Redeemer Equips: The Story of the Old Testament

Introduction: Setting the Stage

Have you ever thought about how this world is full of both incredible beauty and also some incredible brokenness? It’s really fascinating. How can this be? The Old Testament helps us understand. It shares the story of God and His plan to fix what’s broken. In it, we find the first part of what we call the story of redemption. The Old Testament teaches us about creation, the fall, and redemption—showing us promises, pictures, and prophecies of redemption. We believe the Old Testament isn’t just history; it reveals God’s sovereign plan to create a people for Himself through covenants, even when humans fail and struggle to keep the law.

In the creation story, we see God, in a beautiful Trinitarian way, bring all things into existence. He carefully orders and repairs everything just as He desires, speaking life into the universe through His Word, while the Spirit gently hovers over the face of the earth. We also see God create man and woman in His own image, again in a Trinitarian fashion, and He gives them a purpose, along with a promise and a simple law to follow. The fall happens when Adam and Eve are tricked by the Serpent and eat the fruit they were told not to. They hide from God, point fingers at each other, and try to cover themselves. Even as they are cast out of the garden and face curses, there’s still hope—hope in the promised seed of the woman who will one day crush the head of the Serpent. From that moment, a line of people begins to grow, and God starts forming a special people for Himself. These people appear and become the expected descendants of the woman, but they often fail, so the search for the promised seed continues. God makes specific promises, called covenants, with some of these individuals. These promises are ultimately fulfilled through Jesus, as we see in the New Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, we see symbols and shadows pointing to the promised seed who will show up in the New Testament. So, the Old Testament isn’t just about history—it reveals God, His promises, and points us toward Christ. Let’s test a bit of Old Testament knowledge now. What’s one story from the OT that you know well enough to share a quick summary? (pause for responses) Let’s pray, and then we’ll dive into the story of the Old Testament.

Pray:

Watch video (13 mins.): https://youtu.be/ALsluAKBZ-c?si=IaJsb7LCq2CyN3uk

Creation and the Fall: God's Good World Broken

As we step into the Old Testament together, it’s only fitting that we start right where God starts—with the book of Genesis. In the opening chapters, Genesis 1–3, God gives us the foundational setting for everything else the Bible will reveal. These chapters are like the stage on which the entire drama of redemption unfolds. In Genesis 1–2 we encounter the creation narrative. Scripture tells us that God Himself creates all things—the heavens and the earth, the sun and moon, the waters and dry land, every plant and every living creature (1:1–25). And He does this by His Word and by His Spirit. We see the Spirit hovering over the waters in Genesis 1:2, and then the repeated refrain, “And God said…” as He speaks creation into existence.

Let me ask you a question: Where do you see hints of the Trinity in this creation account? (give time for responses)

Now, of course, Moses didn’t yet have the full, developed doctrine of the Trinity as we confess it today. But the beauty of Scripture—especially when read through a Reformed lens—is that God progressively reveals Himself. What begins as a glimmer in Genesis becomes unmistakably clear in the rest of the Bible. The Father creates, the Spirit hovers, and the Word of God—whom John later identifies as Christ—brings all things into being. The seeds of Trinitarian truth are already right there “in the beginning.” Next, we come to one of the most important moments in all of Scripture: Genesis 1:26–28. Here God creates human beings in His own image. This is what we call the imago Dei—the image of God in man. And this doctrine is absolutely vital for understanding who we are and why we exist.

Let me summarize three key aspects of the imago Dei:

1. The image of God gives humans a unique relationship to God. We are not merely another creature. We are embodied souls—body and soul in unity—designed to know God and be known by Him. As Reformed theology emphasizes, our dignity comes not from ourselves but from the God whose image we bear.

2. The image of God makes us relational beings. Just as the Triune God is eternally relational—Father, Son, and Spirit—so we too are made for relationship. We long for communion with God and with one another because we were created to reflect His relational nature.

3. The image of God gives us a God‑appointed purpose. God entrusted Adam and Eve with real responsibilities:

Be fruitful and multiply—fill the earth with worshipers.

