Old Testament Lessons

Lesson Two

1. The people of Israel were meant to bless the world and serve as a light for other nations—thus the reason for God revealing Himself. The purpose of this was to demonstrate God’s ideal system of government, which would hold back the worst of sin and allow for a peaceful society to cultivate. However, the people of Israel succumbed to envy and wanted a monarchy like the other nations. When God allowed them to establish a monarchy, they failed in their mission. The moral of this story is to not envy others—especially when one is given a divine purpose to fulfill and choosing a system of government that was born from the mind of men rather than that of God. To not envy others is always relevant wisdom, coveting nearly always diverts one’s attention from the task at hand and focuses it, rather, on the outside goal.

2.  The danger of failure now is just as obvious. Abraham’s descendants chose man to be their guide rather than God. Man, certainly, is imperfect and inclinable to submitting to sin. Prophetic guidance, in a way, allows for this weakness to be supplemented by knowledge of a given purpose and preventing diversion or envy that further alienates a person from his or her given path.

Lesson 3

1. Jonah, ultimately, learned to not run or otherwise turn his back on God. While certainly the duties most people are saddled with are not nearly as dramatic as Jonah’s, one has a God-given duty all the same. While one may think that he or she might be able to run from these duties, it is self-delusion—that duty should be carried out to one’s best ability. Secondly, man is not in control of life—God is. Jonah made the mistake of disobeying Him and coincidentally, things fell out of his favor almost simultaneously. Man’s job is solely to follow the instructions that He provides. Lastly, man has no business judging other people based on incomplete understanding. This, again, is an exercise firmly within the realm of God and His judgment is His own. 

2. Amos, quite clearly, suggested that Israel had grown cold and hardened towards the poor and otherwise oppressed. God had, above all else, given Amos a message of judgment tinged with hopefulness. Most importantly, Amos’ message was meant to demonstrate God’s mercy. While it would be disingenuous to say that many of my insights are new, it has opened new avenues of thought—such as God’s propensity for sovereignty and how frequently there is a migration of people under God’s guidance. 

Amos also clarifies that God is not by any means a tool of ritual, and His children are free to submit to him or to deny him. It is fairly clear that Amos had prophesized a disaster in Israel due to them forgetting the path that God laid out for them and that their flagrant disregard for the poor and the needy directly ran in contrast to their mission of being a light and a place of justice and righteousness. It could be said that their society had become sick beyond the point of redemption by engaging in economic inequality, slave trading, and were otherwise corrupt by abandoning those who were most in need of assistance.

Lesson 4

1. After Israel was infested with locusts and all of their crops were demolished, Joel spoke to Judah and implied that if he and his people repented not only would they be forgiven, but that their land would become fertile again and that they would be able to overcome their enemies. It was important, Joel believed, for everyone to repent because the infertility of the land would have made it easy to take over, if not the ultimate death sentence for its people.

2. Despite the accuracy of the time, Of Micah and Joel’s prophecies, these have not yet passed: a second coming of Christ, the Nile River drying up, and the ocean drying up. At the time, as well, the Egyptians did not learn Canaatian.

Lesson 5

1. Immanuel prophecies were essential because Isaiah wanted Ahaz, the king of Judah to understand that he needed to have faith in God in order to restore Jerusalem and save them from being taken over. He speaks of a baby being born from a virgin as a sign that God is powerful in an effort to bring Ahaz to an understanding: that if he does not find faith in God and change his ways, his city will be destroyed as an example demonstrating that God is truly almighty.

2. The advantages of living during the period spoken about in Isaiah 11 are that it is described as perhaps the essence of peace. The lion will lay with the lamb, so to speak. Jesus will save believers from warring with Egypt and Israel and bring peace. War will never be a concern, as it will cease to exist. It is difficult to imagine a world built on peace due to our current situation. However, Isaiah 11 suggests that we accept others for who they are in order to have a peaceful nation. For example, the lion will lay with the lamb in spite of its predatory nature and the lamb is able to lay with the lion in spite of its vulnerability.

