The Old Testament

The Old Testament is revered by Jews

The Hebrew scriptures decisively shaped the living memory and identity of a unique people. They are revered as writings from antiquity, yet treasured even today as an ever living and unceasingly relevant word. To grasp what the Hebrew Scriptures are about, think of them as revolving around some key concepts, which for simplicity we will summarize with words beginning with the letter “P.” They have to do with:
Providence—The Hebrew Scriptures manifest a constant awareness that the God who created all is involved with His creation and active in human history.

People—The people who descended from the great patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—are chosen and set apart by God for unique service in, to, and for the world.

Place—The land of Israel promised to this people by God if they would faithfully follow Him.

Promise—This people and God were united by a covenant,or agreement,that God would be with them, guide them,bless them,if they would follow His ways.

Prophecy—Warnings against injustice, idolatry, and social evil, and prophecy predicting future events, including the coming of a Messiah to save and deliver.

A love letter from God

I read the Torah as Jews have read it and loved it for centuries. For example, I can tell you what is the middle word in the Torah. I can tell you what is the middle letter in the Torah.Over the generations Jewish scholars have read the Torah not as a novel to see how it ends, but as a love letter. For instance,‘Why did he use this word instead of that word?’ ‘Why is there a space here?’ ‘Why a comma here instead of a period?’ That’s the way you read a love letter and wonder,‘What did he or she mean by this word?’ We Jews have seen the Torah as not just a book of stories or law codes, but as a love letter from God.- Comment by Rabbi Harold Kushner on VISN TV

At the end of his life,Moses admonished his people:

Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you. They are your life. Deuteronomy 32:46-47

Reading of the Torah

The first five books are known as the Law or Torah or Pentateuch. The first, Genesis, contains the account of Adam and Eve, Noah and the Flood, and the calling of Abraham to found a great people. Abraham’s descendants go to Egypt to escape famine. They are later enslaved, and Exodus through Deuteronomy tells the story of their deliverance under Moses and the wandering in the wilderness in preparation to enter the promised land. Included are the giving of the Ten Commandments and the various ritual and communal laws given to guide Israel.

After the death of Moses the Jews were lead by Joshua, and then by various judges, as related in

Samson the Judge of Israel

the books of those names. The people wanted a king, and the other historical books give accounts of the kingdom in Israel through Saul, David, Solomon,then the division of the land into two kingdoms. The story continues with the capture of the two kingdoms, the North by Assyria in 721 BC, the South by Babylon in 586 BC. Ezra and Nehemiah tell of the return after captivity to rebuild the temple and wall around Jerusalem.

King Solomon

The wisdom books supply us with the instructive story of Job, an exploration on the meaning of human suffering, the beauty and inspiration of a prayer and hymn book—the Psalms, and the down to earth practical wisdom of Proverbs. Then there is the earthly wisdom and analysis of Ecclesiastes and the rapturous love epic in Song of Solomon.

The prophets speak to the nation and interpret God’s dealings with His people. They warn against idolatry, declare judgment on the people when they depart from God’s ways, but they also show the love and compassion of God to forgive, call His people back, establish a new covenant, send a promised Messiah and ultimately fulfill the Divine purposes for the world.

The minor prophets are called minor not because they are unimportant but because they are briefer books. They are also known as “The Twelve.” These various writers continue the tradition of judgment and comfort. They contain some of the most piercing social criticism ever written.The Jews are continually warned of the punishments for infidelity to God’s ways, and the faithfulness of God to restore his people in spite of their sins.Within the prophetic books there are many accounts of the steep price these spokesmen paid for their bold and courageous pronouncements. As you might guess, their message was often rejected and the prophets themselves attacked.

