How does God Speak to Us?

• Sacred Tradition
• Sacred Scripture
• Magisterium
• Importance of Scripture in Daily Life

➢ Let us remember what St. Benedict taught us: Listen with the ear of your heart

➢ In general, people say God speaks to us through:

- The Bible
- Nature
- Other believers in the Church
- Circumstances/events in our life
- Prayer

➢ In faith we say God reveals Himself to us.

➢ DIVINE REVELATION – God does not only speak to us, He reveals himself to us
- “reveal” - “un-veil”

➢ SACRED TRADITION:
• TRADERE- Latin word which means to “hand on; to pass”
• Tradition refers to either:
- The CONTENT – that which is being handed on
- The PROCESS – the manner by which the content is passed
• Living and lived faith of the church
• The unbroken reception of the living Word of God from one generation to the next
• Refers to the living transmission of the Catholic Faith through the teaching, life and worship of
the church.
• Tradition comes before, during and after the writing of Sacred Scripture
• Sacred Scripture grew from Tradition
• It is interpreted by Tradition – the life, worship and teaching of the Church
• Tradition depends on Scripture as its normative record of Christian origins and identity
• Tradition bring the message of Scriptures to the Christians in every age
• In the wider meaning of the word, Tradition refers to the whole process by which the Church
“hands on” its faith to each new generation
• This handing on occurs through:
- Preaching
- Catechesis
- Teaching
- Bible
- Doctrines
- Devotions

➢ Through Tradition, "the Church, in her doctrine, life and worship, perpetuates and transmits to every
generation all that she herself is, all that she believes."

➢ SACRED SCRIPTURE:
• The words sacred scripture come from two Latin words meaning "holy writings." Sacred
Scripture is the collection of all the writing God has inspired authors to write in his name.
• Inspired writings consisting of the Old and New Testament
• Collected in the Bible, are the inspired record of:
- how God dealt with His people,
- how they responded to, remembered, and interpreted that experience
 • The Scriptures arose as the expression of the people’s experience of God
• The Book of the People of God
• The Book of the Church

➢ To whom is give the task of authentically interpreting the deposit of faith?

➢ MAGISTERIUM
• Refers to the teaching authority of the Catholic church
• Has the task of authentically interpreting the Scripture and Tradition
• Preserve God’s people from deviations and defections, and to guarantee them the objective
possibility of professing the true faith without error”
• Exercised by the Pope and bishops

➢ NIHIL OBSTAT
• Nothing hinders
• The review process would then begin with the author submitting the manuscript to the censor
deputatus, who is appointed by the bishop or other ecclesiastical authority to make such examinations.
• If the censor deputatus finds no doctrinal error in the work, he grants a nihil obstat attesting to
this.
• The nihil obstat indicates that the manuscript can be safely forwarded to the bishop for his review
and decision

➢ IMPRIMATUR
• Latin: “let it be printed”
• In the Roman Catholic church, a permission, granted by a bishop, for the publication of any work
on Scripture or, in general, any writing containing something of peculiar significance to religion, theology,
or morality.

➢ From this Sacred Tradition flows the Sacred Scriptures and the teaching authority of the Church
(Magisterium) that protects the Church from error and protects us from the misinterpretation of the Holy
Scriptures.

➢ IMPORTANCE OF SCRIPTURE IN DAILY LIFE:

1. Sacred Scripture and Morality

• Morality refers to the goodness or evil of human acts, attitudes, and values.
• Through free will, we can choose what is truly good.
• Reflection and prayer with Sacred Scripture direct us to true good.

2. God’s Word Lights Our Path

• Scripture directs us toward true happiness and teaches that the path of righteousness is not always
easy.
• Praying with the Word of God helps us to recognize the morality of an act and to choose what is
good.

3. Praying with Sacred Scripture

• Lectio divina means “divine reading.”
- It is a slow, contemplative praying of Sacred Scripture.
- It allows the Word of God to penetrate our hearts.
• Stations of the Cross
- This devotion is rooted in the Scripture accounts of the Passion.
- When we meditate on Christ’s Passion and Death, we commemorate his sacrifice.
• The Holy Rosary
- While praying the Rosary, we meditate on the mysteries of the life of Jesus.
- Each time we pray the Rosary, we dedicate it to a set of five mysteries.
- There are five Joyful, five Sorrowful, five Glorious, and five Luminous Mysteries.

4. A Way to Learn about God and Self

• At the heart of prayer is God, our Teacher.
• We are called to allow his Word to inform even the darkest corners of our lives.
 Introduction to the Bible
➢ Steps in the development of the Bible
1. People experienced God
2. People shared stories verbally
- Oral Tradition
3. People wrote down the stories
- Written Records
4. Religious leaders selected the central writings to be part of scripture
- Setting the Canon
5. People speaking different languages translated the bible into their own language from the original
languages
- Translation
• Hebrew to Greek to Latin to the vernacular

➢ How did the Church decide on the Canon of the Bible?

• Apostolic Origin
- Used the witness and the teachings of the Apostles as a guide. Some books were rejected since
they were not inspired or contained misinformation.
• Universal acceptance
- Was the book accepted and received by all major Christian communities?
• Liturgical Celebrations
- Was the text or book being used in Christian liturgies?
• The Message
- Was the message in harmony with other Christian and Hebrew writings?

➢ When was the Canon Set?

• The Canon of the Catholic Bible is the official collection of inspired books of sacred scripture that contain
the witness and instruction for our faith.
• In the 4th century AD, at the Councils of Hippo and Carthage, the first Canon of Scripture was set.
• In the 16th century, at the Council of Trent, the final list was set. This is the final version of the Bible and
it added and included the 7 “deuterocanonical” books

➢ Bible (English) → Biblia (Greek) → Books (literal meaning)

➢ TRANSLATION
• Original text of TaNaK is Hebrew
• Translation by 70 scholars in Greek
- Translation of both Hebrew scripture and New Testament; Septuagint
• Later translated into Latin by St. Jerome.
- This translation is called the Latin Vulgate
• Subsequently it was translated into the vernacular (the languages of the people)

➢ TANAK – Hebrew Scriptures

• TaNaK is an acronym for the names of the three large subcollections of the Hebrew Bible: Torah
(Teachings), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings).
➢ The Septuagint (LXX)

➢ How many books are in the Bible?

• The Bible is a library of 73 books.
• 46 Old Testament books
• 27 New Testament books

➢ THE BIBLE
• 73 books
• 40 different writers
• Almost 1500 Years
• Over 10,000 events
• One Story
• Unity of Theme
• No contradictions
• 40 writers, 15 centuries, yet claims ONE AUTHOR

➢ “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of God” (2 Peter 1:21)

➢ Of the 73 books, 46 were written before the birth of Jesus

• These 46 are called the Old TESTAMENT

➢ Of the 73 books, 27 were written soon after the death of Jesus

• The New Testament was written in Greek.

➢ The Old Testament tells about the Hebrew God, Yahweh and the history of the early Israelites.

➢ The New Testament is a work of early Christians and reflects their beliefs about Jesus; it tells
about the life of Jesus, his death and teachings.
➢ Torah – contains 613 specific laws, most famous being the Ten Commandments

➢ THE MESSAGE OF THE PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WAS “CHRIST IS

COMING”

➢ NEW TESTAMENT
• Tells us the story of Jesus and the early Christian church
• The New Testament can also be divided into four sections.
- Gospels
- Acts of the Apostles
- Letters
- Revelation

GOSPELS MATTHEW, MARK, LUKE, JOHN

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LETTERS ROMANS, 1 & 2 CORINTHIANS,

GALATIANS, EPHESIANS, PHILIPPIANS,
COLOSSIANS, 1 & 2 THESSALONIANS,
1 & 2 TIMOTHY, TITUS, PHILEMON,
HEBREWS, JAMES, 1 & 2 PETER, 1
JOHN,2 JOHN, 3 JOHN, JUDE

REVELATION/APOCALYPSE
➢ To facilitate easy reading of the Sacred Scriptures
• Use of chapters – 1226 by Stephen Langton
• Use of verses- 1551 by Robert Estienne

➢ THE BIBLE’S MESSAGE

• There is a God.
• He has told us things we need to know:
- What He is like
- He loves us
- Who we are
- Where we came from
- How we have turned away from God
- What he has done to bring us back

THE PROCESS OF BIBLICAL INTERPRETATION

➢ EISEGESIS
• reads into the text what the interpreter wishes to find or thinks he finds there.
• It expresses the reader's own subjective ideas, not the meaning which is in the text.
• “eis” means “into”

➢ EXEGESIS
• Greek exegeisthai, “to draw out”
• “ex” means “out of”
• A method or process of drawing out the meaning of a given text – “the original intention of the writer,
and the meaning the passage would have held for the readers it was first intended.”
• Bringing out the meaning of the Biblical texts by analysis of its words, grammatical structure, literary
form, historical context, etc.
• It is an investigation
• Exegesis employs several approaches which we generally call Biblical Criticism. These tools explain the
text by establishing it in its “real world.”