3. Generally, the burdens that are detailed consist of a great ending or the change of an era. Babylon is to be attacked by all nations in a grueling, endless battle. The Philistines would atone for their sins through famine. Moab’s kings would be overthrown and must have allied Assyria. Damascus would be simply destroyed and Egypt will be rife with civil war and overtaken by an outside enemy. Isaiah declared that the Valley of Visions should be destroyed due to foreseeing it being used for disreputable purposes.

4. As described in Isaiah 29, the message of the dead will come from the revelation. As the city of Ariel is destroyed, God was meant to sweep down and reveal his wrath against those who defied him. 

Lesson 6

1. As described in Isaiah 53, the concept of the Messiah depicts a man considered by others to be in destitution because he was thrown away and abandoned by those around him. Yet before all of this, he is considered in most other respects to be a normal man who bears the sins of others. With this in mind, man bears the obvious role of that of a minister to spread Messiah’s word. Essentially, Jesus was revealed to play this role, and by the literature, it was revealed that he suffered immensely and was abandoned by his followers. Thus, Isaiah 53 reveals the suffering servant to be that of a prophet who serves his God. 

2. The unity of Isaiah infers that a single person wrote all 66 chapters of what we consider to be the Book of Isaiah. It appears to be relatively protected by the fact of Isaiah using a language he did not know and further still the name of a king in said language in a kingdom he did not know stretches possibility much too far to be a meaningful criticism of the unity or a proponent of disunity. While some may claim that this limits the prophetical nature of Isaiah, it is more a question of how reasonable it would even be for a man to be coherent with this knowledge.

3. Appropriately, Isaiah’s words were prophetic and saw the arrival of the Messiah—along with how horribly He would be treated on His journey to absolve the world of sin. The accuracy of his prophecies also works in favor of this.

Lesson 7

1. God intervened in Judah’s life because of the specific plans that He had for him—a recurring theme. As Judah fell short of his responsibilities, God made the necessary amendments to try and realign his path. Ultimately, God was making amends for the wrongs that Judah commits.

2.  In many respects, God extended Hezekiah’s life as a show of power and obligation. Hezekiah had made an honest plea through bitter tears that he wanted to continue living incredibly badly. He had made a promise to David that He intended to fulfill and His reputation was, in some manner, hinging on this moment—though not in a sense of losing believers. This was very much a show of power that demonstrated God’s ability to perform these miracles; His mercy in placing stock in a man who does truly thirsts for a longer life, and His consistency in following through with promises and owed debts, and faith in His children to rediscover the path He gave them.

3. Kings or leaders of a society absolutely influence the morality of a people. We can see in Israel that their society had grown corrupt—failing to acknowledge the inequality and becoming a place without peace or justice for its people. In America today, there is a growing laxness with previously taboo ideas and humankind is prone to cultural shifts. If, for example, a leader declares their support for something, like-minded individuals might feel justified, or perhaps safer, in declaring their similar support. The most immediate example is the growing comfort and support for gay marriage throughout America, a concept that was previously considered immoral and ‘wrong’ in some sense. This cultural shift could be identified when the Defense of Marriage Act had been ruled unconstitutional.

Lesson 8

The value of the minor books of prophecy is readily apparent in that they are additional information, with the first half complementing the latter half. The books of Hosea through Micah raise compelling questions about iniquity whereas the books of Nahum through Malachi consider solutions to the problem of iniquity. Fundamentally, the value of these books lay in the wisdom that they offer. While its use in modern society may be questionable, it is an integral picture into the world of that time. Obviously, there is historical value along with their applicable wisdom. Despite being much smaller in length than the ‘major’ books, they still contain interesting tidbits of wisdom that provide an intriguing glance into the less notable aspects of biblical history.

They are especially intriguing because they approach the concepts of iniquity and sin as they discuss both their effects and their prevalence through seemingly anecdotal evidence. Throughout the minor prophecies, it fleshes out the relationship that is shared between God and Israel and the constant fluctuations that occur. For example, in the book of Hosea, he has prophesized dark times approaching for Israel—the kingdom’s eventual fall in 8th century BC. Despite this, Hosea’s prophecy revolves around God’s endless love towards an Israel that questionably does not deserve it. 

Throughout the book, God is distraught over how Israel has betrayed the path He had laid down for them. They had forgotten that He was their only savior and Hosea’s mission was to remind the people of Israel of this paramount fact. Again, this book demonstrates God’s eternal love for people. Essentially, he is our partner in marriage. 

Lesson 9

Jeremiah was the Lord’s last recourse for saving the nation of Israel. Jeremiah’s presence alone signifies the importance of never abandoning the mission that He delivers unto you. Yet before this, God alone knows the virtue and necessity of the path that he provides, so while all seems hopeless on the physical plane—much as it did for Jeremiah amidst a country that did not listen despite the tragedy that was fast approaching—God knows what He’s doing. While the people of Israel thought Jeremiah to be an annoying fool, his story is one of spiritual growth and accommodation, for Jeremiah found the realization of resoluteness in his faith despite his efforts seeming pointless. The moral behind Jeremiah’s deployment is implicitly not to give up and begin doubting the Lord. Despite his efforts seeming to go unrewarded, Jeremiah played a key role in determining who had already damned themselves by not heeding his warnings in any sense.

If Jeremiah is any indication, the Lord will give prophetic warnings to any person in any time with most likely the same resolve. The most important variable of this are the other people—and whether or not they will listen. Based on how God explicitly sent someone to save Israel in the first place, I find it hard to believe that His desire to save the people of the nation would suddenly disappear.

Depending on the form that these prophetic warnings take certainly influences exactly how people would respond to them—though the inherent issues that doomed Israel clearly affected its people and left them misdirected and facing away from God’s ideal. Despite this, much like Jeremiah’s frustration, he still continued to fulfill the mission that God gave him to the best of his ability. Because of this, He would most likely still give prophetic warnings to the same extent.

Without His pity and mercy, the Northern Kingdom would be destroyed. There are a plethora of interesting stories hidden in the minor prophecies—their value is obvious and without them there would be a missing piece of the history of the stories.

Lesson 10

Similarly to nearly every other story, there is always a theme of not giving up. The Book of Ezekiel only reemphasized this for me. Ezekiel’s message is one of responsibility—and how we are responsible for the consequences that we incur due to our behavior. Throughout Ezekiel, we are privy to a piece of wisdom that fills the book: listen attentively and learn more than speaking alone. All of this is particularly important during a time of international disarray. Ezekiel, as a servant of God, emphasizes responsibility in respect to Him.

By responsibility, however, it is a personal matter and how willing we are as individuals to speak out against something we might disagree with—this does not have to be entirely religiously motivated, however. I cannot, in good conscience, say that I learned much that was new morally from Ezekiel—though I did find much more that would be attributable to modern living and being consistent in my values. I think the most appreciable thing about Ezekiel is the breadth of lessons that are inherent throughout the book.

Religious motivation can certainly be exclusive from a simple and implicit desire to do good deeds for no discernible reason, though Ezekiel made a point of establishing us to at the very least is consistent in our values. Ezekiel would encourage us to act as sentinels for those around us—guardians against misdeeds for we should look after the whole of our community. This seems to be the most relatable lesson that is still incredibly applicable in a modern society, especially in regards to finding consistency in our behavior and using this consistency, religiously or no, to better the world and lives of those around us.

Lesson 11

1. The Book of Daniel was most likely written in 6th century BC. There is a variety of evidence throughout to justify this claim—mostly historical evidence. Daniel’s system of dating, the error of Belshazzar being known as the last king of Babylon when it was, in fact, his father Nabonidus. It is more accurate to say the Belshazzar had helped his father rule, but much of this information was lost until 450 BC. This would suggest that the author must have been alive during the events, because it would mean for an incoherent narrative. The discovery of the Nabonidus Chronicle is the most integral piece of evidence to defend a 6th century BC timeframe for the Book of Daniel.

2. Throughout the book of Daniel, he speaks of his captivity under King Nebuchadnezzar, which is important because he and his utterly disobeyed the rules of society. Meaning, not indulging in the king’s feast of various meats and alcohol, did not bow to his idol, and prayed ‘inappropriately’ in the eyes of the king. As a punishment for their misdeeds, they are thrown into a furnace and then into a lion’s den. However, Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream on two separate occasions—and afterwards is appointed as the Chief of Wise Men in all of Babylon. Daniel’s story demonstrates that just because something happens to be mainstream and societally accepted it does not necessarily mean that it is right, and that the right thing may not be the popular course of action—faith in God always results in the best outcome. 

The right thing Daniel did was to disobey the king, whom did not follow God and instead established his own rules, which he most likely believed to be superior to those of God. Daniel’s faith in God provided him with a blessing of safety for he did not divert himself from the path he had been given.

Lesson 12

1. The divine assistance the Jews received took the form of freedom from slavery through divine means. Cyrus, the ruler of Persia, had granted this freedom. The Jews were then escorted to Zion in four Aliyahs. Prophets and leaders that were sent to Zion helped create laws that would protect commoners and the poor from being taken advantage of by the rich. These laws also encouraged everyone to cooperate in order to protect Israel from attack while they rebuilt the city and its temples. In order to preserve Judaism at its then-incarnation, mixed marriages and polygamy were outlawed.

2. The latter-day building of Zion is similar to its previous attempt insofar that both were preparing people for higher spirituality. Unlike the previous attempt, however, the latter-day building of Zion was more of a state of being than physical building. Because it is an amorphous existence, temples were built worldwide along with people preparing their souls for the second coming of Christ.

Lesson 13

1. Some people leave their comfortable circumstances and lucrative positions to champion the causes of the unfortunate and downtrodden simply because it is the moral thing to do. Nehemiah left his comfortable position in the court to help with the rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. While our own callings may not be as extreme as Nehemiah, we leave places of comfort in order to do good things in the world—perhaps it is the path given to us by God. Where Nehemiah sees the oppression of the poor, he still assumes a comfortable position of governor to do away with the deeply rooted corruption of Israel. 

Most importantly, and possibly most relatable, sometimes people leave their comfort to champion for the unfortunate because otherwise those less fortunate people have neither the capabilities nor willpower to effectively work for their own cause and might otherwise never have a voice to speak for them. In addition, the more fortunate are able to experience the side of the unfortunate when they give up their comforts. Perhaps this teaches us tolerance for others. 

2. Malachi, as the final book of the Old Testament, comes from an interesting perspective. For example, taking place so far in the future from the time when Abraham enables the Book of Malachi to take a retrospective look at the rewards and punishments that Israel received. It encourages consistency and highlights the cyclical nature of Israel throughout the Bible—they failed and God summoned His people back. 

Each time God reset the path of Israel they would fail His design over and over, beginning the cycle anew. If this trend is to continue, then there seems to be an unbreakable schema indicating that His children are destined to repeatedly fail and try again which emphasizes an important theme throughout the Bible: do not give in. Malachi encourages consistency and living faithfully in accordance with God despite being unable to live to His standard without His help.

Lesson 14

There are a variety of reasons that the Book of Esther may have been included in the Bible—because of its historical importance, the lessons behind its story, or meaning hidden psychoanalytic meaning in the text. In some ways, it appears to be the most compelling story, effectively using literary devices and suspense to hook its reader in. 

Perhaps the reason for preserving the story lays in its subtext. For example, the Book of Esther has no compunction about conveying the idea that God need not be mentioned to have a significant place in the story of our lives. Beyond that, God is always in control—even when life seems confusing. Incredibly enough, a Jewish girl—the eponymous Esther—is the protagonist of the story.

