For a master copy of the outline, click here: Basic Bible Doctrine
To Listen on YouTube, click here: An Overview of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (Part 2) - Exodus to 2 Samuel
C. The book of Exodus
i. The book of Exodus was written by Moses between 1533 - 1494 BC.
ii. Exodus 1-2 records the growth of the people of Israel in Egypt, their oppression by the Egyptians, and the birth of a child named Moses.
a. The Pharaoh had decreed that all the baby boys in Israel were to be killed.
b. Moses was put in a little boat and hid in the river when he was three months old and Pharaoh's daughter found him and took him to be her own.
c. When Moses was 40 years old he went to visit his people Israel and killed an Egyptian in defense of an Israelite, which caused Moses to flee Egypt for 40 years.
iii. Exodus 3-4 records God appearing to Moses and telling him that he would lead Israel out of Egypt to a promised land.
iv. Exodus 5-13 records how God destroyed Egypt with 10 plagues which finally convinced Pharaoh to let Israel leave Egypt.
a. The final plague was an angel of death that killed the firstborn of both man and beast in Egypt of those who didn't have the blood of a lamb sprinkled on their door posts.
b. This became known as the Passover and was the basis for the annual observance of the Passover in Israel.
v. Exodus 14 records how God parted the Red Sea and brought Israel through it on dry ground and drowned the Egyptian army therein that pursued them.
vi. Exodus 20 records God's giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai.
vii. Exodus 21-40 records God giving what became known as "the law" or "the law of Moses" to Moses to give to Israel.
a. God gave instructions of how the tabernacle was to be constructed, which was a tent wherein God was worshipped that was assembled and disassembled as Israel traveled through the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan (the promised land).
b. God also ordained Moses' brother Aaron and his sons to be the priests, and the sons of Levi (one of the 12 sons of Israel) to be the ministers of the tabernacle.
D. The book of Leviticus
i. The book of Leviticus was written by Moses between 1533 - 1494 BC.
ii. The book of Leviticus records more laws that pertain to Israel and specifically to the priesthood.
iii. Some of the laws given in Leviticus are against sexual perversion, which shows us the debauchery of the nations in the land of Canaan that Israel supplanted.
E. The book of Numbers
i. The book of Numbers was written by Moses between 1533 - 1494 BC.
ii. The book of Numbers records a period of 40 years in which Israel wandered in the wilderness between Egypt and Palestine.
iii. When Israel reached the border of the land of Canaan, Moses sent 12 spies to spy out the land.
iv. Ten of them brought back an evil report saying that there were giants in the land and that they could not take it.
v. Two of them (Joshua and Caleb) believed God and said that they could take it.
vi. The people followed the advice of the ten and God punished them by making the whole nation wander in the wilderness for 40 years until that entire generation died except for Joshua and Caleb.
F. The book of Deuteronomy
i. The book of Deuteronomy was written by Moses between 1533 - 1494 BC.
ii. The book of Deuteronomy is a review of the events and the covenants that God made with Israel in the books of Exodus - Numbers.
iii. In Deuteronomy Moses reminds Israel of what happened to them during the 40 years in the wilderness and warns them of the curses that await them if they do not follow the Lord and keep His law.
iv. Moses was not permitted to take Israel into the promised land because he lost his temper and struck a rock when he was supposed to speak to it to get water to come out of it for Israel to drink.
v. Moses ordained Joshua in his place as the leader of Israel who would bring them into the promised land.
vi. Deuteronomy ends with the death of Moses.
2. The Writings
A. The book of Joshua
i. The book of Joshua was written by Joshua in approximately the late 1400's BC.
ii. The book of Joshua records Israel's conquest of the land of Canaan under the leadership of Joshua.
iii. Israel possessed all the land that God had promised to them by the end of Joshua's life (Jos 21:43).
iv. The book of Joshua concludes with the death of Joshua.
B. The book of Judges
i. The book of Judges records a period of about 450 years (1487-1037 BC) in which Israel was ruled by a series of judges.
ii. The same scenario is repeated many times in the book of Judges:
a. Israel does evil in the sight of the Lord and He turns them over to a foreign power as a judgment against them.
b. Israel then cries unto the Lord in their oppression and He raises up a judge to deliver them from the enemy.
c. Israel does well during the life of the judge, but as soon as he dies we read the all-to-common words, "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord..." (Jdg 3:12).
d. And then the cycle repeats.
iii. Those days were characterized by the concluding verse of the book of Judges: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes." (Jdg 21:25)
C. The book of Ruth
i. The book of Ruth takes place during a time when the Judges ruled Israel.
ii. It tells the story of a woman named Naomi who left Israel with her husband and her two sons and went to live in Moab to escape a famine.
iii. Naomi's husband dies and so do her sons after they had married women from Moab.
iv. Naomi decides to go back to Israel and tells her daughters-in-law to stay in Moab, which one did, but the other named Ruth would not and insisted on going back to Israel with Naomi.
v. Ruth ends up marrying a wealthy man named Boaz who takes care of her and Naomi.
vi. Ruth ended up becoming the great grandmother of a man named David who would later become one of the greatest kings in Israel's history.
D. The book of 1 Samuel
i. The book of 1 Samuel begins at the end of the rule of the judges (approx. 1043 BC).
ii. A boy named Samuel was born to a barren woman named Hannah who gave him to the Lord to minister with the priests.
iii. Samuel was called by God to be a prophet and the last judge of Israel.
iv. Israel decided that they wanted a king to rule over them like the other nations had, so God gave them a man named Saul to reign over them as a judgment against them.
v. At that time, Israel was fighting the Philistines who had a mighty warrior named Goliath whom they could not conquer.
vi. A young man named David (the great grandson of Ruth) who had been a shepherd volunteered to fight the giant and killed him with a stone from his slingshot.
vii. David served under Saul after that and married Saul's daughter.
viii. God took the kingdom from Saul because of his rebellion and crowned David king in his stead.
ix. Saul tried to kill David and ended up committing suicide after being wounded in battle.
E. The book of 2 Samuel
i. The book of 2 Samuel records the reign of king David over Israel for 40 years beginning in approximately 983 BC.
ii. In 2 Samuel 7, there was a prophecy given to David that after his death God would establish one of his descendents on his throne who would also be God's son (2Sa 7:12-16).
iii. This prophecy was fulfilled about 1000 years later in Jesus Christ who was a son of David and who was seated on his throne when He was resurrected from the dead (more on this later).
iv. 2 Samuel 11 records the very familiar story of king David committing adultery with a woman named Bathsheba, getting her pregnant, and then having her husband killed to cover it up.
v. 2 Samuel 12 records how the baby that Bathsheba birthed died and the Lord gave them another son named Solomon who would later become the king of Israel.
