Bible Survey Pentateuch

Our message today, friends, is taken from a book I wrote called Know the Book, a Bible survey at a glance. I think it's important that we have a good understanding of each book of the Bible and at least have a knowledge of a survey of that book. And what I want to do today is take the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, and go over each one and give you the central message, the central events, the central figures, the central verse, and the central application for us today.

And I'll start with the book of Genesis. The central message of Genesis is the following. Genesis is a book of beginnings and endings.

It begins with life and ends with the death. Joseph, we need to see the beginning of a lovely relationship in Eden between God and man. We see that relationship severed due to Satan and sin.

We see a mankind so wicked, God has to judge it with a flood. We see a man found faithful, Noah, and a man called by God, Abram. God gives Abraham three things, a promised covenant, a promised land, and a promised son.

We read this book in wonder as we realize the purpose of God, which he works through man, and the patience of God, which he extends toward man. As Sodom and Gomorrah become symbols of wickedness, so Abraham becomes a symbol of faithfulness. The failure of Abraham to wait upon God by producing Ishmael is overshadowed by his faithfulness in offering Isaac.

Jacob steals the birthright and the blessing from his brother Esau, and we follow the patriarch down his crooked path until he straightens out at the brook Jabbok. There he wrestles with God and ends up leaning on God and limping through life. We follow Joseph and his dreams into a pit and a prison.

We see Joseph raised up to be a prophet and a prince. Genesis is a book of God working out his plans and purpose through man. A man is a failure, and God is faithful.

The central events are creation, the fall, the flood, the tower of Babel, the call of Abram, his family, and God's covenant with him, the offering of Isaac, the stealing of the birthright by Jacob, Jacob's vision of the latter, and his wrestling with God and Joseph in Egypt. The central figures are Adam and Eve, God and Satan, Cain and Abel, Abraham and Sarah, Hagar and Ishmael, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Esau, the wives and children of Jacob, Joseph, and Potiphar's wife, and Pharaoh. The central verse in Genesis is Genesis 3, 15, friends.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. The central application is, the key application for today's Christian believer is, though we are imperfect vessels, God has a perfect plan for us.

Despite our failures, God will use the faithful believer who follows him and allows him to fulfill his plans and purposes through us. We must be watchful to be obedient and not disappoint him and frustrate his plans for us. We must remember that we Christians are chosen like Abraham to be representatives of God in the world, to be a blessing to others through our path in life.

Though it's fraught with many side roads and back roads, we must strive to remain on the main road, the narrow one. God will enable us, and he will equip us, and he will never desert us. I want to look at a survey of Exodus next, friends.

The central message of Exodus is, Exodus traces the history of the Israel nation as they leave their bondage in Egypt under the leadership of Moses. It's a record of the birth of Moses and his rise to prominence within the household of Pharaoh. It's an example of a man trying to accomplish God's purposes by human effort, defending his Hebrew brethren, by killing the Egyptian and taking matters into his own hands, and failing.

Only when Moses is put out in the desert for the next 40 years of his life in total obscurity does he become emptied of self and useful for God. Exodus is one of the most exciting books of the Bible as it relates the following central accounts. God reveals himself to Moses at the bush.

Miracles are performed by God. The law given with its commandments, judgments, and ordinances. The plans for the tabernacle are given and constructed.

The furniture of the tabernacle, the brazen altar, the brazen laver, table of shoe bread and candle stand, altar of incense, the ark and the mercy seat. In this epic of Israel's testing ground, we see God lay out his best for his people by giving them a way of access to him through the tabernacle, by giving them laws to live, to live by, to help and protect them, by giving them liberty from human bondage, by giving them bread from heaven to sustain them, and giving them guidance in the wilderness through the pillar of cloud and fire. But we see the backsliding people of Israel fail their test and bow down to a golden calf and murmur against God practically every step of the way.

