Month: January 2023

Apologetics Weekly Notes

Week #1: Introduction to Apologetics

Carolyn Wilson

1.   What is Apologetics and why study it?

WHAT IS APOLOGETICS?

Apologetics is a defense of something.  In the case of Christian apologetics, it is the defense of orthodox, biblical Christianity.

1 Peter 3:15 “…Always be prepared to give an answer1 to everyone who asks you to give the reason2 for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

1Greek apologia: a speech in defense

Original Word: ἀπολογία, ας, ἡ

Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine

Transliteration: apologia

Phonetic Spelling: (ap-ol-og-ee’-ah)

Definition: a speech in defense

Usage: a verbal defense (particularly in a law court).

from Strong’s Concordance on Biblehub.com

WHY STUDY APOLOGETICS?

2The purpose of learning about apologetics is to EQUIP you as a witness of Jesus Christ.  The arguments and information we will learn in this Apologetics class are a SUPPLEMENT to YOUR STORY.

No one can dispute YOUR STORY about what Jesus means to you, how he has worked in your life, how life is different FOR YOU as a result of your relationship with Jesus.

But it will be helpful to have answers to the most common objections to Christianity, the Bible, etc.  And it will likely build your own faith to learn more about these subjects, as well.

In a later class, we will each write our own 1-minute faith story with the objective of being able to share it with others.

Youth need reasons to believe.  J. Warner Wallace in the forward of the book Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side by Natasha Crain explained that after his first year as a youth pastor, the kids he had throughout their entire senior year all gave up on their faith by the end of their first semester at university.  He had focused on building the group and helping them form friendships, entertaining them, and ensuring that the kids liked him.  But he hadn’t “given them sufficient reason to believe that Christianity is true.”   He quickly changed his approach to provide evidence for the truth of Christianity, the kind of evidence that convinced him, as a cold case homicide detective and former atheist, to believe.

Loss of Catechism as a normal practice.  Christians used to always have to go through a process of “catechesis” prior to baptism or confirmation.  Catechism taught the basics of Christian doctrine, often in a question/answer format.  Catechisms usually included explanations of God’s redemptive story of creation, the fall, and redemption as well as the 10 Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer.  Catholics still do this.

Apologetics of other belief systems.  Nabeel Qureshi was a devout Muslim who read the entire Quran in Arabic and memorized the last seven chapters of the Quran by the time he was 5 years old.  Nabeel explained the pattern of prayers for devout Muslims and also that he was taught Muslim apologetics that he used to convince Christians to convert to Islam in school.  He even learned how to use specific Bible verses.  The Muslim emphasis on prayers and education makes Christian training, especially in the family, look extremely anemic.

His testimony can be found here:  https://youtu.be/k0D8Uz4oQck and begins at 12:23.

2.   Four Functions of Apologetics

  1. PROOF/MAKE A CASE:  Using philosophical arguments and scientific and historical evidences of the Christian faith.  Goal is to develop a positive case for Christianity as a belief system.  Show that Christianity is reasonable.
  2. DEFENSE:  Defending Christianity against misunderstandings, misrepresentations; answering objections, criticisms or questions from non-Christians; clearing away any intellectual difficulties that nonbelievers claim stand in the way of their coming to faith.  Show that Christianity is credible. 
  3. REFUTATION:  “Offense.”  Refutation of opposing beliefs.  Show that non-Christian thought is unreasonable – show the irrationality of the non-Christian position.
  4. PERSUASION:  Bringing non-Christians to a commitment to Christ – evangelism.  Show that Christianity is not known by reason alone – faith to trust Christ.

(Notes from Faith Has Its Reasons by Ken Boa and Robert Bowman, Jr.)

3.   Brief History of Apologetics

Christian apologetics has developed over the entire course of Christian history, beginning in the Bible.  There have been/are MANY apologists and apologetic writings through the centuries.  Books and articles continue to be written on this subject and no doubt will until Christ returns.  The ones noted here are meant to provide just a few examples.

Apologetics in the Bible

Though the New Testament writings are not classified as formal apologetic treatises, most of them include arguments for believing in Jesus Christ, attempts to convince Jews that Jesus is the Messiah described by Old Testament prophets, that the resurrection is real, etc. 