This is an important message to preserve. It is also imperative to remember that the Book of Esther never once mentions God by name. He makes no appearance in the text itself yet so many events in the story seem to happen at the absolute perfect moment.

For this reason, preserving Esther’s story is practical because it interprets life as we might always imagine it being for us. God may never personally visit us but we are to believe that He is always silently working through our troubles, our devotion, and our successes. It is certainly no coincidence that God makes no appearance in the story other than as the architect behind the curtain. 

This is perhaps the most imperative message of Esther. God is always there and his absence is symbolic of that due to the events of the story occurring the way they do with an incredible amount of seemingly coincidences for everything to work out smoothly in the end. The reason for its preservation is apparent. It is, on one hand, an origin story for the celebration of Purim. Yet, more accurately, it is a symbolic story of God’s presence.

The presence of a higher power is evident in Esther’s message. In addition, we are reminded that through many different religions, the idea of God is essentially the same. Because she did not identify God as God reminds us that while we may call our higher power by another name, it does not necessarily mean we have identified the true and one and only higher power. Instead it is that moral presence that sustains and guides us to act as morally responsible human beings. 

Lesson 15

Job’s life is a simple one that errs on the side of righteousness. As God finds Job to be an admirable representation of His children, Satan takes the initiative to challenge Job’s faith under the pretense that he only loves Him for the protection that he provides him. This births a sort of contest between God and Satan as to whether Job will ultimately show his ‘true’ colors and curse God for his misfortunes. 

In order to test this, God removes his protection and Satan takes his wealth, children, and physical ability all for the purpose of turning Job against God. While this story ultimately ends with Job not giving into temptation and cursing God, being blessed once again, and living a long and fruitful life, it is a story that many people live every day—though perhaps not as dramatically.

Everyone faces their share of trials and tribulations through the course of a day, a year, their entire life, even. When we are stricken with misfortune, we have the inclination to lash out and against our perceived aggressor. We hunt for a reason as to why it was ourselves and not someone else that has to deal with the problems that occur for us. The trials that we encounter are, most importantly, an opportunity for our growth in life. It is important to remember, in the context of Job, that there is always trust. 

Despite all of the adversity we may face and how endless it may seem, we can always trust that there will one day be an end to that misfortune. Life can be unfair—a sentiment that nearly everyone can most likely recall agreeing with at some point. This is probably the most applicable lesson of Job: life can be unfair and difficult for inexplicable reasons that may always be especially obscure but we can have faith, in anything really, that trials and tribulations do not last forever but are only a tool to help us grow.

Lesson 16

The starkest difference of the book of Ecclesiastes lays in its ambiguity, authored by Koheleth, who self-identifies as a teacher. It is, at times, unclear and contradictory. It is unclear whether it discusses how humans behave or the ideal way for humans to behave. It questions the process of receiving wisdom and ideas. Ecclesiastes also seems to criticize the various dichotomies of good and evil, war and peace, cleanliness and uncleanliness. Many believe it is the book of Ecclesiastes that is most relevant for people in current Western Civilization. 

It finds that God alone can judge the morality of something, and draws its answers from empirical evidence rather than moral suppositions. Strangely enough, it encourages the importance of a ubiquitous phrase: eat, drink, and be merry! Ecclesiastes certainly leaves itself open to interpretation on an entirely different level than the rest, partly due to it not truly being a book of prophecy because they preach entirely different ideals. However, our current world seems to be less innocent of those from our past, so the tendency to drink and be merry is certainly suggestive of something else now. On the other hand, God’s use of empirical evidence suggests that science and religion may have more in common than some would like to believe. 

Nevertheless, according to the book of Ecclesiastes, we must still fear God if we do not live as he wants. In a way, it is this uncertainty that we do not actually know what is good in God’s eyes that provides evidence of a tortured man. The book of Ecclesiastes is similar to an internal dialogue that reminds us that we struggle to know the difference between right and wrong, yet we yearn to be good people.