Introductions to background, history, chronology and books of the Bible.
Land in the Old Testament
Land is an important theme in the Old Testament. “Land” is the fourth most frequent noun in the Old Testament. Mankind was created from and is sustained by the land. God gave Israel the land as a gift. Land was always associated with life.
New Testament Canon: Why these books?
Scholars have attacked Christianity by claiming that Christians don’t know which books should belong to the New Testament canon and which ones shouldn’t. If we don’t know the answer to why these 27 books, then we do have a problem. But it’s not the Achilles heel of Christian faith that critics claim it is. We Christians do have an answer.
New Testament Jewish culture
Jesus spent a lot of time interacting with the Jewish culture of his day. The New Testament authors assume their readers are familiar with the Jewish culture in their day. Here are some of the basics.
Introduction to the Jewish Feasts
In Exodus, God tells the Israelites to keep the Feasts twice: once before the episode with the golden calf and once after. Here’s a summary of the 7 feasts.
Introduction to Covenants
God made a series of special promises, which we call covenants. There are two kinds of covenants and 5 significant covenants in Scripture.
Introduction to Ancient Egypt
The first third of the book of Exodus takes place in Egypt. The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 400 years and were steeped in Egyptian culture. The cultural and historical setting of Exodus is ancient Egypt. Here’s a brief introduction.
Introduction to the Intertestamental Period
The time between the end of the Old Testament (400BC from the prophet Malachi) to the preaching of John the Baptist (25 AD) is known as the “intertestamental” period. Here’s an overview of what happened.
Introduction to New Testament Jewish Groups
The ancient historian Flavius Josephus identifies four rival religious philosophies among the Jews at the time of Jesus: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots.
Introduction to the Northern Kingdom
After the death of King Solomon, two of his sons, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, fought for the throne. When Rehoboam harshly raised taxes on the people, the 10 northern tribes rebelled and installed Jeroboam as their king, creating the northern kingdom of Israel. The two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah, remained with Rehoboam and became the kingdom of Judah.
Introduction to the Southern Kingdom
After the death of King Solomon, two of his sons, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, fought for the throne. When Rehoboam harshly raised taxes on the people, the 10 northern tribes rebelled and installed Jeroboam as their king, creating the northern kingdom of Israel. The two southern tribes, Benjamin and Judah, remained with Rehoboam and became the kingdom of Judah.
Introduction to Prophets
Introduction to the writings of the Old Testament Prophets
Introduction to the Exile and Return
Overview and timeline of the exile of Israel and her return from captivity.
Introduction to the New Testament
How the letters in the New Testament came to be there
Introduction to the Old Testament
Why study the Old Testament? It’s the Scriptures that Jesus used.
01 Introduction to the Gospel of Mark
Have you ever wondered why Jesus would ask a question, especially one he already knows the answer to? Divine questions are meant to be answered on a deeper level.
Introduction to the Pentateuch
The first five books of the Old Testament — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy — are collectively been known as the Pentateuch. The Jews usually call the Pentateuch the law or the Torah.
01 Introduction to 1 Peter: Meet the Author
An introduction to the letter of 1 Peter and a look at Peter’s calling from Luke 5.
01 Isaiah 6:1-13 Introduction to the Servant Songs
Isaiah wrote these prophecies of the Servant about a time when all God’s people are scattered and the Davidic throne has disappeared into the sands of Babylon. Does the exile mark the end of the history of God’s people? Have they forfeited the divine promises made to Abraham?
01 Colossians 1:1-2 Introduction
The first two verses of Colossians follow the typical greeting for a New Testament letter: the author(s), the recipient(s), greetings. Paul identifies what his readers should understand about him. Then he explains who he considers his readers to be, particularly in relationship to God.
01 James 1:1 Who was James?
Our author introduces himself simply as another sinner saved by grace. Who was James? How did he come to faith? And how do we know which James wrote this letter?
Background & History
Part of the Series: Bible Study 101
Top photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash
