Understanding the Bible

A Beginner’s Guide

The Bible is made up of 66 books

It covers thousands of years

How does it fit together?

Before we start

The Bible is the Word of God“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Before we start

We should study it“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Before we start

It shows us salvation “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14-15)

Before we start

It shows us Jesus / he is the key“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” (John 5:39)

Before we start

It shows us how to live“These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11)

It’s divided into Old and New Testaments

In the New Testament, almost everything takes place between 30-70 AD

NEW TESTAMENT

In the Old Testament, over 90% takes place between 1500-400 BC

OLD TESTAMENT

What is the Old Testament Story?• Creation – God made everything• Fall – Humans messed everything up• Flood – God judged the world but saved a family• Babel – God separated people into nations• Patriarchs (fathers) – God called individuals • Egypt – God’s people spent 400 years in Egypt• Exodus and Conquest – God rescued his people and

brought them into a land he had promised• Judges (leaders) – no king but God raised leaders• United Kingdom – 3 kings led God’s people • Divided Kingdom – 2 nations, the south bad, the north

even worse• Exile – after years of sin both nations fell• Restoration – God in mercy brought his people home

Old Testament It’s arranged so that the different styles of writing are placed together

History

Poetry &Wisdom

Prophets

Old Testament

Different types of writing (sometimes in the same passage as here)

In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot—twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him. These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men. David sang to the LORD the words of this song when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. He said: “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour—from violent men you save me. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.

It looks different on the pageThis is history

This is poetry

Examples of different types of writing HistoryThen King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. The king then took an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

PoetryBlessed is the man who does not walk in the

counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of

sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law

of the LORD, and on his law he meditates

day and night.

HistoryThen King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. The king then took an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, I will surely carry out today what I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” Then Bathsheba bowed low with her face to the ground and, kneeling before the king, said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

• The passage simply tells the story of past events

• The first part of the bible is like this from Genesis to Esther

• It’s almost half of the bible• It tells the story from

Creation until the people of God were brought back into their own land

• Almost all of it is about the Jewish people

HISTORY

How does it all fit together?

HISTORY

It is pretty much in order although 1&2 Chronicles overlap other books

The beginning of Genesis (chapters 1-11) records the events that have shaped the world

• Creation – God made everything

• Fall – Humans messed everything up

• Flood – God judged the world but saved a family

• Babel – God separated people into nations

Patriarchs (fathers)• 75% of Genesis deals with one

familyAbrahamIsaac Jacob

• Their descendants would become Israel

• Genesis ends with Jacob’s family living in Egypt

• Exodus tells the story of God rescuing his people from Egypt and bringing them into the desert

• Leviticus records God’s laws • Numbers charts the wanderings in the

desert • Deuteronomy gives us the words of

Moses as he prepared the people for the promised land

• Joshua records the conquest of Canaan

• The Judges were seven leaders that God raised to lead his people often at time of crisis

• Ruth was a foreigner who married an Israelite and became part of what would become the royal family

• United KingdomSaulDavid Solomon

• Divided KingdomIsrael – Northern KingdomJudah – Southern Kingdom

United Kingdom – a golden age

• Saul – rejected by God because of disobedience

• David – a man after God’s heart. The founder of the dynasty

• Solomon – known for his wisdom, a great builder. Drifted into sin

Divided Kingdom – a long decline

• Israel 19 Kings, all badSamaria fell 722 BC

• Judah 19 Kings, 8 good, 11

badJerusalem fell 586 BC

Notice the unbroken line of succession from David

• Ezra returned from captivity and rebuilt the temple

• Nehemiah returned and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem

• Esther was a Jewish woman chosen to marry the Persian King

HISTORY

• There are five books of wisdom and poetry in the middle of the Bible

• They are written in the form of Hebrew poetry

WISDOM

• Job – tells the story of one man’s suffering. It asks a question that is as relevant today as when it was written; ‘If God is in charge why do things go so wrong’. Most Christians believe it is set at the time of the Patriarchs

WISDOM

• Psalms is a book consisting of songs and prayers . Many were written by David

WISDOM

• The Book of Proverbs is a collection of wisdom statements many were written by Solomon

WISDOM

• Ecclesiastes consists of wisdom statements from Solomon.

WISDOM

• Song of Songs is a collection of love poems by Solomon

WISDOM

• The Prophets wrote mostly in a poetic form

• They challenged God’s people

• Many spoke of future events

• Some spoke of the Messiah

PROPHETS

• The major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah (he also wrote Lamentations), Ezekiel and Daniel

• They are major because the books are bigger

PROPHETS

• There are twelve minor prophets

• All of the Prophets spoke from the end of the united kingdom until the restoration

THE OLD TESTAMENT

• It fits together • It makes sense