Major Themes of the Old Testament

Major Themes of the Old Testament

Exile and Return

The Jewish people had a homeland but they were also people who experienced exile from their home

The idea of Exile in the Old Testament:

A forced separation of the Jewish people from their homeland

The forced separation of a single person from his/her homeland

A separation from God

The most important time of exile for the Jewish people was when they were deported from Judah to Babylon during the sixth century BC

The Jewish people were tested by:

Why had God abandoned them?

Were the Babylonian gods more powerful than their God?

Was exile a punishment for something they had done?

The Jewish saw this exile as a punishment by God, give to them because they had not ben true to the covenant

Slavery, Exodus and Freedom

Slavery was common in the ancient world. The Hebrews were persecuted in Egypt. They had longed for freedom from the oppression they suffered. God eventually sent Moses to lead them way from the oppression into the Promised Land. Slavery was still a routine in their lives and there were laws about how the Hebrews were to manage the slaves

While slavery existed, the prophets criticised injustice wherever they saw it, standing up for the weak against the powerful

Desert, Wilderness and the Promised Land

Many wilderness areas of Palestine were only left with very little vegetation: the desert was barren, a harsh windswept place of hunger, thirst and deprivation. Despite this, the Jewish people were under God's constant protection when they were wandering throughout the desert. They were given the Ten Commandments during that time

Sometimes the desert was a refuge: Hagar fled from the cruelty of Sarah into the desert, but when she was there she had to depend totally on God

Although the desert is a place without much life, sometimes we hear God more clearly there

In the ancient Near East, kings gave royal grants of land as rewards to loyal subjects. In contrast, God gave the Promised Land to the Jewish people

The Promised Land is a place of "milk and honey": these two items of food both require rich vegetation for cows and bees so the words imply lush green pasture

For Christians, the wilderness came to be a symbol of this earthly life,