Do you like reading the bible? Is it fun or scary or weird, or sometimes just boring..?
As I mentioned last week the Old Testament is the collection of books (books within a book) that make up the first half of the bible. 'Testament' is another word for 'Covenant' do you guys remember us speaking about this at Youth Camp earlier in the year? A covenant is a sacred agreement, usually with God. Like when two people get married, they are making a very serious agreement with each other and to God in front of their family, friends and community. Same as when someone becomes a Soldier of The Salvation Army, another covenant or agreement to God... SO, the Old Testament tells the story of the agreements that God and humanity made many years ago. It's the history between God and people in the times before Jesus was born.
So who wrote this history book exactly..?
Many scholarly (and not so scholarly) people have debated this question over and over again for many many years. Traditionally people have argued that Moses (the guy who discovered the ten commandments) wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. The Psalms (which are like songs, if any of you like to write hiphop rhymes you should check out the Psalms for some old school anthems) are thought to be written by King David (the same David from David and Goliath). Proverbs and Song of Songs were written by King Solomon (the bible's true romantic). The historical books were written and compiled by various scribes (like the government officials who put out the census figures every five years or so). And the prophetic books (those describing the future) are usually thought to be written by whoever they are named after.What's important to remember is that it doesn't matter who wrote the bible as much as what the bible says.
There are 39 books in the Old Testament, feel free to check them out for yourself.
The first five books of the Old Testament are called the Pentateuch (Pen-ta-took) or 'The Law'. The Pentateuch tells the familiar creation stories such as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham (and Sarah), Isaac and Jacob, Joseph (the one with the rainbow coat, not the Father of Jesus), Moses and the exodus from Egypt, the wandering in the desert and the presentation of the Hebrew 'Law'.
The History Books tell the war stories and political strife of Joshua, the Judges, King David, King Solomon, the division of the kingdom, the battles, the slavery and exile of the Jewish people. So if you're into war stories, blood and guts, these are the books for you.
The Poetry books contain the poems, worship and thoughts of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.
The Prophetic books tell the stories and writings of the people who spoke for God's will in times of trouble. There are the Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel) and the Minor prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah and Malachi).
What's so special about the Old Testament anyway?
The Salvation Army has a number of doctrines that set out what we believe in, you can find them here the first one says;
We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.
So it's saying that we believe that the bible is inspired by God. This means that the Spirit of God moved amongst and within its various authors and editors to produce a series of books that accurately reflect humanity's experience with God.
Here's a tip;
What we call the Old Testament, the Jewish people call the Tanahk (pronounced Ta-nuk). If you are ever talking to a Jewish friend they may be offended if you call the Tanahk the 'Old Testament'. Maybe a good way to talk from a Jewish point of view is to use the terms 'Tanahk' or 'the First Covenant'. It may be helpful to refer to the New Testament as the 'New Covenant' or the 'Gentile Covenant'.
...And here's a warning;
There is a lot of war, murder, animal sacrifice and perverted sex in the Old Testament (they were cah-razy times). This is because it tells the story of humanity's sin and God's struggle to meet us and work with us in those times. There is also great worship, poetry, prophecy and wisdom to read as well. If the dark parts are hard to understand, maybe spend some time researching them or talking to your leaders or Corps Officers about them.
The Old Testament covers a massive part of God's history with humanity. It may be quite large and sometimes hard to read, but there are some great stories and the more we know about it, the more we know about Jesus and what He fulfilled. As follower of Jesus, we need to read it.
So, let me know;
What old Testament books have you read in the past?
What Old Testament books do you think you might like to read?
Can you think of a space in your week that you could set aside of Old Testament reading? Like maybe on the bus on the way home from school, or immediately when you get home from school instead of switching on the TV, read a chapter of the Old Testament?
Think about it, Pray about it! ***
