Lyle Brecht 25-Jul-09 EFM Notes: I Chapter 3 - THE PRIESTLY CREATION STORY1

Gen 1-2:4a God’s creation of the all that is in the space-time cosmos out of chaos.

The Priestly creation story is the product of a community of faith engaged in theological
reflection on creation. The text utilizes and transforms older creation myths. The text was
written in ~6th century BCE addressed to exiles in order to refute Babylonian theological
claims of possessing superior Gods to that of Israel. To despairing exiles, it is declared
that the God of Israel is the Lord of all things and all life. This is a theological and
pastoral statement addressed to a real historical problem. The story makes the assertion
that God can be trusted, even against the contemporary data of the Babylonian captivity.
The story is also a statement of faith; making the theological claim that God’s spoken
word can transform reality. The story proclaims the news of God intervening in history
which redefines the world.2

The God of Genesis 1 (Elohim rather than YHWH) is a God who acts through his word
in creation and in history; it is this that makes him God. The action which is the basis of
every event in creation and in history is a command from God whose execution must
necessarily follow. For example, in creation, when God speaks his command “Let there
be light” there is nobody there to whom his command is directed or through whom the
command can be executed. The reality of this world exists only because God acts. When
the OT speaks of God it means the reality of one who acts in creation and in history. For
the OT, the question of whether there is a God has no meaning because the world exists.3

What the Priestly creation story accomplishes:4

1. Dualism is rejected. God is behind all that is; it is God alone who keeps chaos
under control. Creation is not an accident, but the deliberate act of divine will.
And God considers his work5 good. God responds to his work with a sense of
achieving divine intention, which includes aspects of beauty, purpose, and praise.6

1
The Priestly creation story (Gen 1-2:4a) and the JE creation and fall story (Gen 2:4b-3:24) function
together to provide a canonical picture of creation. The Priestly point of view is liturgical – the people of
God’s whole life is to be lived as a liturgy to God; this is an unconditional covenant that God has with
humankind (“sola gratia”); God’s unconditional grace is evident in his creation. God created humankind
because he wanted to – with love; and God is sovereign over all of creation (class discussion).
2
Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis: Interpretation Series (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982) pp. 22 – 39.
3
Westermann, Claus. Genesis 1 -11, trans. John Scallion (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1984)
pp. 80 – 177.
4
de Bary, Edward Oscar, Gen. Editor, Education for Ministry – Year 1, Chapter 3 (Sewanee, TN:
University of the South, 1999).
5
“Bara” used to speak about the newness and uniqueness of what God brings into being.
6
New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol 1: Genesis pp. 340 - 352

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 The world as it comes from the hand of God is perfect: whatever evil there now is
in the world is not due to God.

2. God is both immanent and transcendent. God is immanent in that by creating

humankind he no longer chooses to be alone – he involves himself in our history.
God remains transcendent in that only he has created the heavens and earth and all
things and we can never know his mind fully – the fullness of God remains a
mystery to us.

3. There is freedom in the world. Human beings are given a role to play in God’s
creation and they must respond from their own free-will. Nothing is determined
beforehand or sealed by fate.

4. Fertility is from God, and God alone is to be worshiped since only God is the
source of this creativity.

5. Humanity is made in the image (selem) and likeness (demult) of God. The pattern
of which human beings are created comes from outside the sphere of the created.
The creation of humankind, the last of God’s creative acts, is the climax of God’s
creation.

6. God created humankind so that both sexes are needed for completeness. The
female images the divine equally to the male; both are created in the image and
likeness of God. The modern notion of individual self-sufficiency is ruled out.

7. Human beings are God’s representatives here on earth – stewards for his creation.
As an image and likeness of God, human beings are to mirror God to the world in
their words and their actions – to be an extension of God’s own dominion. There
is perfection in humankind’s original relationship to God and to his created world.

8. This God, the God who created heaven and earth and all things, and this God
alone, is the God who acts in history and has a covenant with Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob sealed with Moses at Sinai – thus creating the people of Israel.7

9. God’s rest (sabat) on the seventh day indicates that the Sabbath belongs to the
created order. God created the Sabbath to celebrate his covenant with the people
of Israel. This covenant is the basis of Israel’s faith and the dignity of all
humankind.

10. The two pillars of Israel’s faith are:

a. God’s gift of life and authority to humankind as his representative here on

earth – “a people under God.”

7
For the Hebrew people, personhood was defined through the belonging established in a covenantal
relationship. Pembroke, Neil. The Art of Listening: Dialogue, Shame, and Pastoral Care (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2002) p. 52.

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b. God’s gift of the Sabbath – a day of celebration of God’s people under
God through God’s covenant with his people.