➢ Various ways of doing exegesis

• 3 types of biblical criticism:
- Historical criticism
- Literary criticism
- Audience criticism

➢ Historical criticism
• author, historical situation, theological concerns
• Socio-historical criticism enables us to understand the world in which a scriptural text was written.
• Through socio-historical criticism we try to excavate the cultural world of the text that has been hidden
or covered by time.
• Who wrote the text?
• To whom was it addressed?
• What was the intention of the author
• What circumstances brought about the text?
• Historical, socio-political, cultural, religious background

➢ Literary criticism
• analysis of the text as it stands
• Literary criticism enables us to analyze a scriptural text by examining:
- genre
- plot
- characters
- symbolism
• In literary criticism, some of the questions we ask of the text include:
- What is the form or literary genre of the text?
- How would you summarize the text?
- Is there a plot? What is the plot?
- What do you notice about the placement or repetition of words? What particular words are used?
What do they mean?
- What images or symbols are used? How are they used? What is their significance?
- What characters appear in the text (if any)? What do you know about them? How do the characters
interact and relate in the text?
- What is the primary message that is being communicated in the text?

➢ Audience criticism
• Concerned with understanding the original historical recipients of the biblical texts
• Who were the original recipients?
• Where did they live?
• What persuasive effect does the biblical text have upon its implied readers?

➢ HERMENEUTICS
• Etymological meaning of hermeneutics
- Derived from a Greek word for interpreter
- Connected with the name of the god Hermes, the reputed messenger and interpreter of the gods
- In Greek mythology, the role of Hermes (the messenger of the Olympian gods) was to convey
and to make intelligible for mortals the message of the gods.
- The Greek word has the basic meaning of one who makes the meaning clear
• Greek hermeneuein – “to explain”
• The theory of reading, interpretation, and understanding of a text whether written or serving as documents
of life.
• The entire process of biblical interpretation

➢ Description of Hermeneutics
• Biblical Hermeneutics
- The discipline of interpreting the Bible which includes exegesis (the discovery of the original
meaning) and the contextualization of meaning to Christian theology and practice
• Hermeneutics would be a very tough job without first re-discovering the ‘world of the past’ because there
is always the danger of ‘missing the point’ and the real meaning.
• Hermeneutics involves the work of exegesis and criticism.
• This should lead to the integration of the meaning of the text into the world of the reader
• “hermeneutical moment” happens in the event in which the text’s meaning comes home. Understanding
happens in the process of appropriating the meaning of the text in our concrete lives; when the meaning of
the text fully grasped is actualized in the lives of readers who appropriate it.

➢ Interpretative process

THE WORLD BEHIND THE TEXT

• The world of the author
• Views the text as a window, a source of information about the author, the addressees and the world in
which they lived, everything that gave rise to the text
THE WORLD OF THE TEXT
• Serves as a mirror which reflects the interrelationship of the elements that make up the text

THE WORLD BEFORE THE TEXT

• (the reader)
• The text does not only inform but also transforms when we begin to realize its significance and accept the
challenges it offers
• How does the message of the Bible enlighten the here and now?

➢ What is the difference between exegesis and hermeneutics?

EXEGESIS
• deals with what a scriptural text meant to its author and intended reader in their sociocultural context.
• Study of socio- cultural context to get the original meaning intended
• Requires the knowledge of:
- History, geography, archaeology, culture

HERMENEUTICS
• involves the interpretation of a scriptural text to provide meaning for the present-day world The starting
point of hermeneutics is exegesis

➢ Do YOU interpret the bible?

• No.
• We don’t interpret the Bible. We do what it says.
• We let the Bible interpret itself.

➢ If we do exegesis or hermeneutics, it is because we want to see Christ more clearly, follow him more
nearly and love him more dearly

➢ Hermeneutics and Exegesis in the gospel

The PARABLES of JESUS
- form a major part of his teachings
- present counter-cultural values of the Kingdom
- are stories used by Jesus
- compare the truths in his teachings to everyday characters, objects, situations

➢ PARABLE OF THE LOST SHEEP Lk. 15: 1-7

AUDIENCE CRITICISM
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to him, but the Pharisees and scribes
began to complain, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So to them he addressed this
parable.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-
nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it? And when he does find it, he sets it on his
shoulders with great joy and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to
them, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than
over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

LITERARY CRITICISM

HISTORICAL CRITICISM
It is known that animals can instantly recognize the voice of a familiar trusted person. Sheep have excellent
memories for faces. They remember their handler. They also remember people who inflict abuse upon them.
HERMENEUTICS
No Distance Can Keep the Shepherd from His Lost Sheep
• Pope Francis General Audience Address May 4, 2016
• The lesson that Jesus wants us to learn is, rather, that not a single one of us can be lost. The Lord cannot
accept the fact that a single person can be lost. God’s action is that of one who goes out seeking his lost
children and then rejoices and celebrates with everyone at their recovery.
• God throws no one away; God loves everyone, looks for everyone: one by one! He doesn’t know what
“throwing people away” means, because he is entirely love, entirely mercy.

