This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, the Christian’s charter. Here paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of Hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be open at the judgment, and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents. This book is the Bible.
Anonymous
The paragraph above is a great summary of this amazing book. It is an amazing book with regard to the literature that is in it. It is so amazing that it is still the best-selling book each year. The most amazing aspect of the Bible is that it contains information that enables us to have our sins forgiven so that we can be with God throughout eternity. That is the real reason we ought to read this wonderful communication from God.
The Holy Spirit guided the writers by what is called “Verbal Plenary Inspiration.” The word “verbal” means that every word is the word God wanted to be there, and yet God let each writer write in his own style and vocabulary. That is why educated men like Paul and Luke wrote with a more educated, sophisticated style while the humble, uneducated fisherman like John used his vocabulary. “Plenary” means that it is full, nothing is left out. “Inspiration” means “God-breathed.” God was “breathing” His word through the words they wrote.
There are sixty-six books divided into two sections: The Old Testament which has 39 books and the New Testament which has 27 books. We do not know who all the writers are, but most scholars say that there were about 40 writers. These books were written over a period of about 1,600 years. Moses wrote the first five books about 1500 B.C. and John, the apostle, wrote the book of Revelation about 100 A.D.
The Old Testament
The arrangement of the books did not happen by God’s instruction, but there are lots of interesting things one can learn from the way they are arranged. First, they are arranged topically, not chronologically. The first five books were written by Moses and contain a lot of history, but they are called “Books of Law” because they tell how the Law God gave through Moses (The Law of Moses) came about and they record the various laws the children of Israel had to obey.
The next twelve books are called “History” because they tell the history of the Nation of Israel, beginning with the nation entering The Promised Land. The next five books are called “Wisdom Literature” or “Poetry” and they record a 150 songs in the Jewish songbook as well as inspired instruction about life and how to live it.
Following the Wisdom Literature, there are seventeen books of prophecy which are broken into two sections – The Major Prophets and The Minor Prophets. The reason they are called “Major” and “Minor” is simply the length of them. The books of the Major Prophets are longer, and the books of the Minor Prophets are shorter.
It is interesting to see that they are grouped by similar numbers: 5 (law) – 12 (history) – 5 (Wisdom) – 5 (Major) -12 (Minor). J. Sidlow Baxter points out other interesting facts about this arrangement. The first nine books of the history deal with the time before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity and the last three (Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) record events related to the time after the destruction and captivity. Likewise, the first nine books of the minor prophets record events before the destruction of Jerusalem and captivity and the last three prophets worked after the captivity (Explore the Book, Vol. I, p. 18).
Between the Testaments
When the prophet Malachi finished his ministry and writing his book, God did not send another prophet to speak to His people until John the Baptist began preaching to prepare the way for Christ. This was a period that lasted about 400 years. The nation of Jews still existed and had many interesting events, but those events were not recorded by inspired writers.
The New Testament
There are 27 books in the New Testament and like the Old Testament, they are divided into five sections. The first four record the events related to Jesus’ earthly ministry and each of those writers directs his information to a particular audience: Matthew to the Jews; Mark to the Romans; Luke to the Greeks; John to the broad spectrum who are Christians.
The second section is history and has only one book, the Book of Acts. This book tells about the establishment of the church and the preaching of the gospel the first thirty year. The next section is called Paul’s epistles and contains 13 books beginning with Romans and ending with Hebrews. I agree with the many who are wiser than I, who do not believe that Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. Most of these books are written to churches and basically tell them how to deal with various problems which arise in the church. Following Paul’s letters, are what is referred to as “General Epistles” (letters) because they are not usually addressed to one particular congregation, but to Christian and churches in general. The last book in the New Testament is the book of Revelation. Most people think it deals with the end times, but in reality, there is very little in it about the end of the world. In fact, twice in the book, John said that the events he was writing about were to soon happen (Revelation 1:1; 22:6). Most of the book is to assure Christians who were going through persecution and who would be going through persecution ,that they were going to overcome their enemy.
The Theme of the Bible
The theme of the Bible is how men and women can be brought back into fellowship with God because of the sacrifice that Christ made so that everyone’s sins could be forgiven. That theme begins in Genesis and ends in the book of Revelation.
The Bible should be read and studied, not just for the arrangement of the books, not just because it is great literature, but because it is the only book that has ever been produced which tells us how to be saved so that we can be with God throughout eternity. It is our guide; it is God’s only communication with us today. As was quoted in the first paragraph, “It is given you in life, will be open at the judgment, and will be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents.”
Wayne Burger
“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89). The Hebrew word for “settled” literally means “stands firm.”
“Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies” (Psalm 119:98).
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).