In ancient times, Ezra-Nehemiah was a single book, and we look at it as one in this lesson. The stories take place after return from exile to Babylon (then Persia by the time of return). In Nehemiah 8, Ezra reads “the Law” to the people; you can see how the stories intertwine. Unfortunately, this lesson…

In ancient times, 1 & 2 Chronicles were a single book, and we will treat it as one in this lesson. Chronicles is Israel’s patriotic history book: it focuses on the good things of David and the kings of Judah, while Samuel and Kings air out all the dirty laundry. We also look at Judah’s…

In ancient times, 1 & 2 Kings were a single book, and we look at them as one in this lesson. Kings has… a lot of kings. Solomon was king of all Israel, but after him the kingdom splits into two kingdoms, and this book describes the kings in both kingdoms.

2 Samuel is about the reign of King David. He is promised that his family line (“house”) will be a dynasty in Israel.

Israel demands a king in the book of 1 Samuel. The first king, Saul, fails and David is chosen as his replacement. He also kills someone named Goliath.

The book of Judges describes some terrible times in Israel. One of the better examples, though, is Deborah, a judge and prophetess.

The stories of conquering the promised land. Joshua is on display as an excellent leader.

Deuteronomy marks the end of the journey to Canaan and Moses’ life. It is also the Torah’s book of love, believe it or not. The story for this week is not in Deuteronomy (there are not many stories in this book), but it explains why Moses and Aaron did not enter into the promised land.

The Hebrew name of the book is “In the Wilderness,” and that is a much better description. This book is about the bad decisions that made Israel roam the desert for 40 years and kept Moses from the promised land. Also we look in depth at the story of the 12 spies in Canaan.