9th Grade Western Literature Essays

My 9th Grade Western Literature essays will be posted here as I write them…

 

Creation and the Fall – An Overview of Genesis 1-3

The first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, begins with this verse: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This means that God created the universe out of nothing by his divine Word. “And God said “let there be light,” and there was light. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.” Here was see light piercing the darkness from the ultimate source of life, light, and blessing, God. It is important to note that the term “day” refers to literal, sequential, 24-hour days.

The days of creation as listed in order were: Day 1- Light, Day 2- Sky, water, Day 3- Land, vegetation, Day 4- Stars, planets, Day 5- Fish, birds, Day 6- Land animals, humans. Or they could be thought of as two triads of days. First Triad: Day 1- Light, Day 4- Luminaries, Day 2- Sky, Water. The Second Triad: Day 5- Fish, Birds, Day 3- Land, vegetation, Day 6- Land animals, humans. In the first triad God gives the earth form, and in the second triad he fills the earth.

“Then God said “Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the livestock and over all the earth and ever creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”” This verse is describing God creating the first human beings in His image to reflect His glory and take dominion of His creation.

From the panoramic view of creation in Chapter 1, Genesis moves to a more focused view of the creation of man and woman and the garden they were placed in in Chapter 2. After creating the man “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” Here God gives a prohibition to Adam to see if he will obey God’s command.

Sadly Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command in Genesis Chapter 3 when they are tempted by the serpent. Adam and Eve ate the fruit, and plunged the entire human race  into sin and rebellion against God. As a result, they were banished from God’s presence in the garden. The first Adam, representing all human beings, fails to obey and brings death upon humanity. But, the active obedience of the last Adam, Christ, representing the elect, satisfies God’s demands and earns for them eternal life. What a wondrous Savior we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, as he came to earth fulfilled God’s law perfectly in his life, death, and resurrection, and now he is in heaven interceding for us ’til he comes in glory and judgment to gather His elect!

 

Noah and the Flood

Genesis 6:5 begins with these words: “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the LORD regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.”

Many generations after Adam and Eve, the people had multiplied and grown more wicked to the point that God wished they hadn’t even been made. But there was one man named Noah who had found “favor” in the eyes of God. In verses 11-20 of Chapter 8 God tells Noah to build an ark to save him and his family because God was sending  a flood to destroy all living things. The ark was to be 450 x 75 x 45 ft.

After Noah and his family had built this ark (in Chapter 7), God brought two of every kind of animal on the ark with Noah and his family. Then He shut the door to the ark and it started raining as the ground water poured out to the height of the tallest mountains! It drowned every living being except those on the ark. After forty days of rain, it stopped and the ark floated on the water.

In Chapter 8 the water had gone down. Then after forty days Noah first sent out a raven from the ark. He then sent a dove which came back with an olive leaf the second time, as the ark “rested” on Mount Ararat.

Soon the land had dried completely, and God commanded Noah and his family to leave the ark. After they and all the animals had left the ark, they made an offering to God. When He smelled the aroma, God made a covenant with Noah to “Never again destroy the earth with a flood,” and God put the rainbow in the sky as a sign of the covenant. So from Noah’s family “all the people of the earth were dispersed.”

To conclude, “God sovereignly brings the flood because of man’s wickedness, and in response to Noah’s sacrifice, He pledges never again to destroy the earth. And the description of the flood parallels in various ways the initial account of creation, particularly with the dry land emerging from the waters. This conveys the impression that the flood is an act of re-creation. In addition, other aspects of the story suggest that the earth, which has been defiled by human wrongdoing, is purified by the waters. The gathering and preservation of this remnant is a prototype of God’s salvation of His elect in the day of the Lord.”

(Last paragraph taken from the Reformation Study Bible notes on Genesis Chapter 7)

 

An Overview of the Psalms

There are many distinguishing characteristics that allow individual psalms to be given categories so that they can be studied more easily. These categories are not totally exclusive, but they can give us insight into the various psalms. Here are the six literary categories in the book of Psalms.

1.Hymns. Hymns were composed for times when there was no trouble, and are recognized by their praises to the Lord for who He is as Creator and Redeemer. Some examples would be Psalms 103-105.

2.Laments. Laments were for when there was trouble, and they express sadness, perplexity, fear or anger. Laments usually have two sections: a plea for help followed by confidence in God. A good example would be Psalm 6.

3. Thanksgiving Psalms. These psalms are like hymns but they more focus on what God has done in the past, while thanksgiving psalms focus more on the personal history of the psalmist. Mostly they were written to celebrate when God answered a prayer of lament. A more personal example would be Psalm 116.

4. Psalms of Confidence. In the middle of the psalms of thanksgiving and the laments are psalms of confidence. There is typically trouble in them, but not as intense as the laments. These psalms have a dominant mood or theme of confidence that the Lord would deliver the psalmist. For some examples see Psalms 16 and 131.

5. Kingship Psalms. A portion of the psalms focus directly on divine kingship (Psalm 47) or human kingship (Psalm 45), with themes like creation, redemption, and judgment.

6. Wisdom Psalms. Some psalms are a lot like Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes. They share pronouncements of blessing and admonitions like in the wisdom literature. For examples see Psalms 1, 19 and 128.

The Psalms as a whole are also an excellent resource for praying and overall encouragement.

 

Reasons for Long-Term Optimism in the Psalms

A big reason for long term optimism in the Psalms is that God is on His throne and sovereign over all despite all the bad in this world. A good example would be David who we know wrote many of the psalms. He certainly was well acquainted with trouble and adversity!

After Saul had been rejected by God from being Israel’s king, God had David anointed king by Samuel in 1 Samuel 16. But sadly most of the rest of 1 Samuel describes Saul’s jealousy and hatred of David because he knew that David was to be king and he didn’t want that. He would chase David and his band from place to place, but God always protected him from Saul.

And yet with so much persecution David continually trusted God, though not always perfectly. Psalm 56:3-4 is a good example of this,

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”

Also in Psalm 57:6-10, “They (David’s enemies) set a net for my steps; my soul was bowed down. They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves. My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Awake, my glory! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn! I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”

We too can trust in God whatever the circumstance knowing that “all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose,” and that is the reason we can have long term optimism!