Gathering the Collection

Ancient Parchments

The Old Testament collection was written over many centuries as we have noted. Scholars observe that there were oral traditions as well as written accounts. Stories were told over and over, detail by detail, when the covenant people gathered around their campfires. And the stories were preserved on parchment,or animal skins, so the account of God’s dealing with his people would never be forgotten. The parchments were rolled up into scrolls.Over the centuries more scrolls were written and added to the collection. Some were recognized as having special importance and came to be regarded as sacred text or holy scripture.

Of course, none of the original scroll writings has been preserved. Scrolls would wear out and were given an honored burial. But before they wore out, copies would be made and then copies of copies.

Inasmuch as the books were written over at least a thousand-year period, there was an ongoing process to gather the collection. The early books of the law were stored in the ark of the tabernacle (Deuteronomy 31:26). The nation reconsecrated its devotion to the sacred writings at different times (II Kings 23:1-3, Nehemiah 8:1ff).

By the time of Jesus it seems that there was general agreement on what constituted the recognized collection of sacred scrolls for the Jewish people. They are summed up in  Jesus’ reference to the three main sections of the Hebrew scriptures when He noted that “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44

Jerusalem Temple Destruction by Titus

A major tragedy in the life of the Jewish nation occurred in 70 AD when the Jewish temple, the center of Jewish religious life,was destroyed by the Romans under Titus Livy. It is commonly thought that at a gathering of rabbis in the city of Jamnia in 90 AD there was a re-affirmation and confirmation of what fully and finally constituted the Hebrew scriptures. The Jewish historian Josephus,writing in the early 90’s AD in his Against Apion, observed:For we have not countless books among us, disagreeing and contradicting one another but only twenty-two books, which contain the records of all the past times; which are justly believed to be divine…and how firmly we have given credit to these books of our nation is evident by what we do; for during so many ages as have already passed, no one hath been so bold as either to add anything to them, to take anything from them, or to make any change in them, but it has become natural to all Jews, immediately and from their very birth, to esteem these books to contain divine doctrines, and to persist in them, and if occasion be, willingly to die for them.

An Amazingly Reliable Preservation

Are the copies of the Old Testament writings we have today anything like what was originally written down so long ago? Quite amazingly, the answer is yes. For the most part we can be confident that what we have today is nearly identical to the ancient copies. We back that up by drawing your attention to the scribes and the scrolls.

The Scribes

The copies of the scrolls of Hebrew scripture were made by a special group known as scribes. Israelite scribes learned their craft as a kind of holy profession in family-like guilds as is attested in the Bible that mentions “Clans of Scribes who inhabit Jabez” I Chronicles 2:55.
The Hebrew word for scribe is sofer. Its root meaning is “to count.” And scribes indeed were careful counters making sure every word and letter were accounted for. They worked under very strict conditions and regulations. They went about their work with a seriousness many would consider almost fanatical today. For example, the Jewish Masoretic scribes,who made hand written copies of the Bible worked under rules designed to insure utmost accuracy.

• No word or letter could be written from memory (the scribe had to say the word aloud).
• Before writing the sacred name of God, the scribe had to pause and wipe his pen.
• A scroll was discarded if spelling errors were found.
• Perhaps most important—after copying, every single word and every letter was counted to verify accuracy and to be sure they matched the original.
• Before beginning his work, a scribe would cleanse himself in a ritual bath—a vivid evidence of the seriousness and sacredness of the task of writing a scroll. He was going to write the names of God and must do so with proper devotion and ritual purity.

The Scrolls

Qumran cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found

Then there are the Dead Sea Scrolls. Maybe you have heard the fascinating story of how a Bedouin shepherd boy in 1947 was out with his flock along the cliffs on the northwest side of the Dead Sea.

He thoughtlessly threw a rock into one of the caves.

He heard something break. He investigated and found ancient scrolls stored in large pottery jars.

