Old Testament Survey Week 1

Old Testament Survey Week 1

Lord we establish this time and this place
in our hearts as holy ground
purchased by the precious blood of Jesus
Lord We make no provision for the flesh or mere carnal thinking,
but we instead, invite You to speak to us and through us… Lord.
Holy Spirit we give you free reign in this place.
We ask You Lord, to teach us, to lead us and to guide us
into all truth Lord.
We just thank You for what You are going to speak here this evening Lord, give us open hearts, open minds to be able to hear
what Your Spirit is saying too us
In Jesus Name, A-Men

Welcome to the Old Testament Survey.

Review of Syllabus

The purpose of the Old Testament Survey is to give us a greater knowledge of the Hebrew portion of the Bible
and therefore a greater and more intimate
knowledge of the Father’s heart.
The Father’s heart is expressed very largely
in the Hebrew Scriptures.

In fact the entirety of the scriptures Old and New Testaments, really bear witness to and lead to the presentation of Christ. So when we are talking about the Hebrew Scriptures or the Old Testament, we are talking about books that are going to reveal the Father’s heart; but also are going to manifest Christ.

Christ comes to manifest and fulfill all of the things that are spoken throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, given over a long long period of time.



So we are going to talk about the Hebrew Scriptures,
and also be talking about the covenant hear of God.

Hopefully by the end of this you
are going to have some knowledge of,
not just where the books are, not just what they are about…
but my goal is to somehow give you a sense
of God’s heart in the middle of it.

There are themes that run through the entirety of all the scripture. The theme that you are going to see over and over again, probably because I am maniacally fixated on it, is the table.

I could pretty much teach, and will teach
the Old Testament from the standpoint of three simple things

First of all understand that the image we are going to see
very, very, very often is the image of a table.

As we see this image of the table in the scriptures, we are going to see a couple of simple things about it.

First of all… God is a table God.
In other word’s He is a covenant God.
He lives at, actually a table within Himself.
Tables and covenant are the same thing.

Also there is an invitation.
That’s the second thing…

The first thing is that God is a table God.
The second thing, is that there is an invitation to us.
The invitation is for us to come to the table.

We are invited to come to the table
to find the very nature and revelation of the Father’s heart.


The history of Israel
is that God invites them to the table,
and they come to the table,
but then they walk away from the table.

When they walk away from the table, God responds by
inviting them back to the table.

He sends an invitation, a reminder…
He calls them back to the table again.

So the first thing again:
God is a table God
Secondly, there is
an invitation for us to come to the table.
Thirdly, there is going to be
a re-invitation to come back to the table.

We need to have an understanding
not just of the scripture,
but of the feel of it.

The scripture is written out of a cultural context,
the Jewish cultural context.

We need to understand something about that,
if we are really going to understand
what is actually happening in the scriptures.

Psalm 91

Psalm 91 says the one who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty…

This is a picture of the Mercy Seat

This Psalm was not written by David,
it is a Mosaic Psalm written by Moses.


It’s a picture of Moses looking at the Mercy Seat

Think about Moses who obeys all the instructions of God and God says, ‘here’s how to build the sanctuary’,
the tabernacle, the so-called tabernacle of Moses.
When it is all done, the last thing that is put in place
is the ‘aron’, the ark of the covenant, with the Mercy Seat on it
'ârôn 'ârôn aw-rone', aw-rone'
From H717 (in the sense of gathering); a box: - ark, chest, coffin.
The very first thing that God gives instructions to make (for the tabernacle) is guess what?... the mercy seat.
So at the very beginning in Exodus 25, God says to make the Mercy Seat, and the very last thing to be put in place is the Mercy Seat.
That’s the beginning and the end…
or the Alpha and Omega…
or the First and the Last…

The word mercy-seat
There is a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint
The word for mercy-seat is the word hilasterion
That word in the New Testament, in Hebrews and in Romans
Where it says that Christ has been set forth as a propitiation
(Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17; I John 2:2, 4:10)
which is a covering, which in the Greek New Testament is hilasterion
hilastērion (hil-as-tay'-ree-on)
Neuter of a derivative of G2433; an expiatory (place or thing), that is, (concretely) an atoning victim, or (specifically) the lid of the Ark (in the Temple): - mercyseat, propitiation.

Thus Christ Beginning and the End
He is the Mercy Seat, the propitiation or covering

There is a seamless connection between the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek Scriptures, between the Old Testament and the New Testament.

