Old Testament History

The Bible is an account of the history and future of the world from God’s perspective. It contains the history of Gods people and these are documented so that we can learn from it and receive spiritual nourishment.

The Bible contains Gods spoken word which is alive and active even today. “Food to those who hear it” and a “double-edged sword” to those who need it.

The Bible is a guide to how God wants His people to behave in certain situations and it gives us an account of scenarios to learn from that are still relevant today.

Old testament history is life before the coming of Jesus the Messiah on Earth as a man. God gives us a sort of “summary” of what life was like before He sent his son, why this was necessary for Jesus to come and the Old Testament details some of the key events that needed to happen to complete the journey of Gods people and His plan for the future.

The old testament can be separated into various time eras to make it easier to understand and which describes not only the timing but the leadership of that era, what Gods people were doing and why, Gods important messages or promises during that time and how that related to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, the solution, the Saviour and the dawn of the New Testament era. The below summary is just that, a very brief account to give an overview and reading more in the Bible will fill in the details.

Etymology: Most old testament books get their names from the Greek translations which highlight the themes of the books. The original scrolls/canonicals were named with the first word from that book. For instance, Genesis – would be Bereshit in Hebrew meaning “In the Beginning”. The Bible book names, as we know it was taken after it was translated in Greek which became the common “world language” adopted and spoken by the Jews during the reign of the Greek empire.

Creation

Scriptures: Genesis 1-11

Genesis latin meaning generation/birth, Greek meaning origin/source. The Creation describes the beginning of life and includes the creation of all living things. It also tells the history of Adam and Eve the first humans made by God to rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move over the ground. It tells of the birth of sin and the first apearance of Satan represented as a snake.

It also sets a scene of what a world would be like if God turned his presence away from man. Noah and his family were a demonstration of God’s mercy when evil over-runs. God makes his first covenant – To be faithful forever and never let evil distroy Earth in a flood again. “I establish my covenant with you, never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood. Never again will there be a flood to destroy the Earth. (Gen 9:11)

Time: Beginning

Patriarch Era

Scriptures: Genesis 11-50

This era documents the start of the Nations and God’s chosen nation. Abraham is introduced as the father of the nations, faithful and righteous servant of God. Abraham demonstrates his love and commitment to God through sacrifice and obedience and God makes a promise to bless him with offspring that would populate the world. “This is my covenant with you, you will be the father of many nations.” (Gen 17:3) Through his sons, Ishmael and Isaac nations will be established, but it will be through Isaac that he established the nation of Israel and the promise of their own land to live in. The land of Canaan – the promised land. Jacob the son of Isaac would have 12 sons who became the tribes of Israel. They would become the chosen nation – Jews, a chosen people that God would lead by example so that the rest may see the glory of God in them. You can see the Genealogy of Adam, Abraham and Jacob here. The rest of Genesis describes how the Israelites (the twelve sons of Jacob) end up in Egypt and under their rulership and how God uses Joseph (one of the sons) to look after them until the time comes for them to “depart” into the promised land.

Time: Around 2000BC

The Exodus

Scriptures: Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

The word Exodus from the Greek word (exodos) meaning “road” or “way out” describes the departure of the Israeli nation from their captives, the Egyptians and slavery. Through a series of plagues, miracles and signs they end up in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. Moses is chosen as the leader to lead them out with the help of his brother and Priest, Aaron, and sister Miriam as a worship leader. A temporary “dwelling” to host the presence of God is made and was called a Tabernacle. No one could enter the “Holy presence” until they were consecrated and taken through a series of rituals performed by the priests. Priests became the intercessors between God and the people. Leviticus describes the roles of the priests and their ceremonial assignments. However, the people rebelled against God, by worshipping other Gods and idols and they begin to curse their leader Moses, regretting their move from Egypt. For 40 years they remain in the wilderness too stubborn to repent or surrender to God. Most of them perished, never making it into the promised land, including Moses. The book of Numbers describes the census/counting of the people in the time of the wilderness. They counted over 20 fit men able to fight, but against the strong and powerful people of the other nations, they were scared and rebelled against God and Moses. For not having enough faith and as a result of their bad behaviour they roamed for 40 years before they could settle. Deuteronomy meaning “second law” is the re-affirming of the laws, that were given by Moses to the old generation, to the new generation that was about to go into the promised land.

