THE OLD TESTAMENT FILES
GENESIS
ILE THE GENESIS F WHEN THE ACTION HAPPENED: Between the beginning of time and 1800 bc (approximately)..........................................................
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: In Genesis you get to find out
how the world began, how things went from good to bad, why God kick-started the special nation of Israel and what happened after that...................................
EXODUS
WHO WROTE IT? Most people think it was Agent Moses.......
WHERE THE ACTION HAPPENED: The Garden of Eden (location
WHAT’S WITH THE NAME? Genesis means ‘beginning’ or ‘origin’, which is why it’s at the very start of The God Files................................................................................................ AGENTS OF GOD TO LOOK OUT FOR: Abel, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Rebekah and Joseph.............................................
HIGHLIGHTS (check them out!): • • • • • • •
God makes the world’s first human being. Genesis 2:5-7. A flood destroys the whole world (probably a lowlight!). Genesis 7:11-24. Abram gets sent on a mahoosive mission. Genesis 12:1-3. A miracle baby is born. Genesis 21:1-7. Jacob fights with God. Genesis 32:24-25. Joseph gets an impressive promotion. Genesis 41:39-43. The Israelites move to Egypt. Genesis 47:1-6.
LEVITICUS
unknown), Mount Ararat (in modern-day western Turkey), the plain of Shinar and Ur (both in modernday Iraq), Canaan, Egypt, Sodom (at the Dead Sea), Haran (in Syria) and a few other places you’ll find out about as you read this file..............................................
GE N E SI S 1 : 1 The beginning In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, dark ness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
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3 And
God said, ‘Let t here be light,’ and t here was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light ‘day’, and the darkness he called ‘night’. And there was eve ning, and there was morning – the first day. 6 And God said, ‘Let t here be a v ault be tween the waters to separate water from water.’ 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the v ault ‘sky’. And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day. 9 And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one p lace, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. 10 God called the dry g round ‘land’, and the gathered waters he called ‘seas’. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, ‘Let the land pro duce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their var ious kinds.’ And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it ac cording to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And t here was eve ning, and there was morning – the third day. 14 And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them s erve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be l ights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.’ And it was so. 16 God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the
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Old Testament stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give l ight on the e arth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day. 20 And God said, ‘Let the water teem with liv ing crea tures, and let birds fly above the earth across the v ault of the sky.’ 21 So God created the g reat creatures of the sea and every living thing with w hich the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the b irds increase on the earth.’ 23 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day. 24 And God said, ‘Let the land pro duce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our like ness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild an imals, a and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ 27 So God created mankind in his own
image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in a 26 Probable reading of the original Hebrew text (see Syriac); Masoretic Text the earth
The Pentateuch
ASSIGNMENT
ACTIVATION Genesis 1:31 says that ‘God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.’ It’s easy to see how God’s number one enemy has spoiled the wonderful world God created. Many people are hungry, sick, lonely or feeling unloved, which wasn’t God’s original plan. Is there something you can do to make the world a better place for someone else? Maybe talk to an adult about this as well as getting on your Hotline to Heaven to ask God what you can do.
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.’ 29 Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every g reen p lant for food.’ And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And t here was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.
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GENESIS 2 :14 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all t heir vast array. the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God b lessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creat ing that he had done.
Adam and Eve 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth a and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams b came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man c from the dust of the g round and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a gar den in the east, in Eden; and t here he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all k inds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, w here there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin d and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gi hon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. e 14 The name of the t hird river is the
a 5 Or land ; also in verse 6 b 6 Or mist c 7 The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah) ; it is also the name Adam (see verse 20). d 12 Or good; pearls e 13 Possibly south-east Mesopotamia
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GE N E SI S 2 : 15
Old Testament
AGENT ESSENTIALS DON’T LISTEN TO THE LIES The Genesis File tells us about two big mistakes which Agents Adam and Eve made. What were they? Well, first they listened to the lies of the snake (otherwise known as the devil), which resulted in their second mistake, disobeying God. All agents of God need to make sure that they shut their ears to the lies of God’s number one enemy and always obey what God says. To read for yourself God’s strict instructions to Adam and Eve, head to Genesis 2:16-17.
Tigris; it runs a long the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God com manded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’ 18 The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be a lone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’ 19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the b irds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam f no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep s leep; and w hile he was sleeping, he took one of the m an’s ribs g and then c losed up the p lace with fl esh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from f 20 Or the man g 21 Or took part of the man’s side
the rib h he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called “woman”, for she was taken out of man.’ 24 That
is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
The fall Now the snake was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, “You must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ 2 The wom an said to the snake, ‘We may eat f ruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not t ouch it, or you will die.” ’
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h 22 Or part
The Pentateuch 4 ‘You will not certainly die,’ the snake said to the woman. 5 ‘For God k nows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, know ing good and evil.’ 6 When the woman saw that the f ruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they real ised that they were naked; so they sewed fig l eaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God a mong the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ 10 He answered, ‘I heard you in the gar den, and I was a fraid because I was naked; so I hid.’ 11 And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?’
