Sample Pages from Genesis

Sample pages from Genesis of the reading journal from Volume 2: The Old Testament - The Law and The Prophets:

 

Esther

The story of Esther fits between the first return of the Jews led by Zerubbabel, a descendant of David, and the second return under Ezra. It provided the only biblical record of the Israelites who had chosen to remain in Persia rather than returning to their promised land after the seventy-year captivity.

Although God was not mentioned in the book, Esther's story clearly shows that He was actively involved behind the scenes. On the surface, it appeared that different characters were at work, thinking or else scheming and bringing about the events that happened to the Jews residing throughout the regions of the vast empire. But God was in charge and working things out for His glory and the benefit of His people.

Esther was just a simple Jewess but rose to great prominence to become the new queen of the Persian king after the original was deposed for her contempt of the king's command. To be noticed and selected from a vast number of beauties through-out the empire was nothing short of a miracle—it was God's preparation and provision for a great peril ahead.

The chess pieces were in place to counter a genocide of ethnic proportion, and the first Jewish holocaust was averted because of the courage of Esther and the counsel of Mordecai.

4:14 For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Mordecai's words acknowledged a divine purpose in Esther's position, and is also a reminder to every believer to serve God's purpose by exercising his or her privilege and gifting for the good of their generation.

OUTLINE OF ESTHER

1. Feast of Ahasuerus (1:1-2:23)
Coronation of Esther
a. Queen Vashti deposed (1:1-22)
b. Esther crowned as new queen (2:1-20)
c. The king saved from murder plot (2:21-23)
2. Fast of Mordecai (3:1-4:17)
Persecution by Haman
a. Haman's rise and revenge (3:1-6)
b. The king's decree (3:7-15)
c. The Jews' response (4:1-17)
3. Feast of Esther (5:1-7:10)
Condemnation of Haman
a. Esther's first feast (5:1-8)
For the king and Haman
b. Haman's progressive downfall (5:9-6:14)
Secret plot | Self pride | Humiliation
c. Esther's second feast (7:1-10)
Against Haman
Revelation | Indictment | Judgment
4. Feast of Purim (8:1-9:32)
Commemoration of Deliverance
a. Mordecai promoted (8:1-6)
b. First decree countered (8:7-14)
c. Gentiles converted (8:15-17)
d. Jews delivered (9:1-16)
e. Purim celebrated (9:17-32)
Epilogue (10:1-3)

 

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes (Hebrew title, Qoheleth) is fourth in the Megillot (five scrolls) of the Ketuvim (Writings) section in the Tanakh. The author is introduced as 'son of David, king in Jerusalem' which many scholars believed refers to Solomon.*

The book essentially discusses the purpose and pursuit of life within the context of its brevity and inconsistencies. Having explored through observation and exhausted all explanation of what life is like under the sun, the author could only exclaim in exasperation that whatever mortal man does or accomplishes is but a vain show—futile, fleeting and frustrating—because the end for every man, wise or foolish, is the same—death.

And though 'the preacher' endorses wisdom as a necessity for a well-lived earthly life, he does not ascribe eternal value to it. In light of this senseless and temporal existence, one should simply enjoy life fully and take pleasure in one's work, which are ordained by the hand of God (2:24; 3:22).

Solomon was certainly more qualified than anyone to speak about life, since he had everything life could possibly offer—health, wealth, power, wisdom, and the freedom to do anything he ever wanted or could dream of. Yet he concluded that life in itself is completely empty and devoid of hope apart from God, notwithstanding the abundance and enjoyment it affords.

In the end, the fickleness of a life without God stands in sharp contrasted against a fulfilled life that is lived in the fear of the Lord, as the book puts forth the ultimatum:

12:13 Fear God and keep his commandments; for that is the whole duty of every living person.

* According to Jewish tradition, Solomon wrote Song of Songs in his youth, Proverbs in the prime of his life, and Ecclesiastes in his declining years.

OUTLINE OF ECCLESIASTES

1. Vanity of Vanities (1:1-18)
a. Declaration of life's vanities (1:1-11)
A vicious cycle | Nothing new under the sun
b. Personal experience (1:12-18)
Diligent search | Futility of wisdom
2. Vanity of Doing (2:1-26)
a. Indulging in life's pleasures (2:1-11)
Partying | Projects | Possessions
b. Despairing life's emptiness (2:12-26)
Same ending for the wise and foolish
3. Vanity of Having (3:1-6:12)
a. Predetermination of life (3:1-22)
Happenings | Circumstances | Retributions
b. Injustices in life (4:1-16)
Oppression | Labor | Popularity
c. Inadequacies of life (5:1-20)
Religion | Philosophy | Wealth
d. Unpredictability of life (6:1-12)
Property | Posterity | Perspective
4. Vanity of Being (7:1-9:18)
a. Wisdom better than folly (7:1-29)
b. Things beyond our control (8:1-9:6)
Government | God's doings | God's judgment
c. Live and let live (9:7-12)
d. Unreliability of human wisdom (9:13-18)
5. Counsel on Living Well (10:1-11:10)
a. Some wise observations (10:1-15)
b. Some wise advices (10:16-11:10)
6. Counsel on True Living (12:1-14)
a. Remember your Creator (12:1-8)
b. Fear God and obey Him (12:9-14)

 

Lamentations

Lamentations is an elegy on Jerusalem, a tear-stained portrait of the once proud city that was reduced to rubble and ashes by the Babylonian armies. In a five-poem dirge, Jeremiah laid bare his emotions over the desolation of his homeland.

