Reading the Old Testament - 1. Know your history

Before you begin reading the Old Testament it’s helpful to have an overview of Old Testament history.Then you’ll have some idea of where the text that you are reading fits into the overall story.

The books of the Old Testament are not arranged chronologically, although the narratives in the books from Genesis to Nehemiah do follow Jewish history fairly closely. Having a basic outline of the events of the Old Testament in mind when reading the Psalms, say, or the prophetic books, will help you to understand their context and purpose.

For instance, the book of Jeremiah opens by saying that Jeremiah was active in the time of Josiah, King of Judah, until the time when the people of Jerusalem were taken into exile. (Jer 1:1-3). You’ll understand a lot more of what Jeremiah had to say if you know something about this period.

This short video, written and narrated by Andrew Wilson, provides a useful and easy-to-remember summary of the whole Old Testament.



As the video makes clear, the narratives of the Old Testament are not just Jewish history but also theological history. That is, they are interested in what God was doing through the events as they happened, and what his purposes were.

The video also brings out the important connections between Old Testament history and the life of Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus is not only the ultimate end or goal of history, but all history points to him.

This post is part 1 of a series on reading the Old Testament:

Reading the Old Testament part 7 - Is the Old Testament misogynistic?
Reading the Old Testament part 6 - Not-so-simple questions about the Old Testament
Reading the Old Testament part 5 - A simple set of questions to use when reading the Old Testament 
Reading the Old Testament part 4 - The Old Testament wasn't written in a day
Reading the Old Testament part 3 - Remember the Old Testament is old
Reading the Old Testament part 2 - Getting an overview
Reading the Old Testament part 1 - Know your history