Thrill of Hope - The Torah

an advent series

Time works differently than we think. When we study these ancient texts, it might be tempting to shove off their importance because they existed long ago. But God is the creator of all things, including time. He doesn’t care about timelines and sees all as a woven tapestry of life. We are forced to live in the present, which makes seeing the ancient as relevant difficult. But I want you to try something.

Think about your day today. Think about all the things that face you, whether good or bad. It will likely feel real and urgent. You might have an endless to do list or have a family-filled day of fun planned, but whatever it is, it's at the top of your mind. This moment exists and is tangible.

Now think about when you were 2 years old. For some of us, that happened a lot longer ago than others, but for all of us, it’s not quite as easy to recall. It existed and when we were in it, it was all we knew and could feel. Any mother living with a 2 year old will tell you how real and emotional everything feels for their 2 year old. But, now that you are past that moment, it feels hazier or even unknown. Those moments are no less significant on your life’s timeline.

I have a cousin who’s daughter fell ill with meningitis at a young age (I believe under a year old). This disease took away her hearing. While the exact memories from that time may fade as she gets older, the lasting effects of what happened will remain. This is true for all of us. Time works differently. While we may not have had something as traumatic happen at such a young age, it doesn’t mean we didn’t learn to walk, talk, or gain social manners in those years. We learned to not hit or bite as well as shaped our personalities. The past defines our present, even if we can’t recall it.

This is why learning the origin of humanity matters.

The Torah

The Torah is the first 5 books of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books lay out the beginning of all, from the first breath God’s plan is to be with his creation.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

God created everything. From nature to mankind he created us all and decided it was all good. At least initially.

Throughout our study of the Torah, I want to pick up on a few themes which lead us back to the need for a savior. First, I want us to remember God is holy. The word holy means to be set apart. God is set apart in who He is. His goodness, life, and love are different from anything else. It's what fueled his ability to create everything, and they are his way of fixing the broken mess humanity created- but I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

Next, I want us to understand atonement. We will see atonement in all of these texts as the way God chooses to reconcile his people back to him. Justice calls for a way to make what is currently unclean or impure to be made clean or pure again. Because God is holy and purely good, if someone who is not good (unclean) enters his presence, they are destroyed. God doesn’t want that. He doesn’t want us to be destroyed. So he made a way to fix our brokenness so that we can come back to him again, without being destroyed.

In Genesis we see the start to humanity. God created. But He creates something to be special, unique, and holy like him:

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Genesis 1:26-28 ; 31

God made man to be like him. He made us creative, good, loving, and with the power of life in us. He longed to spend time with us, and He did spend time with us. He walked daily with Adam and Eve in the garden. Until they made the wrong choice. .

This is where the story pivots. Two chapters in - that’s if it took for man to sin. The second Adam and Eve choose the forbidden fruit, declaring they knew better than God by trusting in something more than the words of their creator (the words of the snake), they allowed something not of God into their souls. God states that man now knows the difference between good and evil, enabling us to have the choice to choose wrong from right. Each time we choose wrong, we taint our hearts, increasing the parts of us that will be destroyed by God’s goodness. Humanity could not be with God without potentially being destroyed. But He decided then and there to try to make a way. We see the first bloodshed on earth after this sin. God has to take the life of an animal to cover Adam and Eve. Throughout the Bible, we see blood is life, and life saves.

As we move further through the narrative, we see people continue to choose this new evil. At first, God is still present, talking with Cain and Abel, but as generations grow, he separates himself from this earth as corruption explodes. Even as God tries to bring justice (Noah and the flood, Tower of Babel), we still have evil flow like liquid death through the land..

As the world gets darker, God knows he must provide justice for evil; but he also continues to hope to regain relationship with his beloved again.

He eventually creates a bond with Abraham. Through his offspring, God will not only commune, but also, bless the world through his lineage. In order to not drone on for another ten pages, let’s pick up the pace. God makes promises to Abraham including a big family and a promised land- the land of Canon. Abraham makes mistakes. Abrahams descendants then move back and forth from being with God and following his rules, to doing awful things like selling their brother into slavery. God still remains with this family group, even as we get through Genesis and into Exodus.

