Chapter One
Understanding the Bible
The Bible portrays Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the World
Selected Bible Readings
Sunday: God-Given (2 Timothy 3:10-17)
Monday: Should Be Treasured (Deuteronomy 11:1-9;
Joshua 1:8,9)
Tuesday: Should Be Kept (Psalm 119:9-18)
Wednesday: A Lamp (Psalm l19:105-117)
Thursday: Food (Isaiah 55:1-11; Matthew 4:4)
Friday: Fulfilled (Luke 24:36-45)
Saturday: Complete (Revelation 22:8-21)
"Behind and beneath the Bible, above and beyond the Bible, isthe God of the Bible."
The Bible is God's written revelation of His will to humanity.
Its central theme is salvation through Jesus Christ.
The Bible contains 66 books, written by 40 authors, covering aperiod of approximately 1,600 years.
The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew (a few shortpassages in Aramaic). About 100 years (or more) before theChristian Era the entire Old Testament was translated into theGreek language. Remember, our English Bible is a translationfrom these original languages.
The word "Bible" comes from the Greek word biblos, meaning"book."
The word "testament" means "covenant," or agreement. TheOld Testament is the covenant God made with people about theirsalvation before Christ came. The New Testament is the agreementGod made with people about their salvation after Christcame.
In the Old Testament we find the covenant of law. In the NewTestament we find the covenant of grace that came through JesusChrist. One led into the other (Galatians 3:17-25).
The Old commences what the New completes.
The Old gathers around Mount Sinai-
The New around Mount Calvary.
The Old is associated with Moses-
The New with Christ (John 1:17).
The authors were kings and princes, poets and philosophers,prophets and statesmen. Some were learned in all the arts of thetimes and others were unschooled fishermen. Other books soonare out-of-date, but this Book spans the centuries.
Most books must be adapted to age, but old and young alikelove this Book.
Most books are provincial and only interest the people inwhose language it was written, but not this Book. No one everstops to think it was written in what are now dead languages.
The Old Testament begins with God (Genesis 1:1).
The New Testament begins with Christ (Matthew 1:1).
From Adam to Abraham we have the history of the humanrace.
From Abraham to Christ we have the history of the chosenrace.
From Christ on we have the history of the Church.
"Most people's knowledge of history is like a string of graduatedpearls without the string," said a historian. This statementseems to be especially true of Bible history. Many people knowthe Bible characters and the principal events, but they are hopelesslylost when they are called upon to connect the stories inorder. Anyone who has experienced the thrill of learning to placethe individual characters in their right setting as to place and timecan realize the difference it makes in the enjoyment of God'sWord.
Pick up the "pearls" in the Scriptures and string them intoorder from Genesis to Revelation so that you can "think through"the Bible story.
Interesting Facts
Old Testament Books
Law-five Historical-twelve Poetical-five Prophetical-seventeen (Major, five; Minor, twelve)
New Testament Books
The New Testament was written to reveal to us the character andteaching of Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant, by atleast eight men, four of whom-Matthew, John, Peter and Paul-wereapostles; two-Mark and Luke-were companions of theapostles; and two-James and Jude-were brothers of Jesus. Thebooks were written at various times during the second half of thefirst century.
The books in the New Testament may be grouped thus:
Gospels-four History-one Prophecy-one Epistles-twenty-one
(Pauline, thirteen; General, eight)
God, humanity, sin, redemption, justification, sanctification,glorification: In two words-grace, glory. In one word-Jesus.
Christ quotes from twenty-two Old Testament books: inMatthew, nineteen times; in Mark, fifteen times; in Luke, twenty-five;in John, eleven.
The book of Hebrews quotes the Old Testament (quotations orallusions) eighty-five times.
Revelation quotes the Old Testament 245 times.
The King James Version contains these interesting elements:
Number of verses-31,102 Number of words-775,693 Longest chapter-Psalm 119 Shortest chapter-Psalm 117 Longest verse-Esther 8:9 Shortest verse-John 11:35 Longest book in the Old Testament-Psalms Longest book in the New Testament-Luke Most chapters in the New Testament-Matthew.
