We use cookies to collect general visitor statistics but not personal information. Privacy policy

Bible books - the Historical books

Bible overview
Bible books from Joshua to Esther.
Contributed by Phillip Martin
1
The Historical Books record the events of Israel's history, beginning with the book of Joshua and the nation's entry into the Promised Land until the time of its return from exile some 1,000 years later. – Slide 1
2
Joshua. <br/>Moses’ successor, Joshua, leads the children of Israel across the Jordan River (parted miraculously by God) and into Canaan. God overthrows the city of Jericho by knocking its walls down. Joshua leads the people in a successful campaign to conquer the whole of Canaan. With a few exceptions, the Israelites remain faithful to their promise to keep their covenant with God, and God blesses them with military victories. After the land is subdued, the Israelites divide Canaan into separate territories, giving each of the tribes of Israel a lasting inheritance. – Slide 2
3
Judges. <br/>Joshua dies, and, almost immediately, the people begin to turn away from the God who had blessed them. Rather than driving out all the land’s inhabitants, they allow some of the Canaanites to survive, and the Israelites begin to worship the gods of the Canaanites. True to the terms of the covenant, God sends enemies to oppress His people. The suffering they endure causes them to repent, and God responds by sending leaders to rally the people and defeat the enemies, bringing peace to the land again. This cycle is repeated several times over a span of about 300 years. – Slide 3
4
Ruth. <br/>During the time of the judges, a famine strikes the land, and a man of Bethlehem takes his family out of Israel to live in Moab. There, he and his two sons die. His widow, Naomi, returns to Israel along with one of her daughters-in-law, a Moabitess named Ruth. Back in Bethlehem, the two women face hardship, and Ruth gathers what food she can by gleaning in a barley field owned by a man named Boaz. Ruth is noticed by Boaz, and he gives her extra help. Since Boaz is related to Naomi’s late husband, he has the legal opportunity to redeem the family property and raise up an heir in the name of the deceased. Ruth asks Boaz to do just that, and Boaz agrees. He marries Ruth and purchases the property that had belonged to Naomi. Boaz and Ruth become the great-grandparents of Israel’s greatest king, David. – Slide 4
5
1 Samuel. <br/>Samuel is born to a barren woman, who later becomes Israel’s final judge. The people demand a king and the Lord directs Samuel to grant their request. Samuel anoints Saul as the first king. Saul starts out well, but he soon begins to act in proud disobedience. When God rejects Saul as king He instructs Samuel to anoint David as Saul’s successor. David becomes famous in Israel for slaying Goliath. Saul grows jealous and begins to pursue David who takes refuge in the wilderness. Saul and his sons are killed in a battle with the Philistines. <br/>2 Samuel. <br/>David is crowned king and after a brief civil war, all the tribes of Israel unite under his leadership. The capital is moved to Jerusalem. God makes a promise to David that a son of his will rule on the throne forever. David obeys God and has victories over foreign enemies. Sadly, David falls into the sin of adultery and murder. God pronounces judgment on David’s house, and trouble begins. Absalom then plots to overthrow David but is eventually killed in battle. David disobeys God and takes a census, a sin for which God sends judgment on the nation. – Slide 5
6
1 Kings. <br/>King David dies and Solomon takes the throne and is blessed by God with great wisdom, riches, and honour. He oversees the building and dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. Later, Solomon turns to serve other gods. After Solomon’s death, his son Rehoboam takes the throne, but his foolish choices lead to a civil war. The nation is divided, Rehoboam remains king of the southern kingdom, and Jeroboam is crowned king of the ten tribes to the north. Through the years, David’s dynasty in the southern kingdom occasionally produces a godly king but most are wicked. The northern kingdom is led by an unbroken series of wicked rulers, including the idolatrous Ahab and his wife Jezebel, during whose reign God sends a drought to punish Israel, along with a mighty prophet, Elijah, to point the people back to God. <br/>2 Kings. <br/>Elijah is taken to heaven and Elisha takes his place as God’s prophet in Israel. Wicked kings rule in both nations, with the exception, in Judah, of a few reformers such as Hezekiah and Josiah. Israel’s persistent idolatry finally exhausts God’s patience, and He brings the Assyrians against them to conquer the people of Israel. Later, God brings the Babylonians against Judah as a judgment, and Jerusalem is destroyed. – Slide 6
7
1 Chronicles. <br/>A genealogy traces God’s people from Adam to the kingdom years, with a focus on David’s family. The rest of the book covers much of the same material as 1 and 2 Samuel, with an emphasis on the life of David. <br/>2 Chronicles. <br/>This book covers much the same material as 1 and 2 Kings, with an emphasis on David’s dynasty in Judah. The book begins with the construction of the temple under Solomon, and it ends with the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians, with a proclamation, in the last few verses, that the temple would be rebuilt. – Slide 7
8
Ezra. <br/>After 70 years of captivity in a foreign land, the people of Judah are allowed to return to their homeland to rebuild. A descendant of David named Zerubbabel, together with some priests, begins to rebuild the temple. Political opposition to the rebuilding forces a halt in construction for about 15 years. But then the work continues, encouraged by two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah. About 57 years after the temple is completed, Ezra the scribe arrives in Jerusalem, bringing with him about 2,000 people, including priests and Levites to serve in the temple. Ezra finds that the people living in Judah have lapsed into sin, and he calls the people to repentance and a return to the law of God. – Slide 8
9
Nehemiah. <br/>About 14 years after Ezra’s arrival in Jerusalem, Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer in Persia, learns that the walls of Jerusalem are in a state of disrepair. Nehemiah travels to Jerusalem and oversees the construction of the city walls. He is opposed by enemies of the Jews, who try to thwart the work with various tactics, but the wall is finished with God’s blessings in time to observe the Feast of Tabernacles. Ezra reads the book of the law publicly, and the people of Judah rededicate themselves to following it. The book of Nehemiah begins with sadness and ends with singing and celebration. – Slide 9
10
Esther. <br/>Some exiled Jews have opted not to return to Jerusalem and have stayed in Persia instead. Xerxes, the king of Persia, chooses as his new queen a young woman named Esther. Esther is a Jewess, but she keeps her ethnicity secret at the behest of her cousin Mordecai, who has raised her. A high-ranking official in the kingdom, a man named Haman, plots a genocide against all the Jews in the kingdom, and he receives the king’s permission to carry out his plan—neither he nor the king knowing that the queen is Jewish. Through a series of divinely directed, perfectly timed events, Haman is killed, Mordecai is honoured, and the Jews are spared, with Queen Esther being instrumental in it all. – Slide 10
11
Slide 11