Encountering the Lord in the Pentateuch

The Books of Moses—the Pentateuch—record many stories involving dramatic and life-changing encounters with God. They are each unique, but they share a common pattern: in these meetings the Lord reveals who he is in his divine nature, a genuine relationship is established through that knowledge, and human history is set on a new and unexpected path. The Pentateuch is the story of this divine self-revealing—with all its blessings and mystery—and of God’s care for his creatures through the revealing of that self-disclosure. This lecture course will entail close readings of a number of these encounter stories in Genesis to Numbers and will explore how they each contribute to the larger pentateuchal account and provide its unifying thread. Attention will be paid to literary features and narrative strategies found in the Pentateuch that help guide the biblical reader to a deeper understanding of the text.