Many New Testament writings provide arguments against false teachings in order to defend the gospel against perversion from within the church.  Some examples include:

  • Luke 1:1-4, John 20:31
  • Acts 17:16-32:  Paul’s speech to the Athenians (Acts 17) is a model of Christian apology.  Notice how Paul connects the Gospel to something the Athenians are familiar with – their “unknown God.”
  • Many of the writings of Paul in his epistles.

EARLY CHURCH FATHERS:  Opposition to early Christianity:  Rabbinic Judaism, various heresies such as Gnosticism and Arianism, persecuting paganism, Hellenistic culture.  Just a few early apologists

JUSTIN MARTYR (c. 100-165) – convert from Platonism. 

  • First Apology
  • Second Apology
  • Discourse to the Greeks
  • On the Resurrection
  • On the Sole Government of God
  • Hortatory Address to the Greeks
  • Fragments from the Lost Writings of Justin
  • Dialogue with Trypho

Origen – Book Contra Celsum one of the classics of apologetics. 

St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430) – most important for the first millennium.  The City of God widely regarded as one of the five or ten most important books in the history of Western thought.

“In his approach, faith and reason are interactive in coming to know the true God in Jesus Christ. Reason precedes faith in that a rational mind and recognition of the truth of what is to be believed must exist if we are to believe anything.”   

Middle Ages – Most Important Apologists

Anselm of Canterbury (1033/4–1109)  Anselm was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of the Catholic Church, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109.  He was a philosopher as well as a theologian and presented the Christian faith as a rational system of belief.  He is best known for the well-known “ontological argument” for the existence of God which he describes in the Proslogion, one of his major works.  The other is the Monologion.

Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225–1274)  Perhaps the greatest figure of thirteenth-century Europe in philosophy and theology. His Summa Theologica is a collection of all of the main theological teachings of the Catholic Church.  It’s purpose was to be an instructional guide for theology students, including seminarians and laity who were literate.  The Summa presents step by step logic regarding the doctrines of God, Creation, Man, Christ, and the Sacraments.  You can read it here:  https://www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/home.html.

Post-Reformation

Three influential apologists post-reformation were:

Blaise Pascal (1623 – 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic writer.

  • “Pascal sought to strike a balance between faith and reason.  He did not want to abandon reason altogether, but he also did not want its importance or value in knowing Christ to be over-emphasized.
  • He believed that God has given enough evidence of the truth of Christianity that those who want to know the truth will see it, but he has not shown himself in a way that would compel faith in those who don’t care or don’t want to believe.
  • Pascal was especially concerned about those who don’t give serious thought to the issue. He urged them to realize that if Christianity is true and they fail to believe, they are in most serious danger.”  (Faith Has Its Reasons, p.47, emphasis mine).

Charles Hodge:  the most famous Calvinist theologian at Old Princeton,

  • maintained that although reason must submit to God’s revelation in Scripture, reason must first discern whether Scripture is indeed a revelation from God.
  • The non-Christian must therefore be invited to use reason and “common sense” to evaluate the evidences (miracles, fulfilled prophecy, etc.) for Christianity.  (Faith Has Its Reasons, p.50).

Abraham Kuyper:  developed the notion of the antithesis.

  • There is, said Kuyper, an absolute antithesis between the two sets of principles to which Christians and non-Christians are fundamentally committed, (for example, God as sovereign versus man as autonomous).

Modern Apologists

There are many great apologists around today.  Here is one website’s list of the top 20 along with links to their websites:

  1. Norm Geisler:  normangeisler.com
  2. William Lane Craig:  Reasonable Faith.org
  3. J. Warner Wallace: ColdCaseChristianity.com
  4. John Lennox: John Lennox.org
  5. Greg Koukl: STR.org
  6. Paul Copan: PaulCopan.com
  7. Ed Feser: http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/
  8. Lee Strobel:  Lee Strobel.com
  9. Josh McDowell:  Josh.org
  10. Discovery Institute  (Dembski, Meyer, Richards, Luskin, Wells): www.Discovery.org
  11. C.S. Lewis: CSLewis.org
  12. Gary Habermas:  GaryHabermas.com
  13. Timothy McGrew:  http://historicalapologetics.org/
  14. Dr. Michael Brown:  AskDrBRown.org
  15. Richard Howe: Richardghowe.com
  16. Tim Keller:  TimothyKeller.com
  17. J. Budziszewski:  Undergroundthomist.org
  18. Hank Hanegraaff:  Equip.org
  19. Hugh Ross: Reasons.org
  20. R. C. Sproul: Ligonier

from https://crossexamined.org/top-20-apologists/

4.   Apologetical Approaches

In reality, as witnesses of Jesus Christ and the Gospel, we will likely use a mix of these approaches.

Classical Apologetics refers to an apologetic approach that emphasizes the use of logical criteria for example, the law of noncontradiction, self-consistency, comprehensiveness, coherence) in determining the validity of competing religious philosophies.  These criteria are used to refute the truth claims of non-Christian worldviews and to establish the existence of God through theistic proofs.

Evidentialism seeks to ground the Christian faith primarily on empirically and historically verifiable facts. Evidentialists often draw a parallel between the scientific method of testing theories and theological verification. 

Reformed Apologetics argues that we ought to ground reason and fact on the truth of the Christian faith, rather than trying to prove or defend the faith on the basis of reason or fact.  Most Reformed apologists seek to show that while non-Christian belief systems cannot account for the validity of reason, fact, and truth, Christian theism can.   This approach was inspired by the theology of John Calvin.

Fideism maintains that human knowledge of truth (including, and especially, religious truth) is at bottom a personal matter of the heart or the will rather than of the intellect.  Personal, existential experience with God cannot be grounded in rational analysis or scientific and historical evidences, since it is a matter of the heart.  Fideism argues from humanity’s basic existential needs to the fulfillment of those needs in Christianity.

(from Faith Has Its Reasons)

Expository Apologetics uses Scripture to defend tenets of the Christian faith and to refute misuse of and erroneous beliefs about the Bible and Christianity.  Promoted by Dr. Voddie Baucham, Jr. in his new book by the same name.

Narrative Apologetics is an approach to explain and defend the Christian faith by telling stories.  New approach described in a book by Alistair McGrath by the same name.  Telling stories is the hot button du jour so it is no surprise that someone has come up with this approach to apologetics. 

Apologetics Bibliography

(A work in progress.)

Baucham.  Expository Apologetics.

Boa. Faith Has Its Reasons.

Boa.  I’m Glad You Asked.

Brumby.  Do You Still Think God is Good?

Childers.  Another Gospel?

Clayton.  The Source.

Colson.  How Now Shall We Live?

Craig. Reasonable Faith.

Crain.  Keeping Your Kids on God’s Side.

CrossExamined.org.  https://crossexamined.org/top-20-apologists/#

Geisler. I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.

Geisler.  The Big Book of Christian Apologetics.

Groothuis.  Truth Decay.

Keller.  The Reason for God.

Koukl.  Tactics.

Lewis.  Mere Christianity.

Markos.  Apologetics for the 21st Century.

McDowell.  Answers.

McDowell.  Evidence that Demands a Verdict.

McFarland. The 10 Most common Objections to Christianity.

Schaeffer.  He is There and He is Not Silent.

Strobel.  The Case for Christ.

Strobel.  The Case for the Resurrection.

Zacharias.  Jesus Among Other Gods.

About

Week 5: Exodus 37 – Leviticus 18

Carolyn Wilson

This week we read about how the tabernacle was completed, the priests ordained, and a lot of instructions for the proper worship of God and holy living.

Key people this week:

  • Moses
  • Bezalel and Oholiab
  • Aaron and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar

Key events this week:

  • Building the tabernacle and all its furnishings
    • Ark of the Covenant
    • Table for the bread of the presence
    • Lampstand
    • Altar of incense
    • Altar of burnt offerings
    • Priestly vestments
  • Tabernacle is erected and its furnishings and equipment are installed
  • Instructions for the three voluntary offerings and two sin offerings (sin and guilt)
  • Aaron and his sons are ordained for the priesthood
  • Two of Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered unholy fire (ignored God’s commands) and were burned to death
  • God gives instructions for clean and unclean food and animals
  • God gives instructions for the purification of women after childbirth, skin diseases, lepers, leprous homes, bodily discharges.
  • God gives instructions for the Day of Atonement
  • God gives instructions about blood, not eating it, the importance of blood.
  • God gives instructions on sexual relations.

