The Books of the Bible Participant's Journal | Page 5

INVITATION TO C ov ena n t H i story O ne continuous story runs through the first quarter of the Bible, covering all the books from Genesis to Samuel–­Kings. It’s the story of the nation of Israel, told through a progression of covenants God made with the ancestors and people of Israel over the course of their history, thus the name of this volume, Covenant History. To rescue humanity from rebellion and misery, God made his first covenant with one man, Abraham, promising that through him and his descendants everyone in the world would be blessed. When those descendants had grown into the nation of Israel, God brought them out of Egypt and made a further covenant with them; they were to follow God’s laws in order to provide a living demonstration of God’s goodness and wisdom to all the nations around them. Later, God made a covenant with one of their kings, David, promising that one of his descendants would always be on the throne of Israel. Unfortunately, the people didn’t honor their agreements with God. Consequently, their nation was ultimately destroyed and they were scattered. At this point, the narrative of the Covenant History stops. But it’s clear that the story itself hasn’t come to an end. The covenant promises God made can’t be undone, even by human unfaithfulness. God will continue to act on behalf of this nation and work through it to reach all nations. How God does this is related in the books that make up the rest of the Bible. 15