The Old Testament In Brief Review

Not one reader took on the challenge I left you with yesterday.  So let see what we learned about God in the first part of the Bible.

I will begin at the beginning, after God created:  “...in the image of God he created them; “male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over’…….”(Gen. 2)

A verse that has been totally taken out of its context.  

To “have dominion” and to “subdue” are not adequate translations.

In my simple study “subdue” generally means: The right ordering of priorities, bring under God's control.

To have “Dominion” is To take God’s stance over all of nature. 

You see the problem is that some people don't read carefully this charge.  Which is:

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness and let them have dominion over fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creep upon the earth.” (Gen. 2)

That is to say, to live as God’s image, of what was called in the beginning, very good.

Soon after God gave humans the responsibility of, I’ll say, taking care of all God had made.  He quickly learned that the human mind didn’t get the concept  'to care for…..'

So God put Noah, and two of every kind, in the Ark.  And proceeded to destroy all that He had made; because the male and female had screwed up God’s purpose for the world.

Instead of taking care.  They took charge over -- over both nature and human.

In the next chapter God sends Moses down the mountain with Ten Words of, seemingly clear, advice on how to live together. (Exodus 20)  That the people promptly ignored.

Then we read of a puny shepherd boy who went into battle with, the evil Philistines Giant, Goliath;  armed with just a slingshot and three stones.  Winning, for a moment, peace (1Sam. 17).

The entire book of Isaiah is filled with the prophesies against the unfortunate behavior of God’s people’s oppressive and arrogant habits.  

Read Isaiah chapter two where the prophet calls for peace with his famous words:

^4….they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,

   and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

   neither shall they learn war any more. 

The conflict, between God and His wayward people, can be clearly read, over and over, throughout Old Testament scripture.  

It is a continual game of what I call,  ’Sin, Repent and Forgive.’

That is a very  brief summery of The Old Testament.  And my-take is that God finally Got tired of the game.  So He decided to come to earth in baby Jesus skin.

But before that he gave an extremely point suggestion for all to understand.  

⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

   and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

   and to walk humbly with your God?(Mic. 6) 

To be continued