Books of the Bible Flashcards
Genesis
Genesis answers two big questions: “How did God’s relationship with the world begin?” and “Where did the nation of Israel come from?”
Author: Traditionally Moses, but the stories are much older.
Fun fact: Most of the famous Bible stories you’ve heard about are probably found in the book of Genesis. This is where the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah and the Ark, the Tower of Babel, Abraham and Isaac, Jacob’s ladder, and Joseph’s coat of many colors are recorded.
Exodus
God saves Israel from slavery in Egypt, and then enters into a special relationship with them.
Author: Traditionally Moses
Leviticus
God gives Israel instructions for how to worship Him.
Author: traditionally Moses
Numbers
Israel fails to trust and obey God, and wanders in the wilderness for 40 years.
Author: Traditionally Moses
Deuteronomy
Moses gives Israel instructions (in some ways, a recap of the laws in Exodus–Numbers) for how to love and obey God in the Promised Land.
Author: Traditionally Moses
Joshua
Joshua (Israel’s new leader) leads Israel to conquer the Promised land, then parcels out territories to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Author: Nobody knows
Fun fact: You’ve probably heard of a few fantastic stories from this book (the Battle of Jericho and the day the sun stood still), but most of the action happens in the first half of this book. The last half is pretty much all about divvying up the real estate.
Judges
Israel enters a cycle of turning from God, falling captive to oppressive nations, calling out to God, and being rescued by leaders God sends their way (called “judges”).
Author: Nobody knows
Ruth
Two widows lose everything and find hope in Israel—which leads to the birth of the future King David.
Author: Nobody knows
1 Samuel
Israel demands a king, who turns out to be quite a disappointment.
Author: Nobody knows
2 Samuel
David, a man after God’s own heart, becomes king of Israel.
Author: Nobody knows
1 Kings
The kingdom of Israel has a time of peace and prosperity under King Solomon, but afterwards splits, and the two lines of kings turn away from God.
Author: Nobody knows
2 Kings
Both kingdoms ignore God and his prophets until they both fall captive to other world empires.
Author: Nobody knows
1 Chronicles
This is a brief history of Israel from Adam to David, culminating with David commissioning the temple of God in Jerusalem.
Author: Traditionally Ezra
2 Chronicles
David’s son Solomon builds the temple, but after centuries of rejecting God, the Babylonians take the southern Israelites captive and destroy the temple.
Author: Traditionally Ezra
Ezra
The Israelites rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, and a scribe named Ezra teaches the people to once again obey God’s laws.
Author: Ezra
Nehemiah
The city of Jerusalem is in bad shape, so Nehemiah rebuilds the wall around the city.
Author: Nehemiah
Esther
Someone hatches a genocidal plot to bring about Israel’s extinction, and Esther must face the emperor to ask for help.
Author: Nobody knows
Job
Satan attacks a righteous man named Job, and Job and his friends argue about why terrible things are happening to him.
Author: Nobody knows
Psalms
A collection of 150 songs that Israel sang to God (and to each other)—kind of like a hymnal for the ancient Israelites.
Author: David and others
Proverbs
A collection of sayings written to help people make wise decisions that bring about justice.
Author: Solomon and other wise men
Ecclesiastes
A philosophical exploration of the meaning of life.
Author: Traditionally Solomon
Song of Solomon (Song of Songs)
A love song (or collection of love songs) celebrating love, desire, and marriage.
Author: Traditionally Solomon
Isaiah
God sends the prophet Isaiah to warn Israel of future judgment—but also to tell them about a coming king and servant who will “bear the sins of many.”
Author: Isaiah (and maybe some of his followers)
Jeremiah
God sends a prophet to warn Israel about the coming Babylonian captivity, but the people don’t take the news very well.
Author: Jeremiah
Lamentations
Lamenting the fall of Jerusalem after the Babylonian attacks.
Author: Traditionally Jeremiah
Ezekiel
God chooses a man to speak for Him to Israel, to tell them the error of their ways and teach them justice: Ezekiel.
Author: Ezekiel