Written in acrostic fashion like Psalm 119, each chapter begins with the first Hebrew alphabet and progresses verse by verse to the last as the distraught prophet wept from aleph to tav. Yet amidst the destruction and death, seemingly hopeless with no relief in sight, Jeremiah's unwavering faith in God's mercy and faithfulness turned a tragic sob into a triumphal song!

For forty years, Jeremiah suffered abuse and rejection at the hands of his own countrymen, as he tirelessly warned them of the impending divine judgment for their sins of apostasy and rebellion. When his prophecies finally came true, he could have sneered at the stubborn people reaping their just dues and said, "I told you so!" Instead, we see a compassionate prophet crying his tender heart out over the fall and devastation of the once proud city.

Jeremiah's five-part requiem reflects a broken man who was divinely commissioned to deliver a harsh message to a sinful and stiff-necked nation. The injustices this prophet endured for four decades is but a fleeting moment compared to what God had to put up with His people during the past centuries since the time of the divided kingdoms.

It might be difficult for us to grasp—that the grief of the Holy One of Israel was grafted upon Jeremiah—as He allowed the weeping prophet a glimpse of the pain and heartache the Most High suffered at the hands of His ungrateful and unrepentant people. If this experience had torn Jeremiah apart, it might be worth the intimacy of knowing firsthand the wounded heart of God in sharing His divine sorrow.

OUTLINE OF LAMENTATIONS

1. Jerusalem's Destruction (1:1-22)
Grief—a city in mourning
a. The lament of Jeremiah (1:1-11)
b. The lament of Jerusalem (1:12-22)
2. God's Anger (2:1-22)
Cause—a people punished
a. The anger of God (2:1-9)
b. The agony of Jerusalem (2:10-17)
c. The appeal of Jerusalem (2:18-22)
3. Prayer for Mercy (3:1-66)
Hope—a prophet intercedes
a. Cry of despair (3:1-18)
b. Confession of faith (3:19-39)
c. Condition of need (3:40-54)
d. Confidence in God (3:55-66)
4. Jerusalem's Siege (4:1-22)
Repentance—a kingdom in ruin
a. Condition during the siege (4:1-19)
b. Cause of the siege (4:11-20)
c. Consequences of the siege (4:21-22)
5. Prayer for Restoration (5:1-22)
Prayer—a nation repents
a. Reviewing the need for restoration (5:1-15)
b. Repenting from sin (5:16-18)
c. Requesting for restoration (5:19-22)

 

Ruth

The book of Ruth is one of two books in the Bible that is named after a woman. In a patriarchal society, this is remarkable—more so because Ruth was a poor Moabite widow!

In the midst of Israel's darkest and chaotic periods marked by immorality, idolatry and anarchy, the story of Ruth shone like a beacon with its heart-warming devotion and redemption that contrasted the widespread infidelity of God's people.

Though the author of Ruth was not identified, many scholars attributed it to the prophet Samuel, possibly because of the brief lineage of David up to his birth which, though Samuel did not live to see his coronation, was confident that God would instate the son of Jesse whom he anointed (1 Samuel 16:13).

Literary, Ruth is a beautiful love story of profound simplicity in filial love and piety, not only relationally by a daughter-in-law to a mother-in-law, but cross-culturally between two persons of different nationalities and backgrounds.

Historically, Ruth bridges the gap between the roller-coaster cycles of the judges and the reformative challenges of Israel's monarchy, exuding the virtues of devotion and faithfulness in a time of apostasy and infidelity.

Theologically, Ruth brings out an important fact—salvation is not reserved just for God's chosen people alone, but as Peter acknowledged—anyone who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to Him, regardless of race or nationalities.

Morally, Ruth is a bastion of integrity in interpersonal relationships as well as sanctity in marriages.

However simple the storyline, the book of Ruth is an immense treasury of spiritual and literary values.

OUTLINE OF RUTH

1. Love Demonstrated (1:1-2:23)
Ruth and Naomi
a. In the land of Moab (1:1-22)
Ruth's resolve—I will go with you
b. In the field of Boaz (2:1-23)
Ruth's request—Let me glean in your field
2. Love Rewarded (3:1-4:22)
Ruth and Boaz
a. In the threshing floor (3:1-18)
Ruth's redemption—Cover your handmaid
b. In the house of Boaz (4:1-22)
Ruth's reward—A son named Obed