Exercise dominion—wisely rule over God’s creation.

Cultivate and keep the garden—develop, steward, and care for the world God made.

Obey God’s law—live under His righteous authority.

In other words, God created humanity to reflect His character, expand His glory through the earth, and live joyfully under His good and loving commandments. Then Moses wraps up the sixth day with these beautiful words in Genesis 1:31 “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” This is why we can look at the world—even in its brokenness—and still see flashes of beauty, goodness, and truth that point us back to our Creator.

So let me ask you: Where do you see glimpses of God’s beauty in the world around you? (give time for responses)

Now, as beautiful as God’s good creation was, things didn’t stay that way for long. When we turn to Genesis 3, we step into what we call the fall narrative. This chapter introduces a new character—the serpent—who brings deception, doubt, and ultimately disobedience into God’s good world. The serpent approaches Eve and immediately calls God’s Word into question: “Did God really say…?” Then he moves from questioning God’s Word to questioning God’s goodness: “God doesn’t want you to be like Him.” This tactic is as old as the garden—Satan twists God’s Word and God’s character. Eve listens, misquotes God’s command, and then disobeys. Adam, who should have guarded and protected both the garden and his wife, simply stands by and then joins her in rebellion. Once they eat, everything unravels. They hide from God, sew fig leaves together to cover their shame, and begin the familiar game of blame shifting. Sin fractures everything—our relationship with God, with one another, and even with the world itself.

Then God pronounces a series of curses, and each one directly corresponds to the tasks God gave Adam and Eve in Genesis 1–2:

First, to Eve, God speaks of pain in childbearing and of relational tension with her husband. This strikes at the very heart of the command to “be fruitful and multiply” and the beauty of marriage that God designed. Where there was once joyful cooperation, sin brings struggle.

Second, to Adam, God declares that the ground will now produce thorns and thistles. The very task of cultivating and keeping the land—once a joy—will now be marked with sweat, frustration, and difficulty. Work remains good, but now it is hard.

And then comes the ultimate consequence: death. “From dust you came, and to dust you shall return.” Sin introduces the painful separation of body and soul, and more tragically, estrangement from God Himself. Since Adam and Eve, sin’s curse touches everything. But here’s the good news: God doesn’t leave His people in despair. Right in the middle of the curse comes a promise—Genesis 3:15—what theologians call the protoevangelium, the very first announcement of the gospel. God declares that the offspring of the woman will someday crush the head of the serpent. Evil will not have the final word. Even in judgment, God shines the first light of grace. This promise sets the stage for the rest of Scripture. God will undo everything broken by sin. Redemption begins to move forward through the descendants of Adam, and the next major moment in this story is the life of Noah in Genesis 4–11. Human sin grows so severe that God sends a flood to judge the world. Yet, in mercy, He saves a remnant—Noah, his family, and representatives of every creature—through the ark. After the waters recede, Noah builds an altar, and God promises never again to destroy the earth with a flood. He establishes a covenant with Noah and his descendants. And interestingly, God echoes the same command given to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply.” Once again, we see the thread of God’s redemptive plan woven back into the story. Noah functions as a type of Christ—a pointer forward. The ark, made of wood, becomes a picture of salvation through judgment. In the same way, Christ saves His people through the judgment He bears on the wooden cross. But, as we see later, Noah is still a sinner. He cannot be the promised seed. So the search continues. The message of Genesis 4–11 is clear: the world is full of sinful people who cannot save themselves. Our only hope is God’s intervention through the promised offspring of the woman. And by the end of Genesis 11, the line of that promised seed narrows to a man named Abram.

Let me pause here—are there any questions so far? (give time for response)

The Promise to Abraham: God's Covenant of Grace Begins

As we move through the rest of Genesis, the focus shifts to a man named Abram—whom God renames Abraham—and to the family that will come from him. In Genesis 12, 15, and 17 we see God establishing what we call the Abrahamic covenant, one of the key moments in redemptive history. And what’s remarkable is how this covenant takes us right back to the themes and tasks given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1–2, and how those blessings were lost in Genesis 3.

