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Christopher Glyn

There are only five Poetry and Wisdom books, but they contain some of the best known songs and passages in the Bible. Whether they express praise to God, pearls of wisdom or beautiful romantic poetry, each book in this volume is an essential companion to Christian life and showcases the truly outstanding lyrical and literary side of the Bible which may be mistakenly overlooked.

Radio Active Publishing

The Audio Bible Old Testament

The King James Audio Bible - The Poetry and Wisdom Books

The historical books of the Bible span hundreds of years of the Israelite’s history, beginning with their conquest of the Promised Land and carrying on through the rule of judges and the reign of kings. This volume also records the eventual defeat of Israel by the Babylonians and their return from exile many years later to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem. Throughout these events is a continuous cycle of disobedience, judgment and repentance, depicting the consequences of sin but also the infinite mercy of God for the truly penitent.

The King James Audio Bible: The HIstorical Books

The Old Testament is a collection of thirty-nine books about the history and religion of the people of Israel. The authors of these books are unknown, and each book possesses a unique tone, style, and message. Individually, they include stories, laws, and sayings that are intended to function as models of religious and ethical conduct. Together—through hundreds of characters and detailed events—they represent a unified narrative about God and his attempt to relate to humankind by relating to a specific group of people.

The Old Testament contains four main sections: the Pentateuch, the Former Prophets (or Historical Books), the Writings, and the Latter Prophets. This study guide covers books from the first three sections.

The Pentateuch

The Pentateuch comprises the first five books of the Old Testament. It depicts a series of beginnings—the beginning of the world, of humankind, and of God’s promise to the Israelites.

Genesis, the first book, opens with God’s creation of the world. The perfect world falls into evil when humans disobey God, and the human population divides into separate nations and languages. After many generations, God speaks to a man named Abraham. God makes a promise, or covenant, with Abraham to make his descendants into a great nation and to give them a great land. Abraham shows strong faith in God, and God seals his promise with a number of signs and tests. This special covenant with God passes on to Abraham’s son, Isaac, and to his grandson, Jacob. Together, they represent the patriarchs, or fathers, of the Israelite people. Jacob’s twelve sons move to Egypt after the youngest brother, Joseph, miraculously becomes a high official in Egypt.

In the Book of Exodus, the descendants of Jacob’s children have become a vast people, but the Pharaoh of Egypt holds them in slavery. God chooses one man, Moses, to rescue the Israelites. God sends ten plagues to Egypt, and, with miraculous signs and wonders, Moses leads the people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea. They go to Mount Sinai, where God appears in a cloud of thunder over the mountain and affirms to the Israelites the promise he made to Abraham. God commands them to worship only himself, and he gives them various ethical and religious laws.

The books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy continue the explanation of God’s religious laws and his promises to the people. The people must keep these laws to enter and enjoy the promised land, toward which they are heading. Despite God’s presence, the Israelites complain and disobey incessantly, inciting God’s wrath. They wander the wilderness for forty years in search of the promised land. These books continue the period of Moses’s legendary leadership and miracles, until his death at the end of Deuteronomy.

The Former Prophets

The Former Prophets, or the Historical Books, cover the history of the Israelites from Moses’s death to the fall of the nation in 587 B.C. In the books of Joshua and Judges, the Israelites successfully conquer the land promised to them by God, but they disobey God by worshipping the deities of the surrounding peoples. Neighboring nations invade and oppress the Israelites. God saves the people of Israel by designating judges, or rulers, to lead the people in warding off their enemies.

The two books of Samuel (First Samuel and Second Samuel) cover the rise of the united kingdom of Israel. Israel’s religious leader, Samuel, appoints a king named Saul. Saul disobeys God, however, and God chooses another man, David, to be Israel’s king. King Saul attempts to kill the young David, but fails. Saul’s death closes the first book. In the second book, David establishes the great kingdom of Israel. He conquers Israel’s surrounding enemies and establishes Jerusalem as the religious and political center of Israel.

The books of Kings (called 1 Kings and 2 Kings) trace the decline of Israel’s success. God blesses David’s son, Solomon, with immense wisdom. As king, Solomon expands Israel into an empire and builds a great temple in Jerusalem. Solomon disobeys God by worshipping other deities, and, at his death, the kingdom splits into a northern kingdom, Israel, and a southern kingdom, Judah. A host of evil kings leads the two kingdoms away from worshipping God. Despite the attempts of the prophets Elijah and Elisha to halt Israel’s wrongdoing, the two kingdoms fall to the Assyrian and Babylonian Empires. Jerusalem is destroyed, and the people are sent into exile.

The Writings

The Writings are placed after the historical books in the Christian Bible. Some of these are narratives covering the time of Israel’s exile in other nations and its eventual return to the homeland. The Book of Esther, for example, tells the story of an unassuming Jewish girl who becomes the queen of Persia and boldly saves the Jewish people from genocide.

Many of the Writings are books of poetry and wisdom, among the most important literature in the Old Testament. The Book of Job is a lengthy dialogue investigating God’s justice and the problem of human suffering. The Psalms are lyrical poems and hymns—many attributed to King David—that express humankind’s longing for God. The books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes—similarly attributed to the wise King Solomon—offer sayings and instructions about the meaning of life and ethical behavior. Lastly, the Song of Solomon (also attributed to Solomon) is a romantic, lyric dialogue between a young woman and her lover.

