History of Ancient Israel: The Beginning

In this study series, we will be looking at the amazing people and very human stories of those who shaped the history of ancient Israel. We will examine their stories of love, betrayal, conflict, faith, and heroism—stories that mirror those of human beings from all generations. As you read and study the Bible, you will see how history repeats itself even though the historical context is much different. Also, as an adjunct to this study, we will briefly describe how textual analysis, and archaeological findings help us better understand how the text relates to what can be discovered using independent means of verification. In this story, the acts of God and the lives of human beings intersect to aid us in the quest to understand who we are as spiritual creatures.

In this lecture, we look at the four main documents that make up the first five books of the Bibles and the history of the text’s composition as we have it now. (Judah, Israel, Priestly document, Deuteronomy)