Matthew Emerson puts this beautifully: “The promises God makes to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17 all relate to the tasks God gave Adam and Eve in Genesis 1–2 and what was lost in Genesis 3…”

Let’s draw that out in a way that highlights how deeply God’s redemption echoes His original design:

Adam and Eve lost their dwelling place with God, but God promises Abraham a land—a place where He will once again dwell with His people.

Adam and Eve failed to exercise righteous rule, but God promises that kings will come from Abraham’s line.

Adam and Eve disobeyed, but God gives Abraham and his descendants the covenant sign of circumcision—a visible reminder that they belong to God and are called to walk in obedience.

Adam and Eve failed to cultivate the garden, and the ground became cursed; but Abraham’s family will one day live in a “land flowing with milk and honey,” a land to be stewarded under God’s blessing.

Adam and Eve struggled to fulfill “be fruitful and multiply,” but God promises Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars and the sand.

Adam and Eve failed to trust God and were counted guilty; Abraham God, and it is counted to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).

Adam and Eve’s sin brought ruin to humanity, but from Abraham’s seed will come the One who will redeem both humanity and creation itself.

In other words, everything lost in the fall will be restored through the seed of Abraham. You can imagine how eagerly God’s people began watching each new leader, each new generation, wondering, Is this the promised One? Abraham becomes, in a sense, another “Adam”—a picture of the coming Redeemer—but like every human before Christ, he too is imperfect. Still, through Abraham, God begins forming a people for Himself. As Genesis continues, we follow the line: Abraham → Isaac → Jacob. God renames Jacob “Israel,” and from his twelve sons come the twelve tribes of Israel. Among these descendants, one figure stands out in Genesis—Joseph. Sold into slavery, yet raised to second-in-command under Pharaoh, Joseph becomes another pointer to the coming Savior. He preserves life, cultivates the land wisely, and God uses him to save many. But Joseph, righteous as he appears, is still a sinner. He cannot be the serpent-crusher. Genesis 49 begins clarifying things: the promised seed will not come from Joseph’s line but from Judah, Joseph’s brother. Judah’s line is the line of kings—the line of the “Lion of Judah.” Now the picture sharpens even more. The promise of Genesis 3:15 is still unfolding, still moving forward, still becoming clearer. Genesis ends on a surprisingly hopeful note. Even after Jacob and Joseph die, Joseph tells his brothers, “What you meant for evil, God meant for good.” That single statement captures the heart of Genesis: God is faithful. God keeps His promises. And God is already weaving redemption out of the brokenness of the fall. “In Genesis, then, what we see is a search for the seed that begins in 3:15, extends through Noah, and is most fully articulated to this point in the covenant God makes with Abraham. This seed will bring salvation and restore all that was lost through Adam and Eve’s sin. We also see that faith is the required response and that sacrifice is needed. While Noah, Abraham, and Joseph look like the seed of woman who is to come, none of them fulfill that promise. We are still waiting for the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to come.”

Any questions through the book of Genesis so far? (give time for response)

Exodus and the Law: Redemption and God's Holy Standards

Now we arrive at the books of Exodus through Deuteronomy—a section of Scripture filled with some of the most memorable moments in redemptive history. Exodus especially is full of action and rich theology, while the later books, though sometimes challenging with their lists of names and detailed laws, reveal the holy character of God and His covenant dealings with His people. Our main focus here is on Exodus, where we follow God’s mighty hand as He raises up Moses and delivers Israel from slavery in Egypt. We begin by remembering Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt. But as Joseph and Jacob pass away, a new Pharaoh comes to power who does not know Joseph. Under his rule, the people of Israel are oppressed—and it’s in this dark setting that Moses is born. To save his life, his mother places him in a basket on the river. Pharaoh’s daughter discovers him and raises him as her own. As Moses grows, he rises to a position of influence—yet after killing an Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew, he flees into the wilderness. But God has not forgotten His covenant promises. From the burning bush, God calls Moses back to Egypt to lead His people out of bondage. Pharaoh refuses, Moses and Aaron stand as God’s representatives, and the Lord brings ten plagues on Egypt. Who can name all ten? (Give time for a short response.)

