Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Peter Enns

Home
About
Books
Articles & Essays
Upcoming Events
Archives
Inspiration and Incarnation
- Book Summary
- Endorsements
- The Audience of I&I
- I&I and the Authority of Scripture
- NPR Interview
- I&I and Inerrancy
- Responding to Critics
- Interactions with Bruce Waltke
  - My response to the Introduction of Bruce Waltke’s surrejoinder to my response above.
  - Bruce Waltke’s Revisiting Inspiration and Incarnation.
- A Response to Richard Pratt
  - Pratt 2
  - Pratt 3
  - Pratt 4
  - Pratt 5
- I&I and Westminster Theological Seminary
  - I&I and the Westminster Confession of Faith
  - My Response from the Westminster Theological Journal (Spring 2009)
- Christianity Today Coverage
Science, Faith, and Inerrancy

Home
Evangelical
And the main point of the entire Old Testament is….

And the main point of the entire Old Testament is….

Last updated on: July 22, 2013 at 12:33 pm by Peter Enns

And the main point of the entire Old Testament is…. 2013-07-22T12:33:46-04:00 Peter Enns

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I was taught in seminary and graduate school, as were many others of my generation and several before that, that the OT doesn’t have “a” central point–there’s no central concept around which you can organize the OT. The OT is too diverse for that sort of thing. As soon as you find a theme that seems to work, it either doesn’t (e.g., covenant) or it’s too broad to be of much use (e.g., God).

I agree, but some themes are right there in your face, more than others, and one of them is getting higher and higher on my top 10 list:

land.

That may sound off a bit boring–maybe even not terribly spiritual–but land is a major idea the Bible keeps on the front burner. Actually, I may even be understating things bit.

The promise to receive land, getting it, how to hold on to it, losing it and getting it back, and how not to lost it again.

I’ve just described the main storyline of the OT.

Land is part of God’s promise to Abraham. Actually, back up. As I laid out in The Evolution of Adam, the Adam story is already a snapshot preview of Israel and land.

The Garden of Eden is symbolic of Canaan. Adam and Israel are each placed in a piece of real estate, and remaining in the land depends on obedience to God. Both Adam and Israel break God’s law and are exiled.

Not everyone is convinced by this, which is fine. If you read Evolution of Adam, you will see that I pose this as a legitimate–and undervalued–reading of the Adam story. I’m not riffing. I got this from medieval Judaism:

Just as I led Adam into the garden of Eden and commanded him and he transgressed my commandment, whereupon I punished him by dismissal and exile… so also did I bring his descendants into the land of Israel and command them, and they transgressed my commands and I punished them by dismissal and exile (Genesis Rabbah)

The gift of land, stipulations for remaining there, and being exiled for failing to follow orders is how the OT begins. The rest of Israel’s narrative walks us through this same path, ending with exile–and return.

Israel’s “core narrative” (Genesis-2 Kings; this the older of Israel’s two historical narratives, the other being 1 and 2 Chronicles with Ezra and Nehemiah in the wings) is fixated on land.

Abraham’s story begins with a guided tour of the land that God promises to give to his descendants. Subsequent action takes place in the land, with the Israel’s ancestors struggling to establish themselves. The Abraham story, in other words, makes the case that the land of Canaan is rightfully Israel’s.

The famine and the Joseph story recount Israel’s move to Egypt, which, according to the Abraham story, is all part of God’s plan to guide his people back home and take back what’s theirs from its wrongful inhabitants, the Canaanites.

Israel is delivered from Egypt not to run free like prairie dogs, but so they can enter Canaan and set up shop. On Mt. Sinai they are given a law code and a sanctuary, not just “because”–but to establish rules of conduct and worship as a landed nation.

Forty years in the wilderness was a delay in receiving the land promise, prompted by Israel’s (actually, the spies’) unfaithfulness in trusting that God would give the land too them. (“Oh, we’ll never conquer that place. They have fortified cities and giants.”)

They enter the land through conquest–namely, wiping out the Canaanites and others who get in their way. God is determined to get them into the land at all costs.