It is an amazing connection

It is difficult to separate one from the other.
Jesus is absolutely everywhere in our Old Testament.
He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
All the promises of God are “yes and A-men,”
In Christ Jesus…

Meditating on Psalm 91 where it says He who dwells in the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty… that’s a picture of the mercy Seat.

What would that be like to ‘live there?’
The Wings and the shadow
are from the shadow of the cherubim
who’s wings cover the Mercy Seat.
This is a great place to think about living.

We have to allow scripture to interpret itself.
As we meditate on the scripture
the Holy Spirit will give us images and show us

Here are the First few lines of the Torah
Genesis 1:1-4
1 בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים אֵ֥ת הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ת הָאָֽרֶץ׃
2 וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְהֹ֑ום וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃
3 וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֖ים יְהִ֣י אֹ֑ור וַֽיְהִי־אֹֽור׃
4 וַיַּ֧רְא אֱלֹהִ֛ים אֶת־הָאֹ֖ור כִּי־טֹ֑וב וַיַּבְדֵּ֣ל אֱלֹהִ֔ים בֵּ֥ין הָאֹ֖ור וּבֵ֥ין הַחֹֽשֶׁךְ׃

1In the beginning God created (carved out) the heavens and the earth.
2The earth was formless and void,
and darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was moving (vibrated) over the surface of the waters.
3Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness.

We are looking for a theme in these first few lines
for the entirety of all scripture.

God carved out the heavens and the earth.
The Spirit of God vibrated over the formless and void earth.
Then God says, “Let there be Light… and there was light.
This Light is Jesus Christ.

At the very beginning Elohiym is the Father
When you see the word Elohiym in the scripture you see
1- the creative aspect of God,
2- the Father heart of God

Elohiym happens to be written in the plural form.
Implying the Trinity.

In the Hebrew language
there are three numbers meaning single or plural

In English there are only two, singular or plural

In Hebrew there’s:
A singular – meaning one
A duo - meaning two
A plural- meaning three or more




In the first lines of Scripture
we are learning that God’s nature is a Trinity – He’s three!

Elohiym the Father has it in His heart to multiply (create)
Then the Spirit of God begins to activate (vibrate)
what is in the heart of the Father.
Then comes the Light, Jesus Christ…
He is the manifestation of what is in the Father’s heart.

We have the basic nature of community (communion - covenant)
right here in the first few lines of scripture.

God reveals His nature and His intention

The word for create (carve out)
in the Hebrew comes from the same root word for covenant.
create: bârâ' (baw-raw')
A primitive root; (absolutely) to create; (qualified) to cut down (a wood), select, feed (as formative processes): - choose, create (creator), cut down, dispatch, do, make (fat).
covenant: berı̂yth (ber-eeth') from 1262 - bârâh (baw-raw')
From H1262 (in the sense of cutting (like H1254)); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh): - confederacy, [con-]feder[-ate], covenant, league.

So from the very beginning
we see that God, is a covenant God.

A covenant is:
A promise A binding contract
A compact A relationship between people
A confederacy An agreement


God’s primary relationship is with Himself!

There’s a very fancy word perichoresis
which means “circle dance”

This was the first word used to describe the nature of God…
God is in a perichoresis
which literally means He is three ‘dancing within Himself.’

Perichoresis is a Greek term used to describe the triune relationship between each person of the Godhead. It can be defined as co-indwelling, co-inhering, and mutual interpenetration. Alister McGrath writes that it "allows the individuality of the persons to be maintained, while insisting that each person shares in the life of the other two. An image often used to express this idea is that of a 'community of being,' in which each person, while maintaining its distinctive identity, penetrates the others and is penetrated by them."

If you study sub-atomic particles under an electron microscope,
you will see the action of the electrons circling the nucleus –
they are in motion.
All of God’s creation is in motion!

God is in motion.


In fact He never stops.
He is in a ‘circle dance’ within Himself.
This is a picture of the Trinity…

What is God doing?
He wants to re-create…
He wants to multiply…
who and what He is throughout all of creation.

Covenant has to do with the table and intimacy.
God is a covenant God within Himself.
His very nature displays his heart and His intentions.

The Father Elohiym is the Creator
The Spirit of God
activates the heart of the Creator or the Father
The Light, is the Son of God
expressing all that is in the Father’s heart

John 17: I and the Father – we are the same thing…
I want them to be one, just as You and I are One.