The plagues come in three sets of three, followed by one final and devastating judgment: Water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail with fire, locusts, darkness, and finally, the death of the firstborn. Each plague is not random—it is a deliberate display of God’s power over the so‑called “gods” of Egypt. The Nile turning to blood shows the Lord’s supremacy over gods like Hapi and Osiris. The plague of frogs confronts Heqet, the frog‑headed goddess of fertility. When gnats come, the magicians of Egypt can’t replicate the miracle and are forced to admit, “This is the finger of God.”

These plagues serve two great purposes:

To show Israel that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has not forgotten them and,

To show Egypt that its gods are powerless before the one true God.

The first nine plagues use familiar elements of the natural world, but the final plague—the death of the firstborn—is entirely supernatural. At midnight the LORD strikes down all firstborn in Egypt, from the household of Pharaoh to the lowest prisoner. Not a single Egyptian home is spared from grief (Exod. 12:29–30). Yet in the midst of judgment, God provides salvation. The Israelites mark their doorposts with the blood of a spotless lamb, and the Lord passes over them. This becomes the great celebration of Passover, and it points forward to Christ—the true Lamb of God whose blood saves His people from judgment. Even the image of blood on wooden doorposts foreshadows the cross. God then leads His people through the Red Sea—a picture later associated with baptism—and brings them safely out of bondage. In the wilderness they arrive at Mount Sinai, where Moses receives the Ten Commandments. Yet even here, as God reveals His holy law, the people fall into sin by making a golden calf—and Aaron joins them. Moses intercedes, acting as a mediator, and God renews His covenant, giving Moses a second set of tablets. Throughout these books, Moses and Aaron serve as God’s appointed leaders and mediators. But in true Reformed fashion, we remember that every human mediator falls short. Moses, great as he is, is still a sinner and cannot bring ultimate salvation to God’s people. All of this looks forward—every sacrifice, every law, every act of deliverance—to the One who does bring true and eternal redemption: Jesus Christ, the greater Moses, the perfect Mediator, and the fulfillment of all God’s promises.

Conquest, Judges, and Kingdom: Cycles of Faithfulness and Failure

Now we move into the next major section of the Old Testament—Joshua through 2 Kings. It’s a large span of Scripture, and it follows the story of Israel as a nation under the leadership of many different rulers. When Exodus ends, leadership passes from Moses to Joshua, who at first seems like he might be the long‑awaited “seed of the woman” promised back in Genesis 3:15. As Matthew Emerson reminds us, the book of Joshua shows both Israel’s moments of obedience and their failures. They win great victories when they trust the Lord, and they suffer defeat when they turn away from Him. What becomes clear is this: Israel continues to exist only because of God’s mercy and covenant faithfulness, not because of their own strength or righteousness. Joshua makes it plain that Israel behaves far too often like the surrounding nations—but even so, God remains committed to His redemptive plan for the sake of all nations. After Joshua dies, the hope for the promised Redeemer continues, and the nation enters the era of the judges. This period is marked by a repeating cycle:

