In order to work through this study – have your bible (or bible app to read to you), a notebook, pen and even a highlighter or two. You will want to be taking notes of things that stand out to you in the text we read, questions you have and answering the questions here that I lay out for you. Also, you will be able to respond to any post for 3 weeks, then the ability to chat on that post will end. You will be able to continue to go back and read any post at any time, just the chat option will be turned off. We will go through text a few chapters at a time, just with what makes sense topic wise.

Introduction:

No man’s education is complete if he does not know the Bible. No believer can live the full and effective life without a grasp of the Bible.

Purpose:

Our purpose in this time of study is to give a grounding of the Scriptures. There is no need to study the outlines we will be presenting and notes instead of the Bible. The Bible itself shall be read and searched and researched as you proceed through this time.

Method:

We shall study this year, seeking a grasp of controlling thought, the outstanding meaning and message of each book and strive to see it in relation to the whole of God’s Word. We must not become so engrossed and fascinated with a subject that we lose sight of the objective: to let the big, broad meaning of the wonderful “old book” get hold of us.

Let us enter the study reverently, realizing that the Bible is inbreathed by the Holy Spirit and that He, the Holy Spirit, must be our Teacher (See John 14:26).

The Bible as a Whole:

1. The Bible is God’s written revelation of His will to man. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21)
2. The central theme of the Bible is Jesus Christ. (1 Timothy 3:16)
3. The Bible contains sixty-six books, written by forty authors covering approximately 1,600 years.
4. The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a few short passages in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. Our Bible is a translation from these languages.
5. The word testament means “covenant” or “agreement”. The Old Testament is the covenant God made with man about his relationship before Christ came. The New Testament is the agreement God made with man about his relationship with the Father after Christ came. In the Old, we have the “Covenant of the Law.” In the new, the “Covenant of Grace” through Jesus Christ.
   • What does Galatians 3:14-15, 19-25 say about this?
6. The Old Testament: The First Seventeen Books:
   • The first five books
     • Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
       • These are called the Pentateuch and are from the pen of Moses. They are called “The Law” but they are redemptive and historical in nature (Pentateuch means five).
   • The next twelve books:
     • Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
       • These make up the second main group of books in the Old Testament. They are historical
   • So, the first section of the Old Testament includes seventeen books in all, falling into a natural subdivision of:
     • Five: (Pentateuch): THE LAW – REDEMPTIVE – HISTORICAL
     • Twelve: (Joshua through Esther): HISTORICAL
7. The Old Testament: The Middle Five Books
   • These books include:
     • Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (Song of Songs)
       • These five are individual and experiential. While the seventeen previous books were nationalistic, these are more personal in nature, dealing with human problems of the heart. Also, while the first seventeen books were written in prose style, these five books are considered poetry. They are five in number and they are experiential in nature.
8. The Old Testament: The Last Seventeen Books
   • The final seventeen books are the prophetical books:
     • Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
       • As with the first seventeen books, this group of seventeen books is also divided into two groups:
         • The first five – the major prophets
         • The last twelve – the minor prophets
9. Summary: The Old Testament:
   • The Old Testament’s thirty-nine books fall into these groups:
     • The First Seventeen: subdivided into 5 (the law) and 12 (historical)
     • The Middle Five: poetry, individual, and experiential
     • The Last Seventeen: prophetical, subdivided into 5 (major) and 12 (minor)
10. The New Testament: The First Five Books
    • The foundational books are:
      • Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts
        • These books are foundational to all that has proceeded and all that follows
11. The New Testament: The Next Twenty-One Books – The Epistles
    • Fourteen are the Epistles of Paul. They are divided as follows:
      • Nine Church Epistles:
        • Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians
      • Five Pastoral, Personal Epistles:
        • 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews
      • Seven are General Epistles. The names all reflect their authors:
        • James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1, 2, 3 John, Jude
12. The New Testament: The Last Book – Prophecy
    • Revelation
13. Summary – New Testament
    • Thus, the New Testament consists of five foundational books, firm on which to build the twenty-one Epistles of instruction, ending in the “glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” in the Revelation.

How Much Do You Remember?

1. How many books can you remember now?
2. Can you grasp the divisions I have taught in your own mind?
3. For example, Old Testament (Historical ______, Personal _______ Prophetic_______)?
4. New Testament (Foundation ________, Epistles _______, Prophetic________)?
5. What does “testament” mean?
6. What does “Pentateuch” mean?
7. Can you give the Scripture that tells how the revelation (thoughts) of God were written by man?

Conclusion:

The Bible is divine. The thought and revelation is divine but the expression of the communication is human. It is the Word of God.

Write out these verses: 2 Peter 1:21 & 1 Peter 1:24-25.

It is a progressive revelation and one cannot learn it from reading verses or passages at random. it is a step-by-step revelation of one story, one mind (God), the Creator of all things, adn the story is His great purpose moving through the ages and that story was and is to redeem mankind through Jesus, the Messiah, the Savior of all who will believe. (See John 3:16-17).

Each book is from God. Read the chapters assigned each day, answering the questions as you go along. Take notes, ask questions, but remembering we are not here to argue text, but to learn from the text – to see the story of Jesus written throughout scripture and to find our own identities in Christ – the author and finisher of our faith.

Here are a few fun facts about the Bible:

1. The Bible is about:
   • God, man, sin, redemption, justification, sanctification.
     • In two words: grace, glory.
       • In one word: Jesus
2. Jesus Christ quoted from twenty-two Old Testament books:
   • Matthew – 19 times, Mark – 15 times, Luke – 25 times, John – 11 times
3. There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible
4. There are 31,373 verses in the Bible
5. There 727,969-727,993 words in the NIV Bible
6. Longest chapter is Psalm 119
7. Shortest chapter is Psalm 117
8. Longest book in the Old Testament is Psalms
9. Longest book in the New Testament is Luke