Main Events and Developments in the Pentateuch

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• (1) The creation of the heavens and the earth by God.

• (2) The creation of Adam & Eve.

• (3) The fall of Adam & Eve fall into sin; they are expelled from the garden of Eden.

• (4) The flood; God makes a covenant with Noah / with the human race that He will not destroy the earth with a flood again.

• (5) The Tower of Babel; the confusion of the languages; the spread of humans over the earth.

• (6) The call of the Abraham, and God’s promises to him and his ‘offspring / seed’. The three main promises are:

  1. God will make Abraham’s offspring into a great nation.

  2. God will give them a land.

  3. God will bless all nations(!) through Abraham / through his seed. This is the overall goal of the Abrahamic promises.

  These promises are also known as the covenant with Abraham; it is with “Abraham and his seed”; Gen 12, 15, 17, 22.

• (7) Esau sells his birthright to Jacob (Gen 25; see esp. v. 34).

• (8) God reaffirms the promises to Abraham’s son Isaac (Gen 26).

• (9) Jacob deceives Isaac, and obtains Isaac’s blessing, instead of Esau. (Gen 27).

  [Q: Did the blessing belong to Esau to begin with?]

• (10) The promises are confirmed to Isaac’s son Jacob (Gen 28).

• (11) Jacob has 12 sons; his favorite son is Joseph. The brothers are jealous & angry, and sell Joseph to Ishmaelites / Midianites, who then take him to Egypt, and sell him to Potiphar.

• (12) After many difficulties, Joseph rises to a position of great importance in Egypt. He helps Egypt store grain from 7 years of plenty so that there will be enough grain for the 7 years of famine that are coming.

• (13) Joseph’s own family (= Jacob and his other 11 sons) eventually comes to Egypt to buy grain. After some intrigue and some testing, they are re-united with Joseph, and they remain in Egypt.

• (14) Jacob & his family enter Egypt around 1876 BC. They remain there for probably 400 years. During this time, their population grows greatly.

• (15) Eventually, the Egyptians treat them badly and subject them to harsh labor (Exod 1). The Israelites cry out to God, and God remembers his covenant with Abraham, Isaac & Jacob (Exod 2:24).

• (16) God sends them a deliverer, Moses. After God sends 10 plagues upon Egypt, the Pharaoh finally relents, and lets the Israelites go. This is the exodus. It likely dates to 1446 BC.

• (17) But Pharaoh changes his mind, and pursues the Israelites. God dramatically saves the Israelites by parting the waters of the Red Sea (perhaps: Sea of Reeds), and then by drowning the entire Egyptian army that had pursued Israel.

• (18) Two or three months later Israel arrives at Mt Sinai, where they have a dramatic encounter with God via Moses . They receive the 10 Commandments. But they build a golden calf , and are punished. They receive the rest of the Law. They build the ark of the covenant and the Tabernacle.

• (19) At Mt Sinai, Israel as-a-nation enters into a special relationship with God, a covenant, often called the Sinai Covenant. This covenant offers to bless Israel above(!) the nations if they honor Yahweh as God and obey the Sinai covenant (= the Law). But if they don’t → there will be judgment. Exodus 19-24; Leviticus (esp. ch. 26) & Deut (esp. ch. 7).

  The Law contains laws governing Israel’s moral life, its civil life, and its ritual / ceremonial life (the sacrifices & food rules, etc.).

  The last half of the book of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and Numbers chs. 1-9, take place at Mt. Sinai.

• (20) After spending 14 months at Mt Sinai, Israel departs (Num 10). In about a month, they arrive at Kadesh-Barnea (Num 13:26). From there, Israel sends out 12 spies to spy out the land.

• (21) The spies report it is a plentiful land; Joshua & Caleb urge Israel to enter the land. But 10 of the 12 are afraid of the people who live there; Israel decides not to enter the land (Num 14:1-10).

• (22) So the Lord decreed that none of the adults of that generation would enter the land; instead, they would wander for 40 years in the wilderness until all the adults of that unbelieving generation die off, except for Joshua and Caleb (Num 13 & 14; 26:6-65, esp. v. 64; then later Deut 1 & 2; Josh 5:4-7).

• (23) At the end of the 40 years, Aaron dies (Num 20), and Israel arrives at the “plains of Moab,” just east of the Jordan River (Num 33:48,50; Deut 34:1,8).

  By that time, all the adults of the unbelieving generation have died off (Num 26:63–65; see also Deut 2:14–15, and Josh 5:6).

• (24) The Book of Deuteronomy (= the speeches that Moses gave to the new generation) takes place on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan river.

  Moses dies there. Israel will soon cross the Jordan River and enter the promised land, with Joshua as their new leader.