The Old Testament Handbook + Giveaway

I can tell you the exact moment I fell in love with the Old Testament. It was the fall of 2018. BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) was doing the People of the Promised Land study. It covered Joshua to Song of Solomon. At the same time I read my first Connilyn Cossette book, Shelter of the Most High. It was my first time learning about the cities of refuge, which was discussed in the study and the story. I was so fascinated by how a city of refuge worked in Biblical times! Seriously, if you've never heard of it, go check it out in Scripture.

For me, the OT was dry, daunting, and not something that I readily ran to. Now, when someone talks about the Old Testament, I'm all ears. In fact, after starting Connilyn's newest series The King's Men, my husband and I started reading through Samuel. We've been thoroughly enjoying it. On top of that, we've been able to use The Old Testament Handbook as a resource! I received the book for review thanks to FrontGate Media.

The Old Testament Handbook is charcoal cloth over board. Here are some of the features:

• High-quality, foil-stamped cloth cover materials and Smyth-sewn binding meant to last a lifetime
• Elegant full-color interior design, including maps, charts, illustrations, and other visual helps for every book of the Old Testament
• More than 75 in-depth word studies of key words found in each Old Testament book
• Ribbon marker for easy referencing between pages during study, teaching, or sharing

Each chapter is a little different in what it offers except for the first three pages. Those offer an Introduction, an Outline, and a Word Study. The rest of each chapter mixes it up a bit. Let's look at 1-2 Samuel. In this chapter, we look at a timeline from 1200 BC to 900 BC, Movement and Locations of the Ark, a comparison between Saul & David (this spurred a great conversation between me and my husband), the difference between prophets/priests/kings, a chart of those against Israel, a chart of David's enemies, a discussion on the giants in the Bible, a timeline of Samuel's life, seeing Jesus in the Kingdom, God's covenants, and a comparison of the kings: Saul, David, Solomon, and Jesus. Other chapters have maps, key verses, detailed explanations, quotes, names of God, etc.

Since my husband and I are reading through the Bible during our devotions at night, we're adding this to our reading. It's just a great opportunity to learn some more details we might not be thinking about as we're reading through each book. I know I'm going to appreciate the maps because I'm a visual learner and during certain passages of Scripture, I'm always wondering where the people are located at that moment. 

The title pages of each chapter are beautifully designed and keep the same imagery throughout. On the outside edge of the title page is the name of the Book of the Bible. As a fictional reader, I like how the genre for each chapter is described: historical narrative, law, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, prose, etc. Below that is a short description of the chapter.

The Old Testament Handbook is definitely something you want to have on hand as you read through Scripture. You can take a deeper dive into the book on the B&H Publishing Group page as well as purchasing it. While my Handbook is charcoal, there's also the option of getting it in sand.

You also have the opportunity to win one of ten copies of the book! You have until December 6, 2023 to enter. You can find more details and enter HERE or by clicking the image above.

Be on the lookout for The New Testament Handbook coming soon!