Whoo hoo!  I finished Deuteronomy in my read-thru-the-Bible project… Can I get an amen?  Leviticus and Deuteronomy were the hardest parts!

I am a visual learner, and a teacher in love of visual aids and a big white board!  So let me share with you this diagram that will help you, and your students, remember what’s going on in the first part of the Old Testament.

Imagine a map of the Middle East – from the Garden of Eden somewhere between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq, the nation of Israel, and Egypt.  The Mediterranean Sea is to the west.  Now follow the tracks of Old Testament characters on the map…

Genesis – The beginning.  We start in the east (Iraq) with Adam, Eve, and Noah.  Then Abraham left Ur and settled in Canaan (Promised Land to be).  After Jacob came the story of Joseph who is sent in capitivity to Egypt.

In Exodus the Israelites exit Egypt after 400 years of captivity.

Leviticus is the Law given at Mt. Sinai (see the Levite/priest in the book title?).

In Numbers the people are numbered and wander in the desert for 40 years.

Deuteronomy is the re-reading of the Law before entry into the Promised Land, which is why it is so similar to Leviticus and closes with all the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.

Joshua crosses the Jordan River into the Promised Land with the nation of Israel and they proceed to slowly conquer most of it.

And the Judges mark a period of rebellion and suffering in the land because “everyone did what was right in their own eyes”.

And then we go to I & II Samuel and the Kings.

I hope it helps you remember the history – it worked for me!

I start reading Joshua next week.  Yea!