God's patience is tested by the sin and people and Moses intercedes for them and God relents of his anger toward them, but because of their continual provoking him, the day of mercy ends. The central events are bondage in Egypt, the ten plagues, the Passover, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Ten Commandments, the golden calf, the manna and the quail, and the water from the rock. The central figures are Moses, Pharaoh, Jethro, Aaron, Miriam, and Joshua.

The central verse of Exodus, friends, is Exodus 29 46. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them up out of the land of Egypt that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

And the central application is the following. The key application for today's Christian can be found in the words holiness to the Lord. We like Aaron and his sons are to be priests holy to the Lord like the vessels of the tabernacle were set apart and consecrated.

We too should be the same. The Hebrews murmured in the wilderness and failed to enter Canaan, the land of promise. We must examine our lives under the spotlight of the Holy Spirit and be sure we are not grumblers as well.

We have light, we have grace, we have Jesus, and we have our Bibles. How much more is expected from us by God in this present dispensation of the church age? Will we fail as well? The next book is Leviticus and the central message, friends, is Leviticus is a book about holiness. It's a book about consecration.

It is a book about God and his ordinances for man. Through Moses, God was given his people a way to access him, to fellowship with him, a way of atonement for their sins. God is holy and for sinful man to have access to him, there must be a blood sacrifice and atonement for sin.

This book points to Calvary and the atoning, redemptive work of Christ. His blood shed for mankind's sins. What a loving God we have.

Through Leviticus, God is preparing his people to be able to live within his best for them. The laws, the regulations, the precepts are a way for the people of Israel to be separate and set apart for him. The conditions that God sets forth for obedience are not to chastise or confine the people, but to bless and safeguard them.

We see the purpose of God throughout the description of the offerings, the burn offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. The main duty of the Levite priests is to present themselves as consecrated vessels to God so they may be effective mediators between the people and God. Jesus is our high priest today as he mediates for us with the father.

He gave us access to the throne by his shed blood and resurrection. The themes of purity and holiness are ever before in this book. There is a command in 18.4, you shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances to walk in them.

I am the Lord your God. There is a reason behind the command. You should be holy for I the Lord your God am holy.

For without holiness no one will see God. In chapter 26 there is the promise of blessing for obedience and the promise of curses through disobedience. God warns his people if they disobey him and turn their hearts away from him.

I will set my face against you. It is the prevalent if but theory of the Old Testament. If you walk in my statutes then I will give you rain, peace, etc.

But if you do not obey me, well you better look out for the but friends. And the central events of Leviticus are the giving of the divine laws, the regulations for the offerings and sacrifices. The central figures are Aaron and his sons, the priests and Moses.

The central verse is found in 18.4, you shall observe my judgments and keep my ordinances to walk in them. I am the Lord your God. And the key application friends is this, the key application for today's Christian can be found in the way we have access to God.

He alone is holy. He alone is God. We are sinful humans for sinful humanity to access him.

There must be a blood sacrifice for atonement of sin. Praise God that Jesus did this for us and through his atoning blood and resurrection we too have access to the Father. We must be careful in this present dispensation to be holy and be thankful for what Christ has done for us.

We too must be set apart and live holy consecrated lives to him who shed his blood for us. Well this next book is Numbers and we want to do a survey of this as well friends. The central message of Numbers deals with the census of Israel, the complaining of Israel and the failure of Israel to enter Canaan.

It took 40 years to get Israel out of Egypt but it took 40 years to get Egypt out of Israel. This is seen clearly through this account of the disobedient and discouraged Israelites who give up on God at the very edge of their destination, Canaan, the promised land. They were willing to only go so far with God and then fell into utter collapse of faith.

How tragic this book is, how valuable it is to us today as we study it since they were examples unto us. In this wandering period of wilderness travels we observe two generations of people. Number one, those who perish in the wilderness because of their unbelief and disobedience to God.

