Theological Theme: The Old Testament
The glory of God in His reign
Theological Theme: 1–2 Kings
The KING’S Kingdom
Theological Theme: 1–2 Chronicles
God’s Relationship with His People
Theological Theme: Ezra
God Rebuilds His Nation
Theological Theme: Nehemiah
God Stabilizes His Nation
Theological Theme: Esther
God is Hidden but Active
Theological Theme: Job
The Question of Theodicy
Theological Theme: Psalms
Worship to the King
538 BC -- led by Zerubbabel and Joshua/Jeshua (Ezra 1-6)
The 1st wave of post-exilic return to the land
458 BC -- led by Ezra (Ezra 7-10)
The 2nd wave of post-exilic return to the land
445 BC -- led by Nehemiah (Nehemiah 1-13)
The 3rd wave of post-exilic return to the land
722 BC
When the Northern Kingdom was exiled
605 BC
When the 1st wave of the Southern Kingdom was exiled by Babylon
597 BC
When the 2nd wave of the Southern Kingdom was exiled by Babylon
586 BC
When the 3rd wave of the Southern Kingdom was exiled by Babylon
Solomon prays for a listening heart
1 Kings 3:9
The fear of Yahweh is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding
Job 28:28
For Ezra has set his heart to study the law of Yahweh and to practice it, and teach his statute and judgement in Israel
Ezra 7:10
see I have taught you statutes and judgements just as Yahweh my God commanded me - you shall keep them and do them, for that is your wisdom and understanding
Deuteronomy 4:5-8
Kiss the son, lest he become angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him!
Psalms 2:12
Write this in a book as a memorial and recite it in Joshua’s hearing, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven
Exodus 17:14
Jehoiada
The priest who led the revolt against Athaliah, put her to death, and put Joash on the throne
Athaliah
Tries to kill off the Davidic line and kills them all except one (grandma from Hell)
Jezebel
wife of Ahab - foreigner - super evil
Ahab
evil incarnate - more evil than all the others - washes Northern Kingdom in apostasy - has the contest with Elijah between Baal and Yahweh
Joash
the one person Athaliah couldn’t kill - has an awesome reign because of Jehoiada, but when he dies they forsake Yahweh and embrace idolatry
Hezekiah
open and restores the temple
Josiah
Yahweh postponed judgment because of him - devoted to Yahweh - rebuilds temple, covenant renewal ceremony, passover renewal
Elijah
demonstration of God’s mighty power with the contest with Ahab - speaks on God’s behalf, not other way around - not THE prophet greater than Moses
Elisha
his ministry deals with conquest - new defense for the nation
Manasseh
symbol of redemption - led Judah to do evil, but prays and repents
Cyrus
the king that releases Israel from exile
Uzziah
becomes proud, tries to burn incense in the temple and gets leprosy
Rehoboam
son of Solomon that forsakes Yahweh
Jehu
goes on a rampage and throws Jezebel out a window - prophecy in 2 Kings 10:30 about his family
Corporate solidarity
one for the many (works for the positive and the negative)
The exile
a worldview-shattering event
The Davidic covenant
1 Chronicles 17 - unilateral - infinity gauntlet (combines all other covenants)
Where the temple was built:
built on Mt Moriah on the threshing floor of Ornan, in Jerusalem
What the temple symbolizes:
symbol of God’s relationship with his people (designed to look like the Garden of Eden)
Inside of the temple:
God’s presence is present to provide (golden altar for atonement)
outside of the temple:
giant basin of water (12,000 gallons) held by 12 oxen (12 tribes of Israel) - fate of the entire world is up to Israel - international impact
the genealogies in 1 Chronicles 1-9:
highlight reel of God’s love and faithfulness
Ezra’s genealogy in Ezra 7
descendent of Phineas
Why Nehemiah cared about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem
flag/patriotic - represents the nation
Haman’s death and his sons’ deaths in the book of Esther
finally killed all the Amalekites (as promised in Exodus 17)
Why God’s name never appears in the book of Esther
omission of God’s name is deliberate - even though we don’t always get to see it, God is still active
Esther and Mordecai remain in Persia
should be in Israel at this point (between the 1st and 2nd wave of returners) - identifying with the pagans
imprecatory Psalms
praying against someone - not about personal vendettas
Melchizedek in Psalm 110:4
the proof that the offices of king and priest can be merged into one person
Israel is a:
theocracy
Ezra - “vertical”
Nehemiah - “horizontal”
Ezra rebuilds the temple (continues Chronicles)
Nehemiah rebuilds the walls and gates (continues Kings)
Elijah’s ministry and the type of power he displays
deals with the depth of God’s power
Elisha’s ministry and the type of power he displays
deals with the breadth of God’s power
The Psalms as wisdom literature and what it does on a macro level in relation to Deuteronomy 4:5–8
connected to the Mosaic covenant - declaration through the Mosaic Covenant that Israel has wisdom
wisdom
the ability to take the full counsel of God’s word and apply it rightly to any given situation
grace is Psalm 107
when God intervenes unilaterally - God alone acts decisively and definitively for your benefit
General revelation in Psalm 19
what’s been revealed in our created realm
Special revelation in Psalm 19
what God reveals directly to us through scripture
Synonymous parallelism
same thing from a different angle
antithetical parallelism
opposite things from 2 different angles
synthetic parallelism
one idea building on top/escalating
Chiasm
highlights and supports the center
4 applications of scripture:
1: worship and awe
2: to know
3: responding to God’s character
4: worldview
Yahweh rules by His WORD
how Yahweh rules in 1-2 Kings
what Baal was famous for controlling:
rain, fire, life/death
The prophecy of 2 Kings 10 concerning Jehu’s dynasty
only 4 sons from the line of Jehu will sit on the throne of the Northern Kingdom (ticking time bomb)
Assyria
nation that exiled the Northern Kingdom
Southern kingdom (Judah):
what kingdom 1-2 Chronicles focuses on:
1st: forgiveness (7:21)
2nd: a mediator (9:33)
3rd resurrection (14:14)
Job’s first, second, and third wish and what chapters they occur in
premodern, modern, postmodern
The cycles/rounds of debates in Job
Courtroom style
Eliphaz: historian
Bildad: scientist
Zophar: philosopher
Elihu: theologian
How Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and Elihu argue
How the book of Ezra ends
sin makes everything complicated - choose between sin or more sin (illegal divorces)
how the book of Nehemiah ends
Israel is knee deep in paganism - the book demands something more …
Nehemiah
Which book(s) mark the end of the Old Testament timeline?
When were a majority of the Psalms written?
majority written in the time of King David (by David)
Psalms of Lament
most common Psalm - accompanied by a hinge - don’t forget who God is
what David is meditating on in Psalm 29:
A thunderstorm
The historical context behind the Psalms of Ascents in Psalms 120–134
would have been sung when an Israelite was on their journey to Jerusalem - multiple journeys: passover, feast of booths, pentecost, etc
What David has ultimate confidence toward in Psalm 16:9-10
David has ultimate confidence in the resurrection
Messianic
Psalm 2 and Psalm 110 are:
Full context of Psalm 22
dealing with Davids suffering or the Messiah’s suffering? - could not be talking about anything other than the Messiah - not just suffering by persecutor, but by God’s hand (execution) - implies resurrection
inspired
the superscripts in the Psalms are:
structure of Esther and what is highlighted:
CHIASTIC -- the fall of Hamon and rise of Mordecai