Jeremy L. Berg

Can you articulate the main plot of the entire Old Testament story?  What’s the overarching big story of which the smaller episodes are a part?  Here’s my attempt to capture the essence of the OT story with key moments/themes in BOLD.

The Creation story presents a picture of humanity initially living in proper relationship with the Creator, with Yahweh dwelling in their midst. The created world is the good creation of a good God, and human beings are God’s co-regents (i.e., image of God) placed in dominion over the rest of the created things (naming the beasts, working the ground, etc.). The Fall of Adam and Eve was essentially an effort of human beings to breech the proper Creator-creation distinction, grasping for equality with God, and no longing willing to be dependent upon the blessings and provisions of God. The primary problem/sin recurring throughout human history, and particularly the history of the Israelites, is this tendency towards idolatry, i.e., placing oneself or any other thing in God’s place, desiring to control our own destiny and neglecting to give honor where honor is truly due. The initial downward spiral of the human race into idolatry culminates in the Tower of Babel story, thus leading Yahweh to devise some long-term solution to this recurring problem.

Yahweh’s answer is Abraham. Abraham and his descendents enter into an everlasting Covenant with the Creator in order to become, not only an example to the nations, but more importantly the means through which Yahweh will heal and undo the sins of the world, and to bring lasting justice and peace to the ends of the earth. Yahweh’s everlasting promise to Abraham includes (a) a great nation, (b) blessing, (c) a great name, (d) blessing to the nations, (e) land, (f) numerous offspring, (g) father of kings and (h) Yahweh as God (Gen 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:5, 18; 17:4-16; 22:15-18). Moreover, Yahweh’s covenant with Abraham sets into motion the Story of Israel and her God. The rest of the Bible tells the story of this sojourning people, learning to live in right relation to their God, their neighbors and their environment.

The single most influential event in the early stages of Israel’s story is the Passover and Exodus from Egypt. Israel’s sufferings at the hands of a foreign king, and Yahweh’s merciful and miraculous act of deliverance—bringing just punishment down on Pharaoh (plagues) and clearing a way to freedom (through the Red Sea)—became the centerpiece of Israel’s family memory and corporate consciousness. The Exodus story would serve as an archetype of all Yahweh’s future dealings with his people. Israel’s corporate identity was founded upon one certain belief: We are the unique people of the almighty Creator God, and if we find ourselves suffering again under pagan oppression, Yahweh will hear our cries and deliver us once again.

Following the Exodus was the giving of the Torah (or Law) at Mt. Sinai and the forty years in the Wilderness. Yahweh’s presence went before His people in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. During this time of testing, repeated failure, purification and instruction, Israel’s identity as Yahweh’s chosen was forged and set literally “in stone.” The Torah given through Moses was received with gladness and was designed to be the national charter regulating all aspects of Israel’s life. This covenant document was never intended to be a legalistic list of rules and regulations by which individuals could earn their ‘salvation.’ Torah observance was an expression of gratitude to Yahweh in response to his loving kindness toward Israel in establishing them as his special people and delivering them from slavery. Salvation and Eternal Life, if it ever were a concern of Jews, would be the natural byproduct of covenant membership within the family of Abraham. There is little speculation (or concern) on the afterlife until the latest writings of the OT.

Another pivotal moment in the Story of Israel was entrance into the Promised Land after crossing the Jordan River and the Conquests that followed. These events reinforced in the hearts of Israel that Yahweh would be faithful to his promises, Israel would receive her promised inheritance and the nations would be no match for Yahweh’s mighty arm. The period of the Judges is characterized by infidelity and waywardness, as Israel lacked consistent leadership living amongst the nations. The final verse of Judges sums up the apparent problem: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit” (21:25).

