Bible Correspondence Course
By John M. Hurt
The Hammer And The Anvil
"Last eve I passed beside a blacksmith's door and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;When looking in, I saw upon the floor, Old hammers worn with beating years of time."'How many anvils have you had,' said I, To wear and batter all these hammers so? ''Just one,' said he; then said with twinkling eye, The anvil wears the hammers out, you know.' "And so, I thought, the anvil of God's word For ages skeptic's blows have beat upon; Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard, The anvil is unharmed-the hammers gone!"
by John Clifford
THE OLD TESTAMENT
With this lesson you are beginning an intensified study of the greatest book ever to be delivered into human hands. The Bible is the book of books. It has done more to change the course of human events he any book ever printed.
Through thousands of years the Bible has been the center of the moral standard of the civilized world. It has been a source book of much of our historical knowledge. It has been the spark which has prompted numerous scientific advances. It has improved the condition of every nation which has received it with the respect and honor it so richly deserves.
The Bible has been a star of hope to countless millions, a comfort to the dying, and a compass to the living. It is a book without equal, and a compass to the living. It is a book without equal, but most important of all, it is "the Word of God which liveth and abideth forever" (1 Peter 1:23).
May the Lord richly bless you in this study of His Holy Word, and may the zeal which has prompted your present interest, lead you into paths of ever-increasing usefulness in the service of Him who died for us all.
The Writings of the Old Testament
The Bible is separated into two main divisions, The Old and New testaments. The Old Testament, which was originally written in the Hebrew language, includes all of the writings of the Bible from the Book of Genesis through that of Malachi.
Although the Bible is generally thought of as a single book, it is actually a composition of many books which are in themselves distinctly separate from each other, but which are written in such perfect harmony and unity that they may be considered as mere parts of the one great book, the Bible. In the Old Testament alone there are thirty-nine separate writings or books. They cover the period from the time of the creation to the end of the book of Malachi which was written in about 425 B.C.
The first five books of the Old Testament are almost universally considered to have been written by Moses in about 1450 B.C. The remaining thirty-four books were written during the next one thousand years. Some of the authors were shepherds, some were kings, some captives in foreign lands, some were men of great education, others men of little formal training, yet all wrote in such harmony and unity that not one single contradiction has ever been found in their teachings.
Atheists through the centuries have scoffed, tyrants have threatened the Bible's utter destruction, yet they like all of God's opponents, have passed into oblivion and the Bible shines brighter today than ever before.
| OUTLINE OF OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY | ||||
| The following is a brief outline of Old Testament historyand is designed to acquaint the student with the relation and order of its various important events and people |
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Because of his wickedness, Cain was driven out and Adam and Eve were given a third son, Seth who was to be the forefather of such great characters Noah, Abraham, David and Christ (Genesis 5) |
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RECENT OLD TESTAMENT DISCOVERIES
For may centuries the Old Testament has stood as the lone historical record of numerous events, places and people of the ancient world. Many of these records were once publicly ridiculed by skeptics of the Bible as being unauthentic and incorrect. It was reasoned that since no mention of them had been found in any other historical writing that this proved once and for all that the Bible was incorrect. Recent archeological discoveries, however, have proven the Bible to be correct in great detail and those who opposed it to be false.
In Genesis 11:31, for instance, Abraham (Abram) is said to have lived in the city of Ur. the existence of this great city was often scorned until recent archeological diggings uncovered its ancient ruins. Temples , houses, and even the king's and queen's tombs have been discovered.
The existence of the Hittite nation, mentioned in Genesis 15:20 was also unknown outside the Bible. Ancient records of Egypt and Assyria have since been unearthed however, which show that the Hittites actually did exist as a mighty nation which stood for nearly seven centuries. Again the Bible has been proven correct and the skeptics who opposed it to be false.
The ancient Egyptian city of Pithom has been uncovered and storehouses fitting the description of those built by the Israelites have been found, the lower portion containing brick with straw and the upper portion containing brick without straw. (See Exodus 1:11;5:7). The mummy of Meneptah II, widely believed to be the Pharaoh of the exodus, has been discovered. A hymn to him mentions Israel and the inscription tells of the death of his young son, possibly the one mentioned in the last plague (Exodus 12:29).
The account of the fall of the great city of Babylon recorded in the book of Daniel was also once strongly questioned because of the statement that Belshazzar was the city's last ruler(Daniel 5:30). Until 1853 no mention of Belshazzar was ever found in Babylonian records. Ancient inscriptions have since been unearthed however, which show that Nabonidus, Babylon's last known king, had a "first-born, favorite son" 'called' "Belshazzar" who reigned as co-regent with his father. One cuneiform inscription reads: "He freed his hand, he entrusted the kingship to him. Then he himself undertook a distant campaign..." This explains the Bible's statement that Daniel was the "third ruler in the kingdom" since Nabonidus and Belshazzar were the first two.
The location of the land of Goshen, Shishak;s sculptured account of his campaign against King Rehoboam, Sennacharib's history of his invasion of Palestine, mentioning King Hezekiah, the city of Ninevah, Moabite battle records mentioning "Omri, King of Israel," and "Jehovah," an inscription "To the Unknown Gods" like the one described in Acts 17:23, and multitudes of other Bible facts have likewise been recently discovered. surely he is blind indeed who sees not the hand of god on the pages of His sacred word.
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