Terry Pruitt's Blog

Q: Name the general divisions of the Old Testament and the books in each. A: Pentateuch - Gn, Ex, Lv, Nu, Du History - Jo, Ju, Ru, 1S, 2S, 1K, 2K, Ne, Ezra, Est Wisdom - Job, Ps, Pv, Ecc, Song of Sol. Prophets - Is, Jer, Lam, Ezk, Dan, and all the minor prophets Q: Give a general outline of Old Testament history, including key dates. A: Time of the patriarchs Abraham born 2161 B.C. Exodus 1445 B.C. Conquest 1405 B.C. Time of the Judges Time of the Kings King David's Rule 1010 B.C. Northern Kingdom Exile 722 B.C. Southern Kingdom Exile Fall of Jerusalem 586 B.C. Return from Exile Rebuild the Temple 515 B.C.

Greek Exegesis Class was about to begin. I'm one of the old guys there. Less sophisticated and a little less 'with it'. But one of the young and experienced seminary students was talking with his buddy. He knows the system. He says to his buddy, "You don't really need to study the Old Testament, just study the New." He went on to explain that this is where you need to preach from. It is contains our theology and so just concentrate on that. In a sense we do have to set priorities, we can't be experts on all aspects of Scripture. We do have to concentrate on the passages with foundational significance. But I would argue this is exactly why our churches need more than ever the Old Testament. Our people do not start out with an understanding of how God works in his sovereignty. We don't know how he works in covenant relationships with his people. We don't understand about suffering. We can tell someone how to say the sinners prayer bu...