Old Testament-Principal Places
The twelve principal places around which the history of the OldTestament is written are:
1. Eden (Genesis 1-3)
2. Ararat (Genesis 8:4)
3. Babel (Genesis 11:1-11)
4. Ur of the Chaldees (Genesis 11:28-12:3)
5. Canaan (with Abraham) (Genesis 12:4-7)
6. Egypt (with Joseph) (Genesis 37-45, esp. 41:41)
7. Sinai (Exodus 19:16-20:21)
8. Wilderness (Numbers 14:26-35)
9. Canaan (with Joshua) (Joshua 1:1-9)
10. Assyria (captivity of Israel) (2 Kings 18:9-12)
11. Babylon (captivity of Judah) (2 Kings 24:11-16)
12. Canaan (Palestine-return of the exiles) (Ezra 1:1-2:70).
As you build the story of the Bible around these places you seethe whole history in chronological order.
Still another way to think through the Bible is by following thegreat facts in order.
Old Testament-Principal Facts
1. Creation (Genesis 1:1-2:3)
2. Fall of man (Genesis 3)
3. Flood (Genesis 6-9)
4. Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)
5. Call of Abraham (Genesis 11:10-12:3)
6. Descent into Egypt (Genesis 46-47)
7. Exodus (Exodus 7-12)
8. Passover (Exodus 12)
9. Giving of the Law (Exodus 19-24)
10. Wilderness wanderings (Numbers 13-14)
11. Conquest of the Promised Land (Joshua 11)
12. Dark ages of the chosen people (Judges)
13. Anointing of Saul as king (1 Samuel 9:27-10:1)
14. Golden age of Israelites under David and Solomon-united
kingdom (2 Samuel 5:4-5; 1 Kings 10:6-8)
15. The divided kingdom-Israel and Judah (1 Kings 12:26-33)
16. The Captivity (2 Kings 17; 25)
l7. The Return (Ezra).
New Testament-Principal Facts
1. Early life of Christ (Matthew 1:18-2:23; Luke 1-2)
2. Ministry of Christ (Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John)
3. Church in Jerusalem (Acts 1-2)
4. Church extending to the Gentiles (Acts 10-11, 13-20)
5. Church in all the world (Romans 10-11,15; Ephesians 2:22-23).
Principal Periods
1. Period of the patriarchs to Moses-Genesis
A. The godly line-leading events
1. Creation
2. Fall
3. Flood
4. Dispersion
B. The chosen family-leading events
1. Call of Abraham
2. The descent into Egypt-bondage II. Period of great leaders: Moses to Saul-Exodus to Samuel
A. Exodus from Egypt
B. Wandering in wilderness
C. Conquest of Canaan
D. Rule of the Judges III. Period of the kings: Saul to the captivities-Samuel,
Kings, Chronicles, the prophetical books
A. The united kingdom
1. Saul
2. David
3. Solomon
B. The divided kingdom
1. Judah
2. Israel IV. Period of foreign rulers: Captivities to Christ-Ezra,
Nehemiah, Esther, Prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel
A. Captivity of Israel
B. Captivity of Judah V. Christ-the Gospels VI. The Church-Acts and the Epistles
A. In Jerusalem
B. Extending to the Gentiles
C. In all the world
How to Study the Bible
Remember that in God's Word the foundation of Christianity islaid in the revelation of the one and only true God. God chose apeople (the children of Israel) to show forth this truth and to preservea record of Himself.
1. Look for purpose-God's plan for salvation.
The Bible tells us of the origin of sin and how this curse separatedus all from God. We discover how utterly impossible it wasfor the law to bring to us the salvation we need, for by the deedsof the law could no flesh be justified, for "all have sinned"(Romans 3:20-23). Then we find the promise of a Saviour, Onewho was to come "to seek and to save that which was lost" and"give his life a ransom for many" (Luke 19:10; Matthew 20:28). Wesee all through the ages one purpose is evident, that of preparinga way for the coming of the Redeemer of the world.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you.
There is no royal road to learning and certainly there is noroyal road to knowledge of the Bible. The Spirit of God will leadus into all truth, to be sure, but God's command is that we do ourbest to be approved, workmen unashamed (2 Timothy 2:15).
3. Read attentively.
Give to the Bible attention with intention, and intention willnecessitate attention. Perhaps there is so little attention in Biblereading today because there is so little intention. We must cometo it with a purpose and have a clearly defined object; we mustknow what we are about.
Many say, "The Bible is so great. I don't know where to beginand don't know how to go on." This is often said quite earnestlyand sincerely. It is true that unless we have some method, weshall assuredly lose the very best results, even though we mayspend much time with the Book.
