Old Testament Summary

Reading the Old Testament can be challenging sometimes, because it is not always chronological and it contains a variety of genres. That can make it difficult at times to understand the context or the purpose of a particular passage. A few years ago a teenager who was leading a Bible study during lunch at his high school asked me to summarize the story of the Old Testament so he and his peers could get a better understanding what the books are about. Here is the summary I put together for them:

• God created the universe
• Mankind rebelled so God sent the Flood
• Noah’s family began repopulating the world
• God called Abram (aka Abraham ) to begin a new nation
• The Patriarchs were the first fathers of the nation of Israel: Abraham, Issac, Jacob
• Jacob (aka Israel) and his twelve sons moved to Egypt with their families
• While enslaved in Egypt for 400 years, the family became a nation
• Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and through the wilderness where they received the Law
• The nation of Israel settled in the Promised Land
• For 400 years they were led by judges
• After the judges, they had three kings: Saul, David, Solomon
• The nation divided in 930 BC: ten northern tribes were Israel and two southern tribes were Judah
• Prophets warned the people about their continued rebellion, but the prophets were usually ignored
• Assyria destroyed Israel in 725 BC and the ten tribes were lost forever
• Babylon destroyed the Temple and took much of Judah into captivity in 586 BC
• Some who had been exiled in Babylon returned to Jerusalem (capital of Judah) and rebuilt the wall and the Temple

Here is a simple summary of the timeline: Creation — Flood — Patriarchs — Egypt — Law — Wilderness — Promised Land — Judges — Kings — Exile — Return

I have also prepared a document that lists each book of the Old Testament and gives a short, one paragraph explanation of why it was written and where it falls in the story described above. If you are interested, you can find that document at this link: https://wacorba-sites.s3.amazonaws.com/fbcwest/2024/01/15112910/Overview-of-The-Bible.docx