For the first time in history, I read, snippet-reviewed and finished the 39 Books of the Old Testament in 19 consecutive days. It was a good experience and for this, the time was right to make an Integrative Book Review.
Style of Writing
It was one of the best decisions of my life to research what version of the Holy Bible to read before starting the Old Testament.
The New Living Translation (NLT) made my reading experience happier as the writing style was made simpler, clearer and smoother.
All the unnecessary words of the Old English were omitted; and the sentences were following the subject-verb agreement in prose writing.
NLT translated the Holy Bible like all its Books were meant to read by high school and college students or professionals.
The choice of words was lighter too. There was no need to look into the dictionary to find the meaning of those big words that make a sentence complicated.
In truth, great stories were written to connect to you on a personal human level.
If there was anything to say negative about NLT was its word repetition was all over the place.
In the Book of Leviticus, you would easily notice the frequent use of select words such as “un-ceremonially unclean” and “ceremonially unclean” for every page until you finished the book.
Substance & Quality
You could learn something great with the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.
From the Book of Genesis to Book of Malachi, the intensity of high-quality storytelling never stopped.
It would offer you varying degrees of excitement, shock and wisdom.
The Old Testament would make you question a lot of times, but your curiosity is answered immediately once you take time to Google for answers.
We were now living in an AI-era too. Therefore, you could use Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT during your research.
Sometimes, there were times you wonder if the stories were real or not.
For example, in the Book of Numbers, there was a talking donkey in the middle chapters that was way impossible to exist in life.
There were a lot of times you need to understand the stories of the Old Testament figuratively. Instead of questioning yourself if donkeys could talk long time ago, ask yourself what this donkey represent to.
Is the talking donkey a representation of a miracle?
Is the talking donkey a representation of a blessing in disguise?
Another subject matter worth discussing was when God repeatedly considered himself the Jealous God.
What was the meaning of a Jealous God?
Did it mean He felt envious when you have more money; or did it refer to a healthy kind of jealous like when your wife flirts with another handsome man?
Your perception mattered when you read the Old Testament.
Your imagination was challenged; and your reasoning was heavily tested.
Whether the stories of the Old Testament sounded real, anecdote or prophetic, the message it sent to you was the same. Be good and do good like Joseph The Dreamer.
Plot
All the Books of the Old Testament were connected in a non-chronological manner.
The flow of events was jumpy especially after the 2 Chronicles.
Books of Ezra and Nehemiah were supposed to be placed in the last five, which preceded the Book of Malachi.
There were also standalone books that tell stories that were completely separated from Pentateuch and historical books such as:
- Genesis,
- Exodus,
- Leviticus,
- Numbers,
- Deuteronomy,
- Joshua,
- Judges,
- Ruth,
- 1 Samuel,
- 2 Samuel,
- 1 Kings,
- 2 Kings,
- 1 Chronicles,
- 2 Chronicles,
- Ezra,
- Nehemiah,
- Esther
The standalone books did not follow the chronological timeline as it should be. Their stories emphasized a deeper understanding of life that could be confusing if they merged with the other books listed above.
Minor prophets wrote these standalones. These prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.
My Favorite Characters
Apart from the amazing plots and writing quality, the Old Testament was highly remembered due to its characters.
There were hundreds of amazing names mentioned in each book, but only seven were a real stand-out. God Himself was written as the most well-developed character due to its multiple appearances in every book.
Though to give chance for other names, it was best to pay attention to the following:
7 – Samson
Samson was a popular character of the Holy Bible. His limitless strength and unbreakable courage were his primary qualities that could never be forgotten despite of all his flaws.
6 – Ezra
Ezra was a priest who was highly remembered due to his conscience. As he helped the people return to the Holy Land, he felt responsible for the sins they made. He asked God to give him time to make their wrong practices right.
5 – Jeremiah
Of all the prophets, Jeremiah was the one who experienced countless of hardships. The people of Jerusalem did not believe him. His intentions were pure, but he was imprisoned instead. His Book of Lamentations highlighted the value of hope amid calamities.
4 – Talking Donkey
The page-time for the talking donkey was short but created a permanent mark on me. Talking donkey was the representation of a miracle that could happen during the unexpected times.
3 – King Solomon
The Old Testament mentioned a number of kings. Solomon was clearly the most popular not only for his great contributions for Israel but also for his appearances in three books namely:
- 1 Kings,
- Song of Songs,
- Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes revealed how vulnerable King Solomon was. He was lonely, he was suicidal; and he was hated. Of these negative vibes, Solomon kept his wisdom alive. His wisdom saved him from his imperfections both as a king and as a person.
2 – Joseph The Dreamer
Joseph was one of the biggest characters to remember in the Book of Genesis. His story started in Chapter 37 and ended in Chapter 50.
In truth, Joseph closed the Book of Genesis with multiple lessons to learn. One was jealousy.
Joseph’s story would make you realize your family could be your biggest foe once the emotional instability was high.
Joseph had no control over his 10 immature brothers. They allowed their jealousy to devour them, and their level of conscience was low.
Great thing with Joseph, his resiliency gave him the chance to recover from the betrayal and temptations.
He stayed healthy, he looked good; and he took care of himself even if everyone treated him as a slave.
It was a rare moment when Joseph forgave his brothers and chose to be close with them again.
Not everyone had the ability to forgive like Joseph. It would be simpler to forgive yourself first than forgive others face to face.
This was the part when Joseph’s story became unrealistic. His blood betrayed him and sold him as a slave, which was unacceptable.
It was admirable for Joseph to forgive them.
The drawback was, forgiving and re-accepting them inside his support system meant he allowed them to break the boundary he built to protect his self-esteem.
1 – Job
Book of Job was special. It was considered as 1 of the 5 Wisdom Books of the Old Testament (Focus on The Family, 2021).
Job and Joseph were similar in many ways. Both suffered heavily.
The difference was, Job was not aware why he was suffering. His life was near perfection before he lost his children, health and wealth.
Like Joseph, Job experienced grief, anxiety and depression. Every day was a heavy burden, giving him reasons to give up.
Job stayed faithful, however. His humility and spirituality gave him the understanding to also accept the point of views of his friends without necessarily believing them.
Their conversation went deeper to a point that Job became skeptical about the existence of God.
Then, when Job least expected it, a miracle happened right in front of him. This was a miracle that changed his life for the better.
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The Books of Old Testament taught layers of lessons that other non-fiction or fiction books could not give. These books were even better than the news in TV.
On to the 27 Books of the New Testament… H-a-l-l-e-l-u-j-a-h!
Photos Courtesy of: IMDb
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