Exodus is a book that finds God’s chosen people in slavery. He then uses a man named Moses to free his people through actual miracles and tried to lead his people to the promised land he told Abraham about. One thing to note: each time Abraham’s descendants chose evil instead of good, God still had to create justice. They never gain God’s full blessing. But God stays with them and continues encouraging good and gives them some good things.

Ok, so back to Moses and the Israelites. When God leads the Israelites out of Egypt (slavery), he knows how their ancestors have been acting. He brings back this picture of a blood sacrifice being necessary to cover the evil of mankind. In his final miraculous plague against Egypt, he sends an angel of death to the nation. Only those who have sacrificed a perfect lamb and covered their house entrance with its blood are saved from death’s wrath. Bloodshed can save.

Once the Israelites are free from slavery, He gives this group of people a new covenant, or set of rules, to show them how to be good and stay clean. This is what a lot of the rest of the Torah includes. These rules were set so that God could finally be with his people. He wanted to walk with them again, but unfortunately, people were still evil by nature. God stayed close to the people in a special dedicated section (the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle) and only those who were clean (the priests) could come into his presence.

When I think about it, I can only see how loving God was and how broken he must have felt. He desperately wanted to be with all people. He worked closely with this nation, hoping he could invade their whole community, only to be able to be around a select few. He could have walked among them, but he knew they would all die. His rules protected them from himself, at the cost of what he really wanted: relationships.

The Summary

The summary of the books goes something like this:

Genesis is the beginning of everything through the Israelites (Abraham’s family) living in Egypt. It shows how many time this family messes up and does some pretty terrible things, yet God stays with them and continues to be with them even in their sins, making a way for healing and hope.

Exodus is the people needing to be freed from an enslavement in Egypt through a new covenant relationship with God, which they failed at and get punished by being sentenced to staying in the wilderness in between Egypt and Cannon.

Leviticus lays out the exact rules given by God to his people. It is filled with offerings to God as well as many animal sacrifices. Offerings bring praise to God, while sacrifices other rituals were created to make people “clean” again. A whole section is dedicated to what is called the atonement sacrifice. This sacrifice was done annually for the entire people to heal the land of any additional sin that was done without people realizing it. God gives exact steps with even buffer healing for his people to be right with him so they can maintain the relationship that was always meant to be.

Numbers shows the story of the people being in the wilderness.

Deuteronomy is wisdom from Moses, being given to a new generation of Israelites who were ready and following God. They were about to actually receive God’s full blessing by entering into the promise land. It’s amazing!

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-9

As these people prepared to invade a pagan nation, an evil nation, they needed to sharpen themselves with the word of God. They had to atone for the things they had done wrong to stay clean and near God and chose to become holy as God is holy

A thrill of hope

So how does all this tie into finding hope in Christ?

From the beginning, God spoke about his plan to heal humanity through Jesus. Genesis 3:15 references someone coming from Eve to crush the head of the snake. Jesus, (born of man) conquerors the evil created by Satan.

In Genesis 12:3 when God is blessing Abraham specifically, he also states he will bless all people from Abraham’s lineage. Matthew 1 shows the exact lineage from Abraham all the way to Jesus. This same covenant is reiterated to Abraham’s grandson Jacob later in Genesis 28:14.

Even as we get into the laws for ritual cleansing, we see that sacrifices must be blemish free (Exodus 12:5). Christ was our perfect lamb who sacrificed himself willingly on the cross (Hebrews 9:14).

I’m going to leave you here for this week. Knowing that God has lead his people through generations, always seeking them, chasing their evil hearts and making a way for relationship. He is working to create a new heart for all. But the way is hard. It’s full of sacrifices and pain. He is still weaving his story for a final perfect lamb to break through the darkness once and for all.

Keep hoping.

PS. Keep watch. Everyday we will be releasing an in depth summary for you on each of these books as well as information for deeper dives into scripture!