Archive for September 28th, 2008

September 28^th  

The Bible

What are some OTHER names for the Bible? _________________________________________________________________________________________________

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The Bible was originally written on scrolls made of papyrus, which is similar to paper, and is made from reeds that grow in the Nile River and the swamps and marshes of that region. These scrolls did not usually last very long. Papyrus gradually crumbled from the effects of age, handling and moisture; so they had to be copied and re-copied again and again. They say about every 20 years or so they were re-copied. It is believed that none of the original manuscripts written my Moses, Isaiah, or any of the other writers is still around.

OLD TESTAMENT:

By around 1400 BC the first five books of the Bible had been written and recognized as God’s inspired word by the people of Israel. This was after they had been liberated from slavery in the land of Egypt, in order to become God’s holy nation. God Commanded Moses, the leader whom He had chosen to bring them out of Egypt, to write down His laws and actions in their history. As God inspired him, Moses wrote or compiled the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

In the centuries after Moses, God inspired others to continue reporting the history of His dealing with Israel. The books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth I and II, Samuel I and II, Kings I and II, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Ester. These books cover the history of Israel from about 1400 BC to about 400 BC. During the last two centuries of that period, the people of Israel were conquered by their enemies and taken captive, and scattered throughout many countries, as punishment for their sins, but God did not forsake them.

During that period of about a thousand years (1400-400 BC), God also inspired other writings besides laws and history. He inspired the beautiful poetry that we find in the books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, The Song of Solomon, and Lamentations. He also inspired the writings of the prophets that are contained in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Some parts of the books of the prophets are poetry.

By the time the last book of the Old Testament had been written, the entire Middle East (including Israel) was ruled by the Persian Empire. The Israelites, or Jews as they were also called by this time, were just one of many peoples living under the rule of this big empire. God was getting ready to fulfill the greatest part of His plan for them, and for the entire human race.

NEW TESTAMENT

In the year 322 BC, the Persian Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great, who came from Macedonia, north of Greece. In the following centuries, Greek language and culture spread throughout the Middle East. Even after the Roman Empire took in all that territory (in the century before Jesus’ birth), the common language of the whole Mediterranean world was Greek—from Syria in the east to Spain in the west.

The greatest part of God’s plan was here, He sent His Son, Jesus the Messiah. Jesus was born in Israel about 4 B.C., and died on the cross to save us from our sin about 30 years later. This was the fulfillment of the prophecies that had been written in the Old Testament from the time of Moses onward.

Once again, God commanded and inspired some of His servants to begin writing, they told the whole world the story of what His Son had done, and how people could receive new life. Greek was the common language of the great empire in which Jesus had lived, so these books were written in Greek.

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John each wrote the story of Jesus’ earthly life, death and resurrection. The books they wrote are called the Four Gospels. Each one wrote from a different point of view, so we had a truly 3-dimensional picture of Jesus, not a one-sided picture like we would have if the story had been written from only one point of view.

Luke also wrote a history of the spread of the Gospel for the first 30 or so years after Jesus’ resurrection. Called The Acts of the Apostles. , it begins with the story of how God poured out His Holy Spirit on those who believed in Jesus, just as He promised. Much of the story focused on the greatest missionary and evangelist of the first century, the Apostle Paul. Paul travelled thousands of miles by land and sea to preach the Gospel and establish new churches.