Thuciam Lui » History
The Old Testament was written prior to the coming of Jesus Christ and tells us how God called the nation of Israel into existence. God made the Jewish people a special nation, and from this nation Jesus Christ, God's only Son, was born. The Old Testament is filled with stories of the sin of the people of Israel, of God's judgment and forgiveness, and of their final banishment into exile. Mingled with the history of Israel are the poems and songs Israel used in worship, the laws that governed the nation, and the messages of the prophets whom God sent to warn Israel about sin and judgment and to communicate his promises about deliverance and the coming of Christ. There are four types of books in the Old Testament:
Story Books
These books are filled with accounts of the creation of the world, the fall of man into sin, the flood, and the formation of Israel. With the exception of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, they are the first books you will find in the Old Testament going from Genesis to Esther.
Law Books
The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are primarily books of law, containing both the civil laws that governed the nation of Israel, the religious rituals that governed worship, and the moral laws that governed relationships. They do have some stories of history mixed in along with section of law.
Poetry Books
Five books of the Old Testament fall into this category: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. The easiest one to read, and probably the most loved book of the Old Testament, is the book of Psalms. A poem like Psalm 23 can be understood by the smallest child and is filled with promises of God's tender care for those who love him.
Prophecy Books
The last section of books are difficult to read-the books written by the prophets (or religious teachers) of Israel. These books deal with warning about sin, impending judgments of God, promises of salvation, and predictions of Christ's coming. They begin with Isaiah and go to the end of the Old Testament.
As previously mentioned, the Old Testament can be divided into four basic sections with each providing a specific focus with regard to the person to Christ. With Joshua through Esther, we come to the second group of twelve books that deals with the history of the nation of Israel. These books cover the life of the nation from their possession of the land down to the two deportations and loss of the land because of unbelief and disobedience. Covering about 800 years of Israel’s history, these twelve books tell about the conquering and possession of Canaan, the reigns of the judges, the establishment of kings, the division of Israel into the 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 under the leadership of men like Nehemiah and Ezra. As these books prepare us for the coming of Christ, the Messiah, they can be seen as follows: