Old Testament Review

GenesisGenesis Chapters 1-11 and Genesis 12-50

In Genesis 1-2 God created the earth and He climaxed that in creating both male and female in His image.

In Chapter 3 we have the fall into sin, and the snowball of sin at this point starts to grow

In Chapter 4 Cain kills his brother Abel

In Chapter 5 we read of the genealogies and it reads “and he died, and he died…” Remember that God had said to Adam and in the day that you eat of it you will surely die and we see that here.

Chapter 6 sin has gotten so bad that God is sorry that He ever made man and decides to start all over. He calls Noah and tells him to take his family build an ark and God is now going to judge the whole earth.

So in Genesis 6-9 we see the flood and results

And in Genesis Chapter 9 God addresses Noah and gives him essentially the same commands that He gave to Adam and Eve. God tells him to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”

But the people instead of doing what God said decided to come together and build a city to their own glory.

Chapter 11 verse 4 and they said “let us make a name for ourselves.” And so they constructed the Tower of Babel

So God confuses their languages and they start to be scattered and fill the earth. And so the people are now separated from God.

And in Genesis 12 we see God calls Abram from Ur of the Chaldese and we have the “I will’s” I will make you a great nationI will bless youI will make your name great (compare this to the people trying to make a name for themselves)I will bless those who bless you

Eventually Abraham had Issac and Issac had Jacob and then Jacob had 12 sons and his favorite son was Joseph. He gave him the coat of many colors and then shortly after that Joseph had two dreams that he shared with his brothers.

Joseph’s brothers sale him into slavery and Joseph through a 17 year period of time ends up as the second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt.

There is a severe famine in the land and all of Jacob’s family end up in Egypt under the protection of his son Joseph. And this is where Genesis leaves off as it ends.

Genesis is divided as follows:Chapters 1-11 Chapters 12-50Events Relationships Creation AbrahamFall IsaacFlood JacobTower Joseph

ExodusThe book of Genesis ends with the people in Egypt and in our next book Exodus the Pharaoh now in command has forgotten Joseph and all he did for them.

His main concern is the growth of the Israelites and they may come against him and overthrow his kingdom. So he decided to make it very, very hard on the people. And so the people cried out to God and He heard their cry and brought them a deliverer by the name of Moses.

Remember how reluctant Moses was but eventually Moses came around.

God uses Moses through the 10 plagues that culminate with the Passover. The Israelites were to take an unblemished lamb and slay the lamb and put the blood on the doorposts of the house. And on that night God would send the death angel and the first born of every house would be killed. It would only be those homes in which blood was on the doorposts which would cause the death angel to Passover the house. This is a wonderful pointer to the Lord Jesus Christ and how His blood save those who are in Him.

At the conclusion of the last plague Pharaoh tells them to leave and Moses leads the people out of Egypt.

The people eventually would come to and cross through the Red Sea. Pharaoh and his army followed and they were killed. And the Israelites end up at Mt. Sinai.

In Exodus 19 we see God entering into a covenant with His people and in Chapter 20 God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. We also see in Exodus that God commands Moses to build a tabernacle to be with them in the wilderness and this is where God would dwell with His people. (John 1:14) The word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) with us.

The people receive the instructions, they build the tabernacle and at the end of Exodus 40:34-35, the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

As the book of Exodus ends the people are at Mt. Sinai.

LeviticusLeviticus takes place at Mt. Sinai and over the course of approximately one month, God gives instructions;

1. How people were to approach God (sacrificial system and priesthood)2. How the people were to live before God (holiness and separate themselves)

The people were to eat certain kinds of food while staying away from other types of food.They were to worship God in a certain way.

NumbersThe book of Numbers picks up at Mt. Sinai and the people are going to head toward the promised land.

Each of the men over 20 that qualify for war are numbered

They organize around the tabernacle as they go through the wilderness

In Numbers 10 they set out and keep moving until they hit the region known as Kadesh-Barnea

And just south of the land they send in 12 spies (1 from each tribe), to check out the land

When they come back they report that the land is just as God had told them. And they have two men holding a cluster of grapes on a single pole.

But the problem is the people over there are giants and the Israelites would appear as grasshoppers compared to them

So they take a vote and 10 vote no and 2 vote yes. But the 10 are able to convince the others that they should not go into the land.

The 2 that voted yes would be the only 2 over the age of 20 from original group that would enter the land and that was Joshua and Caleb.

They said God says that this is our land, He is with us and we are to possess that which He has given us to occupy

So God punishes the people for their unbelief and disobedience by giving them 1 year in the wilderness for every day they were in the land which was 40 days.

He also said that the over 20 population would all die in the wilderness and the promise He made would go to their children.

DeuteronomyMoses had committed a sin in Numbers 20 where he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. And because of that God told Moses that he would not be able to enter into the land.

So Moses addresses this young generation that has grown up and now is posed to go into and take possession of the land.

Moses gives them the following instructions:He looked into the past and reminded them of God’s faithfulness to them despite all the sins of their fathers.

He encouraged them in the present and said they were fixing to enter the land that God had promised and they were to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

Then he looked into the future and gave them a prophetic word about their disobedience and how they would be scattered among the nations but once again God would be faithful and bring them back.And in Deuteronomy 34 we have the death of Moses recorded

JoshuaThe mantle of leadership is now passed from Moses to JoshuaRight when they get into the land the first battle is that of Jericho.

The Lord commands the greatest warrior to be strong and courageous. And not because of what Joshua will do but rather based on what God will do. Can you imagine how Joshua processed this information from God? They were to march around the city once a day and then on the 7th day they were to go around 6 times, blow the trumphets and the walls would fall down and they would capture the city

Then Israel after a great God given victory decides to do things on their own and go over to AI. In doing so they are soundly defeated but God in His mercy gives them a second chance.

