Good morning and welcome back to the 5MC. This morning I welcome the distinct privilege of ringing in the start of our study of the Old Testament. Before just launching into Genesis, I thought that I would take some time and present a brief overview.
When compared to the New Testament the Old Testament really does get second billing. The Old Testament is full of really old people, strange laws and customs, long, hard to pronounce names, wars and places we’ve never heard of (most that don’t even exist anymore.) The OT constitutes about 2/3 of the entire Bible which means it is big, long and exhaustive. There are parts of the OT that even the most exhaustive Bible reader has never even touched on. No wonder most people shy away from most of the Old Testament.
In order to better understand the OT, let’s look at some facts about it:
> Out of the 66 books in the Bible, the Old Testament holds 39 or 60%.
> The word "testament" means “covenant” or “contract”, hence it is the “old covenant” that existed between God and man before Jesus arrived in the NT.
> There are roughly 21 known authors of the OT. For many books, the author is not known.
> Moses wrote the most books of any author with five. He wrote the first 5 books of the OT, called the “Pentateuch” or “five books.”
> The OT was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Koine Greek.
> The OT contains the longest book in the entire Bible, Jeremiah (33,002 words) and also the longest verse in the Bible, Esther 8:9.
> The OT spans approximately 4000 years from beginning to end. (3969BC to the birth of Jesus)
> The OT contains 5 of the 7 Bible genres. Prophecy, poetry, history, narrative and wisdom. It only lacks gospels (as Jesus had not yet come) and epistles (letters).
> The OT contains 929 chapters and 23,214 verses which is approximately 622,700 words (depending on your translation)
I think that because Jesus is physically absent in human form from the OT that most people tend to give it the backseat treatment. But did you ever stop to think about why God have us more of the OT than the NT? It’s kinda funny, we camp out in the smallest part of God’s Word when the other 2/3 usually only gets studied when the Sunday School teachers drags us into it (and we all give a long sigh).
The OT does not have to be a long winded, foreign book that seems like it has no application to our lives. It is an extremely relevant, applicable collection of everything that we need to become well rounded, properly educated Christians. I love the gospels and the epistles as much as anybody but if I spend all my time there and neglect history, prophesy and law, it will result in me having a very lopsided experience with God’s Word. (and God Himself)
I will however be attacking the OT in a different manner than I did many of the NT books, especially Revelation. Revelation, being the only book of prophecy in the NT, it required a very exhaustive and intense study. It’s just what was required to get a thorough understanding of the book. Revelation was a commentary type study which is a verse by verse analysis of the entire book. I will not be doing that with the OT, it would just simply be to long for me to write (and you to read!)
So, as I start Genesis chapter 1 tomorrow morning, I will approach it as more of a “topical” study like I did through much of the NT. I will read my study chapter (which takes me about 5 minutes), study the background of the chapter, and then I will expound upon not the entire chapter but about one or two verses that God speaks to me about. This is much more indicative of the journaling process which I encourage in the 5MC process.
Speaking of, I highly encourage each of you to play along and do the same thing. As you read your 5 minutes each day, take an few extra minutes and write down something that God spoke to you about. It can just be a few sentences. You’ll be surprised at what happens when you put your thoughts from God down on paper.
Well, I am excited to start our study tomorrow morning. I spent one full year in the NT so if my math is right, this will put us in the OT for at least 18 months. And as always, God has gone before me. As I started teaching the Early Birds class at church a few month ago, guess where we started out? Yep, you guessed it, the setup and the exodus of the Israelites, in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth. The first 8 books of the OT. God prepared me for this study before I even knew it was coming!
Join me tomorrow as we start out possibly the most known words in the entirety of God’s Word…”In the beginning.”
God bless your day and God bless your journey to grow closer to Him through time in His Word daily.
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