God’s Plan for Salvation: The Big Picture SECTION 1

The Path to Restoration SECTION 1, PART 3

Introduction God’s plan was paused but not thwarted God develops a new plan to restore what was lost in the Fall Begins immediately with a promise to Adam and Eve Continues through the covenants of the Old Testament 1 st and 2 nd Adamic, Noahan, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Davidic The consequences of Original Sin break every covenant God shows his fidelity by making a new covenant with His People Unconditional love, patience, and understanding Continually sends prophets to call His People back to fidelity The OT covenants and prophets point to the coming Messiah who will suffer for His People and restore original holiness and justice Five Articles (A. 8) God’s Promise to Adam and Eve (A. 9) The Old Testament Covenants: Part One (A. 10) The Old Testament Covenants: Part Two (A. 11) Covenant Keeping: Successes and Failures (A.12) The Growing Messianic Hope

Article 8: God’s Promise to Adam and Eve What great spiritual truth is hidden in Gn. 3 The Proto-evangelium—Gn. 3: 15 Etymology Literal sense and Spiritual sense Definitions and interpretations 2 nd Adamic Covenant under a spiritual interpretation Easter Exultet— “Oh happy fault, oh necessary sin of Adam that won for us so great a Redeemer” What was the 1 st Adamic Covenant

Article 8 cont.: God’s Promise to Adam and Eve Remainder of Primeval History—Gn God remains faithful even though sin increases in kind and number Cain and Abel—Gn. 4: 1-16 Jealousy, fratricide, shepherds and farmers, sacrifice, God’s mercy in marking Cain Noah and the Flood—Gn. 6:5 - 9:17 Mediator, sign, and promise The Tower of Babel—Gn. 11: 1-9 Babylon, later Exile, ziggurats, pride, scatter and confuse speech rather than destroy to limit Written history will begin with a more direct approach by God picking one nation to work with St. Leo the Great reminds us that we gained more in Christ than we lost in Original Sin

Homework HW 1.3; #1-2 Read AA. 9-10

Article 9: The Old Testament Covenants: Part One Define covenant Pagan covenants versus Israel’s covenants Look at four OT covenants that point us to the Paschal Mystery The Noahan Covenant—Gn Mediator, Promise, and Sign Universal nature—chart in A. 9 Melchizedek, King Cyrus, Ruth, (Tamar and or Rahab) Break—polytheism including idolatry of own leaders The Abrahamaic Covenant—Gn. 12 (13, 15, 17) Mediator, 3 Promises, 3 Signs Which promise is most important God forms the Hebrew’s  Israelites  Jews  … by choosing them Abraham and his descendants (Isaac and Jacob/Israel) are the Patriarchs of God’s Chosen People Remainder of Genesis relates their story which shows God’s faithfulness despite His peoples unfaithfulness

Article 10: The Old Testament Covenants: Part Two The Mosaic Covenant The theophany at Mount Sinai—Ex. 19: (other OT ones—holy fear) Mediator, Promise, Sign The 10 Commandments—Ex. 20 and Deut. 5 Old and obsolete or just fulfilled Structure—right relationships Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy Relationship between Law and Covenant—Torah/Pentateuch The Davidic Covenant—2 Sm 7: 4-13 Mediator, Promise, Sign, and Receiver Ark of the Covenant—definition, history, and contents Literal and spiritual interpretation and fulfillment Destruction of Judah in 598 b.c. and the covenant—notion of Messiah Jesus is a direct descendent of David through both Mary and Joseph—Mt. 1 and Lk. 3 Relationship between the OT Covenants and the Paschal Mystery

Homework HW 1.3; #3-6 Read AA

Article 11: Covenant Keeping: Successes and Failures The historical and prophetic books of the OT reveal that Israel struggled in keeping the covenants God made with them The Judges Israelites led by Joshua settle in Canaan Confederation of tribes with no central government Judges traces twelve judges (six in detail) who God raises up as need Ancient military leaders who also settled disputes Cycle: faithful, forgetful, unfaithful, suffering, repent, delivered, faithful Theme: God desires complete commitment Israel is incapable so cycle of judges which gradually declines Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson People ask for a king to be like the other nations

Article 11: Covenant Keeping: Successes and Failures cont. The Monarchy—1,2 Samuel and 1,2 Kings (1,2 Chronicles repeats) God bears peoples rejection and has Samuel anoint them King Saul Kings are flawed but committed to God, the Law and the Covenant at first Saul—trust; David—lust; Solomon—greed Kingdom splits into northern Israel and southern Judah (1,2 Kgs.) Jeroboam’s idolatry and string of bad kings led to Assyrian conquer in 722 b.c. Rehoboam also did evil but Judah had good kings to call them back to fidelity Asa, Hezekiah, Josiah,…who destroyed idols and led religious and Covenantal reforms Kingdom firmly establishes the Israelites as God’s Chosen People Land, people, Jerusalem Temple, ritual and Law firm, … Kingdom ultimately fails so Christ can spiritually rather than literally fulfill The Prophets Mouthpieces of God to bring leaders and people back to Covenant and Law Warn and assure—sign of true prophets vs. false 4 major and 12 minor as well as many more who foreshadow Christ’s prophetic

Article 12: The Growing Messianic Hope Theological virtue of hope Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on hope in Spe Salvi Ultimately true prophets were prophets of hope If the people were faithful to the covenant, eventually God would send the Messiah to form the New and Everlasting Covenant These prophets and their prophecies increased with frequency and intensity as the birth of Christ approached in the inter-testamental period after the Exile As a result, peoples hope was growing stronger and stronger Chart in A. 12 illustrates how Christ fulfills all of the OT prophetic hopes OT Prophet; OT Prophecy; Christ’s NT Fulfillment Typology

Homework HW 1.3; #7 Study for the Quiz #3 tomorrow (AA. 8-12) Make sure the HW #3 is ready to turn in tomorrow (1.3 ;#1-7)