The period of the monarchy and divided monarchy is one long series of bad tales that explain why the land was eventually lost–namely disobeying Yahweh by worshiping foreign gods. First to go is the larger northern kingdom in 722 BC at the hand of the Assyrians. Next to go is the southern kingdom of Judah at the hand of the Babylonians in 586 BC.

Prophetic warnings often deal with the consequences of Israel’s disobedience–the threat of losing the land, chided for having lost it, or what God is going to do restore the people to it.

I’m all on board with the fact that Israel’s story has beautiful and inspiring depth, but that’s a topic for another time. The main storyline that runs through Israel’s entire historical narrative and prophetic writings is about

a small nation’s struggle with land—

God’s promise to give it, Israel taking it, what Israel needed to do to keep it, losing it anyway, and getting it back.

“Land” is at the heart of Israel’s story. The NT transforms this story into something else. It has to. We’ll get into in my next post.

Canaan

land of Israel

Old Testament Theology

The Evolution of Adam

Previous Post

July 19, 2013

An Introduction to Science and Religion with Denis Lamoureux

Next Post

July 24, 2013 The gospel and the transformation of Israel's story beyond its borders

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "aha" moments "The Bible" on the History Channel 1 Corinthians 10:4 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 1 John 1 Peter 3:15 1 Timothy 5:19 1st Advent 2001 World Series 9/11 A Beka Books A Long Faithfulness A More Christlike God A Year of Biblical Womanhood A. J. Jacobs Abraham abuse of power academic freedom Acts 10 Adam Adam and biblical genealogies Addison Hodges Hart adjunct teaching adolescent sexual purity aesthetics age of the earth Al Groves Al Mohler Alan Millard Albert Einstein Alberta Alex Rodriguez Allah American Sniper Ana Greene Andrew Louth Andrew T. Lincoln Andrew Wilson Andy Gill anger animal suffering announcement Anthony le Donne Antony Flew apologetics Apostles of Reason Are You Waiting for "The One"? Aren Maeir atheism Augustine author interview Babylonian exile Back to Red Balaam son of Beor Barack Obama Barnes and Noble Bart Campolo Bart Ehrman baseball Becoming Divine Becoming Who You Are belief in God belligerence Benedictine spirituality Benefit of the Doubt Berry Friesen best of 2014 Bethlehem Between Heaven and Mirth BIble Bible and Ancient Near East Bible and diversity Bible and History Bible and imagination BIble and myth Bible and politics Bible and science Bible and social sciences Bible and women Bible as Story Bible Curriculum Bible difficulties Bible wars Biblica biblical archaeology biblical authority biblical canon biblical contradictions biblical criticism biblical genealogies biblical Greek biblical historiography biblical inspiration biblical interpretation biblical lifespans biblical literalism biblical prophecy biblical theology biblicism bibliogian Big History Project Bill Gates Bill Nye binding of Isaac BioLogos birth of Jesus blog commenting blog comments blogging Bob Jones University Press Bohannon fundraiser book proposals book publishing book reviews Born of a Virgin? Brad Jersak Branch Davidians Brandon Ambrosino Brandon Withrow Brene Brown Brevard Childs Brian McLaren Broken Word Bruce Glass Bryan College bunny theology BuzzFeed Byzantium C. H. Dodd C. John Collins C. S. Lewis Caesar Is Not Calvin and Hobbes Calvin College Calvinism camel domestication Canaan Canaanite genocide Canaanite religion Carl Sagan Carlos Bovell Carolyn Custis James Cedarville University certainty chain saws Changing Faith Charles Halton Charleston shooting Chasing Francis Chasing the Wind Chicago Cubs Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy Choon-Leong Seow Chris Christie Chris Keith Chris Tilling Christian America Christian apologetics Christian blogging Christian colleges Christian family Christian humanitarian efforts Christian leadership Christian liberty Christian Life Christian nation Christian persecution Christian Smith Christian Taliban Christian-Muslim dialogue Christianity and art Christianity and evolution Christianity and Islam Christianity and politics Christianity Today ChristianMingle.com Christians and academia Christians and sex Christmas Christopher B. Ansberry Christopher M. Hays Christopher Rollston Christopher Southgate Christopher W. Skinner Christotelic interpretation Chuck DeGroat Church Fathers and scripture circumcision co-dependence Coffeehouse Theology cognitive dissonance Community Bible Experience compost pile conquest of Canaan Consider No Evil contemplative Christianity control cosmos counter testimony Craig Blomberg creation creationism Creative Trust Literary Group creeds and confessions crisis in Syria crisis of faith crocs with socks crucifixion CT shootings culture wars cycle of life D. Brent Sandy Dan Harrington Dan Haseltine Daniel E. Fleming Daniel Kirk Daniel Taylor dark night Darwin David G. Benner David Koresh David Opderbeck David Williams Death Before The Fall defending the Bible defending the faith Denis Alexander Denis Lamoureux denominationalism depth psychology Derek Flood Derek Jeter desert fathers Dick Vitale Did God Really Command Genocide? Dietrich Bonhoeffer Disarming Scripture Discerning the Mystery Disturbing Divine Behavior diverse portraits of God divided monarchy Divine Vintage Do Historical Matters Matter to Faith? doctrinal inconsistency doctrine Documentary Hypothesis doubt dualistic thinking dying to self Early Church Easter Eastern Orthodoxy and the Bible Eastern University Eat With Joy Ecclesiastes Ed Cysewski election 2012 election 2016 empire criticism enlightenment Epic Fail Episcopal Church Eric Metaxas Eric Seibert Eucharist Evangelical biblical scholarship Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism evangelical scholarship Evangelical Theological Society Evangelicalism evangelicals and academia evangelicals and politics everything breathes evolution evolutionary creation Evolving in Monkey Town Excalibur exchanging the peace Exodus exodus and conquest Exodus: Gods and Kings experiencing God Ezekiel 37 Ezra 9-10 faculty firings Fail faith and certainty faith and intellect Faith and Reason faith and theology faith seeking understanding false self FAQs FarmVille fear figurative readings first Christian Bible first half of life Five Views on Biblical Inerrancy food and religion ForeWord Reviews forgiveness Found Four Views on the Historical Adam Fox News Francis of Assisi Francis Schaeffer Frank A. James III Frank Viola Frederica Mathewes-Green From Evolution to Eden From Fear to Faith fundamentalism fundamentalism and art future of evangelicalism Fuz Rana G. I. Williamson Galatians game theory garden of eden Gary A. Anderson Gary Burnett Geerhardus Vos gene pool genealogies of Jesus Genesis Genesis 1-11 Genesis 1-2 Genesis 1-3 Genesis 15:6 Genesis flood Genesis for Normal People Genesis: History Fiction or Neither genetic studies genetics Gentiles George Washington Gerd Thiessen German language Gilbert Gottfried Göbekli Tepe Temple God God and country God and sports God in the Dock God in Translation God's absence God's gender God's sovereignty God's Word in Human Words good news/euangelion Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark GospelFutures GospelMemes Gospels granite Greg Cary Gregory A. Boyd Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nyssa growth Haggai Half the Church Hans-Georg Gadamer Harold Heie Harvie Conn Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Hebrew Patriarchs helicopter parenting helpful hints Henri Nouwen Hermann Gunkel hermeneutics high school reunion Hippasus of Metapontum historical accuracy historical criticism historical Jesus Holy War in the Bible homeschooling homosexuality honesty How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian Hugh Ross humility humor and spirituality I Love Jesus and I Accept Evolution Ian Morgan Cron immortality incarnation inerrancy Inspiration and Incarnation intellectual models Intelligent Design inter-religious dialogue interracial marriage intolerance introverts in church