The lad had accidentally stumbled across the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times. Many of these scrolls date back to before the time of Jesus, and they include copies of sections of every Old Testament book except Esther. There is an almost complete copy of the book of Isaiah. Up until the discovery of the scrolls, the oldest available copies of the Hebrew scriptures dated from around 900 AD. These Dead Sea scrolls provided Hebrew text that was one thousand years earlier and would show if the text had been corrupted and changed over ten centuries. So it was a priceless opportunity to see if copies done so much later in any way resembled much earlier copies, that were themselves, of course, that much closer to the originals.

So, just how well had the scribes done their job over so many generations? Scholars analyzed and discovered there were some differences. That is not the surprising part.

What is surprising is that there were so few differences and they were primarily on small matters such as minor spelling variations. This is so amazing that it would almost seem impossible. The first ancient Qumran texts led to just thirteen minor yet clarifying alterations in the modern Revised Standard version of the Bible.

Section of scroll of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls

The adventure that lasts a lifetime!

Your discovery of the Bible could be an adventure that lasts your whole lifetime! Sound ridiculous? Maybe, but there is an incredibly long line of people stretching for thousands of years who would insist it is true. Stop and think. Long, long before the world knew anything of television, radio,CDs,airplanes, automobiles, electricity, long before the world ever heard of Coca Cola, IBM,SONY, or microwave ovens, a book that later became known as “The Bible”was written that would be like none other. This book was even finished centuries before printing was available to mass produce books, and in those earlier centuries every copy of this book had to be done by hand. In every generation since it was written, it has been revered and looked to as a source of understanding our world, our humanity, our relationships, our reason for existence. Accept the possibility that the best things in our Western world,a world that slowly and painfully emerged from barbarism to an advanced civilization,emerged largely from the inspiration provided by the Bible. It played a central role in the formation of our culture. But now the flowers of that civilization, as someone put it, are cut off from the roots and are already beginning to wilt in the vase. Look at the solutions and cures that are typically offered. Do they give you much hope? Might it be that the way forward is to go back to the path we drifted from,to recover our roots, to rediscover the Bible?

What Kind of Book is This Anyway?

The Bible is often thought of as a “Holy Book.”Various religions have their “Holy Books.”Often these are reported as “revelations”coming through various means such as visions, dreams, hearing directly from God,or an angel. But the origin of the Bible is accounted for in a quite different way.

The Golden Gate in Jerusalem

The Bible is rooted and grounded in history. The Bible came from the experience of specific people, in identifiable places, at particular times. The Bible deals with the meaning of human life on this planet from within the stories of people who lived on this planet. So it is not a “Holy Book”in the sense of an otherworldly esoteric philosophy. It is “holy”in the sense that it represents the interaction of God and people in our world in the midst of everyday life.

The Bible, what is it all about?

The Bible is the best-selling book of all time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_books. And if you haven’t read it yet, you are sure missing out on one of the most fascinating books ever written. It is one of the oldest books in human history that is still in circulation.

The Bible has been translated into more languages than any other piece of literature. It is available in more than 2,000 languages. Today literally thousands of dedicated men and women linguists pour out their lives to provide the Bible into every active language group on the face of the earth.

The Bible is a collection of 66 books divided in to 2 sections known as the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament consists of 39 books, which is the complete collection of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew Bible is the main authority of Judaism. The 39 books consist of:

1)      The Law (Torah): 5 books:

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
   

   The Torah at a Jewish Religious observance

3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy

2)      The Prophets: Divided into two categories

1. Major Prophets: 9 books
   1. i.      Joshua
   2. ii.      Judges
   3. iii.      First Samuel
   4. iv.      Second Samuel
   5. v.      First Kings
   6. vi.      Second Kings
   7. vii.      Isaiah
   8. viii.      Jeremiah
   9. ix.      Ezekiel
2. Minor Prophets: 12 books
   1. i.      Hosea
   2. ii.      Joel
   3. iii.      Amos
   4. iv.      Obadiah
   5. v.      Jonah
   6. vi.      Micah
   7. vii.      Nahum
   8. viii.      Habakkuk
   9. ix.      Zephaniah
   10. x.      Haggai
   11. xi.      Zachariah
   12. xii.      Malachi