3
Lyle Brecht 25-Jul-09 EFM I Ch 4 – THE JE ACCOUNT OF CREATION & FALL

Genesis 2:4b-3:24 Primeval History of Humankind When We Alienate Ourselves

from God because of Our Transgression and Disobedience

The J writer presupposes Genesis 1:1-2.4a. Human life is not taken for granted; it is a gift
of God. We receive our human existence by participating in God’s life-giving spirit.
Humanity has no right of its own to survive. Life and the future which is necessary for
life to unfold are God’s gifts.8 As humans, we are supposed to represent God here on
earth and to mold our conduct according to God’s will. Our human freedom is given to
us, not to do whatever we want, but rather freedom to live according to God’s will. As
God’s representatives, we derive our self-understanding and communion with others
from the task of doing God’s will.9

In Genesis 2:4b-3:24 even though humankind knows that humans live by the gifts of
God, humans are disobedient to God, to whom we owe everything.10 The purpose of this
narrative is not how did death come into this world or what is the origin of sin. The
question the narrative is designed to answer is “Why is humankind who is created by God
limited by death, suffering, toil, and sin?” But the J writer does not expect a causal
answer to this existential question. The answer is that the alienation of humankind from
God does not mean a definitive separation from God. God drives us out of the garden, but
leaves us life; and by giving us a commission outside the garden, God gives meaning to
our alienated existence. However, guilt, sin and death continue to be stark realities that
remind us of our limitations, even as we remain creatures of God’s creation.11

1. The LXX Greek word for sin is hamarita. The LXX concept of sin has a sense of
“missing” e.g. the way (Prov. 19:2); what is sought (Prov. 8:36); the mark (Judg.
20:16). While used for wrong action, the word suggests always the idea of going
astray. In this narrative humankind wishing to be as wise as God and
understanding his designs opens up a mistrust in which we renounce our proper
attitude as creatures of God; acting as though we were ourselves God, responsible
only to ourselves (hubris).12

2. “One does not find in the OT any word that means precisely what Christians mean
by ‘sin.’ There was breach of the law (Torah), and consequent fear before God;
there was guilt and a sense of liability to punishment; there was consciousness of
evil and suffering, etc. but no SIN as a thing in and of itself.” For J, primeval sin

8
Schwartz, Hans. Creation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002) p. 177.
9
Schwartz, pp. 182-183
10
Westerman, Claus. Elements of Old Testament Theology trans. Douglas Stott (Atlanta: John Knox, 1978)
p. 96.
11
Westerman, Claus. Genesis 1-11 trans. John Scullian (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1974) p. 277.
12
Kittel, Gerald, ed. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament Abridged in One Volume by Geoffrey
Bromiley (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985) pp. 44-46.

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 is actions in disobedience to God, which is true for all humanity.13 In later
Judaism, those who have and keep the law (Torah) are kept from sin in both an
ethical and legal sense, but those outside the law (the Gentiles) have no similar
possibility. This is due to their rejection of the law; resulting in idolatry, ritual
uncleanness, lack of sexual mores, and pagan ways. For Paul, sin was opposition
to God. Sin entered the world with Adam, enslaving us (Rom. 7:14) and handing
us over to death so that we cannot fulfill the law (Rom. 7:15ff). Christ’s
crucifixion and resurrection overcomes sin for all of us and establishes a new
history (from the history begun in Gen. 2.4b-3:24) for humankind.14 The point
Paul is making in Rom. 5:12-21 is that Christ’s righteousness is, by God’s grace,
more than enough to offset the effects of sin.15

3. The NT view of sin was dramatically different than the Hellenistic Greek use of
hamartia (sin). Classical Greek viewed sin as defect and guilt, not as enmity
against God. By Hellenistic times hamarita was used for predetermined destiny
which is the cause of guilt but without personal responsibility; redemption comes
through certain rites or gnosis (knowledge).16

4. The LXX Greek word for evil is kakos arising mainly in connection with
hamarita. The Jews thought of evil in two ways. First, evil is the punishment for
sin, especially for idolatry and apostasy. God saves from evil when his people
repent. That is, evil has a political or national dimension, as the penalty for
turning away from the law. Secondly, evil has a personal ethical meaning. If we
willingly chose evil, through ignorance or ungodliness, evil results will follow.17

5. The OT Hebrew word for “the devil” is satan, but the word is used very
infrequently. When it is used it means the legal accuser; whether as a divine
prosecutor, a human agent who accuses on God’s behalf, or as a destructive force
of nature.18

6. The OT is not interested in how evil came into the world. The OT offers no
theological statement about the origin of evil. There is no hint in Genesis that the
serpent is an embodiment of evil or symbolizes the devil.19 When J allows man
and woman to be led astray by the clever snake, creature of God, he is saying that
it is not possible to know the origin of evil. We are at a complete loss in the face
of the fact that God has created a being that can lead humankind to disobedience.
The origin of evil is a complete mystery. The most important thing that J has to
say here is that there is no etiology for the origin of evil: “the temptation stands as

13
Westerman, pp. 277-278.
14
Kittel, p. 51-52.
15
de Bary, Edward Oscar, Gen. Editor, Education for Ministry – Year 1, Chapter 4 (Sewanee, TN:
University of the South, 1999) p. 67.
16
Kittel, p. 48-49.
17
Kittel, p. 392.
18
Kittel, p. 151.
19
Brueggemann, Walter. Genesis: Interpretation Series (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982) pp. 40-46.

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 something inexplicable; it appears suddenly amid the good that God has created.
It will remain there as a riddle” (W. Zimmerali).20

7. The forbidden tree’s characteristics in Hebrew mean: “good for food,” “a delight
to the eyes,” and “desirable in acquiring wisdom.” The women ate of the tree of
good and evil “in order to become wise.” The type of fruit was not mentioned.
The idea that Eve ate an apple from the tree arose from a mistranslation of the
Latin Bible.21

8. “To know good and evil” does not mean moral knowledge. For J this knowledge
was all encompassing and meant the knowledge necessary for humankind to
master life and be successful. However, this is not personal knowledge so much
as knowledge that is concerned above all with the communal life of humans.
Humans are only what God intended us to be as humankind lives in community
with one another – and that basic form is the community of man and woman.22

9. There is no linkage of sex to sin in J’s narrative.23

10. The OT does not assume a “fall” of humanity from a state of divine grace to one
of sinfulness that is part of our history. The whole course of events from the
moment humankind was placed in the Garden of Eden to the expulsion from the
Garden is primeval – an event on the other side of our historical experience. One
cannot carve up the narrative to describe the status of humankind from our
vantage point in human history. Our history knows no humankind before “sin.”
The Jews of ancient times did not think of this narrative as a definite event at the
beginning of human history, even though it remained eminently real to them. It
was only in late Judaism when perceptions of the differences between historical
reality and primeval reality were lost and the “fall of humanity” became an
historical event – but the idea of original sin is an entirely Christian idea.24 When
Augustine opposed Pelagius, who had been teaching that Adam influenced
humanity by giving us a bad example, Augustine introduced the idea of
transmission of sin by propagation or inheritance. Augustine also introduced the
idea of gratia sanans (healing grace) and gratia elevans (elevating grace). With
the introduction of these ideas into the debate with Pelagius, the narrative in Gen.
2:4b-3:24 was recast in terms of “the Fall.” Adam fell from an elevating grace to a
healing grace.25 Since the 5th century CE the church has taught that every person
who is born shares in original sin, even before she has committed any acts of
sin.26

20
Westerman, p. 239.
21
Hamilton, Victor. Book of Genesis Ch 1-17 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990) pp. 190-191
22
Westerman, p. 242.
23
Bruggeman, p. 42.
24
Westerman, p. 276.
25
Fitzmyer, Joseph. Romans: Anchor Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1992) p. 409.
26
EFM, p. 67.

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 11. Death is not a punishment for sin. The J writer is reflecting not so much on death
as on alienation.27 Death in and of itself belongs properly to the human life God
wills for humankind. In the OT, humans “missing the mark” is presupposed, and
belongs to human existence. Actions of certain individuals could have a
“representative” character, being regarded as, in some sense, the actions of many
other individuals at the same time.28 Thus the actions of Adam do affect
humanity, and not merely in the sense of presenting an example not to imitate.
Sinning is a cause of what Adam has done in his willfully disregarding God’s
command.. Our lives are the fruit of Adam’s actions. For Paul, Jesus is the “new
Adam” to correct this state of affairs by offering a model of righteousness for us
to imitate.29

12. Modern Christian message of Genesis 3:(1-7)8-21 is interpreted in light of II

Corinthians 4:13-5:1 and Mark 3:20-35 in the Lectionary. Both NT texts affirm
God’s powerful resolve to overcome alienation. This leaves us with the hope that,
in Jesus, the creator is at work renewing his creation (of which humankind is part)
every day.30 Psalm 130 (v. 6-7) for that day summarizes this redemptive message:

For with Yahweh is faithful love,

With him generous ransom;
And he will ransom Israel
From all its sins.31

The major themes of Jesus’ ethical theology come directly from Genesis 1:1-3:24
narratives:
1. God is Creator of all that is in this space-time cosmos. Because God is creator,
God is both transcendent and immanent. God did not abandon creation when God
finished the work of making or when humankind disobeyed his command; God
remains involved in the world’s history.
2. God is Forgiving. Because God forgives, humans are required to act likewise.
Forgiveness requires repentance; that the sinner desires to act in a way which
pleases God and not in a way that displeases him.
3. God is Loving. This is the basis of God's gift of creation and his forgiveness.
Humans are likewise required to exhibit love when they become followers of
Jesus and thus show their love towards others through praxis. The theologies of
Paul, Mark, Matthew, Luke and John and the other NT writers come from their
interpretation of Jesus’ ministry.

27
Bruggeman, p. 42.
28
Moo, Douglas. The Epistle to the Romans – NICNT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1996) pp 323-326.
29
Moo, p. 215.
30
Bruggeman, p. 43.
31
New Jerusalem Bible. This psalm was one of Martin Luther’s favorite psalms and based his hymn ‘Out
of the Depths I cry to Thee’ on it (Barton, John and John Muddiman, ed. The Oxford Bible Commentary
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) p. 400.).

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Irenæus32 was the first Christian thinker to make use of Genesis 1 and 2 to develop a
doctrine of salvation, explaining it as a Trinitarian creation – the God who created us is
the God whom we also know as Jesus Christ who is the Word for us and the God whose
is also the Creator Spirit. We are created by God to live in communion with him.

HOWEVER, the tragedy of creation is that we choose to be sinners by setting our wills
against those of God’s; we put ourselves out of communion. To Irenæus, separation from
God is death, just as separation from light is darkness. God, then, must lay demands and
pass judgment on us to control the course of sin in human life and prevent it from
degenerating into chaos. Through his incarnation, Jesus Christ made us what he is. He
brought us into communion with God by taking on the bondage of sin and giving us life
again.

This renewal of life is given in baptism through the church, which God provides us for
the nourishment of our lives. The life we experience now through the church will only be
more abundant in the “kingdom” to come when we shall be “perfectly what God created
us to be,” as Irenæus put it.

