Lesson One: The Old Testament

Lesson One: The Old Testament

The Writings of the Old Testament

A Brief Outline of Old Testament History

Recent Old Testament Discoveries

Questions

Through thousands of years the Bible has been the center of the moral standard of the civilized world. It has been the source book for much of our historic knowledge. It has been the spark that has prompted numerous scientific advances. And it has improved the condition of every nation that has received it with the respect and honor that it merits.

The Bible has been the star of hope to countless millions, a comfort to the dying, and a compass to the living. It is the book without equal, but most important of all, it is "the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever"(1 Peter 1:23).

May the Lord richly bless you in this study of His Holy Word, and may the zeal that has prompted your present interest lead you into paths of ever-increasing usefulness in the service of He who died for all of us.

The Writings of the Old Testament

One of the first things that most people notice when they open their Bible is that it is divided into two parts: the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament, which was originally written in the Hebrew language, includes all of the writings from the book of Genesis through the book of Malachi.

Although the Bible is generally thought of as a single books, it is actually a composition of many books that are themselves distinctly separate from each other but which are written in such perfect harmony and unity that they may be considered as mere parts of the one great book. In the Old Testament alone there are 39 separate writings (or books). They cover the period from the time of creation to the end of Malachi, which was written in about 425 B.C.

The first five books of the Old Testament are almost universally considered to have been written by Moses in about 1450 B.C. The remaining 34 books were written during the next 1000 years. Some of the authors were shepherds, some were kings, some were captives in foreign lands, some were men of great education, other men of little formal training, yet all wrote in such harmony and unity that not one contradiction has ever been found in any of their teachings.

Through the centuries atheists have scoffed and tyrants have threatened the Bible's destruction, yet they, like all of God's opponents, have passed into oblivion and the Bible shines brighter today than ever before.

A Brief Outline of Old Testament History

The following outline divides Old Testament history into 14 segments, and this outline (which is also included in a PDF with a timeline) is designed to acquaint you with the relation and time order of its various events and people.

#1 After being cast out of the Garden of Eden because of their sin, Adam and Eve had two sons--Cain and Abel. Abel was the more righteous, and Cain, who was jealous of his brother, killed Abel, thus becoming this world's first murderer (Genesis 4).

#2 Because of his wickedness, Cain was driven out, and Adam and Eve were given a third son, Seth, who was to be the forefather of such great characters as Noah, Abraham, David, and Christ (Genesis 5).

#3 When several centuries had passed, the world became so wicked that God decided that it must be destroyed. Only Noah and his family had remained faithful enough to God to be spared. While the ark was being prepared, Noah preached, but the world, being so sinful, refused to hear him. Only eight souls were saved (Genesis 7 & 1 Peter 3:20).

#4 These eight were Noah's three sons (Shem, Ham & Japheth), their wives, and Noah and his wife. The Jewish people were descendants of Shem.

#5 The next great Bible character was Abraham, who lived around 2,000 B.C. Two of his sons were Ishmael (who has the forefather of the mixed Arabs) and Isaac. We will be most concerned with Isaac since the nation of Israel came through him (Genesis 17:21). After Sarah, Abraham's wife, died, Abraham married Keturah and had other children (Genesis 25:1-2).

#6 Lot was the nephew of Abraham. Through him came the Moabites and the Ammonites (Genesis 19). These peoples later became bitter enemies of Abraham's descendants.

#7 Isaac also had two sons--Esau and Jacob. Esau's descendants were the Edomites. Jacob had 12 sons who went with their father into Egypt. Their descendants formed the nation of Israel, which is sometimes called the "children of Israel" or "Israelites" after their father Jacob, whose name was changed to "Israel" by God (Genesis 32:28). The story of one son, Joseph, is found in Genesis chapters 37-50.

#8 After being in Egypt for several years, the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians and, after many years of hard bondage, were led out of the land of Egypt by Moses in about 1450 B.C. Because of Pharoah's stubbornness, God brought 10 terrible plagues upon the Egyptians before the Israelites were actually allowed to leave (Exodus chapters 7-10). By a miracle of God they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground and thus escaped the Egyptian army, who were drowned when they tried to follow (Exodus 14). There were more than 2 million Israelites who left Egypt with Moses.

#9 Shortly after crossing the Red Sea, the Israelites came to Mount Sinai where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God (Exodus 20). During the period that followed, they were allowed to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because of their lack of faith in God (Numbers 14).

#10 After the death of Moses, Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the promised land of Canaan, which they finally conquered and divided the land among the tribes (Joshua 1-22).

#11 When Joshua died, God gave the people judges to lead them. During this period such famous leaders as Samson , Gideon, and Samuel lived (Judges 3-21). After a few hundred years, the Israelites began to want to be like the nations around them--they rejected their last judge Samuel and demanded that a king rule over them. God was displeased with this but allowed them to have a king as they wished. The first three kings were Saul, David, and Solomon, David's son. Each reigned for 40 years during the period surrounding 1,000 B.C.

