Old Testament Survey Series: The Books of History
Overview
The focus of this volume is on the so-called historical books of the Old Testament. Though much biblical history is contained in the Pentateuch, the bulk of the history of Israel as a nation is contained in the twelve books beginning with Joshua. These books relate the history of God's interaction with his people from the time they entered Canaan about 1407 BC to the reforms instigated by Nehemiah about 432 BC. This survey proceeds from the general to the specific. The opening chapter is an overview of the twelve books as a collection. The collection is then subdivided into three parts according to the period of history which each relates. The first three books (Joshua, Judges, Ruth) are the pre-monarchy books. The three double books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles narrate the history of the monarchy. The last three (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) cover the post-monarchy era. Each of the three parts has its own introductory chapter. The translation of Scripture is that of the author unless otherwise indicated. Sixty-two charts and seventeen maps combine to make this volume of the Old Testament Survey Series a valuable resource.
Top Highlights
“Second, he blamed Samuel: You (the pronoun is emphatic in the Hebrew)” (Page 279)
“Eli was the high priest of the nation as well as a Judge” (Page 247)
“godly woman through whom he would bring a great reformer into the world” (Page 248)
“Saul before him, is divided by the author into a ‘before and after’ pattern, with David’s great sin with Bathsheba being the watershed event (2 Sam 11). Before the sin David enjoyed God’s blessing (cf. 2 Sam 5:12). After the sin David was under a divine curse (cf. 2 Sam 12:11ff.” (Page 234)
“From Samuel’s point of view Saul’s reign was a disaster from the outset. God had punished his people for their premature and worldly-motivated request for a king by giving them exactly the kind of king they had requested.” (Page 234)
Reviews
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Rick Brumback
11/3/2015
Daniel
11/5/2013
