REED 1 _OLD TESTAMENT
(Handout for your reference only)
Module 3 - The Patriarchs
Lesson 1
God’s Covenant with Abraham
A. CHURCH TEACHING
CFC 425. At the center of Israel’s memory is the Covenant Maker, God who is with His people and
for His people.
“Hear, O Israel! . . . Be not weakhearted or afraid; be neither alarmed nor frightened . . .
For it is the Lord, your God who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies” (Dt
20:3-4).
The decisive event in Israel’s history was the Exodus from Egypt and the Sinai
Covenant. The Israelites were commanded by God to relive this great covenant moment of
liberation each year by celebrating the Feast of the Passover.
“You shall observe this as a perpetual ordinance for yourselves and your descendants. . . .When your
children ask you, ‘What does this rite of yours mean?’ you shall reply: ‘This is the Passover sacrifice of the
Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt’ ” (Ex 12:24-27).
CFC 426. Commandments. For their part of the Covenant, the Israelites were called to keep the
“Ten Words” given to Moses at Mount Sinai (cf. Ex 20; Dt 5:6-21). These Commandments
were to liberate them, as their preface declares: “I, the Lord, am your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery” (Ex 20:2). But they also demanded of
the people a fateful decision: a persevering commitment to the liberating Covenant God:
“Here, then, I have today set before you life and prosperity, death and doom. If you
obey the commandments of the Lord your God . . . you will live. If, however, you turn away
your hearts and will not listen . . . you will certainly perish” (Dt 30:15-18).
CFC 427. In brief, the God of the Covenant brought salvation to His people by His active
presence. When infidelities weakened this presence, God promised a New Presence in a
New Covenant, fashioned by a Promised Savior. As Christians we enter this New Paschal
Covenant made in Christ through our Baptism. But unfortunately, like the Israelites of old,
the Covenant God’s Promise of life is often forgotten or taken for granted, and our
Covenant response in our Baptismal Promises only rarely recalled.
Reference
Abraham, the founding father of the Jewish nation of Israel, was a man of great faith and
obedience to the will of God. His name in Hebrew means "father of a multitude." Originally called
Abram, or "exalted father," the Lord changed his name to Abraham as a symbol of the covenant
promise to multiply his descendants into a great nation that God would call his own.
Prior to this, God had already visited Abraham when he was 75, promising to bless him and
make his offspring into an abundant nation of people. All Abraham had to do was obey God and do
what God told him to do.
This marked the beginning of the covenant God established with Abraham. It was also
Abraham's first test from God, since he and his wife Sarai (later changed to Sarah) were still without
children. Abraham demonstrated remarkable faith and trust, immediately leaving his home and his
clan the moment God called him to the unknown territory of Canaan.
Accompanied by his wife and nephew Lot, Abraham prospered as a rancher and shepherd, as
he made his new home surrounded by pagans in the Promised Land of Canaan. Still childless,
however, Abraham's faith wavered in subsequent times of testing.
Abraham’s Faith Tested
More years passed during which Abraham and Sarah questioned God's promise. At one point,
they decided to take matters into their own hands. At Sarah's encouragement, Abraham slept with
Hagar, his wife's Egyptian maidservant. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, but he was not the promised
son. God returned to Abraham when he was 99 to remind him of the promise and reinforce his
covenant with Abraham. A year later, Isaac was born.
God brought more tests to Abraham, including a second incident when Abraham lied about
Sarah's identity, this time to King Abimelech. But Abraham underwent the biggest testing of his faith
when God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, the promised heir, in Genesis 22: "Take your son, your only
son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you."
This time Abraham obeyed, fully prepared to slay his son, while fully trusting God to either
resurrect Isaac from the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19), or provide a substitutionary sacrifice. At the last
minute, God intervened and provided the necessary ram.
The death of Isaac would have contradicted every promise God had made to Abraham, so his
willingness to perform the ultimate sacrifice of killing his son is probably the most strikingly dramatic
example of faith and trust in God found in the entire Bible.
Synthesis:
What we learn from Abraham is that God can and will use us in spite of our weaknesses. God
will even stand by us and rescue us from our foolish mistakes. The Lord is greatly pleased by our
faith and willingness to obey him.
Like most of us, Abraham came to the full realization of God's purpose and promise only over
a long period of time and a process of revelation. Thus, we learn from him that God's calling will
usually come to us in stages.
Lesson 2
God’s Reaffirmation of His Promise to Jacob
In the Philippine society usually the first born has special place in the family, more so if the first
born is a son. A hierarchy of relations is strictly observed. Respect for the sibling who is older is
expressed by the use of the terms kuya, manong, ate, or manang. What goes with the respect that is
given to the older brother or sister is responsibility. The older brother or sister is responsible for taking
good care of the younger ones sometimes delaying their own personal plans. It is also the special
responsibility of the eldest child to take care of the parents in their old age.
A. CHURCH TEACHING
Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei Verbum), 13
In the Sacred Scripture, while the truth and holiness of God always remain intact, the marvelous
“condescension” of eternal wisdom is clearly shown, “that we have learned the gentle kindness of God,
which words cannot express, and how far he has gone in adapting his language with thoughtful
concern for our weak human nature.”
National Catechetical Directory of the Philippines, 123
The revelation of God through saving acts and words constitutes a real self-giving or grace.
The points that we draw from the Church Teachings, Dei Verbum, 13 and NCDP, 123
tell us about the way God relates with us. (Astorga, 1999)
1. God’s very own self is involved with us. He is God with us. His “divine condescension” means
that he has come down to us that we may come to know him and his gentle kindness for us.
