Welcome to this week’s blog. For the next several weeks, I will continue to focus on my favorite book, the Bible.
I will lay out the Old Testament (The Bible, Part 1) and the New Testament (The Bible, Part 2), identify the purpose of each book, the author of each book, the date written, key verses and key people involved to help give you a better understanding of the Bible before you dive into it on your own.
Let’s pick up where we left off last week in the Old Testament. When you open your Bible, you will find 39 books in the Old Testament, starting with Genesis (50 chapters) and ending with Malachi (4 chapters). The New Testament has 27 books, starting with Matthew (28 chapters) and ending with Revelation (22 chapters).
The authors and compilers of the next five books of the Old Testament are Jeremiah and Ezra.
11th Book – 1 Kings: Chapters (1-22) Purpose: To contrast the lives of those who live for God and for those who refuse to do so through the history of the kings of Israel and Judah.
Author: Jeremiah is the credited author, but possibly a group of prophets.
Date Written: 560-540 B.C. (Before Christ)
Key Verse: As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my degrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, “You shall never fail t have a successor on the throne of Israel. (Chapter 9: 4-5)
Key People: David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Jeroboam, Elijah, Ahab and Jezebel
12th Book – 2 Kings: Chapters (1-25)
Purpose: To demonstrate the fate that awaits all who refuse to make God their true leader.
Author: Jeremiah is the credited author, but possibly a group of prophets.
Date Written: 560-538 B.C. (Before Christ)
Key Verse: The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets. But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. (Chapters 17: 13 and 14)
Key People: Elijah, Elisha, Shunammite woman, Naaman, Jezebel, Jehu, Joash, Hezekiah, Sennacherib, Isaiah, Manasseh, Josiah, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah and Nebuchadnezzar
13th Book – 1 Chronicles: Chapters (1-29)
Purpose: To unify God’s people, to trace the Davidic line, and to teach that genuine worship ought to be the center of individual and national life.
Author: Ezra, according to the Jewish tradition.
Date Written: ~ 430 B.C. (Before Christ) events that took place from approximately 1000-960 B.C.
Key Verse: And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people Israel. (14/2)
Key People: David and Solomon
14th Book – 2 Chronicles: Chapters (1-36)
Purpose: To unify the nation around true worship of God by showing his standard for judging kings. The righteous kings of Judah and the religious revivals under their rule are highlighted, and the sins of the evil kings are exposed.
Author: Ezra according to the Jewish tradition
Date Written: ~ 430 B.C. (Before Christ) recording the events from the beginning of Solomon’s reign (970 B.C.) to the beginning of the Babylonian captivity (586 B.C.).
Key Verse: If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (7:14)
Key People: Solomon, the queen of Sheba, Rehoboam, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Joash, Uzziah (Azariah), Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh and Josiah
15th Book – Ezra: Chapters (1-10)
Purpose: To show God’s faithfulness and the way he kept his promise to restore his people to their land.
Author: Scholars believe it was Ezra
Date Written: ~ 450 B.C. (Before Christ) recording events from ~ 538-450 B.C., (omitting 516-458 B.C.). It’s possible it began earlier in Babylon and finished in Jerusalem.
Key Verse: So, the Israelites who had returned from the exile ate it (the Passover) together with all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of their Gentile neighbors in order to seek the Lord, the God of Israel. For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel. (6:21, 22)
Key People: Cyrus, Zerubbabel, Haggai, Zechariah, Darius I, Artaxerxes I, Ezra
Let’s recap. This week we covered the next five books (11-15) of the Old Testament (1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra). Next week I will pick up with Nehemiah (16) in the Old Testament with the same format. I am hoping you find this format an easy, quick overview of each chapter as we make our way through the Old Testament (The Bible, Part 1). Once we have covered the Old Testament, we will then move into the New Testament (The Bible, Part 2) in the next several weeks.
Blessings until next week,
Debra Pauli Unstoppable Believer