- God started the universe and he also created a man named Adam
- Adam was lonely so God created a woman, Eve and now they both live in the Garden of Eden
- God says do not eat the fruit from knowledge of good and evil
- a serpent deceived the couple and Eve picked the apple before gave one to Adam
- Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple and they realized shame and evil
- they were banished from the garden and filled the world with sins
- God flooded the earth and restore peace but instructed Noah to build the ark
- God made a covenant with Abraham that his family will be a blessing from God
- this family lived on the land of Israel: Abraham – Issac – Jacob (name changed to Israel) – Joseph
- Joseph’s brothers enslaved Joseph in Egypt
- In Exodus, Moses led the Israelites back to the promised land of Israel in 40 years
- the Israelites worshiped the God but not long until they started to live in their rebellious way
- Israel’s greatest judge and prophet was Samuel and he selected Saul to be Israel’s first king to fulfill the wishes of the Israelites
- Saul slowly turned his back to God and thus Samuel took away his power and the king was David
- David was not perfect and he committed a murder (he let a married man die in battle) with a married woman but he wrote music to God to express struggles and thankfulness
- after many years, David gave the throne to his son, Solomon and God told David that one day one of your descendants would rule the kingdom that never ends.
- Solomon worshiped God but he married corrupted wives that led to him praying to false gods
- civil war broke out and Israel was then divided into two regions, Israel and Judah.
- these two regions were led by kings who ignored God and the warning of the destructive consequences ahead
- Prophet Elijah performed a fire and returned a boy’s death back to life, but the Israelites would not listen to Elijah
- soon the two nations were invaded and people were enslaved once again, the Israelites, now called Jews, were exiled from the promised land
- one prophet, Daniel was exiled to Babylon but he refused to pray to the king of Babylon but to God three times a day
- Daniel was thrown into a pit with a hungry lions but God closed the mouth of the lions
- though scattered, the Jews were still watched by God and prophet Jeremiah spoke with God’s word that God would bring everyone back to the promised land
- 60 years later, the Persian Empire freed the Jewish people to the promised land
- the Jewish reunited and had a leader named Ezra in the capital of Jerusalem
- the reunited Jews celebrated but the elders wept in remembrance of what was lost
- prophets like Malachi and Isaiah pointed to the future and coming king of a messaiah would fully restore Israel and bring peace
- the Jewish people waited and hoped and God would not speak to the phophets again for 400 years
Benc Tan 