Irenaeus irrational numbers Isaiah Isaiah 17 Israel Israeli-Palestinian conflict Israelite history J. R. Briggs J. R. Daniel Kirk Jacob L. Wright James A. Sanders James Barr James D. G. Dunn James Flynn James Hoffmeier James K. A. Smith James Martin Jana Riess Jared Byas Jars of Clay Jeannine Brown Jeremy Begbie Jesus Jesus and the Old Testament Jesus as divine and human Jesus as messiah Jesus Is Lord Jesus scholarship Jesus' wife Jewish biblical interpretation Jimmy Greene Job Job 1-21 jobs in academia Joe Modica Joel Baden Joel Butler John 10:35 John 20:19-29 john byron John Calvin John Dickson John Dominic Crossan John Franke John Goldingay John K. Stoner John of the Cross John Oswalt John Piper John Schneider John Walton John Wesley Jon Stewart Jon. D. Levenson Jonathan Dudley Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Fitzgerald Joseph and his brothers Joshua Delusion journey Judah judgement free zone justice and righteousness justification by faith Justin Martyr Karl Giberson Kashi Ken Ham Kent Sparks Kevin Vanhoozer Kim Jong Un Kindergarten King David King David and His Reign Revisited kingdom of God/heaven Konrad Schmid Kurt Eichenwald lament land of Israel Larry Hurtado Law of Moses leadership leaving church Leaving Egypt: Finding God in the Wilderness Places Legends of Genesis Leon Wieseltier Leonard Sweet Les Miserables Lesslie Newbigin letters from God literaliam literalism literary agents living in the questions Losing my Religion love love of God Love Wins Loveology Lucian Luke Norsworthy Luke Timothy Johnson Madonna and Child manners Marc Brettler Marcionism Margaret Kim Peterson Mariano Rivera Mark 2:23-27 Mark 3 Mark Noll Mark Roncace Mark S. Smith Mark Strauss Mark T. Edwards Martin Hengel Martin Luther Martin Luther King Marvin the Martian Mary Magdalene Matthew 18 Matthew Flannagan Megan DeFranza Menachem Wecker Mere Christianity Mesha Inscription messiah Messiah College Micha Boyett Michael Bird Michael Graves Michael Gungor Michael Halcomb Michael Hardin Michael Hidalgo Michael Moore Michael Pahl Michael Ruffin Michele Bachmann microbes midrash Miley Cyrus missiology Mitt Romney modernism Moises Silva Molly Worthen Monte Harrell Hampton Mora Downey morals and the arts Mother Teresa Mt. Hood my home office My Utmost for His Highest Myron Penner mythic membership consciousness N. T. Wright Nachmanides need for attention Neil degrasse Tyson Neil Williams neo-Calvinism new paradigms New Testament New Testament use of the Old Testament New Year New York Yankees Newsweek Newsworthy with Norsworthy Newtown Nicholas Wolterstorff no one likes Canada Noah (the movie) Noah and the flood Noah's ark NOMA Not Your Mother's Morals Obedience Old Testament Old Testament ethics Old Testament history Old Testament prophets Old Testament Theology Old Testament Turning Points Olive Branch Books online course Oprah Oral Tradition orality and the Bible oreos Origen original sin origins myths origins of the Old Testament Orthodox Presbyterian Church Oswald Chambers Owen Strachan pale blue dot Parker Palmer pastoral burnout Patterns of Evidence Paul Paul and the Faithfulness of God Paul Copan Peace Hill Press Pentateuch Pentecost Pete Enns Peter Drucker Peter Liethart Peter Rollins Peter Traben Haas Ph.D. job market Philippians 3:10 pilgrimage Planet Fitness politics postmodernism prayer Presbyterianism Priene Calendar Inscription problem of evil prodigal son professional Christian progressive evangelical theology Protestantism Proverbs Proverbs 26:4-5 Proverbs 26:7 Proverbs 26:9 Proverbs 31:10-31 Psalm 110 Psalm 82:6 Psalms psychotherapy public criticism Qumran Qur'an Rachel Held Evans Rachel Marie Stone Randal Rauser Randall Heskett Randy Hardman Raw Revelation Raymond B. Dillard Raymond E. Brown Reading Genesis 1-2 Reading John reading the Bible Really!?! rebuilding the temple reception history Red Letter Christians Reformation Reformed theology Rehabilitating Inerrancy in a Culture of Fear religion religion and popular culture religious hostility respectful conversation respectful conversations resurrection resurrection accounts resurrection in the Old Testament retributive violence Reuel/Jethro Reza Aslan Richard Hess Richard Rohr Rick Perry Ridley Scott Rite I rival eschatology Rob Bell Rob Dalrymple Robert Yarbrough Robin A. Parry Roman empire and the New Testament Romans Romans 1:18 Romans 9:25-26 Ronald E. Osborn Ryan Miller sabbath breaking Sacred Word Sacred Word Broken Word Samaritans Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Miller Sandy Hook Sarah Moslener Sarah Palin satan Saving the Original Sinner scepticism science and faith science curricula science education Scot McKnight Searching for Sunday self-absorbed self-centered seminary senate blocks gun legislation Septuagint Sermon on the Mount Seven Glorious Days shame shameless self-promotion Simon Schama sin singing size of universe slippery slope Society of Biblical Literature annual meeting Solomon Soren Kierkegaard source criticism Southern Baptist Theological Seminary southern Presbyterians Spinoza spiritual formation spiritual memoir spirituality Spirituality and the Awakening Self St. Benedict St. Nicholas Stephen Jay Gould Stephen L. Young Stephen Lawhead Stephen Taylor Steve Moyise Steven Collins Steven Pressfield Storm of Words story storytelling Strangers and Pilgrims Once More suffering Sumerian King List Super Bowl supernova Surrender to Love Sylvia Keesmaat T. Michael Law talking about God teaching Bible to young Christians Ted Bobosh Telling God's Story Teresa of Avila textual criticism Thanksgiving The Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary The Beauty of God The BIble and the Believer The Bible Made Impossible The Bible Tells Me So The Biblical Cosmos The Book of Common Prayer The Books of the Bible The Byrds The Civil War The Courage to Teach The Discarded Image The Drew Marshall Show The Early History of God The End of Apologetics The Episcopal Church and science The Evangelicals You Don't Know The Evolution of Adam The Future of Evangelicalism The Godfather the gospel The Gospel According to the Blues The Gospel Coalition The Gospel in a Pluralistic Society The Groaning of Creation The Historical David The Historical Jesus The Inspiration and Interpretation of Scripture The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Anything The Jesus Driven Life The Jewish Study Bible The Last Battle The Liturgists Podcast The Lost World of Scripture The Old Testament: A Literary History The Oral Gospel Tradition the problem of Scripture The Prophetic Imagination The Rebel Jesus The Skeptical Believer The Story of the Jews The Twible The View The Violence of Scripture The War of Art The Wife of Jesus The Wonder of the Universe The Year of Living Biblically theistic evolution theological conflict theological diversity in the Bible theological interpretation theology Thomas Keating Thomas Merton Three-Legged Stool Thucydides Tim Keller Tim McCarver Todd Starnes Tom Krattenmaker Tony Campolo Toughest People to Love Toward the Other tradition transformation Tree of Life tree of the knowledge of good and evil Tremper Longman III tribalism trust in God Tullian Tchividjian Turn tweed in San Diego Unbelievable? Uncategorized uncertainty unfaithfulness of God Valentine's Day Victor Matthews violence of God Virgin Nation Walter Brueggemann Was the Birth of Jesus According to Scripture? water We Make the Road by Walking Wesleyan Quadrilateral western Christianity Westminster Theological Seminary What We Talk About When We Talk About God What? When God Spoke Greek William Dembski winemaking wisdom women and children as slaves women and the Bible women in ministry World Series worship wrath of God writer's block writing writing tips Yahweh young evangelicals young scholars and the internet Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth zero-sum game Zondervan Counterpoints Series Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary

Select a Month August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What caused the sailors to throw Jonah overboard?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A vision A prophecy A violent storm A mutiny