3. What is Salvation History? (I)
Salvation history is the
progressive unfolding
of God’s plan to save
the human race from
sin and death after the
Fall. This plan gives
true meaning to
the entire history of
the world.
KEY DEFINITION
4. What are the stages of salvation history?
Crossing the Red Sea by Cosimo Rosselli
5. What are the stages of salvation history?
After the Fall, human beings
lost their friendship with God
and suffered from sin and death.
Through a series of covenants,
related in the Old Testament,
God gradually re-established a
bond with humanity, promised
many blessings and a
future salvation.
6. What are the stages of salvation history?
DATE PATRIARCH
or PROPHET
GOD’S
PROMISE
Early Noah
The preservation of
the world
c. 2000 BC Abraham
The establishment of a
chosen people
c. 1300 BC Moses
The permanent gift of
a law and a land
c. 1000 BC David
The founding of an
everlasting kingdom
c. 900
– 400 BC Prophets
The coming of a final
salvation
c. 20 AD
John the
Baptist
The coming of the
saviour or Messiah
7. The deeper reason for God's promises
The Transfiguration by Fra Angelico
8. The deeper reason for God's promises
The deeper reason for
each of these divine
promises was to
prefigure and prepare
the way for the coming
of Jesus Christ; the
Messiah who would
bring a full and final
salvation to Israel and
to the whole world.
9. The deeper reason for God's promises
“Everything written about me in the
law of Moses and the prophets and
the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then
he opened their minds to understand
the scriptures, and said to them,
“Thus it is written, that the Christ
should suffer and on the third day
rise from the dead, and that
repentance and forgiveness of sins
should be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”
Luke 24:44-47
11. God’s covenant with Noah
The human race became more
wicked and violent following the
Fall, but one man, Noah, won
God's favour. God told Noah to
build an ark to save his family
and preserve certain animals
from a flood that was to punish
and cleanse the world.
12. God’s covenant with Noah
After the flood, God established
a covenant with Noah. He
promised to preserve life until
the end of time, giving us the
opportunity to be saved.
God’s promise to Noah was perfectly
fulfilled in Christ who remains with us
“to the end of time” Mt 28:20 NJB. Noah’s
ark prefigures the Church of Christ
that carries the faithful to salvation.
14. God’s covenant with Abraham
God called Abraham to
leave his own country. He
promised to give him a
land, to make him a
nation and to bless the
whole world through him.
Abraham had faith in
these promises. He
became the father of the
Jewish people and settled
in the Promised Land.
15. God’s covenant with Abraham
God’s promise to
Abraham was perfectly
fulfilled in Christ.
Through him, God has
established a redeemed
nation, the Church, given
us an everlasting
homeland, heaven, and
blessed all peoples.
17. God’s covenant with Abraham
Angel
Abraham
Abraham attempts to
sacrifice his son Isaac
in obedience to God’s
command but is
restrained by an angel.
Due to Abraham’s
faith, God made a
covenant with him.
Isaac
represents the innocent Christ.
The ram
also represents Christ.
Like the ram, Jesus is
the sacrificial victim
provided not by man
but by God himself.
19. Summary
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Salvation history is the unfolding of God’s
plan to save the human race from sin and
death after the Fall. This plan gives true
meaning to the entire history of the world.
• God made a series of covenants and/or
promises to Noah, Abraham, Moses, David,
the prophets and John the Baptist. The
deeper reason for each of these divine
promises was to prefigure and prepare the
way for the coming of Jesus Christ.
• God promised Noah to preserve life until
the end of time. He promised Abraham a
land, to make him a nation and to bless the
whole world through him.
20. Questions to reinforce key points
The preservation of the world
The establishment of a chosen people
The permanent gift of a law and a land
The founding of an everlasting kingdom
The coming of a final salvation
The coming of the Messiah
What are the main promises that
God makes in salvation history?
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
1
2
Click on a box to reveal one
of the answers
3
4
5
6
21. Discussion questions
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Discuss some of the
ways in which the Old
Testament prepares for
the coming of Christ.
• Read Genesis 12:1-3;
17:1-9; 22:1-18 and
discuss why Abraham
is so important in
salvation history.
Select one or more of
the following:
22. Practical activities
Activities Menu Presentation Part II
• Read the story of Noah,
Genesis 6:1-9:17.
• Read about the covenant
with Abraham in Genesis
12:1-3; 17:1-9; 22:1-18.
• Read the Compendium of the
Catechism questions 6-9.
Select one or more of the following:
24. What was God’s covenant through Moses?
Moses by Guido Reni
25. What was God’s covenant through Moses?
Abraham’s son Isaac was
the father of Jacob whose
twelve sons became the
fathers of the twelve
tribes of Israel. It was
from this line that Jesus
Christ, the saviour of the
world, was finally born.
26. What was God’s covenant through Moses?
The eleven sons of Jacob followed
Joseph, their brother, into Egypt at a
time of famine.