2. God takes our side, as he looks upon us with great mercy, ever mindful of our weakness and
sinfulness. He is our strength as we struggle against anything that blocks our growth as
genuine and authentic persons.
3. He saves us through both his words and deeds for both, he gives of himself to us. Thus, his
words and deeds are truly saving. They forgive, heal, uplift and make us whole.
4.
Reference
In the dream of Jacob's Ladder, angels ascended and descended from heaven, and God
extended his covenant promise to Jacob.
Jacob was one of the great patriarchs of the Old Testament, but at times he was also a
schemer, liar, and manipulator.
God established his covenant with Jacob's grandfather, Abraham. The blessings continued
through Jacob's father, Isaac, then to Jacob and his descendants. Jacob's sons became leaders of
the 12 tribes of Israel.
The younger of twins, Jacob was born holding on to his brother Esau's heel. His name means
"he grasps the heel" or "he deceives." Jacob lived up to his name. He and his mother Rebekah
cheated Esau out of his birthright and blessing. Later in Jacob's life, God renamed him Israel, which
means "he struggles with God."
In fact, Jacob struggled with God his entire life, as many of us do. As he matured in faith,
Jacob depended on God more and more. But the turning point for Jacob came after a dramatic, all-
night wrestling match with God. In the end the Lord touched Jacob's hip and he was a broken man,
but also a new man. From that day forward, Jacob was called Israel. And for the rest of his life he
walked with a limp, demonstrating his dependence on the Lord. Jacob finally learned to give up
control to God.
Jacob's story teaches us how an imperfect person can be greatly blessed by God--not
because of who he or she is, but because of who God is.
Synthesis:
The sooner we trust God in life, the longer we will benefit from his blessings. When we fight
God, we are in a losing battle.
We often worry about missing the will of God for our life, but God works with our mistakes and
bad decisions. His plans cannot be upset.
Lesson 3
God’s Divine Providence in the Life of Joseph
CHURCH TEACHING
Gaudium et Spes, 37
Sacred Scriptures teaches humankind what has also been confirmed by human experience,
namely, that the great advantages of human progress are fraught with grave temptations: the
hierarchy of values has been disordered, good and evil intermingle, and every person and every
group is interested only in its own affairs, not in those of others. So it is that the earth has not yet
become the scene of true brotherhood and sisterhood… the whole of human history has been the
story of our combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the very dawn of
history until the last day. Finding themselves in the midst of the battlefield, men and women have
to struggle to do what is right at a great cost to themselves, and aided by God’s grace to achieve
their own inner integrity.
Insights from the Church Teaching (Astorga, 1999):
1. When persons are interested only in themselves and are not mindful of the needs of others,
the value system is disordered, and much hurt and evil is committed. Much human sadness
and pain is caused by persons who seek only what is good for themselves as they take
advantage of and do harm to others.
2. Human history has been a witness to the struggle of men and women against the evil in their
hearts and in the hearts of others. This is the struggle from the very dawn of history till the last
day. For as long as human hearts are not ordered according to the will of God, the struggle
goes on and on.
3. The battlefield that men and women find themselves in is the battlefield of the heart, where
they have to fight against their own selfishness so they can do what is right. Doing what is right
is not easy; it is costly. It is at the cost of saying “no” to one’s selfish desires and wants. This is
not possible if one is to depend only on one’s own strength. Only with the grace of God can
one be able to say “yes” to the good of others, at the cost of true and genuine sacrifice of self.
Joseph in Egypt
CFC 145. The certainty of Faith does not mean everything is clear and obvious. On the
contrary, we believe God is “Mystery”, that is, He is always more than we can
ever fully comprehend. St. Paul teaches us: “Now we see indistinctly, as in a
mirror” (1 Cor 13:12). “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). But this obscurity which
we experience even in our deepest human relations does not destroy faith’s
firmness. We instinctively recognize that persons, and especially the all-personal
God, can never be reduced to being “proven” by scientific experiment.
God’s Providence
(Excerpt from Revelation and Faith in the Old Testament Manual by Sr. Alma Esmero,
SPC, 2002)
“Grace and favor you granted me, and your providence has preserved my spirit.” (Job 10:12)
“You give to all their nourishment in due time.” (Psalm 145:15)
As Father, God watches over His creatures and provides for their needs. His providence
makes man hopeful. However, His watchfulness and solicitude (eager concern for us) must not be
understood as a faith that is predetermined; nor as if God were a magician who ensures safety and
comfort; as if God were an indulgent father who caters to man’s whims and caprices.
Providence demands constancy and faithfulness to God. In the O.T. the people God realized
that they must respond in faithfulness to the One who has chosen them, and they trusted Him
because His protection was unfailing. Abraham was certain when he said, “God will provide,” (Gen.
22:8) and did not hesitate to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, in obedience to God. Joseph, who wished
to remain faithful to God, resisted the temptation to sin, and took the unjust punishment given to him
by the wife of his master. (Gen. 39:9f)
If Providence establishes hope in man, it also lays upon him the duty of collaboration.
Providence should not make us passive recipients of God’s manifold graces. God calls us to work
with Him and to collaborate with one another. “For by his innermost nature man is social being, and
unless he relates himself to others he can neither live nor develop his potentials.” (GS, 12)
Nevertheless, Providence does not abolish all evil and suffering in the world. The reality of evil is
around us. God does not have ready solutions to the problems confronting us, neither does he serve
us a “cushioned” world of comfort. However, Providence offers us the spiritual strength and hope to
stand fast in the face of trials and to refuse to overcome by them. (CFC, 346)
