The beginning of Genesis tells us about how God, the Great King, created our world and everything in it and around it from nothing. The author of Genesis also shows us how God created order in working and resting. This order reflects how God, the Great King, worked to create our world and then rested from his work.

God has placed the man and the woman in a beautiful garden. God, the Great King, commands them not to eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden. But Adam and Eve’s disobedience ruins God’s order because they will not live under the Great King’s rule. They, and all the people who come after them, must live with the terrible consequences.

God, the Great King, made Abraham some amazing promises. God promised to make Abraham into a great nation, give Abraham a great name, and make Abraham a blessing for the whole world. God repeats these promises to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob. God repeats these promises to Jacob, even though Jacob lies and steals his brother’s blessing.

Moses has told Pharaoh that God, the Great King, wants the Israelites to leave Egypt. Pharaoh does not know God and refuses to obey him. Who is the greatest king? It’s a showdown between the most powerful man on earth and the Creator of the universe.

After conquering Pharaoh and his army, God brings Israel to Mt Sinai. After Israel and God make special promises to each other, Moses receives words from God which tell the Israelites how to live. But while this happens, the Israelites make an idol to worship. The Israelites want a god they can see, but the god they make is no match for God, the Great King.

God, the Great King, has given Samson the job of saving Israel from her enemies. God makes Samson super strong so he can do this job. If Samson wanted to, he could faithfully do the job he has been given. But Samson doesn’t want to be faithful. Just like Israel, Samson has been treated graciously by God, but is unexpectedly unfaithful.

Ruth has many reasons not to faithfully follow God, the Great King. She does not come from Israel. The Israelite husband she married has died. However, Ruth decides to be faithful. Her faithfulness is rewarded with God’s lovingkindness, as she finds a new husband and a new family. The story of Ruth, Boaz and Naomi gives us a picture of the faithful living that matches the lovingkindness of the Great King.

Ruth, Naomi and Boaz continue to be faithful to the Great King and God responds faithfully by intervening to provide Ruth with a husband and Naomi with a grandson. The faithfulness of Ruth, Boaz and Naomi has repercussions into future generations as they become part of the family line of Israel’s faithful king, David, and Jesus, the Promised King.

At Mt Sinai, God, the Great King, gave Israel important words which showed how they should live as God’s people. At the end of the words, God said that if Israel obeyed, he would bless them, but if they disobeyed, they would be cursed. Israel was consistently unfaithful and did not obey the Great King. At the end of the stories of the Old Testament, we see what Israel gets for their long disobedience.

Judah has been sent away from the land God promised them. There is no more king and no more temple. Is there any hope now that God’s people and the Promised Land are in ruins? In Lamentations, we see how Israel responds to their terrible punishment.