Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture: The Historical Books of the Old Testament (Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

King David flanked by Wisdom and Prophecy

Homilies on the Books of Holy Scripture 

The Historical Books of the Old Testament 

By Metropolitan Hierotheos of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

(Sunday, July 20, 2025)

In this summer’s Sunday sermons, we are referring to the books of the Holy Bible, the Old and New Testaments. We have already spoken of the Pentateuch of Moses, and today we will speak of the remaining historical books, which form a unity among themselves in the Old Testament. This unity includes the following books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 to 4 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, 1 and 2 Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, and 1 to 3 Maccabees.

These books cover a long period of time, from the death of Moses, which occurred in the 13th century BC, and extend to the 2nd century BC with the Maccabean revolt, that is, they refer to 11 centuries of Israelite history. As one can understand, an analytical report cannot be made in this brief sermon, but interesting points will be briefly highlighted, so that we may have a general acquaintance with these books.

The book of Joshua contains the conquest of a large part of the Promised Land, in Palestine, after the people's journey through the desert, from Egypt, and the distribution of all of Palestine to the twelve tribes of Israel.

The book of Judges refers to the period of the Judges, who ruled over Israel from the death of Joshua until the establishment of the Kings. God sends these men from time to time - the Judges - who bring the Israelites back to God and lead them according to God's commandments.

The book of Ruth presents the very moving story of a Moabite woman named Ruth, who lived in Bethlehem and loved her mother-in-law, even after the death of her husband. This exceptional book is included in this unit, because from Ruth’s blessed marriage to Boaz came King David, and his human descendant was Christ.

The books of 1-4 Kings present the history of Israel under the leadership of the Kings. The last Judge was Samuel, and when the people asked for a King, after prayer, God told him to choose a King for them. At first Saul was chosen and then the great Prophet-King David. Thus, the four books of Kings describe the history of Kings David, Solomon, Rehoboam, the schism that occurred between the Kingdoms of Judah and Israel until the disappearance of the Kingdom of Israel with its captivity to the Assyrians and the captivity of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians.

The books of First and Second Chronicles are a summary of the sacred history of the Old Testament from the creation of Adam and Eve to the Babylonian captivity. Genealogies from Adam to David are presented, as well as historical events parallel to the four books of Kings, events from the reign of Solomon are recorded, and the rest of the history of the Kingdom of Judah is presented. These books are not a continuation of the four books of Kings, but run parallel to them and are independent books.

The historical books that follow are titled 1 and 2 Ezra and Nehemiah, which refer to the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, when they lived under the rule of the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. In these books the emergence of Zerubbabel’s zeal for the reconstruction of Solomon’s Temple and the religious restoration and worship reorganization of the Jewish Community is presented. Ezra was a Priest and Nehemiah was a prominent Israelite who became Governor of the Jews after the Babylonian captivity.

The category of historical books includes the books titled Tobit, which refers to God’s Providence during the captivity in the Assyrian city of Nineveh and shows how God provides for His people and how marriage receives His blessing; Esther, a Jewish Queen, wife of the King of Persia, who helped to prevent the extermination of the Jews living in the Persian Kingdoms; and Judith, a courageous woman who saved her countrymen from the Assyrians.

Also included in the historical books of the Old Testament are the three books of the Maccabees and as an appendix the fourth book, which recounts the actions of the Maccabees after the return of the Jews to Palestine from their captivity to the Babylonians.

The Maccabees belonged to a Jewish faction in the 2nd century BC after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, who fought against the Seleucids of Syria, especially against Antiochus IV Epiphanes, one of the successors of Alexander the Great. The Maccabees fought for the faith of their Fathers, for the restoration of the Temple and the establishment of the feast of Dedication, also known as Hanukkah.

In all these books it seems that history is always intertwined with theology, since God, with His saints, directs history. God is interested in His own people, but He also needs the assistance of people. Therefore, when one reads these historical books, one draws valuable conclusions for one’s life, because the messages they convey are timeless.

One of these is that God directs history towards a purpose. The world was created by God and man must be directed by Him. When man rebels, then God in many ways brings him back to the right path. Apostasy from God brings great destruction to peoples and people.

Furthermore, the relationship between rulers and ruled is clearly seen, since people choose leaders according to their desires, and in the end these rulers torture the people.

Then, in all these books the great value and power of piety and faith in God is emphasized. The value of marriage and how a person should live in his family are emphasized, and it is pointed out that, when one obeys the will of God, then he will have God as his protector.

Furthermore, the faith of our Fathers in God, the ancestral values, the obedience to our traditions and finally the absolute trust in the Providence of God are highlighted.

All this shows how God worked for the salvation of people, how Christ came from among people who loved God, how the people were prepared through various trials to seek a Redeemer, which was done because the captivity, the persecutions, the apostasies contributed to maintaining the unquenchable desire to seek and find salvation.

Today we celebrate the Prophet Elijah, who is included in the category of Prophets, whom we will look at next Sunday, and who shows this heroic spirit in favor of preserving the paternal traditions and faith in the personal God against the rulers who want to alter the faith of the Fathers. The struggles of the Prophet Elijah and the vision he had on Mount Horeb, show the struggle of all the Righteous, in the name of the living God, against all apostasy from the living God.

These teachings are timely for us Christians, too, because our era is also distinguished by apostasy from the God of our Fathers.

Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.