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Posts Tagged ‘Old Testament’

Bible Basics (Part 6)

Posted in Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Old Testament, tagged , , , on June 7, 2010| 2 Comments »

In this 6th post in the series of “Bible Basics”, we continue coverage of the books of the Old Testament and their groupings.  The following is a summary of what has been covered previously:

The Bible has 2 testaments: The Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament has 39 books divided into 5 sections:  The Law, The History, The Poetry & Wisdom, The Major Prophets and The Minor Prophets.

The Law consists of:  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The History consists of:  Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

The Books of Poetry and Wisdom consist of: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

The Major Prophets consist of: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.

The final grouping of books in the Old Testament is the Minor Prophets which includes:

  • Hosea (Story of a prophet whom the LORD commands to marry an unfaithful prostitute presenting a picture of the unfaithful nation of Israel.)
  • Joel (The prophet warns  Judah of the coming day of the LORD and uses a recent locust infestation to draw the attention of the people to God’s coming judgment.)
  • Amos  (The prophet pronounces judgment on the surrounding countries and then Israel whom he calls to repent for their sins.)
  • Obadiah  (The prophet speaks of the judgment on Edom.)
  • Jonah  (The prophet refuses to go where he was sent to prophesy by the LORD, and as a result, he ends up in the belly of a great fish and then repents.  He later delivers the word of the LORD to Ninevah, and a great revival follows.)
  • Micah  (The prophet speaks of coming judgment against Israel and Judah for their corruption but promises fulfillment of God’s promise through a Messiah.)
  • Nahum  (The prophet pronounces judgment on Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire.)
  • Habakkuk  (The prophet tells the people that the just shall live by faith and God is in control and the wicked will not prosper forever.)
  • Zephaniah  (The prophet tries to motivate the nation of Judah to repent with prophecies of the coming Day of the LORD.)
  • Haggai  (The prophet tries to convince the people to make God a priority and finish building the temple.)
  • Zechariah  (The prophet also encourages the nation to complete the temple and speaks of the coming Messiah.)
  • Malachi  (Last word from the LORD for 400 years.  The prophet encourages the people to stop compromising and return to God with sincerity, so they can receive the blessing.)

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Bible Basics (Part 5)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Old Testament, Prophets, tagged , , , on May 28, 2010|

Continuing with our discussion of the Bible ands its organization and content, the following is a summary of what we covered in the last 4 posts on Bible Basics:

The Bible has 2 testaments: The Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament has 39 books divided into 5 sections:  The Law, The History, The Poetry & Wisdom, The Major Prophets and The Minor Prophets.

The Law consists of:  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The History consists of:  Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

The Books of Poetry and Wisdom consist of:  Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

The next grouping of books in the Old Testament is the Major Prophets which include the following:

  • Isaiah [A prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah, Isaiah predicts God’s judgment on Judah was well as the surrounding countries and the world, but also promises a future salvation and restoration.  Many important Messianic prophecies (prophecies about Jesus) are found in this book.]
  • Jeremiah [A prophet to the southern kingdom of Judah also, Jeremiah declares the certain Judgment of God.  He also tells of God’s promise of a new covenant with His people.]
  • Lamentations [A series of 5 poems of lament by the prophet Jeremiah]
  • Ezekiel [A prophet to Israel in captivity in Babylon.  Ezekiel tells of the fate of Judah’s enemies and its future.]
  • Daniel [The book of Daniel includes some well-known Bible stories such as Daniel in the lion’s den and the three Hebrew boys in the firey furnace.  It also shows the future of the 5 world kingdoms and shows Israel during the period of Gentile power in the world.]

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Bible Basics (Part 4)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, History, Law, Old Testament, Poetry and Wisdom, tagged , , on May 18, 2010|

Continuing with our discussion of the Bible and its organization and content, the following is a summary of what we covered in the last 3 posts on Bible Basics:

The Bible has 2 testaments: The Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament has 39 books divided into 5 sections:  The Law, The History, The Poetry & Wisdom, The Major Prophets and The Minor Prophets.