Once in the land, Israel’s days as a sojourning people were through. Israel soon became a strong Kingdom under the leadership of kings David and Solomon. David, whose weaknesses were many, nevertheless ruled with righteousness and a fear of the Lord. Yahweh promises David that his offspring will occupy an everlasting throne and whose kingdom will have no end (2 Sam 7:12ff). The climactic moment of the glory days of the monarchy was the planning and building of the Temple. The temple was the focal point of every aspect of Jewish national life. The temple was the dwelling place of the God of Israel, the place of sacrifice, where sins are forgiven and where the union and fellowship between Israel and her God was consummated.

The kingdom of Israel divided into south (Judah) and north (Israel) under Solomon’s successors. Both kingdoms would grow deeper and deeper into sin, forsaking their covenant with Yahweh and chasing after foreign gods. The great Prophets pleaded with the people, reminding them of the terms of the covenant (i.e., blessings and curses – Deut 27-30; esp. 30:15-20), calling them back to obedience and announcing Yahweh’s judgment if they resist. Both kingdoms resisted the prophets’ warnings and were eventually taken into Exile. The Northern kingdom (Israel) was captured by the Assyrian army in 722 BC. The Southern kingdom (Judah) fell to the Babylonian forces in 586 BC leaving the Temple in ruins. The exile was a bleak time of mourning, national repentance and longing for Yahweh to relent and restore his loving kindness to his people (cf. Lamentations). The exilic prophets renewed the hope of Israel, forecasting a bright day in the future when Yahweh would enact a New Exodus, bringing his people once again back to the Promised Land (cf. Isaiah 40-55). This New Exodus will be nothing short of a new creation (Isaiah 65:17-18, 25).

Under the decree of Persian king Cyrus, the people of Yahweh were allowed to Return to the Land (539 BC) and rebuild the temple (516 BC) under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah. This ushered in a very ambiguous time in the history of the Jews. While they were back in the land, and allowed to resume worship in the temple (which itself was far inferior to the first), they remained under the yoke of foreign rule and saw themselves as “slaves in their own land” (Neh 9:36). The great promises of Isaiah (e.g. 2:1ff), Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel, and others had clearly not yet come to pass: Yahweh had not returned to the Temple, Israel’s enemies had not been overthrown, the royal dynasty had not been restored, and the nations were not yet flocking to Zion to learn Torah and worship the one true God. Instead, one foreign nation after another ruled Israel with an iron fist (Persians, Greeks, and finally Romans), sometimes allowing them to worship their God, but always reminding them who really was in power.

As oppression grew worse under the Greeks, the messianic hope for deliverance and the restoration grew more urgent. The rise of Apocalyptic Eschatology grew out of these hard times, which was the belief “that a new order of reality (e.g., ha-‘olam haba, or ‘the age to come’; the kingdom of God; etc.) will soon overthrow the existing social order” (e.g., ha-‘olam hazeh, or’ the present evil age’)” (D. C. Allison). Most notably within the OT canon, Daniel 7-12 provides the fullest expression of Jewish apocalyptic hope in the second temple period. Daniel is given a vision of a series of four large beasts (representing four kingdoms) rising out of the sea to persecute “the saints of the most high”, i.e., Israel. However, a representative of Israel (the Messiah), the “one like a Son of Man,” is vindicated and enthroned at the right hand of God, and is given a kingdom that will have no end (Dan 7:14,18). This was the hope of the Kingdom of God that would fuel the religious and nationalistic fervor during the Maccabean revolt of the second-century BC and also the various messianic movements leading up to and following the Jesus movement.

The Story of the Old Testament ends leaving God’s chosen people living ambiguously as “slaves in their own land”, still awaiting the fulfillment of the great promises for a new exodus, the defeat of Israel’s enemies, the restoration of the Davidic dynasty (i.e., the promised everlasting kingdom), the glorious return of Yahweh to Zion to dwell again with his people, and ultimately the fulfillment of the entire Abrahamic project—shining the light of Yahweh’s righteousness and peace onto the nations, and thus drawing them to Zion to worship the one true and living God (cf. Isaiah 2:2ff).

This OT backdrop and guiding narrative sets the stage for the dramatic entrance of a rather obscure Galilean preacher from Nazareth named Yeshua.  But that’s another story for another day.