What does it mean to be holy?
Set apart, separate, or distinct
Who are the three Patriarchs of the Israelites?
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
What is the Shema?
The Greatest Commandment: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD your God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.”
What mistake did the Israelites make at Mt. Sinai after having been given the ten commandments?
They built an golden calf idol and offered sacrifices to it
Connect Jesus to the (almost) sacrifice of Isaac
The sacrifice of Isaac foreshadows Jesus' sacrifice, not only in that a father is sacrificing his son, but also in that Jesus is like the ram who took the place of Isaac.
What does the name "Deuteronomy" mean?
Second Law
What is the Noahic Covenant?
God's promise not to destroy the earth by flood again
What was the purpose of the Tabernacle?
Also referred to as “the Tent of Meeting”, “And have them make me a sanctuary, so that I may dwell among them”
What was Moses' big mistake in Numbers and what was the consequence?
The LORD commanded Moses to call forth water from a rock, but Moses hit the rock instead. “But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘Because you did not trust me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” So, Moses was forbidden from entering the Promised Land
Connect Jesus to Passover
Jesus replaced Passover with the Eucharist (Communion), and he was referred to as the Passover Lamb whose sacrifice would free the people from death
What is a covenant?
a pact between God and a person/people which includes a promise from God
What was the Passover and why is it still celebrated by Jews?
To save the Israelites from the 10th plague, God instituted the Passover wherein the Israelites smeared lamb’s blood over their door posts so that the plague would “pass over” them. It is a yearly celebration that includes a specific meal reminding the Israelites of how God delivered them from Egypt.
What was the purpose of Yom Kippur?
The purpose of the day is to make sacrifices for the sins of the previous year
Why did the Israelites have to wander the wilderness for forty years?
Moses sent spies into Canaan, and they returned with reports of good land but strong people who live there. The people fear their own defeat, so they refused to go in.
Connect Jesus to the Law
Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it
What does the name "YHWH" mean?
Literally, "I am," but more accurately, "eternally existing one"
What are the three promises of the Abrahamic Covenant
1. Many descendants
2. Land (Canaan)
3. They will be a blessing to the nations
What was the purpose of the Holiness Codes?
The primary purpose of the Holiness codes was to create distinction between the people of Israel and the people of the world
What is the root cause of sin?
A desire to be like God in the wrong way–to become a “god”
Connect Jesus to Yom Kippur
Jesus is the ultimate atonement sacrifice, both that which will purify the people and the scapegoat that took away the sins of the world
What does the name "Israel" mean?
Striving with God
What is the Mosaic Covenant?
It established the Israelites as a nation with laws and customs for living as God’s blessed people: “...you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation”
What were the two purposes of Deuteronomy?
1. To provide ethical and religious instruction to a new generation of the covenant people about to possess the promised land
2. It makes a powerful statement about the cause of Israel’s historical rise and fall as a covenant people.
Explain the Bronze Serpent incident
After another instance of complaining, the LORD sent “fiery/venomous serpents” to bite the people. Upon the people’s repentance, the LORD instructed Moses to make a bronze/copper serpent and set it on a pole. “...everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.”
Connect Jesus to the Bronze Serpent
Jesus compared himself to the Bronze Serpent that whoever turned to him would have eternal life