The first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, were written by Moses. They record the beginning of the universe, our world, man, sin, the first murder, the first false religion, the first flood, the first rainbow, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the establishment of Israel, the Exodus from Egypt through the Red Sea, the Ten Commandments, wanderings of Israel in the wilderness, directions for building the tabernacle, guidelines for the sacrifices, numerous ordinances for worship, societal order of conduct, and warnings relative to holiness. But best of all we get our first glimpses of God and we discover that He loves holiness and hates sin. These books also speak of historic people such as Adam, Eve, Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and Joshua.

	Book	Key Thought	Content
	Genesis	The Beginning	Creation of the universe, the origin of man and sin, the curse on the earth due to sin, the promise of the Savior, the creation of false religion, the flood and the Patriarchs.
	Exodus	God’s Deliverance	Moses, the exodus of Israel from Egypt, Israel’s desert wanderings, the establishment of the law and the tabernacle, sacrifices and directions for worship.
	Leviticus	Holiness and Worship	Laws about the priesthood, sacrifices, priestly holiness and worship given.
	Numbers	Disobedience and discipline	More laws concerning worship, Israel’s complaining and lack of faith, God’s discipline of Israel in the wilderness.
	Deuteronomy	Remembrance and Reward	Israel reminded of God’s love and favor, laws repeated, warning and exhortations in preparation for entering the promised land; Palestine and the death of Moses.

The historical books of the Bible cover the period after Moses’ death until about 400 years before Christ’s birth. After Moses died, Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land. God had directed Israel to defeat all of the nations in the promised land so that they would not be polluted by the sin of the peoples in the region, but they failed. After Joshua’s death, Israel was guided by a series of judges during a period of moral bankruptcy. Eventually, the Israelites asked for a king, which God granted to them. God gave them the desire of their hearts. The Israelites had made a bad decision. What followed was a series of a few good but mostly evil kings who reigned over Israel.