The book of Joshua is about success in taking and dividing the land among the 12 tribes. It is a book of great victory.

JudgesIn Deuteronomy Chapter 7 God says to the people: Destroy all the Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites,Perrizites, Hivites and Jebusite Don’t intermarry with any of their women Don’t ever worship their gods

So what do we see in the early part of Judges? They don’t destroy the Canaanites, they do marry their women and they wind up worshipping their gods.

This is a book of cycles which goes as follows: Sin Servitude Supplication Salvation (God hears their prayers and answers with a judge)

The most prominent phrase in the book of Judges is “Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD” Judges 2:11 Judges 3:7, 3:11 Judges 4:1 Judges 6:1 Judges 10:6 Judges 13:1

And each time the people did evil the LORD sent a nation to punish them. But the people would cry out and God would bring judges like Jephthah, Gideon, Samson, and Ehud.They would defeat Israel’s enemies and there would be peace in the land for awhile until that judge died.

This was about a 300 year period of time in which there was a loosely held together federation of tribes.And since there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

RuthThe book of Ruth takes place during the time of the Judges. It is a wonderful bright shining light in a time of great darkness.

In this story we have a Moabite (Gentile) who gives her life to the LORD.

And what we see is a woman of great faith and obedience.

Ruth eventually marries Boaz who is her kinsman redeemer and they have a son who is Obed the grandfather of king David. Ruth is one of the 4 women mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew.

1 SamuelThe book of 1 Samuel is a transition time from the period of the judges to a time of the kings.

In 1 Samuel Chapter 8 the people begin to cry out for a king. Samuel is upset but God tells him that the people are not rejecting Samuel but they are rejecting God.

God gives a message for Samuel to deliver to the people where at the conclusion they say “give us a king.”

And in Chapter 9 God has Samuel to anoint Saul as Israel’s first king.

He is not a great king but brings stability and peace and rules for 40 years

2 SamuelThis is about the reign of King David, who reigned for a period of 40 years. But ever after adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband Uriah, was known as a man after God’s own heart.

1 KingsIn 1 Kings 1-11 we have the kingship of Solomon who was David’s son. He rules for 40 years and then in 1 Kings Chapter 12 the kingdom splits.

931 B.C. – The Kingdom Splits Northern Kingdom – Samaria (10 tribes) Southern Kingdom – Judah (2 tribes)

2 Kings2 Kings Chapter 17 – 722 B.C the Assyrians come into world power and conquer the northern kingdom.

2 Kings Chapter 22 – 605, 597 and 586 B.C the Babylonians are now the world power and they capture the southern kingdom of Judah.It is here that Israel will be held captive for a period of 70 years as told to them by Jeremiah

1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles cover the same periods of time and approach from a spiritual perspective instead of a political perspective. One person I heard comment on this said you might call 1 and 2 Chronicles the rest of the story.

Ezra We see as the book opens King Cyrus of Persia has his heart stirred by the LORD. In doing so he decides to allow the Jews to go back to their land. So in approximately 538 B. C. a leader by the name of Zerubabbel carries a contingent of 50,000 Jews back to the promised land. Then in 536 B.C. the people start to lay the foundation for the temple. The work is stopped for a period of 16 years In 520 B.C. they start again In 516 B.C. the temple is restored

Ezra who is a teacher and a scribe comes back around 497 B.C. and brings revival to the people

NehemiahThen about 444 B.C. Nehemiah who is the cupbearer to the king of Persia goes back to his homeland to rebuild the wall.

Here is a summary review of the events Creation, fall, flood and tower Patriarchs – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph Exodus – Moses leads the people of Israel out of Egypt and hands the mantle to Joshua Conquest – Joshua is all about victory and conquest Judges – one generation removed the people fall back into their evil ways, it is a dark time Kingdom – Israel comes under one king but then after some time the kingdom splits, with the North being captured by the Assyrians and the South being captured by the Babylonians Exile – the Jews are scattered around the world Return – God as He promises brings His people back to the land. Zerubabbel rebuilds the city, Ezra rebuilds the people and Nehemiah rebuilds the wall Silence - At the end of the Old Testament for 400 years

Remember now the remaining 22 books of the Old Testament 5 books of experience 17 books of prophesyEach of these fit within the chronological timeline of the first 17 books of the Bible

Job – is the book of suffering Psalms – is the book of worship Proverbs – is the book of wisdom Ecclesiastes is the book of the meaning of life Song of Solomon is the book on marital relationships

Next we come to the prophets that are divided into the following categories:The major prophets – 5 books – Isaiah through DanielThe minor prophets – 12 books – Hosea through Malachi

EsterThe book of Ester chronologically takes place between Ezra 6 and 7. This tells what takes place with all the Jews that did not return to the land and remained scattered. Ester becomes queen of Persia. And the famous lines in the book to me are when her uncle Mordecai says:“and who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Ester replies to Mordecai words “and thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Zerubbabel rebuilds the templeEzra rebuilds the peopleNehemiah rebuilds the wall

And with this you have the end of the Old Testament

Northern Kingdom

Southern Kingdom

722 BC

Assyrian Captivity

(2 Kings 17)

605

597

586

Babylonian Captivity

(2 Kings 25)

Amos

Hosea

Joel

Isaiah

Micah

Zephaniah

Jeremiah

Habakkuk

Pre-exile Exile

Lamentations

Ezekiel

Daniel

Saul David Solomon

1051 1011 971

931

Repent

Judgment

538 536 520 516 457 444

Zerubbabel rebuilds the temple Ezra Nehemiah

Obadiah pronounces judgment on Edom

Jonah preaches repentance to the Assyrians

Nahum comforts the S. Kingdom

1 Sam. 2 Sam. 1 Kings

Chapters 1-11