Time: 400 years of slavery and 40 years of wilderness

Conquest & Settlement

Scriptures: Joshua, Judges, Ruth

To enter the promised land, they find it inhabited by other nations. Under the leadership of Joshua who was one of the spies sent out by Moses to scope the land as told in the book of Deuteronomy (see Det 1:19). Joshua and Caleb were the only two who came back with a positive report on the land they were about to inhabit. Showing their faith in God and His word. They were the only two who survived from their generation and entered the land with the new generation born in the wilderness. God reminds the new generation of His covenant and the laws given to Moses, most importantly not to serve foreign Gods or to copy the people they are about to encounter. He promises to go before them and conquer the nations before them. True to God’s promise, they defeat all the nations and the land is divided between all the Israeli tribes. “Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and the elders who outlived him who had experienced everything that Israel did for them.” (Josh 24:31)

After the death of Joshua and the other elders, the Israeli nation became unruly and un-godly. To help them, God sent them a set of rulers/chiefs/leaders who were called Judges or in Hebrew (shophetim). They had the authority to execute justice amongst the people as a judge in the judicial court today. They served as advisors to the people and ensured that God’s purpose was carried out.

The book of Ruth prepares the scene for the next chapter in God’s history, the monarchy, the rulership of kings to lead and manage God’s people after judges. Ruth is the start of the genealogy of King David and of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was the wife of Boaz and mother of Obed. The Book of Ruth is a love story of a Moabite woman who was obedient and God blessed her for her obedience to become the mother of a great ruler.

Monarchy (Kings)

Scriptures: 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles

You can find a complete summary of all the Kings of Israel HERE

The period of Kings as leaders and Prophets as advisors continues throughout the Old Testament and is documented over a period of 1000 years before the coming of Jesus Christ. It describes the establishment of the Monarchy and the reason why God chooses a series of Kings (good and bad) to lead Israel. During this period God uses the Israeli nation to teach us a series of lessons to learn from and we see a birds-eye view of the entire Old Testimony history of the Jews from when they entered the promised land and establish their Kingdom and we see their growth as they follow Gods commands through good kings and obedience and decline as the follow bad kings and disobedience. in their obedience, God blesses them with victory over their enemies, more land, prosperity, security and a permanent establishment, a house/temple to worship God in. When they rebel and reject God, they suffer. Sadly, disobedience and rebellion are the themes of the entire old testament, and a series of very bad kings result in the people of God losing faith, worshipping idols and foreign Gods, losing battles and subsequently losing their land forever and being exiled.

This entire period is broken down into: Before the Exile, During the Exile and After the Exile.

The period of the establishment of the Monarchy enters under the leadership of the prophet Samuel who was leading the people during that time. The people wanted a king because all around them other nations had Kings. The first King, Saul, was appointed and chosen by the people and Samuel was to anoint him. God blessed Saul and warns him to carefully follow His commands and decrees. Saul was a great warrior but did not obey God’s commands. He was conceited and power-hungry and eventually, this led to his demise. His successor, King David was chosen by God himself as the next leader and he was good in the eyes of God. “A man after my heart” God called him. David was succeeded by his son Solomon who would build the first temple for the Lord. Solomon was a very wise leader and his wisdom brought the people peace and prosperity. But his love of money and riches would also become his demise and it made him mean. The poorer tribes suffered under his leadership. After Solomon died, the people demanded a change from his son and successor, Rehoboam, but he did not listen to the people, Gods instruction or his advisors. What followed after King Solomon was a civil war between the tribes of Israel that divided the promised land into two separate kingdoms, The Southern Kingdom– known as the Kingdom of Judah and the Northern Kingdom known as Israel under the leadership of Rehoboam, a general of King Solomon. Each kingdom each had 20 kings which can be found in the books of Kings and Chronicles.

BEFORE THE EXILE

tbc…