Concise Survey of
THE OLD TESTAMENT

And How It Contrasts With the New Testament


Lesson One
Orientation
DAY ONE:
1.�������� The Bible is divided into two parts.� The Old Testament starts with the creation and covers about 4000 years.� The New Testament starts with the birth of Christ and covers about 100 years.� Hebrews 9:1&15 substitutes the word covenant for testament, but explains the difference:� "Now the ________ covenant [testament] had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary....Christ is the mediator of a ___________ covenant [testament]."
����������� Hebrews 9:16 explains that "in the case of a ____________, it is necessary to prove the _______________________ of the one who made it."� It goes on to explain that the death of animals on altars in the O.T. made the O.T. valid, and the death of Jesus in the N.T. made the N.T. valid.
2.�������� The Bible is made up of 66 smaller books, some named after a major event, some named after the writer, and some named after the person to whom it was written.� Many of these small books started out as letters to followers of God in certain cities.
����������� In the Table of Contents of your Bible, place brackets around the following and identify what they cover:
�������������������������������������������������������������������������� OLD   TESTAMENT
5   books Genesis   - Deuteronomy Law   & Pre-History of Jews 4000   - 1400 BC
12   books Joshua   - Esther History   of the Jews 1400   - 450 BC
5   books Job   - Song of Songs Poetry 3000   - 1000 BC
5   books Isaiah   - Daniel Major   Prophets (long books) 700   - 530 BC
12   books Hosea   - Malachi Minor   Prophets (short books) 750   - 430 BC
������������������������������������������������������������������������� NEW   TESTAMENT
4   books Matthew   - John Life   of Christ 4   BC - 29 AD
1   book Acts   of the Apostles History   of 1st Century Church 29   - 65 AD
21   books Romans   - Jude Letters   of the Apostles 50   - 90 AD
1   book Revelation Prophecy 95   AD
����������� Just as people go through life stages, mankind has also, as reflected in the Bible.� Another way to look at it is that the whole story of the Bible is how mankind has tried in every possible way to be sinless, and we could never get it right.� Then Jesus came to do it for us ~ be perfect in our place.
INFANCY One rule to live by Genesis Garden of Eden
Mankind crawled out of the cradle (Eden)
Don't cry too much
TODDLER A   few rules to live by Genesis Up to death of Abraham's great grandsons
Mankind started exploring & getting   into a little trouble.
PRE-ADOLESCENCE Approx. 600 rules to live by - Law of Moses World   population built up.� Divided into   nations.� Uncivilized.� Torture, human sacrifices, etc.
Exodus - Joshua
Organized Religion
������ NOTE:�   God never runs ahead of mankind.�   He deals with us where we are, even when we're barbaric.
ADOLESCENCE Rebellion Kings and We invented gods of our own liking.
Chronicles We broke every one of God's rules, plus   laws of common decency.
Run-ins   with Authority Isaiah  - Malachi Warned Jews and surrounding countries.
All acting self-destructive.
Today, they no longer exist or they are   small & powerless:� Babylon,   Persia, Media, Moab, Edom, Israel, Egypt, Greece, Italy.
YOUNG   ADULTHOOD Apprenticeship Matthew   - John God   sent his Son to SHOW US how to live and keep those 600 laws.
Graduate Acts Transition   from life of rules to honor system.
ADULTHOOD Self-Motivator Romans   - Revelation Explains   godly life on spiritually adult level.
����������� This survey is in historical order.� Since the poetry and prophecy books were written intermittently during the historical period of I and II Kings (and its near duplicate I and II Chronicles,) the books of poetry and prophecy will be inserted where they appear in history.
����������� Because this survey includes contracts between the Old and New Testaments, and therefore jumps around the Bible sometimes, you may wish to photocopy the Table of Contents of your Bible.� You can use any Bible version you like, but the questions were worded from the New International Version (NIV).
3.�������� If we don't live under the Old Testament laws any more, why study it?
����������� a.�������� 1 Corinthians 10:11 - "These things happened to them as ______________________ and were written down as ____________________________ for _____________.� So, if you ________________ you are ________________ firm, be careful that you don't ____________________."
����������� b.�������� Galatians 3:24 - (Look this up in the King James Version if possible.)� "Wherefore the ____________ was� our __________________________________________ to bring us unto Christ."
����������� c.�������� James 5:10 - "As an example of _____________ in the face of ___________________, take the ____________ who spoke in the name of the Lord."
4.�������� Another reason to study the O.T. is that it provides proof that....
����������� a.�������� The Bible is true������������������� Because of the many prophecies of nations and events that came true hundreds of                                                                              years after being made.
����������� b.�������� Jesus is the Son of God�������� Because of the many prophecies his life fulfilled hundreds of years after being made.
Pre-Jewish History

