a study through the entire Bible
Gentle readers,
It is difficult to know where to start this is such a broad topic (imagine the temerity) wanting to teach through the Bible! And under such difficulties (I spend only 20 minutes a day on the computer-because of taking care of Marti-I am not complaining at all but just so you know) God has called me to teach and to preach and to do that I have to study and pray. There is so much I have been taught by our wonderful Lord and Saviour. His word is so deep that the most erudite scholar can not get a total understanding of this momentous work and yet the most simple young believer can understand the wondrous message contained in its pages. Too deep and you’ll drown in grammar, vocabulary, syntax (the way in which words are put together) too easy and you’ll soon turn away with boredom. I write for two groups those who believe and those who have not taken a step forward to commit to following the carpenter from Galilee. Why should one follow such a man? Or for that matter read such a book?
Within the pages of this book we find the absolute Word of God. And on each page His hand is found and His face seen- as the Rev. Joseph Hart once explained
The Scriptures and the Word
Bear one tremendous name,
The Living and the Written Word
In all things are the same
What we find is a KEY that unlocks each book of Scripture and containing within for each of us a living message from the Father in Heaven to you and to me. The peculiar value of these ancient writings for the present time is that they inspire hope in those who read them. The sacred writings of the Hebrew people contain stories of men in the midst of conflict and peril. All of these men and women are seen as passing through circumstances of difficulty and danger, with their eyes set upon an ultimate purpose, which they supremely desired to be accomplished. None of them reached the ultimate goal, but they saw from afar and having endured, in their movement towards it, “as seeing HIM Who is invisible. ” The whole message of the Bible for today is endurance and encouragement.
So beginning at the beginning with Genesis. The book is called Bereshit, meaning "in the beginning", from the first word of the Hebrew text, in line with the other four books of the Torah. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek in the 3rd century B.C.E. to produce the Septuagint, the name given was Genesis, meaning "birth" or "origin". This was in line with the Septuagint use of subject themes as book names. The Greek title has continued to be used in all subsequent Latin and English versions of the book, and most other languages.
The Bible opens with the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses, the name “Pentateuch” (Greek pente, five; and teuchos, book) came to us from the aforementioned Septuagint Version of the Old Hebrew Scriptures (the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek) which is said to have been made by seventy Alexandrian Jews about as we said before the 3rd century B.C., and is called the Septuagint version from Septuagint, the Latin for seventy. There is good reason however, for believing that before ever the Septuagint Version was made the writings of Moses were recognized as fivefold. The Hebrews called them “the Law” or the “five fifths of the Law” or simply “the fifths.” It is probable that originally the who was one, divided into five sections, each having as its title its first word or words.
There is a spiritual completeness about the Pentateuch. Its five parts not only give us a consecutive history covering the first two thousand five hundred years of written human history; they constitute a progressive spiritual unity, setting forth, in their main features what has been described as “the order of the experience of the people of God in all ages.”
In Genesis we have the ruin through the sin of man. In Exodus we have the redemption through the blood of the lamb and the spirit of power. In Leviticus we have communion on the ground of atonement. In Numbers we have direction during pilgrimage, by the overruling will of God. In Deuteronomy we have the double truth of renewed and completed instruction, and the pilgrim people brought to the pre-determined destination. Is not this truly “the order of the experience of the people of God in all ages”?
But besides this, these first five books of the Old Testament give us unmistakably a progressive fivefold revelation of God in His relationship with His people. In Genesis we see the sovereignty of God in creation and in election (in the choosing of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants: and in covenanting the land of Canaan to them as their predestined inheritance).
In Exodus we see the redeeming power of God in His deliverance of Israel from Egypt, “with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm.”
In Leviticus we see the holiness of God in His insistence on the separation and sanctification of His redeemed people.
In Numbers we see the “goodness and severity” of God, -severity toward the unbelieving generation which came up from Egypt but never entered the covenanted inheritance, and goodness toward their children, in providing, protecting, and preserving, till Canaan was occupied.
In Deuteronomy we see the faithfulness of God, -faithful to His purpose, His promise, His people, in bringing the redeemed to the promised possession.
So gentle reader, we can see that these five parts of the Pentateuch are full of purpose and progress. They are the Bible in miniature.
Next time we ‘ll look at the human side and the divine side as well as the key and the living message of the Bible.
Till next time you might want to read through the book of Genesis once or twice.
Love,
Denis
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