01.26.22
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
We are going on a journey over the next several months in a survey of the Bible. We begin today with an introduction to that survey. You will notice from our opening text that the Bible presents itself as being living and powerful. It is the very Word of the living God.
The word ‘bible’ comes from the Greek word ‘biblios’ which simply means ‘book.’ The word ‘testament’ is akin to the word ‘covenant.’ Though they are interchangeable, they are slightly different. The first refers to a will, as in a will and testament. The second is an agreement between two people. The OT contains seven covenants, including the covenants to Abraham and David
The Bible is divided into two testaments, the Old and the New. The Old Testament points to Jesus’ first coming, and the New Testament presents His first coming and the first years that followed it.
The Old Testament begins with what is known as the Pentateuch, the Five Books of Moses. These are followed by twelve books of history. These books present Israel’s history from the time of Joshua through the captivity of Israel.
The next group consists of five books of poetry. The first of these, Job, was perhaps the first biblical book written. It’s story takes place sometime during the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The other four poetical books were written primarily by David and his son Solomon.
The Old Testament ends with seventeen books of prophecy. The first five are referred to as the Major Prophets simply because they are much longer books than the last twelve, the Minor Prophets.
The focus of the entire Bible is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is referred to as early as Gen 3 as ‘the seed of the woman.’ The second to the last book, Zechariah, refers to the one who is to be ‘pierced.’ Jesus Christ is like a scarlet cord woven throughout the OT.
In between the OT and the NT there lies 400 years of silence. Following the message to Malachi in approximately 397 BC, God did not speak to man until the angel Gabriel came to visit Zacharias the priest to announce the birth of John the Baptist.
The New Testament begins with the four Gospels. These are four views of the life of Christ. The first three, Matthew, Mark and Luke, are called Synoptic because they are similar in their presentations. John, the last of the four, stands apart as being unique in its presentation of Jesus’ life. We will clarify these things when we look at each book separately.
The book of Acts is a history of the early church in the first century.
This is followed by all of the Epistles, twenty-one books written to individuals and churches. Many of these were written by the Apostle Paul.
The NT ends with a book of prophecy, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, written by John.
Though God used some 40 authors to pen the sixty-six books of the Bible over some 1600 years, using various genres, yet it is one whole. It is indeed the Word of God!