any modern Old Testament introduction or in the volumes of the present
writer's _Student's Old Testament_.

[Sidenote: _The present classification of the Old Testament books_]

In their present form, the books of the Old Testament, like those of the
New, fall into three classes. The first includes the historical books.
In the Old, corresponding to the four Gospels and Acts of the New, are
found the books from Genesis through Esther. Next in order, in the Old,
stand the poetical books, from Job through the Song of Songs, with which
the New Testament has no analogy except the liturgical hymns connected
with the nativity, preserved in the opening chapters of Matthew and
Luke. The third group in the Old Testament includes the prophecies from
Isaiah through Malachi.

[Sidenote: _Close correspondence between the Old Testament prophecies and
the New Testament apocalypses and epistles_]

One book in this group, Daniel, and portions of Ezekiel and Joel, are
analogous to the New Testament Apocalypse, but otherwise the prophetic
books correspond closely in character and contents to the epistles of
the New. Both are direct messages to contemporaries of the prophets and
apostles, and both deal with then existing conditions. Both consist of
practical warnings, exhortations, advice, and encouragement. The form is
simply incidental. The prophets of Jehovah preached, and then they or
their disciples wrote down the words which they had addressed to their
countrymen. When they could not reach with their voices all in whom
they were interested, the prophets, like the apostles, committed their
teachings to writing and sent them forth as tracts (_cf_. Jer. xxxvi.).
At other times, when they could not go in person, they wrote letters.