Written: Sept 24, 2019
Last Updated: Jan 7, 2024
Chronological Summary of the OT
So, you are a devout Christian, and you want to read the whole Bible all the way through. You read about how God created the Earth and how the very first human couple (humanity’s ancestors) ruined it for all of us by eating the very thing that God forbade them from eating. So, even though they were the most favored God’s creations (as they were made in the image of God, and were given the authority over all other creations), they were told to leave the Garden of Eden, never to enter again.
Then you read about Noah and the Ark where God wipes out all of the living beings on Earth except Noah’s family and the animals that Noah brought into the Ark that he built. From then on, God issues the commandment to “be fruitful and multiply.”
A few decades down the road, God destroys humanity’s attempt at becoming god-like by destroying the Tower of Babel. The emergence of different languages in the world resulted from this incident in which God spread the people to different corners of the World and gave them different tongues. This led to massive confusion and disorder throughout the World.
God, then, calls out to the man named Abram whom he would later name, Abraham, which means the Father of many nations. It’s from this man that the people of Israel originated, and it’s from this man that the rest of the World, by faith in Jesus, can claim God as their father. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with the creations calling their creator their father. However, God’s covenant with Abraham is such that God chose to call Abraham’s descendants his own, thus making it an official adoption.
Significance of the Adoption
We can draw two lines of thought through this adoption.
The Obvious
A whole race of people, being called God’s children. How wonderful is that? Technically, all creations on the face of the Earth can call God, “Father,” as I stated already. However, the Israelites are a group of people that God had set apart and protected. Doesn’t that make them more special?
The Bible gives a perfect example of this concept in a man named Jacob (later to be named Israel). Jacob had two official wives and two servant wives (given by his two wives). His two foolish wives were competing over who could give him more sons. It was a means of winning their husband’s love, or so they thought.
However, Jacob’s heart was always with Rachael, the younger wife. This is beautiful, and yet, obstinately sad.
Jacob’s love for Rachael would even carry over to his sons. “Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age, and he made an ornate robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him” Genesis 37: 3-4. The Bible explaining Jacob’s favoritism of Joseph is only a partial truth. It is so because Joseph had a younger brother named Benjamin.
The greater truth is that Jacob loved both Joseph and Benjamin, for them being sons through Rachael his “favorite” wife. Jacob, simply, favored Joseph more because he was the older son. He favored him so much to the point of making Joseph more “special.”
As the above makes it clear, even though all human beings are created by God, we are not the same. Israelites are more “special” because they have been “declared” as God’s chosen.
This is an obvious line of thought.
The True Significance
However, the truly significant line of thought we need to focus on is slightly more subtle.
What we need to cycle through our hearts and minds is the very thought of God making his creations as his family. Read the Reality 1 section of Misconception About Free Will to supplement this post.
We should be in awe that God chose to adopt his creation into his Family. God told Moses (the prophet that brought the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt – more later), when he had asked God to see his glory (God’s Manifest Presence), “But you cannot see my face, because no one can see me and live” Exodus 33:20.
God was not threatening Moses with this statement, but he was plainly stating the truth. Moses would die if he saw God’s face, due to an overwhelming difference in status between him and God. As mentioned in the book of Genesis, humans were established as beings having authority over all of God’s creations because they were made in the image of God. However, having resemblances to God and being God is still that of Heaven and Earth.
Figuratively speaking, we are no different from being ants, as compared to the status of a God. And yet, God chose to adopt a man and his family and develop that family into a nation. He then sent his only Son to be born into Abraham’s lineage as fully human and yet fully God. The reason? First, to undo the sin of the first man, Adam. Second, to upgrade the relationship status from that of “God’s creation” to that of a relative (sons and daughters). Third, to upgrade the relationship status even further to that of a marriage or union in which the creations become one with the creator.
And the mentioned “True Significance?” Even the non-Israelites, as Gentiles, are also invited into the family as second-degree adoptees, by faith. This is explained by Romans 11:17, below.
But some of these branches from Abraham’s tree—some of the people of Israel—have been broken off. And you Gentiles, who were branches from a wild olive tree, have been grafted in. So now you also receive the blessing God has promised Abraham and his children, sharing in the rich nourishment from the root of God’s special olive tree.
New Living Translation
As the primary adoptees, the Israelites had heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, first. Then upon the unbelief of the Israelites (rejection by the Jews), the Gospel was given to the Gentiles (the rest of the world). What resulted is described in the above scripture, provided that the Gentiles believe in the Gospel. How is this not significant?
Continuing the Summary…
Before Israel became a nation, they were able to settle in Egypt as foreign guests. For most of about 400 years, Israelites had 1) been blessed by God and became numerous under the protection of Egypt, and 2) they had remained separate from the Egyptians, and thus preserved Israel’s lineage. However, all good things must come to an end.
When their number became too great, Egyptians started to see them as a threat. It would have been good for the Egyptians if the Israelites had assimilated into their society, but they remained pure and separate. Thus, they were turned into slaves so that Egypt could have better control over them through suppression. So, God raised a man named Moses and brought them out of Egypt.
In freeing the Israelites, God displayed numerous, miraculous signs and wonders to impress His Chosen People. “My children, I have missed you so much! I have left you under Egypt’s care for too long. I have, now, come to reclaim you and give you the land of milk and honey that I had promised your forefathers! Look at all the signs and wonders that I am displaying on your behalf. The Great I AM has come to get you!”
God displaying his great power was not, only, to exalt his Name. It was to make the Israelites realize how “special” they were for being sought out by an all-powerful God. But it was all for naught. They had forgotten God. They had learned the ways of the Egyptians and learned to worship foreign gods. So, at this point, to the Israelites, the God that had come to free them was no different from the foreign gods that they had known. In other words, they couldn’t distinguish between the true God and the false gods.
The Starting Point
This is the true starting point of the relationship between the Chosen people and their God…, and this article.
So, how will we go about understanding God and his ways by reading the OT? Even before that, is it even possible to understand God that we can’t even fathom? You may find it surprising that we find more about God than we anticipate. Why? Because, in more ways than not, understanding God and his ways are, sometimes, simpler than we think.
Let’s see God from the perspective of a craftsman. The nature of the raw material (human beings) determines what manipulation(s) the creator will apply to his desired end. For example, if we decide to make two statues, one wooden and one metal, we would, obviously, start with two different raw materials, wood and metal. And, because our starting materials differ, the tools we would use and manipulations we would apply will also differ, even though there may be some cases where tools and methods are the same.
Now, if we reverse the logic, we could probably guess the raw materials by looking at the tools used and the manipulations applied. The same principle applies to knowing God and his ways. It’s interchangeable. We know God when we know the manipulations, and we understand God when we understand ourselves! Therefore, if we know human nature, we would know the reasons behind God’s “training program.” Yes, the things and events that are written in the OT are examples of God’s training program for his people, but to be more exact, OT is an account of God preparing his children for the future where they’ll take on responsibilities of/as adults.
We know God when we know the manipulations he used, and we understand God when we understand ourselves!
Russel Kim TEoP Ministry
Troubled History of the Nation of Israel
To better understand how the OT served as a “training” period for the Nation of Israel, compare them with an orphanage kid. This is actually a justified statement. When they were living in Egypt, they had forgotten their Father, living like an orphan in a foreign country.
At this point, consider the difficulty involved in raising a child. Parenthood is not just about having a kid and feeding and clothing him until he moves out of the house. The parent must provide emotional support and instill in him moral standards that he will keep to his deathbed. But how many parents can say that they raised their kids without any difficulties? How many can say they would like to repeat the experience? I doubt many would say that, if any.
It is hard enough to raise our own kids, but how much harder to raise an orphan, a grown orphan? This is, practically, what God had to do! This situation is like a King going to an orphanage and adopting a kid to raise as an heir!