➢ SHREK THE SHEEP

• Shrek really, really, really did not like getting his hair cut. So for six years, this New Zealand libertarian
managed to avoid spring shearings by hiding in a cave.
• For six years, Shrek carried six times the regular weight of his fleece. Simply because he was away from
his shepherd.
• When he was finally found and shaved, his fleece weighed an amazing sixty pounds. Most sheep have a
fleece weighing just under ten pounds, with the exception usually reaching fifteen pounds, maximum.

➢ Chris the Sheep

• It is believed that Chris was separated from his pack for about five to six years prior to his discovery.
• He was found wandering in Canberra, Australia
• If we avoid Christ’s constant refining of our character, we’re going to accumulate extra weight in this
world—a weight we don’t have to bear.
• Christ can lift the burdens we carry, if only we stop hiding.

Exodus and Covenant

➢ 5 MAJOR THEMES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT:

• THE EXODUS
• THE COVENANT
• THE KINGSHIP
• PROPHECY
• EXILE AND RETURN

➢ The terms Hebrews and Israelites usually describe the same people, stating that they were
called Hebrews before the conquest of the Land of Canaan and Israelites afterwards.

➢ The term Jews was first used to describe the inhabitants of Judah, the name taken by the two southern
tribes of the nation of Israel during the division (2 Kings 16:6; 2 Kings 25:25). After the Babylonian
captivity, the meaning was extended to embrace all of Israel.

➢ What is exodus?
• It comes from the Greek “exodos” and Latin “exodus” which means “departure” or “going out”
• From what?
- Egypt
- Slavery

➢ EXODUS?
• THE BOOK
- Exodus is the second book of the Pentateuch
- The book of Exodus is the story of God rescuing the children of Israel from Egypt and forging a
special relationship with them.
 - God called Moses and Aaron to lead his people out of Egypt, he fought for his people against their
oppressors, he protected the Israelites as they fled Egypt, and he gave his people his Law to guide them to
truth and happiness.
- The first section of the book (1-18) narrates the people's escape from Egypt while the second
section (19-40) describes the formation of the new covenant with God at Sinai.

• THE EVENT
- The nation of Israel’s mass emigration from Egypt

➢ Exodus, the event

• The most important story in the history of the Jewish people

• Documented in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
• Exodus which means ‘departure’ describes the time when Moses led the people of God out of slavery in
Egypt.
• In a broader sense, Exodus refers to the whole complex events from the deliverance up to the entry into
the promised land.
• This is the first account of God’s deliverance of Israel.
• Why is there a need for deliverance?

➢ World Behind the Text

• The historical background for the events recounted in the Book of Exodus is thought to be the reign of the
Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II (1304-1237 BC).
• Ramesses II had a massive building programme in the Nile Delta and slave labour was used for the project.
Towards the end of Ramesses II’s reign small Canaanite states sustained by Egyptian power collapsed and
allowed the liberation of some local populations from the slavery of Egyptian rule.

➢ Under the Egyptians

• Egypt dominated the ancient world
• Palestine lay within the bounds of that empire
• Egypt was a fertile land, a favorite place to go for refuge during famine

➢ Why were the Hebrews in Egypt?

• Abraham and Isaac, Jacob led a semi-nomadic existence in Canaan. He was forced by a severe famine to
emigrate with his entire family to Egypt, where they settled around the beginning of the eighteenth century
before Christ.

➢ The Israelites were oppressed

• Exodus 1:6-10 Why did the Israelites fall out of favor?
• Joseph is forgotten
- When Abraham’s descendants had first arrived in Egypt, they lived in peace as guests of the king
or Pharaoh
- Due to drought and famine, Abraham’s descendants migrated to Egypt
- But after Joseph’s death, the family of Jacob lost favor in Egypt
• New Pharaoh’s fear of growing Israelite population
- The Hebrews had become a numerous, strong, hard working people, so much so that the
Egyptians, growing afraid of them, forced them into slavery; their lives “became bitter with hard service…;
in all their work they made them serve with vigor” (Ex. 1:13-14).
- Since they were growing numerous, they became a political threat to the state that they had to be
controlled and treated harshly
• The Hebrews
- Were used for cheap labor
- Were reduced to the status of slaves in a foreign land
• A decree was made that all Hebrew boys must be killed at birth in the Nile River.
• After a period of some 400 years, the Israelites cried to God for deliverance.
• God heard their groaning and suffering.
• He responded by sending Moses to stand before the Pharaoh and announced God’s message of redemption

➢ Who is Moses?
• According to the Bible, Moses was the prophet who led Israel out of slavery in Egypt and brought them
to the edge of the promised land.
• The Old Testament mentions him 767 times, making him one of the most prominent people in the Old
Testament.
• At Mt. Horeb (Mt. Sinai), the mountain of God, God shared with Moses his proper name, “I am who I
am.” YHWH