32
Irenæus was a “biblical theologian”. He insisted that the Hebrew Scriptures, along with the writings that
we now call the New Testament, were the truth because they are apostolic (meaning teaching that is handed
down). This succession of the true faith from the apostles through their successors, the bishops, is the
foundation of his defense against Gnostic distortions. Irenæus argued that if Jesus had given some secret
gnosis to his disciples to be handed down, it had not been transmitted as no one seemed to know what it
was. Therefore, the church’s teaching is consistent with truth and ascertainable in its truest sense by anyone
who reads or hears it. All other teaching can be measured by this standard for validity. The teaching
authority of the church hierarchy was asserted as one means of deciding the proper interpretation of the
scriptures (EFM, Year 3, Chapter 4).

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Lyle Brecht 5-Dec-03 EFM Notes 1.8-9: THE ABRAHAM SAGA

The whole of the OT looks to the fulfillment of YHWH’s promise to Abraham. Yet, at
the end of Israel’s canonical history, in the proclamation of the exilic and post-exilic
prophets, YHWH’s promises to Abraham are unveiled as eschatological – unfulfillable
under the conditions of the history God begun in Gen. 1. The fulfillment of YHWH’s
promises to Abraham would fully occur only at “the end of days” when the kingdom of
God breaks in on human history. In the NT, Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God is near
and in his message and deeds personifies this message as with his death and resurrection,
he has entered the Kingdom. Both in the OT and NT descriptions of the eschaton are
political. What is coming is God’s Kingdom of Heaven – which means the replacement
of all human forms of government by a new time when humankind is united by faith in
one God.

eschatological: the end of Gen. 1 history initiated by God and the beginning of a new history (the
kingdom of God).
eschaton: the final event of history, considered by some to mean the return of Jesus Christ to
earth.
YHWH = Yahweh: God’s personal name used in OT speech. This is an anthropomorphic God
that rejoices, loves, hates, feels jealousy and anger, and experiences change of heart
(repentance). YHWH is in constant interaction w/ his people and w/ their history.

Genesis – four major sections:

• 1.1-11.26: the primeval story where God creates human history with life and
purposeful order:
o 1.1-6.4: creation of the space-time cosmos and first humans.
o 6.5-11.9: the flood and dispersal of humanity.
o 11.10-32: ten generations from Shem to Abram.
Patriarchal Salvation History – the story of call and response, of election and
faith:
• 11.28-25.11: the gift of the promise to Abraham and divine designation of
Isaac.
• 25.12-35.29: the divergent destinies of the descendents of Ishmael (25:12-18)
and Isaac (Esau and Jacob in 25.19-35.28).
• 36.1–50.26: the divergent destinies of the descendents of Esau (36.1-43) and
the sons of Jacob/Israel (Joseph and his brothers in 37.1-50.26).

toledot – Heb. “begettings” @ 5.1, 10.1, 11.10, 25.12, 36.1 used at the beginning of a
genealogical register or enumeration or, “openings” functioning as heading of a new
narrative cycle @ 6.9 (Noah and the Deluge), 11.27 (beginning of Abraham story), 25.19
(beginning of Jacob cycle), 37.2 (beginning of Joseph story) + 2.4a – the heaven + earth
(all that exists in the world) are objects of God’s begetting.

Structure of Genesis: life-survival-offspring-fertility-continuity. God’s commandment,

“Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” (1.28) predominates. It is the promises
of God that carry forward the life cycles. All three matriarchs, Sarah, Rebekah, and
Rachel are barren – an insurmountable obstacle to continuity. The conception is always

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represented by God’s opening the womb of the barren woman, after which she can give
birth (yaldah); not as a begetting (holid) by the father. Thus birth achieves the status of a
miracle, foreseen and effected by God alone.

Primogeniture is subverted: Ishmael is older than Isaac; Jacob outrivals Esau; 25.23 “and
the elder shall serve the younger.” God foments rebellion against the established order of
primogeniture.

God Covenants: Covenant forms a bond that did not previously exist by normal ties of
blood or social ties. In the Abrahamic covenant God solemnly commits himself by an
oath to provide land and nationhood to Abraham’s descendents; this covenant depends
only on the unchangeable character of the One who makes it. Only God lays himself
under obligation. [In the Mosaic covenant, Israel takes an oath and places the nation
under stringent stipulations of the covenant.]

Gen. 12-50 are the beginning (genesis) elements of salvation history. God has freely
chosen one man and his descendents through whom “all the families of the earth shall
find blessing” (12.3). Those who live by the covenant are to live a life of trust and faith in
him who calls. God’s faithfulness to his purpose is universal; for all people in all times
and places. Only God’s grace which calls (elects) us is the key to the redemption which
God intends. Faith (a “Yes” to God’s call) is what counts as an adequate response to God,
rather than a total righteousness.

11.27-25.11: The Story of Abraham – despite his falling short (sins), Abraham never
abandons YHWH and the divine response is one of redemption [to the conditions of sin
described in Gen 1-11]. The call and the covenant of promise which goes w/ it can only
be responded to in faith; it cannot be empowered by any act of human ingenuity or
strength, but persists in the face of human stupidity and weakness.

