A Survey of the Old Testament - Textbook Plus - Zondervan

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A PPROA CHING THE OLD TESTA MENT A SURVEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 23 by hearing what he has done and intends to do. Once we know who he is and what he is like, the appropriate responses are worship, commitment, and ser vice. The Plan: God with Us What is this plan that spans the scope of creation, history, and prophecy? We find it communicated throughout the pages of the Bible. God’s plan from the beginning was to create a people among whom he could dwell and with whom he could be in relationship. We should not suppose that he needed either a place to live or that he had some psychological need for companionship. His plan emerges naturally as an initiative that expresses his character as a creative, relational, and gracious being. This plan is reflected in the initial setting of Eden, where God’s presence existed in what we might call a cosmic temple, and people were placed in the garden to be near him and to have the opportunity to come to know him. The plan was upset by the disobedience that we call the fall, by which sin entered the picture. Consequently, relationship with God was disrupted and the privilege of being in the presence of God was forfeited as the first couple was driven out of the garden. The rest of the Bible is the account of God’s program to restore his presence to his people and provide means for them to be able to be in relationship with him again. We can offer a brief overview by identifying the seven stages of God’s presence. Stages of God’s Presence 1. Eden 2. Covenant 3. Exodus (Bush/Sinai) 4. Tabernacle/Temple 5. Incarnation (Immanuel) 6. Pentecost 7. New Creation In the account of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1 – 9) we find the people undertaking a project that endeavored to reestablish God’s presence on earth. The tower was provided as a means for God to come down and take up his residence in their city and be worshiped. Unfortunately, their concept of God was flawed and when God came down, he was not pleased with the underlying premise of this initiative. His own initiative is introduced in the next chapter of Genesis as he begins to form a covenant with Abram as a means by which he
24 A SURVEY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT approaching the old testament can reveal himself to the world (explained in the next section). He chooses one family with whom he develops a relationship and among whom he will come to dwell. This second stage is the first step of the reclamation project. God’s presence reaches a new level as he appears in the burning bush to Moses and reveals his name (= his character/nature) and the next step of his plan. His presence is made known through the plagues, evident temporarily in the pillar of cloud and fire, and settles on the top of Mt. Sinai, where he reveals how his people can be in relationship with him (the law) and how they can preserve his presence (the rituals and other instructions regarding the tabernacle). In the next stage God actually initiates a means by which his presence can be established on earth. The Tabernacle is a place of God’s dwelling, and by keeping the law and observing rules of purity, the people can enjoy relationship with the God who has come among them. This stage of God’s presence is extended eventually into the Temple built by Solomon and lasts through the remainder of the Old Testament. A serious setback is suffered when the rebellion of the Israelites finally causes God’s presence to leave the temple allowing it to be destroyed (in Jeremiah and Ezekiel). The covenant benefits are lost as the Israelites are exiled from the promised land and their relationship with God hangs in the balance. Though they return to the land and the temple is rebuilt, the next stage of God’s presence comes in the pages of the New Testament as God sends his Son, Jesus, to be present in human flesh (the incarnation) and take up his residence with us (Immanuel, God with us) as sort of a human tabernacle (John 1:14). It is through Christ that God’s presence thus becomes available in a whole new way and also through him that relationship is made available at a whole new level, with the penalty of sin being paid, and a permanent mechanism for relationship being made available. Though Christ ascended to heaven after the resurrection, he had promised that his presence would not be taken from us, but that a Comforter would be sent. Thus the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marks the beginning of yet another stage in the availability of God’s presence, now within his people, and a relationship based on the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Consequently God’s people become the location of God’s presence both individually (1 Cor. 6:19) and corporately (1 Cor. 3:16). The veil is torn that restricted access to God’s presence (Eph. 2) and relationship is available to all who seek it. The final stage is yet to come. It is described in Revelation 21:3, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
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A Survey of the Old Testament - Textbook Plus - Zondervan

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