Course 4: Session 9
THE PERIOD OF THE
UNITED KINGDOM
PART 2
1051-931BC
The Five Books of Poetry
The Book of Job
- The Book does not name an author. Jewish tradition gives no answer either.
- Oldest book in the Bible. Pre-patriarchal. No mention of law, sacrifices or priesthood.
- Some date the book as being pre-patriarchal but put the time of writing around 950BC.
- Theme: “Why do the righteous suffer?”
- No answer to suffering is given. Suffering will always remain a mystery.
- The book addresses the topic of life after death (Job 14:14) (Job 19:23-27)
- Through suffering, Job was equipped to be a blessing to others (Job 42:7-9)
- The land of Uz was probably what we know as Northern Arabia
- Job’s prosperity – He was a rich man but also rich in character. He was not sinless
- Job did not permit his prosperity to take the place of God
- Job’s wife did not seem to have the same level of faith and wisdom (Job 2:9-10)
- Job’s adversity:
- Satan’s first accusation and attack (Job 1:6-22)
- Satan’s second accusation and attack (Job 2:1-13)
- (Job 3:25-26) may suggest why His fear of this happening
- Job’s friends were of no comfort to him. They came to comfort him but ended up criticizing him
- God humbles Job with a series of questions. (Job had challenged God to appear and talk to him face to face.)
- God asks Job about creation (Job 38:4-11)
- God asks Job about nature (Job 38:22-30)
- God asks Job about animals (Job 38:39-39:30)
- (Job 40:15-19)may refer to dinosaurs
- God honors Job in the end (Job 42:7-17)
Notes
The Book of Psalms
- It was Israel’s hymn book
- The most frequently quoted book in the New Testament
- Psalms is probably most popular book in Old Testament
- Hebrew name means Praises
- There are more authors than any other book
- David wrote most of the Psalms
- (Ps. 90) is attributed to Moses
- Asaph wrote several
- 50 Psalms are not attributed authorship
- The Psalms are five books:
- (Ps. 90) is the oldest
- (Ps. 137) the latest – an exile psalm. Probably 1000 years between Psalm 90 and Psalm 137
- Hebrew Poetry:
- Theme poetry
- Alphabetical poetry – 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet. 22 verses in these Psalms
- (Ps. 119) has 22 divisions where each begins with a different letter
- Repentant Psalms; penitential
- (Ps. 6) (Ps.32) (Ps.38) (Ps.51) (Ps.102) (Ps.130) (Ps.143)
- Praise Psalms (Ps.113-118)
- These were sung during the feasts, especially Passover (Mat. 26:30)
- Imprecatory Psalms (These evoke evil on their enemies.)
- (Ps. 35) (Ps. 52) (Ps. 58) (Ps. 59) (Ps. 69) (Ps. 83) (Ps. 99) (Ps. 109) (Ps. 137)
(Ps. 40)
- (Ps. 35) (Ps. 52) (Ps. 58) (Ps. 59) (Ps. 69) (Ps. 83) (Ps. 99) (Ps. 109) (Ps. 137)
- Psalms of Ascent (Ps. 120-134) Song when on pilgrimage.
- Going up to Jerusalem
- Outline of Psalms:
- Book 1 – (Ps. 1-41)
- Book 2 – (Ps. 42-72)
- Book 3 – (Ps. 73-89)
- Book 4 – (Ps. 90-106)
- Book 5 – (Ps. 107-150)
- Selah:
- Comes from Hebrew meaning “to lift up”
- Maybe a pause
- Maybe a turning up of the volume
- Maybe a musical interlude
- Important Psalms:
- (Ps. 1) – Intro
- (Ps. 2) – 1st Messianic Psalm
- (Ps. 3) – 1st time Selah occurs
- (Ps. 8) – What is Man
- (Ps. 19) – God’s glory
- (Ps. 22) – Messianic Psalm
- (Ps. 23) – The Good Shepherd
- (Ps. 32) (Ps. 51) – David’s Confession and Repentance
- (Ps. 40) – The Christmas Psalm
- (Ps. 90) – The Eternal God
- (Ps. 119) – God’s word
Notes
The Book of Proverbs
- Proverbs means comparison. Our English word is made of two words. Pro (Instead) and Verbs (words) It is a short statement that summarizes a wise principle.
- Author: Solomon; but not all were written by Solomon
- He was King and saw to it that these were collected
- He was the most prominent writer
- Collected during the reign of King Hezekiah
- Theme: To know wisdom; to be right with God and fellow man.
- Major topics:
Wisdom, anger, benevolence, children, temptation, friendship, laziness, pride, prudence, temperance, tongue, wealth, evil and good women, wine, greed, seeking wise counsel. - Solomon spoke 3000 Proverbs (1 Kings 4:32)
- Proverbs outlines the character of a wise man:
- He listens to instruction (Prov. 1:5)
- He obeys what he hears (Prov. 10:8)
- He stores up what he learns (Prov. 10:14)
- He wins others to the Lord (Prov. 11:30)
- He flees from sin (Prov. 14:16)
- He watches his tongue (Prov. 16:23)
- He is diligent in his daily work (Prov. 10:5)
- Try reading one chapter a day for a month and then repeat often
- (Prov. 3:5-6)
- (Prov. 31)A Godly woman
Notes
The Book of Ecclesiastes
- Title comes from Greek “ekklesia.” Not a Hebrew word. Carries the idea of preacher
- Author: Solomon
- Theme: “Is life worth living?”
- Solomon takes a pessimistic look at life. He is in search of life
- Key word: Vanity
- Key passages:
- (Ecc. 3) – A time for everything under the sun
- (Ecc. 3:11) – He placed eternity in our hearts
- His final conclusions:
- Live by faith (Ecc. 11:1-6)
- Remember that life will one day end (Ecc. 11:7-12:7)
- Obey God’s word and fear Him (Ecc. 12:8-14)
Notes
The Book of Song of Solomon
- Song of Songs
- Author: Solomon (SOS. 1:5)
- Theme: Emphasize the faithfulness in marriage
- It is a love story
- Solomon composed 1005 songs (1 Kings 4:32)
- Story involves 3 people:
- A lovely maiden
- Her beloved
- King Solomon
- The story:
- On one of his trips Solomon meets this lovely maiden and brings her back to the palace. She can only think of her beloved back home and tells the harem not to try to convince her to forsake her true love. Solomon visits her to try to win her love, but she cannot forget her beloved. Solomon is not pictured in a positive light in this book.
- The book illustrates Israel and God. There will come a day when Israel, like the maiden will return home and be restored to her Beloved. (God)