The Following is a story I wrote for a class I took called, Reading the Scripture in the Church. I hope you enjoy it.
Creation
and Covenant: The Story of Scripture
Timothy
Wenger
BTS 5310
2015-04-10
Prologue: Creation and Sin
In the beginning was God the Creator.
And the Creator spoke into the nothingness and created light. The
Creator loves light.
The Creator spoke again and created sky. The Creator loves sky.
The Creator spoke again and created land and sea. The Creator loves land
and sea.
The Creator spoke again and created plants. The Creator loves the
plants.
The Creator spoke again and created the sun and the stars. The Creator
loves the sun and the stars.
The Creator spoke again and created fish and birds. The Creator loves
fish and birds.
The Creator spoke and created animals for the land. God loves animals.
The Creator spoke and said “Let us make humans, who can care for what
we’ve created. They will be our face on creation.” So the Creator created
humans, and they were given the earth to care for. The Creator loves humans.
So the Creator had created, and created a way to care for the creation.
When this was all done, the Creator rested.
But the humans didn’t care for creation. They wanted to be more than
just the creator’s face, they wanted to be creators.
They created separation from the Creator by not obeying the Creator
They created enmity with each other through violence
They created destruction of nature by building cities
The Creator still loved the Creation, and so the Creator creates one
more time: The Creator creates a Covenant.
Act 1: The Covenanting God
Act 1: Scene 1 Covenant with the World
The Creator mourned the hurt caused
to creation, and looked at the humans and saw that there was one left who had
not participated in this destruction. This human was Noah.
God spoke to Noah and told him that God was going to create a fresh
start for creation. The Creator told Noah to build a large boat to hold all of
the different birds and animals. Noah obeyed, and when he finished building the
boat, The Creator brought all of the different animals to the boat, once the
animals were on board, Noah and his family entered the boat as well. Then the
Creator sent rain and flooded the earth.
Noah and his family
waited on the boat until the water receded. They found themselves on top of a
mountain. Noah thanked God for saving them and all of the animals.
Because they were created
in God’s image, God told the humans that they cannot kill each other and that
though they were now allowed to eat animals, they must drain the lifeblood out
of them as a sign of life’s importance. In return Creator made a covenant with
Noah and all of creation, that God will never again destroy the earth. As a
sign, God placed a rainbow in the sky, so that all would remember the covenant
God made with creation.
Act 1: Scene 2: Covenant with a Family
So Noah’s descendants
populated the world. But rather than spreading out and allowing the land to
sustain them, they created a city, with a massive tower as a challenge to God’s
authority. So God forced them to spread out by making them speak different
languages, but the humans still did not understand their proper relationship
with God, the land and each other.
There is a man named
Abram, who was married to Sarai, God called them to leave their home and come
to a land that God would show them. God made them a promise that Abram’s family
will become a great nation, that will be prosperous, and that will bless all
peoples. So Abram and Sarai and their household left their home. God showed
them the land of Canaan, and told them that though there are people living
there now, one day Abram’s family will possess the land. God makes a covenant
with Abram that Abram will father many nations, changing Abram’s name to
Abraham and Sarai’s to Sarah, God promised to give the land of Canaan Abraham’s
descendants’ and to be their God. God tells Abraham to circumcise all of the
men in his household as a sign of God’s Covenant with Abraham. This covenant is
God’s plan to help all people come back into a proper relationship with God,
the Land and each other.
Act 1: Scene 3: Covenant with a Nation
Sarah gave birth to
Isaac, who in return had a son named Jacob, and God made this same covenant
with them, that they would become a great nation, be given land, and be a
blessing to all nations. During a famine, Jacob and his family moved to Egypt
thanks to his son Joseph.
But after Joseph’s
death, there was a new Pharaoh of Egypt who did not know about Joseph. Jacob’s
family had grown exponentially into a people group called the Hebrews. The new
Pharaoh was worried that they might take over Egypt. So the pharaoh enslaved
them, making them build many projects. But the Hebrews remembered the covenant
that God made with their foreparents, and cried out to God to save them.
God heard them and
remembered the covenant that God had made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A
Hebrew named Moses was hiding in Midian after killing an Egyptian. His father
in law, Jethro, was the high priest there, and Moses tended Jethro’s flocks.
One day a sheep wandered away from the herd and Moses had to go after it. The
Sheep climbed up a mountain, and went into a cave. Moses followed after it and
found a bush that was on fire but was not being consumed.
