All right, welcome. Go ahead and find a seat, if you guys haven't done so already. You guys are in our OLT survey, if you guys haven't already figured that out. A couple of my small group guys this past Wednesday actually were sharing about the difficulty of the Old Testament.

One guy was saying, you know, every year, Proverbs to Malachi, I just get stuck. Another guy was saying, my Bible reading plan, because if you guys were here for Colossians, one of the questions was about the Word of God. And one of our brothers in my small group was saying, you know, like, I would love to read and do the Bible plan, but the Old Testament is very daunting.

Do you guys know about what percent of the Bible is the Old Testament? Word wise, it's like three quarters. So if you don't like to touch the three quarters of the book that are a little bit unfamiliar, then you're basically not reading intently 75% of the Bible. And so what my goal for our class and our time together is that you're not scared of the OT and that you're familiar enough to try to tackle this on your own.

My goal for this class is not information. Some of you guys are like, dude, give me the information. No, the goal of this class is long-term retention so that for the rest of your life, you can look at the Old Testament and just enjoy. And if you guys do Bible reading plans, you're stuck in the Old Testament for a long time, right?

I did one last year, and I didn't get to Matthew until October 5th. So for the first nine months of my 2018, I was in the Old Testament. I mean, and I enjoy it. And so my hope is that you guys will learn to enjoy it also. What's this picture up here?

You guys might've been wondering, like, dude, you guys, you should've put like a picture of the tribe of Israel or like Moses. Why is there a skeleton there? It's on purpose. So the goal of this class is basically to give you a skeleton. And then the rest of your life, you're filling in the muscles, the meat, the bones, or the nerves, the organs.

I'm gonna give you a framework by which to work, like so that you know what pieces go where, and the rest of your life, it's up to you to just fill in the blanks. Okay, does that sound okay? Okay, so I'm giving you basically, we're doing a puzzle, okay?

I'm giving you the box, and I'm giving you the, when you start a puzzle, what do you start with? The edges, but before the edges, what do you find, what do you go look for first? The corners. So we're gonna give you the corners, and then the edges, and you do the rest.

And that sometimes takes the longest time. The edges actually go fast in a puzzle, all right? But as long as you have a framework by which to work, everything else, you can take your time in learning. So I will guarantee this, okay? Elder Philip this morning said, "Is it gonna be worth my time?

"Is this class gonna be fun? "Do you get a money-back guarantee?" I'll give you a money-back guarantee. You will, if you actually pay attention, you will enjoy the Old Testament, and you will not be scared of it, okay? I guarantee it, all right? If you feel like at the end of this, "Yeah, this class was not worth my time," let me know, and I'll give you your $10 back, all right?

Okay, so, what is the hardest thing about the Old Testament, you guys, anybody? Anybody? Ohi, what'd you say, it's boring? It is, if you don't know what you're looking at. It can be boring, I agree. Anybody else? It's really long. Jeremiah has the most words of all the books of the Bible.

It's like every chapter is kind of painful, right? It's long, and the content's not exactly uplifting. So it's boring. What else is a challenge about the Old Testament? Historical context is hard, okay? Good, anybody else? Anything different? It's just unfamiliar territory, right? So I'm gonna start out with a little bit of an introduction, because I knew people are gonna come a little bit later on this first day.

Who's this? I mean, if you don't know, the blue letters should help you. Who's this? Can you guess? King George, all right? Who's that? George Washington, very good. Who's that? Which one? Take a wild guess who the next picture is gonna be. W, all right? George, okay? Can you guess who the next one is?

Donald Trump, no. George, okay? And then, Paul George, all right. Now, there were no words except George, okay? But there's a familiarity with these Georges, right? And let's do a little bit of a trivia game, all right? British Commonwealth, which guy? If we're doing like code names, British Commonwealth.

King George, Palmdale, California. Paul George, you can actually, even if you didn't know Paul George, the basketball player was from Palmdale, California, by a process of elimination, you can land there, okay? 9/11. W, okay? Persian Gulf War. HW, you guys are super smart and educated. Ronald Reagan. Ooh, trick question.

Huh? - George the monkey? - George, not George the monkey. Okay, Ronald Reagan. George Sr. was the vice president, okay? How about Man in the Yellow Hat? That's Monkey George, okay? US dollar. Washington, Declaration of Independence. Washington, Russell Westbrook. Paul George, okay, that's a Oklahoma City Thunder teammate, Paul George.

England. Now there's two people in there. George Washington and King George. Paris, 1940. Do a process of elimination. Paris, 1940. It's not senior. But you can limit out most of the rest of them, right? Paris, 1940. The very first Curious George was written in Paris, okay? So, Curious George in 1940.

Hans Augusto Rey. That's the writer for Curious George, okay? So you guys learned something new already, all right? So, if the Bible was like this, it'd be no problem. But the Bible is not. It's many years removed. It's a foreign context, so it's very difficult. So if I said Samaria, depending on when you think Samaria, it changes the context.

Samaria is the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Samaria could be barren land. Samaria could be an area where a bunch of half-breeds live in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, it wasn't a mixed race there. You guys with me? Israel in Genesis is good. The word Israel through most of the Old Testament is good, but when you get to the Kings and Chronicles, the name Israel, is it good or bad?

Take a wild guess. Bad. If we talk about Israel in the New Testament, it sometimes is spiritual, it sometimes is physical, so it changes the context. Temple, how many were there? Anybody know? How many temples are mentioned in the Bible? There are three or four, okay? Depending on what you are thinking of as temple, maybe five, okay?

There's Solomon's Temple, there's Zerubbabel's Temple, there's Herod's Temple, there could be Me Temple, could be the temple that is to come. So depending on the context, temple means something different. What about the word Jeroboam? There are two Jeroboams that are both extremely important. So that's not something that's necessarily familiar, right?

