College Press OT Survey: The Pentateuch

For those who have found the Pentateuch to be difficult and tedious, these pages will be a delight! The Pentateuch is a collection of writings that changed the course of human history unlike anything until the advent of Christianity itself.

Moses compiled the Pentateuch from the very words of God. The entire Judeo-Christian system of salvation springs from this amazing record of beginnings. The Pentateuch contains the foundational revelation of the Bible. Mastery of these books in God's Word is an essential part of Christian education. No more adequate textbook has been written to introduce this portion of the Bible.

Trace your spiritual roots and discover for yourself how marvelous God's eternal plan really is!

College Press OT Survey: The Books of History

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.

College Press OT Survey: The Wisdom Literature and Psalms

The poetic books have certain characteristics which set them apart from the other books of the Bible.

• First, these books are almost entirely written in Hebrew poetry.
• Second, they are not historically oriented.
• Third, these books deal with issues which are of universal concern to mankind.From the dawn of history human minds have grappled with such issues as suffering, love, and the brevity and meaning of human life.
• Fourth, direct divine speech is rare.
• Fifth, in treating these difficult topics, these books exhibit boldness and honesty.

College Press OT Survey: The Major Prophets

The Major Prophets is the forth volume of a solid, concise study through the Old Testament. This volume covers Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.

During the terrible days of the Babylonian captivity there was a group of men who put to writing a collection of visions, prophecies, and warnings that continue to fascinate and horrify Bible students even now, some two and one-half millennia later. The Major Prophets operating in Jerusalem and Babylon, saw and documented terrifying visions such as Jeremiah's Day of Disaster and the vision of Ezekiel's Gog and Magog. They witnessed true life horror such as the Writing on the Wall, faithful people cast into fiery furnaces and, of course, the infamous Lion's Den.

More importantly, they also saw visions of hope and salvation which were documented in the vision of the New Temple. Peering through the mists of time to the Messiah, their vision even pinpointed when Jesus would arrive. Without a doubt, theirs was a time of fantastic visions.

College Press OT Survey: The Minor Prophets

This volume in the Old Testament Survey Series is the fruit of some thirty years of teaching prophetic material. The goal was to synthesize the best research and express it in a way which would be understandable and usable by those who might be exploring the Minor Prophets for the first time.

The twelve authors of this collection preached and wrote at different periods ranging from the ninth to the fifth centuries BC. In this collection of books, are the earliest and latest prophetic testimonies concerning the future of the kingdom of God. Here also one can trace the development of that testimony. Taken together with the writings of the larger prophetic books, they constitute the essentials of the prophetic word to ancient Israel. Here are the warnings that both the northern and southern kingdoms would fall to foreign powers. Here are the pleas for repentance as the only mechanism which might postpone those destructions.

Here, also, the final touches are applied to the messianic portrait which began to emerge in rough sketch as early as the Garden of Eden. The spoken words of these mighty prophets were committed to writing in order that, when fulfilled, these predictions might prove to future generations the righteousness and faithfulness of Yahweh.