And The Creator God
spoke again. God told Moses that the God of Abraham has heard the cries of God’s
people. God chose Moses to free the Hebrew slaves from Egypt and lead them to
the Land God promised to their foreparents.
Moses was unsure that
he could do this. God gave him another name for God to tell the elders of the
Hebrews: “I AM WHO I AM.” This is a promise that God’s identity will be
revealed to them through God’s actions.
Moses returns to Egypt,
and tells the Pharaoh that God wanted the Hebrews to be free. Pharaoh refused,
and makes the Hebrews work even harder. In response God sent 10 Disasters on
Egypt, demonstrating that the great I AM controls all of Creation. But it took
the final disaster, the death of all the first born sons of Egypt for the king
of Egypt to allow the Hebrews to go free. After the Hebrews had left, Pharaoh
decided that he had made a mistake and wanted the Hebrews back, so Pharaoh’s
army was sent to recapture the Hebrews. Moses and the Hebrews were caught
between the Pharaoh’s army on one side and the Red Sea on the other. God told
Moses to put his staff into the water and the sea parted for them to walk
across. Once they got across, the sea crashed down onto the Egyptian army and
the Hebrews were safe.
Moses led the Hebrews
through the wilderness. When they were thirsty, God gave them water, when they
were hungry, God gave them bread called manna and quail. Moses was very busy
with leading the Hebrews when his father in law came to visit him. When Jethro
saw how busy Moses was, he told Moses that Moses was supposed to be the
Hebrews’ representative to God, and that he needed to delegate his judging
duties so he could focus on teaching the Hebrews what God wanted them to do.
Shortly afterwards,
they arrived at Mount Sinai. Moses climbed the mountain and God made an offer.
Since God had saved the Hebrews from Egypt, if they kept God’s covenant, then
God would make them into a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. They would
demonstrate to the world how to be in right relationship with God. Moses
brought this offer to the Elders of this new nation, Israel, and they accepted.
Moses returned to the top of the Mountain, and God gave him the 10 Commandments
that made up basics of the covenant. On top of that, God gave more instructions
about how to be in right relation to God, others, and the creation. Include
instructions for a tent that God could meet with them.
Act 2: Israel living under the Covenant
Act 2: Scene 1: The Land of the Covenant
Moses led them to Canaan, but when Moses sent
in spies to examine the land, while they saw that the land was fertile, most of
them were afraid of the inhabitants of the land, only Joshua and Caleb believed
that God would hand them the land. Because of this, God made Israel wander in
the wilderness until the generation that did not trust God passed away. Before
Moses died, he taught the new Generation about the Covenant that God made with
their parents. The people recommitted to the Covenant with God, and God allowed
them to enter the Promised Land.
God then chose Joshua
to lead the people of Israel. As they approached the City of Jericho, Joshua
sent spies to examine the city. They were almost caught, but a prostitute named
Rahab let them hide on her roof, after the city officials escape, they promised
Rahab and her family safety.
When Israel came to Jericho,
instead of attacking, God told them to walk around the city. After seven days
of walking around the city, the priests blew their trumpets and the walls came
tumbling down. The Israelites killed everyone except for Rahab and her family.
Israel swept through Canaan, God conquering town after town for them. Once
Israel had taken over, Joshua gathered the People of Israel at Shechem and they
renewed the covenant they made with God.
Act 2: Scene 2: The Cycle of Covenant
But once Israel got into the land, they
fulfilled their part of the covenant for a while, but eventually they would
stop living in right relationship with each other and with God. When this would
happen, God would allow the remaining inhabitants of the land to oppress Israel
until they called for help. God would raise up a Judge who would lead the
Israelites to freedom, they would renew their covenant and live faithfully for
a while, but eventually sin again and repeat the cycle.
One such Judge was Deborah,
who rallied Israel and defeats the Jabin King of Canaan, another was Gideon who
led Israel against the Midianites. When Gideon rallied thirty thousand
soldiers, God told him to send home 29700 of them so Israel could not think
that they did it by themselves, rather they needed to rely on God.