In the beginning, they were the honored guest of a powerful nation. However, after 400 years, they became an untrusted nuisance of that same powerful nation. They really were treated as an orphan kid the caretaker used and abused. How do you turn that kid into a Royal heir? How HARD is that for God, and how HARD is that for Israel? ( 🙂 don’t we usually look at an issue from one side?)
The Laws
There are sections of the Bible that people do not like to read. Those sections are sporadically spread around the parts of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Those sections talk about detailed measurements required in making God’s Ark and Tabernacle and garments for the Priests. All the descriptions are in words rather than in drawings…imagine that! Then there are civil laws, laws specific to the preparation of foods, descriptions of forbidden foods described as if in a biology taxonomy class, when to eat and when not to eat, laws on worshiping and sacrifices, etc.
For a nation that was left alone to do whatever, within the confines of slavery, the Laws were too restrictive. Not only that, they were learning the Laws while wandering through the desert, eating nothing but manna and quails. The Israelites constantly complained and rebelled throughout the whole journey. Needless to say, an entire generation of Israelites died off in the desert rebelling against God. A journey that would only take weeks (Egypt to the Promised Land) became 40 years of wandering in the desert.
The older generation proved to be too “rigid” for a new beginning with God. Therefore, the establishment of a nation had to wait for younger generations to mature.
Establishing a Nation
The new generation of Israelites, unlike their fathers, had become accustomed to God and His way of doing things. They, therefore, trusted in God and were able to take over the land that was promised to them. However, that still didn’t mean that they were “Heir-like.” They still didn’t truly know God, nor did they consistently depend on Him.
They, simply, didn’t have a culture of serving God. 40 years out in the desert was not long enough to develop a culture centered on their God. This lack of cultural foundation was made evident numerous times throughout the initial history of Israel.
From the time that they had settled in the Promised Land to the time that they were captured and exiled to the foreign lands was about 600 years. In that span of 600 years, Israelites had neglected their God time and time again and worshiped the gods of their neighbors.
Was not God vocal enough with the Israelites for them to neglect him? No, He had sent prophet after prophet trying to get them to repent and come back to him. It was not like God totally abandoned them. God came to their rescue numerous times, but they would only call on him in times of trouble, and would soon forget their God in times of peace and calm.
Modern-Day Christians
The truth be told, such is not too different from how things are today with a lot of Christians. We slack off in seeking God when everything is going great, and we go right back to seeking God when in trouble. This cyclic “habit” of Christians is so classic that there are even jokes about how the #1 tactic Satan uses to make us stumble is to give us everything that we need.
When asked, “What is the purpose of studying history,” what is one of the common answers that we give? We say that we learn about history so that we don’t make the same mistakes twice. The same concept applies when we are considering the “purpose of the OT.” OT is a history lesson, but at the same time, it is a lesson about humanity and the maturity of a group of people as a whole.
The Israelites, coming out of Egypt, were compared to an orphan, in the beginning of this article. However, it is more correct to say that the Israelites, as a whole, were an infant. By the time of the coming of the Messiah (Jesus), the Israelites are no longer infants but adults, at least in their awareness. If said in another way, events in the OT led the people of Israel to mature in God so that they were “primed” into receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is no different from children being taught about proper behaviors, and thus, behaving as their parents taught them, but such behaviors only continue into their adulthood upon them comprehending the reasons and realizing that the things their parents taught them were, indeed, the correct way of life.
Such is the maturation into adulthood, and it was at such maturity of his people that God sent his son to instill, in them, teachings that are fitting for mature adults, the Love of God – the Gospel.
Conclusion
We live in the days of the New Covenant, which corresponds with the teachings of the New Testament. As such, many churches put emphasis only on the New Testament and not so much on the Old Testament. In other words, they don’t even bother reading the OT. However, as my summary of the OT should have made it clear, OT is a resource that tells of how God raised his people. Also, it is a resource that tells us about humanity and can serve as a benchmark that tells us where or how our individual maturity should be. Just as the Israelites needed to mature, in order to, adequately, receive the Gospel, our individual maturity must, also, be at a point where we can properly live the Gospel that we have received, that was entrusted to us!
Russel
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