Summary of the Books of the Old Testament Books - Essay Example

Summary Of The Books Of The Old Testament BooksGenesis The book of Genesis is largely narrative material. Some key themes and events include God as the creator and sustainer of his creation demonstrated through the accounts of the creation week, the fall of man, the flood, and Patriarchal History, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. After Adam and Eve sinned and ushered the era of sin and death into the world, men continued to become increasingly sinful. Eventually, God became so angry he completely destroyed mankind with a world-wide flood.

However, He spared a remnant: Noah and his family. God chose Abraham and entered into a new covenant naming Israel as his chosen people. Again, with this act we see God as the sustainer. The chosen line continued with Abraham and his son Isaac, and Isaac’s son Jacob who was later renamed Israel. Jacob gave birth to Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken to Egypt. This eventually resulted in Jacob and his family relocating to Egypt in order to survive a severe famine.

(when you complete your summary go on the next book of Scripture)LeviticusThe genre of this book is law. Its key theme is obedience, and it contains a large number of instructions for the Jewish people, telling them how to maintain their purity and their culture while they are living in a land with many different nations. The key personalities in this book are the priests, who look after all the religious rites and ceremonies. It was most important that the Jews remain faithful to God. There are rules about proper sacrifices, and warnings about idolatry, for example.

The second half of the book concentrates more on daily habits and behaviors. Some of the rules concern the health of the body, for example special instructions on foods and medicines. Moral instructions are given too, for example, explaining what kind of relationships are allowed, and what the punishments should be if people break the rules. Leviticus is like a handbook to guide the Jews in living an orderly and faithful life.Jeremiah Jeremiah is a book of prophecy. The main focus of the book is the need for the Jews to repent of their sin and return to God.

It contains a lot of dire warnings about the anger of God, and the way that people will be punished if they ignore his instructions or persecute his people. Jeremiah warns about defeat in battles and the bad example of kings. He is very afraid of God’s judgement and he speaks up about the sins of kings and highborn people as well as the poor. People did not listen to him, and Jeremiah was persecuted for his stubbornness and his refusal to tolerate sins. The Jews had begun to worship Baal and make human sacrifices, and so Jeremiah’s role was to make them face up to this and submit to God’s will.

Jeremiah had the unhappy task of predicting death and destruction for the Jews because of their disobedience.PsalmsThe book of Psalms is an example of the wisdom genre. It consists of 150 pieces of varying length which are intended to be sung, or perhaps recited like a poem. They have different themes, such as giving praise to God for his greatness and for all that he has done, or calling out for God to help in difficult situations, or the relationship that the Psalmist has with God. Many of the Psalms were written by King David, and it is clear that he often appeals to God for wise advice on matters that trouble him.

Many of the images are very memorable and are much loved by Jewish and Christian people alike, for example the 23rd Psalm which opens with the words “The Lord is my shepherd.” Events in the past, present and future are mentioned, but usually using allegories and images, which makes the psalms very suitable for adaptation to lots of different circumstances.ProverbsThe book of Proverbs is an example of wisdom literature. It is a collection of sayings and stories, intended to focus the mind on important truths and teach people how to live.

It is not exactly clear who is speaking most of the time, or which historical period the sayings come from, and so it is likely that the sayings have been gathered from many sources. There are many small themes in the book, because it mentions a wide range of different topics. The events described are usually little narrative examples which illustrate a moral point, such as the way that children disappoint their parents, or the way that hatred and sin bring negative results. An important overall message in the book is that true wisdom is always connected with God.

Cleverness and arrogance are not respected, but humility and trust in God are recommended as the best path to wisdom. II Chronicles IIThe second book of chronicles is, as the name suggests, an example of the narrative genre. The main theme of the book is leadership and how kings help or hinder their people in being faithful to God. The successors of Saul, namely David and Solomon are featured, along with their achievements in leading the people and directing the worship of God. The relations between the Jewish peoples and their neigbours are listed.

David’s life story is told, and his love of God and desire to build the temple show that he was a good king. His successor King Solomon was, however a much wiser king, and the book describes his construction of key temple at Jerusalem which was designed according to a specific set of measurements to hold the ark of the covenant. This era of temple construction centers the Jewish people for ever afterwards around the city of Jerusalem.