Act 2 Scene 2: A Love Story
During the time of the
judges, an Israelite named Elimelek went to Moab to escape a famine with his
wife and two sons, while there his two sons married Moabite women. But by the
time the famine ended, both Elimelek and his two sons had died. His wife Naomi,
was left in a foreign land with two daughters in law, Orpah and Ruth. Naomi
decided to return to Israel. She told her daughters in law to go back to their
families, but Ruth refused saying that she would stay with Naomi. They returned
to Israel. Because they did not have any way to make money, Ruth would go to a
nearby farm and pick up the shafts of wheat the laborers left behind. One day
as she was picking up wheat. The owner of the farm, Boaz saw her and fell madly
in love with her. Boaz told her that instead of walking behind the labourers,
she could pick alongside the women who worked for him. When Ruth returned home
with the extra food, she told Naomi what had happened. When the harvest was
finished, there was a big party, and Ruth slept with Boaz. Boaz tells her that
he loves her and they get married, and Naomi was invited to live with them.
Act 2: Scene 3: David’s Covenant
Several years later,
there was a Judge named Samuel. Even though the people knew that God was
supposed to be their leader, they wanted a king like the nations around them.
Samuel and God tried to dissuade them, but the people were adamant. God
relented and allowed them to have a king, as long as God got to choose it.
God’s first choice, Saul, did well initially, but eventually became too power
hungry, so God chose another, David, the youngest child of a shepherd, the
grandson of Ruth.
David turned out to be
a better King. He brought peace to the kingdom and even though he committed
significant sins, he truly desired to obey God. When David tried to build a
temple for God. God refuses to allow David, a warrior king to build God’s
Temple, rather God makes another covenant. God will make David’s name great,
and David will always have an heir to the thrown in Jerusalem.
Act 2: Scene 4: Kings and Prophets
God allowed David’s son Solomon to build God a
temple. Solomon spared no expense as he built a home for God. God lived among
the people. But after Solomon’s death, his son forced the people of Israel to
build too many projects. As a result the Nation of Israel split into two, the
northern ten tribes became Israel, while Southern two tribes became Judah,
David’s heirs remained king in Jersusalem, but their kingdom was diminished.
God continuously called both kingdoms to remember the Covenant they had made
with God. But while they would follow covenant for a while, eventually they
would fall into idol worship, and injustice. When this happened, God would send
a prophet, who would bring them back to the Covenant. The prophets warned
Israel and Judah that eventually God would eventually lose patience with their
ignoring the covenant and would eventually remove them from the land of the
covenant. During Hoshea’s reign in Israel, Shalmaneser, King of Assyria
conquered the northern Kingdom and sent the people of Israel into exile.
Judah continued in this
cycle for a while. When Josiah was King, they were cleaning out the temple and
found a copy of the Covenant. Josiah had it read to the people, and they made a
new covenant with God that they would obey God’s teachings. However, later kings
brought the people back into idolatry, and God eventually allowed Babylon to
conquer them, destroy the temple and send the people of Judah into exile as
well.
Act 2: Scene 5: Exile and Return
God did not forget
God’s people though. Even though they were sent into Exile, God continued to
send prophets, who told them to settle in to where they were and care for the
wellbeing of their new homes. Eventually Babylon was defeated by Persia, and
Cyrus allowed people in exile to return to their homes. A few of the People of
Judah (or Jews) returned home, but because they had been in exile for so long,
many decided to stay where they were. The Jews that returned home rebuilt the
temple. There was a sense in which the exile had not ended because so many Jews
were still outside of the land of the Covenant.
Intermission: Scene Change
Many years later, Rome
has taken over a large part of the world. They had control of the Jewish
homeland, and taxed the people heavily. The Jews wished to be free from this
oppression. Many believed that God would send a leader like the prophets and
judges of old who will save them. Some people, who called themselves the
Pharisees thought that they needed to follow every commandment in the covenant
to the letter and began building traditions around the Torah to keep them from
breaking actual Torah, they hoped that when they did it good enough, God would
send the leader. Others, called the Essenes believed that the world is too
sinful and hid in the wilderness, waiting for the leader to come and lead them
to battle to liberate the Jews. Others, called the zealots, believed that if
they started the revolution, God would send the leader to them. The last group
was the Sadducees, who did not necessarily like Rome, but Rome kept them in
power so they wanted to keep the status quo. The common people also hated Rome,
because they were taxed so heavily and hoped that the leader would come, but
did not necessarily have a vested interest in how it would happen.
Act 3: Jesus and the New Covenant
God did not forget the covenant, Israel was
supposed to be the way in which the Creator reformed the world into the way it
should be. With God, Humans and the rest of Creation all in right relationship
with each other. It was time for the Jews to become the People of the Covenant.
