Old Testament Survey,
An Overview

By Rev. Dr. Willis Newman, Ph.D., D.Min.<br>

INTRODUCTION

(1987 edition)

The Old Testament survey manual is a general, historical and practical overview of the Old Testament. It provides a basic working knowledge of the Old Testament along with some fundamental tools for putting the teaching into practice. This manual is geared to bring benefit to many: the Bible college student, the layperson, Christian worker, Sunday School teacher, and even the busy pastor will find encouragement and sermon ideas. The advanced student who wishes to explore the major issues in depth will also find direction and help, chiefly by the "basic Bible study library" at the end of the manual.

The manual may be read along with the Bible in the student's mother language and with a supplementary text such as The Old Testament Speaks by Samuel Schultz. For those students interested in the critical issues of the Old Testament the text A Survey of Old Testament Introduction by Gleason Archer, Jr. is recommended.

This manual begins with a fundamental statement about the general nature, purpose, structure and theme of the Bible. Included is an introduction to the God of the Bible:  who He is, what He does and how He relates to mankind. 

Next, the flow of the manual is to journey through the historical unfolding of God's plan of redemption in a chronological order.  The manual steps through the history of the Old Testament from one distinctive period of time to the next.  Each of those segments are summarized in "snapshot" style and the major events and lessons are highlighted.

Chapter 12 offers the reader a brief outline of each book of the Old Testament along with the writer, date, and theme.  The manual is meant to be practical; thus, a short section is given on how to study the Bible as well as how to pass the information on to others by way of preaching or teaching. About 145 pages.

Dr. Willis C. Newman,

October, 1987

Honolulu, Hawaii.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER    

I.  INTRODUCTORY OVERVIEW

A.  The central theme and purpose in the Old Testament 

B.  The central Person in the Old Testament 

C.  The basic content of the Old Testament 

D.  The uniqueness of the Old Testament 

E.  The relationship between the Old and the New Testament 

Introduction to God

A.  The definition and existence of God 

B.  The matter of creation vs. evolution 

C.  Some Introductory issues

1. Canon

2. Early civilizations 

3. Times and dates

4. Who wrote Genesis 

5. Authorship of the Pentateuch 

6. Revelation and Inspiration

7. Interpretation

The Bird's - eye overview 

A.  Great time periods of the Old Testament<br>

B.  Various views of the Old Testament

C.  The Old Testament Library 

II.  THE HISTORICAL CRITICAL METHOD.

A.  History and Background

     JEDP Documents 

     Liberal Views of the Bible (selected quotes)

B.  The Historical Critical Method Explained and Evaluated

C.  More about JEDP 

D.  Why do some Christian leaders reject the Bible?

III.  THE ERA OF BEGINNINGS.

A.  Creation itself

B.  Crown of God's creation: man 

C.  Fall of man 

D.  Provision for man's salvation

E.  Growth of the human race

F.  First human civilization

G.  The flood

H.  Spread of mankind

I.   Facts and doctrines of great value

IV.  THE ERA OF THE PATRIARCHS.

A.  Abraham

Abrahamic Covenant, Melchizedek, Sodom and Gomorrah, test of faith.

B.  Isaac

C.  Jacob and Esau

D.  Sequence summary of major events

E.  Messianic line

V.  THE ERA OF EGYPT.

A.  The career of Joseph

Brothers, Potiphar's wife, prison, famine, family reunion, his example.

B. The Messianic line continues

C.  The birth of a nation (Israel)

Israel enslaved, Moses, plagues, Passover, Exodus.

VI.  THE ERA OF WILDERNESS WANDERING.

A.  Organization of Israel

Ten Commandments, tabernacle, priesthood, sacrifices, feasts.

B.  Travels of Israel

Promised Land, 12 spies, desert life, Balaam.

VII.  THE ERA OF SETTLEMENT.

A.  Invasion of Canaan

Rahab, crossing Jordan, Christ, Jericho, Achan's sin, trickery.

B.  Dividing the spoil

Conquest, Caleb's request, cities of refuge.

C.  Significant observations

Canaanites, faith-walk, Joshua and leadership

VIII.  TH ERA OF THE JUDGES.

A.  Cycles of apostasy and deliverance

Gideon, Samson and Delilah, Angel of the Lord.

B.  Story of Ruth

C.  Transition by Samuel

Prayers of Hannah, successful judges -- poor fathers.

D.  Spiritual applications

Backsliding, prayer, discipleship.

IX.  THE ERA OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.

A.  King Saul

His failure, the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.

B.  King David

Davidic Covenant, lust, murder, repentance - also a spiritual giant!

C.  King Solomon

Loved God, great leader, wise, women, wealth, believer's sin nature.

D.  Literature of the era

Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles.

X.  THE ERA OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM.

A.  Kings of the divided kingdom

Strife, decline, hard preaching by prophets, some revival.

B.  Prophets of the divided kingdom

Nature of the prophecy.

C.  Pre-exile prophets

XI.  THE ERA OF CAPTIVITY.

A.  Historical context of captivity

Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Egypt -- great events, battles, kings.

B. The captivity itself  

Israel's and Jerusalem's fall and peoples dispersed.

C.  Prophets of the captivity

Daniel, Ezekiel, the responsibility of man, soul-winning.

XII.  THE ERA OF RESTORATION.

A.  Return of Zerubbabel

B.  Ministry of Haggai and Zechariah

C.  Story of Esther

D.  Return under Ezra

E.  Return under Nehemiah

F.  Preaching of Malachi .

XIII.  BRIEF OUTLINE OF OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS.

Pentateuch: Genesis - Deuteronomy

History: Joshua - Esther 

Poetry: Job - Songs of Solomon

Major Prophets: Isaiah - Ezekiel

Minor Prophets: Daniel - Malachi

XIV.  HELPFUL TOOLS FOR THE BIBLE.

A.  Some general facts about the Bible

B.  How to study the Bible

C.  How to teach/preach the Bible

A BASIC BIBLE STUDY LIBRARY

CHRONOLOGY AND TIME LINE

HOW TO BE SAVED  

INDEX 

To get the most out of this study, it is good to read the Bible sections related to each era, and then study this outline for an explanation of the biblical text.