➢ Night before the Exodus

• Israel’s history had its true beginning in the exodus event – it is the central moment in Israel’s history
• Exodus event created a self-conscious historical community
• Passover feast keeps the exodus event intact
• To celebrate exodus is to celebrate the “passing-over” from slavery to freedom

➢ Message for the original recipients: In Exodus, God reveals his name to Moses and deepens his
relationship with his people. He makes known his power to intervene in history by freeing the Israelites
from Egyptian oppression. God shows that he wants to have "a kingdom of priests, a holy nation"
(19:6). He desires for his people to love and worship him. Beyond that, he establishes a way for his people
to relate to him.

➢ Message for us today:

• Exodus illustrates God's power to redeem his people from oppression and his willingness to forgive sin. It
shows his desire for a loving relationship with his people and the shape he wants that relationship to take.
• When we read the story of the exodus, we are not just reading about some events that occurred in the
distant past, but acquainting ourselves with patterns of divine redemption that are still being worked out in
the world today.
• God did not stop choosing human beings as agents of God’s work at the end of the Biblical age. Today, •
• God still calls people to be agents of deliverance throughout the world.
• God also calls each of us as God’s agents in the world today.
• We will be given our own mission to help those who are suffering, those who are in need of liberation.
• Personally, we have our own exodus story placed within the Great Story. We need a Savior to deliver us
from our bondedness.

➢ What is a covenant?
• Covenant is the state of relations between YHWH and his graced, freed people.
- “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”
•The covenant (berith in Hebrew) is not merely an agreement between two parties. It means an exclusive
intimacy with the Lord; it is love with a promise of fidelity.
• Covenant, therefore, implies responsibility and commitment.

➢ THE SINAI COVENANT

• From Egypt to Sinai – THE SINAI EXPERIENCE
• It was a difficult journey for the Hebrews, full of hardships and uncertainties
• God in his graciousness provided them their daily sustenance
• Yet their Sinai experience was also a time of grumbling, murmuring, discontent, rebellion against Moses
• Exodus 19-40

➢ God makes a covenant with Israel

• At Mt. Sinai, the people pitched their tents before the mountain, while Moses ascended to commune with
the Lord.
• God spoke to Moses informing him Israel would be God’s own special people
• How?
• God wanted a covenant between Him and the people.
• They will now become the “People of God.”
• How?

➢ Sinai Covenant
• On Mt Sinai, Moses received the Covenant Code, a complete law that begins with the Ten
Commandments.
• Moses read the covenant code to the Israelites, to which they replied
- “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”
➢ RATIFICATION OF THE COVENANT

• Moses ratified the covenant by sprinkling blood of many bulls on them. (EX 24:3-8) He said “This is the
blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words of his.”
• To seal the covenant, Moses poured out the sacrificial blood, half on the altar, half on the people. (the two
parties)
• The Sinai (or Mosaic) Covenant is conditional in that the blessings that God promises are directly related
to Israel’s obedience to the Mosaic Law.
• The Israelites must obey the Ten Commandments and all the laws of God.
- The Sign of the Covenant is the Sabbath day.

➢ STRUCTURE OF THE COVENANT (EX 20:1-17)

1. Preamble – identifies the author and his title:
- “I am the Lord, your God.” v. 2a
2. Historical prologue – recounting the past deeds which are the grounds for the Israelites’ gratitude and
future loyalty and obedience
- “who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” v. 2b
3. Stipulations or terms consisting of:
a. the basic demand for allegiance and faithfulness:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” 20:3
b. Specific stipulations – vv 4-7
(4) “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or
on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (5) You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I,
the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and
fourth generation of those who hate me, (6) but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love
me and keep my commandments.
→ Eisegesis
• The Catholic Church permits the use of statues for religious purposes in defiance of God's prohibition
against the carving of statues in Exodus 20:4-5
→ Exegesis
• Throughout the history of God’s people, there is always a tendency to fall away from the worship of the
One, True God and adopt the pagan practice of worshipping false idols.
• The Catholic Church does not defy any of God’s commandments. This question reveals an ignorance
of the biblical facts surrounding statues.
• In Exodus 20:4 God condemned the carving of statues for the sake of worshipping them as idols–a
blasphemy the Catholic Church also condemns.
• In Exodus 25:18-20, on the other hand, God commands Moses to carve statues for a religious purpose:
two cherubim which would sit atop the Ark of the Covenant.
(7) “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone
guiltless who misuses his name.
4. Provision for the deposit of the document in a temple to be read publicly at regular intervals – tablets
containing the 10 Commandments were placed in the ark of the covenant - Deut. 10; 1-5; 31:10-13
➢ Tabernacle

