The Message is a contemporary rendering
of the Bible from the original languages,
crafted to present its tone, rhythm, events,
and ideas in everyday language.
INTRODUCTION TO THE
HISTORY BOOKS
The twelve biblical books stretching from Joshua to Esther are conventionally designated “the history books.” But the word “history” doesn’t tell the whole story, for this is history attentive to the conditions in which people encounter and experience God. The Hebrew people were intent on observing and participating in what happened in and around them because they believed that God was personally alive and active in the world, in their community, and in them. Life could not be accounted for by something less than the life of God, no matter how impressive and mysterious their experience was, whether an eclipse of the sun, spots on the liver of a goat, or the hiss of steam from a fissure in the earth. God could not be reduced to astronomical, physiological, geological, or psychological phenomena; God was alive, always and everywhere working his will, challenging people with his call, evoking faith and obedience, shaping a worshiping community, showing his love and compassion, and working out judgments on sin. And none of this “in general” or “at large,” but at particular times, in specific places, with named persons: history.
For biblical people, God is not an idea for philosophers to discuss or a force for priests to manipulate. God is not a pan of creation that can be studied and observed and managed. God is person—a person to be worshiped or defied, believed or rejected, loved or hated, in time and place. That is why these books immerse us in dates and events, in persons and circumstances—in history. God meets us in the ordinary and extraordinary occurrences that make up the stuff of our daily lives. It never seemed to have occurred to our biblical ancestors that they could deal better with God by escaping from history, “getting away from it all” as we say. History is the medium in which God works salvation, just as paint and canvas is the medium in which Rembrandt made created works of art. We cannot get closer to God by distancing ourselves from the mess of history.
This deeply pervasive sense of history—the dignity of their place in history, the presence of God in history—accounts for the way in which the Hebrew people talked and wrote. They did not, as was the fashion in the ancient world, make up and embellish fanciful stories. Their writings did not entertain or explain; they revealed the ways of God with men and women and the world. They gave narrative shape to actual people and circumstances in their dealings with God, and in God’s dealings with them.
But for the Hebrews there simply was no secular history. None. Everything that happened, happened in a world penetrated by God. Since they do not talk a lot about God in their storytelling, it is easy to forget that God is always the invisible and mostly silent presence in everything that is taking place. But if we forget for very long, we will understand neither what is written nor the way it is written. God is never absent from these narratives and never peripheral to them. As far as these writers were concerned, the only reason for paying attention to people and events was to stay alert to God.
This is a difficult mindset for us to acquire, for we are used to getting our history from so-called historians, scholars, and journalists for whom God is not involved or present in what they study and write. We are thoroughly trained by our schools, daily newspapers, and telecasts to read history solely in terms of politics and economics, human interest and environmental conditions. If we have a mind for it, we can go ahead and fit God in somewhere or other. These historical books—Joshua through Esther—are radically and refreshingly different. They pull us into a way of reading history that involves us and everyone around us in all the operations of God.
The Old Testament History Books Exegetical Consultants:
Dr. Robert L Hubbard Jr.
North Park Theological Seminary
CHAIRMAN
Dr. Bryan E. Beyer
Columbia Biblical University
Ezra, Nehemiah
Dr. Paul R. House
Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry
1 & 2 Kings
Dr. V. Philips Long
Regent College
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Esther
Dr. Richard L. Pratt Jr.
Reformed Theological Seminary
1 & 2 Chronicles
Dr. John H. Walton
Wheaton College
1 & 2 Samuel