Before we jump into the text of the Bible, we're going to make one more stop. This week we'll take a more in-depth look at the old testament.

The Old Testament

What is it?

Well, it accounts for around 75% of the whole Bible. It was written over 2,500 years ago. It contains 39 separate books arranged it three sections. It was written mainly in Hebrew with some portions in Aramaic.

Throughout this series, I'll be relying on The Bible Project videos to give us the bulk of the teaching. After the video, I'll offer a few thoughts. Most of these videos are short, around 5 minutes but packed with tons of information. If you want to rewatch any of these videos, go to thebibleproject.com. They are entirely free for anyone.

Our first video is just over 12 minutes long but will give an excellent overview of how the old testament, Tanak, is compiled and what to expect as begin our journey through the Bible.

Play video

Okay, lot's of information. Let me try to unpack it just a bit.

Humans have been in a continual state of rebelling against God since creation. But God hasn't given up on us. He is committed to saving the world, and he starts with a man named Abraham and his family.

Although every key figure ultimately fails, the Tanak ends with a hope of someone coming to fulfill the role of prophet, priest, and king faithfully.

TaNaK

TaNaK is an acronym.

Torah = the Law

Also known as the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses.

The Torah covers creation and introduces us to Abraham, Jacob (later Israel), Joseph, and Moses.

This section is where the plot is set and begins to take place.

God wants to rule the world through humans.Humans are the problem!Solution: we need a new kind of human.

Nevi'im = the Prophets

The "prophets" section contains former prophets "historical books," major and minor prophets. They are telling the story of God's messengers to Israel, trying to get them back on track.

Ketuvi'im = the Writings

This is a collection of the rest of the Old Testament, Daniel to Esther, from Proverbs to Job and more. Also, here is where you'll find Chronicles, which is basically the whole Tanak, just much shorter.

Hope

The Tanak is pointing to a future Priest-Prophet-King to rescue the Israelites and humanity from evil, pain, and suffering.

Next week, we'll start our journey with Genesis.

Let's pray.