BEMA Episode Link: 32: Session 1 Capstone
Episode Length: 27:47
Published Date: Thu, 18 May 2017 01:00:00 -0700
Session 1
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings give a summary of the Books of Moses at the conclusion of Session 1 of the podcast.

Session 1 Capstone Presentation (PDF)

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Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

BEMA Episode 32: Session 1 Capstone - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

Episode: BEMA 32 - Session 1 Capstone (2025)
Hosts: Marty Solomon and Brent Billings
Topic: A comprehensive summary of the books of Moses (Torah) and the foundational framework for understanding Scripture

This capstone episode serves as a crucial review of Session 1, providing a “10,000-foot view” of Torah. Marty and Brent synthesize the five books of Moses into cohesive themes, emphasizing the narrative arc that runs through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. They present Torah as both a “Tale of Two Kingdoms” and a story of divine partnership, preparing listeners for Session 2’s exploration of the prophets and writings.

Key Takeaways

  • Torah tells the story of partnership between God and His people across five distinct phases
  • The “Tale of Two Kingdoms” framework contrasts Empire (Pharaoh’s kingdom) with Shalom (God’s kingdom)
  • Genesis serves as setup (preface and introduction), while Exodus-Deuteronomy contains the main narrative
  • Creation’s fundamental nature is goodness, not brokenness, requiring trust in God’s story
  • Israel’s calling as a “kingdom of priests” means all believers are called to priestly living
  • The marriage metaphor runs through the entire Torah narrative from engagement to honeymoon
  • Remembering (particularly caring for alien, orphan, widow) is central to covenant faithfulness
  • The Tabernacle functions as both honeymoon suite and priestly workplace
  • Desert wandering provides intimate relationship-building time with God
  • Session 2 will follow how God’s partner (Israel) lives out their mission chronologically

Main Concepts & Theories

The Tale of Two Kingdoms Framework

This central organizing principle presents all of Scripture as a contrast between two competing visions of reality:

  • Kingdom of Empire: Represented by Pharaoh’s Egypt, characterized by oppression, slavery, and human power structures that dehumanize
  • Kingdom of Shalom: God’s alternative kingdom emphasizing justice, liberation, wholeness, and human flourishing

This framework helps readers interpret biblical narratives not as isolated stories but as part of a larger cosmic conflict between these competing kingdoms.

Torah as Partnership Narrative

The five books follow a clear progression in the divine-human partnership:

  • Genesis: Basis of partnership (meeting the characters)
  • Exodus: Choice of partnership (mutual selection)
  • Leviticus: Definition of partnership (DTR - “determine the relationship”)
  • Numbers: Shaping of the partnership (becoming process)
  • Deuteronomy: Remembering the partnership (owning the story)
The Marriage Metaphor

Running throughout Torah is an extended marriage analogy:

  • Patriarchal narratives: Engagement/betrothal period
  • Mount Sinai: Wedding ceremony (chuppah, Ten Commandments)
  • Tabernacle construction: Honeymoon suite preparation
  • Desert wandering: Honeymoon period for relationship building
  • Deuteronomy: Covenant renewal before entering promised land
Kingdom of Priests Concept

Israel’s unique calling challenges traditional kingdom structures. Instead of having a few priests within a large kingdom, God calls the entire nation to function as priests. This requires understanding:

  • What priesthood means practically
  • How to live differently from surrounding nations
  • The purpose of holiness as distinctiveness for service
  • The connection between personal transformation and global mission
The Primacy of Goodness

Genesis 1-11 establishes that creation’s essential nature is goodness, not fallenness. This counterintuitive truth requires active trust in God’s story, especially when circumstances suggest otherwise. This foundational belief affects how we interpret suffering, engage with broken systems, and maintain hope.

Remembering as Covenant Practice

Deuteronomy’s emphasis on remembering serves multiple purposes:

  • Maintaining identity rooted in God’s faithfulness
  • Recognizing current marginalized people (A-O-W: Alien, Orphan, Widow)
  • Creating empathy through shared experience of vulnerability
  • Establishing justice as covenant responsibility

Examples & Applications

Modern Kingdom of Priests

Today’s believers can live out their priestly calling by:

  • Creating alternative economic systems that care for marginalized people
  • Practicing hospitality that mirrors God’s welcome
  • Choosing simplicity over consumerism
  • Building communities that prioritize relationship over achievement
  • Advocating for justice in political and social systems
Recognizing Two Kingdoms Today

Contemporary examples of the Empire vs. Shalom tension:

  • Corporate cultures that dehumanize workers vs. businesses that prioritize employee flourishing
  • Political systems that concentrate power vs. those that distribute it equitably
  • Educational approaches that standardize vs. those that honor individual gifts
  • Church structures that control vs. those that empower
Practical Remembering

