Scripture: One Book at a Time
The whole of Sacred Scripture is a single narrative that promises and points to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the World. It is an epic story, the greatest ever told, and told "one book at a time." Each book makes it contribution to the narrative as God reveals God's self to us and his desire that all be saved.
Lesson 5: Exodus (Part 1)
The Story of Moses
In our last session we reviewed the story of the descendants of Abraham: Isaac, Jacob and his 12 sons in the second part of the Book of Genesis (12-50). At the close of Genesis, the people of Israel have settled in Egypt, Joseph is like a Prime Minister to Pharaoh and all is well.
400 years later, things are very different. The People of God need to be rescued.
The two videos (Exodus Part 1 and The Law) both touch on the role of “hard hearts” as a barrier to our relationship with God. Some biblical texts seem to say that God hardened the person’s heart; that can’t be right, can it? Take a moment to read “When Pharaoh’s Heart Grew Hard.”
Also, take a moment to look at the supplemental presentation: Blessings and Hard Hearts.
For those who would like to explore details of Exodus 1-8, please consider videos from Fr. Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” program. You can find the entire playlist here.
During the Q&A there were two question for which I prepared a written form of my responses:
Given the interconnectedness of the Old Testament, was there a single author. No, there were many authors, but also there was a process by which all the books of the Old Testament reached final written form. Read more here.
Why are there differences in the books of the Old Testament between Catholic and Protestant/Reformed Bibles. Read more here.