Several years ago, I read the Chronicles of Narnia to my daughter. Before I began, I needed to decide whether I would read them in publication order or chronological order. If you’re not a nerd like me, you may not realize that C.S. Lewis published the series out of chronological order. Narnia’s second-to-last book (The Magician’s Nephew) is a prequel to Narnia’s first book (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe).
Modern publishers correct Lewis’s supposed error and number the series chronologically. But as for me and my house, we read Narnia in publication order
Unfortunately, my daughter didn’t appreciate this approach. She was only 5 and had no concept of a prequel. When I explained that this book tells the story before all the other Narnia stories, she exclaimed, “Why read it if we already know what will happen?!”
It was a good question. One worth pondering. Especially for Christians in the secular west who may find themselves asking the same question about the Old Testament.
“Why read it if we already know what will happen?”
This year Ten Minute Bible Talks will explore the Old Testament historical books: Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings.
As the name suggests, this section of the Old Testament gives us much of Israel’s history—namely, from the time the Israelites conquered the promised land (1400-1200 BCE) to the time they were exiled from it (586 BCE).
But if we know that ancient history culminates in Jesus, what is the value of revisiting it?
William Faulkner wrote, "The past is not dead. It's not even past."
He meant that the present has living continuity with what came before it, and therefore, the present cannot be understood apart from the past. Any attempt to do so would be like studying a toe apart from a foot. While such research might yield interesting insights, it would fail to make sense of the very object it sought to study. The inverse is equally true: a toeless foot is not merely off balance, it’s disfigured.
The present is part of the whole of the past, and the past is what allows us to make sense of the present. You cannot understand the Civil Rights Act apart from the history of Jim Crow and segregation. You cannot understand your personality or values apart from the history of your family. You cannot faithfully report the meaning of a conflict with a coworker without sharing the story of your relationship.
If this is true of the most mundane aspects of life, how much more so ought it be true of sacred history?
Perhaps this is why Matthew begins his telling of Jesus’s life story by recounting three historical eras preceding Jesus’s birth (Matthew 1:1-17). The historical books describe the second era: the time when Israel existed in a Covenant relationship with Yahweh as her king.
During this era, Israel conquered the Canaanites (Joshua), and then spent her early years as a loose tribal coalition (Judges). This eventually gave way to a monarchy (1 and 2 Samuel) and a temple, followed by a civil war and the birth of two nations: Judah in the south and Israel in the north (1 Kings). After several hundred years, foreign empires (Assyria and Babylon) successively conquered and exiled both nations (2 Kings).
In Matthew’s view, we will miss something about Jesus if we don’t understand the history behind his story. And the historical books tell one part of that incredibly important story.
This was not an insight unique to Matthew. Ancient Jews have always understood these books as more than history. This is why they called it by a different name: the former prophets. Indeed, history itself is not merely an exercise in rehearsing facts. It can be a prophetic act that speaks to the present as clearly as it speaks to the past.
It might surprise you to learn that the historical books were viewed as prophetic books. While prophets sometimes feature in them, the narratives themselves do not look at all like the prophetic oracles of Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel (who were called the latter prophets).
The reason why the historical books deserve their ancient moniker is because they are prophetic. Not in the sense that they predicted the future—that wouldn’t be history, after all—but in the sense that they spoke covenant truth to God’s covenant people.
In ancient Israel, prophets weren’t merely foretellers, they were forth-tellers. They were the people God designated to speak forth God’s truth to his covenant people and prosecute them for their covenantal failures. And that’s precisely what the former prophets do.
The former prophets show through historical narrative that Israel was polluted by evil, injustice, and idolatry. They show through history God’s kindness, mercy, and forbearance in the face of terrible wrong. They show through history how he graciously rescued his people. How he refused to give up. But they also show through history the final consequence of human sin: exile from God’s presence. If Israel wanted to be like Babylon, she could go live there.
Perhaps it’s now becoming evident why followers of Jesus need this prequel to stay balanced, understand Jesus, and understand ourselves.
We cannot understand Jesus’s life and mission unless we know the story of what led to it.
You will not understand your need for a king, until you see the people of Israel murdering and raping in the name of personal autonomy.
You won’t understand the need for a good king, until you see the evil kings of Israel sacrificing their children and murdering others for their wives and land.
You won’t understand the need for a temple made of purified human hearts until you see a temple corrupted by defiled human hearts.
You can’t see yourself clearly until you realize that you are no better, no holier, no more righteous than the generations who came before you—and in them you find a guide for seeking the grace and mercy of God.
Above all, you won’t fully understand the promise of reconciliation with God until you understand the pain and cause of exile from his presence. This is why you need what came before Jesus: because it trains you to see him more clearly and love him more fully.
Faulkner was right. History is not dead. It is with us. It pulses with life, vitality, and insight. If you want to know your Savior more deeply, see yourself more clearly, and understand God’s story more fully, then I invite you to join Ten Minute Bible Talks this year and discover the Historical Books (or former prophets, if you prefer), in order to rediscover the beauty of Jesus.
Download your copy of the 2025 TMBT Bible Reading Plan and explore the Historical Books with Ten Minute Bible Talks in the new year.