Special Note

Leviticus 17:10-14 – eating blood is prohibited.  When Paul met with the leaders of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15, though they agreed that the Gentiles did not have to follow Jewish law, this particular command was one that also held for the Gentiles along with abstaining from what has been sacrificed to idols, from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. 

Since those four things were named by the Jerusalem Council, they are clearly very important for us to obey today.  Most of us probably wouldn’t even think about drinking blood, don’t know if the animals whose meat we eat have been strangled (although we could probably find out if we tried), but sexual acts prohibited in Leviticus 18 are offensive to God for all people in all times and places. 

Note that God says because of these practices, the land is vomiting out the people that currently live in the Promised Land.

Books of the Bible Overviews

Book of Leviticus Overview

Carolyn Wilson

Key Facts About the Book of Leviticus

  • Author:  Moses
  • Date Written:  1445 – 1400 BC
  • Original Audience:  People of Israel
  • Geographical Location:  Sinai and Canaan
  • Theme:  Instructions for Holy Living

High-Level Outline of Leviticus

  1. Laws for Sacrifices (1-7)
    • Burnt Offering
    • Grain Offering
    • Peace Offering
    • Sin Offering
    • Guilt Offering
  2. Roles and Responsibilities of Priests (8-10)
  3. Cleanness and Uncleanness (11-15)
  4. The Day of Atonement (16)
  5. The Sanctity of Blood (17)
  6. Moral Laws (18-20)
  7. Priestly Behavior (21-22)
  8. Festivals and Holy Days (23-25)
  9. Promises and Warnings (26-27)

Key Verses in Leviticus

Leviticus 11:45  “I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; 

therefore be holy, because I am holy.”    

Leviticus 17:11  “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

Leviticus 19:18  “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”  [This is the verse Jesus quoted when he said that the 2nd greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.]

Leviticus 20:7-8 “Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am the Lord your God.  Keep my statutes, and observe them; I am the Lord; I sanctify you.”

Getting Started

Bibliography

Carolyn Wilson

Answering Islam. https://www.answering-islam.org/. 

A website hosted by evangelical Christians who wish to remain largely anonymous and encourage Christians to follow in the footsteps of the Bereans and verify by the Scriptures whether what is said is true according to the Bible.  Good information on Islam.

Apologetics Press.  https://apologeticspress.org/.

Bible Hub.  https://biblehub.com/. 

Chabad.org.  https://www.chabad.org/.

Hunt, Michael.  Agape Bible Study. “Isaac son of Abraham a “type” of Jesus Christ.”

https://www.agapebiblestudy.com/charts/Typology%20of%20Issac%20and%20Jesus.htm,

Jinfo.org.  https://www.jinfo.org/. 

Life Application Study Bible: New International Version.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
  and Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2019.

The Holy Bible:  Containing the Old and New Testaments, New Revised Standard Version.
Nashville, TN:  Cokesbury, 1989.

Sarna, Nahum M. JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis. Jewish Society, 1989.

Third Mill.  https://thirdmill.org/.

Books of the Bible Overviews

Book of Exodus Overview

Carolyn Wilson

Key facts about the Book of Exodus:

  • Author:  Moses
  • Date Written:  1450 – 1410 BC
  • Original Audience:  People of Israel
  • Geographical Location:  Egypt and Canaan
  • Theme:  Deliverance from slavery

High-Level Outline of Exodus:

  1. Slavery in Egypt (1)
  2. Moses (2-7)
  3. The Plagues (7-13)
  4. The Exodus (14-18)
  5. The Law (19-24)
  6. Tabernacle and Worship (25-40)

Key Verses in Exodus

Exodus 3:14

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Note that this is what Jesus quoted in the New Testament that indicated that he claimed to be God.)

Exodus 20:1-17– The Ten Commandments

1And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.16 “You shall no
t give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Books of the Bible Overviews

Book of Genesis Overview

Carolyn Wilson

Key facts about the Book of Genesis

  • Author:  Moses
  • Date Written:  1450 – 1410 BC
  • Original Audience:  People of Israel
  • Geographical Location:  Middle East
  • Purpose: To record God’s creation of the world and the beginning of the Hebrew people (Israelites), whom God chose to set apart to worship Him and to be a witness for him in the world.
  • Note:  the names of people in the Bible are descriptive of who they are.  God sometimes renamed people – Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel.  That is where the name Israel comes from.