12.1-3: The sudden, radical call of Abram though election by God. It answers the
disturbing question about God’s relationship to his scattered, alienated, and sinful
humanity (Tower of Babel story 11.1-9, the only account of sin and judgment which
in itself contains no note of redemption). The choice of Abram and the unconditional
promises of lands and nationhood have as their ultimate goal the blessing of all of
earth’s communities. The salvation that God promises Abram embraces all
humankind. This blessing-bearing is the messianic purpose of Israel – the nation itself
is called to be the messiah. Abram’s response is one of faith – he does as God has
called him to do.
YHWH said to Abram, “Go forth from your native land and your father’s house
to the land that I will show you.
I will make of you a great nation,
And I will bless you;
I will make great your name,
And you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
And curse him that curses you,
And all the families of the earth
Shall bless themselves by you.” (12:1-3, NJPS)

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 12.4-9: Abram’s journey from Haran (Ur) to the land of Canaan at 75 years old,
leaving the house of his father before his father’s death – this was against ancient
tradition.

12.10-13.1: Abram leaves Canaan for Egypt and first story of endangerment of
Sarai, the matriarch.

13.2-18: Lot and Abram separate. Lot is self-interested and selects what he
believes to be the best land, settling near the archetypal sinners of Sodom. Abram
faithfully remains in the land of Canaan.

14.1-24: Abram’s heroic campaign to rescue Lot from the eastern kings.
[Melchizedek is the source of the priesthood of the Davidic king (Psalm 110)].

15.1-21: The J (Yahwist) account of the covenant w/ Abram where YHWH promises
Abram an heir and a land. “And he [Abram] believed YHWH; and he reckoned it to
him as righteousness.” [righteousness in the Bible is not a norm-prescribing ethics,
but faithfulness to a relationship. The righteous person in relation to God is fulfilled
when that relationship is characterized by faith (see Rom. 1.16f; 4; Gal. 3.6-9).
Abram’s righteousness resided in his faith in God’s gracious promise. God
condescends to place himself under an oath in order to affirm to Abram the certainty
of his promises. [“religious experience” involves mysterium tremendicum et fascinans
(Rudolf Otto: The Idea of the Holy) – the mystery which both attracts w/ its
fascination and terrifies w/ its overwhelming power.]

16.1-16: Hagar’s encounter w/ God and the birth of Ishmael.

17.1-27: The P (Priestly) account of an everlasting covenant with Abraham, a promise

about Sarah, and sign of circumcision. Abram becomes Abraham (“the [divine]
ancestor is exalted”); Sarai becomes Sarah. These new names signify a new
relationship or status as one who is God’s possession. Like the covenant w/ Noah
(9.8-17), this covenant is an everlasting covenant because it is grounded in the will of
God, not human behavior. God’s covenant w/ Abraham is based on the faith with
which Abraham accepted God’s call, not his righteousness. The one condition for the
covenant is the acceptance of circumcision (“bridegroom” and “circumcision” are
from the same Heb. root word; circumcision was originally a marriage rite). All the
gods of the tribes, by whatever name, are really the one true God of Israel.
[monotheism – belief in one god; polytheism – belief in many gods; henotheism –
there is only one god for our tribe, but other tribes may have other gods.]

18.1 – 19.38: The conception of Isaac and the destruction of Sodom.

18.1-15: YHWH’s visit to Abraham and Sarah.
18.16-33: Abraham’s intercession for Sodom and Gomorrah. [In Hebrew
Bible: law of blood revenge – the whole community must suffer for the sins of

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 any of its members vs. lex talionis – “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” vs.
NT: Jesus’ admonition to not seek revenge at all (Mt 5.39)
19.1-38: The rescue of Lot and his family from God’s destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah.
20.1-18: Abraham and Sarah in Abimelech’s court and the second story of
endangerment of the matriarch.
21.1-8: The promise to Sarah fulfilled at last.
21.9-21: The expulsion of Ishmael and Hagar.
21.22-34: Abraham and Abimelech make a pact.

22.1-19: The testing of Abraham where God calls Abraham to obedience to sacrifice
Isaac (the symbol of promise). Abraham meets the test and thus becomes the model
of faith that God asks of his people. Faith is the willingness to be obedient to YHWH,
whatever the calling and however much it may run contrary to any human
calculations of good and evil. The divine call includes the unique, once-for-all
approach of God to humanity such that the response is the highly personal, “here I
am” in which the only thing at issue is what it is God commands. And upon
answering the call, the God of all grace shows his faithfulness – as “YHWH who will
provide” – to those who fear him (vv. 12, 14). “The fear of God” is a religious stance
– the response to the mysterium tremendum of God’s power in one’s life. Abraham’s
radical obedience, in spite of his knowledge of good and evil, contrasts w/ Adam’s
moral autonomy. [Human sacrifice may have been practiced by the Hebrews into the
8th century BCE; Deut. (c. 621 BCE) expressly prohibits child sacrifice).

22.20-24: The children of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

23.1-20: Abraham acquires a family burial ground (the Cave of Machpelah).
Sarah dies in Hebron, 20 miles from Jerusalem, also the first seat of David’s
kingship (2 Sam. 2.1-4).
24.1-67: Abraham procures a proper wife for Isaac (Rebekah) from Laban (the
archetypal opportunist) in Haran rather than Canaan. [Intermarriage w/ the
Canaanites, a lethal threat to Abraham’s identity and destiny, is strictly forbidden
in Deut. 7.1-4). [hesed = steadfast love; loyalty, trust, truthfulness to one’s own
nature, love w/o sentimentality, and concern (24.12) [NT Gk.: Charis (CAH-ris);
agape (ah-GAH-pay)].
25.1-11: The death of Abraham at 175 years old. A good life is a long life and a
quiet death. A short life and violent death are seen as punishment from YHWH.
[confederation of tribes = amphictyony (am-Fick-tee-oh-nee)].

