Deuteronomy

The genre of this book is law. The key themes of the book of Deuteronomy are love and obedience. It teaches man to love and obey God. This is shown perfectly in Det. 6:4, 5 where we also have the greatest doctrinal statement of the Old Testament: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is on Lord.” Deuteronomy means “second law”, but this does not means a repetition of the Law given by God to Moses. The law interprets the experience of the wilderness in the 38 years in the dessert. It is a commentary on the Mosaic Law that emphasizes specific laws and enlarged some of them. Deuteronomy brings the Law of Moses to the new generation that entered the Promised Land. The book gives us amendments on new situations and problems that arose and that were not covered by the Law specifically. The main purpose of the book was to remind the people of what God had done during the 38 years in the dessert and encourage them to come back to God again. The book starts with Israel arriving on the bank of the Jordan River one month before entering the Promised Land. In Hebrew, the book is divided into eight orations in which Moses give Israel the final instructions from the Lord. The generation whom had left Egypt was now dead because of their unbelief and disobedience. They committed sins of commission by breaking God’s law and sins of omission by failing to believe God. The book addresses the following issues: It reviews the dessert experiences, reinstates the law of love and obedience with it respective blessings and curses and provides a repetition and interpretation of the Ten Commandments. Additionally it reveals their future course in light of the Palestinian Covenant, teaches them a new song, blesses the twelve tribes and then prepares to die. The main personalities in this book are Moses and Joshua who probably wrote Deuteronomy 34:5-12 after Moose’s death.

Ruth

The genre of this book is romance . It features love without using the word “love”. The main theme is the kinsman-redeemer which is a male relative who, according to various laws of the Pentateuch, had the privilege or responsibility to act on behalf of a relative who was in trouble, danger, or in need. The purpose of this book is to show how three people, Rut, Noemi and Booz stand firm in the midst of a society that was collapsing. The author of this book is unknown although is belief that Samuel wrote it. The story begins with a tragedy where Noemi husband and two sons, one of whom was Ruth die. It takes place right after the period of the judges when Israel had turn their back on God and the people starting living their way and no God’s way and there was hunger in in the land. Ruth loved her mother-in-law and follows her to Bethlehem because she heard that God had visited his people to provide food. The key verse of the book is found on chapter 1 and verse 16 where she expresses from her heart ““Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Once they arrived at Bethlehem, Naomi sends Ruth to gather in the fields of Boaz, a wealthy relative of Naomi to whom they, through a series of divinely-appointed circumstances, appeal as their kinsman-redeemer. Boaz willingly takes Ruth as his wife, and together they bear a son named Obed who became the grandfather of David, the forefather of Jesus. Rut was from Moab and Booz was descendent of Rahab the prostitute of Jericho. Amazingly our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ descended from this line. The major events go hand with hand with some other major themes for the book and include faithfulness, goodness, integrity, protection and prosperity or blessings.

Esther

The genre of this book is narrative. The purpose of this book is to show God's sovereignty and his lovely care to his people. Esther is the account of Israel in a self-chosen pathway. The book records the story of those Jews who did not return from exile when they had the opportunity under Cyrus but chose instead the prosperity and luxury of Persia. The book is very unusual because it does not have any mention of God although His presence is clear along the book. The writer of the book is unknown and was written about 470 a.c. The book starts when the Queen Vashti refused to obey her husband the king Ahasuerus (Xerxes) to come and display her beauty at a banquet. Queen Vashti made a separate banquet for the women. The king under the influence of wine demanded her to appear which was contrary to accepted customs and she refused to come. For this reason she was exile and begins the search for a new queen. The king ordered to have all the beautiful woman of the empire come for a beauty contest and to bring them to the kingdom. Esther was a young Jewish woman was one of the chosen. King Xerxes was so impressed with Esther that made her his queen. Mardocai her first cousin and the person who raced her as his daughter came to be a government employer. During his work he prevented the king to be killed. But the ambitious and possessive Haman was assigned as second in power in the empire. When Mordecai refuses to bow to him, Haman gets furious and decides to destroy Mordecai and all the Jews along with him. To carry out his vengeance, Haman fools the king and convinces him to sign an edict to in which all Jews are condemned to death. Mardocai talked to and got help from the queen Esther and she starts a plan to save the Jews even risking her own life. Ester requests the king Xerxes himself and Haman to be her guests at the banquet during the feast. During the feast the king asked Esther what she really wanted and he promises anything she asks for. Esther invites them to a second banquet. That night the king could not sleep and started checking the royal files and he reads about the conspiracy of murder that Mardocai had frustrated. Surprised to know that Mordecai never had been rewarded for its action; the King asks Haman about how to reward to a hero. Thinking that the King was talking about him; he describes a splendid reward. The king accepts and for his surprise and humiliation Haman finds out that Mardocai is the person who must be honored. During the second banquet, the king asks one more time what was Esther desire. Esther answers that someone has planned to destroy her and her people and points to Haman as guilty. The King immediately sentenced Haman to be hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. As a result, Mardocai was given Haman's position and a new decree is issue that permits the Jews to defend themselves. This brings salvation and deliverance to a people who otherwise would have perished. To celebrate this occasion in history the feast of Purim is instituted, because this day darkness is turned into light and night into day. Proverbs

The genre of this book is wisdom. The purpose of this book is to teach people wisdom, doctrine, reasons, prudent, justice, judgment, and equity. The main themes of this book include: wisdom, relationships, conversation, work, success, self-control, resistance to the temptation, business affairs, words and language, marriage, the search for the truth, wealth and poverty, immorality, and of course the wisdom. Through the book Solomon uses proverbs to help the reader apply these to their daily lives; although the main theme is the nature of the true wisdom. The author of most the book is Solomon together with Agur and Lemuel. Solomon writes in proverbs in other words a proverb is a saying that conveys a specific moral truth. It comes from a Hebrew word that means "administer'' or "to govern". This is a book of wise sayings, a textbook to teach people to have godly living. The key verse of this book is "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge". This book can be divided into three parts: wisdom for the youth, wisdom for all and wisdom for leaders. Even though the purpose is not to teach doctrine, a person who follows it advices will walk very close to God. These sayings, reminders and warnings offer in-depth advice for ruling our lives.

Haggai

The genre of this book is prophecy. The main theme is the temple. The key themes of this book include having correct priorities and exhortation from God. The purpose of the book is to call upon the people of Israel to finish the re-construction of the temple. Haggai was a prophet in Judea on or around 520 a.c. after the return of the captives and the writer of this book. The people return to Jerusalem with desire to complete the temple but they fell again in bad behavior and the work stopped. Haggai brings a message of encouragement to the people where he asks them to correct their priorities. The people were more occupied in building their houses and forgot about the house of God. God called them to "consider your ways" and His judgment starts manifesting. There had been crop failure, famine, no money to buy clothes and they were asked to seek a logical explanation. God was withholding their blessing because of their lack of obedience. The command was simple: "go up to the mountain", cut down trees; "bring wood", make lumber; "build the house", the temple and as a result God would be pleased and glorified.