Stories for Exam #1

Biblical Stories

The first part of the course consists of some of the history from the Bible which helps us see examples of ethical situations which actually happened.  These stories also give us a very simple and basic summary of the story of the Old Testament.

 

Biblical Story 1: Creation

In the beginning God made heaven and earth.  The earth had no form and there was no light.  It was dark.  The Spirit moved over the waters.  God created light and separated it from the darkness.  He made a safe home for plants and animals.  God then created His most important creation.  God said, “Let us make humans like us and let them rule birds, fish, livestock, & reptiles.”  God made humans like himself.  He created male & female in His image.  God blessed them and told them their purpose.  “Have many children, fill the earth and be the master of the earth.  Rule fish, birds, animals and reptiles.  God gave them plants for seeds and fruit trees as food to livestock and all animals.  All of this happened as God said.  God saw it was very good.  On the 7th day God had finished His work of creating and rested.  He made the 7th day holy.

Genesis 2 tells more details about how man & woman were created.  First, God took dust and formed a man.  God breathed life to the man’s nose.  Man became a living person.  God planted a garden called Eden.  This garden was on earth.  God put the man in the garden and told the man to farm and care for Eden.  In the very middle of the garden there were 2 trees.  God told the man that he was free to eat all the fruit in the garden except the fruit from 1 of those 2 trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

God said, “You may eat from any other tree, but do not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. If you do, you will die.”

God then said, “It is not good man to live alone.  He needs someone just right to be with him.  There were many animals and birds already outside the garden, but there were none in the garden.  So, God formed from the soil animals & birds and brought those animals to the man.  The man named each animal.  Whatever the man called it, that is what it became. But, he found no person just right for him.

After man saw this, God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep.  God took from the man one rib and God fashioned that rib into a woman.  The Lord brought the woman to the man.  The man said, this person is from my own bones & flesh.  I will call her ‘woman,’ because she came from man”.  For this reason, a man will leave his father & mother and the husband and wife will become one flesh.  The man and the woman were both naked, but they felt no shame.

 

 

BIBLICAL STORY #2: ADAM AND EVE DISOBEY GOD

Now, the snake was intelligent, unlike all other animals.  The snake asked the woman, “Is it true you can’t eat from any tree in the garden”?   The woman answered, “We are allowed to eat from any tree in the garden except the one in the middle of the garden.  God said that we should never eat or touch or we will die”.

Snake said, “You will not die!  God knows that if you eat it, your eyes will be opened.  You will be as God and will know good and bad for yourself”!

The woman wanted the fruit, because it was pretty, seemed tasty and would enable her to be wise.  So, she took the fruit and ate it.  Then she gave it to Adam.  Their eyes were opened, and they saw themselves to be naked and became afraid.  Immediately, they sewed together fig leaves as coverings for their hips.

In the evening they heard God walking through the Garden.  They were afraid so they hid behind trees.

God said, “Where are you?”

The man said, “I heard you and was afraid because I am naked, so I hid myself.

God said, “Who told you that you were naked.  Did you eat the fruit I told you not to eat”?

The Man said, “The woman you gave me, she gave the fruit to me”.

God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

The Woman said, “The snake tricked me and I ate the fruit”.

God said to the snake, “You are cursed.  You will crawl on your belly and eat dust. You and the woman will always be enemies and your descendants, and her descendants will always be enemies.  Her descendant will strike your head and you will strike his heel”.  This was the first promise that someday the Messiah would rescue humans from Satan’s rule.

God said to the woman, She would have trouble in pregnancy.  She would suffer pain when she gave birth to babies.  Also, her desire would be to rule her husband, but he would rule over her.

God said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit, the ground will be cursed because of you.  You will work hard and in pain as you grow food.  The ground will be filled with thorns & thistles.  You will get your food through sweat and hard work.  You will also die and end up as dirt, because you came from dirt.”

Adam named the woman, “Eve”, which meant she was the mother of all people.

God made clothing out of animal skins, which was the first sacrifice for sin.  Then God said, “Humans have become like one of us, since he knows good from evil.  They must not eat the fruit from the Tree of Life and live forever like this.”  Therefore, God forced the couple to leave Eden.  God placed a terrifying angel with a sword of fire guarding the entrance to keep them out.

 

 

 

Biblical Story 3: GOD CALLS ABRAM

Many years later, God spoke to Abram.  “Leave your country, your family & your father’s home.  Go to land I show you”.  Abraham obeyed God.

God made 3 promises to Abram.  1) He would have many descendants who would become a great nation; 2) God would give to his descendants the land of Canaan (it is called Israel today); 3) God would bless all nations thru Abram’s descendant, the Messiah.

Abram was 75 years old when he and his wife Sarai (who was 65) left for Canaan.  The Lord appeared several times to Abram.  God said to him, “This land of Canaan will belong to your descendants.  Just as you can’t count stars because there are so many of them, in the same way, you wouldn’t be able to count your descendants, because there will be so many of them.”  God promised Abram a son and Abram believed God.  God saw Abram as righteous because of his faith in God’s promises.

When Abram was 99 years old, God changed his name to Abraham.  God said that His covenant (i.e., promise) with Abram would never end. God promised to be the God of Abraham’s descendants.  God also changed Sarai’s name to Sarah. God said that in one year, Sarah would bear a son and would call his name, Isaac.

Lord did what He promised, so that when Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah gave birth to a son named Isaac.

Several years later, God tested Abraham.  God said to him, “Take your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the mountains of Moriah.  Sacrifice him there on a mountain I will show you.  So, Abraham, Isaac and two servants walked for three days.  Then Abraham said to his servants, “Stay with the donkey and wait for us.”

Isaac carried wood for the offering and Abraham carried fire and a knife.  Isaac said to his father, “Where is lamb for offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the sacrifice.”

Abraham built an altar and then placed wood on it.  He tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar.  He took his knife to sacrifice Isaac.  Just then, the Angel of the Lord called out, “Abraham!  Abraham!  Do not lay a hand on the boy.  Now I know that you fear God, because you have not kept your only son from me.”

Abraham looked and saw a ram caught in a bush.  He then sacrificed the ram instead of his son.  Abraham called that place, “The Lord Will Provide.”  It is the same place where 2000 years later Jesus Christ died on the cross.

The Angel of the Lord said, “Because you have not refused your son from me, I will bless your descendants”.

Sarah 127 years old died when she died and Abraham was 175 years died.  Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau, but God’s promise came to Jacob.

 

BIBLICAL STORY #4: JOSEPH AND HIS BROTHERS

Jacob was Abraham’s grandson.  Jacob had 12 sons, but Joseph was his favorite.  When he was 17 years old, Joseph told his father the bad things done by his brothers.  Joseph was the son of Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel.  Jacob gave Joseph a brightly- colored long-sleeved coat, which made his brother hate Joseph even more.  Joseph had 2 interesting dreams.  In 1 dream, Joseph dreamed that his brothers’ wheat bowed before his wheat.  In the 2nd dream, Joseph dreamed that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed before him.  Joseph’s father Jacob criticized him for this dream and his brothers were even more jealous.

One day, Joseph’s brothers were far away pasturing their flocks.  Jacob said to Joseph, “Check on your brothers.”  When Joseph was far away, his brothers saw and plotted to kill him.  They said, “Here comes that dreamer!  Let’s kill him, throw his body into a well and say that a wild animal has killed him.”

The oldest brother, Reuben, tried to save Joseph.

The brothers saw a caravan of Ishmael’s descendants.

Joseph’s brother Judah said, “Let’s sell him.”

They sold Joseph to the caravan for twenty pieces of silver.  The caravan took Joseph to Egypt.  They sold him to Potiphar, who was the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.  one of King Pharaoh’s officials.  The kings of Egypt were called Pharaoh.

Lord gave Joseph success in everything.  Joseph took care Potiphar’s property and Potiphar trusted Joseph completely.  The Lord blessed Potiphar’s entire household.  However, trouble came.  Joseph was a handsome young man.  Potiphar’s wife said to Joseph,  “Come to bed with me!”

Joseph said, “My master has put me in charge of everything.  I won’t sin against God by doing this thing. “  One time, the wife grabbed Joseph’s coat and said, “Come to bed with me!”  Joseph left the coat and ran out of the house.  Pharaoh’s wife screamed, “This Hebrew tried to rape me!”  She told this story to her husband and he threw joseph into prison.

However, God blessed Joseph in prison.  The prison warden put him in charge of the prison.  After many years, 2 prisoners had dreams and Joseph interpreted.  One of them, a wine taster, was released and again served Pharaoh.  However, he did not tell Pharaoh about Joseph.  Two years later, Pharaoh had dream and no one could interpret it.  The wine taster told Pharaoh about Joseph.  God helped Joseph to explain the dream and Pharaoh made Joseph the second most important person in Egypt.

Two years later, Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt to request food from Pharaoh.  They were brought to Joseph, did not recognize him.  Joseph was powerful enough to punish his brothers for what they did to him.  Instead, he forgave them and helped them.  They brought their father Jacob to Egypt and lived there.  The Hebrews (Jacob’s descendants) lived in Egypt for 430 years.  God was keeping His covenant to Abraham.

 

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BIBLICAL STORY #5: MOSES AND OPPRESSIONS IN EGYPT

Jacob and 70 members of his family moved to Egypt.  Over time, Joseph grew old and died and Jacobs other children also grew old and died.  However, their descendants, the Hebrews, kept growing in number.  Many years later, a new Pharaoh came.  This Pharaoh did not know Joseph.  He worried that too many Hebrews (also known as Israelites) lived in Egypt.  He worried that if war with an enemy happened, the Hebrews might join Egypt’s enemies.  Therefore, Pharaoh decided to make the Hebrews weak.  He murdered their baby boys, but killing the babies did not help.  The Hebrews did not stop having many children.  Then Pharaoh put hard slave masters over them.  They made the Hebrews’ lives painful and filled with hard work.  Pharaoh had them build cities.

Moses was born as a Hebrew.  However, he was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter.  When he was forty years old, he went to watch his people, the Hebrews.  He saw an Egyptian beating one of his relatives and in anger, Moses killed him and buried him in the sand.  However, Pharaoh heard about this and tried to kill Moses.  Moses ran away to Midian and lived with Jethro.  Moses married Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah.

After many years, that Pharaoh died.  The Hebrews (also known as Israelites) called God to save them.  God heard their prayers and remembered his covenant.  God decided to send Moses to save them.  Moses had been a shepherd for 40 long years.  He came to the Mountain of God, which was named Horeb.  The Messenger of the Lord appeared to him in a burning bush.  The bush surprised Moses, who wondered why it was not burned up.  He went to see it.

God said to him, “Take off your sandals, this is holy ground”.  Then God said, “I have seen hard life in Egypt and have come down to rescue them.  I will bring them to a rich land.  I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring the Israelites out of Egypt”.

Moses said he could not go.  He said he could not speak well and gave God reasons why this was not possible.

God, however, answered every reason.  God also showed Moses miracles that he would do when he went to talk to Pharaoh.

God sent Aaron to meet Moses and Moses told him everything God had said and done. Then the two brothers went to Egypt met with leaders of the Hebrews. Aaron told them everything God had told Moses.  The leaders believed God had seen their pain and they bowed and worshiped God.

 

BIBLICAL STORY #6: MOSES: FREEING THE ISRAELITES FROM EGYPT

Moses and Aaron met Israel’s leaders.  They told them what God said and did.  Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh  and said to him, “The Lord says, `Let my people go so they may hold festival in the desert.”  Pharaoh said, “I do not know this Lord.  You are stopping these Hebrews from doing their work”!  Therefore, Pharaoh told his slave masters, “No longer give these Hebrews straw for making their bricks.  Let them get the straw themselves”.  When the Hebrews were slower making bricks, their slave masters beat them.  The work leaders asked “Why are you beating us”?  Pharaoh said “You are lazy! You want to go worship your God”.

The leaders complained to Moses.  At this time, Moses was 80 years and Aaron was 83 years old.

God sent Moses and Aaron to warn Pharaoh that God would punish Egypt.  Pharaoh, however, was a proud king ruling over a mighty nation.  Pharaoh worshiped his own gods; he would not submit to the God of his Hebrew slaves.  Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh, “You must send us or bad things will happen to Egypt”!

God sent 10 terrible punishments.   Each time God gave Pharaoh chance to let the Hebrews go, but Pharaoh did not let them go out.  Finally, God sent a final punishment.  Moses warned Pharaoh, “God will kill the firstborn son in every house in Egypt.  He will kill the firstborn of the cattle as well.  However, nothing bad to Israelites.  You will know Lord punishing Egypt.”  However, Pharaoh did not listen.

Moses told the Hebrews get ready.  Every family was to take a healthy lamb and sacrifice the lamb.  They were to paint the lamb’s blood on the side and top of the doorframe.  They were to roast and eat the meat of the lamb.  No one could leave their homes until morning.

Israelites obeyed; at midnight the Lord killed every firstborn in Egypt who was not protected by the blood of the lambs.  All firstborns died—firstborn of Pharaoh and the firstborn of the prisoner in jail.  No house was without someone dead if it was not protected by the blood!  This event was called Passover.

Pharaoh commanded Moses Aaron, “Take your people and flocks and leave”!  The Egyptians wanted get rid of them, so that when the Hebrews asked for silver and gold and clothing, the Lord made the Egyptians gladly give to them.  The Hebrews (Israelites) left Egypt with 2 ½ million people.  They had lived in Egypt for 430 years.  After 430 years to the day, the Hebrews left Egypt.  Foolishly, Pharaoh changed his mind and tried to stop them from going.  God, however, protected the Hebrews and destroyed Pharaoh’s army.  After this, the Hebrews were free.

 

 

 

 

BIBLICAL STORY #7: DAVID: GUILTY OF ADULTERY AND MURDER

After they escaped from Egypt, the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.  After this, they entered Canaan, but before long, they began to worship idols.  Finally, the Hebrews asked God to give them a king.  David was their second king.  David loved God.  He was a great warrior and a wonderful musician.  He wrote many Psalms which we have today.  David was also a wise leader.  Sadly, however, David became proud in his heart because he was king.  Once, while his fighting men were in battle away from the city, David stayed in Jerusalem.  One afternoon, David got up from a nap and walk on the roof of his house.  From his high roof, he saw Bathsheba bathing.  David sent and asked who she was.  Someone said, “This is Bathsheba, wife of your soldier Uriah.”  David sent for her and then went to bed with her.

Later Bathsheba she sent word: “I am pregnant.”  David tried cover his sin but failed.  Then he sent a message to his general: “put Uriah in a place in the battle where he will die.”  David was trying to hide his sin of adultery.  Uriah and several others were killed in the battle.

After Bathsheba mourned, she came to David, who married here.  She gave birth to a son.

But Lord did not like this

God sent His prophet Nathan to David.  Nathan told David a story to force him to face his sin.  Nathan said, “There were two men—one rich and one poor.  The rich man had many sheep and cattle, but the poor man only one lamb which he had bought and raised.  The lamb grew up as a member of the family with his children and he treated it like a daughter.  One day, a traveler visited the rich man, but the rich man was too selfish.  He took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and cooked it.”

David said in anger, “That man deserves to die!  He must pay for the value of the lamb 4 times over”

Nathan said, “You are the man!  Why did you do this great evil?  You murdered Uriah & took his wife.”

David said, “I have sinned.”

Nathan said, “The Lord forgives your sin.  However, your son will die”

As Nathan predicted, the baby died.

Bathsheba another son Solomon.  The Lord loved Solomon.

Sadly, David’s family never peace.  God made a promise to David that his descendant would rule forever.  God this fulfilled promise through Jesus Christ, who was a direct descendant of David.  Jesus Christ will reign as King forever.  Jesus’ mother Mary and his stepfather Joseph both are descendants of David

 

BIBLICAL STORY #8: SOLOMON’S DESCENDANTS

Note: Jews, Hebrews, Israelites are same people

After David died, his son Solomon was king.  Solomon, however, became an idol worshiper.  Solomon’s son was foolish.  His decisions made many Hebrews angry and the nation split in half.  There were 2 kingdoms—one in the North and one in the South.  The Northern kings were not from David.  They worshiped idols. They burned their sons alive as offerings to worship their gods and idols.  The North did not worship true God.