12
Bibliography

Alter, Robert and Frank Kermode. The Literary Guide to the Bible (Cambridge:
Harvard Univ. Press, 1987).

Berlin, Adele and Marc Zvi Brettler. The Jewish Study Bible (Jewish Publication
Society TANAKH trans., Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004).

Coogan, Michael D. ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford
Univ. Press, 2001)

Jenson, Robert W., “The Great Transformation” in The Last Things: Biblical &
Theological Perspectives on Eschatology, eds. Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jensen
(Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002).

LaSor, William Sanford, David Allen Hubbard, Frederic Wm. Bush. Old Testament
Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1996).

Wright, Rebecca Abts. Education for Ministry: Year One (3rd ed. University of the
South, 2000).

13
Lyle Brecht 2-Dec-03 EFM Notes 1.12-16: EXODUS

“Exodus” derived from LXX, exodos “departure” (Exod. 19.1), in Heb. Shemot “names.”

The Torah consists of five books (Pentateuch): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy. The building blocks of the Torah are: promise, election, deliverance,
covenant, law, and land. The plot of the narrative of the Torah is: Yahweh chose the
people he delivered dramatically from slavery at the Red Sea as “his treasured possession
out of all the peoples” (Exod. 19.5). Then he bound them to himself in his covenant as
their God. His gracious, unmerited deliverance is the only grounds for the covenant. For
the benefit of his people, Yahweh gave them the law. This story is recorded in Exodus
through Deuteronomy. Gen. 12-50, the patriarchal history, sets forth the promise (Gen
12.1-2: land, nationhood, and of blessing) which the deliverance from Egypt, the granting
of the covenant, the law, and giving of land fulfills (Exod. 6.6-8; Deut. 34.1-4).

Gen. 12-Deut. 34 with its focus on promise, election, deliverance, covenant, law and land
is given special theological meaning by its relationship to Gen. 1-11, the universal
primeval history, which describes how humankind’s deep alienation from God and his
creation came about. The relation between these two major divisions of the Torah is one
of question and answer, problem and solution, with the hinge at Gen. 12.3:

I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you
I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

The structure begun here in Gen 12-Deut. stretches beyond the Torah and the OT for all
three elements of the promise (land, nationhood, blessing) are only partially fulfilled in
the Torah and nowhere does the OT set forth a final solution to the universal problem of
humankind’s alienation portrayed in Gen. 1-11. This consummation is found in the Son
of Abraham (Matt. 1.1), who draws all people to him (John 12.32). Thus only with the
NT and Jesus does the answer to problem of the alienation of humanity from God and of
individuals from one another receive an answer and solution to the question and problem
set forth in Gen. 1-11.

Exodus is a recapitulation of Gen 1. Out of a situation where there is no identity, where

there are no names, only the anonymity of slavery and powerlessness, God makes a
human community, calls it by name, and gives it or restores it a territory. Nothing makes
God do this but God’s own free promise; from human chaos God makes human
community. It is a summons, a call through which the very possibility of an answer
emerges. God’s sovereign purpose is what the world is becoming. And God is creating
this world, second by second by his attention to and involvement in the history of his
people.

The date of the Exodus is ~1300-1250 BCE. During reign of Seti I (1305-1290 and
Ramses II (1290-1213).

The theological themes of Exodus are foundational to the Bible, to Judaism, and to
Christianity, as well as to Islam:

14
1. Exodus is based on a thoroughly monotheistic world-view. YHWH is the creator
and to him the whole earth and all living things belong. Yet he has committed
himself to one people, the people of Israel and is present in the ongoing daily life
of Israel, his people of promise and covenant – ‘he will dwell among them.’ This
presence is permanently promised to them in promises to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. “Do not fear, for I am with you; Be not frightened, for I am your God;”
(Isaiah 41.10, NJPS).

2. We know who the one who promises is as he has given us his name – YHWH.
When the OT speaks the name of God, it is referring to the fullest extent of the
knowledge of God that is available to humankind. “This is my name forever, and
thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations (Exod. 3.15, RSV).

3. God acts in his own time. Sometimes his presence feels more like absence. As the
book of Exodus begins, descendents of Jacob have been living in Egypt for almost
400 years (Ex 12.40). “Why, Yahweh, do you keep so distant, stay hidden in
times of trouble? (Ps. 10.1, NJB).

4. God is numinous (see Rudolf Otto The Idea of the Holy). God’s presence evokes
mysterium tremendum et fascinans – the mystery which both attracts with its
fascination and terrifies w/ its awesome power (it is the combination of these two
contrary aspects that makes an experience truly religious). “And Moses hid his
face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Exod. 3.6b, NJPS).

5. YHWH demonstrates that he is the divine destroyer, the God of all the earthly
powers in his victory over Pharaoh. “For the Lord is enraged against all nations,
and furious against all their hordes; he has doomed them, has given them over for
slaughter” (Isaiah 34.2, NRSV)

6. God is faithful; he is a God of grace and glory. He demonstrates his commitment

in his calling of Moses, his revelation of his name, his deliverance of Israel from
slavery in Egypt, and his appearance to them at Sinai. “In your steadfast love you
led the people whom you redeemed; you guided them by your strength to your
holy abode….You brought them in and planted them on the mountain of your
own possession” (Exod. 15.13, 17a).

