Lesson 1

The Holy Bible

Introduction:

No man's education is complete if he does not know the Bible. No believer can live the full and effective life without understanding the Bible.

Aim:

Our objective is to give a birds-eye view of the Holy Bible. Setting in order certain comprehendible methods of remembering what each book contains. We shall build a skeleton - the bone structure, seeking to grasp the 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 object - to let the big, broad meaning of the wonderful Old Book get hold of us.

Of the Scriptures:

We believe that the Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired, and it is a perfect treasure of heavenly instruction: that it has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture of error for its matter: that it reveals the principles by which God will judge us: and therefore is, and shall remain to the end of the world, the true center whereby all human conduct, creeds, and opinions should be tried. II Tim. 3:16-17, II Tim. 3:15, Prov. 30:5-6, Rom. 2:12, Phil. 3:16, I John 4:1.

The Book of Books

1. The Bible contains sixty six Books written by forty authors with thirty nine of the Old Testament originally written in Hebrew and a small portion written in Aramaic. The New Testament has twenty seven books that were originally written in the Greek language.

2. The Bible as a whole is written in three different languages over a period of about sixteen hundred years, in different countries and penned by men in different positions of life.

3. Look up Matthew 22:31-32 (Write down the main meaning)

Who is speaking to us out of the Old Testament?

Who is the speaker speaking to?

4. Let us enter this study realizing that the Bible is divinely inspired and we need the Holy Spirit for its understanding."Consider what I say: and the Lord give thee understanding in all things." (II Tim. 2:7)

The Old Testament:

1. The First 5 Books: We call the Pentateuch (pen-ta-took) and means the "Five Scrolls." These books are called "The Law" or "Teaching" with Moses believed to be the author.

They are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Their nature is historical and sets forth our redemption.

2. The Next 12 Books: These books of the Old Testament give us the Historical account from Joshua through Esther.

They are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, II Samuel, I Kings, II Kings, I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. 3. The Middle 5 Books: These five books are very poetic and are wise instructional books based upon personal experiences.

They are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Songs of Solomon.

4. The Last 17 Books: They are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephanian, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.

These are "Prophetical Books". The first five are the "Major Prophets." The last twelve are the "Minor Prophets."

The New Testament:

1. The First Five Books - The Gospels. They are Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and The Acts. These five books are a historical account of the Life of Jesus. The Book of Acts gives us his Spiritual return to the Church as the Comforter (Holy Spirit).

2. The Next 21 Books - The Epistles. Paul wrote fourteen Epistles with nine addressed specifically to churches: Romans, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians. The remaining Epistles are pastoral or personal Epistles. They are I Timothy, II Timothy, Titus, Philemon and Hebrews. (The author of the book of Hebrews remains anonymous though most consider it the writing of the Apostle Paul.) The last seven are "General Epistles" with the author being the same as their name. James, I Peter, II Peter, I, II & III John and Jude.

3. The Last Book is The Book of Revelations. Often called the Apocalypse (a writing prophesying a cataclysm in which evil forces opposing the Church will be destroyed), penned down by the Apostle John.

Summary: Old Testament - 39 Books

New Testament - 27 Books

Important Points of Study:

1. To have perfect Truth there must be perfect Harmony.

2. The Bible is its own interpreter. We compare Scripture with Scripture to arrive at the proper interpretation.

3. The Bible is a sacred Library with two grand divisions "Old Testament" and "New Testament."

How Much Do You Remember?

1. How many Books are there in the Bible? 2. What does Pentateuch mean? 3. What are the main divisions that we have studied? 4. Who penned almost half the New Testament? 5. How do we interpret the Bible? 6. Who is the author of the Bible and who does it speak to?

Bible Facts: Christ quoted from 22 Old Testament Books: Matthew-19 times; Mark -15 times; Luke - 25 times; John 11-times

Entire Bible has 1,189 Chapters; 31,173 Verses.

The Old Testament 929 Chapters; 23,214 Verses.

The New Testament 260 Chapters; 7,959 Verses.

Longest Chapter is Psalm 119.

Shortest chapter is Psalm 117

Longest Book in Old Testament is Psalms.

Longest Book in New Testament is Luke.

There are 775,693 words in our King James Version.

Home | Baptist Beacon | Video | Beacon Archives | Gospel Music | File Cabinet | Audio | Feedback