Putting the Old Testament Together
Lesson 13
By reading the Old Testament, we meet characters - both good and bad - from whom we can learn many truths and lessons for our own lives.
Big Bible Truths:
Old Testament Overview Write in the names of the divisions of the Old Testament, and how many books there are in each division.
How many books can you name?
LAW
MAJOR PROPHETS
POETRY
HISTORY
MINOR PROPHETS
GENISES
EXODUS
LEVITICUS
NUMBERS
DEUTERONOMY
JOSHUA
JUDGES
RUTH
1 SAMUEL
2 SAMUEL
1 KINGS
2 KINGS
1 CHRONICLES
2 CHRONICLES
EZRA
NEHEMIAH
ESTHER
JOB
PSALMS
PROVERBS
ECCLESIASTES
SONG OF SOLOMON
ISAIAH
JEREMIAH
LAMENTATIONS
EZEKIEL
DANIEL
HOSEA
JOEL
AMOS
OBADIAH
JONAH
MICAH
NAHUM
HABAKKUK
ZEPHANIAH
HAGGAI
ZECHARIAH
MALACHI
5
12
5
5
12
Cross out the wrong words.
The Old Testament contains 39 books and takes up about three-quarters of the Bible. The word "testament" means agreement/treaty. The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew/Arameic language over hundreds of years/yards, and had many different scars/authors who wrote what the Holy Spirit told them to write/reveal. The main message/purpose of the OT is, "The Saviour will come." There are five/six divisions in the OT: the Land/Law, History/mystery, Poetry/Chronology, Major/Minor Prophets, Major/Minor Prophets. Throughout the OT, we find shadows and predictions of the Messiah or Saviour - Jesus Christ. By reading the OT we meet many characters/earthworms - both good and bad - from whom we can learn many universal truths and trumpets/lessons for our lives, as well as excellent advice for daily living, and prayers and songs to help us worship God.
(B) FOR ENJOYMENT OF ITS WELL-WRITTEN LITERATURE AND GRIPPING STORIES PACKED WITH HUMAN INTEREST.
(C) SO WE CAN HEAR GOD SPEAKING TO US AND STRENGTHEN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
(D) ALL OF THE ABOVE.
Why do we read the Bible?
We read the Bible for all of those reasons, but followers of Christ should read it especially for reason (c): So we can hear God speaking to us and strengthen our relationship with Him.
In our prayers, we can ask God to help us UNDERSTAND what we read in the Bible. We need to be prepared to show our response to what we read in our ACTIONS.
Whirlwind Tour
"Bible" comes from a Greek word which means book. There are two sections of the Bible. The first section is called the Old Testament and contains 39 books. The books are grouped together into divisions.
The first five books are called The Law or the Pentateuch, which means five scrolls. �
We learn of the creation of the world, and how God chose Abraham to be the head of a family called Israel. Things go wrong soon after creation, but God promises to make things right again. Israel became a very large family and God rescues them from slavery and gives them His laws.
The next division is the twelve History books. These books cover almost 900 years! They start with when Israel conquered the Promised Land. When Israel obeyed God, He protected them from their enemies, but more often they disobeyed. First judges, then kings led (or misled!) Israel. The kingdom split in two, and both halves ended up in captivity. Finally, some Jews were allowed to return home to their land.
THE NEXT THREE DIVISIONS WERE WRITTEN DURING THE TIME COVERED BY THE HISTORY BOOKS!
The Poetry division contains sayings, advice, songs, and stories mostly written at the time of the kings. There are also more promises of a Saviour who would redeem (buy back) Israel. Another name for the poetry division is the books of Wisdom.
The last two sections are the books of Prophecy. The Major Prophet books are longer than the Minor Prophets; they are not more important. These books were written over a period of about 400 years, from 815 BC to 415 BC. At the time when the prophets began writing, the kingdom of Israel had been split for more than 100 years. The prophets gave many warnings to obey God and told the Jews they would be scattered and regathered, and gave many messages about a coming Messiah who would save all mankind.