7. God is loving. The covenant which he offers the Israelites embodies the basic
requirement that they should be committed to him alone, and governs the entire
story of the people of Israel from this point onwards. The Ten Commandments
were never intended to institute a system of legal observances by which one could
earn God’s acceptance. Rather they are stipulations of a covenant relationship
anchored in grace and God’s love for his people.

15
Outline of Book

LIBERATION: Ch. 1-15

God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt + journey to Sinai: 1.1-18.27

Oppression of Hebrews in Egypt: 1.1-22 [Pharaoh = all Egyptian kings who have
enslaved and exploited generations of Israelites.]

Birth and early life of Moses: his call & mission to Pharaoh: 2.1-6.27
God reveals himself to Moses: 3:6 – he does so in terms from Genesis: “I
am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the
God of Jacob.” In 3.15, he even reveals his proper name, the
tetragrammaton YHWH = I AM THAT I AM = (‘ehyeh ‘asher ‘ehyeh). “I
am YHWH is proclaimed 5X to Egypt (7.5, 17; 8.22; 14.4, 18) and 5X to
Israel (6.2, 6, 7, 8, 29).

Covenant formula: 6.7a – ‘I shall take you as my people and I shall be

your God’ (NJB). The covenant formula is also found in: Lev. 26.12;
Deut. 26.17-18; 2 Sam. 7.24; Ezek. 11.20, 14.11, 37.23, 27; Jer. 7.23,
11.4, and 31.1, 33; Zech. 8.8.

Plagues and Passover: 6.28-13.16

First Set Second Set Third Set Structure

1. water turns to 4. land swarms w/ 7. hail destroys Moses appears
blood flies crops before Pharaoh in
morning at river
2. frogs leave water, 5. cattle in field die 8. locusts devour all Moses “comes
cover land of plague that is left before” Pharaoh
3. land fills w/ 6. boils cover man 9. thick darkness Moses and Aaron do
mosquitoes or gnats & beast covers land not appear before
Pharaoh but use a
symbolic gesture

10. Passover (Passover meal, Seder 12.1-14), and Shavout (festival of

Weeks, occurring 50 days after Pesah (Passover, commemorating the
exodus from Egypt). These two festivals plus Sukkot (the Feast of
Booths, constitute the three “Pilgrimage Festivals” (shalosh regalim)
of the Jewish religious calendar.

Exodus from Egypt and deliverance @ Sea of Reeds: 13.17-15.21

Song of Moses: Ch. 15
Journey to Sinai: 15.22-18.27
Crisis involving water: 15.22-27
Crisis involving food: Ch. 16

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 Crisis inv. Water: 17.1-7
War w/ Amalek: 17.8-16
Jethro’s advice to Moses w/re delegation of power: Ch. 18

COVENANT: Ch 16-40 – the Law is the fullness of God’s gift to his chosen people. It is
a possession and an inheritance that makes Israel different from other nations. The Law is
the Wisdom of God, which found no resting place in the rest of the world and was
eventually assigned by God to Israel.

God established a covenant with his chosen people at Sinai: 19.1-24.18

[not until Num. 10.11 does Israel break camp, continuing on its way to the Promised
Land]
Theophany on Sinai: 19.1-25

Granting of covenant (berit): 20.1-21. God summoned Moses and granted the Ten
Commandments (20.1-17) using a suzerain-vassal treaty form. The Ten
Commandments were never intended to institute a system of legal observances by
which one could earn God’s acceptance. Rather they are stipulations of a
covenant relationship anchored in grace. The prologue to the covenant looks back
to God’s gracious deliverance and so forms a kerygma, a proclamation of good
news. Redemption has already been accomplished. However, this covenant carries
a dire threat; it offers Israel a blessing for obedience, but a curse for disobedience.
Under the Mosaic covenant, Israel was living in the tension between these two
stipulations. Their history is only understandable in light of this covenant.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt…[kerygma]
“You shall have no other Gods before me” (Exod. 20.2,3)…[didache].

Book of the Covenant: 20.22-23.33

Ten Commandments (Decaloge): 20.22-23.19
Ratification of covenant: 24.1-18

Instructions for sanctuary (tabernacle of the congregation) and cultus: 25.1-31-18

Tabernacle and furnishings: 25.1-27.21; 29.36-30.38

Priests and consecration: 28.1-29.35
Craftsmen of tabernacle: 31.1-11
Observance of Sabbath: 31.12-18

Breach and renewal of covenant: 32.1-34.35

Golden calf: 32.1-35 – sinners (Gk. hamartoloi; Heb. rahim) is a technical term to
describe those who were deliberate and unrepentant transgressors of the Law.

God’s presence w/ Moses and people: 33.1-23

Renewal of covenant: 34.1-35

17
 Thirteen Attributes of God: 34.6-7 (recited in Jewish liturgy)

Building of tabernacle: 35.1-40.38

Freewill offering: 35.1-29

Appointment of craftsmen: 35.30-36.1
Building of tabernacle and furnishings: 36.2-39.43
Completion and dedication of tabernacles: 40.1-38

Bibliography

Alter, Robert and Frank Kermode. The Literary Guide to the Bible (Cambridge:
Harvard Univ. Press, 1987).

