For    thousands    of    years,    scientists, philosophers,  and   mystics   have   been asking,  “Where  did  we  come  from?”  The Bible gives us the definitive answer to  that  question.    The  universe  is  the handiwork   of   God.      In   this   lesson, you’re  going  to  use  Genesis  1-2  and other   Old   Testament   Scriptures   to answer  the  questions  below.    Then,  in class,  we’re  going  to  use  everyone’s answers  to  build  a  portrait  of  the  God who    can    create    something    from nothing.

160113 Lesson 2 - Meeting God in the Old Testament as Covenant-Maker IPad

Genesis 33:18, 20 reads:  “Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. . .  Then he erected an altar there and called it El-Elohe-Israel.”Translated, the name of Jacob’s altar is “God, the God of Israel.”  When Jacob chooses this name for his new altar, he probably doesn’t intend to make a statement of huge Scriptural significance.  His new name is Israel, God is his God, and he’s quite happy about that.  However, the name that Jacob applies to his altar can  be  applied  equally  well  to  the  entire  Old  Testament.    Those  thirty-nine  books  of  the  Bible  are  about God and how He is defined by His relationship with His chosen people.  God is the hero of the story.Often,  when  we  study  the  Old  Law,  we  do  so  on  a  small  scale  as  we  become  entranced  by  the  stories  of godly  men  ranging  from Abraham  to  Nehemiah.    Although  these  stories  are  instructive  and  important, sometimes they distract us from understanding God.  This textbook aims to correct that mistaken focus.  It divides  the  history  of  God’s  ancient  dealings  with  mankind  into  twelve  segments and  describes  each segment in terms of the aspect of God’s cha