Whitestone Media

The Old Testament: Complete

The second book of Kings depicts Israel as a land divided, being ruled by wicked kings who lead the Israelite people only further into idolatry and sin. Throughout this period, the prophets, notably Elijah and Elisha, bring hope for repentance and reformation by performing astounding miracles and spreading the word of God. Their efforts to lead the Israelites from their stubborn and disobedient path are chronicled in 2 Kings and, once again, God shows how He rewards obedience with blessings but rebellion with tragic consequences.

2 Kings

Christopher Glynn

The Book of Psalms, often referred to simply as Psalms, is a collection of 150 poems, prayers, hymns, and meditations found in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. It serves as the primary liturgical and spiritual resource for Jews and Christians alike, offering expressions of praise, worship, lament, gratitude, and supplication. The Psalms are traditionally attributed to several authors, including King David, Solomon, Asaph, the sons of Korah, and Moses, among others, though modern scholarship suggests a complex process of compilation and authorship spanning several centuries.
The Psalms are divided into five books, each concluding with a doxology, reflecting perhaps an imitation of the five books of the Torah. This structure highlights the Psalms' role as a guide for prayer and reflection on the Law. The content of the Psalms is incredibly diverse, encapsulating the full range of human emotions from the depths of despair to the heights of ecstatic joy. This diversity makes the Psalms uniquely relatable to individuals across different times and circumstances.
Key themes and types of Psalms include:
1. **Praise and Worship**: Many Psalms (e.g., Psalm 100, 150) are purely doxological, focusing on the greatness, goodness, and sovereignty of God. They invite the community and all creation to praise God for His mighty works and steadfast love.
2. **Lament**: These Psalms (e.g., Psalm 22, 42) express sorrow, confusion, and longing for God's intervention in times of distress, personal suffering, or national disaster. They often include a cry for help, a confession of trust, and a vow to praise God for His future deliverance.
3. **Thanksgiving**: Psalms of thanksgiving (e.g., Psalm 30, 107) are expressions of gratitude for God's deliverance from trouble or danger. They recount the distress experienced, celebrate the deliverance granted, and praise God for His mercies.
4. **Wisdom and Instruction**: Some Psalms (e.g., Psalm 1, 119) reflect on the value of God's law and wisdom, offering instruction on living a life that is pleasing to God. They contrast the paths of the righteous and the wicked and highlight the blessings of obedience to God's commands.
5. **Royal Psalms**: These (e.g., Psalm 2, 110) focus on the king as God's anointed representative, celebrating his coronation, praying for his success, or prophesying his future reign. Some are also interpreted as messianic, foreshadowing the reign of an ideal king from David's line, whom Christians identify as Jesus Christ.
The Psalms have been central to Jewish and Christian liturgical and individual prayer life for millennia, providing words for expressing faith, hope, love, and grief. Their poetic beauty and depth of emotion not only offer comfort and guidance to believers but also have had a profound influence on Western literature, music, and art. The Book of Psalms remains a timeless testament to the human experience of the divine, capturing the universal quest for meaning, redemption, and intimacy with God.

RadioActive Productions

Psalms with Music: Old Testament

The genre of Psalms is Songs and Poetry of all kinds. It is written by multiple authors; David wrote 73, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote 9, Solomon wrote 3, Ethan, and Moses each wrote one (Ps. 90), and 51 of the Psalms are anonymous. They were written over the span of approximately 900 years (Beginning at the time of Moses 1440 B.C. and through the captivity in 586 B.C.).
The Psalms include praises of joy, laments, blessings, and thanksgivings. They are directed at God and they help us to express and communicate ourselves to Him. We read about the Psalmist's emotions from one extreme to another, from praising, delighting in and worshiping God with fervor, to repentance and crying out to Him in despair.
Psalms sits at the very center of the Bible. The major themes found in Psalms are Praise, God's Power, Forgiveness, Thankfulness and Trust. "My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever" (145:21).
• The book of Psalms was originally divided into five books: o Book 1 consisted of chapters 1-41. o Book 2 corresponds to chapters 42-72. o Book 3 is chapters 73-89. o Book 4 included chapters 90-106. o Book 5 is compiled with chapters 107-150.
Mainly, the Psalms were written to help us deliver praise to God who is worthy of such. As psalms 150:6 reads, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord."
How do we know what God wants for us in our lives? "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (119:105). The answer is found in reading His Word, studying it, and applying its unchanging truths to your life.

An intensely beautiful volume of poetry, Song of Solomon perfectly captures the stages of love and relationships, from passionate courtship to the blessing of marriage. Written by King Solomon to his lover, these intimate verses are filled with fervor and emotion, portraying the sanctity and joy of marriage. The majestic lyricism found within this book is unlike any other in the Bible and is a source of inspiration to this day.

Song of Solomon

After the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, the people struggled to restore their city to its former glory. Similar to Haggai, the book of Zechariah was written at this time to urge the Judeans to rebuild their temple and redeem themselves with God. Zechariah has a more encouraging and hopeful tone than Haggai, and contains some of the most descriptive and beautiful Messianic prophecies in the Bible.

The Audio Bible Old Testament - The book series

The Audio Bible Old Testament - The book series

The Audio Bible Old Testament books in order

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