5. Curses and blessings – invoked upon the people for breaking or keeping the covenant.
• Blessings – Deut 28:1-14
"Thus, then, shall it be: if you continue to heed the voice of the LORD, your God, and are careful
to observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, the LORD, your God, will raise you high
above all the nations of the earth.” v 1
• Curses - vv 15-68
"But if you do not hearken to the voice of the LORD, your God, and are not careful to
observe all his commandments which I enjoin on you today, all these curses shall come upon you and
overwhelm you: "May you be cursed in the city, and cursed in the country!” v. 15-16

➢ “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”

• Following the 10 Commandments were the Israelites’ expression of their love and faithfulness to YHWH
• The Israelites, through history, had turned away from the covenant and YHWH
• God sent prophets to remind them of their covenant obligations, to call them to repentance.

➢ Two Greatest Commandments from Jesus

• In simple terms, you could summarize the 10 Commandments given to Moses in the two "greatest
commandments" given by Jesus: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind; and Love
your neighbor as yourself."

➢ Message for us today:

• CCC 2062 The Commandments express the implications of belonging to God through the establishment
of the covenant. Moral existence is a response to the Lord's loving initiative. It is the acknowledgement and
homage given to God and a worship of thanksgiving. It is cooperation with the plan God pursues in history.
• 2070 The Ten Commandments belong to God's revelation. At the same time they teach us the true
humanity of man. They bring to light the essential duties, and therefore, indirectly, the fundamental rights
inherent in the nature of the human person.

➢ Today we sometimes we forget that these are commands. They are not suggestions. Nor are they
recommendations.
• The People of God responded:
- “All that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”
• Heeding the guidance God gives us in the Commandments will help us know how to serve God and how
we should live with each other. It also helps us to be open to the grace of God and what God accomplish in
us and through us by that grace.

The Kingship

➢ Deuteronomy 34:1-12. Moses Dies and Is Buried in the Land of Moab

• Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite
Jericho, and the Lord showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim
and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain—that is, the valley
of Jericho, the city of palm trees—as far as Zoar. The Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, “I will give it to your descendants”; I have let you see it with
your eyes, but you shall not cross over there.’
• Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, at the Lord’s command. He was
buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor, but no one knows his burial place to this day.

➢ Deuteronomy 34:1-12. Joshua succeeds Moses

• Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him; and the
Israelites obeyed him, doing as the Lord had commanded Moses.
• Never since has there arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was
unequalled for all the signs and wonders that the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, against
Pharaoh and all his servants and his entire land, and for all the mighty deeds and all the terrifying displays
of power that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

➢ Joshua

• For forty years, he was Moses' faithful disciple, "who did not budge from [his master's] tent" (Exodus
33:11; Joshua thus represents the trait of devotion and commitment
• After the death of Moses, Joshua led the people in entering the Promised land
• Conquest of Canaan
- Joshua and the Israelites drove out the idolatrous and corrupt enemies from the land
- Hence, the book of Joshua is also called the “Book of Conquest”
• Canaan was divided according to the twelve tribes of Israel
• “Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that He swore to their ancestors that He would give them; and
having taken possession of it, they settled there.” Joshua 21:43
• Nomads no more
• The Israelites practiced different kinds of trades and tilled the land

➢ In the Promised Land

• People were disorganized, each one was doing his own thing.
• No capital city, no king and no army
•They worshipped other gods
• The recurrent theme in the Book of Judges:
- People failed to keep their true religious beliefs
- Read Judges 2:11-15
• The Book of Judges narrates that when they strayed away from the path of doing good and in time of
their oppression and sufferings, Yahweh raised up a leader to rescue them
• These special leaders, men and women were called Judges
• The Hebrew title is Shophetim
• They were charismatic leaders raised up by God to deal with a certain situation. They were military
leaders that guided the 12 tribes after the death of Joshua. Usually they guided one or two tribes
• Judges were outstanding for their trust in God.
• Gideon, one of the judges, was completely loyal and obedient to God.
• Who is the only woman Judge? Deborah.

➢ FROM JUDGES TO KINGS

• During the time of Samuel, the last of the judges, the people clamored for a king who would be a strong
leader
• The people of Israel demanded a king to rule over them so that they could be like all the other nations in
the land of Canaan.
• They were no longer satisfied with judges, especially the sons of Samuel who did not follow their father’s
example
• Samuel believed that only God was their king but he relented and anointed the first king of Israel. Who
is he?

➢ SAUL, the first king of Israel

• The first king of Israel.
• Israel now becomes a monarchy.
• People found it easier to follow an earthly king.
• Saul was chosen by God as the first Israelite king.
• He was from the tribe of Benjamin.
• Saul was tall and had good- looking compared to any other of his townsmen. He was "higher" than any
Israelite people.
• He was successful in the beginning but he disobeyed God’s wishes and finally killed himself after he was
defeated in a war (1 Samuel 31:1-13)
• He was characterized by mental imbalance, raging jealousy, foolishness and immorality.

➢ DAVID – the second king anointed by Samuel

• His name means “beloved” in Hebrew.
• The most famous and best loved king of Israel.
• The 8th son of a man named Jesse.
• A shepherd and a musician
• A shepherd boy who slew Goliath, the Philistine Giant with a slingshot.
• Psalms have been traditionally attributed to him.
• As a king, he united the tribes as one nation and won many victories against the Philistines, Israel’s most
powerful enemies who lived on the coastline
• He had the Ark of the Covenant brought to Jerusalem and placed in a special tent.
• However, David had not always been a man of virtue.
• He deceived others, and he took another man’s wife (Bahtsheba) for himself and arranged to have her
husband (Uriah) killed in a battle.
• David repented and turned to God for forgiveness.
• After David’s death, the Israelites looked back on his reign as the beginning of a golden age – when here
was happiness, prosperity and security in the land
• Hence the Israelites began to look forward to a time when a future king like David would blossom in Israel
and unite the tribes of Israel again and defeat all their enemies

➢ SOLOMON, the third king of Israel

• The LAST king of the United Kingdom of Israel.
• His name in Hebrew is Shelomoh derived from shalom which means “peace”.
• The son of King David and Bathsheba and succeeded his father as King of Israel.
• He was famous for his wisdom and his wealth.
• The Book of wisdom was attributed to Solomon because it was believed that he was the wisest person
who ever lived.
• He established trade with Israel’s neighbors
• He went into mining, shipping and manufacturing.
• His great accomplishments included the unsurpassed splendor of the Temple which he constructed in
Jerusalem (Solomon’s Temple)
- It was decorated inside with gold and cedar wood
- This temple became the sign of God’s presence among his people
• His zeal for God diminished in his later years.
• He became unpopular by forcing the people to pay high taxes and to work on his building projects.
• His pagan wives turned his heart away from the worship of God in the Temple

➢ REHOBOAM
• When Solomon died, his son, Rehoboam, became king
• The elders petitioned the young king to lighten the people’s tax burdens. • He rejected their advice and
accepted that of the younger advisers, increasing their burden.
• By this time, the people had become very angry at all the heavy taxes levied on them and the forced labor
imposed on them.
• Tribes of the north were dissatisfied and so one of their leaders, JEROBOAM, led a rebellion against the
new king in Jerusalem.
➢ THE TWO KINGDOMS
• NORTHERN KINGDOM
- Kingdom of Israel
- 10 TRIBES
- Led by Jeroboam
- Capital: Samaria
- Exiled to Assyria
• SOUTHERN KINGDOM
- Kingdom of Judah
- 2 tribes
- Led by Rehoboam
- Capital: Jerusalem
- Exiled in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar

• Jeroboam and ten tribes fought against Rehoboam and two tribes; this lasted for 50 years.
• The kings who followed did not stop the departure from God’s law, so the apostasy continued.
• During Rehoboam’s reign in Judah, the Egyptian Pharaoh sacked the temple.
• The northern kings became progressively more evil.
• Israel sank into terrible depths of idolatry and sin, but God never gave up on them.
• He sent his PROPHETS to turn back the hearts of the people.
• Prophets

Prophecy, Exile, and Return

➢ PROPHECY
• NEVI’IM (THE PROPHETS)
- From the word nabi, prophet.
- The Hebrew word for prophet, nabi, means 'one who announces or brings a message from God’
- Prophets were women and men who acted as God’s messengers, as intermediaries between God
and God’s people.
- God used prophets to speak for him to the people. The prophet would work as a kind of covenant
representative.

➢ Prophets
• Period of prophets covers about 400 years (800- 400 BC)

➢ Prophets in the Old Testament

• A genuine Old Testament prophet was always directly called by God Himself, and he received the message
he was to deliver by way of visions, dreams, and audible encounters.
• The prophets always spoke the “hard truths” that no one wanted to hear, and as a result they were often
persecuted by their own people.
• The prophets speak on a variety of issues, including religious complacency and social justice.
• They often employ a common speaking formula: “Thus says the Lord.” This formula serves to give the
prophets validity (“hear me, I am speaking on God’s account”) and signal to the public what they should
be doing and how they should be acting in relation to God.

