Israel's covenant history
The books of the Old Testament from Genesis to Esther record stories. The stories tell the history of the people of Israel. The history starts being told from when God created the world. The history stops being told around the year 400 BC.
The stories show how important God's covenants are. God made a covenant with Noah. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jacob's family line. God made a covenant with the people of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai. This was after God freed them from being slaves in Egypt. The Mount Sinai covenant included many laws. The stories about these covenants are recorded in the first five books of the Bible. The laws are recorded there also. That is why the books from Genesis to Deuteronomy are called the Law of Moses. They are also called the Torah or the Pentateuch.
The books from Joshua through Esther tell more stories about the people of Israel. They tell about God's people starting to live in the land of Canaan. They tell about the kings who led Israel. One of those kings was David. God made a covenant with David and the kings from his family line. The stories in these books tell about the nation of Israel dividing into two kingdoms. They tell about the Assyrian government taking control of the northern kingdom. They tell about the Babylonian government taking control of the southern kingdom. They tell about some of God's people returning to the land of Canaan. They returned when the time of exile was over.
Throughout all these events, God always remained faithful to his covenants with his people.
Genesis
What is the book of Genesis?
Genesis is an account of the beginning of the world and of the nation of Israel. Genesis is recorded as a collection of stories. These were passed down within Israelite and Jewish families for hundreds of years.
It's thought that Moses wrote some of these stories down. It's thought that he wrote them down between the years 1450 and 1410 BC.
Other parts of Genesis were written down by other Israelites.
Who was this book written for?
For the people of Israel.
Why was Genesis written?
To describe the beginning of creation, human beings, sin, salvation and the people of Israel. In the Greek language the word Genesis means beginning.
To show that God is the Creator of all life.
Main ideas
God is good. He created a good world.
Sin is evil. The result of sin is death.
God is committed to blessing his world and saving it from sin, death and evil. He established covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their families. These covenants were part of God's plan of blessing and salvation.
Outline
The beginning of creation, human beings and sin (1–3).
The story of Adam and Eve's family (4–5).
The story of Noah and his family (6–11).
The story of Abraham and his family (12:1–25:18).
The story of Isaac and his family (25:19–28:9).
The story of Jacob and his family (28:10–36:43).
The story of Joseph and his family (37–50).