PART ONE
THE OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS
EXODUS
This is a law book, the second book in the Hebrew bible and is also one of the Torah books that are believed to have been authored by Moses himself. The book simply means the act of going out.
The main theme addressed in the book is all about the suffering of the Israelites and their departure from the land of Egypt to their promised land. The theme of salvation and theophany are manifested in this book whereby the meaning of God’s salvation history through actions that give identity to the Israelites where god saves Israel from slavery, the revelation at mount Sinai and the hope for a future life in the promised land. The Israelites are led by Moses through the wilderness in their journey to Mount Sinai where they had been Promised Land Canaan in return of their faithfulness. The heart of the book is the Sinaitic covenant where the lord meets with the Israelites and gives them the commandments which is basically the means by which he dwells with them and gives them peace. This book is partially a discussion of the Babylonian exile in the sixth century.
The Book of Exodus is one of the five books of the law. The major themes of this book include the protection that God provides for the Hebrews, his chosen people. The importance of obedience to God for the Hebrews is also a major theme. The main personalities are Moses, who led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, as well as his brother, Aaron, who was the first priest (and the first to build an idol among the Hebrews). Joshua, who would become the leader of the Hebrews as Moses aged, becomes a major personality later in the books of the law. The unnamed pharaoh who fights to keep the Hebrews in Egypt rounds out the list of personalities. The book begins with the escape from slavery, including the series of plagues that God brought onto the Egyptians as consequences for the pharaoh's refusal to let the Hebrews leave. It details much of the Hebrews' trip from the land of Goshen to their own Promised Land.
LEVITICUS
Leviticus is third book of the Hebrews bible and is one of the Pentateuch books or rather law books. The name is derived from the word Levites who were chosen priests who were responsible for ministering to different nations. It has many of the laws that god gave directly to his people.
One of the major themes which come out clearly in this book is holiness. In Leviticus 11:45, the lord says, ‘be holy because I am holy’. The instructions that are given to the Israelites showed that they were to walk before God as a holy people. This book was designed to teach the Israelites on how to worship and walk with God and basically how the nation as a whole was to fulfill its calling nature as a nation of priests.
The key people in the book are Moses and Aaron who are constantly involved in the issuance of the law as and directives to the Israelites. The key chapter in the book of Leviticus is chapter 16 which basically deals with the Day of Atonement. This is later became one of the most important day in the Hebrew calendar.
AMOS
Amos is one of the Old Testament texts that fall under the genre of minor prophetic writings that is believed to have been authored during the reign of king Jeroboam II in Israel a time between 793 and 753 BC. Amos was a contemporary prophet of Hosea.
The purpose of the book
The book of Amos is set a time when the Israelites have reached a lower devotion point, they have become greedy and are not following and conforming to their values. The wealthy are exploiting the poor farmers. God speaks to the Israelites through Amos who is a herder and instructs him to go and preach to the Samaritans which is the capital of the northern kingdom. Through Amos, God promises to judge the Israelites for its sins and this would only come through a foreign nation.
Theme of the book
The book focuses on Israel’s transgression. Another section of the book concerns majorly the visions that God gave to Amos as well as Amaziah’s rebuke of the prophets of God. The ideas of discipline and justice correspond to the central message in whatever is referred to as the book of Woes. The plagues that precede the chapters 5 and 6 are seen as acts of discipline that turned Israel back to the Lord.
The main theme or rather a central idea of the book of Amos is that God places his people at same levels as their neighbors and expects same purity to them all.
THE SONGS OF SOLOMON
This is a dramatic book that was apparently authored by Solomon. It is a story of courtship between the maiden of northern Palestine, of Galilee, with this perfect maiden coming finally to Jerusalem and then staying at Jerusalem, and recalls the courtship that Solomon has for her. She gets abandoned for her indigenous country of the north, and eventually returns. Solomon does not meet her any more despite the fact that she was one of his beloved wife. She hated all the concubines since she just wanted to be his and his only.
Solomon actually could not accept that since he wanted his other women too. This book present the characters of Solomon in different ways. For instance, we see Solomon as a man of God while on the other hand, he is also seen as a polygamist.
The third section is from 3:6 to 5:1. It gives the somber explanation of bringing the bride from Galilee to Jerusalem and her matrimony at Jerusalem with Solomon. Obviously her folks are there from Galilee.
The Book of Daniel is a book of prophecy in the Old Testament. There is significant controversy as to the historicity of this book, because the figures of Belshazzar and darius the Mede have been difficult to track down in historical records of the time period. For Christians, some of the events in the first half of the book are seen as foreshadowing certain events within the gospels. The apocalyptic part of the book (Chapter 7ff.) is said to be in parallel with portions of the Book of Revelation. Jesus connects the prophecy of a desolating sacrilege with the coming destruction of Jerusalem in Matthew 13. Therefore, while the themes of faith in God, as expressed in the story of the lions' den and the fiery furnace are important, there are several different levels at work in this book. This makes interpreting the book one of the more difficult hermeneutic tasks in the Judeo-Christian canon.