The people do what is right in their own eyes

Sin and idolatry take over

The people cry out for help

God raises up a judge

The judge leads for a time

The judge fails

And the cycle begins all over again

It’s a time of spiritual instability—so much so that eventually a civil war breaks out within Israel. In the middle of all this turmoil, God begins to raise up kings to lead His people and call them back to faithfulness. But even this doesn’t last, and soon the kingdom itself splits into two: the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. In the books of Samuel and Kings, we meet the first three major kings—Saul, David, and Solomon. Their reigns give us glimpses of both great obedience and great rebellion. Yet it is King David who stands out above the rest. With David, God makes a new covenant—the Davidic covenant—found in 2 Samuel 7. Here God renews the promises made to Abraham and declares that one of David’s sons will sit on the throne forever, and that this royal Son will build God’s true house. This covenant becomes a bright beacon of hope, carrying the storyline of redemption forward. And through it we see that David himself is only a shadow—a foreshadow of the true King, Jesus Christ, the better David whose kingdom never ends. If the Old Testament so far feels like a rollercoaster—moments of faithfulness, seasons of rebellion, flashes of hope, and long stretches of waiting—that’s because it is. But through every high and low, God’s promise remains unbroken. Every story keeps pointing us forward to Christ. Now, with that foundation laid, we move into the largest portion of the Old Testament. Any questions before we continue? (Give time for response.)

Exile, Return, and Prophets: Judgment with Hope

Now we come to the rest of the Old Testament, which tells the sobering story of Israel’s decline into rebellion and, ultimately, exile. Just as Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, Israel is sent out of the land—not as a random punishment, but as the consequence of their covenant unfaithfulness. Yet even in the midst of judgment, God preserves a glimmer of hope for that long‑promised “seed” who will one day come to rescue His people. This final stretch of the Old Testament includes the prophets, as well as books like Proverbs and Psalms. But for our purposes here, we’re going to focus primarily on the prophets, because they speak directly to Israel’s situation and God’s unfolding plan of redemption. G. K. Beale offers a helpful summary of what the Old Testament prophets proclaim about the “last days.” This phrase doesn’t simply refer to the end of the world, but to the future moment when the Lord Himself would return, redeem His people, conquer their enemies, and restore all that was lost. According to Beale, God promises to do ten things for His people in these last days:

There will be a final and unparalleled time of tribulation, with an end‑time enemy who deceives and persecutes God’s people—requiring wisdom and steadfastness.

God will deliver His people.

They will be raised up, and their kingdom will be established.

God Himself will rule on the earth.

This reign will come through a Davidic King who conquers all opposition and rules in peace, ushering in a new creation.

The nations will be brought under His righteous rule.

Israel will be restored.

God will make a new covenant with His people.

He will pour out His Spirit upon them.

And the Temple—the dwelling place of God—will be rebuilt among His people.

These ten themes capture the heartbeat of the prophets. Each prophet uses different imagery and metaphors, but they all point toward this same great hope. The important question for us is: How does all of this connect to the story we’ve been walking through—from Genesis to the destruction of Jerusalem at the end of 2 Kings? When we step back, we see the prophets picking up the threads of creation, covenant, kingdom, and exile, and weaving them into a future tapestry of hope. Their message is this:

God will return to dwell with His people.

He rule over them through His Messiah—the Son of David, the Suffering Servant.

Renewal comes to all who repent and believe in the Lord’s Anointed, whether they are Israelites or from the nations.

But those who refuse God’s salvation face judgment.

Sin will be forgiven through sacrifice.

Death will be conquered through resurrection.

God will defeat all His enemies.

And His people—those who trust Him—will once again dwell with Him, bearing fruit, multiplying, ruling under His kingship, caring for His creation, and obeying His Word by the power of His indwelling Spirit.

All of this can be summed up in one phrase the prophets love: “Return from exile.” That’s the hope Israel is clinging to as the Old Testament comes to a close. And that’s the longing that carries us from Malachi to Matthew—from a people waiting in darkness to the dawn of the Messiah, who brings the true and final return from exile.

Conclusion: The OT Points to Christ

So, that is the Old Testament story of redemption in a nutshell. What we see from Genesis through Malachi, is the promise of Genesis 3:15 becoming more and more realized. Every story, every prophecy, every word of the Old Testament is pointing us forward in time to the coming Messiah who will save his people from their sin and bring them into his kingdom forever. Next week we will look at the New Testament, the gospels, pastoral letters, and the book of Revelation as this story comes to a high point, and promises a future without sin and brokenness. Now, what are the questions you might have before we dismiss? (give time for responses)

Pray: