Question

What are five events from the Pentateuch that shape the biblical story and maintain a central theme throughout?

Answer 1

To my mind, one of the most valuable features of the ESV Study Bible (and other study Bibles) are the introductions. The notes on individual verses are great, but interpretation will still go awry if we don’t understand the book’s genre and author and audience and timeframe and purpose. It’s also helpful to take a step back and to have concise introductions on some of the larger categories of the scriptural storyline: the Pentateuch (the first five books), the historical books, the poetic and wisdom books, the prophetic books, the Gospels and Acts, the epistles, and Revelation.

These ESVSB genre introductions and more are included in the book Understanding the Big Picture of the Bible: A Guide to Reading the Bible Well, ed. Grudem, Collins, and Schreiner.

Here is one of the sections from Gordon Wenham’s contribution.

The theme of the Pentateuch is announced in Genesis 12:1-3, the call of Abraham:

“Go from your country . . . to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you . . . and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Here God promises Abraham four things:

(1) a land to live in;

(2) numerous descendants (“a great nation”);

(3) blessing (divinely granted success) for himself; and

(4) blessing through him for all the nations of the world.

God’s benefit for the nations is the climax or goal of the promises: the preceding promises of land, descendants, and personal blessing are steps on the way to the final goal of universal blessing.

Each time God appears to the patriarchs, the promises are elaborated and made more specific. For example, the promise of an unidentified “land” in Genesis 12:1 becomes “this land” in Genesis 12:7 and “all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” in Genesis 17:8.

The fulfillment of these promises to Abraham constitutes the story line of the Pentateuch.

It is a story of gradual and often difficult fulfillment.

The birth of children to produce a great nation is no easy matter: the patriarchs’ wives—Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel—all have great trouble conceiving (Gen. 17:17; 25:21; 30:1). But by the time they enter Egypt, Jacob’s family numbers 70 (Gen. 46:27; Ex. 1:5). After many years in Egypt they have become so numerous that the Egyptians perceive them as a threat (Ex. 1:7-10), and when the first census is taken, they total 603,550 fighting men (Num. 1:46).

Similarly the promise of land is very slow in being fulfilled. Abraham acquires a well at Beersheba, and a burial plot for Sarah at Hebron (Gen. 21:30-31; 23:1-20). Jacob bought some land near Shechem (Gen. 33:19), but then late in life he and the rest of the family emigrated to Egypt (Genesis 46-50). The book of Exodus begins with the hope of a quick return to Canaan, but the stubbornness of Pharaoh delays Israel’s departure. Their journey through the Sinai wilderness is eventful, and after about a year they reach Kadesh on the very borders of Canaan. There, scared by the report of some of the spies, the people rebel against Moses and the God-given promises, so they are condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years (Numbers 13-14). And of course the Pentateuch ends with Moses dying outside the Promised Land and the people hoping to enter it.

For these reasons the theme of the Pentateuch has been described as “the partial fulfillment of the promises to the patriarchs.” Such a description certainly fits the climactic promise that through Abraham and his descendants all the families of the earth would be blessed. The closest fulfillment of this in the Pentateuch is Joseph saving Egypt and the surrounding lands from starvation in the seven-year famine. But later on, Israel is seen as a threat by other peoples in the region such as the Moabites, Midianites, and Amorites. It is not apparent how or when all the peoples of the world will be blessed. At the end of the Pentateuch that, like the promise of land, still awaits fulfillment.

But the promise of blessing to the patriarchs and their descendants is abundantly fulfilled within the Pentateuch—despite their frequent lack of faith and their willful rebellion. For example, after Abraham has lied about his wife and allowed her to be taken by a foreign king, the pair escape, greatly enriched (Genesis 12; 20). Jacob, forced to flee from home after cheating his father, eventually returns with great flocks and herds to meet a forgiving brother (Genesis 27-33). The nation of Israel breaks the first two commandments by making the golden calf, yet enjoys the privilege of God dwelling among them in the tabernacle (Exodus 32-40). The Pentateuch is thus a story of divine mercy to a wayward people.

However, alongside this account of God’s grace must be set the importance of the law and right behavior. The opening chapters of Genesis set out the pattern of life that everyone should follow: monogamy, Sabbath observance, rejection of personal vengeance and violence—principles that even foreigners living in ancient Israel were expected to observe. But Israel was chosen to mediate between God and the nations and to demonstrate in finer detail what God expected of human society, so that other peoples would exclaim, “What great nation has a god so near to it . . . ? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law . . . ?” (Deut. 4:7-8).

To encourage Israel’s compliance with all the law revealed at Sinai, it was embedded in a covenant. This involved Israel giving its assent to the Ten Commandments and the other laws on worship, personal behavior, crime, and so on. Obedience to these laws guaranteed Israel’s future blessing and prosperity, whereas disobedience would be punished by crop failure, infertility, loss of God’s presence, defeat by enemies, and eventually exile to a foreign land (see Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 28).

These covenantal principles—that God will bless Israel when she keeps the law and punishes her when she does not—pervade the rest of the OT. The book of Joshua demonstrates that fidelity to the law led to the successful conquest of the land, while the books of Judges and Kings show that Israel’s apostasy to other gods led to defeat by her enemies. The argument of the prophets is essential that Israel’s failure to keep the law puts her at risk of experiencing the divine punishments set out in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.