Or the word Jews. If you read Genesis and Exodus, you're not gonna see Jews. When do you start seeing the word Jew? Not until the second Kings. So for most of the Old Testament, you have no word Jew, okay? So these are the things that you're gonna get familiar with through our time together.

So hopefully, with our one and a half hours each week, it'll be enough for you to put the bones together and then the rest of your life at your own time and at the pace that you feel comfortable with, you fill in the blanks, okay? So if you just pay attention and do some review, you will know the skeleton of the Old Testament and you will never be scared of it ever again.

That's a guarantee. And what do you get back if it doesn't happen? 10 bucks, okay? All right, so anybody know how many books are in the Old Testament? How many books are in the New Testament? If you guys grew up in a church, someone might have taught you kind of an easy way to remember, but I'm gonna review it for you here, okay?

Three times nine equals 27. That's an easy way to remember the books of the Bible. There are 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books. No problem, right? And you guys may have already known this. Okay, 39 Old Testament books, 27 New Testament books. Now, the first key that we're gonna look at on this page is a division of the Old Testament books, okay?

So, I want you guys to repeat with me all right? You guys have to interact, otherwise I feel like a fool about myself, all right? Here we go. Just listen a couple times and then follow along. Five, 12, five, five, 12, ready? Who's got a memrizer ready? You guys got it down?

Good, you're well on your way to Old Testament. Ready? Five, 12, five, five, 12, five, 12, five, five, 12. Shoot, this is recorded, so I'm just gonna be looking like a fool. One more time. *repeats 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 12, 12* If you guys want to get fancy, you guys like the drums, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, you can do that too.

Let's try that one, all right? Here we go. *responses 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 1* *responses 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12,* 5 plus 5, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12 equals 39. The Old Testament books are divided into *responses 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12,* *responses 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12,* Here we go.

The first 5 is a Pentateuch. Otherwise also known as the Books of Moses, Torah, T-O-R-A-H. So some people refer to these as the Books of Moses, some as the Torah. Jesus calls all of these 5 books just Moses. Okay? So as it is written in Moses and the prophets.

All right? That's the first 5 books. Next 12 are history. Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st, 2nd Samuel, 1st, 2nd Kings, 1st, 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Those are the history books. Esther was written around the 480s BC. Job was written around the 1600s BC. So you're going from Esther to Job, you're just, you're rewinding 1,200 years.

And that's what's tricky about the Bible, organizationally. It's not chronological, it's genre-based. Okay? So if you actually just try to read from Genesis to Malachi, you're skipping times all over the place. So that's one of the challenges. Okay? So just remember, the organization of the books of the Old Testament are genre more than they are chronological.

Make sense? Okay? 5 books of Moses, 12 history books. The next 5 are poetry. Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Song of Solomon. And there are varying times for all 5 of those books. The next 5 are the major prophets. And it's not in terms of importance, it's in terms of the length.

Okay? The major prophets minus Lamentations, but Lamentations is connected to Jeremiah. But there are 4 major prophets in Lamentations, so we're just going to call it 5. Okay? 5 major long prophets, and then 12 minor prophets. So when you go from Daniel, the last major prophet, that was written in the 530s, but then when you go to Hosea, you're rewinding back to 780 BC.

So you're going backward 200 years. So if you read Daniel, which in and of itself spans 70 years, those 12 chapters, for like 70 years. You go from Daniel and then you go back to Hosea, you get confused. Right? So history is important for the study of the Old Testament and I will go over that over the next six weeks.

So, don't look up at the screen, look at my face, okay? Let's practice this song one more time. 5-12-5-5-12-5-12-5-5-12. What's the first five? Pentateuch, 12. History, next five. Poetry, next five. Major, last 12. Minor prophets, no problem, right? Can you guys do this without trying? You guys got it?

Pentateuch, 12. History, five. Poetry, five. Major, 12. Okay, you're well on your way. All right? So this is how we're gonna do every major point in the Old Testament so you guys can kinda remember. So, even if you feel kinda cheesy and fruity, just follow along. The next Old Testament key, okay?

Do you guys know what the whole Old Testament points to? Who, what person does the Old Testament point to? The whole Old Testament, it says, in both Luke and the end of John, points to who? Jesus. Jesus is known as the great physician, okay? So the Old Testament is broken up in an easy way to remember, think, I am Dr.

Jesus. Easy? Old Testament points to who? The great physician. What's the way to remember? The big picture of the Old Testament? I am Dr. Jesus, okay? So, I'm gonna read a Bible verse so that we have some Bible content in our time together. We are Bereans. And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, "but those who are sick, I came not to call the righteous, "but sinners," okay?

Now, I am Dr. Jesus. Now, the I is useless in there. You really need to start with the A, okay? So you don't need to worry about the I. Just remember the A, M, Dr. Jesus, and this is what you're supposed to look at. We're gonna take it in 500-year chunks, starting from 2000, what's 2000 minus 500?

1500, and then another 500, 1000, 500, and then we're getting to Jesus at zero, okay? These are not exact dates, but those are mental landmarks that you can kind of pick out. A, you have Abraham. 1500, you have Moses. 1000, you have David. 500, you have the returns, and some people are like, "What the heck is that?

"I will get to it," all right? But returns, plural, okay, 'cause there are three. Returns, and zero is, AD is Jesus, okay? Now, everybody, don't look at the screen. Look at my nose, okay? My wife says my nose is probably the best feature. I agree, it's cute, all right, here we go.

2000, who are we thinking of? 1500, M. 1000, D. 500, returns, and zero is Jesus. Easy? Okay, five, 12, five, five, 12. Torah, history, poetry, major, minor. Okay, I'm not gonna include the prophets, but just major, minor, all right? 2000, Abraham, 1500. Moses, 1000. David, 500. Returns, zero, Jesus.