Genesis
1:26���� Only after creating the world and all in it did God create what? _______________�� (NOTICE God said, "Let US," the first indication of the Godhead.)
2:14���� Among the rivers flowing through the Garden of Eden were the ___________________ and _______________________.� These rivers are in Iraq today.
3:3������ In mankind's infancy, apparently they could communicate with animals more than today.� Who entered the serpent and spoke to Eve (hint:� Revelation 12:9)?� ____________
3:2, 6�� (Also v. 2) Compare what Satan claimed God said with what God actually said.� In 2:17 God said they must not eat from the tree of the ________________ of _______________________________________________
����������� or they will _____________________.� But Satan added:� "You must not ____________________ it."� Do you think Satan influences people today to add to God's Word things God did not say? ______________
3:9������ God could not find Adam and Eve.� They had died in what way (see Ephesians 2:1-5)?� _________________
3:15���� This is the first prophecy that God will someday send someone to save us from our sins, His Son, Jesus Christ.� God told Eve, "I will put ___________________________ _________________________ you and the woman, Satan's _____________________ and her offspring."� In what way was this fulfilled (see Hebrews 2:14)? ________________ ________________________________________________
DAY TWO:
4:1-2��� Who were Adam and Eve's first sons? ________________ ___________________________________
4:8������ One of those sons became the first m__________________ out of jealousy.
6:2������ After several centuries, the sons of God married the daughters of men.� Were these sons of God angels?� (See below)� ______________
����������� Look up Mark 12:25.� Can and do angels marry? _____________
����������� Look up Hebrews 1:5.� Did God ever call the angels his sons?� _____
����������� Look up Genesis 6:1 and 34:16.� Who were the daughters of men?
����������� Look up 2 Corinthians 6:18.� Who did God consider his daughters? __________________
����������� Look up Genesis 4:26 and Hosea 1:10.� Who did God consider his sons? ______________
7:7������ Did Noah try to get others to believe God and be saved on the ark (Hint:� 2 Peter 2:5)? �________________� But how many ended up being saved (see also 5:32)?� ___________
7:11���� How old was Noah when the rains began?� ________________� How old was he went the earth was dry enough to leave the ark (8:13-15)?� _______________� __________________________________________
����������� Look at 1 Peter 3:20-21.� What did the rain water falling down on Noah and the flood water rising up beneath Noah eventually symbolize?� _____________________________
11:31�� One of Noah's descendants through his oldest son, Shem, was Terah who had a son named _____________________, a daughter-in-law named __________________________, and a grandson named _______________________.� They lived in the city of ____ in Chaldea/Babylon/Iraq and moved to ________________________________________ in Syria.
18:18�� God prophecied to Abraham that his descendants will become a powerful ____________________.� What was that nation (see John 8:31 & 33)? ___________________
19:1,5� Sodom had become so evil that men roamed the streets at night looking for more men to have _________________ with.� (NOTE:� From this comes the word Sodomy).� Abraham's nephew, ______, lived here.� God would have spared the city had there been even _______ righteous people there (18:32).
22:2���� God told Abraham to take his ______________ son, Isaac, and ______________________ him as a burnt offering.� What does this remind you of (see John 3:16)? _______________________________________ ________________________________________________
����������� What did Abraham believe God would do once Isaac was dead (Hebrews 11:17-19)?� _________________________.�
22:12f� Instead, what took Isaac's place?� ____________________� What does that remind you of (see John 1:29)? _________ ________________________________________________
About the time of Abraham, there was another famous man living in the area of today's Arabia.� His name was Job.� He was not a Jew, but he loved God anyway.�
DAY THREE:
Job
1:2f����� Job had ___________ sons and _____________ daughters, was very wealthy, and was the greatest man of the _____________.
1:6������ There was only one Son of God in heaven, Jesus.� Were angels ever called sons of God (see Hebrews 1:5)?� ____________� Therefore, who were the sons of God (see 2 Corinthians 6:1 & 18)?� __________________________
����������� Do you think Satan is ever present during our worship services?� __________________________
1:7������ What does Satan do as he goes ______________________ and __________________ through the earth (see 1 Peter 5:8)? ______________________ __________________________________________________
1:10f��� Satan claimed Job only worshipped God because God had blessed the __________________ of his hands (materialistic viewpoint).� He also claimed that Job would blame God if his material wealth was destroyed.� Did God believe this?� ______________� (Loss of material goods is not a major loss to the spiritually minded.)
1:14f��� The Sabeans attacked and carried off what of Job's possessions?� __________________________� Who did they kill?� ______________________
1:16���� What did lightning kill?� ___________________________
1:17���� What did the Chaldeans (today's Iraq) carry off? ________ _____________________________________
1:19���� What did the cyclone destroy?� ______________________
1:21���� What did Job say to all this?� _____________ ________________________________________________
1:22���� Job did not sin by charging _______________ for this.� He did not sin with his mouth.� But he could still be a better man, as indicated at the end of the book.
DAY FOUR:
2:1������ Satan not only has access to God's worshippers on earth, but he also has access to his worshippers in ____________
2:4������ Satan said that if he could strike Job with a fatal illness, Job would do what to God?� ___________________ ________________________________________________
2:7������ So Job was afflicted with ________ from the soles of his _______________ to the top of his _____________.� (NOTE:� It is believed that he had a form of leprosy.)
