Dr. Clarence B. Mason
Philadelphia College of The Bible Class Notes (c. 1970-1974)

Genesis (Beginnings)
Creation; beginning of God's dealings with men, and with Israel; first sin, first sacrifice; first man, first family, first human government; first four covenants between GOD and men; first fathers of the Jewish nation (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob) first captivity (Egypt); first revelation of God's names:
JEHOVAH and Elohim.

Creation 1, 2
The fall into sin 3
Noah and the flood and government 6-10
Babel 11
Abraham 12-25
Isaac 25-28
Jacob 28-36
Joseph and the 12 tribes 37, 39-50


Exodus (Departure) Israel, enslaved to Egypt's Pharaoh; God's deliverance
Bondage 1
Birth and life of Moses:
The Egyptian Prince - 40 years
The Midianite Shepherd - 40 years
The Leader of Israel - 40 years 2
JEHOVAH calls Moses 3
Moses' objections 4
Moses and Aaron before the Pharaoh (Rameses 2) 5-12
Plagues 7:20-12:30
Passover 12, 13
Red Sea Crossing 14
Song of Praise 15
Israel in the wilderness 16-19
Ten Commandments and laws 20-24
Tabernacle (worship center) 25-31
Golden calf (Egypt's God) 32
Wanderings in the wilderness until the setting up of the Tabernacle 33-40

Leviticus (Levites)
Laws of Acceptable Worship For God's People.
Dietary, sanitary, marital, moral, civil, and ritual laws
Regarding: The land, the poor, objects, and people dedicated to the Lord; vows to God; and warnings against forgetting and forsaking the Lord.


Offerings to God 1-7
Holiness before God 11-15
Day of Atonement 16
Seven Feasts of Jehovah 21-23


Numbers (Census)
Numbering of the men over twenty; set-up of the camp; priests' duties before God and men; rules against moral defilement of the camp; rules for solemn assemblies; wilderness wanderings (11-20);
reparation to enter Canaan, The Promised (to Abram) Land (21-36);
rules of inheritance and the cities of refuge.


Deuteronomy (Second Law)
Moses recites the Law before the Israelites enter Canaan; Shema (6:4-5)
The call to devotion to ONE God, Jehovah; blessings of obedience (28:1-14),
Penalties of disobedience (28:15-68),
Prophecies about the 12 tribes (33),
Death of Moses (34).


Joshua
God's People conquer, divide and settle Canaan.


Judges
Israel under 15 Judges between the death of Joshua and the birth of Samuel. Every man did what was right in his own eyes."


Ruth
Named for one of the women in the lineage of Jesus, this is a tender love story, taking place in Bethlehem.


1 Samuel
Biographies of Samuel (1-7), Saul (8-15), and David (16-31). Samuel was the last judge; God's people demanded a king, so God commanded Samuel to anoint Saul, when Saul disobeyed God, Samuel anointed David, the shepherd.


2 Samuel
The Account of the forty-year reign of David

1 Kings
The forty-year reign of Solomon (2-11)
The civil war when the kingdom was divided by Jeroboam's rebellion (12-16) and
The ministry of Elijah.

2 Kings
The history of the divided kingdoms (Israel = 10 northern tribes; Judah = 2 southern tribes, Elijah (1, 2)
Elisha (2-9);
Northern monarchy (9-17) and then
Assyrian captivity 721 B.C.;
Southern monarchy (18-25) and then
Babylonian captivity, 606 b.c. - 536 b.c..


1 Chronicles
The books titled "Kings" were probably written by a priest or a prophet since they attribute the downfall of the kingdoms to rebellion against God. The Chronicular books record basically the same history, but without religious comment. 1 Chronicles tells about King David.


2 Chronicles
Solomon's reign (1-9);
Divided kingdom (10);
history of the Southern kingdom until the captivity (11-36).


Ezra
Zerubabel led 49,897 people back to Palestine after 70 years of captivity in Babylon (536 B.C.), (1-6) They rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem, 521-516 b.c. In 458 b.c. about 7,000 more people returned under Ezra's leadership (7-10).


