The Bible
"Not one word out of all the good words that Jehovah, your God, has spoken to you has failed." --JOSHUA 23:14
The bible is the Word of God.
It is the best-selling book of all time and also the most shoplifted book in the world. The bible contains knowledge, wisdom, the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of the sinner, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy; its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. It contains light to guide you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you.
God was 2,500 years making preparation to write the bible; 1600 years to write it; and it has been 1900 years fulfilling it. Christ is the key to the entire book. 40 men were employed in its making. Its inspired writers included doctors, farmers, fishers, kings, shepherds, old, young, rich, poor, learned, and unlearned. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the sick's healing, the sinner's salvation, the pilot's compass, and the soldier's sword. DO NOT NEGLECT IT. It is a mine of wealth and health to the soul and a river of pleasure. Revelation 1:3 states, to be blessed, read, hear, and keep; for the time is at hand.
How Do We Know The Bible Is Correct?
First, we believe God's Word is true as a matter of FAITH. According to 2 Timothy 3:16, we learn that all scripture is given to us by the inspiration of GOD himself. The words of the scripture, although written by the hand of men, were not of their own doing because they wrote as the were "moved by the HOLY SPIRIT" (2 Peter 1:20-21). It is difficult for people who are unsaved to accept the Bible as God's Word because they view it from the physical side instead of the spiritual eye.
To some people, God's Word seems foolish to them. The Bible will never be accepted by those who are still in the flesh, one must be in the spirit. To be in the spirit, is to accept Jesus Christ and open up your heart to Him and beseech Him to open your eyes spiritually that you may see and accept the Ultimate Truth about our existence and our relationship to God the Father.
The Bible is not some mystical book, nor does it testify only to unverifiable, other-worldly realities. It reports actual events that happened in actual places involving real people. The Bible certainly tells us of eternal and heavenly truths that we cannot presently see and about which we must trust God and take Him at His word, but it gives us good reason to trust by also reporting God’s involvement with humanity within observable and verifiable history!
We find historical evidence for major biblical events like Jesus’ resurrection and His miracles, Joshua’s battle for Jericho, the sinful reign of Jeroboam, and more. Archaeology also verifies geographical details, like the locations of numerous biblical cities, and even personal details of biblical figures, like the name of the robber Barabbas. We can go to biblical places and see exactly where the events described in Scripture took place! And when we do, we find that the places corroborate the Bible’s descriptions. And not only the major events but even in the smallest details!
Evidence and Answers to issues & questions about Christianity | carm.org
Secondly, people want to know who wrote the Bible. Some mistakenly say King James of England. King James did not write the Bible. He authorized the Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible to be translated into English. The scholars began their work in 1607 and completed it in 1610. King James ordered that their completed work become the "authorized" version or the official translation to be used, since all scholars agreed to its accuracy. The King James Version of the Bible is by far our favorite. However, many people find the Old English of thee and thou difficult to read. It is certainly okay to change "thee to you", "thou to your", "ye to you", and eliminate the "eth" on the end of many words in order to have a clearer understanding of the text.
It Takes Time, September 22, 2014 Devotional...
"Let my teaching fall like rain, and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” — Deuteronomy 32:2 The Torah portion for this week is Ha’azinu, which means “listen,” from Deuteronomy 32:1–52, and the Haftorah is from 2 Samuel 22:1–51.
In the devotional, Moses continued his final message to the people. He prayed: “Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.” As Moses taught the people the Word of God, it was life-giving like rain and life-supporting like dew.
Rain and dew are God’s ways of sustaining life. God’s rains make it possible for plants to grow, trees to thrive, and vegetation to sprout. In the same way, God’s Word allows a person to thrive in any circumstance. Studying the Bible enables us to blossom and grow. We also need to study the Bible regularly, just as dew nurtures the earth daily. We don’t need to spend a lot of time every day, but we do need to study consistently.
In this way we will remain fresh and renewed always. In addition, just as a good rain shower is beneficial to vegetation, we also need to shower ourselves in more intense Bible study every so often. Indeed, rain and dew are good analogies that drive home the importance of studying God’s Word. However, I think there is another lesson in this teaching as well. While rain helps trees and plants to grow, we must not forget that it takes time to see the benefits.
Perhaps, you or your child did the classic grade school experiment with a lima bean soaked in a wet tissue. The goal is to illustrate to children how things grow. They bring home the bean in a cup ready to watch it grow. They wait and they wait and then they wait some more. Is anything happening? Is something wrong? Will the bean ever sprout and grow?
Eventually, there is a breakthrough as a small green shoot starts to peep through the wet tissue. While the bean has been changing and developing all along, it takes some time until we can see the results. It’s the same when it comes to studying and living out God’s Word. It’s powerful, life-changing, and life-giving, but we have to be patient with ourselves and with others when we want to see something change. It’s easy to get discouraged and give up, but we need to wait with faith and obedience. When the time is right, we will see the fruits of our labor.
Each week let’s make sure that we are getting enough “rainfall” and “dew” in our lives. Let’s establish fixed times to study and take steps to continue our learning on a deeper level. When we nurture our souls with the Word of God, we will undoubtedly thrive in our lives – it’s just a matter of time."
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
The Biblical Tree of Knowledge
THE
Bible has
in it 3,966,180
letters. 810,677
words, 31,175
verses. 1189 chapters
and 66 books. The
longest chapter is the
119th Psalm. The short-
est and middle chapter is
the 117th Psalm. The middle
verse is the 8th verse of the
113th Psalm. The longest name
is in the 8th chapter of Isaiah,
verse 1, and contains 18 letters. The
word and occurs 40,627 times; the word
Lord 1,855 times. The 37th chapter of
Isaiah and the 19th chapter of II Kings
are alike. The longest verse is Esther 8:9;
the shortest verse is John 11:35. In Ezra
7:21 are all the letters of the alphabet except
the letter j. The finest piece of reading is Acts
25th chapter. The name of God is not found in Esther.
The Bible contains knowledge, wisdom, the mind of God,
the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of the
sinner and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are
holy; its precepts are binding; its histories are true, and
its decisions are immutable. It contains light to guide you,
food to support you and comfort to cheer you. God was 2,500
years getting ready to write the Bible; 1600 years writing it; and
has been 1900 years fulfilling it. The word "boy" occurs in the Bible
three times and the word "girl" two times. Christ is the key to
the entire Book. Forty men were employed in its making. It
was written by doctors, farmers, fishers, kings, shepherds, old,
young, rich, poor, learned and unlearned. It is the traveler's
map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass and the
soldier's sword. Do not neglect your Bible. It is a
mine of wealth and health to the soul and a river of
pleasure. It is given to you in this life and will
be opened to you at the judgment, and it is
established forever. If you want a crown of
rejoicing when Jesus returns to earth again,
read your Bible and lead lost souls to
Christ, and you will have a rich reward
when He comes. II Timothy 2:15
is the key that will unlock the
sacred Book to you.
Read,
hear,
keep
what it con-
tains and
you will always
be happy and prosper-
ous. Revelation 1:3
The Bible is Not in Chronological Order
The Bible is not arranged in chronological order because it is divided by the type of literature it includes. In the Old Testament, the order include the Books of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy), the Books of History (Joshua to 2 Chronicles), the Wisdom Books (Job to Song of Songs), and the Prophets (Isaiah to Malachi). In the New Testament, the 27 books include four Gospels (Matthew to John), one book of history (Acts), the Epistles or Letters (Romans to Jude) and one book of prophecy (Revelation). While the Old Testament period ended approximately 400 years prior the time of the New Testament writings, the books within each Testament occurred at a variety of times. In the Old Testament, for example, the events of Ezra and Nehemiah took place near the end of the Old Testament period, yet the books are listed before Job, the events of which took place long before those in Ezra and Nehemiah. Another important note, however, is that within each section of writing most books are in basic chronological order. For example, in the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah lived before Jeremiah.
In the Books of Moses, Genesis took place first and Deuteronomy took place last. The fact that the Bible is not presented in chronological order sometimes makes the Bible difficult to study. To help, many publishers now offer a Chronological Bible that arranges the Bible's books in this order. This is one way in which readers can better understand the historical flow of what took place in the history of the Bible. In addition, below is a basic chronological order of the Bible books from the ministry Grace to You (http://www.gty.org/resources/questions/QA176/When-were-the-Bible-books-written).
However, keep in mind that the events within each book may not be in chronological order and that dates of each book's composition are approximate and sometimes disputed.
Old Testament
Job—Unknown
Genesis—1445-1405 BC
Exodus —1445-1405 BC
Leviticus —1445-1405 BC
Numbers—1445-1405 BC
Deuteronomy—1445-1405 BC
Psalms—1410-450 BC
Joshua—1405-1385 BC
Judges—ca. 1043 BC
Ruth—ca. 1030-1010 BC
Song of Solomon—971-965 BC
Proverbs—ca. 971-686 BC
Ecclesiastes—940-931 BC
1 Samuel—931-722 BC
2 Samuel—931-722 BC
Obadiah—850-840 BC
Joel—835-796 BC
Jonah—ca. 775 BC
Amos—ca. 750 BC
Hosea—750-710 BC
Micah—735-710 BC
Isaiah—700-681 BC
Nahum—ca. 650 BC
Zephaniah—635-625 BC
Habakkuk—615-605 BC
Ezekiel—590-570 BC
Lamentations—586 BC
Jeremiah—586-570 BC
1 Kings—561-538 BC
2 Kings—561-538 BC
Daniel 536-530 BC
Haggai—ca. 520 BC
Zechariah—480-470 BC
Ezra—457-444 BC
1 Chronicles—450-430 BC
2 Chronicles—450-430 BC
Esther—450-331 BC
Malachi—433-424 BC
Nehemiah—424-400 BC
New Testament
James—AD 44-49
Galatians—AD 49-50
Matthew—AD 50-60
Mark—AD 50-60
1 Thessalonians—AD 51
2 Thessalonians—AD 51-52
1 Corinthians—AD 55
2 Corinthians—AD 55-56
Romans— AD 56
Luke—AD 60-61
Ephesians—AD 60-62
Philippians—AD 60-62
Philemon—AD 60-62
Colossians—AD 60-62
Acts—AD 62
1 Timothy—AD 62-64
Titus—AD 62-64
1 Peter—AD 64-65
2 Timothy—AD 66-67
2 Peter—AD 67-68
Hebrews—AD 67-69
Jude—AD 68-70
John—AD 80-90
1 John—AD 90-95
2 John—AD 90-95
3 John—AD 90-95
Revelation—AD 94-96
Notable Sayings About The Bible
Abraham Lincoln:
"I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man. All the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to us through this book."
W. E. Gladstone:
"I have known ninety-five of the world's great men in my time and of these, eighty-seven were followers of the Bible. The Bible is stamped with a Specialty of Origin, and an immeasurable distance separates it from all competitors."
(interesting) George Washington:
"It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible."
Napoleon:
"The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."
Queen Victoria:
"That book accounts for the supremacy of England."
Daniel Webster:
"If there is anything in my thoughts or style to commend, the credit is due to my parents for instilling in me an early love of the Scriptures. If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."
Thomas Carlyle:
"The Bible is the truest utterance that ever came by alphabetic letters from the soul of man, through which, as through a window divinely opened--all men can look into the stillness of eternity, and discern in glimpses their far-distant, long-forgotten home."
John Ruskin:
"Whatever merit there is in anything that I have written is simply due to the fact that when I was a child my mother daily read me a part of the Bible and daily made me learn a part of it by heart."
Charles A. Dana:
"The grand old Book still stands; and this old earth, the more its leaves are turned and pondered, the more it will sustain and illustrate the pages of the Sacred Word."
Thomas Huxley:
"The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with It."
W. H. Seward:
"The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever-growing influence of the Bible."
Patrick Henry:
"The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed."
U. S. Grant:
"The Bible is the sheet-anchor of our liberties."
Horace Greeley:
"It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom."
(interesting) Andrew Jackson:
"That book, sir, is the rock on which our republic rests."
(interesting) Robert E. Lee:
"In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength."
Lord Tennyson:
"Bible reading is an education in itself."
John Quincy Adams:
"So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year."
Immanuel Kant:
"The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity."
Charles Dickens:
"The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world."
Sir William Herschel:
"All human discoveries seem to be made only for the purpose of confirming more and more strongly the truths contained in the Sacred Scriptures."
Sir Isaac Newton:
"There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history."
Goethe:
"Let mental culture go on advancing, let the natural sciences progress in ever greater extent and depth, and the human mind widen itself as much as it desires, beyond the elevation and moral culture of Christianity, as it shines forth in the gospels, it will not go."
Henry H. Haley, Haley's Bible Handbook" (Michigan: Zondervan, 1965) pp. 18-19