To do this, God needs to challenge their understanding of what it means to be a
people of the Covenant. God sent part of Godself, the Son, Jesus to Earth, not
as a warrior, but as a baby. Jesus is born a Jew, of the line of David, but he
is also the descendent of Ruth and Rahab, non-Jews who were welcomed into
Israel.
When Jesus had grown
up. God sent a man named John to prepare the Jews for the coming of the long
expected leader. John told them to repent, John told them to take care of each
other, sharing their possessions with those who had done, and to be baptized as
a sign that they were becoming truly a part of the Covenant.
Jesus one day came to where John is preaching,
and told John to baptize him. When Jesus rose out of the water, a dove appeared
in the sky, and God spoke saying “This is my Son, who makes me pleased.” From
there, Jesus went into the wilderness where he was tempted to lead through
social programs or acts of power, but Jesus passed the test. Jesus then began
to call people to follow him.
Jesus climbed the side
of a mountain and taught those that followed him how to follow the covenant. It
sounded different than how they remembered Moses teaching them about the
Covenant. They had to love enemies. They had to set aside their own justice to
bring others back into community, into right relationship.
Jesus traveled around performing
miracles, telling everyone that God was in charge again. He healed people who
were not allowed in the community. He welcomed non-jews to live the way God
wants humans to live. He challenged the status quo, telling the rich to not
oppress the poor, and the religious leaders to not be hypocrites.
People listened to him, some of his
followers were Zealots ready to fight, the crowd wanted to crown him King. When
Jesus entered Jerusalem during the Passover, people said “blessed is the one
who comes in the name of the Lord”. It
looked like he was going to free Israel from the Romans.
During the last night of the
Passover, Jesus met with his followers. He washed their feet, and served the
traditional Passover meal. But when he picked up the bread. Jesus said “This is
my Body, broken for you”. Then when he picked up the cup of wine, he said “This
cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
Then Jesus got arrested. His rocking
of the status quo and challenging the religion of the day pissed off both the
Sadducees and the Pharisees. They brought him before the Roman authorities and
said that he tried to cause an insurrection. Jesus was crucified, the penalty
for rebellion.
Jesus’s followers were shocked and
confused. What about restoring Israel so it could be the blessing for all
nations? What about bringing God, humans and creation back into right relation?
Jesus didn’t stay dead.
God raised Jesus up, and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary mother of James met
him outside his tomb. Jesus was Resurrected. Jesus met with his disciples and
told them to spread the good news that God is Charge to all nations. Jesus has
completed his mission and ascended into heaven, promising to come back.
Act 4: The New Covenant
Act 4: Scene 1: The New Covenant Spreads
Jesus’ followers obey his
commandments. God’s Spirit descends on them, and they preached that there was a
new Covenant open to all. God is in charge, and that everyone should be in
right relationship with God, fellow humans, and creation. Their message started
in Jerusalem, spread to the rest of Judea, to Samaria and to the ends of the
earth. As the message spread, groups of people, called churches, started to
form who tried to live out the Covenant as best they could.
Church leaders started writing
letters to distant congregations to help them understand what it means to live
in the new Covenant. One of these leaders was Paul, who traveled a lot starting
many new churches. As non-Jews joined this new covenant. The church realized
that they need not be bound by the physical symbols that the old covenants
used, as long as they only follow God, and love their neighbours.
Act 4: Scene 2: The Church Today
The story doesn’t end
there, today the Creator God calls us to enter into this new Covenant. The world
has not had all of its relationships healed yet, so we need to continue to do
that. We need to Follow Jesus’ teachings loving God and loving neighbour. We
can look at the story that has happened before us, and learn from it.
When we see oppression,
we should remember that God saved the Israelites from oppression in Egypt and
with the Judges, and that we are called to act for justice.
When we see the poor,
we should remember Ruth and Naomi who were welcomed back into the community
through Boaz. When we see sexism, we should remember Rahab and Deborah, women
whose action saved Israel. When we see racism and xenophobia, we should
remember that Jethro, a Midianite, taught Moses how to lead his people, and
that Rahab and Ruth were outsiders welcomed into the people of God.
Act 5: Return to Right Relationship with the Creator
One Day, God will
finish the work of the Covenant. Jesus will come back, and we will be in right
relationship with God, and the rest of Creation. It will be like the beginning
when God the Creator made everything. There will be no separation. Gender,
language, and ethnicity will not be barriers. There will be justice for all.
God will be in Charge.