Berlin, Adele and Marc Zvi Brettler. The Jewish Study Bible (Jewish Publication
Society TANAKH trans., Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 2004).

Coogan, Michael D. ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford
Univ. Press, 2001).

Gowan, Donald E., Theology in Exodus: Biblical Theology in the Form of

Commentary (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1994).

Houston, Walter, “Exodus” in The Oxford Bible Commentary eds. John Barton and
John Muddiman Oxford: Oxford Press, 2001).

LaSor, William Sanford, David Allen Hubbard, Frederic Wm. Bush. Old Testament
Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1996).

Williams, Rowan, Challenges in Christian Theology: On Christian Theology

(Oxford, Blackwell, 2000), 67-69.

Wright, Rebecca Abts. Education for Ministry: Year One (3rd ed. University of the
South, 2000).

18
EFM YEAR 1

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) is presently the best all-around English
translation of the OT and NT. Purchase this translation in a Study Bible edition:

• New Interpreters Bible: Study Bible, 2004. Presently the standard for NRSV
Study Bibles. Contains the most commentary in a standard Study Bible.

• Coogan, Michael D. ed. The New Oxford Annotated Bible. 3rd ed., Oxford:
Oxford Univ. Press, 2001. The Oxford Study Bible has helpful notes when
reading the text.

Purchase a Bible Dictionary to lookup words/ideas/people that are introduced in your

EFM lessons and Study Bible. Two good options are:

• Achtemeier, Paul, gen. ed. HarperCollins Bible Dictionary. Rev. ed. San
Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1996. Easy to read and locate information that is
important for your studies.

• Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000. First-rate

dictionary with contributions from more than 600 scholars representing diverse
scholarly and theological approaches.

Optional:

Davis, Ellen F. Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament. Cambridge,
MA: Cowley Publications, 2001. Ellen Davis, a lay Episcopalian, is one of the top Old
Testament scholars; presently teaching at Duke Divinity School. Prof. Davis writes, “The
key piece of Good News that the Old Testament communicates over and over again is
that God is involved with us, deeply and irrevocably so….The reason Christians need to
find the Good News in the Old Testament is that the New Testament writers always
presuppose the Old Testament.”

Brueggemann, Walter. An Introduction to the Old Testament: The Canon and Christian
Imagination. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2003, 402pp. Brueggemann is arguably
the most interesting, knowledgeable, and provocative Old Testament scholar out there.
This is a really good book on the OT if you are ready to think deeply about OT scripture.
You will learn a lot from Brueggemann and certainly be challenged by him.

19
EFM YEAR 2

Purchase a good Introduction to the New Testament to use when you are reading
scripture. Two good options are:

• Johnson, Luke Timothy and Todd Penner. The Writings of the New
Testament: An Interpretation. Rev. ed., Mpls: Fortress Press, 1999. “A
brilliant engagement with the NT texts emphasizing the literary” and
theological dimensions. Includes a CD.

• Brown, Raymond E., An Introduction to the New Testament. New York:

Doubleday, 1997. Raymond Brown went to seminary at St. Mary’s
Seminary in Baltimore. His NT Introduction is still considered the
standard guide (or companion) when you read NT scripture or as a general
resource. Full of insights and exciting understandings of NT scripture.

Optional:

Malina B. and R. Rohrbaugh. Social-Science Commentary of the Synoptic Gospels.

Fortress, 1992. Latest socio-political research on the period of Jesus put together in one
of the easiest-to-use and most accessible commentaries ever. However, this commentary
contains no historical criticism, no literary criticism and no theology; it is pure social-
science, but has information that you will not presently find so accessibly anywhere else.

EFM YEAR 3

Bettenson and Maunder. Documents of the Christian Church. 3rd edition. Excerpts from
original documents of the Church Fathers. These early church fathers were smart people
who wrote awesome documents, some of which can give you goose bumps if you are in
the right mood.

Livingstone. Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2nd edition. Succinct

definitions in one place for all the people and terms that you will encounter in EFM Year
3. Don’t leave home without it.

Optional:
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Vol. 1 The Early Church to the Dawn of the
Reformation. HarperSanFrancisco, 1984. An easy to follow history of the early church
that tells the human side of the story and makes early church history interesting and
understandable. Justo is a Peruvian who attended seminary in Cuba; one of clearest-
writing historians about the early church out there.

McKim, Donald K. Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms. Louisville:

Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.
EFM YEAR 4

20
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Oxford Paperback Reference)
by Simon Blackburn, Oxford University Press; New Ed edition (March 1, 1996)

Optional:

Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Vol. 2 The Reformation to the Present Day.
HarperSanFrancisco, 1985. An easy to follow history of the Christian church that tells the
human side of the story from the Reformation to the present day. The book makes church
history interesting and understandable.

Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida (4th Edition), by Forrest E. Baird,

Prentice Hall; 4 edition (July 24, 2002) – buy used, OR

The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, by Ted Honderich, Oxford University Press

(August 1, 1995), buy used.

A good introductory systematic theology text:

• McGrath, Alister, ed. Christian Theology: An Introduction. 3rd edition.

Blackwells, 2001.

• Migliore. Deniel L. Faith Seeking Understanding: An Introduction to Christian

Theology. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1991.

21