The goal is not information. What's our goal for this class? Long-term retention, so just try to store that into your hard drive, okay? Here we go. Abraham, Moses, David, returns, Jesus. How many of you guys feel like you could ace this test if you took the genres of the Bible, the books of the Bible?

How many books of the Old Testament? How many books in the New? What, how do you remember the five divisions? (imitates beatboxing) Right, that's how you remember. I am Dr. Jesus, Old Testament, Abraham, Moses, David, returns, Jesus, fantastic. You guys all get an A+ so far. Give yourselves a hand.

You guys have to participate, okay? If I say give yourselves a hand. (audience laughs) All right, 2000 to 1500, you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, okay? Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, no problems there because usually when you start reading your Bible, these get read up until you get to Numbers and Deuteronomy and then they get skimmed.

And then by the time you get to Joshua, then they get forgotten a lot of times, right? I've probably read the book of Genesis more than any other book in my whole life. And I'm sure that's not uncommon, okay? 'Cause Genesis is fun. Exodus is halfway fun and then it starts getting confusing.

All right, but those five books, we're not gonna spend too much time, but with each of the 39 books of the Bible during the next six weeks, I'm gonna give you a key to remember the main theme for each book. So that when you actually go to study it on your own, it's not a daunting task.

What do you see in the middle? A big N, right? So the key to remember Genesis is big N-ings, okay? Big N-ings. And this isn't just about the cosmos, but who was the first audience that received the book of Genesis, do you guys know? The people in the wilderness, because who wrote this book?

Moses, he gave it to the people in the wilderness. After the wilderness, he was gone, all right? So they probably were wondering, where did we all come from? How did we end up here? 'Cause everybody's under 40 years old, except for three people. How in the world did we end up here and we're all our elderly people, except you three, okay?

So you are tracing backward in Genesis. The most ink is devoted to Joseph, because that answers the question, how did we get here, into this wilderness, right? And then you go back and farther and farther, and then you get the creation account, which is only like two chapters, okay?

The more ink in the Old Testament that's devoted to a section or a theme, the more it is important, so kinda keep that in mind. So Joseph's story is probably the main theme or purpose for the book of Genesis, not creation. Even though you can get creation-related things from the book of Genesis, but it's about beginnings.

The beginnings of the people of God, the beginnings of the universe, okay? So the first verse says, "In the beginning, God created." So Genesis is no problem because you guys all know, okay? But as we track through Malachi, Zephaniah, Zechariah, these pictures are gonna start to help, okay? But we're gonna do eight today.

The second one, what's this picture of? Exit from, what's in the background? Pyramids, camels, Egypt, okay? So no problem, exit from Egypt is what the book of Exodus is mainly about. The next book, what's this guy got on his hands? On one hand, he has money, not chicken, he has food, okay, he has food and money, okay?

Think feasts and offerings, all right? The big question for Leviticus is how does a sinful man relate to a holy God and what is prescribed are a lot of feasts and offerings. So the guy's getting his left foot kissed, all right? So that's how you remember Leviticus, left foot kiss.

Leviticus, okay? Sounds a little bit profane, left foot kiss, all right? And then you'll remember feasts and offerings, how does sinful man relate to holy God? The next book is numbers. And what are these numbers doing? They are wandering, are they wandering in a mall? Are they wandering in the ocean?

Where are they wandering? In wilderness, okay? The book of Numbers is about wanderings, okay? So what you wanna write down is numbers wandering in the wilderness. Numbers wandering in the wilderness. And then there's a duet here, running on a me. You guys get that? (mimics drum roll) Okay, duet run on me.

Okay, that's how you remember duet run on me. And it says second law, okay? There are no two laws, but it's a second generation of those who receive the law, okay? So the key you wanna write down is duet run on me and the law of God to the second generation.

Everybody that left Exodus, or everyone that left Egypt with the exception of three people are currently dead. Joshua is alive, Caleb is alive, Moses is alive. Everyone else over 40, gone, dead, okay? There is some overlap between numbers and duet run on me. If you read it, it kinda seems like it should be one book.

All right? The book of Numbers, to remember it simply is this. It's basically like the number of people wandering in the wilderness, and why are they wandering? The book of Numbers basically says they are wandering because of their sin, okay? Duet run on me is written right before they enter into the promised land like a contract.

Now, all of your people died, so I am Yahweh. If you obey me, these are the blessings. If you disobey me, these are the curses. So it's written like a contract, the book of duet run on me. It talks about things about how many horses a king should have, if there should even be a king.

It even says in the day you ask for a king, this is what kind of king you need to have. Duet run on me has a contract between man and God, okay? To the second generation. But in the book of duet run on me, what's interesting is the reason for the Israelites wandering is not their sin.

The Bible says in duet run on me eight, the reason the people of God are wandering is because God's putting them to test. So if you only read the book of Numbers, you're like, dude, Israel sucks. But if you're looking at duet run on me, It's like, dude, God sucks 'cause he just threw them into the wilderness like that.

If numbers is the fact, Deuteronomy serves as a commentary from God's perspective on the facts. Nod your head if that makes sense. This is what we're gonna do. We're gonna do a quick review. Five, 12, five, five, 12, five, 12, five, five, 12. First five is what? Pentateuch, 12, history, and then the next five?

Poetry, five, major prophets, 12, minor prophets. And what's the long way to think, big picture of the Old Testament? I am Dr. Jesus, 2,000. Abraham, 1,500. Moses, 1,000. David, 500. Returns, and zero? Jesus, okay. What's the book of Genesis about? Beginnings, exit us. Egypt, exit from Egypt. Leviticus, left foot kiss.