#12 After the death of Solomon , the kingdom was divided. Ten tribes under Jerpboam rebelled and formed the Northern Kingdom (which was still known as "Israel") while two tribes (Judah and Benjamin), under Rehoboam, a son of Solomon, formed the Southern Kingdom, known simply as "Judah" (1 Kings 12). During the period following the division of the kingdom, 16 prophets (from Isaiah through Malachi) lived and prophesied.

#13 The Northern Kingdom lasted a little over 200 years after which it was taken captive by Assyria (734-721 B.C.) and never heard of as a nation again.

#14 About 120 years later (606-586 B.C.) the two Southern tribes were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of the powerful Babylonian Empire. During this period, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego lived. After 70 years, the Babylonians were conquered in 536 B.C. by the Medes and the Persians, and the Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and the temple under the direction of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.

The remaining Old Testament history has to do mainly with the general activities of the returning Jews and leads toward, but does not include, the birth of Christ.

Recent Old Testament Discoveries

For many centuries the Old Testament has stood as the lone historical record of numerous events, places, and people of the ancient world. Many of these records were once publically ridiculed by skeptics of the Bible as being unauthentic and incorrect. It was reasoned that since no mention of them had been found in any other historical writing that such proved once and for all that the Bible was incorrect. Recent archeological discoveries, however, have proven the Bible to be correct in great detail, and those who opposed the Bible to have made false claims.

In Genesis 11:31, for example, Abraham (Abram) is said to have lived in the city of Ur. The existence of this great city was often scorned until recent archeological digs uncovered its ancient ruins. Temples, houses, and even kings' and queens' tombs have been discovered.

The existence of the Hittite nation, mentioned in Genesis 15:20, was also once unknown outside of the Bible. Ancient records of Egypt and Assyria have since been unearthed however, which show that the Hittites actually did exist as a mighty nation that stood for nearly seven centuries. Again the Bible has been proven correct, and the skeptics who opposed it to have been false accusers.

The ancient Egyptian city of Pithom has been uncovered, and storehouses fitting the description of those built by the Israelites have been found, the lower portion containing brick and straw and the upper portion containing brick without straw (see Exodus 1:11 & 5:7). The mummy of Meneptah II, widely believed to be the Pharoah of the Exodus, has been discovered. A hymn to him mentions Israel, and the inscription tells of the death of his young son, possibly the one mentioned in the last plague (Exodus 12:29).

The account of the fall of the great city of Babylon recorded in the book of Daniel was also once strongly questioned because of the statement that Belshazzar was the city's last ruler (Daniel 5:30). Until 1853 no mention of Belshazzar was ever found un Babylonian records. Ancient inscriptions have been unearthed, however, that show that Nabonidus, Babylon's last known king, had a "first-born, favorite son" called "Belshazzar" who reigned as co-regent with his father. One cuneiform inscription reads: "He freed his hand, he entrusted the kingship to him. Then he himself undertook a distant campaign..." This explains the Bible's statement that Daniel was the "third ruler in the kingdom" (Daniel 5:16) since Nabonidus and Belshazzar were the first two.

The location of the land of Goshen, Shishak's sculptured account of his campaign against King Rehoboam, Sennacharib's history of his invasion of Palestine, mentioning King Hezekiah, the city of Ninevahm Moabite battle records mentioning "Omri, King of Israel," and "Jehovah," an inscription "To the Unknown Gods" like the one mentioned in Acts 17:23, and multitudes of other Bible facts have likewise been recently discovered. Surely he is blind who sees not the hand of God on the pages of His sacred Word.

Questions

Which came first:

1. A. Birth of Abraham     B. Birth of Moses     C. The Flood

2. A. Crossing the Red Sea     B. Entering the Promised Land     C. Death of Moses

3. A. Death of Abel     B. Birth of Seth     C. Birth of Noah

4. A. The Nation of Israel     B. Birth of Jacob     C. Death of Moses

5. A. Division of the Kingdom     B. The Kings     C. The Judges

6. A. Isaac     B. Solomon     C. Joshua

7. A. King David     B. King Solomon     C. King Saul

8. A. Entering the Promised Land     B. King David     C. The 10 Commandments

9. A. Moabites     B. Birth of Lot     C. Ammonites

10. A. Division of the Kingdom     B. Babylonian Captivity     C. Birth of Christ

Name the twos:

1. The first two kings of Israel were ?

2. Two sons of Abraham were ?

3. The first two sons of Adam and Eve were ?

4. The two sons of Isaac were ?

5. The two tribes that remained in the Southern Kingdom were ?

True or False

1. Abraham once lived in the city of Ur.

2. King David reigned in about 1,000 B.C.

3. Moses became the leader of the Israelites after Joshua died.

4. God greatly desired that the Israelites have a Kinh.

5. Out of the multitudes on earth, only eight people were saved in the Ark when the Flood came.

Created 2009 Jan 02