Genesis is the first book of the Bible. It is a book about beginnings. It recounts the beginning of this world and the beginning of humanity. We also read how sin entered the world, but then Genesis begins to reveal how the Lord will reverse the curse of sin and bless all the peoples of the earth. In Genesis, the Lord promises to bring worldwide blessing, and he begins the work of blessing the world through Abraham and his offspring. Go Deeper.

Genesis ends with Israel’s family living and prospering in Egypt, and Exodus begins with Israel the nation still in Egypt. As Israel grows, they are oppressed, and Exodus recounts how God sees their plight and delivers his people from slavery. Go Deeper.

Leviticus is the central book of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Not only is the book centrally placed, but Leviticus addresses the central concern of all of Scripture: God dwelling with his people. From creation to redemption to new creation, God is working to make a way to dwell with humanity. Go Deeper.

Numbers covers Israel’s forty years of wilderness wanderings from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab. Our English title “Numbers” comes from the title given to the book in later Greek and Latin translations based on the censuses in the book. The Hebrews, however, knew the book by its fifth word, bemidbar, “in the wilderness.” Go Deeper.

Joshua recounts the people of Israel entering the promised land. The book connects the pre-history of Israel — the nation’s formation and wilderness wanderings — with the nation’s life in the promised land. In many ways, this book is the culmination of all that has come before in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. Joshua completes the Exodus as the people who were redeemed out of Egypt now settle in the land. The Lord has kept his promise to Abraham and brought his descendants into the promised land. Go Deeper.

Judges is not a dull read! It is filled with amazing stories of murder, intrigue, and seduction. What are these doing in the Bible? Judges reveals central truths of the gospel. Judges shows human nature and our desire to reject God’s rule over our lives. It goes on to portray vividly the consequences of that rejection. And yet, human rejection of the Lord is not the end of the story. He is a gracious and merciful God who intervenes to rescue his people.Judges, then, is fundamentally a book about God. He is faithful to his promises. He is full of grace. He delivers his people from oppression in spite of their own rejection of him. Judges testifies to the goodness, faithfulness, and love of our Lord. Go Deeper.

This brief narrative offers a glimpse of hope that the Lord is still working during the period of Judges despite all the sin of his people. In fact, the book relays how God is at work in ordinary, everyday life to bring about his extraordinary purposes. Through Ruth’s line, God will bring David to be the king over his people. David, however, is not the end of the story, for Ruth points forward to David’s Son, Jesus, who will come to be the true and final king over God’s people. Go Deeper.

How can you live by faith when you feel far from God? What about he seems entirely absent from you life? The Book of Esther encourages us that God is at work even when he feels hidden from us. By his providence, God works to keep his promises even when his people feel far from him. Go Deeper.

Job confronts us with the reality of evil and the presence of suffering in this world. Job challenges any simplistic reading of wisdom literature that would draw a straight line from living a moral life to experiencing God’s blessings. Life in our fallen world proves far too complex for over-simplified answers. The Book of Job brings into stark relief what is clear in the rest of the Old Testament: sometimes the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer.

Why? This is the question many want the book to answer. This is the question Job’s friends sought to give him. But, this is not the question the Lord chooses to answer. As God himself responds at the end of the book, he does not offer an explanation of why Job suffered as he did. Rather, he answers Job’s questions with an extended series of questions that point to the Lord’s wisdom and power. The book of Job does not explain evil and suffering in this world. Instead, this book teaches us to respond in faith by trusting in God’s wisdom and power. When faced with the sheer display of God’s wisdom and power at the end of the book, we are challenged to confess that whatever the Lord does is good and right.

Job does not tell us why but the book sets forth who. The Lord is wise and in control. He is sovereign and good, and so he can be trusted. Even when we cannot understand our circumstances, we can still trust his character. Go Deeper.

Isaiah is often known as the Gospel of the Old Testament, for this book points God’s people to the future hope of the coming Messiah. When the New Testament authors reflected on the life of Jesus they again and again drew on the prophecies of Isaiah to show that Jesus is indeed the one promised who would deliver his people. This Old Testament book becomes one of the most cited in the New. Go Deeper.

Habakkuk calls us to trust in the Lord and his good purposes no matter the circumstances. His three chapters take us on his journey of faith from his crying out to God for justice, to his questioning God’s answer, and, ultimately, to his resting in God’s promise. “The righteous shall live by faith” forms the central message of the book. No matter what we face, we can walk with steadfast trust in the Lord because his steadfast love endures forever. Habakkuk’s three chapters invite us to consider how we can wait with both faith and joy as we trust in the promises of God. Go Deeper.