Nehemiah
In 445 b.c. Nehemiah led the people in rebuilding the city walls despite opposition by Dog's enemies (1-7). He also led the people back into proper worship of Jehovah, by purifying the priesthood (8-13).


Esther
A Jewish girl becomes Queen of Persia, but risks her life to keep God's people from being wiped out.

Job
A contemporary of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), Job was afflicted by Satan; his wife and three friends blamed the losses of fields, family and flocks on Job for sinning. God asks Job 77 questions. God vindicated Job.

Blameless before God (1:1)
Prosperity (1-3)
Poverty, pain and persecution from Satan (1;13-2:8)
Perplexity (3:11)
Philosophies of Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar (2:11-32:1)
Philosophy of Elihu (32:2-37:24)
Person, Power, and Providence of Jehovah (38-41)
Prayer of Job and prosperity restored (42)


Psalms (Songs of Praise)
These songs were used to praise God in the Temple during the prescribed feasts. In richly poetic language, the Psalms present God as shepherd, shield, savior, etc. Every compound name of Jehovah is to be found in the context of these songs.

The Five Books of the Psalms
Book 1 Worship of the Ever-Becoming One 1-41
Book 2 Worship of the Miracle-Working God 42-72
Book 3 Worship of the Mighty Helper 73-89
Book 4 Worship of the Governing King 90-106
Book 5 Worship of the Redeemer 107-150

Each book ends with a prayer or a blessing to God; each begins with a keynote to the section. The keynote to the entire book is in 1:1-2.


Proverbs
Capsules of wisdom, written by Solomon for the education of "a wise son."

Ecclesiastes
Solomon's search for satisfaction leads him to God, since all apart from Him is vanity. This is a pessimistic view of life without God, to show us the futility of every activity in life that is not under His control.


Song of Solomon
Song of Songs
Canticles
Solomon's love song picturing God's love for Israel (Hosea seems to show Israel's attitude toward God).


Isaiah:
The Story of Israel's rebellion against God
God's call to repent and return 1-9
Israel's commission 6
The Downfall of the heathen kingdoms 13-24
(Babylon, Moab, Syria, Egypt, Tyre, and Assyria)

Isaiah tells the coming of Messiah, His suffering, His glory and His earthly kingdom, and the restoration of Israel.

Jeremiah
Isaiah and Jeremiah were written to the Southern kingdom before the captivity (606-586).


The book of Lamentations
This book describes the Jews in captivity and the destruction of Jerusalem. It is written by Jeremiah, and its poetic quality is beautiful.


Ezekiel and Daniel
Ezekiel and Daniel were written to all the Jews in Babylon during the exile to show God's judgment on Gentile world powers and His restoration of the believing remnant. They also encouraged faithfulness to Jehovah.


Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah
These were written to the Northern kingdom before their exile (721 b.c.) to warn of impending doom. But the people, led by their kings, refused to repent. Obadiah is directed to the people of Edom to warn of punishment for sin.


Jonah
Jonah was written to show God's people what happens to a nation who hears God's word and repents. It concerns the people of Nineveh, capital of Assyria. These people repented and God spared their city for about 250 years.


Micah
Micah preached to the nation of Judah (southern kingdom), but especially to Samaria abut God's hatred of their sin. He is a pre-captivity prophet.


Nahum
Nahum wrote about 150 years after Jonah, again warning the people of Nineveh to turn to God. Everything he predicted about the cit happened as foretold about one hundred years later.


Habakkuk
Habakkuk was written to the people of Judah before their captivity. It forewarns of the invasion of Judah, but also foretells the doom of the Chaldeans (Babylonians).


Zephaniah
Zephaniah tells about the coming invasion of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. the fall of several Gentile nations surrounding Israel is told about twenty years before it took place. (Pre-Exile)


Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
These books were written to all the Jews who returned from the captivity to rebuild the Temple and the city of Jerusalem. Haggai's message was encouragement to finish rebuilding the Temple. Zechariah deals with God's plans for the Gentile nations in the future, and with His plans for His own people under their Messiah (1000 year reign). Malachi wrote after the Temple had been rebuilt and worship had been re-established. God calls His priests and His people to pure worship, and encourages them with assurances of His love and care.

"Mason's Notes"

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