The Israelites remained in Egypt and
grew greatly in number. As a
consequence, centuries later, the
Egyptians saw them as a threat and
began to use them as slaves.
27. What was God’s covenant through Moses?
God raised up a leader, Moses, by
whom he freed the people of Israel
from slavery, gave them his law and
brought them to the Promised Land.
29. This picture shows Israel crossing the
Red Sea. This event marked Israel’s
final escape from the pursuit of Pharaoh
and slavery in Egypt. It signifies
liberation from sin and the birth of the
people of Israel as God’s chosen people.
The crossing of the Red Sea also
prefigures the liberation brought by
Jesus Christ and symbolises, in
particular, the sacrament of Baptism.
Moses
Miriam Pharaoh’s horses
and chariots
What was God’s covenant through Moses?
30. What was God’s covenant through Moses?
God’s work through Moses was
perfectly fulfilled by Jesus, who
freed us from the slavery of sin
and gave the new law of grace.
Jesus founded his Church, the
new Israel, on twelve apostles
(prefigured by the twelve tribes
of Israel) to bring us to our
Promised Land of heaven.
31. What was God’s covenant with David?
David and Goliath by Caravaggio
32. What was God’s covenant with David?
The Israelites conquered their
Promised Land but broke the
commandments, falling into sin and
crises. They became jealous of the
nations around them and demanded
the judge Samuel to give them a king.
After the unfaithfulness of Saul, the
first king of Israel, God chose David
as king. God promised David that
one of his descendents would be
established as king forever.
33. What was God’s covenant with David?
God’s promise to David was
perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, the
Son of David and King of the New
Israel, whose reign will never end.
34. What did the prophets promise?
The prophet Elijah (top right) witnessed to
Christ at the Transfiguration as he did during his
prophetic mission on earth.
35. What did the prophets promise?
David’s son Solomon built the Temple
but broke the commandments. His
successors divided his kingdom
between north and south.
In subsequent centuries the northern
kingdom was destroyed. Finally, in
597 BC, Jerusalem and the southern
kingdom were captured by the
Babylonians who deported many of its
people to Babylon.
36. What did the prophets promise?
Throughout this period, God
sent prophets such as Elijah,
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
These prophets called the
people to repentance, justice
and peace. They also
prophesised a future salvation,
a new and everlasting covenant,
a Messiah or ‘Christ’, and a
‘suffering servant’, who would
bear the sins of many.
37. What did the prophets promise?
God’s promise of salvation,
made through his prophets,
was perfectly fulfilled in the
Passion, death and
Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
38. Who did John the Baptist herald?
The Baptism of Christ by Piero della Francesca
39. Who did John the Baptist herald?
Although the people returned
from Babylon, there was no new
king. They remained at the mercy
of the Persians, the Greeks and
finally the Romans.
Finally, a last prophet appeared
known as John the Baptist. He
called the people to repentance
and to prepare for the imminent
coming of the Messiah.
40. Who did John the Baptist herald?
God’s promise, made through
John the Baptist, of the coming
of the Christ was perfectly
fulfilled when John saw Jesus
himself and declared of him:
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world!”
Jn 1:29
42. Summary
Activities Menu
• God raised up a leader, Moses, by whom he
freed the people of Israel from slavery, gave
them his law and brought them to the
Promised Land.
• God promised King David to establish one
of his descendents as king forever.
• God foretold through his prophets a future
salvation, an everlasting covenant, a Messiah
or ‘Christ’ and a ‘suffering servant’ who
would bear the sins of many.
• God’s promise of the coming of the Christ
was perfectly fulfilled when John the Baptist
declared Jesus to be the “Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world!”
Concluding Prayer
43. Questions to reinforce key points
Noah
Abraham
Moses
David
The prophets
John the Baptist
Who are the main characters associated
with the stages of salvation history?
Activities Menu Concluding Prayer
1
2
Click on a box to reveal one
of the answers
3
4
5
6
44. Discussion questions
Activities Menu
• With reference to 2 Samuel 7
discuss the significance of
Jesus’ title ‘Son of David’.
• Discuss why John the Baptist
is sometimes referred to as the
last of the prophets.
Select one or more of the following:
Concluding Prayer
45. Practical activities
Activities Menu
• Read about God’s covenant through
Moses in Exodus 6; 19-20; 24.
• Read about God’s covenant with
David in 2 Samuel 7.
• Read one or more of the prophecies
in Isaiah 53; Ezekiel 36; Jeremiah
32:36-42.
• Read the account of John the
Baptist’s encounter with Jesus in one
of the four gospels.
Select one or more of the following:
Concluding Prayer
46. Final Prayer
Psalm 111
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the
upright, in the congregation. Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all
who have pleasure in them. Full of honour and majesty is his work, and his
righteousness endures for ever. He has caused his wonderful works to be
remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful. He provides food for those who
fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant. He has shown his people the power of
his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations. The works of his hands are
faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy, they are established for ever and
ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness. He sent redemption to his
people; he has commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name!
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all
those who practise it. His praise endures for ever!
Amen.