OLD TESTAMENT
HISTORY FOR SENIORS
THE UNFOLDING OF GOD’S
COVENANT PROMISE
“For the promise is unto you, and
to your children, and to
all that are afar off, even as many as
the Lord our
God shall call.” Acts
written by
1961
Adopted for use in the Protestant
Reformed Churches
by the Synod of 1961
FOREWORD
This catechism book is based upon the principle that
Genesis
We
have, therefore, divided the entire period from creation to the birth of Christ into five
periods, each period ending with a decisive victory for the church in the fulfillment of
this promise. These five victories are: the victory of the Flood, the victory of the
We have also emphasized in each period the Scriptural
truth that our covenant God remains faithful to His promise even though His church
constantly reveals herself to be unfaithful.
The workbook has been designed to help the child work
himself into the truth that he commits to memory.
We
wish to acknowledge the instruction of Rev. G. M. Ophoff, Professor in Old Testament
History in the
May
our covenant God so bless the instruction given through the use of this book that our
covenant youth learn to love the truth that, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of
him that runneth, but of God who showeth mercy.”
Romans 9:16.
Rev. J.A. Heys
PERIOD I
From Creation Through the Victory of
the Flood
LESSON 1
God Creates All Things
1. Quote the first verse of the Bible.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.”
2. Why is it so important that our Bible begins with this
verse?
Because it teaches us that God is eternal and that all
things were made by Him.
3. How did God create all things?
“He spake and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast.”
Psalm 33:9
4. Why did God create all things?
God created all things for the glory of His own name.
Revelation 4:11
5. What important thing do we read about the creation of man?
Scripture states, “God created man in His own image.”
Genesis 1:27
6. Was man made to be different from all other earthly
creatures?
Yes, man was made so that he could know God, talk with Him, and love Him.
Genesis 2:7
b
7. How did God create man?
“The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Genesis 2:7
8. What was Adam’s relation to the earthly creation?
He was its king under God.
Genesis 1:26;
Psalm 8:6-8
9. Where did Adam dwell?
In the garden of Eden, which was a picture of the heavenly
10.
What was in the midst of the garden?
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:17,
Genesis 3:24.
LESSON 2
The Gospel Promise
1. What had God said to Adam about the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil?
“Thou shalt not eat of it; for the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 2:17
2. Did Adam keep this commandment of God?
No, for he ate of the forbidden fruit which Eve gave him.
Genesis 3:6
3. Who tempted Eve to eat of this forbidden fruit?
Satan tempted her with the lie, “Ye shall not surely die.”
Genesis 3:4, 5
4. Did Adam and Eve know that they were guilty on account of
their sin?
Yes, for they knew that they were naked; and they made themselves aprons of fig leaves.
Genesis 3:7
5. How did God cover their nakedness?
The Lord God clothed them with coats of skin.
Genesis 3:21
6. What was God’s curse upon
Satan?
“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy
head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
Genesis 3:15
7. What is so important about this Bible text?
It is the first announcement of the promise of the gospel.
8. Does the seed of the woman refer to all the children of
Eve?
No, God meant the elect believers and their spiritual
seed.
9. Whom does God mean by the seed of the serpent?
God means those who hate God and His church and are
sometimes in Scripture called “the world.”
10.
How did God fulfill this promise?
He sent the Savior to deliver His people from the power of Satan.
Romans 16:20
LESSON 3
The Development of Sin
1. What became plain in the first two children that God gave
Adam and Eve?
That wicked Cain was of the seed of the serpent and
righteous Abel was of the seed of the woman.
2. How did Abel show that he was of the seed of the woman?
By faith he sacrificed a lamb to God.
Genesis 4:4
3. How did Cain show that he was of the seed of the serpent?
He slew righteous Abel who loved God.
Genesis 4:8
4. What was Satan’s purpose in the killing of Abel?
Satan attempted to keep Christ from being born.
5. How did God continue the seed of the woman after Abel’s
death?
God gave Adam and Eve another God-fearing son, whom they called Seth.
Genesis 4:25
6. Did the wickedness of the seed of the serpent manifest
itself again?
It surely did, for the wickedness of man was great in the earth.
Genesis 6:5
7. How great was this wickedness of man?
Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 6:5
8. Can you mention a man of Cain’s generation who showed
himself to be of the seed of the serpent?
Yes, wicked Lamech who boasted to his two wives of having killed a man.
Genesis 4:23
9. Mention one of Seth’s generations who was of the seed
of the woman.
Enoch, who walked with God.
Genesis 5:24
10.
Did the seed of the woman serve God in their own strength?
No, “It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13
LESSON 4
Salvation In The
1. Was the church very large at the time of the Flood?
No, there were only eight souls left that believed and obeyed God.
I Peter 3:20
2. How did Noah show his faith before the unbelieving world?
He showed his faith by building the ark as God had commanded.
Hebrews 11:7
3. What do we read of the wicked world of that day?
They lived in sin and acted as though the flood would never come.
Matthew 24:37-39
4. What did God do for His church in that day?
He saved His church from the wicked world by the Flood.
I Peter 3:20
5. What beautiful promise did God give to Noah?
God said to Noah, “With thee will I establish my covenant.”
Genesis 6:18
6. What does this promise mean?
That God would be his friend and would save him and his
family in the ark.
7. Did God keep this promise?
Yes, God destroyed all the wicked by the Flood and saved only Noah and his family.
Genesis 7:21-23
8. What more does this promise mean?
That God would save His church and send the Savior.
9. Why is this destruction of the wicked so important?
Because it is the first great deliverance that God gave to His church.
Genesis 3:15
10.
What more can be said of this destruction of the wicked?
It is the type of the final judgment of the world.
Matthew 24:37-39
REVIEW
PERIOD II
The World After the Flood to the
Victory of the
LESSON 5
The Reappearance of Sin
1. How did sin reveal itself after the Flood?
Noah became drunken, and Ham delighted in his father’s sin.
Genesis 9:20-22
2. What does God show us by the sins of those whom He saved
by the Flood?
That the Flood was not the final victory over sin.
3. What great need did the believers feel because of their
sins?
They felt the need of the Savior to save them from their sins.
Hebrews 11:13
4. How did Shem and Japheth reveal that they were righteous?
They would not rejoice in the sin of Ham but covered their
father’s nakedness.
5. Is there anything that shows that Noah also hated his
sins?
Yes, afterward he blessed Shem and Japheth, but cursed
6. Did sin develop rapidly after the Flood?
Indeed, for the wicked soon rebelled against God by
building the
7. Why did they build this tower?
They wanted to stay together to remain a strong kingdom.
Genesis 11:4
8. How did God prevent this?
God confused their speech so that they spread over the earth.
Genesis 11:7, 8
9. Why did God scatter them and make separate nations?
So that His church might safely grow in this wicked world.
10.
Where do we find God’s covenant people from this time
onward?
The church will be found in Shem’s descendants and later also in Japheth’s.
Genesis 9:26, 27
LESSON 6
The Call of Abraham
1. Why did God call Abraham out of
To continue His covenant with Abraham and his seed in the land of promise.
Genesis 12:1
2. Was this according to the covenant promise which God spoke
through Noah?
Yes, for Abraham was a descendant of Shem.
Genesis 9:26
3. Were the Canaanites a God-fearing people?
No, they were wicked descendants of Ham.
4. Why, then, did God send Abraham to such a wicked country?
Because He wanted him to be a stranger in the land of
promise.
5. How did it become plain that God wanted him to be a
stranger in the land of promise?
Abraham had to wait for God to give him the land.
6. How did Abraham reveal his faith in God’s promise?
He refused to make friends with the wicked Canaanites.
Hebrews 11:9
7. How did Abraham show that he did not always trust God’s
faithfulness?
Twice he lied about his wife to protect himself.
Genesis 12:10-13
and 20:1, 2
8. Did Abraham receive a son according to the promise?
Yes, God gave Abraham and Sarah a son in their old age.
Genesis 21:1-5
9. Why did God make Abraham wait so long for this promised
son?
To show that the birth of Isaac was a wonder of grace.
10.
What did God say concerning Isaac?
In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Genesis 21:12
LESSON 7
The Covenant As Established with
Abraham
1. What important place did God give Abraham in the line of
the covenant?
God made him to be the father of all believers.
Romans 4:12
2. What did God reveal to Abraham as the father of believers?
That his seed would be as the sand upon the seashore.
Genesis 22:17
3. Who is this seed?
Christ and those who belong to Him by faith.
Galatians 3:16;
I Corinthians 3:23
4. How did God try Abraham’s faith in the promise?
God commanded him to offer up his only son, Isaac.
Genesis 22:1, 2
5. How did Abraham reveal his strong faith in God’s
promise?
He believed that God could even raise Isaac from the dead.
Hebrews 11:17-19
6. What did God teach Abraham in this trial of his faith?
That God would provide Christ as the lamb that takes the place of His people.
Genesis 22:13, 14
and
John 1:29
7. What sign of the covenant did God give to Abraham and his
seed?
The sign of circumcision, which today is replaced by baptism.
Genesis 17:9-14
8. How did Sarah insist that Isaac should receive the
covenant blessing?
She demanded that Ishmael be sent away.
Genesis 21:9, 10
9. Why did Abraham send his servant to
Because he sought a God-fearing wife for Isaac.
10.
What did God reveal would happen to Abraham’s seed
before they received the promised land?
God told Abraham that his seed would be afflicted for four
hundred years in a strange land.
LESSON 8
The Covenant People Multiplies
1. Were all the children born in the line of the covenant
elect children of God?
No, God shows us in the twin sons of Isaac and Rebekah that they were not.
Romans 9:13
2. What did God declare of these sons in
Romans 9:13?
“Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”
3. How did Jacob try to obtain the birthright blessing?
By deceiving his blind father.
Genesis 27
4. Why was this so wrong?
Because it showed that he was not trusting God.
5. What did Esau do after Jacob received the birthright
blessing?
He planned to kill Jacob as soon as his father died.
Genesis 27:41
6. What did God promise Jacob in a dream when he fled from
Esau’s wrath?
To take care of him in
7. How did God keep this covenant promise to Jacob?
God gave to him his family and many possessions.
Genesis 30
8. How did God assure him of continued blessings when he
returned to
God told Jacob that the covenant promise would be
fulfilled in him and in his children.
9. How many sons did God give Jacob?
God gave Jacob twelve sons after whom the twelve tribes of
10.
What became plain again in the lives of these sons?
That God proves His faithfulness in spite of their sins.
LESSON 9
The Covenant People in
1. What very wicked thing did ten of Jacob’s sons do?
They sold Joseph as a slave into
2. Did God intend to bring evil upon Joseph?
No, although these brothers meant it for evil, God meant it for good.
Genesis 50:20
3. How did God show His favor upon Joseph in
God raised him from the position of a slave and from out
of prison to be a ruler in
4. Did these sons of Jacob show a different attitude towards
Joseph in later life?
Yes, they did when they confessed their sin to Joseph.
Genesis 44:18ff.
5. What did Jacob do when he learned that Joseph was alive?
With God’s approval Jacob moved to
6. Why did God bring Jacob and his family to
God wanted to show His glory by delivering His people from
the cruel bondage of
7. How did God bring about this cruel bondage?
God raised up a wicked king who made the Israelites slaves.
Exodus 1:8-14
8. Of what was this bondage a picture?
Of the spiritual bondage of sin.
9. What else did God teach His people through this bondage?
God taught them that we obtain the covenant promises only
by a wonder of grace.
10.
What gave
God had promised to bring them back to
LESSON 10
Deliverance Through the
1. Whom did God prepare to deliver His people?
God prepared Moses for this work.
Exodus 2
and 3
2. How did God prepare him in the first few years of his
life?
God spared his life and made it possible for him to be taught in his parents’ home.
Exodus 2:8-10
3. How do we know that God was preparing him in the king’s
court?
He learned the wisdom of the Egyptians in order to lead
God’s people. Acts
4. How was Moses further prepared?
He spent forty years in Midian as a shepherd.
Exodus 3
5. How did God call Moses to the work of delivering His
people?
God spoke to him from the burning bush and gave him signs
to show Pharaoh.
Exodus 3:1-10
and 4:1-9
6. Was Pharaoh willing to let the people go?
No, God hardened his heart to show His power in him.
Exodus 7:4
and
Romans 9:17, 18
7. How did God show His power in
God sent ten plagues to show Pharaoh that He is God.
8. What had God commanded Moses and
To keep the Passover.
Exodus 12
9. Of what is the Passover a type?
Of the shedding of the blood of Christ upon the cross.
10.
What is so important about the deliverance through the
It marks the second great deliverance which God gave to
His church.
REVIEW
PERIOD III
Through Solomon’s Glorious Reign
LESSON 11
Rebellion in the Wilderness
1. What became plain from
That they were a rebellious people.
2. How did
By accusing Moses and Aaron of leading them into the
wilderness to die of hunger.
3. Why did they speak so evilly of Moses and Aaron?
Because they lusted after the food in
4. What sin did
5. How did God show His faithfulness?
He gave them manna from heaven and water from the rock.
Exodus 16:14, 15
and
Exodus 17:6, 7
6. What remarkable victory did God give
7. What great sin did
8. To what did the sin of the golden calf lead?
To the sin of idolatry.
9. Did God destroy
No, for the sake of the elect remnant the nation was
spared.
10.
What does God prove in all this history?
That we are saved by grace and not by our works.
LESSON 12
1.
Why did God lead
To organize their whole life as a covenant people.
2. What did God give
The Ten Commandments and the civil and ceremonial laws.
3. What does God demand of us in these Ten Commandments?
That we shall love the Lord our God with all our heart,
with all our soul, with all our mind, and with
all our strength.
Luke 10:27
4. What does the Law teach us concerning ourselves?
That we by nature are prone to hate God and our neighbour.
Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day II
5. How did God use the Law to teach
Through the Law God taught
6. What did God give
God gave
7. How did the tabernacle point to Christ?
The sacrifices in the tabernacle were types of Christ, who
died for our sins.
8. Why was the tabernacle called God’s house?
Because it was a type of God dwelling with His people.
9. How did God dwell with His people in the tabernacle?
In a cloud of glory in the
10. Did it become plain that
Indeed, for
LESSON 13
The Church in the Wilderness
1. What proved to be a turning point in
2. How did they show their unbelief?
They rejected the good report of Joshua and Caleb and
believed the evil report of the other ten spies.
3. Why was this an act of unbelief?
Because they did not trust God to fulfill His cove nant promise to
give them the land.
4. How did God punish this unbelief?
He caused
5. What happened during this period of forty years?
All above twenty years, with the exception of Joshua and
Caleb, perished in the wilderness.
6. What characterized this period of wandering?
It was a period of wicked murmuring and rebellion.
Psalm 95:10
7. How did
8. Mention another example of rebellion.
The rebellion of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram against Moses and Aaron.
Numbers 16
9. How did God punish
God sent fiery serpents which killed many of them.
Numbers 21:8, 9
10.
How did God save them from these serpents?
God told Moses to lift up a brazen serpent upon a pole,
and those who looked upon it were saved.
LESSON 14
1. Why did God forbid Moses to lead
Because in his wrath against
2. What did this deed of Moses show?
That he was only a typical mediator.
3. Of whom was Moses the type as mediator?
Of Christ, who is the Mediator of a better covenant.
Hebrews 8:6
4. Whom did God call to lead
Joshua, who was also a type of Christ.
Joshua 1:1, 2
5. How did God show that He opened the way to
By parting the waters of
6. What part of the land west of the
The central part, beginning with
7. What did God make plain in the salvation of Rahab and her
family?
That God would gather His people also from the Gentiles.
8. Was Rahab’s salvation also according to God’s
promise to Abraham?
Indeed, for God said unto him, “In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”
Genesis 22:18
9. In what order did
First the hill country in the south and then the mountainous regions of the north.
Joshua 11:16, 17
10
How was all this land divided among the twelve tribes?
By lot God divided the land among the twelve tribes.
LESSON 15
1. Did
No,
2. What was the cause of this disobedience?
The parents did not instruct their children in the fear of
the Lord. Judges
3. Did
No, they disobeyed God’s command and made a league with many of these nations.
Judges 2:1, 2
4. How did God punish
God strengthened these nations and delivered
5. Did God remember His people in their troubles?
Yes, He sent judges to deliver them when they repented of
their sins.
6. What lesson did God teach through Gideon’s small
army?
That the victory is always from the Lord.
7. When the word of the Lord was scarce in
Through Samuel, who was both a prophet and a priest.
8. What evil request did
9. Why was it wicked for
10.
What characterized this period of the judges?
Every man did that which was right in his own eyes. Judges
LESSON
16
1. Did God give
Yes, God gave them Saul to be their king.
I Samuel 10
2. Whom did God give in Saul’s place when he rejected
God?
God anointed David to be king of the Theocracy.
1 Samuel 16
3. What did God give
Through David God gave
4. Why might not David build the temple?
Because he had shed much blood and had fought many great wars.
I Chronicles 22:8
5. What did God promise David concerning the building of the
temple?
That He would give David a son who would build the temple.
II Samuel 7:12, 13
6. What important place did Solomon’s temple have in
It was the center of the Theocracy.
7. How could this temple be the center of the Theocracy in
Because God chose it to symbolize His presence among His
covenant people.
8. What characterized the reign of Solomon?
It was a period of peace and of great prosperity.
9. Of what were David’s victories over all his enemies a
type?
Of Jesus’ victory for His people over sin, the devil,
and the wicked world.
10.
Of what was Solomon’s reign of peace and prosperity a
type?
Of the glory and beauty of Christ’s kingdom that is
coming.
REVIEW
PERIOD IV
The Division of the Kingdom
To the Return from Captivity
LESSON 17
The Division of the Kingdom
1. Was the
It was a typical fulfillment of that promise.
2. What was the reality to which this type pointed?
The everlasting
3. How did God punish Solomon for his idolatry?
He took ten tribes away from the house of David and gave
them to Jeroboam. I Kings
4. What was the occasion for this division of the kingdom?
Rehoboam refused to lessen the taxes of the people after
the king’s palace and the temple had been built.
5. Why was it a sin for the ten tribes to leave the house of
David?
Because by doing so they rejected Christ, whom God had
appointed to sit on David’s throne.
6. What other covenant blessing did the
The
7. Which two tribes did God leave for Rehoboam to rule?
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin.
II Chronicles 11:1, 2
8. Did Rehoboam try to force these ten tribes to recognize
him as their king?
Yes, but God would not let him fight against his brethren.
I Kings
9. What can you say of the kings of
They were all from the house of David.
10.
Why were all these kings from the house of David?
Because God had promised to establish David’s throne
forever.
LESSON 18
The
1. How does Scripture refer to Jeroboam, the first king of
the ten tribes?
He is called “Jeroboam, who made
2. Why is he called Jeroboam who made
Because he commanded
II Kings
3. To what further sin did this lead
4. Which idol especially did
In the days of wicked King Ahab,
5. Was there a remnant that was faithful to God?
Yes, there were seven thousand who refused to bow the knee
before Baal. I Kings
6. Whom did God send to oppose this idolatry?
The prophets Elijah and Elisha who proclaimed that Jehovah
is God.
7. When especially did the elect remnant in the ten tribes
manifest its faith?
When in the days of Hezekiah, king of
8. How did God punish these ten tribes for their wickedness?
God sent the enemy to take them captive and to scatter them.
II Kings 17
9. Whom did the king of
The Samaritans, who were strangers brought in from various
parts of the Assyrian kingdom.
II Kings
10.
What did the king of
He sent one of the captive priests to teach them the fear
of the Lord. II Kings
LESSON 19
The
1. Was the
Yes, the faithful people of God are always fewer in number
than the ungodly.
2. Were there also those in Judah who served idols?
Yes, wickedness increased rapidly also in the
3. Were all the kings of
By no means; many of them led
4. What wicked thing did Athaliah try to do?
Queen Athaliah tried to kill all the royal seed of David.
II Chronicles 22:1-12
5. Why did the devil seek to destroy this royal seed of David
through Athaliah?
Because Christ must be born of this royal seed.
6. How did God keep this royal seed alive?
He kept the infant Joash from being slain by wicked Athaliah.
II Kings 11:1, 2
7. Which kings were noted for their faith and holy zeal?
Asa, Joash, Hezekiah, and Josiah who put down idolatry,
restored the temple worship, and called
8. Especially which prophets did God raise up to teach
The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, through whom God
foretold the coming captivity of
9. Did God speak of the Christ to
Yes, through Micah He even pointed out
10.
Did
No, they increased in wickedness even as the
LESSON 20
1. How did God punish the wickedness of
God sent Nebuchadnezzar to take
2. Were many of God’s people also taken to the land of
captivity?
Yes, for example, Daniel and his three friends.
3. Into what city did Nebuchadnezzar bring the captives?
Into
4. But did God not promise
He surely did, but that promise is fulfilled when the
elect inherit the heavenly
5. Did the patriarchs understand that the promise referred to
heaven?
Yes, for they desired a better country, that is, an heavenly one.
Hebrews 11:10, 13-16
6. What happened to the temple and to David’s throne in
They were utterly destroyed when the city was burned.
7. Why did God want them to be destroyed?
God’s people must learn to look for the throne of
Christ’s Kingdom in the New Jerusalem.
8. What was the effect of the captivity upon the believers?
They began to long more and more for the temple where God dwelt.
Psalm 137
9. How did Daniel show his faith in God’s promises in
He prayed with his face towards
10.
Who encouraged the people to look forward to their return?
The prophet Ezekiel, who was among the captives at the River Chebar.
Ezekiel 1
LESSON 21
God’s Mercy Upon the Captives
1. Which prophecy was written during the captivity?
The Book of Daniel, which speaks of the coming of Christ’s
kingdom.
2. How did God show the coming of this kingdom to
Nebuchadnezzar?
Through a dream of a great image that was destroyed.
Daniel 2
3. What did this image represent?
The kingdoms of this world of which Nebuchadnezzar was the
head.
4. How was this image destroyed?
By a stone, which represents the
5. Did Daniel’s three friends suffer for their faith in
this kingdom?
Yes, they were cast into the fiery furnace when they
refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar’s image.
6. How did God protect these three friends?
He sent His angel who walked with them in the furnace.
7. How did God reveal to Belshazzar the fall of
By the handwriting on the wall, which Daniel interpreted.
Daniel 5
8. How was Daniel protected from his enemies?
God spared his life in a den of lions.
Daniel 6
9. How did God deliver His people out of the captivity?
After seventy years God called King Cyrus to let the
people return to
10.
Did all the Jews return to
No, many of the Jews were satisfied to remain in
LESSON 22
1. How did the returned captives find the
They found
2. Why did God command them to rebuild the temple?
Because it was His dwelling place among the people.
3. Why do we not worship God in such a temple today?
Because Christ is the
4. Who opposed the Jews in building the temple and
The heathen nations living in the land tried to stop them.
Ezra 4
5. Why did they try to stop the Jews?
Because they hated God and His people.
6. Were the Jews able to complete the building of the temple?
Yes, King Darius compelled the enemy to give them the things necessary for the work.
Ezra 6
7. What did the people do when the foundation of the temple
was laid?
The people shouted, sang praises, and gave thanks unto God.
Ezra 3:11
8. Were all the people happy when the temple was built?
No, some who knew the beauty of the old temple wept.
Ezra 3:12
9. Was the throne of David restored?
Although no king sat on David’s throne, the royal
line continued.
10
What is the significance of this return from the
captivity?
That God brought
REVIEW
PERIOD V
LESSON 23
God Protects His Covenant People
1. Which Book of the Bible tells us of the Jews who remained
in the land of the captivity?
The Book of Esther, which is named after a Jewish girl who
became the queen of a heathen nation.
2. What truth is taught in this Book of Esther?
That the wicked can never destroy God’s church.
3. Did the wicked try to destroy God’s church at this
time?
Yes, Satan used wicked Haman to try to kill all the Jews.
Esther 3
4. Why did Haman want to destroy the church?
Because he hated Mordecai the Jew.
5. What did he do to have all the Jews killed?
He persuaded King Ahasuerus to make a law that all the Jews should be killed.
Esther 3:8ff.
6. How did God overthrow Haman’s plans?
God caused Esther to plead for her life and for the lives of her people.
Esther 7:1-4
7. Who told Esther to plead for her life and for the lives of
her people?
Her uncle Mordecai, who brought her up in this heathen
land.
8. What judgment fell upon wicked Haman?
He was hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai.
Esther 7:7-10
9. Was it sinful for Jews like Mordecai and Esther to remain
in the land of the captivity?
Yes, for they showed no interest in the temple and in God’s
covenant promises.
10.
What do we learn from this history?
That God uses even the sinfulness of men to save His
church.
LESSON 24
Sin Shows Itself Again in
1. Whom did God send to encourage the Jews to build the walls
of
Ezra the scribe and Nehemiah the king’s cup bearer.
2. Were the Jews obedient to God after their return to
No, it soon became plain that there were many wicked among
them.
3. What sins did the Jews commit?
They married heathen wives and bought and sold on the Sabbath.
Nehemiah 13:16, 23
4. What sins did the priests commit?
Some of the priests married heathen wives and corrupted
the priesthood. Nehemiah
5. Why did Haggai rebuke the Jews at this time?
Because the Jews built themselves beautiful homes instead of God’s temple.
Haggai 1:1-5
6. For what sins did Malachi rebuke the people?
Malachi told the people that they had robbed God in their tithes and offerings.
Malachi 3:8
7. What does all this wickedness among the Jews show us?
That not one of us deserves the blessings which God
promises us in Christ.
8. What else does this wickedness reveal to us?
That it was impossible for the Christ to come except by
the wonder of God’s grace.
9. What does the repentance of some of the Israelites show?
That God is faithful to His promise to cause a remnant to look for Christ’s coming.
Malachi 3:16
10.
How did the Lord speak of His faithfulness through
Malachi?
He declared, “I the Lord change not; therefore ye
sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
Malachi 3:6
LESSON 25
The Preparation for the Coming of
Christ
1. Did the Israelites have an earthly king again after the
return from the captivity?
No,
2. Did the Jews rule themselves at all during this period?
Yes, for a time they were ruled by men called Macabees.
3. What new form of worship appeared after their return to
The Jews began to gather in synagogues on the Sabbath to
read and explain the law and to pray.
4. What characterized this period from the return to
It was a period of violent persecutions and of repeated
defilement of the temple.
5. What happened when the Jews were persecuted by these
heathen kings?
The Jews were scattered through all the nations of the world.
I Peter 1:1
and
Acts 2:9-11
6. Why did God want this worldwide
In order that the gospel might be spread far and wide
after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
7. How did this serve the spread of the gospel?
The world was united by one language, and the apostles
could travel freely from one country to
another.
8. But did God not promise that the sceptre would not depart
from
Indeed, and therefore the royal line of David was preserved till Christ was born.
Luke 1:27, 32
and
Luke 2:1-4
9. Is Christ the promised
Yes, for He is the Savior to whom all the Old Testament
promises pointed.
10.
Why is He called
Because He realizes a complete victory over all our
enemies and gives us everlasting rest.
REVIEW