An ancient African proverb imparts wisdom about tackling huge projects: “How does one person eat a whole elephant? One bite at a time.” The Genesis & Job Series is the first bite of Eyewitness Bible Series in tackling the Old Testament.
The most casual reader soon recognizes the majority of the writings of the Old Testament have to do with the history of the Israelites (also known as Hebrews or Jews). Embedded in the Old Testament is a wealth of knowledge about God and his character, books of poetry and proverbs, and a host of prophecies.
In Bibles used by most Protestant Christians, the Old Testament consists of 39 writings, called books. The Eyewitness Bible Series groups these books into three different series:
Genesis 10-11:26 gives a very brief history of mankind from the time of Noah until the time of Abram, who will later be re-named Abraham. Although it is easy to skim through this section, it provides a background of nations that will be helpful to know through the rest of the Old Testament and up to today’s time.
By the end of Genesis 11, we learn that Abram is the son of Terah, and they have moved from Ur to Haran. Abram is married to his half-sister, Sarai, and they are unable to have children. Abram’s nephew, Lot, is living with them. Terah dies at the age of 205.
Upon Terah’s death, God tells Abram to take everything and everybody and move to a country that will be revealed in due time, and in return, God promises to make Abram into a great nation, bless him, make his name great, and bless all people through him. At age seventy-five, Abram takes everything and everybody and heads to Canaan, approximately the land of modern Israel and Palestine.
After a brief stay in Egypt, Abram and Lot arrive in Canaan with many animals and possessions. They agree to split up in order to preserve family peace. Lot chooses to live on the plain near Sodom and Gomorrah. One time, Lot gets kidnapped and Abram has to rescue him. This provides the setting for Abram to meet the mysterious priest and king, Melchizedek.
The Lord takes the occasion to convert his previous promise to Abram into a one-sided covenant through a very elaborate ceremony. As part of this covenant, God names all of the country that will be given to Abram’s descendants.
Paul – Brian Shoop Japheth – Bryan Chatlien Satan – Christian Heep Job’s Wife – Leticia Magaña Job – Bob Reed Lot – Patrick Arnez Isaac – Tod Upchurch Esau – David Burkhart Rachel – Magdalen Vaughn Reuben – John Ruegsegger Joseph – Blake McNamara Benjamin – Jackson Kelly