God wants to bring us in to his very nature.
He wants to multiply Himself, to see Himself expressed in all of the things He has created (after His own kind)

If you are familiar with The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien…
He wrote another book
published following his death called The Silmarillian.
The Silmarillion is actually Tolkien's first book and also his last.
In origin it precedes even The Hobbit,
and is the story of the First Age of Tolkien's Middle Earth.
It shows us the ancient history
to which characters in The Lord of the Rings look back, talk, rhyme and sing about.
Tolkien worked on it, changed it, and enlarged it throughout his entire life.
It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien,
with the assistance of fantasy fiction writer Guy Gavriel Kay
to reconstruct some major parts.
Tolkien regarded The Silmarillion as the most important of his work, seeing in its tales not only the genesis of Middle-earth and later events as told in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but the entire core of his legendarium. He continued to work on them over the next several decades, revising and reworking his ideas, right up until his death in 1973.

The Lord of the rings is about “Middle Earth”
The Silmarillian was about the genesis of “Middle Earth”
Here is a picture presented in this work:
It describes this “creative force” Aluvitar
Who symbolizes God…
A creative thing in the middle
The nucleus of all there was
Aluvitar sings… he sings, and he sings, and he sings…
He sings about himself
Then he decides he want to have someone else sing
So he creates these angels called the orinai,
and he sings to them and they begin to sing about him.
After a long time they begin to harmonizes with each other.
So there is this picture of a myriad of angels
all harmonizing about the nature of Aluvitar
as they hover around this nucleus of His presence.
They are all singing in harmony with him
the author of creation.
He then sends them out,
so all of the void will be filled with the Song of Aluvitar.
So that everything that ever would be
would be a reflection
of that song about the nature of Aluvitar.

God is singing within Himself – that’s what creation is all about…
There is a song in Him – there is a nature in Him…
There is this incredible thing; the scripture says that God is Love…
That’s His name, that’s His nature

Love has to have an object!
God first loves Himself
If He didn’t, it would be ridiculous!
This is why there has to be at least three…
Love has to be shared…

There is this love song that God sings within Himself

He also puts that song in us.
The scripture says that He has placed eternity in our hearts.

God has put His song in us.
We then carry His song to the outermost parts of the world.

He calls us out to the darkness to the table…
He is a covenant God

He’s in covenant with Himself
And He calls us out of the darkness

Imagine there is a table
on it is the Hebrew Scriptures and an oil lamp

The closer we get to the table the greater the Light
The farther away we get from the table the less Light… it is dimmer.

God calls us out of the darkness and into the Light
He calls us not just to the light of knowledge,
but to the table,
to Himself,
into His presence

This is the whole story of the Old Testament…
It is the story of Creation

He wants us to be close to Him and close to the Light.

The scripture says;
If we say that we have fellowship with Him,
and yet walk in darkness…
then we lie, we don’t practice the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as He Himself is in the light…
if we come close to Him at the table…
then we have fellowship with one another
and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:6-8

The closer we are to the table the closer we are to the Light
The closer we are to the Light, the closer we are to Him.

From the very first line of scripture we see the Light of God
the very presence of Jesus Christ

The Old Testament is not
just about a whole bunch of Jewish fables…

The Old Testament is about the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The very last image of the New Testament in the Book of Revelation we see the wedding supper of the Lamb of God taking place at the Table.

It says, they are not going to need a Sun or Moon, because the Light of God, Jesus Christ will illuminate them… He will be the light!

From the very beginning of scripture He is the Light
To the very end of scripture he will be the Light.

From the Beginning to the End
He is the Alpha and the Omega
The First and the Last…
He is the One who was,
the One who is,
and who is to come…

That is who He is all the way through the Bible

He is the same today,
yesterday and forever…
He is not going to change.

He says “I am the Lord your God,
I change not therefore thou art not consumed, O Jacob.”

For I am the LORD, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
Malachi 3:6 KJV

It’s a good thing He doesn’t change.
We can count on that.

God is love and that love must have an object

The truth is that the object is God Himself

God loves, and wants His glory
to be shed abroad through us
who were created in His image.

The purpose of all creation is to glorify God,
to return and reflect His own nature
and image to Himself.

