God is Good
And wants us to be goodTuesdays at 6pm PDT running August 4 through October 6, 2020
Jamie Foster led this online Adult Bible Study on Genesis and Exodus: Creation, Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, Abraham through Joseph, the Exodus, and the Ten Commandments. He guaranteed you'd gain some new understanding and perspectives. Jamie thought he had some grasp of these stories. Let's just say he missed a lot over all the years. The goal is to understand what God is trying to tell us through these stories.
We looked at the first two books of the Bible, Genesis and Exodus, mostly through the eyes of Dennis Prager who wrote a book-length commentary on each. He wrote, "The Old Testament is often dismissed as outdated, irrelevant, and even immoral. None of that is true." Jamie would encourage you to get and read both of these books, but that is totally optional for this course. We begin with The Rational Bible: Genesis and later pick up with The Rational Bible: Exodus (both available widely).
For those interested in a really deep dive into the Torah (this course is just a teaser into the richness of the Torah), Jamie can't overstate how great the Prager lectures are that are available at Pragertopia.com. For $120/yr you have access to all 241 hours of his lectures on the Torah (1st five books of the Old Testament) which he did starting about 20 years ago. The books we used and these lectures are complimentary, not repetitive (though some of the material will obviously be familiar). You'll also have access to a great deal more Prager content from courses to podcasts to on-demand talk show recordings, and more. All fascinating stuff.
Sessions were roughly one hour each.
Sessions were recorded for playback later at your convenience. Links to these recordings are available on this web page under each session (see below).
Sessions
Tuesdays, 6pm PDT
Creation
8/4/2020
Genesis 1:1 through 2:3
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
Complete Bible Timeline (simplified)
Creation Timeline (Biblical alongside Science)
Genesis Timeline
Genesis-Exodus Timelines
Bible Timeline through Today-ish
Complete Bible Timeline (simplified)
Garden of Eden | Cain and Abel | Long Lives
8/11/2020
Genesis 2:4 through 5:32
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
The Flood and Noah’s Ark | City of Babel
8/18/2020
Genesis 6-11
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
For a better copy of the Descendents of Noah, go here.
Noah to 12 Tribes family tree
Longevity Decline after the Flood
Noah's Ark Events
Abraham
8/25/2020
Genesis 12-20
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here
Abraham Lifeline
Abraham-Joseph Family Tree (simple)
Abraham-Joseph in which Genesis chapters
12 Tribes of Israel (simple family tree)
Events timeline Abraham-Exodus
Abraham-Solomon Timeline
Isaac and Jacob
9/1/2020
Genesis 21-36
Note on Chapter 32: In Christian Bibles, chapter 32 begins with the 2nd verse of a Jewish Bible, and verse 1 in the Jewish Bible is verse 55 in the Christian Bible. Re-stated, 32:2 in Prager's book is 32:1 in Christian translations.
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
Jacob Lifeline
Isaac Lifeline
Joseph
9/15/2020
Genesis 37-50
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
Joseph Lifeline
The Exodus and Moses, Part 1
9/22/2020
Exodus 1-10
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
Moses Lifeline
Serafina sings "When You Believe" from Prince of Egypt in 2013, click here.
The Exodus and Moses, Part 2
9/29/2020
Exodus 11-19
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
The Ten Commandments
10/6/2020
Exodus 20:1-15
Video/Audio recording is here.
Powerpoint slides with notes are here.
Do before this session:
- 1. Watch Prager's "Do Not Steal" 5-minute video, click here.
- 2. Think about: “I the LORD am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage.” (Exodus 20:2)
- a1. Is this a commandment?
- a2. If so, what is it commanding?
- a3. Is this a commandment to believe in God?
- b1. Why does God refer to himself as a Liberator rather than the Creator of Everything?
- b2. Which is more compelling to you?
- c1. Why did God describe Egypt as a land of slavery? Wouldn’t they know?
