40 Bible Stories Every Christian Should Know: The Fall

This is another one of those stories that you have heard enough that you think you know it.  You may not know it as well as you think you do.

Most of us know about the snake and the apple and the fig leaf.  Some of us know about the angel with the burning sword and God walking in the cool of the day.  Most of us don't remember that the clothes that God gave Adam and Eve were leather - which raises all kinds of questions.

In brief, God has placed Adam and Eve in the garden.  They have been given all the trees except one. The tree that they are not supposed to touch is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Now, you have to think that staying away from something called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" would be a good idea without the commandment from God, but there we are.

There are a few things about this story that make me either smile or think.

The first is that the incarnation of evil is a snake.  I can think of no better animal to be the personification of evil then a snake.

I love that God takes a walk in the garden in the cool of the day, it feels like God was just out for his evening constitutional.

But my favorite part of the whole thing is the conversation between Adam, Eve and God.  God wants to know what happens and Adam blames Eve and Eve blames the snake.  It's like listening to five year olds say "not me".

The reason that this story is one of the ones we should know, is that for most of Christian history this is the story that was told about how sin entered the world.  It was cited as the reason that women have pain in childbirth (and thus why pain killers shouldn't be used).  It was cited as the cause for many other things that today we find to be ridiculous or wrong.

So the question for us about this story is:  What doe it teach us about evil, the nature of evil and our part in evil?

40 Old Testament Stories every Christian should know

Last June we finished a two year cycle of reading through the whole Bible.

I thought we would try something different for our independent Bible reading this year.

So I went through the Old Testament and wrote down the stories that a lot of our theology and history depends on.  It turns out there are 40 of them.

So I have assigned them in order, one each week for the next 40 weeks. Some of them are short, some are long, but if you read one story a week, by June 19 you will have a basic understanding of the major stories of the Old Testament.

I'll be posting some thoughts about each week's story on Thursdays.

The first story, you'll not be surprised to know, is the story of Creation.  Actually it is the two stories of creation.

There are two slightly different versions of the story (or maybe just a retelling of the story with a different focus).

Most Christians are basically aware of the Creation story.  "In the beginning, when God was creating the heavens and the earth ..." Everything was created in six days and on the seventh day God rested.

I want to point out three things about the story that you may have skimmed over (or forgotten)
1. Everything God created was good.  Every day of creation ends with "and God saw that it was good."  Creation (including us) are good at its beginning.  God saw that creation was good.
2. We are made in the image of God - to quote from the NRSV - "And God made humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male & female he created them."  This is a pretty good translation from the Hebrew. We are made in the image of God - male & female, black & white, all of us, are made in the image and likeness of God.
3. God says a strange thing in talking about humanity, again from the NRSV - "and God said, "let us make humankind in our image."  Did you catch that - God is talking to God and talks about himself in the plural.  Our image - not my image, that is a good translation from the Hebrew too - so, what do you think that says about God?

The end of the Bible Challenge - Nehemiah

Nehemiah was once the second half of the book of Israel.

It tells the story, basically, of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem after the return of the people from exile in Babylon.

The book of Nehemiah is interspersed with Nehemiah's prayers as he goes about rebuilding the walls, and along with them the social & religious life of the people of Israel.

If you have made it this far you have now read every book in the Bible over the last two years.

Congratulations!

Bible Challenge: Ezra

At one point the books of Ezra and Nehemiah and several others were all one book.

It is generally accepted that the same author (or at least the same final editor) prepared both Chronicles and Ezra & Nehemiah.

The first few verses of Ezra are the same as the last few verses of Second Chronicles.

The book of Ezra picks up with the returning exiles from Babylon.  They were concerned with the physical rebuilding of the city and the temple, but also with rebuilding the society and the religion and excluding the foreign elements that had crept in over two generations in exile.  There were also a group of exile that wanted to rebuild the religion & society while retaining some of the things that they had picked up in Babylon.  The struggle between those two groups was still echoing at the time of Jesus.

There were four stages of the return from exile.
1. First return around 540 BC - the leader of this started rebuilding the temple but his opposition from those who had been left behind and had to stop
2. A second return about 20 years later who also encountered opposition but completed the rebuilding of the temple.
3. A group about 20 years after the second return (including Ezra) that worked to translate the law of Moses into a new code of laws for Israel
4. A group about 20 years after that (led by Nehemiah) who came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Bible Challenge: Second Chronicles - part 2

The end of Second Chronicles covers the reigns of several kings of Israel and several kings of Judah.  The story that is told is of a people that drift further and further from the laws of God and of nations that are falling apart.

We hear about Jehoram of Judah and Ahaziah of Israel.  To quote 2 Chronicles - "They did what is evil in the sight of the Lord."

The Philistines attack Judah and make them a client state.

Some of the succession of kings try to turn back to God for a little while, but it never lasts and they turn away again.

Towards the end of the book King Josiah comes to the throne - he restores the worship of the temple and bans the worship of idols and foreign gods.  Passover is celebrated in the Jerusalem by the king for the first time in several generations.  When he dies his son Joahaz becomes king.  Three months into his reign Egypt attacks and deposes him.  His successors do evil in the sight of the Lord.

Finally the people of Israel are defeated by Babylon and any of them with any education or skill are carried off into exile in Babylon.  Only the very poor and the uneducated are left behind in a ruined land.

Second Chronicles part one

Second Chronicles picks up with the story of Solomon - the first nine chapters cover his reign and particularly the building of the temple in Jerusalem.

After the death of Solomon we get the series of kings of Israel and Judah that we read about in 2 Kings.

Chapter 17 and 18 bring us to the reigns of Jehoshaphat and Ahab.  There is a great story of Jehoshaphat being called to account by the prophet Micaiah and then becoming a wise and good king.

Second part of First Chronicles

The reign of David

All of this week's half of First Chronicles is devoted to chronicling David's reign.

We pick up the story with moving the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  We get the story of why David did not build the temple.  We get the stories of David's battles and wars.

David takes a census, and gets the site where the temple will eventually be built.

The book ends with the divisions of all of the people who will work at the temple: priests and gate keepers and musicians.