3)      The Writings: 8 Books

Image of an Old Testament Scroll

1. Psalms
2. Proverbs
3. Job
4. Daniel
5. Ezra
6. Nehemiah
7. First Chronicles
8. Second Chronicles

4)      The Scrolls

1. Song of Songs (or “Song of Solomon”)
2. Ruth
3. Lamentations
4. Ecclesiastes
5. Esther

The writing of the Old Testament took at least a thousand years, from 1400-400 BC, and no doubt considerably more. Though it is referred to as the “Old” Testament, this does not make the 39 books of the Old Testament obsolete. It is proper to say it is the “first” testament or the “earlier” testament.

The New Testament therefore is in proper terminology, the “Second” or the “later” testament. The two can also be distinguished by calling them “the Hebrew Scriptures” and “the Christian Scriptures”.

The New Testament consists of 27 books, spanning a writing period of 50 or so years from probably about 45 to 95 AD.

The 27 books consist of:

1)      The Gospels: 4 accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ on earth, recorded by eyewitnesses.

1. Matthew
   

   The Holy Bible

2. Mark
3. Luke
4. John

2)      The Acts of the Apostles

3)      Letters to believers: 21 in all

1. Romans
2. First Corinthians
3. Second Corinthians
4. Galatians
5. Ephesians
6. Philippians
7. Colossians
8. First Thessalonians
9. Second Thessalonians
10. First Timothy
11. Second Timothy
12. Titus
13. Philemon
14. Hebrews
15. James
16. First Peter
17. Second Peter
18. First John
19. Second John
20. Third John
21. Jude

4)      The Revelation (Or Apocalypse)

Every Scripture is God-breathed and {or, every writing inspired by God is} profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

The bible incorporates interesting information and specifics about many things.

1. The origins of the universe.
2. The beginning of sin and human suffering. Sin results in man being separated from God.
3. The promise of reconciliation through God’s Anointed One who is to come in to the world to take away sin.
4. God interacts with individuals who call on Him. Patriarchs of faith.
5. The inception of Israel. God starts the process of bringing man back to God
6. The nation of Israel disobeys God and rebels against Him.
7. God judges Israel. Foreign armies take the Jews into captivity and eventually dispersion.
8. The era of the prophets, God’s chosen servants, speaking under immense persecution, and pleading the Jewish people to turn from their evil ways and return to God.
9. Continuous correction of the Jewish people even while in exile with promises of a coming King who is to save the world.
10. 400 year period of silence from the Hebrew Scriptures to the Christian Scriptures and Israel no longer a nation.
11. The arrival of a wild man calling for people to repentance and announcing the eminent coming the Anointed One.
12. The coming of Jesus Christ, the Teacher, the Miracle Worker, the Healer, the Servant King, the Savior. Fulfillment of prophecies spoken of the Messiah.
13. the rise to fame of this Jesus, and the envy of the religious people of the day
14. The conspiracy, the betrayal, unjust trial and crucifixion of the King of the Jews. All fulfilling prophecies made hundreds of years ago by the servants of God, the prophets.
15. Jesus Christ takes upon Himself the penalty for the sins of all mankind.
16. The triumphant resurrection from the dead three days after burial. Jesus conquers death. Promises the gift of eternal life to all who come to Him.
17. Jesus teaches the disciples 40 days after His resurrection and opens their understanding to the scriptures. Commissions them to a worldwide mission of reconciling the fallen race of man to God again.
18. Jesus Christ ascends to heaven whilst disciples look on. Promise given of His return as King of kings and Lord of lords to judge the living and the dead.
19. 50 days after Jesus’ ascension, the hiding disciples are endowed with power from Heaven. The coming of the Holy Spirit, with power, wisdom and the presence of God to dwell permanently with believers enabling them to carry out the commission of Christ
20. Disciples forge ahead amidst tremendous persecution. Encouragement to believers. The spread of the Word of God to the ends of the world.
21. The mysterious message of the end times when God will judge the world. The events that precede the judgment. The coming of the Wicked One.
22. The world will enter a period of great suffering in the future, known as the tribulation.
23. The Second Coming of Christ and the restoration of the universe back to what it was before the fall. And man will live happily ever after for eternity.