South always had a king from who was a descendant of David.  The South was named Judah.  Jerusalem and Bethlehem were both cities in Judah.  Some kings in the South were godly, but some were not obedient to God.  In fact, some kings in the South served idols.

God sent prophets to both kingdoms.  The prophets told the people to stop sinning and stop worshiping idols.  They told everything, kings and priests and people, to obey God’s Law.  Some Hebrews listened and repented, but others put prophets to death.  Their idolatry became so bad that God judged the nation for its sin.  This happened 586 years before Christ was born.  The Babylonian army defeated Judah (the South).  God sent the people of Judah away.  They were exiled to nation of Babylon.  Far from home, the Jews finally stopped worshiping idols.  The Jews asked God to send them back home to Judah.  God finally answered their prayers.  After 70 years, Hebrews returned home.

Life for the Jews now, however, was difficult.  Jews began praying for the Messiah to come.  They studied what the Prophets had written about Messiah

What did the Prophets say about the Messiah?

Messiah would be David’s descendant

The Messiah would be born a baby

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem

The Messiah would live a sinless life.

The Messiah would be a human man

The Messiah would also be Almighty God

Evil men would betray/condemn the Messiah

The Messiah would have an unfair trial

The Messiah would be executed & have nothing

The Messiah would die a horrible and shameful death

The Messiah would bear humanity’s sins in his body

The Messiah would finish sin, and bring eternal righteousness

The Messiah would return to life in glory

The Messiah would rule as king forever

Prophet Daniel predicted when the Messiah would come

Jews waited for the Messiah for hundreds of years

Finally, Jesus the Messiah was born

 

BIBLICAL STORY #9: JESUS CAME AS THE MESSIAH AND SAVIOR

A.D. 26, Jesus of Nazareth begin his ministry.  He came to John the Baptist, who baptized Him.  Jesus preached that people must turn from their sins and turn to God.  Jesus called people to follow Him.  He said people must be born a second time, through a miracle of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus preached the good news (the Gospel) of a new kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God was not a new government.  In this Kingdom, there were no army soldiers.  In order to enter the Kingdom, a person would have to be born a second time.  Those not born second time would go to hell.

Jesus chose 12 men to be His apostles.  Jesus taught His apostles the Gospel.  Jesus taught His apostles how to serve others.  Jesus prepared His apostles to do ministry.  He said that later, the Holy Spirit would remind them about what He had taught them.

Jesus taught & healed many people.  He did not distinguish between rich or poor.  He said He came to serve others

Many believed and followed Christ.

 

Jesus taught many important truths.

Jesus taught that He was God’s Son.

Jesus taught that He was the only way to God.

Jesus taught that He would be crucified.

Jesus said He would bear all sin in Himself.

Jesus taught that He was the promised Messiah.

Jesus said believers will be raised new bodies.

Jesus said believers will rule with him forever.

He showed what true love & holiness are.

He said the greatest command is to love.

He said we must love God and love people.

Jesus said religious leaders in Israel were not truly holy people.  He said they did not truly love God or men.  Jesus’ words made the religious leaders angry. His popularity made religious leaders jealous.  Therefore, the leaders decided to put him to death.

All that happened to Jesus was just as was predicted by the prophets.  One apostle, Judas, helped leaders arrest Him.  The religious leaders and the Romans beat him with whips and hit him.  They nailed him to a cross to die.  He prayed that God would forgive them.  He died after 6 hours of horrible suffering.  His followers took him down from the cross and then laid Him in a nearby tomb.

After 3 days He rose in a new body.  He appeared to apostles and to 500 others.  Jesus told them to make other disciples.  He told them to go into all the world.  Jesus promised that He would return one day.  After 40 days, He went up to heaven.  Angels said He would come back on clouds the same way He left.