This study of the Bible can be the most rewarding thing you have
ever done. Each time you begin a study, ask in prayer for the Holy
Spirit of God to teach what the Scriptures are saying to you as an
individual.
The Bible, Greek La Biblia, means the books. It has been called
the divine library, God inspired Scriptures, divine writings, rules of
faith, practice of man, and many other names!
The Bible is God breathed. We will discover as we go along that
Jesus was,and is the Word. The Word took on the form of flesh and
dwelt among us.
The Bible is a collection of many writings written in many forms,
by many hands from many ages; but the author is God. Men of God were
moved on by the Holy Spirit and penned God’s thoughts. the latest
writings are over seventeen hundred years old. In Europe, and here in
the U.S., colleges and lower schools were formed with the Bible as the
textbook. Most colleges were built by people of God to further the
understanding of the Bible and to train ministers of God.
The Bible is the most read book in the western world today. The
Bible has been translated many times and in many languages by numerous
people, men and women.
Some of the first translators of the Bible, had to give their
lives for their work.
The Bible was not read by just ordinary people many years ago.
The Bible would be chained to the pulpit to keep just ordinary people
from reading it.
The King James version of the Bible will be the one we use in
the studies . Just simply, I understand it better because it has been
my companion for many years. Many of the modern translations
attempt to bring Jesus down to the level of man. I would not recommend
them.
The Bible was basically written in Hebrew and Greek. As many as
forty different penmen have been thought, by some, to be the writers of
the Bible. Many questions are asked about who wrote many of them,
because truly the author is God.
It is difficult for us to imagine that when the first Bibles were
written, there were no printing presses. Each copy was hand written.
All original manuscripts have been lost, but the King James version of
the Bible goes back to the early copies. It closely coincides with the
manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1948 in the caves
near the Dead Sea.
You might ask, “Why should I study the word of God? I am saved.”
Because God is the author, and the secrets of life are found in the
Bible. Not only is it history of the past, but plans for the future.
We cannot truly follow in God’s will for our lives, unless we know
what His will is.
The Bible, then, could be thought of as a road map in this life
that directs us to an eternity with God.
The Bible is made up of 66 books – 39 Old Testament books and 27
New Testament books. the Bible (Old and New Testament) is a book of
History. Law, Poetry, and Prophecy.
The Bible covers a period of about 4000 years. From the birth of
Adam to the birth of Abraham was 1948 years (approx. 2000 years); from
Abraham to Jesus was approx. 2000 years, from Jesus to our present day
is just under 2000 years. You see, our six 1000 year days are about
complete. Our work on earth will be done, and we will enter into our
seventh 1000 year day. The year of the Sabbath.
The Bible covers the Oriental, Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldean,
Persian, Egyptian, and the Roman Empire.
There is a period of about 400 years between Malachi and Matthew.
There are many ways to study the Bible: chronologically,
literally, expositionaly, types and shadows, spiritually,
historically, and many more.
In this particular study, we will try to touch some on all of
these, but our fundamental endeavor will be to try to understand the
spiritual message. God is a Spirit, and those that worship Him must
worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God,
and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness:”
It is so easy to look at the literal word of God, and overlook
the spiritual message. We must look beyond the literal to the spiritual.
Mankind has a need to worship something, or someone besides
himself, something that he can depend on in trouble. God, only, can
fill that need. The Bible reveals God in his relationship to mankind.
In our study, we will encounter several names of God, such as
Jehovah and Elohim.
God chose the Hebrew nation and its people to introduce himself
to the world. God’s Book stands aside from all others in that it is
not for just one age. It is as current today as it was the day it
was written.
We read in revelation Chapter 22 verses 18 and 19 that we must
not add to, or take away from this word. Revelation 22:18 “For I
testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
the plagues that are written in this book:” Revelation 22:19 “And if
any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the
holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.”
In our study, we will discover that God has order and wisdom
throughout the Bible. God set up the laws of nature. God is the
absolute authority in everything. So many religions would have us
worship nature, and the things of the world, but we should worship the
Creator, and not His creations.
Secular humanism would make us God, but we are created, not the
Creator. If you can just remember who God is, then all false religions
will not stand up to His standards.
As we begin the study of the Bible, we will realize people like
Moses (who wrote the first five books of the Bible) sometimes wrote
about things that happened long before they were born. We say, “How
could this be accurate?” Then, remember God is the author, Moses the
penman. My own personal belief is that God filled Moses’ mind with
the knowledge of the things He would place in Moses’ writings during
the forty days and nights that Moses was on the mountain receiving the
Ten Commandments, When Moses came down from the mountain, The Bible
says, that his (Moses’) head was so bright that people could not look
at him for fear of blindness. A cloth had to be put over his head to
dim the light. The light of the Knowledge of God was so great that his
head was shining. He had been with God. We mentioned before that the
Scriptures were given to holy men of God as the Holy Spirit moved upon
them.
Many of the books in the Bible are not in chronological order.
the time is not so important because Scripture is given for all ages
to learn from. The Bible is like reading the morning paper. The only
difference is, the Bible has answers to life’s problems.
Promises of blessing are throughout the Bible if we do the will
of God, but curses abundant, if we do not the will of God.
I encourage you to memorize the books of the Bible and
familiarize yourself with their location. Old and New Testament are
intertwined, and we will be jumping from one book to the other in this
study.
God’s purpose in making us was so that He could fellowship with
us. We can truly fellowship with God today if we study His Word and
let it minister to us in truth. Then invite Him inside of us to make
all the decisions that are too difficult for us.
The New Testament is the last will and testament of Jesus Christ.
We must know what He has stored up for us before we can collect.