The Rundown of the Prevailing Themes in Each Book of the Old Testament
The Keywords and Key Messages Encased Throughout Each Book of the Old Testament
Genesis: God of Promises and Blessings
Keywords & Messages: Creation, Beginnings, Fall of Man, Punishment for Wickedness
Key Verse:
“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis 12:2-3
Exodus: God of Power
Keywords & Messages: Deliverance, Plagues and Fleeing Egypt The Ten Commandments, Moses’ Life, Covenants, Miracles of God
Key Verse:
Leviticus: God of Purity
Keywords & Messages: Instruction for Living a Moral Life, Ceremonial Law, Offerings and Atonement, Holiness
Key Verse:
“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Leviticus 19:2
Numbers: God of Perseverance
Keywords & Messages: Journeys, Importance of Faith, Leadership, Divine Punishment, Census of the People, Wandering into the wilderness, Fulfillment of Promises to Abraham
Key Verse:
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
Deuteronomy: God of Preparation
Keywords & Messages: Obedience, Renewal of Covenant, 10 Commandments, Moses’ Death
Key Verse:
The Lord will establish you as his holy people, as he promised you on oath if you keep the commands of the Lord your God and walk in obedience to him.
Deuteronomy 28:9
Joshua: God of the Land
Keywords & Messages: Conquest, Settling the Promised Land, God Keeps His Promises, Joshua’s Farewells
Key Verse:
Judges: God of the Rebels
Keywords & Messages: Deterioration, Deliverance, History of the Nation from Joshua to Samson, Need for a King, Consequences of Not Following Him, Sin will be Punished, Samson and Delilah
Key Verse:
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.
Judges 21:25
Ruth: God of Redemption
Keywords & Messages: Account of the Ancestors of the Family of Judah, Overcoming Trials, David’s Lineage, Loyalty, Integrity, Righteousness
Key Verse:
But Ruth replied, “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. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”
Ruth 1:16-17
1 Samuel: God of the Heart
Keywords & Messages: Transition, Leadership of Samuel, Dilemma Between David and Saul, David and Goliath, God Judges your Heart, Messianic King, Don’t be Prideful
Key Verse:
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
2 Samuel: God of the Throne
Keywords & Messages: Account of Saul’s Death, Unification, Chronicle of the Reign of David, David’s Victories and Failures, Birth of Solomon, God’s Promise of David’s Royal Lineage
Key Verse:
1 Kings: God of Israel
Keywords & Messages: Disruption, History of the Nation from David's Death, Reign of Solomon, Division of the Kingdom, Conflict, Ministry of the Prophet Elijah
Key Verse:
The word of the Lord came to Solomon: “As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.”
1 Kings 6:11-13
2 Kings: God of Israel
Keywords & Messages: Dispersion, Fall of the Two Nations, Wickedness, Babylonian Exile, Elisha
Key Verse:
So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah was left, and even Judah did not keep the commands of the Lord their God. They followed the practices Israel had introduced. Therefore the Lord rejected all the people of Israel; he afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers until he thrust them from his presence.
2 Kings 17:18-20
1 Chronicles: God of Judah
Keywords & Messages: Recap of Israel’s Spiritual History, Official Recorded History, Genealogy of Abraham, Genealogy of David, Genealogy of Saul, Exploits of King David
Key Verse:
2 Chronicles: God of Judah
Keywords & Messages: God Rewards Obedience, Israel’s Spiritual Heritage, History of David’s Heirs, Focus on the Jerusalem Temple, Solomon
Key Verse:
The Lord appeared to him at night and said: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. As for you, if you walk before me faithfully as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to rule over Israel.”
2 Chronicles 7:12-18
Ezra: God of the Temple
Keywords & Messages: Restoration, Return of the Jews from Babylonian Captivity, Rebuilding of the temple, Spiritual Reform, Accounts and Histories of Various Groups, Sin
Key Verse:
“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Any of his people among you may go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem, and may their God be with them.”
Ezra 1:2-3
Nehemiah: God of the Wall
Keywords & Messages: Reconstruction, Obstacles Encountered and Overcome, Rebuilding of the Wall and City, Covenant-Renewal, Principles for Living, Faith
Key Verse:
“Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
Nehemiah 1:11
Esther: God of the Gallows
Keywords & Messages: Preservation, Recounts Experiences of Jews who Remained Dispersed Outside the Land of Judah, Rebirth of a Nation in its Homeland, Account of Future Queen of Persia, Liberation of the Jews
Key Verse:
“Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”
Ester 4:16
Job: God of Pain
Keywords & Messages: Blessings Through Sufferings, Trials, Patience, Internal Conflict
Key Verse:
Psalms: God of Praise
Keywords & Messages: Praise, Worship of Jehovah, Lyrical Poems, Instruction for Prayer, Instruction for Praise,
Key Verse:
Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98:7-9
Proverbs: God of Prudence
Keywords & Messages: Practical Wisdom, Love of God, Love of Man, Blessings for those who Revere the Lord,
Key Verse:
To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
Proverbs 8:13
Ecclesiastes: God of Purpose
Keywords & Messages: All is Vanity Apart from God, Folly of Man, Meaninglessness in Material Goods, God Satisfies
Key Verse:
Song of Solomon: God of Passion
Keywords & Messages: Love, Joys of the Marriage Covenant, God’s Wisdom in Procreation
Key Verse:
My beloved is mine and I am his; he browses among the lilies.
Song of Solomon 2:16
Isaiah: God of Glory
Keywords & Messages: Predicts Exile in Babylon, God will Bless Israel, God will Bless the Nations, Prophecies of Jesus Christ, Salvation, Judgment Day
Key Verse:
Jeremiah: God of Weeping
Keywords & Messages: Judgment, Captivity of Judah, Punishment for Sins, False Gods, Emotional Struggles, Prophecies of Jesus Christ
Key Verse:
This is what the Lord says: “As for all my wicked neighbors who seize the inheritance I gave my people Israel, I will uproot them from their lands and I will uproot the people of Judah from among them. But after I uproot them, I will again have compassion and will bring each of them back to their own inheritance and their own country.”
Jeremiah 12:14-15
Lamentations: God of Faithfulness
Keywords & Messages: Lament, Jeremiah's sorrow, Capture of Jerusalem, Destruction of the temple, Path of Suffering, Murmuring
Key Verse:
Ezekiel: God of Visions
Keywords & Messages: The Glory of the Lord, Messages of Warning, Messages of Comfort, Visions of the Lord’s Glory Departure from the Temple, Israel’s Restoration, Oracles of Future Blessings, The Shepherd
Key Verse:
You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.
Ezekiel 34:31
Daniel: God of History
Keywords & Messages: The Sovereignty of God, Prophecies Concerning Christ, God’s Future Plans for Israel, Beast of Precious Metals, Lion’s Den, Faith, Power of the Almighty
Key Verse:
“I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.”
Daniel 6:26-27
Hosea: God of the Unfaithful
Keywords & Messages: Unfaithfulness, Prophecies Relating to Christ, Latter Days, Metaphor of a Wayward Wife, God’s Compassion
Key Verse:
Joel: God of the Locusts
Keywords & Messages: The Day of the Lord, Prediction of Woes Upon Judah, God's Judgment, Apostate nation, Day of Judgment, Christ will Restore
Key Verse:
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand—
Joel 2:1
Amos: God of the Oppressed
Keywords & Messages: Judgment, Judgment on Israel, Judgment on Israel’s Neighbors, Restoration to the House of David
Key Verse:
Obadiah: God of the Mountain
Keywords & Messages: Righteous Judgment, Desolation of Edom, Christ’s Kingdom, Victory of Israel
Key Verse:
“The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’ Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
Obadiah 1:3-4
Jonah: God of Compassion
Keywords & Messages: God’s Grace to All People, Account of the Prophet Jonah, Resurrection of Life, Faith, Salvation
Key Verse:
“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’”
Jonah 2:8-9
Micah: God of Justice
Keywords & Messages: Divine Judgment, Predictions relating to Invasions, Revelation of the Birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem, Corruption Among Leaders, God Promises Restoration, Deliverance and Punishment
Key Verse:
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Nahum: God of Wrath
Keywords & Messages: Consolation, Destruction of Nineveh, God is a Jealous God, Prediction of the Downfall of Assyria, Christ is our Stronghold
Key Verse:
Habakkuk: God of Sovereignty
Keywords & Messages: Trusting a Sovereign God, Prophet Habakkuk and God Converse, Christ is God of Salvation, Faith, Righteousness
Key Verse:
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights.
Habakkuk 3:19
Zephaniah: God of Judgment
Keywords & Messages: The “Great Day of the Lord”, Prediction of Overthrow of Judah, Certainty of Coming Judgment, Israel's Restoration
Key Verse:
Haggai: God of Renewal
Keywords & Messages: Rebuilding the Temple, Spiritual Health needs Priority, Christ is the Desire of all Nations
Key Verse:
Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave this message of the Lord to the people: “I am with you,” declares the Lord.
Haggai 1:13
Zechariah: God of Restoration
Keywords & Messages: God’s Deliverance, Trust and Obey the Lord, Foretelling of Christ, Plea for Repentance
Key Verse:
“Woe to the worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock! May the sword strike his arm and his right eye! May his arm be completely withered, his right eye totally blinded!”
Zechariah 11:17
Malachi: God of Worship
Keywords & Messages: Formalism Rebuked, Coming of Christ, Righteous Remnant will be Rewarded, Warning of Judgment Day, Convent Renewal
Key Verse:
-Torrance Church of Christ