Old Testament - A Brief Introduction


The Old Testament contains the Hebrew scriptures and sacred writings that the Christian church shares in common with Judaism. It was written over the period of roughly 1400 B.C. to 400 B.C., but includes narration of events that occurred many centuries earlier and had been passed from generation to generation in oral form. The Old Testament was originally written in the Hebrew language with a few sections written in the Aramaic language. The Old Testament books were written by at least 30 different writers, but the actual authors of some books are unknown. There was no "official" list of accepted books of Jewish scripture until around 100 A.D., this accepted occurred in stages with the Torah accepted around 400 B.C., the Prophets around 200 B.C. and finally other writings around 100 A.D. when Jewish rabbis revised their Scripture and established an official canon of Judaism, rejecting some books not found in Hebrew versions of the Scripture. This revision accounts for the fact that Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox Christians use slightly different versions of the Old Testament. The thirty-nine books which make up the Old Testament used by Protestants may be divided into three general groups. The first 17 - Genesis through Esther gives an account of Israel’s historical development down to the later part of the fifth century B.C. The historical narrative breaks off long before the time of Christ, so that an interval of four centuries separates the Old and New Testaments. The apocryphal books used by the Roman Catholic Church was developed during this period but were never recognized in the Jewish list of accepted Old Testament books. By the time of Jesus the main features of the Old Testament were established. The Old Testament was Jesus' Bible and regarded the Old Testament as having authority in matter of faith and action.		Other Topics about Presbyterians Brief Statement of Faith Reformed Tradition Worship Style Jesus Christ Holy Spirit The Bible Sin & Salvation
Books of the Old Testament The Books of the Law Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy The Prophets Joshua Judges 1st Samuel 2nd Samuel 1st Kings 2nd Kings Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel The Writings 1st Chronicles 2nd Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther Lamentations Daniel Job Psalms Proverbs Ecclesiastes Song of Songs Ruth	The first five Old Testament books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are known as the books of the Law, or the Pentateuch or the Torah. The remainder of the Old Testament books are divided by the Jews into categories of Prophets and Writings. However, Christians organize it differently into sections of historical books, poetry, and prophecy. Five books - Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon are in the category of wisdom literature and poetry. The remaining seventeen books record the messages of the prophets, who arose in Israel from time to time to declare God’s word. The Old Testament tells the story of God's chosen people, the Hebrews, who were later known as Israelites or Jews. Somewhere around 1900 B.C. God made a covenant with a man named Abraham to make of his descendants a great nation. The first few of these descendants migrated to Egypt to escape a famine in their own land. After many generations they had greatly increased their numbers, but had become enslaved to the Egyptians. God sent a great leader and prophet, Moses, to lead the Hebrews out of captivity and into the Promised Land of Israel. During this time God gave to Moses the Ten Commandments which are still considered the basis for a moral life by both Jews and Christians. God intended for the Israelites to live according to His commandments and to show the truth of God to all the world (Genesis 12:1-3). However, time and again, the Israelites lost sight of their mission and lapsed into idolatry, sin or narrow-minded nationalism. On these occasions, God called prophets, such as Elijah, Samuel, Jonah, Isaiah and many others, to lead them back to the right path. The Old Testament writings make no attempt to hide the fact that the Israelites and their leaders had many failings and flaws. Yet, through these flawed people, God was able to accomplish his purposes in the world.
The later Hebrew prophets foresaw the coming of a Messiah (meaning "anointed one"), a king who would defeat Israel's enemies and usher in a golden era of peace and prosperity. More than any other nation, the Israelites looked to the future, to the coming of the Messiah, and to the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham to make of his descendants a great nation. The Old Testament contains a rich collection of diverse stories of faith, various styles of writing and many examples of how God deals with the people of God. Regardless of the book you read you will find material that will arouse your soul, such as, the Psalms, or stories that show you how God’s people deal with sin, pain, suffering and how they came to reclaim confidence in a loving and compassionate God. Despite the fact that the Old Testament events happened 3,000 to 5,000 or more years ago, to the serious reader of scripture will discover these pages still speak to our hearts today and proclaim to us God’s longing to have a imminent relationship with all of God’s people.		The Twelve Minor Prophets Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi