Introduction to the Bible
Psalm 119: 10-18; John 5:36b-45
Aim: To give an overview of the Bible
This morning we’re starting an overview of the Bible series using the Bible course as a foundation for this. Over the next couple of months, we will be exploring the big picture of the Bible storyline and how we fit into this story.
We begin with an introduction to the Bible this morning in which I hope to cover some of the main features of it.
Did you know the Bible is the world’s best-selling book of all time and the best-selling book of the year, every year! It’s never shown on the best-seller lists because it dwarfs the sales of all other books.
Over 400 million copies are sold or distributed each year, not to mention millions of digital downloads. It has been translated into over 2,500 languages, with more translations being worked on even today.
The word “bible” comes from the old Greek word biblia, which just means “books.” It’s a library of books — 66 books, written by more than 40 authors under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit over a period of about 1,500 years. These authors were made up kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen and scholars. So, there’s a very real human element to the writings, and yet, God is the architect behind it all, guiding and inspiring the writers as they write and record God’s dealings with people.
Written in three main languages – Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek – the Bible covers hundreds of different subjects – many controversial – and yet, it has harmony and continuity from the first book, Genesis, till the last book, Revelation.
The 39 books of the Old Testament were composed between 1400 and 400 B.C., and mostly written in ancient Hebrew. They centre around the calling of God’s chosen nation, the Israelites and their relationship with God.
The 27 books of the New Testament were composed between AD 50 and AD 100, written in common or koine (meaning common dialect) Greek. They start with the four gospels of the life of Jesus and move on to the history of the early church in the book of Acts and then letters to congregations, finishing with the Book of Revelation.
When you come to read the Bible, it is important and helpful to know it contains different types or genres of writing. Why? Because knowing the genre will help you understand and interpret what you’re reading. So, here’s a rundown of the main genres:
For the most part the Bible story is a Narrative, recording for us communal stories and histories of God's people and his dealing with them in the OT and the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection in the NT.
Then we have the Law - books of the law are made up of rules, statutes and instructions, and are generally concerned with how God’s chosen people should live, in order to reflect God’s holiness and their distinctiveness as his people. These include the books of Leviticus and Numbers.
Next, we have Wisdom - wisdom literature is concerned with making sense of life and how to live well. Proverbs, Job, and Ecclesiastes are examples of this type of writing.
Then we have Poetry. Poetry powerfully expresses emotion through the use of vivid figurative language. They show life in all its fullness and help to give voice to our own thoughts and emotions. The Psalms and some sections of other books are classed as poetic literature.
Next is Prophesy. God spoke to the nation of Israel through prophets who acted, sang, spoke and wrote down His messages, calling them back from sin and giving them hope and comfort. There are four major prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel) and 12 minor prophets (eg., Hosea, Malachi).
Then we move to the Gospels. The Gospels contain first-hand accounts relating to the life and teachings of Jesus. A lot of it is narrative in form.
The Gospels are followed by the Epistles or Letters. Written to particular churches and individuals, letters contain practical, theological and relational instruction. Egs., Galatians, Titus, 1 Peter
And finally, we have Apocalypse. Apocalypse means to uncover. The book of Revelation and parts of the book of Daniel are known as apocalyptic writing. They use symbolic language and contain urgent messages to their original audience, and indeed to us, in the form of warnings and comfort.
The Bible Society have a very helpful article on the genres of the Bible which you can read at this link
Helpful summary here: https://www.
Let’s have a break with some fun facts:
• The longest book is Jeremiah. The shortest is 3 John.
• There are at least 185 songs in the bible.
• The word "Trinity" is never mentioned in the Bible.
• It takes 70 hours to read the whole Bible aloud (at “pulpit rate”). Reading the Bible silently with an average reading speed of 250-300 words a minute takes 54 hours. People who can read 800 words a minute can read the Bible in a day. If you’re short on time, read Philemon, it only takes a minute!
• There are many fascinating details in the Bible – like the man who walked around naked for three years (cf. Isaiah 20:2-3), a bed that was 4.1 m (13.5 ft) long and 1.8 m (6 ft) wide (cf. Deuteronomy 3:11), a man’s hair that weighed 2.83 kg (6.25 lb) when it was cut every year (cf. 2 Samuel 14:26), and, there’s no mention of the domestic cat (sheep are the most frequently mentioned animals)!
• There are at least 21 dreams recorded in the Bible. The most famous of course are Joseph’s dreams.
Enough of fun facts. What’s the Bible all about and is it reliable?
First, lets consider what the Bible is all about, and then we’ll look at its reliability.
The story of the Bible is first and foremost the story of God. From before the beginning of time, it has been God’s plan and purpose to have a people who will belong to Him: a people marked by holiness; a people who will live in perfect relationship with Himself, and be called His friends, and live out God’s Kingdom values.
In love God created human beings in his own image to have fellowship with him, to be loved by Him and to love Him in return.
The Bible story begins with Adam and Eve who enjoyed this intimacy with God, but things went wrong! They gave into temptation, rejecting God’s love and goodness. Consequently, sin and separation entered the world through their disobedience. The loving relationship between people and God was broken.
They lost the intimate fellowship with their creator God and their descendants followed in the same way, forfeiting the blessings and fellowship of a holy, loving, gracious God.
This grieved God’s heart, but He did something about this brokenness. He unfolded his saving plan and showed humankind a way to escape the effects of sin and to live in right relationship with Him. The rest of the biblical story, from Genesis 3:21 onwards, recounts how God has taken the initiative by putting into place a plan for restoring His broken relationship with the human race.
It starts with the calling of Abraham and God's promise to make his descendants into a great nation through whom all peoples would be blessed. God's chosen people later came to be known as the Israelites or Jews. They were meant to live according to God's commandments, but they kept messing up. Time and time again, God raised up leaders, kings and prophets to lead them back to the right path, but it didn't work. And so many of the prophets look forward to the coming of a Messiah who will rescue them once and for all.
And so, the Old and New Testaments tell the story of God’s redemption of fallen humanity. God rescues and redeems us because he loves us.
So great is the love of God that in order to completely set us free from the power of sin and Satan, He sent His own Son Jesus to the cross of Calvary to atone for our sins. So that’s the big picture of the Bible. Each one of us can find our own place within this overarching story of God’s saving purposes because it’s all to do with ordinary people like you and me and a loving God who longs to have a personal relationship with us.
Is the Bible reliable?
Yes, absolutely! No other ancient book has so many early copies of manuscripts still in existence. In 1947 the Dead Sea scrolls were discovered which contained almost every book of the Old Testament and was almost identical to the copies from the 10th century. There are at least 270 copies of the Greek New Testament from the 4th – 9th century alone and thousands of other manuscripts that have been discovered. We must bear in mind that God by his Spirit has inspired and enabled human authors to write and preserve his good word.
Furthermore, the Bible was endorsed by Jesus himself. Jesus quotes several Old Testament passages concerning himself. Many of the prophesies were written hundreds of years before Jesus was born and yet, they were fulfilled in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
We can be confident that God’s word is true and reliable and therefore trust it wholeheartedly. It doesn’t mean its easy to understand or apply it.
What it does mean is that we can posture our hearts and minds like that of the Psalmist in our reading, asking God to show us new and wonderful things in his good word so that we might live for his praise and glory.
Amen.