The Book of Ruth is a book of history from the Writings (in the Jewish canon). The main characters are Ruth, her mother-in-law Naomi and Boaz. Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, had left Israel during a time of famine with their sons, going to the land of Moab. While there, the sons married Moabite women (Ruth and Orpah). While in Moab, though, Naomi’s husband and sons all die, and finally Naomi decides to return to Israel and take up her old life. Ruth cleaves to her mother-in-law and says that she wants to return with her, also agreeing to accept the sovereignty of the God of the Israelites. The major themes involve the rewarding of faithfulness – Ruth is rewarded by her marriage to the kinsman-redeemer of the family, Boaz, who gives her (and Naomi) a comfortable existence that many widows in that time period would not have been able to have. The fact that Ruth and Boaz appear on the Davidic line shows that God rewards that faithfulness.
The Book of Job is a book of wisdom in the Old Testament. The central question, of course, is the reason behind the suffering of righteous people. This book details one of the most difficult stories to explain in the entire New Testament, as Satan and God basically wager about whether or not a righteous man is going to turn his back on God even when suffering begins. Satan is allowed to kill Job's family (except for his wife) and take away his material possessions. When that doesn't cause Job to curse God, Satan is even allowed to affect Job's health negatively (although he is not allowed to kill Job); as a result, Job gets a case of boils that are so bothersome that he sits in ashes and scratches himself with pottery. Ultimately, Job does not turn his back on God; some of the major themes include Job's enduring righteousness as well as the error that his friends made by assuming that Job had earned his suffering in some way.
PART TWO
THE NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS
MATTHEW
The book of Matthew is a Gospel that majorly contains the narration histories, genealogy, sermons and the prophetic oracles. It was apparently by Levi who was a disciple of Christ. The main theme in the book of Mathew is the Kingdom and it has been used up to 28 times. The major characters involved in the text are The Messiah, his parents Mary and Joseph, the twelve disciples, John the Baptist and leaders such as Pilate and the Pharisees.
Mathew is a synoptic gospel book. The book mainly was written to present Jesus as the messiah.. It was also written to convince the Jews that indeed Christ was the long awaited Messiah as evident in various chapters of the book. Chapters 1 through to 4 deals with the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus and the events that surrounded his early life. This involves the commonly told Christmas story and the genealogy of Jesus which traces back to Abraham.
In Chapters 26-28, the death and resurrection of Jesus is reviewed. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the genesis of salvation to mankind. This is a central theme of salvation through faith in the complete works of Jesus Christ. Salvation is only possible through death and resurrection.
JOHN
The book of John is a gospel book containing narratives, sermons, parables and a few prophetic oracles. This book was written by Apostle John. The key personalities are Jesus, Lazarus, Martha and Mary among others.
Chapter 1 is basically a preliminary of the coming of the messiah where he gives clear evidence that Jesus is more than just a man. John describes the word as Jesus who came to live among the believers.
The last supper, an event just a short while before Jesus is killed is found in chapters 13-17 and Jesus teaches about many important topics to the followers at this time.
ACTS
The genre of acts is a narrative with many sermons and was written by Luke. The title Acts is to emphasize that it records the Acts of the Apostles through the guidance of the Holy Spirit which therefore appears as the main theme of the book.
The key personalities include peter, Paul, John, James, Stephen, Barnabas, timothy, Lydia, Silas and Apollo. The chapters 1-6:7 contain the events surrounding Jerusalem and the infancy of the church with messages concerning the evangelism in Jerusalem describing the events of the Pentecost and the amazing bold sermon presented by Peter to the Jews.
Chapter 6:8-9:31 present a shift in focus of evangelism to other areas where the non converts are included. Here, Stephen is falsely accused and stoned to death while preaching to religious leaders. Evangelism to the gentiles continues and goes outside Jerusalem. Saul changes his name to Paul and begins his second missionary work to the world together with Barnabas amid oppositions. The final chapters describe Paul’s travel to Jerusalem and his arrest and trial in Rome. The book ends without really describing the events of his trial before Caesar.
ROMANS
The book of Romans is of genre of epistles, a Pauline epistle or the letters of Paul which was written by Paul between 56-57 A.D. The book gives a revelation to important questions such salvation, sovereignty of God, judgment and spiritual growth. The focus of the righteousness of God is evident throughout the book and is threaded through all sections of the basic epistle.
In chapter 1-8, Paul gives an explanation of the foundations of the Christian faith which all believers are supposed to share worldwide. He teaches about the sinful nature of humanity before God.
REVELATION
The book of revelation falls in the genre of the apocalypse which literary denotes a prophecy. It was written by john who witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus.
John describes the details of the revelation settings that he received as he was imprisoned in the island of Patmos and he received a vision from an angel that instructed him to write to seven churches about whatever he had seen and this is evident in revelation chapter 1:19. John describes the seven churches of their eminent qualities and falls.
The 7th seal introduces the 7 angels and a third of the whole earth population is killed since they did not repent. This book as the name suggests some of the revelation which is likely to signify eschatology.
Work cited
kugler, et al. An introduction to the Bible. n.a: Eerdmans, 2009. print.