Interesting? Sounds like a fairy tale doesn’t it? What if it’s not? Could the bible be true? And if it is, then there is so much to be known.

You can never know the truth of anything until you find out for yourself. The world is full of deception, and you know it. So much in this world cannot be trusted. It’s always the best idea to check out something before you buy it. The Bible is no different. You need to first read it cover to cover to decide whether you are going to believe what it says. Don’t be deceived by what you hear about the Bible. Some may say great things about the Bible. Others may say bad things about the Bible. Most people today are tossed to and fro by the opinions of other. They will never check the source, whether it is true or not.

You’ve read Harry Potter; you’ve read the Da Vinci Code. Or maybe you’ve read the Lord of the Rings or the Chronicles of Narnia. Isn’t it worth while reading this book that claims it is the word of the living God?

It gives an idea of how people lived in ancient times, what they believed in. it is a book about human history, about epic wars, rise and fall of empires such as the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Medes, the Persians and the Greeks. These are all historically documented empires. The bible is often referred for information when it comes to historical events. The final books of the bible were written during the reign of the Roman Empire and their Caesars.

The Bible has romance, beautiful love stories, tragedies and trials that anyone can relate to. There are books that have timeless wisdom. You will find the supernatural from the first book to the last. For those who are interested in prophecy or what the future hold for humanity, the Bible gives warning and hope. The Bible also speaks of what happens to us when we die. Is there life after death? Surprisingly, the Bible has so much to say about this topic.

One of the most fascinating aspects any interested reader would come across is that the Bible does not bloat about its characters. In many ancient writings and annals, writers inflate their heroes and make them invincible or without weakness. Biblical figures are full of failures. All of us can relate to the trials and temptations faced by these God-fearing men and women. Their failures bring them to the point of quitting. But God reassured them of His everlasting love for them and restores them. God intervenes in the lives of His children.

The Bible is surely fascinating. I have read it over and over again unlike any other book I’ve ever come across. The reason is because it still keeps me drawing to it. The Bible is not meant to be preserved in some glass box in a museum. It is to be read by everyone.

The Bible declares itself as the revealed will of God. How can a document written thousands of years ago, by men, be the word of God? There are many books that are referred to as sacred today. Many of them claim to be the word of God. But all of them, with no exception, contradict each other. How can we know the truth in a jungle of information? The only way is to find out for yourself.

According to the Bible, God can be known in a very personal way. It mentions that He can be known by everyone who seeks Him. He can be known as you know your parents, children, spouse or friends. Isn’t that the greatest proof you will need to believe in God, if He reveals Himself to you through the Bible?

The events mentioned in the bible are documented in archeological discoveries. The Bible doesn’t promise you a good feeling; it promises the reality of experiencing God today. The Bible answers the question of the origins of life, the purpose of life, morality and the destiny of life. These are fundamental questions we all have in one way or another.

Still don’t believe me? Wonderful! Certainly don’t take my word for it. If you do, you will certainly believe anything out there. The Word of God, the Bible, will stand the test of scrutiny. And anything that demands your complete surrender, demands your scrutiny. Read the Bible for yourself and ask questions. Ask God in your own words to open your eyes to understand His word. The Bible will transform your life. If is doesn’t, after you sincerely seek the truth and are willing to go where ever it leads you, then take the path that most agrees with your reasoning.

For the word of God is living and full of power, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, cutting through and making a division even of the soul and the spirit, the bones and the muscles, and quick to see the thoughts and purposes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

Sanctify them in your truth. Your word is truth. (John 17:17, Psalm 119:142)