An Overview of the Old Testament

In the year of release Israel was to appear before the Lord, and the Law of God was to be read to them and their children. Why? For Biblical InstructionPublic reading is still the most common means of biblical instruction. And it’s not just for children. Adults also need to be instructed in the things of God. In fact, biblical proficiency and understanding is a lifelong pursuit.Why do so many Christians struggle to read the Bible?Books like Genesis and Exodus aren’t so bad, but it’s gets more difficult when you get to books like Leviticus and Isaiah. The information in those books are foreign to us today. We need a road map to help get us through the more difficult portions of the Bible. Therefore, if we want a better understanding of the Bible it’s best to begin with an overview. An overview will give you a basic framework or structure of the Bible and help you to better manage the information. It also will help keep you from getting bogged down in details. Once you are armed with the basic framework of Scripture, you will be better equipped to the entire Bible.

The Bible - An Overview

The word ‘Bible’ comes from the Latin word ‘biblia’ meaning books. The original meaning of the word was books (or sacred books). Therefore, the bible is a not a single book, but a collection of books or library of sacred books. It is comprised of 66 Books: 39 in the Old and 27 in the New, written by over 40 authors. The Old Testament is considered the Jewish Scriptures because they were originally written exclusively to the Jewish people (, ). The Old Testament books can be divided into 3 major sections: foundational books, historical books and instructional books.The reason we divide the Old Testament into these three sections is because it helps us to manage the content and the information in the books better. Again, our ability to manage the information in these books is key to our ability to obtain a better grasp of the overall message of the books.

Foundational Books (Explanation)

There are 5 books that fall into this category: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These books represent the Pentateuch. The word Pentateuch means “5 books”. They are the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures and they contain the beginning of God’s covenant with man (Abraham) and the foundational principles that are at the core of that covenant (faith, redemption, obedience, mercy, etc.). There is history contained in this section, but that history is limited to that which involves those key principles that will be lived out by God’s people. We might say that it is a selective history.

Historical Books (Observation)

There are 12 books that fall into this category: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. These books contain an account of how God’s people lived out the principles of God. They reveal how they applied or did not apply those principles in their daily life. These books span a period of approximately 1000 years (1400BC - 420BC). This period can be divided into 5 major sections: Pre-kingdom (Joshua, Judges, Ruth), United Kingdom (1&2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 Chronicles), Divided Kingdom (2 Kings, 2 Chronicles), Exile (2 Kings, 2 Chronicles) and Return (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther). During this period we see that the people’s ability to live out the principles of God in their culture is directly connected to the character of their leaders. In other words, when the character of their leaders is in sync with the character of God, the culture has little effect on the people’s behavior.

Instructional Books (Interrogation)

There are 22 books that fall into this category: 5 Poetic books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon) and 17 Prophetic books (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi). These books reflect back on what has already happened in the Historical Books. They do not advance the story revealed in the Historical Books. Instead, they amplify and speak into that story. They give instruction to God’s people on how to get back on track with the program of God. Their content can be both encouraging and correcting.When it comes to the question of which books to read first, here’s a recommended reading plan:The Old Testament:Genesis (the history of Creation, the fall, and God’s covenantal dealings with the patriarchs)Exodus (the history of Israel’s liberation and formation as a nation)Joshua (the history of the military conquest of the Promised Land)Judges (Israel’s transition from a tribal federation to a monarchy)1 Samuel (Israel’s emerging monarchy under Saul and David)2 Samuel (David’s reign)1 Kings (Solomon and the divided kingdom)2 Kings (the fall of Israel)Ezra (the Israelites’ return from exile)Nehemiah (the restoration of Jerusalem)Amos and Hosea (examples of minor prophets)Jeremiah (an example of a major prophet)Ecclesiastes (Wisdom Literature)Psalms and Proverbs (Hebrew poetry)This reading plan is intended to give you an ‘overview’ of the information covered in the Old Testament. Once a person has read through and understood the information in these books, they can go back read the remaining books to fill in the gaps. The New Testament overview:The Gospel of Luke (the life of Jesus)Acts (the early church)Ephesians (an introduction to the teaching of Paul)1 Corinthians (life in the church)1 Peter (an introduction to Peter)1 Timothy (an introduction to the Pastoral Epistles)Hebrews (Christology)Romans (Paul’s theology)By reading these books, a student can get a basic feel for and understanding of the scope of the Bible without getting bogged down in the more difficult sections.

For Spiritual Renewal

Public reading gives an opportunity for spiritual renewal for it is a means of grace (a means by which God communicates spiritual gifts/blessings to His people). It strengthens God’s people against temptation and corruptions. It builds them up in grace and establishes their hearts unto holiness.Public reading of the Scriptures is a means of grace. The Fear of the Lord is respect. It is demonstrated through obedience. While it may be easy to recognize the lack of respect, it is not always easy to quantify this word objectively. Respect means different things to different people. Therefore, respect is something we learn over time through relationships with people. Respect requires you to understand a person’s expectations. As we get to know a person and what they expect in a relationship, it becomes more possible for us to be able to show them due respect. There are people who are unfamiliar with the customs of certain cultures. Therefore, it will be difficult for them to show proper respect (fear) in a a culture you are not familiar with. What are your expectations for respect?But, no matter what country you are in and no matter what your cultural norms may be, respect at its core is the ability to treat another’s priorities as important. Considering another person’s priorities and expectations as important is the foundation of showing a person respect or regard. Respect is closely related to the word “regard” which means to look at something (to consider). Therefore, it is impossible to have respect for something or someone whom you spend little time observing! In fact, the word respect comes from the latin word respectere, which means to look back/often at something (re-back, specere-look at). What does God want us to recognize (regard, respect) about Him? That He is an authority. That He is the true God deserving of worship.Fear functions as a deterrent and discipline against sin (; ). When Israel was in the wilderness God spoke to them with great wonders (lighting, fire, smoke) so that they would learn to associate His words with power. He wanted them to know that when He spoke He meant what He said. This would instill in them fear (). However, man prefers to receive his commandments from men, not God. Probably because we know we can manipulate man, but not God!