Isaiah
Aug 31, 2010 Old Testament Book Summaries
As we hit different Old Testament books in the Text Project, I post little summaries here on my blog. If you are too lazy to read, here’s a video version for ya:
Isaiah
Author
Isaiah, a prophet
Date
Somewhere around 700 BC
Theme
God always has his people, even if everyone else is walking away. In Isaiah, we see the prophet calling God’s people (particularly those of the nation / tribe of Judah) to repentance. He is reminding them that God will be faithful to judge them because of their rebellion and that he will be equally faithful to fulfill his unconditional covenant with Abraham. That means he will eventually give them back the land God had promised Israel forever.
Isaiah shifts into future mode in the end of the book, describing in prophetic form Jesus’ atoning work on the cross and the coming Kingdom (which we still wait for today).
What this book teaches me about Jesus
This book is a great picture that God judges and saves. You can see Jesus all over this book if you just look for him.
Random Thoughts
Isaiah 53 is perhaps one of the most famous prophecies about Jesus, but you’ll find lots of other familiar verses as you read through this book.
Tags: bible, old testament
Job
Aug 11, 2010 Old Testament Book Summaries
Over a year ago, I was blogging my way through the Old Testament and I stopped. I figure I will periodically pick it up again as we encounter various books in the Text Project. Since we are reading through Job right now, I figured I’d start here.
Job
Author
Nobody, this side of heaven, can identify the author of this book.
Date
Experts are all over on this one, just like with the Authorship. Some place Job way back to 2000BC, some in the 6th century BC, and some in the 3rd century BC. The only thing for certain is that you can’t be dogmatic on your view.
Theme
You think you know suffering? You know nothing of suffering. Job was just about as close to perfect as a man can get. He was a moral, upstanding, godly individual and his life fell apart. In the matter of minutes, he loses a huge fortune and a large loving family.
His response is to ask God “why?” This is a good thing. Then he eventually turns to demanding an answer from God. This is not a good thing. God sets him straight.
There’s also a great set of dialogue between Job and his wife, as well as Job and his friends. Pretty much everyone blames Job or God, but he won’t go there.
What this book teaches me about Jesus
Like Jesus himself said, “God sends rain on the righteous and unrighteous alike.” Suffering happens to all of us, no matter of “good” we think we are. But Jesus came and suffered the most, even though he deserved it the least.
Random Thoughts
Job is a masterpiece of literature. The author is a literary genius, he is well versed in science and human nature as well. If you can pull it off, sit down and read it straight through in one sitting.
Tags: bible, job, old testament, suffering
Old Testament Timeline
Mar 30, 2009 Old Testament Book Summaries
This past weekend at Riv, I promised that I would post the timeline of the Old Testament I shared with everyone. For some reason, I had a real hard time finding one of these online so I figured this may be a good resource for you.
Click here to download a printable PDF version.
Tags: old testament