Feast and offerings, okay. Numbers, wilderness wandering, Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy. God's word to the second generation. Easy enough? Now, find a partner and go over these questions. I'm gonna give you three minutes, all right? Find a partner, and you're gonna switch partners. So if you're like, dude, this person on my left is nice.

I don't like this person. You're gonna have to hit up both eventually, all right? So find a partner and review. Review. I hear the cheers, I like it. (coughing) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) (audience chattering) I'm gonna give you one more minute.

30 more seconds, 30 more seconds. If your partner made a mistake, call 'em out on it and let me know who they are so we can shame them. I am Asian. (audience chattering) All right, 10 more seconds. All right. 2,000 to 1,500 is pretty easy because it's just mostly the five books of Moses, okay?

1,500 to 1,000 is also pretty easy because there's not much in there that you necessarily need to remember, all right? Now, there's a little bit of an offensive thing there. It's a yo mama joke, all right? Now, we don't endorse yo mama jokes 'cause usually they're not nice, but usually they're said in jest, right?

So the next key that I want you guys to remember is 1,500 Mount JK, okay? What's MT mean? Usually MT stands for Mountain, and what's JK stand for? Just kidding, all right? You millennials, here we go. 1,500 Mount JK, got it? 5, 12, 5, 5, 12, 5, 12, 5, 5, 12.

I am Dr. Jesus, Mount JK, okay? The Mount JK is the J. M stands for Moses 'cause we're starting at 1,500. The T, tribes. That's all you need to remember. The division of the tribes, life in the tribes, tribal conflict, tribal warfare, tribes, okay? And then the J is judges.

And these judges are the ones leading the tribes, but that's the next thing you need to remember. Tribes and then judges, and then kings, and that's all you need to remember, really, from 1,500 to 1,000. So you've got Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and then you have Moses is your marker, and then there's a time of judges that lasts for about 400 years, and there's tribes in there until you get to the kings.

And from the kings on, it's 50% of your Bible. From the first appearance of Saul, the king, to Malachi is half your Bible. So we will get there, okay? So what's the way to remember 1,500 to 1,000? Your mama is so dumb that she tried to climb up Mountain Dew, okay?

But just think Mountain JK, okay? So think of that your mama joke. Don't use it, okay, just think of that just to help you remember this to the glory of God, all right? So 1,500, you have Moses, but after Moses, you really only need to concern yourself with the tribes and then who?

Judges until you get to the last judge/first king, Saul. Saul was not really like a king. He ruled like a judge, okay? So that was Israel's choice for a king, but they wanted a nice judge, and he was tall, he's handsome but God's first choice for a real spiritual king was David, and we'll get there, okay?

So Mount JK, Moses, tribes, judges, kings. So basically from 2,000 to 1,000, from Abraham to David, you can kind of be like, okay, these are the things that are going on. I don't need to worry about the details, but this is the theme, okay? So, so far so good?

Easy to remember? This is the book of Joshua. Just remember General Joshua. And what's he standing over? What's he conquering? That's Jericho, actually, okay, all the walls. Joshua bought the battle of Jericho, Jericho, right? So it's Jericho, he's squishing on it, okay? So Joshua is general, and after they conquer, they break up into tribes, and then they get land.

You guys, that's easy to follow enough, right? Okay, so you just wanna remember General Joshua and conquest. How did the Israelites get their land? How are they divided? What were the barrier marks? What were the borders? That's all you really need to know. Where do these tribes dwell? Joshua is 10 years only, but it's 24 chapters.

So it's 10 years, but it's 24 chapters. So there's a fast, action-paced, action-packed book is Joshua, 10 years. The book of Judges, on the other hand, is 21 chapters, but it's 400 years, okay? So you're going from extremely specific in Joshua to extremely redundant, repetitive, and general and broad in Judges.

So Judges, you have cycles. And you have a judge on a cycle. Easy to remember. Judges on cycles. Now for you ladies and your married men, cycles is a negative word, okay? So just remember it as a negative word, cycles, okay? Joshua was 24 chapters in how many years?

10. Judges is 21 chapters in 400 years. So that's 40 times the number of years that have passed, but less ink, okay? So Judges, you just wanna remember Judges on a cycle, cycles. So 1500 to 1000, you remember Moses, and then Mount JK. Tribes, and then Judges. Kings. What are these cycles?

The fourth key is five Rs. And there's a logical procession, logical continuance in this five Rs, so it's not gonna be hard to remember, but there are five R words that you need to remember. The first one is rest. Rest. The second R is relapse. You're chilling, and then you find yourself in a bad situation, and then you fall into sin again.

Relapse. The third R, ruin. Relapse leads to ruin, usually, for any kind of an addict, right? Ruin. But usually people who are broken, and like humbled, and discouraged, and want change, what do they do? They repent, repentance. And then God raises up a judge to restoration, number five. So rest.

Relapse. Ruin. Repentance. And restoration. For 400 years, again, and again, and again, they're doing fine, and then they fall into idolatry, and then they get ruined, and then they are conquered and oppressed by the Midianites, by the Philistines, and then they repent, and then God raises up a judge.

And the judges are from all kinds of tribes, okay? So you have judges from Benjamin, there are judges from Manasseh, there's judges from Ephraim, there are judges from Reuben. The judges just seemingly just pop up, okay? So when they're at rest, they forget God, and what happens? They relapse into their idolatrous ways, that idolatry leads to their ruin, then they repent, and they go, "Lord, we have forgotten you," and then God raises up a judge, and they're restored.

And you'll see this phrase in the book of Judges repeated at least four times. "In those days, Israel had no king. "Everyone did as he saw fit." Judges 17, six, Judges 21, 25, it's mentioned in Judges 18 and Judges 19. "In those days, Israel had no king. "Everyone did as they saw fit." Judges 17, six, Judges 21, 25, okay?

So Genesis was about what? Genesis is beginnings. Exodus, exiting from Egypt, Leviticus, feast and offerings, numbers, wilderness wanderings, Deu Adronami, second generation, the law of God of the second generation, Joshua, conquest, how many years? Only 10. Judges, how many years? 400, but all you need to remember are these cycles for these 400 years, because in those days, Israel had no king, everyone did as they saw fit.

They went from rest to relapse to ruin to repentance to restoration, again and again and again and again and again. But there is an interesting story that happens in the time of Judges that's based mostly on a woman who's a foreigner. You guys know who that is? The book of Ruth.

Book on a roof, okay? So just think Ruth. It's a love story that happens in this time of Judges. Oh, you can't see? Is my head in the way? Ruth. Here we go, how many books in the Old Testament? 39, how many books in the New? 27, chronological or genre?

Genre, 512, 5512. Pentateuch? History, poetry, major, minor. Easy enough to remember. Abraham, 1500 is Moses, 1000 is David, 500 is returns, three, okay? Zero is Jesus. Let's start from 2000 to 1500. What's Genesis about? Beginnings, Exodus. Exiting Egypt, Leviticus. Feast and offerings, numbers, wilderness wanderings, Deuteronomy. Good, you've got 2000 to 1500 to set, no problem.

A through M, no worries. M through D, you've got Mount JK, okay? Moses, tribes, Judges, kings, and you have three books in there. Joshua is about conquest and the tribes, okay? 10 years, 24 chapters. Judges is about cycles. 400 years, 21 chapters, and these cycles involve rest, relapse, ruin, repentance, restoration, and in that is a story about God's promise to restore his people through a family of his choosing.

And what's that story called? The book of Ruth, Ruth, okay? So here we go. Thinking our way through. Abraham to Moses is a Pentateuch. 1500 to 1000 you have, tribes, Judges, kings, and that's all you need to remember. And in the middle of this you have five Rs. Raise your hand if you're already feeling a little bit more comfortable with the Old Testament.

Yeah? 'Cause we're halfway done. Okay? That's all you need to really remember. And the rest of your life you fill in the blanks, okay? So in your groups, again, now find a different partner. Review. We're gonna review this so much that you're gonna dream this. And you're gonna hear my voice going, five, 12, five, five, 12, five, 12.

You know, your mama's always do, but she climbed a mountain, do. You're gonna hear all of this in your head for the rest of your life. So good luck with that. But go ahead and practice with a different neighbor. If you haven't met him, just introduce yourself and go over the next six questions.

And once you finish, we're gonna take a break 'til 1125. (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience laughing) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) (audience laughing) - One minute, one minute, grab your snack, grab your brains, come back.

(audience laughing) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) (audience murmuring) All right, 20 seconds, if you're standing up, find your way back to your seats, and we're almost done. (audience murmuring) So hopefully now, with half of the Old Testament now in your head, hopefully you're not as scared, okay?

You don't need to remember every single person, who Rahum is, who Shimshai, who like, you know, Nebulad, all these people, you don't need to know who they are, okay? They will come in time, but as long as you're not scared of these books, you will know that it's okay some places to read quickly, and then some places you're gonna wanna slow down, all right?

Now we're gonna go over a cheer that I taught the college students in the summer, that I taught at Berean in 2007, that'll help you remember half your Bible, okay? And you're gonna hear this every week, 'til you die, in your head, narrated by me, okay? This will help you remember half of your Bible.

What percent? Half, I actually did the math, 51%, this timeline that I'm gonna give you, the cheer that I'm gonna give you is 51% of all of the Bible, in terms of landmarks, okay? So you have to engage, you have to just pay attention, okay? It's on your paper here, all right?

But the first things you need to remember are King, King, split. All right, go. - King, King, split. - One more time. - King, King, split. - Five, 12, five, five? - Five. - Five, blank, five? What's in the blank? - Five. - Good, what's between the King and the split?

- A King. - A King, oh, good job, all right? King, King, split is easy to remember, okay? And if you guys are already familiar with a little bit of your Bible, the people of God get divided into northern and southern kingdoms, that's the split, there's a civil war that happens, okay?

So King, David, King, Solomon, split, that's what happens, okay? So King, King, split, ABCD. This used to be just ABC until when I taught it in 2007, Dr. Pang was like, "You should include a D there." So I did, okay? There is a D, okay? So King, King, split, and what's the next four?

ABCD, easy to remember and hard? - Easy. - Yeah, if it was hard, you'd have some problems, okay? King, King, split, ABCD, no problem? All right, here we go. Medo-Persians, repeat, Medo-Persians, all right? So I've given you all these easy things to remember and then I've given you Medo-Persians.

So Persians is easy to remember, but what is Medo? Okay, we'll get there. So King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, and you'll be familiar with this one, return. And Greeks, all right? So I'm gonna go slowly and then I'm gonna go louder, I mean, I'm gonna go slowly and then faster and louder.

Yes, David? I will tell you, okay? Let's do the cheer first, all right? Here we go. King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. It's like a cheer. I feel like this was divine. I was listening to sports radio and I was trying to figure out how I'm gonna teach this.

King, King, split, ABC, oh, and it was like a, like, ah, moment. Okay? And this is international now. I've taught this in China, I've taught this in Korea. Okay, here we go. King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. Do some of you older members remember this? Okay? King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks.

King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. Okay, with your eyes closed so that you can hear my voice even louder in your head. Ready? King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks.

College students, ready, go. Bam, go. People over 35, go. Everybody with glasses, go. Laker fans, go. Youth, I'm just kidding, Mary. There's only one, okay? King, King, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. What's Joshua about? How many years? What are the five Rs? Rest, relapse, re-- I'm testing you.

I'm doing these things on purpose. What's Exodus about? All right. What happens in a thousand? Oh, I'm switching it up. I'm rewiring the neurons. What happens in 500? How many returns are there? Three, but for the cheer, we just say return. The S is hard to say. I've tried it.

Okay. What is happening between 1500 to a thousand? Moses, tribes, five Rs, kings. Who was the last judge, first king? Saul, okay? But for our king, king, split, it doesn't start with Saul, because that's not God's choice. Who do we start with? David, okay? And when is David? Thousand, okay?

So, what is the cheer to remember half your Bible, including the New Testament too? King, king, split, ABCD, Medo-Persians, return, and Greeks. Here we go. King is at a thousand and ten. So, that's easy to remember. And what's easy about the three first kings of Israel, about the United Kingdom, there were three kings only, Saul, David, and Solomon all did 40 years, except, well, Saul did 42, but just to evenly round up in your head, just think of Saul 40, David 40, Solomon 40 split, okay?

So, 40, 40, 40 is all you need to remember. So, if you go backward, when was Saul king? 1050-ish, okay? We're not starting with Saul, but if you wanted to mentally go back into, when was Saul king? When was Samuel prophet? You just need to just start with a thousand and go backward 40, okay?

So, here's your first king, that's David. Second king at 970 is his son Solomon. At 930, you have the split, the Civil War. It gets divided north and south, and we'll look at the Civil War more next week, okay? King, king split. How many of you think you guys can remember these dates?

They're easy enough, right? Because how many years for each king? 40, 40, 40. Well, 42, 40, 40, okay? And you start at about a thousand, plus or minus 10, and then you're good. Actually, no, plus 10, not minus 10. No, minus 10, you're going backward. 60, 80, it'll mess you up a little bit, all right?

King, king split. So, what year did the split happen? 930, and that's historical fact, okay? What year was Judah's first king, you think? Judah's first king, the Southern Kingdom. 930. How about Israel's first king? 930, okay? When they split, there now are two kings. And one thing you'll notice, and I'm gonna give this to you more in depth next week, but the kings and the chronicles, the books of the Bible, there's an overlap, okay?

If you actually go through 1 and 2 Kings, and then you're in 1 Chronicles again, and you go back to David, and then you see the same stories repeat themselves, okay? The kings are about everybody. The chronicles are just about the South. Kings are about everybody. Chronicles are about Judah.

And we'll look into that more next week. But the split happens what year? 930, okay? So King-King split, and here we go, Professor Mobley, your question. A is Assyria. A-S-S-Y-R-I-A, Assyria. And I'm putting these dates on purpose. When you have a chance, try to memorize them, and I will help you memorize them as we go.

Assyria, 612 is B, Babylon. C, captivity. D, destruction of the temple. A, Assyria. B, Babylon, Babylon. C, captivity. D, destruction of the temple. So David, Solomon, Civil War, Assyria, Babylon, captivity, destruction of the temple. Do you guys, you guys can remember that? If I give you a little time, you might remember that, right?

Okay, what's, okay, close your eyes, and just say it to yourself. King, who is that? Okay, say it to yourself. King. And then split what year? Okay, A means B, C, D of Solomon's temple, destruction of Solomon's temple. Now you have most of the Old Testament down, because after the destruction of the temple, there's 70 years of gap until you get to Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, and you only have five books left.

Okay, king, king, split, A, B, C, D. So one more time. First king, David, what year did he reign? 1010. Second king, Solomon, what year did he reign? 970. 40 years later, the Civil War happens at 930. Couple hundred years later, who comes into power? Assyria. Who knocks out Assyria and conquers even the south?

Babylon. What do they start doing with the people of Judah? Take them into captivity, and as they try to squish the rebellion, the temple of Solomon gets destroyed at 586. Okay, and we will go more in depth of these things as each week progresses. All right? First five books of the Bible.

Pentateuch, 12. History, five. Poetry, five. Major, 12. Minor prophets, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus. Numbers, Deuteronomy. Joshua, how many years? Judges, how many years? What are the five R's? Restoration. Moses, tribes, judges, and then you end up with the kings. Who is the first king of Israel that was not God's choice?

Saul, how many years did he reign? Then you have King, King split. Who is the first king in that year? David, Solomon, split. What year? 930. A, B, C, D. And what's the next one without looking at your paper? Medo-Persians. They release the people and then starts the returns home.

And you read about it in Isaiah, you read about it in Jeremiah, you'll read about it in Ezra. The funny thing is, Ezra 1.1, Cyrus is the king of Persia, but it says in Ezra 5.14, Cyrus the king of Babylon. You're like, what is going on? If you don't know these things, you're going to read it and you're like, this is a contradiction in the Bible.

No, but Medo-Persians, who did they knock out? Babylon. Okay, C and D are not -- it's not an empire. They knocked out Babylon. So now Cyrus is king, not just of Persia, but he's also king of Babylon. Ezra 1.1, Ezra 5.13, you see these things. And now you'll know what's going on.

Oy. Oh, that's good. This is a good way to test you. Okay. King-king split, A, B, C, D. Medo-Persians return and Greeks. One more time. King-king split, A, B, C, D. Medo-Persians return and Greeks. Last time. King-king split, A, B, C, D. Medo-Persians returns and Greeks. Are the Greeks important in the scriptures?

Not in the Old Testament. They're not really mentioned in the Old Testament. When are they important? All over the New. What's the New Testament written in? Greek. And that's why I included them in there because on our sixth week that we studied together, we're going to study what happens in the 400 years between the Old and the New.

So that you'll know why is there no synagogue in the Old Testament but synagogues are all over the place in the New? Where did the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and the Essenes come from? Where did these guys? Right? Who is Herod? Where did he come from? Why is it, why is Caesar mentioned?

Right? The barbarians and the Greeks, why are they mentioned? You have a different world altogether. Okay? So we're going to cover that on our sixth week. That's why the Greeks is important. Now, do I have to do something? All right. The 1010, 970, 930, you guys got that? No problem?

722 is when Assyria conquers Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. So now there's only one kingdom. The North is gone. 612 is when Babylon knocks out Assyria. So then in 600s, Babylon starts to mess with Judah. And they eventually take over. Zedekiah, the last king, rebels. And Nebuchadnezzar, out of rage, destroys Solomon's temple and takes away all of the goods in the temple.

That's 586. And these are historical dates. If you guys can this week just commit to memory these dates, that'll help you in the following weeks. Because everything else, I packaged it so you guys can remember without too much review. Right? 538 is when Medo-Persia, it's a united force. It's actually brought up in the book of Daniel, okay, where you have Daniel seeing a vision of a bear that's crooked, okay?

It's a crooked bear because the Persians are a lot stronger than the Medo's, than the Medianites, and they're like this. But they together knock out Babylon. So when you see Darius, that's a Median king. Cyrus, Persian king. And we'll go over all these things. But 538, the Medo-Persians knock out Babylon.

And then R1, R2, R3, we're going to cover in week five. And 333 is the Greeks. This works out easy too, right? How many of you guys think you can remember when the Greeks came into power with Alexander the Great? Anybody? Close your eyes. What year? 333. So certain things in the Bible are easier to remember than others, okay?

Now, the last thing we're going to cover before I teach you a song, I'm going to teach you a song. There are 20 kings of Judah. How many? 20, okay? The Book of Micah was written during the time of Joth and Ahaz and Hezekiah. You're like, "Who are these guys?" Right?

But Isaiah starts with Uzziah. So you have all of these kings, and it would be beneficial for you to remember. So we're going to take five at a time every week, and I'll make up a little catchy little cheer to help you remember the kings. But we're going to start with 1, 6, 11, and 16.

Because how many kings are there in Judah? 20. The north, don't worry about it. The only king that really is of significance is Zimri, because he commits suicide, and Ahab. You guys have heard of Ahab, right? Okay? He goes up against Elijah and Elisha. Did you guys know Elijah and Elisha are never mentioned really, except maybe once or twice in the Chronicles?

Because they're in the north. Remember I shared the kings and the Chronicles, there's overlap. Kings is about everybody. What's Chronicles about? Just the south. That's why Elijah and Elisha are not really mentioned in the bottom. Okay? So those are things I will continue to emphasize as we go. But 1, 6, 11, and 16, if we're taking them five at a time, are the first of the Judean kings you need to remember from each list.

Nod your head if that makes sense. Yeah? Okay. Now, this is a chin, but I just needed a picture. Okay? So this is not the real king. This just stands for all the kings. And we're going to remember 1, 6, 11, and 16. Quick trivia fact. Anybody know what Zeus, the god in Greek mythology, he had a mom.

Anybody know what her mom's name was, his mom's name? Huh? Rhea, R-E-A-H, Rhea. Rhea is the mother to the god of gods in Greek mythology. All right? So I'm going to introduce you to King Rhea Jojo. Okay? This chin, his name is King Rhea Jojo. Okay? So I took the first two letters of each king in 1, 6, 11, and 16 to help you organize it, because every week you're going to pick up five new ones.

And some of them are going to be familiar. Some of them are not going to. Jehoahaz was only in 609, and he died in 609. So I was like, "What is that guy?" Okay? So Ahaziah reigned one year, and he died. Okay? So Rhehoboam, R-E, Ahaziah, A-H, Jotham, 11, Josiah, 12.

Yes, O-E. There's 20 kings in Judah. I'm going to give you five each week. So that you remember every week the first of those five. So kings 1 through 5, we're going to cover next week. 6 through 10, the following week. 11 through 16, the week after that. And then 16 to 20, the final week after that, so that you can kind of -- because if you try to memorize all 20 at once, it's hard.

But if you could take them at five at a time, it's easier to remember. But then in order for you to keep those five organized, we're going to do 1, 6, 11, 16. Nod your heads if that makes sense. Okay? It behooves you to memorize the 20 kings in order.

But there is a way to do that without screaming. Okay? So even the dates if you can. Okay? So Rheh-ha-jo-jo is what you need to remember. Like Rheh-bo-am, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehosh -- Jehoash. You'll remember all of these in order if you just stick with the program. Got it?

Okay? So what's the mythical king of kings that we need to remember? King Rheh-jo-jo. Can you remember their names? Rheh-bo-am, Ahaziah, Jo-tham, Jotham, and Josiah. So next week we're going to start with Rheh-bo-am and his son Abijah who reigned two years. And then in 9/11 came Asa and then Jehoshaphat was from 870 down.

And then you have Jehoram. So that's how we're going to remember these things. Okay? And the way to keep it organized is king Rheh-ha-jo-jo. Now you also learned who Zeus' mommy was. Okay? So one more review with your friends. Okay? And then we're going to wrap up with a song and a prayer.

Okay? Find a different friend if you can. If you're too comfortable in your seat, then just go to the same friend. But go over these questions. And then in two minutes I'll give you a final song. Okay? So here we go. >> One more minute. >> 30 more seconds.

>> All right. I trust that you guys are getting these things. Timeline-wise now, you have basically the head, the neck, the spine, the hips, and the legs. Okay? And we're going to fill in the different sections of the body as we go. So by the end of the sixth week, the intertestamental period between Malachi and Matthew, we're going to start to put a little bit of muscles on the skeleton.