➢ Role of the Prophets

• Exposed the sinful practices of the people
• Called the people back to God
• Warned the people of the coming judgment
• Anticipated the coming Messiah

➢ MESSIANIC PROPHECIES
• Prophecies about the coming of the Messiah
• Messiah
- Greek word Christos meaning the anointed one
- Hebrew word Masiah
• In the New Testament, Jesus is called JESUS CHRIST, meaning
- Jesus, the Christ
- Jesus, the Messiah or Jesus the Anointed One

➢ THE EXILE
• Recorded in 2 Kings 25
• Yahweh was faithful to the covenant.
• The Israelites were unfaithful to the covenant.
• In 722 BC, the Northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians and removed the citizens from the land.
• In 597 BC, the Southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar took away the cream
of the population leaving only the poorest people in Jerusalem. Ezekiel was included among those brought
to Babylon

➢ DESTRUCTION OF SOLOMON’S TEMPLE

• The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
• Brutal repression of the Hebrews
• One of the worst humiliation and affliction ever experienced by any nation

➢ THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY: They were in exile for almost 50 years.

• Many of the Jews deported to Babylonia were skilled artisans whose labor was evidently in great demand
in Babylonia. They settled by the banks of the river Chebar.
• During the Exile, they came to be known as Jews.

➢ BABYLONIAN EXILE
• God sent prophets to the Israelites in Babylon.
• One of them was Jeremiah.
• They were far from the Temple in Jerusalem. Can they still worship Yahweh?
• They can worship Yahweh anywhere, God would hear their prayers even in a foreign land (Jer. 29:12-13)
• Effects on the people:
- The faith of Israel was preserved
- The faith of Israel was immeasurably deepened and enriched. They devoted themselves to
preserving the Torah.
- They reflected on their being a people of the covenant.

➢ THE BABYLONIANS
• As conquerors, they were not as cruel as the Assyrians.
• They were not bent on punishing conquered people.
• They allowed the Jews to preserve their national identities.
• They engaged in all kinds of trade, so that when the opportunity to return to Jerusalem came, many
preferred to stay in Babylonia

➢ YOM KIPPUR
• Also known as Day of Atonement, is a yearly festival to commemorate the period of the Exile, perceived
as chastisement of the Jews because of their infidelity to God.

➢ THE RETURN
• Recorded in Ezra 1.
• CYRUS the Great, king of Persia, overthrew the Babylonians.
• He repatriated conquered nations and allowed the exiled community in Babylon to return to Jerusalem.
• Not all wanted to return to Canaan.
• Majority remained in Babylon, only around 50,000 Israelites returned to Canaan.

➢ POST-EXILIC PROPHETS
1. HAGGAI
2. ZECHARIAH
3. MALACHI
- THEY PROVIDE US WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE RESTORATION PERIOD.
➢ THREE KEY LEADERS OF THE RETURNING JEWS
• ZERUBBABEL, EZRA AND NEHEMIAH.
• Ezra relates two returns from Babylonia:
- The first led by Zerubbabel to REBUILD THE TEMPLE
- The second under the leadership of Ezra to REVIVE THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE
PEOPLE.
• The restoration involved the physical aspect and the spiritual aspect.
• EZRA – deals primarily with the religious restoration of Judah
• NEHEMIAH was concerned with Judah’s political and geographical restoration.
• DYNAMIC DUO – both Ezra and Nehemiah worked together to resuscitate the people spiritually and
morally so that the restoration would be complete.

➢ THE RETURN
• The “return” is the acknowledgment of being liberated from exile.
• The great symbol of Israel’s being restored to its land was the rebuilt TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM.
• Hanukkah – the dedication of the Temple is celebrated yearly with this feast.

➢ THE GREEKS
• Alexander the Great, defeated the Persian empire.
• Greek became the common language of the empire
• Greek polytheistic religion, with Zeus as the chief god, spread throughout the land
• After the death of Alexander, the vast empire was divided among his generals
• Alexandrian Jews translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek known as Septuagint.

➢ EGYPTIANS AND SYRIANS

• The Jews fell under the Ptolemies of Egypt
• Then the Ptolemies were defeated and succeeded by the cruel domination of the Seleucids of Syria. The
worst Seleucid ruler as Antiochus IV EPIPHANES.
• He insulted the Jews by placing the statue of Zeus in the Temple and obliged the Jews to offer incense to
the Greek Gods.
• He forbade Jewish religious practices.

➢ JUDAS MACCABEUS
• After 5 years of struggle against the Syrians, Judas Maccabeus regained independence for the Jews. • • •
• Recorded in the books of 1 and 2 Maccabees
• The Maccabean dynasty deteriorated on account of rivalry among its members.
• The rulers became increasingly secular and harsh.

➢ THE ROMANS
• It was during this rivalries in the Maccabean dynasty that the Roman general Pompey and his soldiers
entered Jerusalem and took control of Palestine.
• It was during the time of the Roman rule that Jesus was born, had his 3 years ministry, suffered, died and
resurrected.