Topic(s): Old Testament

Links to this entire series:

• Making Sense of the Old Testament: Part 1
• Making Sense of the Old Testament: Part 2
• Making Sense of the Old Testament: Part 3
• Making Sense of the Old Testament: Part 4
• Making Sense of the Old Testament: Part 5

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning…” —Romans 15:4

SOME BOOKS YOU CAN TAKE OR LEAVE

one way or the other, and it won’t make much difference. The Bible is not in that category. If you “leave” it, you’ve lost the most important body of information in the world—and the key to your access to heaven. If you “take” it (to be the Word of God), you labor under the serious responsibility of understanding as much of it as you possibly can.

  For many, though, understanding the Bible is a task so seemingly daunting that “making sense of it” lies beyond them—at least in their minds. The wonderful fact is, however, if one has a grasp of a few basic concepts of the plan of the Bible, he can, in a relatively brief time-period, achieve an understanding of the overall design of the sacred volume, and watch the pieces fall delightfully into place. God has not made His Word so difficult to comprehend that it lies beyond the person of average intellect. 

OLD TESTAMENT DIVISIONS: I. THE BOOKS OF LAW

The Hebrew people were accustomed to dividing the Old Testament Scriptures into segments for convenience sake. Jesus referred to “the law of Moses, and the prophets, and the psalms” (Lk. 24:44), or “the law” and “the prophets” (Mt. 5:17), or “Moses and the prophets” (Lk. 16:31). In modern times, for expediency sake, we categorized the Old Testament as: Law, History, Poetry, Prophecy, with this final segment being viewed as Major and Minor Prophets (due to their relative lengths). A brief consideration of each of these categories can be helpful to the Bible student.

The Law. The first five books of the Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy, often called the Pentateuch) constitute the Law section. Genesis is the “book of beginnings,” providing the record of the world’s origin, the creation of the human family, man’s fall into sin, and the commencement of the unfolding of Jehovah’s scheme of redemption. It especially focuses on the roles of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph in the divine plan. Exodus tells of the giving of the law of Moses to the Israelite people, and how that law defined moral conduct, the regulations for worshipping Jehovah, etc. Leviticus gives special emphasis to the implementation of a sacrificial system and a priesthood, all of which previewed, of course, the atoning work of Christ centuries later. Numbers was a general record of Israel’s wilderness wandering (as a result of their disbelief) for some four decades. And Deuteronomy constituted a rehearsal of the law for the second generation that was to enter the land of Canaan following the death of Moses. These documents are wonderfully foundational to the balance of Hebrew history.  —Wayne Jackson, Stockton, CA