UNDERSTANDING THE OLD

TESTAMENT
COURSE LEADER

REV DAMALIE NALUBWAMA

TELEPHONE NO O782726349
UGANDA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
CHAPTER ONE

“GETTING OUR
BEARINGS”
OBJECTIVES

 DEFINE the unique character of the Bible as a two-fold

revelation of God’s Word in human words

 ARRANGE in chronological order TEN major periods of the

history of the OT

 IDENTIFY the divisions within the OT canon

 DISTINGUISH three differenet types of writing in the OT

 SKETCH a verbal portrait of God in the OT

THE BIBLE AND
REVELATION
 GOD’S WORD… (2Tim 3:16)

 IN HUMAN WORD
The word of Moses
Isaiah
Preacher
THE OLD TESTAMENT IS LIKE A
ROPE OF THREE STRANDS…
 HISTORICAL

 LITERARY

 THEOLOGICAL
THE HISTORICAL
DIMENSION
 The Physical setting of the OT:

The events of the OT took place

in the area known as the Ancient
Near East …
 NB The Israelites came to occupy Canaan.
 The “Fertile Crescent” extends up the coastline from Canaan, and
down the great valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
 Canaan is a “buffer state” between the great nations of Egypt, Assyria
and Babylon, who all wanted to rule the region.
•The cultural setting of the
OT…
The people of Israel lived as neighbours of many
different powerful nations with their own cultures
and religions and due to their closeness they
intermingled with them.

As we saw, most of these peoples wanted to dominate

the Fertile Crescent, and at different periods
different nations had the upper hand in the region.

Although warned against it by God, the Israelites were

often influenced by these people groups, their
beliefs and practices.
• The Acts of the Biblical
Drama…
 The Primeval History Creation - 2000 BC
 The Patriarchs of Israel 2000 - 1500 BC
 Exodus and Law 1500 - 1200 BC
 Conquest of the Land 1300 - 1000 BC
 United Kingdom 1000 - 900 BC
 Divided Kingdom 900 - 600 BC
 Exile and Restoration 600 - 400 BC
 Rise of Hellenism 300 - 150 BC
 Roman Domination 150 BC - 70 AD
 Hope for the Messianic Age…
THE LITERARY DIMENSION

 The OT Library, or “CANON” developed over hundreds of

years…
- The Hebrew Bible
- finalized by Jews at Council of Jamnia in AD 90- OT 39

- The Greek Bible (Septuagint) 27BKS

- contains Hebrew Bible translated into Greek, PLUS extra books
(“Apocrypha”)
- adopted as Scripture by the Early Church, and retained by the
Roman Catholic Church after the Reformation
The OT Canon cont…

- The Protestant Canon

- at the Reformation (AD 1500’s) the

Protestants went back to the Jewish
collection (the Hebrew
Bible), removing the Apocryphal books.
 HEBREW BIBLE
Protestant Canon Jewish Canon (“TaNaK”)

PENTATEUCH TORAH
Gen, Exod, Lev, Num, Deut Gen, Exod, Lev, Num, Deut

PROPHETS (Nevi’im)
HISTORICAL BOOKS “Former Prophets”
Josh, Judg, Ruth, Josh, Judg,
1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kgs, 1-2 Sam, 1-2 Kgs
1-2 Chron, Ezra, Neh, Esth

PROPHETIC BOOKS “Latter Prophets”

Isa, Jer, Lam, Ezek, Isa, Jer, Ezek
Dan, 12 Minor Prophets 12 Minor Prophets

POETICAL BOOKS WRITINGS (Ketuvim)

Pss, Job, Prov, Eccles Pss, Job, Prov
Song of Songs Ruth, SS, Eccles, Lam, Esth
Dan, Ezra, Neh, 1-2 Chron

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
APOCRYPHA
Tobit, Judith, 1-2 Maccabees,
Wisdom of Solomon, Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), Baruch

Roman Catholic Canon

GREEK BIBLE (Septuagint, LXX)
• Forms of OT Literature…

 Narrative - tells a story or relates history

 Discourse - seeks to teach or persuade the

reader

 Lyric Poetry - based on music, or prayer

THE THEOLOGICAL DIMENSION

The OT presents God as a father (2

Sam 7:14), a
husband (Hosea 2:16), a roaring lion (Hosea
11:10), a mother hen (Ps 91:4), a king
(Ps 24:7,8), a shepherd (Ps 23:1), a vineyard-
keeper (Isaiah 5:1) - and many more…
The OT is God’s revelation of Himself to the human race.
 The Existence of God…
 The Name of God…
 Elohim
 Yahweh

 The Transcendence of God

 God is One
 God is Spirit
 God is Holy
THE LORDSHIP OF GOD

 God’s Omnipotence (all-powerful)

 God’s Omniscience (all-knowing)
 God’s Omnipresence (present everywhere)

• The Love of God

- God’s Justice (includes rewards and
punishments)
- God’s Mercy (unmerited by anyone)
 THE OLD AND THE NEW

John 1:1-18:
- “The Word came to his own home and his
own people received him not” (Old)
- “ The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us” (New)
The Bible is a two-fold revelation of God to
us.
The Old Testament is completed and
fulfilled in the New. Thus the OT is seen
by Christians as a “preparation for the
Gospel.”