THEO I - Notes for Midterm

M I D T E R M 7
hiSTORY of SALVATION
I. OLD TESTAMENT
GENESIS
A. Creation story – (God put order and light in the chaotic world)
Adam and Eve – Wo/Man is the peak of God’s creation – because they are I+LoG! Created in the Image and (+) Likeness of God.
1. Adam
In Genesis 2:4b-4:25 Yahweh forms “Adam” (Hebrew, 'adam) from “earth” (Hebrew, 'adamah). The term in Hebrew refers to the first man/human (Gn 4:1-25; 5:1-5; Tb 8:6) but also to humans in general (Job 14:1; 1 Kgs 8:46; Ps 105:14; Hos 11:4; Ps 94:11).
Just as the first Adam was a man of clay, whose fall into temptation unleashed an enormous rupture in his relationship to God and his spouse and which smashed the “image of God” from within, so also the New Adam, drawn from the clay of Mary's virgin flesh, Christ the Lord (1 Cor 15:45-49; Rom 5:12-21) conquers sin and its powerful effect on the human, brings life, rejuvenates and restores our relationship to the Father and to one another.

2. Eve
The name given to the first woman by Adam, the first man (Gn 3:20).
According to the biblical narrative, Eve is the mother of Cain and Abel. As mother of these two sons, she is referred to as “the mother of all the living.”
She and Adam lost the happiness of the Garden of Eden through Original Sin. Through her primordial disobedience, Eve suffered sin and loss along with her husband Adam. Eve's disobedience, though, was supplanted by the New Testament obedience of Mary, the Virgin of Nazareth, and the New Eve.
St. Irenaeus, puts it this way: “The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her unbelief, Mary loosened by her faith.” It was Mary who reversed Eve's disobedience by her obedience.

B. Patriarchs – (earliest fathers)
- founders of the Hebrew nation
Abraham *Revelatory aspect—God is the one who took the initiative to Isaac call men.,;God is the one who makes the first move.
Jacob and The 12 sons of Jacob who ruled the 12 tribes of Israel.

Those nineteen leaders of the Israelite tribes and heads of prominent families who appear in Genesis from Adam to Joseph. Honored as especially significant patriarchs are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the patriarchal narratives in Genesis associated with them constitute the prologue to Israel's salvation history, and the period during which they lived is known as the Age of the Patriarchs.
The title patriarch used for David (Acts 2:29) was simply one of honor.

1. Abraham – The Model of Faith
He is the son of Terah (Gn 11:26) and the father of Ishmael (Gn 16:15) and lsaac (Gn 21:1-3; and cf. Gn 25:1-2).
Abraham's story is presented in Genesis 12-25.
The collection of Abraham stories in Genesis 12-25 can be outlined as follows:


12:1-9: Abram's call and migration from Ur
12:10-20: Abram and Sarai in Egypt
13:1-18: Abram and Lot
14:1-24: Abram and the kings
15:1-21: God's promise to Abram
16:1-16: The birth of Ishmael
17:1-27: The covenant of circumcision with
Abraham
18:1-16a: Abraham and the three guests at
Mamre
18:16b-33: Abraham intercedes on behalf of
Sodom
19:1-29: Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed
20:1-18: Abram and Abimelech
21:1-7: The birth of Isaac
21:8-21: Hagar and Ishmael are expelled
and rescued
21:22-24: The agreement between Abraham
and Abimelech at Beersheba
22:1-19: Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac
22:20-24: Nahor's descendants
23:1-20: The death and burial of Sarah
24:1-67: Isaac and Rebekah
25:1-11: Abraham's death

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The name Abra(ha)m itself is a theophoric name meaning “God [Ab, Father, a divine title] is exalted [ram].” The transition from Abram to Abraham marks the divine promise that Abraham is to become “the father of a host of nations.” The bestowal of a new name marks the beginning of a new moment in life, as in the bestowal of a new mission. (Remember the Popes?)
Abraham's place at the beginnings of Israel's faith is suggested in Exodus 3:6, 15, 16, where Yahweh reveals Himself to Moses as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

“Abram”
As a reference to Abraham, this name occurs only in the Genesis narrative from 11:26 through 17:4 and in 1 Chronicles 1:27 and Nehemiah 9:7. The name is a composite of two Hebrew roots, ab (father) and ram (great, exalted). It may be a shortened form of “Abiram” (“My father is exalted”).

a. The Call (Gen. 12:1-4)
God said “Go Forth from you fathers’ land to the land that I’ll show you, I will make you a great nation. . . I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you . . . all the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you. . . .” Abraham was from the city of Ur of the Chaldees.

Abraham went without knowing / asking God where to go, implies faith (Hebrews 11:18)
Abraham responded immediately with the three H’s of faith.
Head - believe
Heart - trust
Hands - obey

God’s promises to Abraham
1. Land flowing with milk and honey
2. Numerous Descendants
3. Nations/Peoples will be blest through you (Abraham) – (All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you). Ultimately through Jesus Christ (Mt1:1ff)

b. Covenant – a common practice during the time of the patriarchs
a. a commitment freely entered into
b. based on faith, love, and trust ( not a contract – legal basis)
c. made between two equal parties
d. permanent (not temporary)

Gen. 15:7-21 - God made a covenant with Abraham
– (I will be your God, and You shall be my people)
The covenant was sealed or ratified by
a. cutting five animals into two and they walked in between
b. All males should be circumcised (Gen. 17:10)
c. God changed their names
Abram – Abraham
Sarai - Sarah


Abraham’s faith Tested – (went to Egypt, the three visitors, showing of the stars, the sand) - the ultimate was the offering of his son Isaac
Abraham’s Faith: mixture of faith and doubt, certainty and confusion

Faith: Loving, trusting commitment of the whole self to God.
a. Faith as believing – conviction of the truth
b. Faith as doing- - obeying, doing God’s will (commandments)
c. Faith as trusting - trust in God

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2. Isaac – The Fulfillment of a Promise

Hebrew name meaning “he laughs” (He [God] laughs). The word is believed to be a shortened form of a word meaning “God laughs.”
In Genesis (17:17f. and 18:11-15) the name is explained in terms of Sarah and Abraham's laughter at the promise of a son to be born of them in their old age in fulfillment of the promise made by God that Abraham would become the father of many nations.
Isaac is the half-brother of Ishmael (Gn 16), the husband of Rebekah (Gn 24), and the father of Esau and Jacob (Gn 25:19-26).
In Genesis, Isaac remains a hazy figure who never comes into the forefront of the patriarchal stories.
Isaac then means laughter

Isaac + Rebekah –> the twin – Esau and Jacob

3. Jacob – The Beginning of a Nation
Hebrew ya'aqob: seizing by the heel, a supplanter). The name is believed by some to be a shortened form of the Hebrew Jacobel, “let God protect,” or Jacobhar, “let the God of the mountain protect.”
Genesis 25:26 gives a popular etymology of the name, viz., “he will trip by the heel.”
Jacob was the son of Rebecca and Isaac. He was the younger twin of Esau, from whom he purchased the rights of the firstborn.

Esau – reddish hairy, and hunter (elder)
Jacob – named Jacob because he was gripping his brother’s heel during their birth
Elder (or eldest) entitled to a birthright – with that right, one will inherit the blessings whether spiritual or material.
Esau – has the birthright (entitled to receive the blessings)
(sold)
Jacob – received the blessings by deceiving his father, with the help of Rebekah.

* Message: God’s blessing is a pure gift, not obtain by any human condition like right

Jacob fled to his uncle Laban (in Haran) because Esau wanted to cut his head

Jacob married: - Leah - - -(7 years of work for Rachel)
- Rachel

(struggle with Laban)

Jacob went back home with family. Along the way, he wrestled with a “man” who gave him a new name. On the occasion of this epic struggle with the “divine stranger,” his name was changed to “Israel” which means strong with God. The twelve tribes of Israel are said in Scripture to take their origin from his twelve sons.


Jacob had 12 sons with Leah and Rachel, and their handmaidens, Zilpah and Bilhah.

Names of the twelve who became the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel:

Leah bore Issachar, Judah, Levi, Reuben, Simeon, and Zebulun;
Rachel bore Joseph and Benjamin;
Zilpah bore Gad and Asher; and
Bilhah bore Dan and Naphtali.

Joseph – was his favorite son.

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a. Israel

The name given to Jacob, according to Genesis 32:22-32. The word came to apply as well to the descendants of Jacob, the Hebrew nation. The family of Jacob is variously referred to as “sons of Jacob” and “sons of Israel.”
It may be noted that the expression “sons of (a particular man)” embraced more than the lineal descendants of the man named. The word appears to designate not only the immediate family of Jacob but his more remote descendants also.
“Israel” generally refers to the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom as distinguished from Judah in the south. After the Exile, the word at times identifies the Jewish laity, vis-à-vis the clergy.
In the Synoptic Gospels (Mt, Mk, and Lk), Israel denotes the religion and the people. Paul makes a distinction between the physical descendants of Jacob, “Israel according to the flesh” and the Christians, “the Israel of God” (Gal 6:16). In the late B.C. and early A.D. periods, outside the Bible, Israel surfaces as a designation of Jews used only by Jews themselves.
In recent times, this is the name for the modern Jewish state which came into existence on May 15, 1948, following upon the United Nations partition of Palestine. The state of Israel borders on the Mediterranean to the west, Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east and southeast, and Egypt to the southwest.

*Firstborn (FERST-bawrn): 1. In Hebrew thought, the eldest son and the privileges and blessings which are his by right.




b. Joseph – the Dreamer
Out of jealousy, his brothers sold him to a merchant and the merchant sold him to Potiphar.
Potiphar – worker in the Pharaoh’s palace
- His wife attempted to “rape” Joseph and in the process told a false story. - Joseph was imprisoned

Joseph – a man of wisdom, God fearing
- interpreter of dreams
- interpreted Pharaoh’s dream
- was promoted as Governor of the Land (Egypt) - (acting Pharaoh)
- managed Egypt to reserve food / grain for the time of famine

• The famine affected Canaan, and his brothers went to buy food supply in Egypt where they discovered Joseph. That made Jacob’s family settle in Egypt until they grow in number.

Two sons of Joseph:
1. Manasseh – means God has made me forget entirely the sufferings I endured from my family.
2. Ephraim – God has made me fruitful in the land of may afflictions

* The Israelites grew in big number, and a new Pharaoh (who does not know Joseph) rose into power and made the Israelites slaves (because of his “suspicious prediction” or his own world view).

The New Pharaoh:
- made the Israelites slaves
- lessen the male
- kill all male babies
Moses – was saved from the killing & soon became a great leader of his People.
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C. Exodus – The Journey and Formation of God’s People (Exodus: Departure)

1. Moses – I “drew him out of the water” or “saved from the water.”
- son of Amram and Jochebed.
- adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh
- grew in the palace (as a prince)
- fled to Midian. Took refuge in the house of Jethro (Reuel) – the priest of Midian
- Married Zipporah, the beautiful daughter of Jethro. She gave birth to a son, which Moses named Gershom, which means “I’m a stranger in a foreign land.”

The figure or person we know as Moses appears for the first time in Exodus 2. Here the birth of Moses is recorded, along with his much-storied discovery by Pharaoh's daughter among reeds on the riverbank (Ex 2:3-10).
After growing up as the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter, Moses killed an Egyptian (Ex 2:12). Knowing he would be the victim of Pharaoh's wrath, Moses fled to the land of Midian, where he married Zipporah. Together, they had a son whom they named Gershom.

a. The Call of Moses: Exodus 3: 7-8 (burning bush)
While Moses was tending his father-in-law Jethro's flock, the Lord appeared to him in the form of a burning bush (Ex 3:2). At this point, God revealed His plan for Moses to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt. But Moses considered himself a poor candidate to lead the Israelites to freedom; therefore, God gave Moses an assistant, his brother Aaron (Ex 4:16).

God called Moses for a mission:
One day Moses led his flock to the far side of the desert, and came to Sinai, the mountain of God,. There he saw a mysterious bush, which was burning without consuming.
God called to him from the middle of the bush and said: Moses! Take off your sandals, for the place on which you stand is a holy ground… I have experienced the afflictions of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry. . . therefore I have come down to rescue them. . . and lead them into a good and spacious land . . . a land of flowing milk and honey… I send you to pharaoh to bring my people out of Egypt.”

- God’s assurance: I will be with you”
- Name? YHWH: “I am who am”
- Aaron: Eloquent Speaker – will accompany you
- Moses (& Aaron) went to Pharaoh – “Let my people go and worship our God
in the wilderness”
- Pharaoh: “Who is Yahweh that I should listen to Him?
I will not let your people go!”
Pharaoh: Ramses, or Ramesis which means “son of the sun god.”
Ra: sun god
Ses: son
b. The 10 Plaques
(God hardened Pharaoh’s heart for God to show him his wonders, for them to believe in Him)
1. Nile River turned to blood
2. the Frogs
3. Gnats / lice
4. Flies
5. Pestilence
6. Boils
7. Hails
8. Locust (eat green leaves)
9. Darkness
10. Death of all first-born male
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c. Passover Meal/preparation for Exodus towards the promised land.
- Passover meal: prepare the following:
1. Sacrificial lamb/roasted lamb – each family must take a lamb
male, one year old, and without defect.
2. Unleavened bread (no ingredients, mixture)
3. Bitter herbs (to remember their suffering in Egypt)
- Put the blood of the lamb on the lintel and post of the door.
- Eat the Passover meal in a hurried manner with your belt around your waist, with bags, sandals, staffs, like you’re preparing for a journey.
- Then the 10th plaque happened:
“The angel of death will passover your house because of the blood.”
- The exodus happened (Pharaoh allowed them to go)
d. From Red Sea to Mount Sinai
From the Red Sea the Israelites went to Marah, from Marah thety went to Elim, from Elim to Rephidim. Then finally, after three months after going out of Egypt, they came to the desert of Sinai, and pitched their camp in front of Mount Sinai.

Pillar of cloud guided the Israelites at day time
Pillar of fire guided them at night

While on the journey, God asked the following:
1. Offer a sacrificial lamb
2. Unleavened bread
3. Consecrate all the first born to God
(dedicate)
*They do this for every year to commemorate the Exodus event which they believed happened with God’s Help.
- they crossed the Red Sea (“reed sea”)
- they are now in the dessert (“stayed there for “40”years”)

Some food/miracles in the dessert:
- “Manna from heaven (“manna” – bread)
- food from quails (eggs)
- water purified by God (with Moses’ staff)
- They keep on complaining to Moses like murmuring (means lack of faith in God)
- God sent serpents to bite them and when they asked forgiveness.
- Moses lifted a bronze serpent to cure them.
- Moses went to Mt. Sinai (40 days/nights)
- They made a golden calf as their god.

e. The giving of the Decalogue (10 Commandments)
Under the direction of Moses, the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea and eluded the pursuit of Pharaoh's charioteers. Following their heroic escape, the Israelites made their way to the Promised Land. But, while out in the desert, Moses was summoned to the top of Mt. Sinai, where God gave him the Decalogue (Ex 20:1-17).

I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt
1. You shall not have other gods besides me.
2. You shall not take the name of God in vain.
3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day.
4. Honor your father and your mother.
5. You shall not kill.
6. You shall not commit adultery.
7. You shall not steal.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house/goods.
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True or False. Following the 10 Cs is enough for one to be a good Christian? ________
The 10 Cs is just a minimum / minimal boundary / guidelines, for us to be good
Ex: The rich young man in N.T. – be charitable

f. Sealing of the Covenant: (Renewal and sealing of the covenant between God and the Israelites)
Moses: mediator between God and the people.
He reiterated all the words of God to the people, and they answered with a solemn oath: “we will do everything that the Lord has told us”
They offered sacrificial lambs on the altar with 12 pillars representing the 12 tribes of Israel. - Half of the blood of the Lambs was splashed on the altar ---means God’s gracious forgiveness and acceptance of the offerings.
- Half of the blood splashed on the people, which means, they are bound by blood oath: life’s oath/ (pledge)

The Ark of the Covenant - Symbol of God’s presence
-Placed on the Holy tent

g. Forty (40) Years into the Desert
The Israelites’ life in the dessert was a period of “purification” since they were unfaithful, stubborn, kept on complaining like murmuring, golden calf, etc.
After 40 years of wandering all that generation died, with the exception of Moses, Joshua and Caleb. Then Yahweh said: Moses, climb the Mount Nebo and view the land of Canaan which I am giving to the sons of Israel. You may see the land only from afar but you cannot enter because you broke faith with me at Meribath-Kadesh.

Moses died in Moab: to have a view or glance at the Promised Land

*In the New Testament, Christ is presented as the New Moses, especially in St. Matthew's Gospel. Christ is the New Lawgiver, the One who establishes the definitive covenant between God and man – a covenant sealed in the Blood of the Lamb.


Aaron
Aaron was the brother of Moses, and three years his senior. With Moses, Aaron sought release of the Israelites from Pharaoh (Ex 5:1), and was confirmed by God as partner to Moses (Ex 7:1-2). Indeed, Aaron was to be the “prophet” of Moses, and was called to speak publicly, an endeavor in which Moses' skill was lacking. Thus Aaron was a prominent figure in Israel's liberation. It is he who, at God's instruction, brought plagues upon Egypt by stretching out his hand (Ex 7:19-20, 8:1-7, 12-13).
Aaron was the first priest of the Israelites, having been anointed as such by Moses (Ex 28:41, 29:9, 29:21; Lv 8); yet it was he who engineered the Golden Calf, and constructed an altar before it in response to the Israelites' request to “make us gods, who shall go before us” (Ex 32).
When the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron at Meribah, both prayed. But for doubting God's mercy to His people, Aaron was forbidden to enter the Promised Land (Nm 20). He died on Mount Hor, and “all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days” (Nm 20:29). Deuteronomy places his death and burial at Moserah (Dt 10:6).

Miriam (MIH-ree-uhm): Sister of Moses and Aaron (cf. Ex 15:20; Nm 12:1,15; 20:1; Mi 6:4) from whose name the N.T. name Mary is derived.

Decalogue Etymologically, a Greek word meaning “ten sayings.” Normally, it refers to the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God at Mt. Sinai (cf. Ex 20), inscribed on two tablets of stone (cf. Dt 4:13). In the New Testament, Jesus accepted them as the basis of His teaching and promised to carry them to completion (cf. Mt 5:18). (Cf. Commandments of God.)