WEEK 8

As of this week, we have completed 25% of our OT readings. Congratulations!

Along with the usual questions for the week, please respond to one of the following questions:

• What is something new you have learned about God/the bible/yourself, etc.?
• We have only gone through a few books, but how is tackling the entire OT different studying a single book of the bible?
• What has been challenging for you? What has been rewarding?
• Is this challenge easier or harder than you thought? Why?
• Is there a verse or section of the OT that you’ve read so far that has impacted you strongly?

Week 5, Oct 12th class discussion

We experienced a eureka moment during our conversation Sunday morning, when someone mentioned that Jacob wrestled with God and had a dislocated hip for the rest of his life to make sure he never forgot his encounter. What was profound was his comment that each of us has our own "dislocated hip" which reminds us that once we meet God, we are never the same. I have been thinking about this and wondering what my own 'dislocated hip' is - what would I say is something in my life that God touched and since then, I have never been the same?
Thanks for the good conversation. See you Sunday...

Week 5

Hi all -
we have completed our first book of the OT, Genesis. My being ill has kept me from wanting to share some thoughts with you regarding what Moses has been writing about so far.

Keeping in mind that Moses is the author of Gen to Deut, we can view Genesis as Moses' introducing his audience to God and his people. Certainly this introduction starts with the creation account itself, but we see in Gen 12 a very significant event in the history of God's people: God's covenant with Abraham . Before Abraham, God dealt with human sin by cursing (see 3:14; 3:17; 4:11; 5:29) and destroying (6:5-8). So far, when humans failed, God intervened by (1) banishing Adam and Eve from the garden, (2) sending a great flood (3) confusing people's speech (at Babel). Every time God gave people a clean slate, they failed, compelling God to act. Gen 12 marks a different approach by God - instead of curses and destruction, God blesses and creates. After Gen 12, curses turn to blessing (there is only one other curse after Gen 12 compared to the previous four in Gen 1-11) and five times, God promises to bless Abraham and all the nations through him. He blesses Abraham and miraculously creates offspring for Abraham and Sarah so that God will have a people for himself. God's plan is still to bless all people everywhere, but now he will do it through a chosen person (Ab) and nation (Israel).

And so, in Gen 12, God begins a new work - he begins a process of redemption. Humans will fail, but that will not thwart God's plan to redeem his creation. From Gen 12 onward, Moses highlights how, in the lives of Abraham and the patriarchs, God honours his covenant promise to bless Abraham - to give Abraham's family a land of their own, to bless him, his descendants, and all nations through him.

As we read the rest of the Old Testament, we will be witnesses to God's faithfulness in fulfilling his promise to Abraham, and soberly, the unfaithfulness of God's people. Many OT writer's pick up on this theme - God's faithfulness and his people's unfaithfulness - and we will be touching on it as we continue our journey.

Greetings

Hi all - welcome to the OTC blog! Use this space to share your thoughts/questions about your old testament reading experience.