The events of the first six books of the Bible begin with the creation of the earth and end at about 1400 BC*. In Genesis chapter twelve, God put in motion his plan to bless all the nations of the earth through the descendants of Abraham. By the close of the book of Joshua, Abraham’s offspring had become a great nation living in the promised land of Canaan (Exodus 12:37; Joshua 11:23). The rest of the Old Testament tells the story of the nation of Israel.
The Period Of The Judges: After the death of Joshua, the Israelites lived without a human king. The LORD was their ruler and he reigned through the Law he gave on Mount Sinai (Joshua 24:24-26). This 300-year period is marked by an identifiable pattern (Judges 17:6; 21:25): 1) The Israelites would disobey God. 2) The LORD would oppress them with an enemy. 3) Israel would cry out for deliverance. 4) God would save them by raising up a hero. These deliverers are known as judges.
The United Kingdom: The next book of the Bible is named after Samuel, the last judge of Israel. The people of Israel demanded Samuel give them a king, “that we also may be like all the nations,”-I Samuel 8:20. God told Samuel to give Israel what they wanted and a man named Saul was anointed the first king of Israel (I Samuel 9:27-10:1). Saul’s reign began successfully (I Samuel 11:5-15), but he disobeyed God on multiple occasions and was denied a son on the throne (I Samuel 13:8-14; 15:17-26).
The Israelites were proud of their connection to Abraham. His grandson Jacob (Israel) had twelve sons. The people of Israel traced their ancestors back to these men and divided their nation into twelve tribes named after each son. It was from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:8-10) God chose David to succeed Saul because he was, “a man after his own heart,”-I Samuel 13:14. God promised David his family would always rule the Israelites and one day, one of his sons would reign over an everlasting kingdom (II Samuel 7:12-16; Luke 1:33). David’s son Solomon built a temple to the LORD in Jerusalem. In the temple’s inner chamber, the glory of God hovered over the ark of the covenant (I Kings 8:1-10). Saul, David, and Solomon ruled over all twelve tribes of Israel as one unified kingdom.
The Divided Kingdom: Solomon was the wisest and richest man in the world, but he married foreign wives who led him into idolatry (I Kings 11:1-8). Because of this sin, the LORD only allowed Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, to rule over two of the twelve tribes of Israel (I Kings 11:29-36). God made Jeroboam king over the other ten tribes. From that point forward, the two tribes ruled by David’s descendants in the south became known as the kingdom of Judah. The northern tribes were called the kingdom of Israel.
The temple of God remained at Jerusalem under the control of kings from the lineage of David. The kings of the northern kingdom went immediately into idolatry. Jeroboam told the people of Israel to abandon worship of the LORD in Jerusalem and set up golden calves for them to bow down before in the cities of Dan and Bethel (I Kings 12:25-33). Under these kings, Judah and Israel began to abandon the LORD (Exodus 20:2-3). While a few kings served God, the Israelite’s unfaithfulness to their covenant with the LORD became so great he punished them severely. God raised up the nation of Assyria to punish Israel and Babylon to destroy Judah. The Israelites were taken into captivity and removed from the promised land (II Kings 17:6-18; II Chronicles 36:17-21).
The Prophets: The books from Isaiah through Malachi contain warnings from God’s prophets. These men spoke from God as the Holy Spirit guided them (Isaiah 38:4; II Peter 1:21). Through these prophets, God warned of destruction, captivity, healing, and even the return of a remnant of Israel to their land (Ezra and Nehemiah document this homecoming). These prophets also looked forward to the coming of a Messiah who would rule Israel and forgive their sins (Isaiah 9:6-7; 53:1-12; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Daniel 7:13-14). The books of Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are known as wisdom literature and do contain some prophetic messages. It is mainly the books of prophecy, however, that point us to Jesus; the son of Abraham, the son of David, the Messiah who would bless the world.
* Some would argue for around 1200 BC.
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