All of the Old Testament is beneficial to the Christian. There are three main categories.
Historical Books
The first category is the historical books. They make for adventuresome reading. I like to draw principles and values from this section of the Old Testament.
They start with Genesis and continue through Esther. You can see how mankind developed and interacted with God from the beginning throughout our early history.
Poetical Books
The second category is the poetical books, beginning with Job and ending with the Song of Solomon. Two of my favorite books are Psalms and Proverbs. The book of Psalms was the early church's meditation and hymnal book. This book glorifies God and will edify you.
The book of Proverbs consists of short sayings that are full of the Wisdom of God. They were designed to teach the young proper conduct and how to have a long, prosperous life in the earth. Obedience to this godly wisdom will bring you the same results.
Prophetic Books
The third category is the prophetic books, which begin with Isaiah and end with Malachi. These prophets were used of God to do many things. They spoke on behalf of God whenever the children of Israel fell into sin and stopped serving God.
Through what they said we can see God's attitude towards sin, his mercy, and the power of restoration available when we repent. The other purpose of these books is the prophecies they contain. Many of these prophesied events have come to pass; others are yet to be fulfilled.
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