GOD’S NEMESIS God’s number one enemy goes by the name of Satan or ‘the devil’. He is represented by the snake in the Garden of Eden. But he’s not God’s equal by any means. He was originally a top angel called Lucifer but he got too big for his boots and wanted to be worshipped like God. His rebellion resulted in God throwing him out of heaven and he ended up on planet earth. He’s been trying to get his revenge ever since by trying to spoil the wonderful world God created. Agents of God have no need to fear the devil because Jesus defeated him on the cross and God’s angels are always protecting us.
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GENESIS 3 :19 12 The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The snake deceived me, and I ate.’ 14 So the Lord God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this,
‘Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring a and hers; he will crush b your head, and you will strike his heel.’ 16 To the woman he said,
‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labour you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’ 17 To Adam he said, ‘Be cause you lis tened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,”
‘Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,
a 15 Or seed b 15 Or strike
LAW G�N�S�S� E�O�U�, L�V�T�C�S� N�M�E�S� D�U�E�O�O�Y HISTORY J�S�U�, J�D�E�, R�T�, 1 S�M�E�, 2 S�M�E�, 1 K�N�S� 2 K�N�S� 1 C�R�N�C�E�, 2 C�R�N�C�E�, E�R�, N�H�M�A�, E�T�E� POETRY J�B� P�A�M�, P�O�E�B�, E�C�E�I�S�E�, S�N� O� S�N�S MAJOR PROPHETS I�A�A�, J�R�M�A�, L�M�N�A�I�N�, E�E�I�L� D�N�E� MINOR PROPHETS H�S�A� J�E�, A�O�, O�A�I�H� J�N�H� M�C�H� N�H�M� H�B�K�U�, Z�P�A�I�H� H�G�A�, Z�C�A�I�H� M�L�C�I
OLD TESTAMENT
GOSPELS M�T�H�W� M�R�, L�K�, J�H� HISTORY A�T� PAUL’S LETTERS R�M�N�, 1 C�R�N�H�A�S� 2 C�R�N�H�A�S� G�L�T�A�S� E�H�S�A�S� P�I�I�P�A�S� C�L�S�I�N�, 1 T�E�S�L�N�A�S� 2 T�E�S�L�N�A�S� 1 T�M�T�Y� 2 T�M�T�Y� T�T�S� P�I�E�O� OTHER LETTERS H�B�E�S� J�M�S� 1 P�T�R� 2 P�T�R� 1 J�H�, 2 J�H�, 3 J�H�, J�D� PROPHECY R�V�L�T�O�
NEW TESTAMENT
W�R�H�P If you’ve ever been to a Sunday meeting at an Agent Outpost, you’ll know that there’s quite a lot of singing! The God Files calls this ‘worship’ and it’s all about singing songs to God to tell him how great we think he is, to thank him for what he’s done and to remind ourselves that he’s always with us. Different Outposts will do worship in different ways. Some will have a full band of musicians and others might have an organist or a choir. Traditional songs are called hymns but songs that were written more recently are often called worship songs. Here are some examples:
A H�M� This is a verse from a very old hymn called ‘Love Divine, All Loves Excelling’. It was written in 1747 by Charles Wesley, a famous agent of God. Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven, to earth come down, fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesu, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart.
A W�R�H�P S�N� A popular worship song of modern times is ‘How Great is Our God’ by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash. It’s actually based on Psalm 104 which begins with these lines: ‘Praise the LORD, my soul. LORD my God, you are very great; you are clothed with splendour and majesty.’
W�Y D� W� W�R�H�P� It might sound weird to sing songs to God but it’s really no different from the pop songs that people sing about someone they love. Worship is simply a way of expressing how we feel about God. Probably the most famous worshipper in The God Files is Agent David but he wasn’t the only one. Check out the song Agent Miriam sang (in Exodus 15:19-21) after God had rescued the Israelites from the Egyptians.
H�W T� W�R�H�P It’s great to worship God with other agents at your Agent Outpost, but did you know that you can worship God wherever you are? In your bed (maybe read a psalm of praise to God before you go to sleep), in your bathroom (thanking God that he is always with you) or on your way to school. Wherever you worship, make sure it’s a part of your everyday life.
ARE YOU READY TO BECOME AN AGENT OF GOD? Making Jesus number one in your life (and being one of his amazing agents) is the absolute best thing you could ever do. But before you go on any missions for Jesus or do anything for him here’s what you need to know. He’ll always love you. He’ll never leave you. He’s on your side. He’ll protect you. He’s got good plans for your life. He thinks you’re amazing. Who wouldn’t want to serve a God like that? So, if you think you’re ready to give your life to Jesus and become an agent of God, turn the page to find out how.
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OF G OD
WEL�O�E� If you prayed that prayer, congratulations! You’re now part of God’s family and you’re also an agent of God, on a mission to tell the world about Jesus. If you know another agent of God (a Christian) tell them about the exciting decision you’ve just made. They can help you begin your new life with God by suggesting a good Agent Outpost (church) where you can meet other agents of God and learn more about him (that’s if you’re not part of one already).