Modern applications of Deuteronomy’s call to remember:

  • Regular spiritual practices that rehearse God’s faithfulness
  • Intentional relationships with refugees, immigrants, and displaced people
  • Supporting single parents, foster children, and elderly without family
  • Telling family and community stories of God’s provision
  • Creating traditions that connect current blessings to past struggles
Desert Spirituality

The Numbers experience of desert wandering offers models for:

  • Finding God in seasons of waiting and uncertainty
  • Developing intimacy through difficulty rather than prosperity
  • Learning to see God’s provision in unexpected places (rotem bushes, acacia trees)
  • Building faith through community experience rather than individual achievement

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  • Deep study of specific Levitical laws and their underlying principles of justice and holiness
  • Comparative analysis of Ancient Near Eastern marriage customs and their theological significance
  • Investigation of Tabernacle symbolism and its connections to Eden imagery
  • Research into biblical concepts of time, memory, and covenant faithfulness
  • Exploration of wisdom literature’s relationship to Torah foundations
  • Study of how Jesus later interprets and fulfills Torah themes
  • Analysis of contemporary Christian practices that embody or contradict kingdom of priests calling
  • Investigation of prophetic literature’s expansion of Torah themes
  • Examination of how early Christian communities applied Torah principles in new contexts
  • Research into liberation theology’s use of Exodus themes for social justice

Comprehension Questions

  1. Integration Question: How does understanding Torah as a “partnership story” change your perspective on difficult or confusing passages in these five books? What does it mean for your relationship with God to be viewed as a partnership rather than a hierarchical arrangement?

  2. Application Question: Marty and Brent emphasize Israel’s calling as a “kingdom of priests” who live differently from surrounding nations. What specific practices or lifestyle choices might demonstrate this priestly calling in your contemporary context? How do you balance being distinct without being isolated?

  3. Theological Question: The episode presents creation’s fundamental nature as “goodness” rather than brokenness, which requires trust in God’s story. How does this perspective affect your response to suffering, injustice, or personal difficulties? What practical difference does it make to believe in original goodness rather than original sin?

  4. Historical Question: Deuteronomy’s call to “remember” specifically focuses on caring for the alien, orphan, and widow because Israel was once in similar vulnerable positions. Who are today’s equivalent marginalized groups, and how does remembering our own vulnerabilities create empathy and responsibility toward them?

  5. Narrative Question: The “Tale of Two Kingdoms” framework contrasts Empire with Shalom throughout Torah. Can you identify specific examples from the five books where these competing kingdoms are most clearly contrasted? How do you see this same tension playing out in contemporary politics, economics, or social issues?

Brief Personalized Summary

This capstone episode masterfully weaves together the complex themes of Torah into two compelling frameworks: the Tale of Two Kingdoms and the partnership narrative. What strikes me most profoundly is how these ancient texts address contemporary struggles with meaning, belonging, and justice. The concept of being a “kingdom of priests” challenges modern Christianity’s tendency toward privatized faith, calling believers into active engagement with systemic issues while maintaining distinctive practices.

The marriage metaphor running through Torah provides a beautiful lens for understanding both the intimacy and commitment required in relationship with God. The desert wandering period, reframed as honeymoon time for relationship building rather than punishment, offers hope for those experiencing seasons of waiting or uncertainty. Perhaps most importantly, the emphasis on remembering our own vulnerability as the foundation for caring for others provides a powerful antidote to the individualism and nationalism that often characterize contemporary faith communities.

As we prepare to enter Session 2, this foundation becomes crucial for understanding how God’s partner (Israel) will live out their mission throughout history - and how we might do the same today.

BEMA Episode 32: Session 1 Capstone - Study Notes

Title & Source Summary

BEMA Episode 32 serves as the capstone review for Session 1, providing a comprehensive summary of the Books of Moses (Torah). Hosts Marty Solomon and Brent Billings synthesize the foundational narrative of Genesis through Deuteronomy, establishing Torah as the essential foundation for understanding all subsequent biblical literature and God’s redemptive plan.

Key Takeaways

  • Torah (the Books of Moses) establishes the foundational partnership between God and His people
  • Genesis serves as both preface (Genesis 1-11) and introduction (Genesis 12-50) to God’s redemptive narrative
  • The central theme of Scripture is “Empire versus Shalom” - a tale of two kingdoms competing for allegiance
  • The tabernacle functions as honeymoon suite, mobile creation story, and training ground for priesthood
  • Leviticus serves as the manual for learning how to be a kingdom of priests
  • Remembering where we came from (especially our status as aliens, orphans, and widows) is essential for caring for others in similar situations
  • The narrative of biblical history must be understood chronologically rather than following the order of books in our Bibles

Main Concepts & Theories

The Structure of Genesis

Genesis is divided into two main sections:

  • Preface (Genesis 1-11): Introduces the big ideas - who God is, what the world is, who mankind is, and what God is doing. Establishes that creation is fundamentally good (tov me’od) and that God is trustworthy, though humanity repeatedly fails to trust the story.
  • Introduction (Genesis 12-50): Presents the family of God (AIJJ - Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph) who, despite their dysfunction and humanity, learn to trust God’s redemptive story.
Empire versus Shalom Framework

Two competing narratives run throughout Scripture:

  • Empire: Built on fear, coercion, power, wealth, security, and self-preservation
  • Shalom/Kingdom of God: Built on generosity, invitation, trust, and self-sacrifice
The Marriage Metaphor

Exodus presents God’s relationship with Israel through marriage imagery:

  • Rescue: God takes His betrothed out of Egypt through the Passover
  • Wedding: The covenant ceremony at Mount Sinai
  • Honeymoon Suite: The tabernacle as the place of intimate relationship
  • Desert Honeymoon: The book of Numbers as the time of getting to know each other
The Priesthood Training Program

God’s plan for Israel as a “kingdom of priests” includes:

  • The tabernacle as a visual training ground in the center of camp
  • Leviticus as the priesthood manual covering atonement, priestly duties, holy living, celebration, and care for the oppressed
  • Learning through observation of the Levitical priests
The AOWs (Alien, Orphan, Widow)

Deuteronomy’s repeated emphasis on caring for society’s most vulnerable creates a cyclical remembrance: remembering our own experience as aliens, orphans, and widows in Egypt motivates us to care for those in similar circumstances today.

Examples & Applications

Modern Applications of the Empire vs. Shalom Framework
  • Empire mentality in churches: Building programs focused on institutional preservation rather than community service
  • Shalom approach to leadership: Leading through invitation and generosity rather than coercion and control
  • Economic systems: Capitalism’s focus on accumulation vs. biblical principles of sharing and jubilee
The Tabernacle as Training Model

Just as Israel learned priesthood by watching the Levites work daily, modern discipleship happens through:

  • Modeling rather than just teaching
  • Creating visible examples of faithful living in community
  • Learning through repetitive observation of godly practices
Remembrance and Social Justice

The principle of remembering our own vulnerability applies to:

  • Immigrants and refugees (aliens)
  • Children without family support (orphans)
  • Single mothers and elderly without family support (widows)
  • Any marginalized or vulnerable populations

Potential Areas for Further Exploration

  • The chiastic structure of the tabernacle as a retelling of Genesis 1
  • The connection between Sabbath, festivals, and remembering God’s goodness
  • How the “tale of two kingdoms” plays out in the prophetic literature
  • The development of priesthood concepts from Exodus through Malachi
  • Comparison between ancient Near Eastern covenant treaties and the Sinai covenant
  • The role of hospitality in ancient cultures and its theological significance
  • How Jesus fulfills the patterns established in Torah
  • The relationship between individual and corporate identity in Hebrew thought
  • The function of narrative in shaping worldview and behavior

Comprehension Questions

  1. How does the preface of Genesis (chapters 1-11) set up the problems that the rest of Scripture addresses, and why is trusting God’s story so central to the solution?

  2. Explain the “Empire versus Shalom” framework and provide specific examples of how these two kingdoms operate differently in their approach to power, resources, and relationships.

  3. What is the significance of Israel being called a “kingdom of priests,” and how does the tabernacle and Leviticus function as training tools for this calling?

  4. Why does Deuteronomy repeatedly emphasize caring for “the alien, the orphan, and the widow,” and how does this connect to Israel’s experience in Egypt?

  5. According to Marty Solomon, why is it important to study the Bible chronologically rather than simply following the order of books, and what difference might this make in understanding God’s narrative?

Brief Personalized Summary

Episode 32 brilliantly synthesizes the entire Torah into a coherent narrative about God seeking partnership to restore His good creation. Rather than five disconnected books, the Torah tells the story of God choosing, defining, shaping, and calling His partner to remember their shared mission. The foundational themes of trusting God’s goodness, living as priests in a broken world, and caring for the vulnerable establish the framework for understanding all subsequent biblical literature. This episode reinforces that without a solid grounding in Torah, we lack the proper foundation and vocabulary to understand the prophets, wisdom literature, and ultimately Jesus himself. The transition from Session 1 to Session 2 promises to show how this partnership plays out in the concrete realities of biblical history.

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