But you guys have just the head to the bottom. Just straight through. Okay? So review when you can. Do you guys think this is going to take like 15 hours to review? No. It'll take you minutes. Okay? Some logistical things and then I'm going to teach you a song, part of a song, and then we're going to wrap up and go.

Every week we're going to open the doors at 10. So at 10, the snacks are going to be ready. Okay? So we're going to need help coordinating the sacks. So if Lindsey contacts you, I mean, it would help her self-esteem and she would be very encouraged if you guys were like, "Now!" Okay?

If you guys are like, "Oh, sure. Let me serve the body of Christ," because that is the appropriate response to the grace that he's shown us. And let me -- so if she does happen to ask you or if you want to volunteer, talk to Lindsey. I'm going to introduce Lindsey and Lawrence in a little bit.

But there will be snacks starting at 10 a.m. every week. It's not breakfast. It's going to be snacks. So come early just to sit, review, get to know some people. Because the more you review before we actually start, the easier things will be -- your brain is probably now a little bit more adhesive than it was an hour ago, two hours ago.

So that now if you read through the Bible, things are going to be a little bit more sticky. My goal by the end of six weeks is to make it super adhesive. So new stuff, it's just like -- right? Oh, that's Assyria. Nineveh, capital of Assyria. Right? So that you will be able to do that.

That's my goal. My job is not to teach you. My job is to cause you to want to learn. You guys following me? If you ever disciple somebody, your job is not to instruct them of the Bible. Your job is to help them love Christ more. To get them to self-feed and want God more.

Want his word more. My goal is to have about -- there's 100 of you signed up. 100 Old Testament faithful students who can make other faithful students. Because we're going to keep having people come to the church. And we can't do this every couple months. Okay? So learn as much as you can so that you can cause other people to want to learn as much as they can.

You guys following me? Fear is probably the biggest deterrent of the Old Testament. And boredom that comes from fear. Okay? So don't be intimidated by the Old Testament. Every week we'll go over a little bit. 10 a.m. Doors are open. Just come and review a little bit if you can.

We're going to have Lawrence and Lindsay, can you come up real quick? Like toward the front. Just run up here real quick. So these are our TAs. Lindsay. Lindsay, you're making Lawrence look like a weirdo. Come on up. Okay? So the reason they're here is because they've gone through the Old Testament study like this with me before.

And so what we're going to have them do is if you miss a Saturday, okay, or if you feel like, oh, there's this part I didn't get. They've gone through this so much. My voice is in their head so much that you can kind of review or refresh or get things you missed.

So 930 to about 10 every Saturday morning before we start, they will be available to you, I assume, maybe either like somewhere here or should we just make it here? Here. We'll just have them hang out here. So they'll come at 930. If you want like tutoring of the broad stuff, they will help you.

Okay? Don't ask them like crazy stuff because the goal is just to have your brain more adhesive than it was before. Okay? So they're going to be here every Saturday morning starting 930. We're going to have snacks starting at 10 and then 1030 will start right away. Okay? So that's their role.

So if they ask you for help, please just, you know, oblige. They're not going to ask you to like do their laundry and stuff. They're just going to ask for like, oh, can you help with this real quick? And the more people that are involved, the better. And if you guys -- I mean, if we end up doing this class again, maybe you guys can serve in the same role and we can have more people who are familiar with these books.

Okay? So give them a hand in advance. And for today, if you haven't paid your $10, this is not going into my pocket at all. Okay? This is going into our snacks. Okay? And at the end, I think maybe if I feel like, you know, what would help if I could purchase something to give to all of you as a resource, something like that.

So whatever money is collected is only going to be used for this class. So if you haven't already, we know who you are. Okay? So avoid the embarrassment of me tracking you down because I already know who you are. I've high lit you. Okay? Go ahead and pay that via Venmo, check, PayPal, made out to Berean Community Church.

I think it would be good for us to have a recording. There's a lot of little gaps, as you guys can tell, where I'm having you guys rehearse stuff. But we will make them only available to you. Okay? Don't share them. Just use them for yourself to review if need be.

I haven't figured out how we're going to get it out to you. But we did -- Lawrence, we did record today, right? We did record. So if you want to review, you can. If you miss, that session will also be available to you so that you get the most out of the next six weeks.

Sounds like a plan? Okay. Let's sing a song. You know all the words. All right? Here we go. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Stop. So far so good? Okay. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and we're not going to go on. We're going to just stop there.

All right? So some of you guys may have learned this as a kid. Some of you guys are like, I don't know what's where. So that's why we're going to go over this song every week. So this song is also stuck in your head. Some of the parents for our children complain that the kids have been singing the books of the Bible all week and have been driving them crazy in a very sanctified, holy way.

Okay? So you drive your neighbors crazy and your roommates crazy with God's word, at least the titles of the books of God's word. Okay? Here we go. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. That's it. Okay? But we'll go over this a couple more times. Don't look at your table of contents.

Try to hear my voice. Be brainwashed. Okay? I don't know. We'll sing it again and again. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth.

First and second, Samuel. Okay, we'll get there next week. All right? Let's pray and then you guys can go. Heavenly Father, we thank you for giving us an opportunity to study about your word today. We thank you for giving us just a lot of resources online. We thank you for giving us books that have already organized a lot of this.

And we thank you, Lord, for allowing us to participate in this together. We pray for your help that we would be hungry, that we would be eager, not just to feed ourselves, but to share the good news of Jesus Christ through your inerrant word. All of it, all 66 books to our friends and family who need Christ.

Help us to love your word. Help us to live your word. Help us to share your word. And we pray that as we go through the next six weeks, we will be equipped to be better stewards of your holy scriptures in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Good job today, everybody.

(audience applauding) What's your homework? You don't have any? Just review. Okay? Okay, and then see you next Saturday at 10.30 sharp.