books in THE book

Tonight was really fun! Chocolate cake makes me smile!

So for our girls who missed it, we did cell in reverse - we started w/ our prayer requests then the Word.

We've been talking about how the Bible is important, but we're going to take two weeks looking at the books inside the book. Tonight we looked at part of the Old Testament and how it's organized.

The first five books are books of law. They're called the "pentateuch". (penta = 5 like pentagon)

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy

Genesis means beginning - like the beginning of the world

Exodus, like exit - when Moses led the people out of Egypt.

Leviticus - Out of the twelve big families (tribes) that made up the Israelites, Levi's family, the "Levites" were in charge of taking care of the tabernacle/temple. The book talks about the rules and regulations for them

Numbers - yeah, like the number of people in each tribe. AKA, the census. Lots of names...

Deuteronomy - "second law", these laws were the second set, coming after the 10 commandments.

Next comes the books of History.

1. Joshua
2. Judges
3. Ruth
4. I & II Samuel
5. I & II Kings
6. I & II Choronicles
7. Ezra
8. Nehemiah
9. Esther

Joshua - He was the leader of the Israelites and this book is the history of when they entered into the promised land after they left Egypt.

Judges - When the people entered the land, they didn't have a national system - no presidents, no mayors. The famous people from this time were Deborah, Gideon, Samson, etc.

Ruth - She was a woman who wasn't part of God's chosen people, but God included her in Jesus's heritage. It's a really cool story of redemption.

I & II Samuel - two scrolls of the same book, this history is about Israel during the time of the prophet Samuel, son of Hannah.

I & II Kings - The people of Israel saw all the other nations had kings and they asked God to give them one... so He did.

I & II Chronicles - a chronicle is a history. These are the history records during the time of the kings.

Ezra & Nehemiah were leaders in returning the people back to Israel after the exile.

Esther - Have you ever seen the movie "One night with the king"? That's a movie version of her story

Then there are five books known as the Wisdom books.

1. Job
2. Psalms
3. Proverbs
4. Ecclesiastes
5. Song of Songs

Job was tested but his faith held on.

Psalms - these were songs, most of them praising God.

Proverbs - these are not professional verbs, they're wise sayings.

Ecclesiastes - meaning "collection", as in a collection of

Song of Songs - love songs and poetry

Next week we'll do the prophets of the Old Testament and the New Testament. If we get them memorized, we're havin' a pool party!!! (And remember it's 45 points toward the goal!!!)