2:9������ Job's wife said, "_____________ God and die."� However, the word translated "curse" here is barak in Hebrew and is translated some 300 times elsewhere in the Old Testament as "bless."� It is my opinion that she was saying, "Give in to God's will if he wants you in heaven now.� I'll be okay."
2:10���� Although Job thought she was talking like a ___________� woman, he himself said he wanted to die on numerous occasions after this.
NOTE:� Most of the rest of the book is made up of three of Job's friends trying to get him to admit to some sin as proof that was why he was suffering.� Job always argued with them.� Finally a fourth friend figured it out.
3:25���� How strong are our fears?� Job said, "What I ___________ has come upon me; what I _______________________ has happened to me."� Do you think sometimes God allows us to face our fears head on so we can become stronger?� ____
13:15�� Job told his friends, "Though he [God] ________________ me, yet will I __________________ in him."
14:14�� Job believed in an afterlife.� "If a man _______________, will he live ______________?� I will wait for my _______ ______________________ to come."
19:17f� Job's illness was taking its toll.� "My ________________ is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers....I am nothing but _______________ and _______________."
23:8f��� "If I go to the __________________, he is not there; if I go to the _________________, I do not find him.� When he is at work in the __________________, I do not see him; when he turns to the ______________________, I catch no glimpse of him.� BUT he _____________________ the way I take; when he has ______________________ me, I will come forth as ______________________."
DAY FIVE:
26:7���� Here's a scientific fact that people did not know then, a proof that the Bible was written by God:� God "spreads out the northern skies over ______________________________ space."� Scientists say that there are no stars in the northern sky at all.� "He _______________________________ the earth over __________________________."� At that time, people commonly thought the earth was held up by a god or something else.
28:5���� Another scientific fact:� What is inside the earth?� ______________________� Could early man have known this?� ________
29:25�� Job dwelt as a ___________________________.
30:30f� Job's illness worsened.� His skin was now ______________ and was _________________________.� He was hot with ___________________________.� His harp (vocal cords) were weak.
31:1���� A message to modern men:� Job made a ______________ with his _______________ not to look ________________ at other women.
35:7���� Finally, Job's youngest friend figured out the problem.� He asked Job who had been defending how righteous he is, "If you ______, how does that affect him [God]?� If you are __________________, what do you _________________ to him [God], or what does he _____________________ from your hand?"� Job and his friends have been centering their attention on how good and bad man is instead of God.
37:19f� Elihu's conclusion:� Quit trying to figure out God.� You are not on his level intellectually.� "We cannot draw up our [court] __________________ because of our [intellect's] ____________________....The Almighty is ___________________ our reach."
38:18f� Finally God spoke to Job and asked where he was when he created the world.� "Have you _____________________ the vast expanses of the earth?� _____________ me, if you _______________ all this."
38:24�� Another scientific fact:� The light is divided into different colors.
40:2���� God continues to question.� "Will the one who _________ with the Almighty ______________________ him?"
40:8���� "Would you _______________________________ my justice?� Would you ______________________ me to justify ______________________________?"� Do we do this to God even today?� _______________
DAY SIX:
42:5���� Finally Job concludes from all his trials that he was good, but could be a lot better.� "My ______________ had heard of you, but now my _______________________ have seen you.� Therefore I _________________ myself and ____________________ in dust and ashes."
42:10�� Afterwards, Job recovered and God made him __________ ____________________________ with ______________ as much as he had before.
Genesis
25:20�� Who did Isaac marry?� _____________________________
25:24f� They had __________ sons named ____________________ and _______________________.
26:4���� God repeated his promise formerly given to Abraham, and now to Isaac, that through his offspring all _____________ _______________________ on earth will be ___________.
29:27f� Jacob grew up and married sisters, ___________________ and _______________________.
32:28�� Years later, God changed Jacob's name to� _____________.
35:23f� Name the twelve sons of Jacob/Israel:
�________________________, _______________________, ________________________, _______________________,

________________________, _______________________, ________________________, _______________________,

________________________, _______________________, ________________________, _______________________.
����������� Eventually they had families so large, each family was called a tribe.� Hence, the Twelve Tribes of Jacob/Israel.
37:28�� One of his sons, _________________________, was sold by his ________________________ and taken away to ____________________________ when he was 17 years old.
41:41�� When Joseph was 30, Pharaoh made him second in command of all of __________________________.
46:27�� When this happened, Joseph sent for his father and brothers and their families to come live in Egypt.� How many went there?� ___________________
49:10�� Before Jacob/Israel died, he gave a prophecy to one of his sons, Judah:� "The __________________ will not depart from Judah....until he comes to whom it belongs."� Who was he predicting this special king should be some day (see Hebrews 1:8)?� _______________________________� What tribe (son of Jacob/Israel) did Jesus belong to (see Matthew 1:2)?� _______________________________
If you are studying with a group, Day Seven will be the day you meet together.
If you have questions or comments about this or any other lesson, why not join the Godfind Discussion Group?
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