The Bible For Dummies

Several authors wrote these books, including Joshua and the Prophets Samuel, Ezra and Nehemiah between 1390 BC and 480 BC

It is here that we discover how the 12 tribes of Israel were comprised. They were the descendents of the sons of Jacob with the exception of the descendents of Levi who became the priests. How the the 12 Tribes were united under King David as one Kingdom but after the death of his Son Solomon it became the twin Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, or the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.

The historical books record how when God’s people were obedient they flourished and when they worshipped other gods and became disobedient God removed his blessings and they came under military oppression. You’d think after that had happened a few times they would have gotten the idea.

Eventually the ten tribes which made up Israel or the Northern Kingdom were conquered by the Assyrians and were scattered. If you ever hear people talking about the lost tribes these are the people and there are many theories about what happened to them including that they populated the British Isles or alternately that they eventually crossed the seas and became the people who we refer to as the First Nations or Native Americans.

A couple of centuries after Israel had been conquered the Kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon and we read about the dispersing of the Jews, get it Judah – Jews, and how they eventually were allowed to return to their country. The book of Nehemiah records how the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt after having been destroyed by the Babylonians.

Familiar bible stories from the Historical books are Joshua and the children of Israel marching around the city of Jericho for seven days and then the walls falling down. Samson the Judge with the long hair and how Delilah cut it and Samson lost his strength and was captured by the Philistines. I’m sure most of you know the story of David and Goliath, where the shepherd boy defeated the giant champion of the Philistines with just a sling and five stones. Later we read how David became king and how he committed adultery with his neighbour’s beautiful wife Bathsheba and later we read of his repentance. We discover David and Bathsheba’s son Solomon assumed the throne and built the temple of Solomon to God’s glory.

It’s here we read about the prophet Elijah and his student Elisa and their exploits. Of Ruth the grandmother of David and how she found love, of Esther and how she became the Queen of Persia and saved the Jews who were exiled there from being killed. By the way out interest sake God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. If you like trivia then here’s another one for you Ezra 7:21 is said to contain every letter in the alphabet with the exception of J.

The next group of books are called Poetry & Wisdom Literature This section contains the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs. And they are exactly what they are called, books made up of poetry in the case of the Psalms and Song of Solomon and the wisdom included in the books of Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.