Explanation of Part 1: Old Testament Study

Explanation of Part 1: Old Testament Study

The first section of this course is designed to take students deeper into God’s Word in the Old Testament. The intention is to do this by re-introducing the students to some of the best-known figures in the Old Testament, while using stories from their lives that the students may not be as familiar with. It also brings students into contact with the prophets – even the minor ones, whom they (and most Christians) probably know very little about. Also, students will be led into key periods of history in the Old Testament, including the time of the Judges and the Babylonian Captivity.

The goal is for students to learn more about the people, promises, and history of the Old Testament and being able to put them into historical context with the help of a timeline.

The other goal in this Old Testament Study (and in the New Testament Study) is to lead students to study God’s Word and apply it to their lives. The student will be expected to read the sections of the Bible and answer the questions for the lesson.

When there is a large chronological gap between lessons, the gap is filled in by a section called, “The Bridge to the Next Story.”

Throughout the lessons, instructions for the teacher, as well as answers to the questions, are printed in red for each section. What the student sees in his/her book is printed in black.

Lesson 1: Abraham: A Man to Whom God made Great Promises

Instructor: The first three sections (“Abraham’s time,” “What do you know about Abraham?” and “Learn more about Abraham and the Lord”) are to be completed by the student BEFORE they are discussed in class. This goes for all lessons in Parts 1 and 2 of this curriculum.

Each lesson contains at least one date or timeframe for the student to add to the timeline at the back of the Student Lesson Book. This will hopefully allow students to gain a picture of the chronology of the Old Testament.

Abraham’s Time: Abraham lived from about 2166BC to about 1991BC. Add him on your timeline.

What Do You Know About Abraham? As a review of Abraham’s life, try to remember as many facts about Abraham and as many stories from his life as you can. List them in the space below. If you need help remembering, use Genesis 11:27 – 25:11 to refresh your memory. Be ready to add more when we compare our lists in class.

Possible answers: His father’s name was Terah; his wife was Sarai (then Sarah); God commanded him to leave his homeland for an unknown place; He went to Egypt. To stay out of trouble, he lied to Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister; He gave his nephew Lot the prime piece of land near Sodom and Gomorrah, then rescued him when the LORD destroyed the cities; he had a son named Ishmael with a woman named Hagar; he was visited by three angels who promised him and Sarah that they would have a son, despite their old age; his name was changed to “Abraham,” “Father of Many”; he finally had a son named Isaac, and the LORD tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac.

Most importantly, and to lead in to the study of Genesis 15: Abraham was the father of Israel, through which the Promised Messiah would come; God promised Abraham over and over again that he would have too many descendants to count, and the Savior of all mankind would come through these descendants.

Bible Study: Learn More About Abraham and the LORD

Now, read Genesis 15. You may be familiar with the story in the first part of this chapter, but probably not the one in the second part of the chapter. Let’s see what else we can learn about Abraham and the Lord from this chapter!

1. (Lead-in from previous section) What promise had God previously made to Abraham? (See Genesis 12:2-3 if you cannot remember).

God had promised Abraham 1. That he would become a great nation. 2. That Abraham’s name would become great and he would be a blessing. 3. That everyone in the world would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants. (This third promise is fulifilled in Christ, Abraham’s descendant who takes away the sin of the world.)

2. Why was Abraham starting to doubt these promises (see verses 2 and 3)?

Abraham was beginning to doubt God’s promises because God had still not blessed him with a son. Abraham showed this doubt by designating Eliezer as his heir, even though God promised Abraham that he would have a son of his own.

3. What does God say to comfort Abraham and reassure him of his promises (see verses 1, 4, and 5)?

The Lordcalled himself Abraham’s “great reward” and renewed his promise to give Abraham countless descendants. He did this by turning Abraham’s eyes to the skies and promising his descendants would one day outnumber the stars.

4. Genesis 15:6 is one of the most important passages in the entire Old Testament. What does it teach us about how a person is justified (“declared righteous”) in God’s eyes? Genesis 15:6 teaches that we are justified (“declared righteous”) in God’s eyes by trusting in his promises.

5. Read Romans 4:1-5. Why did Abraham have nothing to boast about? He didn’t do anything to earn the promise. He simply believed it.

6. How does Paul define faith in verse 5? It is trusting God’s promise.

7. Back to Genesis 15. What do we learn from verses 1 to 6 about trusting God’s promises, even when what we see tells us that he is not keeping them?

These verses teach us that we can always trust the promises of God; he will always keep them, even when what we see with our eyes tells us that he cannot or will not. When God makes a promise, it is guaranteed to happen.

8. Do you ever doubt God’s promises? If so, which ones? How can this story help you to trust them, rather than doubt them?

Answers will vary, but the bottom line is that every promise God makes is as certain as the one he made to Abraham, even though we won’t have a vision and personal appearance from God to assure us of it. His Word, recorded in Holy Scripture, assures us that all of his promises are totally reliable.

Beginning at verse 8, Abraham asks God for a sign that the land of Israel will belong to his descendants. To give this sign God orders Abraham to cut in half a heifer, goat, ram, dove and pigeon. This was a common thing to do in Abraham’s world when two sides wanted to promise each other that they would keep their end of a deal. They cut animals in half and walked between those dead animals as if to say, “If I break my end of the deal, may I be destroyed just like these animals are.” Walking through the dead animals was a dramatic way of saying, “I will keep my end of the deal! I promise!”

God, however, does not walk through the dead animals together with Abraham. Instead, he waits for Abraham to fall asleep, and then God passes through the animals ALONE, appearing as a smoking pot and a blazing torch.

9. Why do you think the Lordwaited for Abraham to fall asleep so he could pass through the dead animals ALONE?

God was very likely emphasizing to Abraham that this was a ONE-SIDED promise. Abraham did not have to do anything to make these promises of descendants, a homeland, and a Savior become reality. God would do everyting.

10. Most of the promises God makes are one-sided. They depend only on God, and we don’t have to do anything. The promise of salvation that God makes to us in Christ Jesus is also a one-sided promise. What comfort is there in that truth?

The fact that God’s promise of salvation is one-sided is a great comfort because we know it all depends on him. If any part of our salvation depended on us and our efforts, we could never be totally certain of our salvation. But because it depends only on God and his grace in Christ, there is no doubt that the promise of our salvation is real.

11. Finally, in verses 13 to 20, God gives Abraham a preview of what will happen to his descendants, Israel. What details from Israel’s history can you gather from these verses?

Abraham’s descendants did become slaves in a strange land (Egypt), and they were mistreated there for 400 years. But, just as God promised, they eventually escaped and took the land that God promised to Abraham, all the land described in verse 19.