image, the first man Adam is to serve as God’s representative on the earth while also living in complete fellowship with the Lord.

In the second chapter man’s free will is identified and he is forbidden to use his freewill to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil:

            “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the             tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
                                                            Genesis 2:17

The account of the creation of woman is very important for the establishment of the correct understanding of the roles, the differences and the equality of men and women.  Genesis chapter 2 says these things:

1. It is not good for a man to be alone without the woman.
2. Woman was made to be a “helper”.  The word “helper” means “to help or to aid as one helps the destitute by giving to one who needs what they have.”
3. Man was incomplete without woman.  Woman was created because:
1. She would provide a dimension that man did not have in himself
2. She would be different from man.
4. When the man Adam saw her he called her his equal by saying “this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”.

It is important to understand the biblical principle that men and women are created through out their beings to be different but were intended to be equal partners in God’s earth.  This is the way it was in the beginning in the perfect Garden of Eden.  We only hurt ourselves, our families and our societies when we do commit to:

1. Making a woman think, act, work and express herself as a man.
2. Treating a woman as anything less than equal to a man.

Chapter 3 of Genesis introduces Satan who is already in rebellion, on the earth and waiting in the Garden. Obviously there have been some significant events concerning Lucifer that have already occurred were not been recorded in the first 2 chapters.   Satan’s person and plan can be summed up in his very first words recorded in scripture: “Did God really say. . . “ (Genesis 3:1)  Satan’s entire strategy is to challenge God’s word and bring doubt or confusion to the hearts of men.  Eve begins to reason with Satan, questions God’s word, considers the advantage of going beyond God’s command and takes some of the fruit.   First Timothy 2:14 says the woman was deceived:

            “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and       became a sinner.”

The fact that the woman was deceived and ate but the man was not deceived but still ate indicates that Adam ate the forbidden fruit knowing that his actions were a statement of rebellion against the Lord.  Adam had joined in with the angelic rebellion by siding with their deceiver and leader, Lucifer.

Lucifer had rebelled against God before the creation of man and his eternal judgment had been pronounced.  Jesus referred to “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)  By joining with the angelic rebellion Adam and the whole human race also entered into their eternal judgment.  Paul writes:

“Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”  Romans 5:12
The Lord God (Yahweh Elohim) entered the Garden and pronounced a curse on the serpent and on the ground.  It is worth noting that the Lord did not curse the woman or the man but instead provided them with punishment and with a promise. The promise that God makes is so great that the entire Bible, the entire history of mankind even all of eternity pivots on.  The Lord God said to the serpent”

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring (“seed”) and hers; he will crush you head and you will strike his heel.”   
Genesis 3:15

The seed of the woman, or a man born from a woman, is going to crush the head or the source of the serpent’s authority.  Every advantage Satan has gained is going to be destroyed.  There are a couple other things to note here.  One, in the process of bringing the crushing death blow to Satan’s kingdom this victorious child of the woman will receive a similar blow to his heel.  The Hebrew words for “crush” and “strike” are the same and mean “to break or smite to pieces” and refer to a great injury. 

The second thing to notice besides the promise that the seed of the woman will crush Satan’s power and that the seed of the woman will himself receive a similar blow is what the Lord does next in the garden.  Adam and Eve had tried to cover up their exposed nakedness and shame with leaves.  But, the Lord took the skin of an animal and made clothes for sinful man and woman.  To take an animal’s skin means the animal was killed.  When we consider that the slaughtering of this animal would have been the first death in history and in the next chapter we see Adam’s children offering sacrifices we can conclude that the Lord used the animal’s death and sacrifice as an example for Adam and Eve to understand how the seed of the woman, the promised deliverer, would simultaneously destroy Satan’s power, receive a great blow to himself and deal with the sin that Adam had just committed.  The Lord had just revealed his plan of salvation that would be accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross.  These words were a promise of deliverance to Adam and Eve but a promise of destruction to Satan.  To stop the “seed of the woman” would become Satan’s number one priority.  In fact, along with Satan challenging the word of God in the hearts of people his other area of major commitment is to stopping or hindering this promise of the coming seed of the woman.  Satan’s activities through out time will be to:

1. Attack the word of God
2. Attack the seed of the woman or the source of that seed

We can easily trace Satan’s attack on the seed of the woman through out scripture beginning in the very next chapter:

1. Attack and murder of Abel
2. Attack the human seed with the Sons of God or the Nephilim of Genesis 6:1-5
3. Attack Abraham and the birth of Isaac
4. Attack the family of Jacob before they went to Egypt
5. Attack the Hebrews by killing the male children in Moses childhood
6. Pharaoh’s pursuit of the Hebrews
7. Fill the land of Canaan with giants to stop Israel from entering the land.
8. Attack the line of David including Athaliah’s killing of her own grandchildren in order to end the line of David which is the line of the promised “seed of the woman.”  The young Joash was hidden by the priests. (2 Chronicles 22:10)
9. Assyrian and Babylonian invasions, dispersions and captivities of Israel
10. Greek Hellenization of the Jews under Antiochus Ephipanes
11.   Herod’s killing of the Bethlehem boys
12.   Anti-Semitism during the church age
13.   Revelation 12 – The woman giving birth to a son that the dragon is waiting to destroy.

KEY POINTS (back to the top)

• After the fall of man, the flood of Noah and the Tower of Babel, God chose Abraham to begin a new nation that God would use to present his truth and his plan to the world.
• Abraham's nation was brought out of 400 years of slavery and given the Mosaic Law to guide them as a nation, live morally and preserve the spiritual truth of God's promises.
• The books of the Bible can be organized into a chronological order. Many times the books overlap each other which gives insight into the Old Testament.
• The Torah is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Mishna is an explanation of the Torah. The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishna.
• Satan has attacked the word of God since the Garden of Eden.
• Satan has attacked the word of God and anything that promotes the word of God through out time.

OTHER SITES (back to the top)

• Get Notes, Video or Audio of Galyn's verse by verse teaching through Genesis
• A Dispensational Chart
• Chronological Listing of Bible Books
• Arrangement of OT Books in the Hebrew Scriptures
• Good Reference Page with Charts and Notes (scroll down)

BOOKS from Galyn's Shelf: (back to the top)

• New International Biblical Commentary: Genesis, Robert L. Hubbard Jr. and Robert K. Johnston, Hendrickson Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1-56563-578-7
• The New American Commentary: Genesis (vol. 1A), Kenneth A. Mathews, Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996, ISBN 13: 978-08054-0101-1
• The New American Commentary: Genesis (vol. 1B), Kenneth A. Mathews, Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996, ISBN 978-08054-0141-7
• The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Genesis Chapters 1-17, Victor P. Hamilton, Willam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990, ISBN 13: 978-0-8028-2521-6
• The New International Commentary on the Old Testament: Genesis Chapters 18-50, Victor P. Hamilton, Willam B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990, ISBN 13: 978-0-8028-2309-0
• Expositor's Bible Commentary: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers (vol. 2), Frank E. Gaebelein, Zondervan, 1990, ISBN 0-310-36440-X
• Gleanings in Genesis, Arthur W. Pink, Moody Press, Chicago, 1922, ISBN 0-8024-3002-3
• The New Interpreter's Bible (vol. 1), Leander E. Keck, Abingdon Press, 1994, ISBN 0-687-27814-7
• Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Genesis, Derek Kidner, Inter-Varsity Press, 1967, ISBN 0-87784-251-5
• Genesis: A Commentary, Gerhard Von Rad, The Westminster Press, 1972, ISBN 0-664-20957-2
• Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch (vol.1), C.F. Keil & F. Delitzsch, Hendrickson Publishers, 2006, ISBN 0-913573-88-4
  

QUESTIONS (back to the top)

• Why did God choose to create the nation of Israel?
• List the 7 dispensations.
• Did Satan or Adam sin first?
• Who has Satan been trying to hinder since the garden?
  

TAKE THE TESTS

Chapter Tests:
Sect D, Ch 18 - Genesis and the Beginning

The city of Jerusalem (or, Salem) that was taken by David from the Jebusites.

Part of the Jebusite wall from the days of Abraham and Melchizedek.