High-Level Outline of Genesis

  1. Story of Creation (1:1-2:3)
  2. The Fall and Repercussions (2:4-5:32)
  3. The Flood and its Aftermath (6:1-11:32
  4. The Story of Abraham (12:1-25:18)
  5. The Story of Isaac (25:19-28:9)
  6. The Story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and Jacob’s 12 sons (28:10-36:43)
  7. The Story of Joseph (one of Jacob’s 12 sons) and how Jacob’s whole family ended up in Egypt

Key Verses in Genesis

Genesis 2:24 God instituted the marriage relationship. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”  Note that the word translated “wife” in this verse is אִשָּׁה, phonetically pronounced “ish-shaw.” This word means woman, wife, female.  In other words, the same exact word for wife is the same word for female.  This is true of the Greek word for woman/wife in the New Testament, as well.  Context is the key to understand whether the passage means “woman” or “wife”.  The important point is, however, that because the same word is used for both, it means that a wife is always a biological female according to God’s perfect design.

HEBREW
ishshah: woman, wife, female
Original Word: אִשָּׁה
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: ishshah
Phonetic Spelling: (ish-shaw’)
Definition: woman, wife, female
(from Biblehub.com)		GREEK
guné: a woman
Original Word: γυνή, αικός, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: guné
Phonetic Spelling: (goo-nay’)
Definition: a woman
Usage: a woman, wife, my lady.

Genesis 3:20 – Hebrew words are often much more meaningful than we realize and lose some of that meaning when translated into English – Adam and Eve, for example. (from Strong’s Concordance on Biblehub.com)

The Hebrew word translated Adam means “man, mankind”

Original Word: אָדָם
Part of Speech: Noun Masculine
Transliteration: adam
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-dawm’)
Definition: man, mankind

The Hebrew word translated Eve means “’life’, the first woman”

Original Word: חַוָּה
Part of Speech: Proper Name Feminine
Transliteration: Chavvah
Phonetic Spelling: (khav-vaw’)
Definition: “life”, the first woman

Genesis 9:5-6 God demands an accounting for taking anyone’s life.  God makes it abundantly clear in these verses that no one is to take another life.  Since he also has said that he personally has knit us together in our mother’s wombs, that would include human fetuses.  “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:13-16)

Genesis 9:7-17 God’s Covenant with Noah – the rainbow.  God covenants with Noah never again to destroy all living things by flood.  This is a unilateral covenant – God requires nothing of Noah.   The sign of the covenant God gives is the rainbow.  So whenever you see a rainbow, remember what it truly stands for.   

Genesis 12:1-3 God makes a promise to Abram.  Here God calls Abram and tells him to leave everything and go to a country that God will show him.  God makes a promise to Abram that he will make him into a great nation and bless him and that all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through him.  God also says that he will bless whoever blesses Abram and curse whoever curses Abram.  This promise has never been rescinded and is in effect today.  

Clearly God is alluding to the future Messiah, Jesus.  But he has blessed all the peoples of the earth through the Jews in other significant ways through their contributions to medicine, science, technology, the arts, and every category of human endeavor.   (For specifics, see https://www.jinfo.org/.)  

Genesis 45:5-8a It was God who sent Joseph to Egypt.  “Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.  For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping.  But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.”

Genesis 49:10-12 Jacob’s blessing of his son, Judah, is a messianic prophecy about the Messiah being from the tribe of Judah.

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
    nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until he to whom it belongs shall come
    and the obedience of the nations shall be his.
11 He will tether his donkey to a vine,
    his colt to the choicest branch;
he will wash his garments in wine,
    his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
    his teeth whiter than milk.

Weekly Highlights

Week 4: Exodus 16 – 36

Carolyn Wilson

This week narrates the continuing journey to the Promised Land, the giving of the 10 Commandments, and specifications for the Tabernacle and priests.

