A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

43. ELISHA: The Prophet of Twice the Power
44. ISAIAH: On the Hinge of the Kingdom’s History
45. ISAIAH: The Revival Years
46. JEREMIAH: The Collapsing Kings
47. EZEKIEL: Visions of the Glory of God
48. DANIEL: The Years in Babylon
49. FIVE LEADERS: Their Responsibility for the Return of the Jews
50. ESTHER: The Saving of a Nation
51. NEHEMIAH: The Rebuilding of the Walls
52. THE END: The Last of the Prophets
INTRODUCTION
Certain people make history. They are generals who win wars, explorers who discover
new areas, rulers who bring about change in society, or thinkers who write books and/or
transform the world with their ideas.
History makers are influential and their places in history are measured by what they
accomplish. But that does not mean they are necessarily famous. Some history makers walk obscurely
through life, unknown by those around them, but the next generation experiences the
results of their influence.
This book is an unusual approach to the Old Testament. It is a study of those people who
have influenced the events of the Old Testament. Obviously, I could not include every event in
an Old Testament history, nor could I say everything about each person that I discuss. This book
follows one of several approaches that historians use to interpret and record the events of the
past. Some historians interpret history as a struggle between good and evil, sometimes called a
Jewish view of history. Other historians use a cycle view of history; i.e., people struggle from
hardship to prosperity, then become lax and lose their attainment and again become captive to
adversity. I have chosen to interpret the Old Testament through the influence of great
individuals as they improved society or destroyed the quality of life in their culture.
History makers have cast a long shadow over the Old Testament. The spiritual level of
society is often measured by the quality of its leadership. What these History makers did in the
past is the way I interpret the work of God today, that great men build great churches and
average pastors maintain them.
This book is not just an Old Testament survey that gives the theme, outline, author, and
contents of an Old Testament book. There are many outstanding such books, such as
Willmington’s Survey of the Old Testament (Victor) by my life-long friend Harold Willmington,
who teaches with me at Liberty University. History Makers of the Old Testament is a history of
the Old Testament that places people and events in a sequential order. But it does more than pin
incidents on a time-clothesline; it interprets the Old Testament through the sequential influence
of history makers.
The average American is not interested in dusty history stories. They want to know about
people. And God’s people want to know bout God’s people. So I believe they will love reading
about Old Testament people like themselves. The people who lived before Christ were not much
different from us today. They have the same desires, family problems, and frustrations. Yet