SALVATION HISTORY

God’s Plan for Humanity

Salvation HistoryIn the Beginning

The world was without formAnd the world was void

My Fathers PlanScott Hahn and Jeff Cavens do a tape series that I find helpful A Framework - not to be confused with The

FrameworkGod is a God of CovenantsCovenants are distinct from contracts

○ Contracts - quid pro quo (this for that)○ Covenants imply relationship - a love relationship

In Hebrew there is a significance to 7 - to 7 oneself is to make an oath, to enter into a serious covenant

○ One can divide Salvation History into 12 periods and 7 covenants

God comes to us - He deals with stuff -matter - the Sacraments

The Two Stories of CreationGod’s relationship with creation and with the Human person

The First Chapter of Genesis This story reveals God’s relationship with all His

creation!

The Second Chapter of GenesisThis story reveals God’s relationship with the human

person

Genesis Chapters 1All that God made was very good!

God brings form out of chaosDay 1: Let there be light – Light and darkens are separatedDay 2: Let us separate the fluids: The Air and the SeaDay 3: Gives form to the earth; vegetation and earth

○God brings order to the world and now He will fill the void that exists in the form that He brought forth.

God Fills the voidDay 4: Creatures of light fill the day and the night, (e.g. sun, moon and stars.Day 5: The birds and the fish fill the “fluids”.

-Interesting to note that in the physical universe, both the air and the water are governed by the same mathematical equations.

Day 6: The animals and the greatest of all animals, the human person, are created,

Day 7: God makes the day of rest, a day to reflect on God’s Goodness

God’s Plan for the Human PersonThe Human Person’s Original State

Adam (earth) was created Original InnocenceOriginal Solitude

○ God made all the animals for Adam – they didn’t quite do it for him, then “bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh! … Whoa! Man! … Women

○ Original Solitude is pierced by the community of persons – the family – an image of the Trinity it self – a community of persons united in mutual unlimited love

A Marriage CovenantThe first covenant limited to a family

God’s Plan for the Human PersonThe Fall

Adam was told ○ (Eve was not created yet) not to eat of the tree of

Good and evil Eve was obviously in the know

○ ( some scholars speculate that this was to establish the importance of Tradition (Eve failed to trust in the word of another human person)

Genesis 3:15 ○ I will put enmity between you and the woman, he

will bruise your head and He/she will crush your head.

The Proto-Gospel – Genesis 3:15“Emnity between your offspring and hers”

Mel Gibson’s Passion focus’ on the passageRemember the opening scene – Jesus crushes the

serpents headAlso the Devil stalking Jesus holding a strange

offspring?.. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and your offspring and yours.

Salvation HistoryThe Twelve periods

The History of the Early WorldThe covenant with Adam and Eve (the family)The covenant with Noah ( the Household)

The PatriarchsThe covenant with Abram or Abraham (the

Tribe) Israel in Egypt

The Covenant with Moses (the Nation or Tribes) The Promised Land

The Conquest in Canaan

Salvation HistoryThe Twelve Periods (cont)

○The Judges○The United KingdomThe covenant with David (the Jewish Kingdom)

○The Divided Kingdom○The Exile○The Return○TheMaccabean Revolt○Jesus the Messiah○The ChurchThe covenant with Jesus (the whole world)

The Exodus EventI will be your people, and you will be my God!

Let my people go!Moses led the people from the cruel oppression of

slavery.The final plague?

○ The first born was to be taken via the Angel of deathHow were the Israelites spared?

○ The blood of an unblemished male lamb on the doorpost

○ They were set free, but pursued until Moses used Aaron’s staff to split the Red Sea

○ They rejected God’s plan, but God provided them with manna from heaven

The People’s Sin“Make for us a god in our image”

God’s plan is rejected, and Moses pleads his caseAfter the people create a god in that fits the world

they had grown accustomed to in Egypt, God proposes to Moses to start over with him.○ Moses suggests, “What would the neighbors think?

You go to all the trouble of delivering this people, only to sacrifice them in the dessert? Very bad PR.

○ The people are spared, and when they refuse to take possession of the promised land, the generation who betrayed God a banished to wander in the dessert for 40 years, but their offspring survive. God still meets their physical needs.

Early Structures of Leadership When the Israelites settled in the

promised land there was set up a system of Judges.

A judge is understood by some as a non-hereditary leader of the people.

From the Book of Joshua to Samuel there is a list of judges.

The Judges ~ 1200 BC-1030 BC

In the Book of Joshua Joshua†

In the Book of Judges Othniel Ehud Shamgar Deborah Barak† Gideon Abimelech† Tola Jair

Jephthah Ibzan Elon Abdon Samson

In First Samuel Eli Samuel

†Not explicitly described as a judge

The Kings of Israel –from Wikepedia

The United Kingdom (~1000 BC – 931 BC)

The people wanted a King, God tried to talk them out of it, but they refused.God honored their freedomGod always honors our freedom

The First Three Kings of IsraelSaul (between 1030 BC – 1010 BC)David (1010 BC – 970 BC)

○ Bathsheba and UriahSolomon (to 931 BC)

The Divided Kingdom Israel (The North)

Jeroboam I Nadab/Baasha Elah/Zimri/Omri Ahab Ahaziah/Jehoram Jehu Jehoahaz Jehoash Jeroboam II Menahem/Shallum/Zechariah Hoshea/Pekah/Pekahiah Fall of Samaria 721 BC

Judah (The South) Rehoboam Abihah Asa Jehoshaphat Jehoram Ahaziah Jehoash Amaziah Uzziah Jotham

•Ahaz•Hezekiah•Manasseh•Amon•Josiah•Jehoiakim•Jehoahaz•Zedekiah•Jehoiachin•Falls in 586 BC

Map of Israel – from wikepedia

Babylonian Exile and Return Israel is exiled in 587 BC, the first Temple is

destroyed King Cyrus invites them home and Temple is

rebuilt 538 BC and 530 BC Shift from prophets to sages and scribes Hellenism becomes a stronger influence Septuagint is translated in about 260 AD Jews become autonomous but under the rule

of the Roman Empire The High Priesthood becomes very political

Some Major Jewish Groups Sadducees -“sad you see”, because

they did not believe in the resurrection Pharisees – believed in the resurrection

and supernatural spirits Essenes – Very austere group, may

have been connected to John the Baptist Zealots – Very zealous for the faith Sicarii – “dagger bearers” – ancient

terrorists

Messianic Expectations Judas Maccabeus – a Jewish revolt that

led to the rededication of the Temple which is commemorated by the modern Jewish Holiday Hanukah.