Key people this week:

  • Moses
  • Aaron
  • Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law
  • Joshua

Key events this week:

  • The people continue to grumble when they come up against a seeming obstacle – this time a lack of food – as if God wouldn’t provide.  They continue to look back to their life in Egypt, forgetting the harshness of their slavery, and remembering only the good things about it.  Not trusting God will be a continuing theme.  Paul said that these things were written “to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope,” (Romans 14:4).
  • God provided quail to eat in the evening and manna in the morning with instructions to gather only what they needed for that one day except the 6th day when they could gather enough for the Sabbath, as well.
  • The Sabbath is instituted.
  • God provides water from a rock.
  • The Israelites, led by Joshua, defeat the Amalekites – winning as long as Moses kept his hands up.
  • Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law advises Moses to set up a hierarchy of judges over the people, bringing only the difficult cases to Moses, so he would not be worn out.
  • God gave the Law, the 10 Commandments, written on tablets of stone to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
  • God provided additional instructions on idols, altars, Hebrew servants, personal injuries, protection of property, social responsibility, justice and mercy, the Sabbath.
  • God instituted three annual festivals.  These are the three festivals of the year that all Hebrew men had to appear before the Lord – the ones that later they would have to go to Jerusalem to celebrate.
    • Festival of Unleavened Bread (Immediately follows Passover),
    • Festival of Harvest (first fruits),
    • Festival of Ingathering (end of harvest). 
  • God specifies the borders of the Promised Land (Ex. 23:31).
  • God confirms the Covenant.
  • God provides instructions for constructing the Tabernacle and its furnishings, including the Ark of the covenant.
  • Aaron and his sons set apart and consecrated as priests plus description of the priestly garments.
  • The infamous Golden Calf incident.  Moses was so mad that he smashed the tablets with the 10 Commandments.  [Did I select the photo of the Golden Calf on Wallstreet on purpose?  Yes.]
  • Moses pitches the “tent of meeting” outside the camp for anyone who wanted to inquire of the Lord.
  • Moses asked the Lord, “Show me your glory,” (Ex. 33:18).
  • Moses goes up on the mountain again and God gives him new stone tablets.
  • God chose men with great skill to build the tabernacle – Bezalel and Oholiab – and the tabernacle was constructed.
Weekly Highlights

Week 3: Genesis 43 – Exodus 15

Carolyn Wilson

This week is momentous!  All of Jacob’s family moves to Egypt where they reside, growing into a great multitude, become slaves, and then God brings them back up out of Egypt, crossing the Red Sea on dry land. 

Key people this week:

  • Jacob/Israel
  • Jacob’s 12 sons – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali, and Benjamin – and especially, Joseph
  • The Pharaoh of Egypt
  • Moses
  • Aaron, Moses’ brother
  • Miriam, Moses’ sister

Key events this week:

  • Jacob’s sons return to Egypt for food a second time, taking with them the youngest, Benjamin
  • Joseph sets a trap for his brothers to detain Benjamin and Judah offers himself in Benjamin’s place for the sake of Jacob
  • Joseph reveals himself to his brothers
  • Jacob brings his whole family to Egypt, 70 people in all, and they settle in the land of Goshen
  • Near death, Jacob blesses Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim
  • Jacob blesses all of his sons and dies at 147, making his sons promise to bury him in the land of Canaan
  • Joseph dies at 110 years of age after which a new Pharaoh arose who did not know Joseph
  • As the Israelites grew to a huge number of people, the Egyptians enslaved them for 400 years
  • The Egyptians feared the Israelites because they were so prolific and told the Hebrew midwives to drown all the boy babies in the Nile
  • Moses was born, his mother hid him in a basket where the daughter of Pharaoh found him and adopted him as her own son
  • When he was grown up, Moses killed an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew and had to flee to Midian
  • God speaks to Moses out of a burning bush and calls him to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt and lead them to the Promised Land
  • Pharaoh is stubborn and God causes ten plagues to come upon Egypt
  • The Passover is instituted at the 10th plague, the death of the firstborn males, to protect the Hebrews so that the firstborn of the Israelites, both human and animal, were “passed over” by the angel of death
  • Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt with God leading them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night
  • The  Pharaoh changes his mind about letting the people go and follows them to recapture them
  • God parts the Red Sea and the Israelites cross on dry land and when the Egyptians follow them into the Red Sea, God restores the waters and the Egyptians all die
  • The people celebrate with the song of Moses

Weekly Highlights

Week 2: Genesis 22-42

Carolyn Wilson

This week we will be reading Genesis 22-42, the story of the beginning of the 12 Tribes of Israel.  How did your reading go last week?  Did you fall behind?  Get ahead?  What did you learn?  How did your reading impact your relationship with God?

