TL;DR: The crossword covers material on a chapter about Israel looking back at the beinning (book of Genesis) and then a capter on Israel becoming a Covenant Community (Exodus) The book's material looks at topics like ancestral promise and fulfillment, covenant, election, the Tabernacle, holy living, and divine presence and providence, .
Moses writing the Torah — screen capture from
Patterns of Evidence: The Moses Discovery (Thinking Man Films, 2019)
Based on material in chapters four and five in Discovering the Bible by Alex Varughese
Challenge: Can you solve this puzzle even if you do not have the book by Varughese?
ACROSS
2 Name given to the first man
4 Isaac's son who had 12 sons
5 The place where God made a covenant with His people, promising to treat them
as a prized possession, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation
8 God's personal name; it signifies His "being-there-with-us" in all of life's
circumstances
9 A tent-like structure that God instructed the Israelites to build as a portable
worship center and as visible and tangible evidence of the reality of His abiding presence
12 Jacob's uncle and father-in-law
13 Adam and Eve's third son, ancestor of Noah
14 Son of Abraham and Sarah whose birth fulfilled divine promises
16 The younger of Jacob's wives
19 Moses' brother who was consecrated and ordained together with his sons to
minister in the Tabernacle (this name is not mentioned in our text but in the Bible readings)
20 The oldest of Jacob's two wives
21 Hero of the Genesis flood story
DOWN
1 The man God asked to lead His people out of Egyptian slavery
2 First murder victim
3 A ritual in which the blood of a sacrificial lamb provided protection for the
Israelites
4 Jacob's special son who was sold into Egyptian slavery by his own brothers
6 A son born to Hagar, servant to Abraham and Sarah
7 A formal and legally binding contract between two parties that is a key element to
understanding Scripture
10 God promised in a covenant that this man and his descendants would be a
blessing to "all peoples on earth."
11 Servant of Sarah and mother of Ishmael
15 First murderer who killed his own brother
17 He sold his birthright to his twin brother Jacob for a bowl of stew
18 Abraham's wife
20 Abraham's nephew
This crossword puzzle was created for use in Introduction to Biblical Literature.
The words and clues come from the textbook Discovering the Bible: Story and Faith of the
Biblical Communities, edited by Alex Varughese and published by what is now called The
Foundry.
If I had to distill the lessons of Genesis and Exodus into one main theme, it would be the pilgrimage from bondage to freedom. These first two books of the Bible depict humanity's struggle with sin, oppression, and uncertainty. They also contain the promise of redemption, liberation, and the fulfillment of divine promises. The story of the Israelites' exodus from slavery in Egypt serves as a powerful metaphor for people's spiritual pilgrimage today. These first two books of the Bible speak to us about the importance of faith, obedience, and divine providence.