And number two, the generation of children whose parents refused to take possession of the land now inherit the promised land and take possession of it unto Joshua. The children of Israel are numbered twice in this book hence the name numberings or numbers. Numbers gives us a big glimpse of God and we see both his tender care for his people Israel in leading them with the cloud and the fire.

We also see his unwavering justice as he issues judgment and death penalties for those who disobey his commands. This book also gives us a clear portrait of Moses as he leads the people, as he loses his temper with the people, and as he lays on his face in intercession for the people between the ceremonial laws and the description of the various offerings. We have a sad portrait of a disobedient people who continually have to be reminded what God has done for them and what he has promised to them.

Appropriation is the key word of this book of numbers. Canaan is there ready to be appropriated by faith. It's not attained because faith is not exercised.

The central events are the pilgrimage of Israel as they fail to inherit the promised land and the discipline of the wilderness wanderings. This can also be labeled the book of murmurings. The central figures are Moses and Aaron, Miriam, Balak and Balaam, Caleb and Joshua.

The central verse, friends, can be found in chapter 14 and verse 23. They certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected me see it. The central application is this, friends.

The key application for today's Christian believer is found in the word appropriate. Canaan for the Israelites was a physical promised land given to them by God. Canaan for us represents our victory here on this earth as we live out our Christian life.

We too can fail to appropriate our Canaan and experience a life of victory over the flesh. Obedience, faith and appropriation is what we need today. We will have our battles with the enemy as we take possession of the fullness of the Holy Spirit and enter Canaan here on earth in our spiritual walk with the Lord.

We can choose to murmur like Israel or possess what is already ours. And I'm going to look at this fifth book in Deuteronomy and this will end our survey of the Bible today, friends. But let me finish with this.

The central message of Deuteronomy is its theme, which runs throughout is remember the Lord your God. Moses is constantly instructing the Israelites to remember all that God has done for them as they prepare to cross over the Jordan to possess the promised land. Their initial failure to possess the land which God gave them has placed them in the 40 years of wilderness wandering.

God has various laws for his people to follow. And Moses instructs the people in these laws concerning diet, divorce, inheritance rights, sexual morality and other miscellaneous laws. Moses conveys to the congregation that they are a special people of God.

There is God's promise to his people in chapter 11 and verse 24. Every place on which the sole of your foot tread shall be yours. And there is God's presence amidst his people found in verse five, for the Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.

And there is God's punishment for those who disobey him found in chapter 13 and verse three for the Lord. Your God is testing you to know whether to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul. In Deuteronomy, we see the old generation who came up from Egypt die off directly from God's displeasure with them.

The failure to enter Canaan and occupy it came with dire judgment because of Israel's refusal to enter the land. They entered the desert years, 40 years of wandering, also called the murmuring years, and experienced God's penalty for their rebellion and lack of faith. The new generation is instructed in obedience and warned against idolatry.

They are given the prescribed requirements for a place of worship found in chapter 12, and a blessing and a curse is set before them. This is seen in chapter 11, verses 26 through 28. Behold, set before you today a blessing and a curse, the blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I command you today, and the curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God.

God is a God like no other, and he demands strict obedience from his people. Even Moses is penalized and prevented from entering the promised land because of earlier disobedience. The key words of this book are obey and remember.

Obey God and remember all he has done for you. Sadly, God predicts Israel's future rebellion in chapter 31 and verse 16. This people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners.

They will forsake me and break my covenant. The central events are the discourses given by Moses on the plains of Moab. The central figures are Moses and Joshua.

The central verse is found in chapter 8 and verse 11. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God. And the central application, friends, for today's Christian is found in chapter 8. We too must be watchful not to be like Israel.

When your heart is lifted up and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. Jesus delivered us from the house of bondage and sin. He redeemed us by his precious blood, lest we too forget.

Well, that finishes up our Bible survey that Pena took for today, friends. We'll look at some more surveys as we go through our Bible over the coming weeks.