What About The Bible? Part-1 Series

What About The Bible? Part-1, II Timothy 3:16

The Old Testament

Introduction

I heard the story about a formerly pagan New Hebrides chieftain who sat peacefully reading the Bible, when he was interrupted by a French trader. “Bah,” he said in French, “why are you reading the Bible? I suppose the missionaries have got hold of you, you poor fool. Throw it way! The Bible never did anybody any good.”

To this the chieftain calmly replied, “If it wasn’t for this Bible, you’d be over there in my kettle by now!”

Transition

The Bible is the number one bestseller of all time. But it is much more than just another book on the bestseller list isn’t it. The Bible is the living and breathing word of God. It is the basis of faith and all knowledge.

The Bible is not merely a collection of words on pages which are to be read and understood. It is only in the pages of the Bible than man is fully able to understand himself from the proper perspective of the God who created Him.

Indeed, we do not simply read the Bible – the Bible reads us!

While the Bible is the inspired word of God it has not come to us dangling from a golden string dropped from the heavens in its present form. The Bible has come to us in its present form as a result of God providentially inspiring the prophets of Israel and the saints of the early Church.

God spoke, they recorded what was said, and then God preserved and protected His word right up to this very day. Indeed, the story of the greatest book of all time is a story of God’s Sovereign protection of His word of redemption and salvation to His creation!

For the next few weeks I will seek to offer a concise answer to the following questions; is the Bible accurate? Is the bible trustworthy? Is the Bible understandable and if so, how is it to be understood? These are questions which have eternal significance. They are good questions deserve answers.

It my prayer that we embark on this journey together, your faith will be strengthened, your mind will be fed, and that your heart will find satisfaction in Christ as you see Him revealed in the pages of the word of God!

Exposition

The Bible is made up of sixty six individual books which were written by forty divinely inspired writers over a period of more than sixteen hundred years. This Bible is, in fact, not one book but several inspired texts which were collected by God’s appointed servants over many years and later canonized into one book.

The Bible is composed of the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is made up of thirty nine books and is divided into five sections. The first five books of the Bible are known by the Christian Church as the Pentateuch or the “Five Books of Moses.” They are also referred to as the Torah or the written law. These books, and most likely the book of Job, were written by Moses who almost certainly recorded history that had been passed down orally for a number of generations.

The Books of History are made up of twelve books which include books like Joshua, First and Second Kings, and the book of Esther. The Books of History provide detailed accounts of the history of the Nation of Israel and God’s dealings with His people. These books were written by various authors such as Ezra and Jeremiah. These books provide ample information about the ancient world.

Interestingly, modern archeology has confirmed much of the accounts of the biblical record. Prior to about the middle of the nineteenth century archeology was really little more than grave robbing. There are many treasures of antiquity which were found by way of destroying ancient sites.

The modern archeological era, though, has provided us with detailed accounts of ancient people groups – including the confirmation with strong historical evidence of many of the events that are recorded in the Bible.

In the fifth and sixth chapters of the book of Joshua (5:13 - 6:27) are recorded the events of the battle of Jericho. God had instructed the Israelites to enter into the land which He had promised to them. In order to do this they were to face several battles on their conquest to occupy the land and drive out the pagan people groups who occupied the land at the time. The first battle associated with this conquest was the battle of Jericho.

Rather than fight a traditional battle with the inhabitants of the city, God commanded the Israelite soldiers to march around the great walls of the city once a day for six days while the priests blew the trumpet of the Lord. On the seventh day they were blow the trumpet and all of the people were to shout and then the Lord would deliver the city into the hands of the Israelites. “So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.” (Joshua 6:20 NKJV)