Lesson 272: "Introductions to the Books of the Bible"
Pentateuch: The first five books of the Bible are called the Pentateuch, a word that means “five books”. They are also known as the books of the Law because they contain the laws and instructions God gave Moses for the people of Israel. These books were most likely written by Moses, except for the last chapter of Deuteronomy which tells about Moses’ death. Genesis: The word Genesis means “beginning”. The book of Genesis is about many beginnings, the beginning of the universe, of man and woman, of human sin and the beginning of God’s promises of salvation. Genesis tells us about God’s special people and His plan for their lives. We learn about Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and his brothers. Exodus: The word Exodus means “going out”. Exodus continues the story of God’s chosen people, the nation of Israel. It tells how God called Moses to lead the people out of slavery in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. Through the miracles of the then plagues and the crossing o the Red Sea, God showed His people that He was more powerful than any Egyptian Pharaoh. While the people of Israel were traveling in the desert, God gave them a set of rules to follow, including the Ten Commandments. God continually reminded His people that they would be a great nation if they loved and worshiped only Him and obeyed His laws.
Leviticus means “about the Levites”. The Levites were God’s priests and the book of Leviticus contains many of the rules they needed to do their work; rules for worshiping God and for making sacrifices. In Leviticus 11:45 God says, “Be holy, because I am holy”. The rules God gave Israel in the book of Leviticus helped the people live holy lives. Numbers gets its name from the two accounts in chapters one and twenty six of the numbering or counting of the people of Israel. The rest of the book tells about the thirty eight years of wandering in the desert. God’s continual care for His people is shown throughout the book of Numbers. He miraculously supplied them with water, manna, and quail. He continued to love and forgive the people even when they complained, grumbled and rebelled against Him. Deuteronomy means “second law”. After forty years the Israelites were about to enter the promised land of Canaan. Before they did, Moses wanted to remind them about all that God had done for them and about the laws they must continue to obey as God’s chosen people. He also emphasized that they must also teach their children to love and obey God. Deuteronomy ends with the renewal of God’s covenant with Israel (chapter 29), Joshua’s appointment to be the new leader (chapter 31) and Moses’ death (chapter 34).
History: The books from Joshua through Esther cover about 800 years of Israel’s history. They tell about the Israelites conquering Canaan, the reigns of the kings, the division of Israel into northern and southern kingdoms, the fall of the northern kingdom to Assyria, the exile of the southern kingdom into Babylon and the return to Jerusalem and Judah. Joshua is named after its key character, Joshua, whom God named as the new leader of Israel. The people miraculously crossed the Jordan River and conquered the town of Jericho. Then, with God’s help, they quickly took possession of the main areas of Canaan. Before Joshua died, he reminded the people of God’s covenant promises to them and challenged them to keep on loving and obeying God. Judges: After Joshua died, Israel was without a leader. The people often forgot about God and His laws and worshiped idols. Then God would punish them by sending a neighboring nation to fight them. When the people turned to god and asked forgiveness, He would send them a special leader to help conquer their enemy. These special leaders were called judges. The best known judges were Deborah, Gideon and Samson. Ruth tells the story of an Israelite couple who moved to Moab during a time of famine. The husband and his two sons died, leaving the mother (Naomi) alone with her two daughters-in-law (Orpah and Ruth). Naomi decided to move back to Israel and Ruth insisted on going with her. Back in Israel they looked to their relative Boaz for help. Ruth finally married Boaz and from their family came the royal family of David and the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The book of Ruth shows how god cares for all our needs and shows how God was working to carry out His plan of salvation.
1 Samuel begins with the birth of Samuel and his training in the temple. It describes how he led Israel as prophet, priest and judge. When the people of Israel demanded a king, Samuel anointed Saul to be the first king. But God rejected Saul for being disobedient and Samuel secretly anointed David to take Saul’s place. The rest of the book describes the struggles between Saul and David. 2 Samuel continues the story of the beginning of Israel’s kingdom. It starts with Saul’s death and then it describes David’s forth year reign. Some of the best known stories are the capture of Jerusalem, David’s sin with Bathsheba and Absalom’s rebellion. 1 Kings: After David’s death, his son Solomon became king. Chapters 1-11 describe Solomon’s reign, including the building of the temple and the palace in Jerusalem. The next king was Rehoboam, who lost the northern part of the kingdom. After this the northern kingdom was known as Israel and the southern kingdom was called Judah. The last chapters of 1 Kings tell about the evil king Ahab and God’s prophet Elijah, who condemned Ahab’s wickedness and Israel’s disobedience. 2 Kings continues the stories of Elijah and Elisha. It also tells the history of the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah until they are finally conquered. Israel fell to Assyria in 722 B.C. and Judah fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. In both kingdoms prophets continually warned the people that god would punish them if they did not repent.
Continued next week starting with the Chronicles.
(Information from the Holy Bible New International Version; used by permission).