G. Campbell Morgan (1863-1945, the well-respected Bibleteacher) once stated, "The Bible can be read from Genesis 1 toRevelation 22 at pulpit rate in 78 hours." A lawyer challenged himon that. Morgan told him to go on and try it before he challenged.The lawyer went home and read the Bible in less than 80hours.
4. Make a reading plan (or use one of the reading plans providedat the back of this book).
Do you want to read through the Bible? Leave 80 hours for it.Schedule that time. How much time can you give each day? Howmany days a week? This is a highly practical proposition andshould be seized by the very busiest. We are all busy and musttake time for it. If we are going to know the Bible, we must givetime to it and arrange for it. We must adjust our lives so that timeis made. Unless we do, we shall never come into any worthyknowledge of the Word; for it is impossible from pulpit ministryto acquire that needful knowledge of the Word. The Bible revealsthe will of God so as to lead us into it. Each book has a directteaching. Find out what it is and conform to it. This is our purpose.We are going to consider a book of the Bible in each chapterof this book.
Now the Bible, although it is a library of books, is also "theBook." It is a story, a grand story that moves on from commencementto finish. Here surely is something that is phenomenal in literature.Suppose, for instance, you were to cover the great fieldsof knowledge, such as law, history, philosophy, ethics and prophecy,and you were to bring these different subjects all together andbind them up into one book. What, to begin with, would you callthe book? Then what unity could one possibly expect to find insuch a jumble of subjects? Such an infinite number and variety ofthemes and styles as are found in the Bible, brought togetheracross not a few generations in the history of the people, butacross centuries, makes the likelihood of any unity being presentamazingly small. No publisher would risk publishing such a book,and if he or she did, nobody would buy it or read it. That is, however,what is done in the Bible.
Remember, the books of the Bible were given to us by 40 differentauthors over a period of about 1,600 years. All these arebrought together and bound and are called "the Book." We canbegin at Genesis and read on through to the end. It is not jarring.We can pass from one style of literature to another as easily asthough we were reading a story written by one hand and producedby one life, and indeed we have here a story produced byone Mind (2 Peter 1:21) though not written by one hand.
5. Appreciate the Bible's uniqueness.
Although divine, it is human. The thought is divine, the revelationis divine, the expression of the communication is human."Holy men [human element] of God spake as they were moved bythe Holy Ghost [divine element]" (2 Peter 1:21).
So we have here a book unlike all others. The Book, a divinerevelation, a progressive revelation, a revelation of God tohumanity communicated through men, moves on smoothly fromits beginnings to its great end. Way back in Genesis, we have thebeginnings; in Revelation we have endings; and from Exodus toJude we see how God carried out His purpose. We can't dispensewith any part of it.
Bible history takes us back into the unknown past of eternityand its prophecies take us into the otherwise unknown future.
The Old Testament is the foundation; the New Testament is thesuperstructure. A foundation is of no value unless a building bebuilt upon it. A building is impossible unless there be a foundation.So the Old Testament and New Testament are essential toone another. As Augustine (Saint Augustine, 354-430 A.D., one ofthe most influential Christians who has ever lived) said:
The New is in the Old contained, The Old is in the New explained. The New is in the Old latent, The Old is in the New patent. The Old Testament and New Testament constitute a divine library, one sublime unity, origins in past to issues in future, processes between, connecting two eternities.
One Book, One History, One Story
The Bible is one book, one history, one story, His story. Behind10,000 events stands God, the builder of history, the maker of theages. Eternity bounds the one side, eternity bounds the otherside, and time is in between: Genesis-origins, Revelation-endings,and all the way between, God is working things out. You cango down into the minutest detail everywhere and see that thereis one great purpose moving through the ages: the eternal designof the almighty God to redeem a wrecked and ruined world.
The Bible is one book, and you cannot take it in texts andexpect to comprehend the magnificence of divine revelation.You must see it in its completeness. God has taken pains to givea progressive revelation and we should take pains to read it frombeginning to end. Don't suppose reading little scraps can ever becompensation for doing deep and consecutive work on the Bibleitself.
Continues...
Excerpted from What the Bible is All aboutby Henrietta C. Mears Copyright © 1999 by Henrietta C. Mears. Excerpted by permission.
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