Key people this week:

  • Isaac and Rebekah
  • Jacob and Esau
  • Keturah, Abraham’s 2nd wife
  • Laban, Rebekah’s brother
  • Jacob’s wives and concubines – Leah, Rachel, Zipah, and Bilhah
  • Jacob’s children by Leah:  Reuben (first born), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah
  • Jacob’s sons by Zipah (Leah’s servant):  Gad and Asher
  • Jacob’s sons by Rachel:  Joseph and Benjamin
  • Jacob’s sons by Bilhah (Rachel’s servant):  Dan and Naphtali
  • Tamar, wife of Judah’s son(s)
  • Potiphar and his wife
  • The Pharaoh of Egypt

Key events this week:

  • God commands Abraham to sacrifice Isaac
  • Sarah’s death and burial
  • God helps Abraham’s servant find a wife for Isaac
  • The marriage of Isaac and Rebekah
  • Abraham marries Keturah
  • Death of Abraham
  • Birth of Jacob and Esau
  • Esau sells his birthright
  • Isaac passes off Rebekah as his sister
  • Jacob steals Esau’s blessing
  • Jacob sent to Rebekah’s brother, Laban, in Paddan-aram
  • Jacob marries Leah and Rachel and has 11 sons and one daughter
  • Jacob takes his family and flocks back to Canaan
  • Jacob wrestles with God and is renamed Israel
  • Jacob’s daughter, Dinah, is raped by Shechem and her brothers avenge her
  • Rebekah gives birth to Jacob’s 12th son and dies in childbirth
  • Death of Isaac
  • Joseph dreams of greatness
  • Joseph sold into slavery by his brothers
  • Judah and Tamar
  • Joseph lands in prison, interprets dreams, and rises to power
  • Joseph’s brothers go to Egypt because of a famine

Recap – Key facts about the Book of Genesis:

  • Author:  Moses
  • Date Written:  1450 – 1410 BC
  • Original Audience:  People of Israel
  • Geographical Location:  Middle East
  • Purpose: To record God’s creation of the world and the beginning of the Hebrew people (Israelites), whom God chose to set apart to worship Him and to be a witness for him in the world.
  • Note:  the names of people in the Bible are descriptive of who they are.  God sometimes renamed people – Abram to Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel.  That is where the name Israel comes from.

Recap – High-Level Outline of Genesis:

  1. Story of Creation (1:1-2:3)
  2. The Fall and Repercussions (2:4-5:32)
  3. The Flood and its Aftermath (6:1-11:32
  4. The Story of Abraham (12:1-25:18)
  5. The Story of Isaac (25:19-28:9)
  6. The Story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and Jacob’s 12 sons (28:10-36:43)
  7. The Story of Joseph (one of Jacob’s 12 sons) and how Jacob’s whole family ended up in Egypt (37:1-50:26)

Bibliography

Life Application Study Bible: New International Version.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan  and Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2019.

Weekly Highlights

Week 1: Genesis 1-21

Carolyn Wilson

This week we will be reading Genesis 1–21 at the rate of 3 chapters per day.  Genesis is a fairly easy read.  There aren’t even too many sections of hard-to-pronounce names.  The most important thing to remember is to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your reading and understanding of His written Word.

Key people this week:

  • Adam and Eve – first humans
  • Cain, Abel and Seth – first siblings
  • Enoch – walked with God and did not die – God took him
  • Methuselah – lived to be 969 years old, longest living human
  • Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth and their descendants
  • Abram/Abraham and Sarai/Sarah
  • Lot, his wife and daughters
  • Melchizedek – priest of God Most High and King of Salem (Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek – see Psalm 110:4 and Hebrews 7:17)
  • Hagar and Ishmael

Key events this week:

  • Creation – two versions in Genesis 1 and 2
  • Fall – the first sin and its effect on the serpent (Satan), men and women, and the earth as well as a promise of a redeemer
  • The first murder
  • The Flood and God’s covenant with Noah
  • The Tower of Babel
  • God’s call of Abraham
  • God’s unconditional promise to Abraham that is still in effect today:  “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Genesis 12:2-3)
  • A son promised to Abraham
  • Birth of Ishmael
  • Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed
  • Birth of Isaac

Bibliography

Life Application Study Bible: New International Version.  Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan  and Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2019.