The Law consists of:  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The History consists of:  Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

The third grouping of books in the Old Testament is the Books of Poetry and Wisdom which included the following:

  • Job (Is the story of a man who has everything, loses everything, doesn’t understand why, is visited and counseled by friends who are totally off base about God, and finally God has to show up and make it clear that He doesn’t have to explain anything.)
  • Psalms (The book of Psalms is the hymn (Him) book for the church.  It includes songs of worship, praise, repentance, and others that pour out the psalmist greatest fears and defeats.)
  • Proverbs (The book of Proverbs is sometimes called the book of “wisdom” because it contains proverbs which teach wisdom on any number of subject that affect the common man including marriage, raising children, handling wealth, handling poverty, adultery, and other issues in life.)
  • Ecclesiastes (The book of Ecclesiastes is believed to be  written by Solomon, and it reflects his search and study of the meaning of life.  His conclusion is that the only true source of meaning and fulfillment in life comes from God.)
  • Song of Solomon (This book, believed to be written by Solomon,  is actually a song which on the surface appears to be the love story of Solomon and his Shulamite bride.  It is often seen as having much to say about emotional love in the context of marriage, but it is also a picture of Jesus and His love for His bride.)

The books of poetry and wisdom do not follow a chronology or tell a history, rather they are superimposed on the history and show the struggles that men of faith like Job, David, Solomon and Asaph have in learning about God and how to draw closer to Him.  These books show us insights into their thinking, their emotions, how they deal with trials and opposition, and how they worshiped the God that they served.

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Bible Basics (Part 3)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, History, Old Testament, tagged , , on May 17, 2010|

Continuing with our discussion of the Bible ands its organization and content, the following is a summary of what we covered in the last 2 posts on Bible Basics:

The Bible has 2 testaments: The Old Testament and the New Testament.

The Old Testament has 39 books divided into 5 sections:  The Law, The History, The Poetry & Wisdom, The Major Prophets and The Minor Prophets.

The Law consists of:  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

That brings us to the next grouping of books in the Old Testament – The History.  The Books of History include:

  • Joshua (the tribes entering into and conquering the promised land)
  • Judges (the 300-year period when Israel was ruled by Judges and the Israelites moving through a repeated cycle of sin, oppression, crying out to God, God’s deliverance, and gradual falling away from God and repeating the cycle)
  • Ruth (an important story of two women during the period of judges which has important images of the Kinsman redeemer which connect to the Book of Revelation)
  • 1 and 2 Samuel (a story of 2 kings for Israel, first Saul and then David)
  • 1 and 2 Kings (Solomon’s kingdom and the divided kingdom)
  • 1 and 2 Chronicles (God’s story focused solely on the Southern Kingdom of Judah)
  • Ezra (the return from Babylonian captivity)
  • Nehemiah (the rebuilding of the City of Jerusalem)
  • Esther (a story of a Jewish woman living in exile who saves the Jews from extermination)

The Books of the History span over 1,000 years of the history of the children of Israel following them from the time they entered the promised land, to the time of judges, to their receiving a King (Saul) and his removal by God, to David being anointed their King, to David ruling over Jerusalem, to David ruling over all of Israel, to the Kingdom dividing, to the fall of the Northern Kingdom, to the Fall of the Southern Kingdom and the children of Israel in their captivity and ultimately, their deliverance from captivity.

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Bible Basics (Part 2)

Posted in Bible, Bible Basics, Bible Study, Books of the Bible, Law, Old Testament, tagged , , on May 16, 2010|

As I outlined in the last post, the Bible has 2 Testaments (Old Testament and New Testament), and each testament is divided into books, and the books are further grouped together with other books of similar purpose, content and/or authorship.

By way of review, the groupings of the  books of the Old Testament are:

  • The Law
  • The History
  • The poetry and wisdom books
  • The Major Prophets
  • The Minor Prophets

The Books of  the Law include:

  • Genesis    (Covers the beginnings of man:  his creation, the fall, judgment by flood, judgment at the tower of babel, lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph)
  • Exodus  (Life and Ministry of Moses, Deliverance from Egypt, Delivery of the Law, specifications for and building of the Tabernacle, and  the wilderness experience for the Israelites)
  • Leviticus  (Laws of sacrifice, Laws of sanctification)
  • Numbers  (Wanderings of the Israelites)
  • Deuteronomy  (Recap of the law and promises of God)

The books of the law cover the time from creation through the death of Moses in approximately 1406 B.C.

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