Waiting For The Land : The Story Line Of The Pentateuch

Moses is commonly accepted as the author of the Pentateuch; however, there are many labral scholars who believe otherwise; nevertheless, Moses plays a key role in this passage as he relays God’s word to Israel (Paterson). The audience of the book of Deuteronomy is recognizably the second generation following the

Along with providing information on the origins of the natural world, Genesis also provides insight into how the world was originally intended to function. After God was finished with his creative work, He declared that everything was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). At this point in time, all of creation was living in perfect harmony—until Adam and Eve sinned. After Adam and Eve gave into Satan’s temptation, sin entered the world and changed how the natural world functioned. Genesis chapters 3-11 show continuous examples of how sin infected the natural world. Animals had to be killed (Genesis 3:21 and 4:4), death entered the human race (as can be implied from Genesis

Arab and Jew Wounded Spirits in a Promise Land by David Shipler gives an in-depth looked in his time and experience in the Middle East. He is able to show how both Arabs and Jews have found themselves in the midst of an ongoing battle for power and control over land. They both found themselves, not being to live among one another. During this time in the 1980s some were trying to find peace during a time of hardship and gloom, but many were still caught in the normal life many lived filled with hatred towards one another.

Waiting for the Land, by Arie C. Leder, is an interesting book for a number of reasons. Leder does a good job looking at the Pentateuch as a whole story, and tying it into the narrative of the bible. Basically, the whole story of the Pentateuch covers the giving of the law (for the purpose of fellowship), rejection of the law, and departure from fellowship. Leder also states that the Pentateuch has a chiastic structure, with Genesis standing in contrast of Deuteronomy. Part of the Pentateuch discusses the Israelites complete failure to follow directions. For example, men in Genesis build a tower in attempt to “reach God” rather than pursue Him through sacrifice. Since Able knew to sacrifice to God, it seems clear that God did provide mankind with some kind of system for reaching out to Him, prior to the giving of the full law. Mankind took God’s earth, which was created for mankind to fellowship with God, and ruined it by following human impulses.

In justifying the selection of his theme, the first thing I feel I need to do is to identify who the patriarchs are and what the Pentateuch is. There are many patriarchs throughout the Bible; however, for this assignment, we can narrow them down to just three: Abram (who became known as Abraham ), Isaac ( the son of Abraham and Sarah ) , and Jacob ( the son of Isaac and Rebecca). Jacob’s oldest son, Joseph, was also considered a patriarch by some, but the three generations before him were considered patriarchs by all, so will will discuss just those three. Furthermore, the Pentateuch, which is also called the Torah is the first five books of the Bible.

The Four Hundred Years of Silence, the Intertestamental Period, is examined to explore the era when there was no word from God through the arrival of Jesus in the new testament, as well as the Israelites’ response to God’s silence and historical events during that time period, and the implications for early Christianity. Israel went into captivity as a result of their practice of disobedience to God but when they returned they continued to struggle with being obedient; their hearts were far from God. In response, during a period of 400 hundred years there was no revelatory word from God for the people. The ongoing practice and spirit of disobedience impacted the genesis of Christianity where the concepts of salvation through Jesus’

The Bible is Gods story. It is an account of His search for us. The story begins in Genesis at creation. Following creation we see the fall of Adam and Eve, which results in sin entering the world. Man was originally made to be fully dependant upon God however, now man comes under His judgement and have to live with the consequences of our rebellion. We lost understanding of God and began to create our own Gods, falling into idolatry and worshiping things of this world. However, God has always remained faithful and loving, despite our human brokenness. This paper will explore Ancient Israel’s journey throughout the Old Testament, exploring the themes of Gods faithfulness and power.

Exodus, meaning “departure,” is the second book of the Old Testament and Pentateuch. The book is made up of multiple, intertwined accounts and lists of regulations, recording the events of Israel’s deliverance from slavery in Egypt. The chapters cover the most significant events; for example: the introduction of Moses as leader; the differing signs from God; the Passover; the Covenant; and the formation of religious worship. Exodus portrays the moral, social and religious life of the Israelite’s, and establishes the main component of law in the Pentateuch.

The main purpose of this book is to demonstrate God’s mercy and grace to mankind. The people of Nineveh were wicked and deserved God’s anger. However, God was patient and tolerant with them. Jonah, a reluctant prophet, had initially run away when he received God’s call to send a repentance message to the individuals living in Nineveh.

Thesis: This paper will show principles learned to describe the purpose of understanding different biblical interpretation, rather than, expressing personal thoughts and emotions of Old and New Testaments.

The Pentateuch is comprised of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The word Pentateuch itself is derived of the Greek word penta, meaning five, and teuchos, meaning a volume/book (Belkum). Jews call the first five books the Torah, others call it the Law. Each book contains segments that fit together into the larger whole. These books are the theological framework, or backbone, for the rest of the OT and NT (Malick). Largely, the Pentateuch is made up of both narrative (history) and legal material (law).

Martin Noth was “the outstanding German Old Testament historian of the mid-twentieth century (Wenham 145).” Noth believed that in order to completely grasp the theology of the bible, we must first understand each little story and detail. Then we can begin to connect them into longer books, the Pentateuch. When studying the Pentateuch Noth discovered five themes that are constant throughout. These themes are Guidance out of Egypt, Guidance into the Land, Promise to the Patriarchs, Guidance in the Wilderness, and Revelation at Sinai. Looking through the Pentateuch these themes are very evident.

While there are numerous themes throughout the Pentateuch, in this writing, we will review six foremost premises. The first premise is that God has power over and created all the universe, and has entrusted its stewardship to humanity (Tullock, & McEntire, 2012). Secondly, due to humanity’s faithlessness and sinful nature, God is constantly judging them. Next, Israel’s relationship with God weaves throughout both the patriarch’s obedience and disobedience. Additionally, the covenant between God and Abraham promised great lands and descendants if Abraham would uphold his portion of the agreement. Also, the Pentateuch narrates the Israelites growth into a people, and their need for the law in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy (Wilcox, 2014).

The Pentateuch is mainly composed of narratives from Moses’ point of view. The Pentateuch is written primarily as a narrative because it depicts the first hand experiences that Moses encounters throughout His interactions with God and the leading that God does throughout his life in order to further His people. The way that the Pentateuch is composed influences the manner that we derive theology from these narratives, view the inspiration that is present in these narratives, and how we in turn apply these narratives to our spiritual lives as Christians. As William Sweet states, “Christian theology has to deal with underivable, original experiences whose linguistic articulation shows narrative features.”

The book of Genesis forms part of a series of ‘historical’ books that begins with the creation story and ends with the destruction of the kingdom of Judah (6BCE.) These narrated events are in a chronological sequence (Barton 2001:38).It is the first book of the Old Testament and Pentateuch (Barton 2001:12) . Jews name these five books the Torah or ‘the law’(Holdsworth 2005:71). The passage(Gen22:1-19) reveals God’s relationship through a trial with a major character, Abraham. Key themes that are central to the Pentateuch lie within the passage; the sovereignty and grace of God; sacrifice and obedience; the establishment and reaffirming of covenants and the redeeming nature of God. What lies before and after