Summarizing
The Journey through the Old Testament is a re-telling of the Books of the Old Testament from the standpoint of character. Instead of plot serving as the device that moves the story along, each chapter focuses on a specific character in the Old Testament and uses selections from Scripture to flesh out that character’s arc in one chapter. For instance, chapter one focuses on Lucifer, which is fitting since he is the fallen angel who serves as the ultimate antagonist of God and man. The second chapter focuses on Adam, the third on Cain, and so on, all the way down through the major figures of the Old Testament, the prophets, and the point at which the Old Testament itself comes to a close and the people of Israel await the coming of the Messiah.
The main point of the book is that “certain people make history”[footnoteRef:2] and so it is appropriate that a book about history examine it from the perspective of the people who made it. For a book that tells that story about man’s relationship with God, which is essentially what the Old Testament is, approaching it from a character-oriented position makes sense and allows the author to expound on academic aspects while couching the overall narrative in the framework of character. Thus, the chapter on Lucifer tells how the fallen angel’s position as leader of the opposition to God came about while also providing background information like where the term angel comes from in the first place: “The word ‘angel’ is derived from the Greek word angelos which means ‘messenger’.”[footnoteRef:3] [2: Elmer Towns, Journey through the Old Testament (Digital Commons, 1989), 5.] [3: Elmer Towns, Journey through the Old Testament (Digital Commons, 1989), 7.]
The book tells the story of Lucifer, Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Hagar, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Gideon, Ruth, Jephthah, Samson, Eli, Samuel, Saul, David, Solomon, Joroboam, Rehoboam, King Asa, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the Five Leaders, Esther, and Nehemiah. Thus the book proceeds chronologically through the Old Testament and describes each important figure. Important themes in the lives of these characters are pointed out and used to frame their stories. For instance, Adam is described as a the first man who had everything and lost it all because he disobeyed God—which sets up the rest of the examination of characters and how they are impacted by Adam’s original transgression. Noah is described as a “man who was scared into action,” and Abraham as a man who was “called to begin a nation.”[footnoteRef:4] Aaron actually receives several chapters as his arc is well-documented in the Old Testament and requires more attention to fully describe how he was selected to be a leader of the Jewish people, how his faith was tested, and how he was ultimately justified. Minor characters like Hagar, whom Abraham selects to bear his child, which ends up being Ishmael, who is juxtaposed with Isaac, who is depicted as a foreshadowing of Christ because God asks that Abraham sacrifice the child—all of these stories intersect and help to provide a compelling context for understanding the story of the Old Testament and its relationship to the whole story of redemption. [4: Elmer Towns, Journey through the Old Testament (Digital Commons, 1989), 4.]
For that reason, the journey through the Old Testament is not just a journey through the Old Testament but also a glimpse into the New as well. The author constantly provides a perspective on the events of the Old Testament by looking at them from the coming of Christ and identifying the underlying meaning of what is going on. Each chapter concludes with a section entitled “Perspective” that helps to specifically focus on this relationship and orient the reader to the overall design of God’s plan as seen through the lives of these characters. For example, the author states in the chapter on Ruth that “the story of Ruth is a demonstration of grace. The problem of a famine turned into abundance on the threshing floor’—and how from that abundance came the Redeemer Jesus Christ.[footnoteRef:5] Or, in the chapter on Solomon, the author states, [5: Elmer Towns, Journey through the Old Testament (Digital Commons, 1989), 158.]
“When God...
Bibliography
Aquinas, Thomas. "Faith, Reason and Theology." (1987).
Baker, David L. "Typology and the Christian use of the Old Testament." Scottish Journal of Theology 29, no. 2 (1976): 137-157.
Barton, John. Reading the Old Testament: Method in biblical study. Westminster John Knox Press, 1996.
Becker, Joachim, David Green, and David Green. Messianic expectation in the Old Testament. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1980.
Bellis, Alice Ogden. Helpmates, harlots, and heroes: Women's stories in the Hebrew Bible. Westminster John Knox Press, 2007.
Klink III, Edward W., and Darian R. Lockett. Understanding biblical theology: A comparison of theory and practice. Zondervan, 2012.
O'Brien, Stephen M. God and the devil are fighting: The scandal of evil in Dostoyevsky and Camus. City University of New York, 2008.
Pype, Katrien. "Dancing for God or the Devil: Pentecostal discourse on popular dance in Kinshasa." Journal of Religion in Africa 36, no. 3 (2006): 296-318.
Towns, Elmer L., "A Journey Through the Old Testament" (1989). Books. Paper 8. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/towns_books/8
The Book of Genesis shows humanity as having a turbulent relationship with God, as in spite of the fact that He attempts to provide humans with all the resources required for them to thrive, most people fail to behave ethically. Similarly, when considering their position in regard to each-other, it appears that humans are unhesitant about committing immoral acts against other people. Jacob's act and the acts committed by eleven
Many Judeo-Christina ethics are found most explicitly in the proverbs. Among them are purity, chastity, humility, and hard work. Ecclesiastes: Possibly written by Solomon, this book is a philosophical reflection; another work of poetics/wisdom (Fee & Douglas, 1993). The author reflects near the end of his life that much of his life has been meaningless. The exact reason for this despair is unclear, though it could be because it was
Part 2- Does the Noah's Ark story need to be 100% true for it to have meaning? Hardly, and the two (science and spirituality) can certain coexist and find common ground. When one looks at creation stories from various cultures, one is amazed at the similarities one finds between cultural explanations. This is perhaps because there are certain common questions that people ask about the "big" questions in life, among which,
The scenario of outright conquest seems unlikely because of the vast organization in a relatively short period of time that it would have taken. A fully-armed and organized mass invasion of what was to become their homeland by a returning Israelite force seems, even by modern standards of warfare, to be an arduous and gargantuan task. Would the returning Israelites have actually slaughtered anyone who got in their way? One
Old Testament Theme DAY OF THE LORD The day of the Lord is a major theme in the Old Testament, and it is mentioned in the New Testament as well. Remember, the day of the Lord has two aspects: 1) the historical aspect, where some prophecies have already been partially fulfilled in history, and 2) the eschatological aspect, when prophecies will be fulfilled completely in a future day. The future day of
Old Testament Traditional theodicy The Book of Job presents us several faces of theodicy and all of them make excellent examples of traditional Judaic theodicy. What is theodicy and more importantly, what are the characteristics of traditional Jewish theodicy as they appear in the Book of Job? A discussion on traditional theodicy could probably start with an extract from Leibnitz's book "Theodicy," written in 1710, where he explains the concept of theodicy by
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now