Old Testament Stories

When Jacob and Esau were born, they were extremely different despite being twins. Esau was robust and red headed while Jacob was meek and small. “When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau. After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob,” (Genesis 25:19-34). Jacob was a trickster. He covered himself with the hide of a lamb to mimic his brothers appearance and take his blessing as the first born. “So Jacob went out and got the young goats for his mother. Rebekah took them and prepared a delicious meal, just the way Isaac liked it. Then she took Esau’s favorite clothes,

She became Isaac’s wife and conceived twins, favoring Jacob and thus aided him in getting his father’s blessing

“Now Israel [Jacob] 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).

Joseph began his life as the favorite son of Jacob who tended to the flocks as a shepherd.3 These humble beginnings foreshadow how one day Joseph will tend to the Seed of the Woman during times of famine in the land by giving food to this eleven brothers. Jacob, who was the son of Isaac, had eleven other sons who were jealous of the special attention that Joseph received. In fact, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.4 Joseph had a dream that predicted that Joseph would one day reign over his older brothers. This upset his brothers and they tricked Joseph by selling him into slavery. Joseph was then taken to Egypt where he was sold to Potiphar and became a servant in

Let’s talk about the world about 2,000 years ago. It was a world where the mass of people were illiterate, taxes were extremely high, and the leaders would cheat and kill to feed their ever growing need for power. We all can relate to having a good storyteller in our lives, most were read to at night by their parents or are parents themselves that read to their children. What is the purpose of storytelling? It’s simple, comfort. A good story can ease your psychological unrest as well as offer a moral purpose. Sometimes you can even relate a story to your own life and offer an explanation to something you may be experiencing. This is exactly what the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were. They told their stories of Jesus to offer comfort to their people in a time when people could not pick up a story and read it themselves. It is part of human nature to have the desire for a good story. This paper will describe several events that were written by great storytellers in the bible.

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. … And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (King James Bible. Genesis. 2. 7-22). And so, God created the first family of many. While Adam and Eve had an idyllic relationship in the Garden of Eden, not all families can boast of a two-parent household with a loving family dynamic. Both within the King James Bible, within other novels, and even within real life, each family has a different way of living and dealing with the situations that arise to try to tear them apart. Quite often, connections can be found between the everyday life of characters in novels, and the lives of those that are written into the Bible, to be forever remembered. Sibling arguments, not respecting thy father and mother, and transiency are a few of many ways the Bible can be used to understand what is occurring in the lives and families of the characters.

Since its original publication in 1930, the novel As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner has drawn much exploration and critique. Though this analysis is very far reaching and broad in topic, one interesting route of investigation is the novel's connection to the Old Testament. One does not have to be a Christian to study the similarities in theme; there are very many occurrences of biblical subject matter and correlation, these having been studied by student and scholar alike. The Old Testament is known commonly as the more historical part of the Bible; it sets up the background knowledge to the New Testament and gives readers an idea of the nature of the times. Many general themes of the Old Testament are reflected in the Bible as a whole,

Joseph was the first born child of Rachel and because he was born to Jacob in his old age, Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons and made Joseph a richly ornamented robe, therefore Joseph’s brothers hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. Joseph also had dreams that indicated that he would reign over his brothers and this caused more hatred toward him. His brothers were jealous of the love that he received from their father and because of his dreams. Consequently, Joseph’s brothers plotted to kill him but instead they sold him to some Ishmaelites that were passing through to Egypt.

The dream depicts the sun, moon, starts, and eleven planets kneeling before him. Joseph has eleven brothers whom are all the prophets of Jacob. Once they discover the dream they construct a plan casting Joseph as a slave into the land of Egypt and out of the land of Canaan. Looking at this from a biblical stand point, Jacob holds it true his son could be dead. Therefore, for days he grieved his son. However, the Quran states his sons are lying and patience is important standing in his position. His father further says when you accept Allah he can help you when you look to him for answers. Through Joseph’s brothers sins, mistrust, and dishonesty, Allah is the all-powerful and supreme being. He is to look at him in times of

There are many connections linking the Old Testament and the New Testament. These connections are formed to parallel Jesus Christ in the Gospels from the stories of the Old Testament. These examples are used to show the truth of the Old Testament and to present the fulfillment of Jesus Christ. A few of these examples are Moses and the Pharaoh and Jesus and King Herod, Lamb of God and Passover, Moses and the Burning Bush and “I AM” statements, and finally, the parting of the Red Sea and Jesus Christ’s baptism. All of these examples are shown in the Old and New Testament and are shown as miracles because these parallels happened years apart from each other. This is the fulfillment of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

The first part of the story, Jacob sends his family away with everything that he had, leaving him alone. Jacob then wrestles with a man and when the man realized he was not going to win, he struck Jacob’s hip socket. Jacob demanded to be blessed by this man, who changed Jacob’s name to Israel. Jacob then named the place Peniel and stated, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The passage concludes with a statement about the Israelites and how they do not eat the thigh muscle on the hip socket because of this incident.

Another brother story in the Bible is that of Esau and Jacob. The prophecy of these brothers was that the younger would rule the elder. Esau was a hairy man that was skillful in the hunter – gatherer ways and Jacob was somewhat of a “mamas boy”. One day while their father Isaac was dying he told Esau that he would bless him. Jacob then deceitfully went into the place of his father and was blessed as if he was Esau. When Esau returned he was very upset and was going to kill his brother. Jacob fled and was out of touch with his brother for a long time. Then Jacob sent word to meet his brother again and heard that Esau followed by 400 men were coming to him. Afraid and distressed about what Esau might do, Jacob had a dream in which he wrestled with God and was there blessed. With the new name of Israel he met his brother Esau and gave him many gifts. Esau came to his bother in open arms not needing any gifts because the only gift he wanted was to see his brother. Again united Esau and Israel showed that being brothers was more important than any childhood feud.

While Jacob is on his way to Haran, God finally decides that it is time to introduce Himself to Jacob. He speaks to Jacob for the first time in a dream, during which God tells Jacob that, “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go...I will not leave you until I have done [the promises] of which I have spoken to you” (Gen 28:15). Interacting with Jacob in such a way, and telling him that God will keep him instills within Jacob a sense of security. Jacob can continue on his journey without worry as, even though Jacob has yet to receive other aspects from the blessings, God is with him and God will keep him. Following the dream, when Jacob wakes up, he makes a vow where he says that, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go...then the Lord shall be my God…”(Gen28:20-21). Jacob’s vow [FINISH THIS].

One of the inherent conflicts in the story of Joseph is the tension between Joseph and his brothers. The tension between them is caused by both Jacob and Joseph. First, Jacob shows favoritism toward Joseph, because he is the son of his favorite wife Rachel. Second, Joseph brings back bad reports when he is out pasturing with his brothers. However, what truly increased the hatred and jealousy was the Joseph’s dreams. The author notes that when Joseph recounts the dreams, “they hated him even more (Gen. 37:8).” Their jealousy for Joseph is strong enough that they are willing to murder him. However, they decide to instead sell him into slavery, and convince Jacob that he was killed.

During the early stages of the cycle, God works through Jacob’s mother, Rebekah, to do much of His