Everyone who is called by My name,
and whom I have created for My glory,
whom I have formed, even whom I have made.
Isaiah 43:7

We are of His same nature… although we are one, we are three?
Body
Soul
Spirit



1In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2He was in the beginning with God.
3All things came into being through Him,
and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
5The Light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend (conquer, overcome) it.
1 John 1:1-5 NAS

Everything was created by Christ
Everything was created for Christ

The greatest amount of darkness
is overcome by the smallest amount of light.

Christ is the light
and He is at the middle of the Table.

God is calling us to Himself,
to come closer to Him
to live in that place of Light and fellowship with Him

2in these last days has spoken to us in His Son,
whom He appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the world.
3And He is the radiance of His glory
and the exact representation of His nature,
and upholds all things by the word of His power
When He had made purification of sins,
He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Hebrews 1:2-3

God is a table God
The nation of Israel walked away from the table
So God invites them to come back to the table.
He is a God of reconciliation.

19namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not counting their trespasses against them,
and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:19 NAS

God says to us, “look, I’m a Table God
and the world is lost,
it has walked away from the table,
but I’m putting in you My Light,
the message of reconciliation,
for you to take to the world.”

As we are obedient to be in the Word and in His presence,
we are acquiring Light.

We acquire not just content and knowledge,
but the very nature of God.

The Old Testament is a powerful, powerful writing.

It has everything in it…
Some of it is so steamy it is X rated
Some of it is so violent you can hardly look at it…
Some of it is so filled with love and tenderness
that it just blows your mind.

The Divisions in the Hebrew Scriptures

The Hebrew scriptures are presented in three parts:
The Law Torah – The Teachings from orah - light
The Prophets Nebiym - bubbles over
The Writings Kotvim – to write
Tanak = Torah + Nebiym

The Law/ Torah reveals the righteousness
and heart of God for fellowship


Old Testament Themes:
Light
Covenant
Table
Invitation

Through the prophets God sends
His invitation to come back to the table
They really never bring you any new information
All they do is reveal and remind you
what the Father has already said.

If contemporary prophets
“come with new information” they are mission God.

The role of the prophet is not to give new information,
the role of the prophet is to remind people
of the Fathering heart of God


The writings glorify God’s heart
and invitation through intimate worship

Through the Torah we have God saying “Here is who I am.”
The Torah is like a character study…
Here is who I am ,
and this is what I want.

Through the Prophets,
they are calling people into that relationship…
or back to that relationship

Through the writings,
We are talking about worship, we are talking about intimacy…




Christ is the Light, the expression, the means of covenant
And the goal that all of the scriptures are aimed at.

Jesus Himself said,

You search the Scriptures
because you think that in them you have eternal life;
it is these that testify about Me;
John 5:39 NAS

The Pharisees were missing the heart of the Word..
They thought the Bible was like the owners manual to a lawn mover

The Bible is not just a how-to book
The Bible is not just a history book
(although it does have a lot of useful how-to and historical facts)

We are looking at the Bible as a revelation of the Father’s heart…
as an invitation to the Father’s heart
and as a way to worship the Father’s heart.

It is these that testify of Me… Jesus’ own words.

Disciples on the Road to Emmaus

The disciples are dejected and disappointed
with their perception of what has taken place,
they are so caught up it this
that they fail to recognize the Lord
as he walks along with them.

The word says that Jesus joined them –
translates to “he was with them”

it means that Jesus was with them the whole time as they talked to one another.


They are walking along, but they don’t recognize Him

He says,
“O foolish men and slow of heart to believe…”

He is not insulting them…
He is just saying they are slow to catch on

They missed the point that
the prophets were calling the people back to the table

25And He said to them,
"O foolish men and slow of heart to believe
in all that the prophets have spoken!
26"Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things
and to enter into His glory?"
27Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets,
He explained to them the things concerning Himself
in all the Scriptures.
Luke 24:25-27 NAS

He went back to the Hebrew Scriptures
and showed them how it revealed Him

In the very beginning the Father wanted to create…
He had a song to sing…

Then the Holy Spirit began to vibrate… and shake things up

And they He said “Let there be Light”
And here comes Jesus

At the very beginning I was at a table with Myself
Then I set the table and invited a whole nation…
They came for a while, but then they left the table…

Something had to happen to allow them to come back
They weren’t going to get there by their own means…

They needed an intervention… they needed Christ.
So Christ came to fulfill all of the promises of the Old Testament
The Law and the Prophets and the Writings were all fulfilled in Him