By viewing all of Scripture as one continuous story culminating in the revelation of Jesus Christ we can continue to explore a cohesive view of God and live in the tension of not having all our questions answered but continuing to grow in truth.
Over 106 years the exiles return from Babylon to rebuild the temple and their nation under some inspiring leaders as the prophets continue to call them closer to God and promise a day of greater redemption yet to come.
The northern kingdom falls to Assyria, and the southern kingdom to Babylon as God continues to woo his people back inside a relationship with him. In captivity they learn that God is bigger than the rituals they’ve observed.
After Solomon’s reign the kingdom of Israel fractures and corruption in the monarchy and the unfaithfulness of the people to continue to destroy the culture God wanted. Through the prophets he continues to invite them back to himself.
How do we read the books of wisdom and poetry that we find in Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs after all we’ve discovered to be true about God in the revelation of Jesus?
Rejecting God’s desire to lead them himself, Israel asks for a king and the first three kings provide a significant period in the history of Israel and the power of authority to corrupt eve the people God chose.
After the fourth session Wayne engaged the audience in a dialog about the material already presented.
What was God going doing through all the centuries of falleness and then subservience to the law before Jesus came and why is Christianity still embracing old covenant realities even after the cross liberated us from doing so?
Exodus through Ruth continue the narrative as God takes slaves from Egypt and brings them back to the land of promise and establishes them as a nation he wants to care for again demonstrating God’s faithfulness in the midst of human unfaithfulness.
Genesis and Job begin the Old Testament story, one with the origins of the creation, its downfall and how God begins to make himself known to people in darkness, and the other as a counterpoint to the mistaken idea that we deserve our sufferings.