Christian Study - The Bible Overview

This site approaches Bible understanding with the following principles as foundation. Obviously, if you do not agree with these principles you will not agree with the conclusions.

The Bible is from God. The internal and external evidence demonstrates that the Bible is of supernatural origin. While this can not be proven implicitly, as with the case of a jury, the weight o f the evidence leads to the unbiased mind to a "no reasonable doubt" conclusion.

The message conveyed by the Bible is complete and wholly what God wants us to know.

The Bible messages are to be understood in the context in which they were first written. This context includes the surrounding text, the history of the time and the style of writing. The primary goal is to understand the original intended meaning.

The application of scripture must be consistent with the original intended message

Creation (Genesis 1-2)

The Bible begins with the account of God creating the universe. It gives some of the details as to when each thing was created. God created the universe in six days and then rested on the seventh day. God's final creation was Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.

Adam & Eve

God made a beautiful garden (the garden of Eden) where He put Adam and Eve. They were to live there and take care of the garden. God told Adam and Eve that they could eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil came in the form of a serpent and tempted Eve to eat from that forbidden tree. She gave in and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and then gave some to Adam, who also ate the fruit. This was the first sin. Because of it, God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden and cursed both them and the serpent. However, God had a plan even before the creation to save man from his sin (1 Peter 1:17-21).

Noah    (Genesis 6-9)

Between the time that Adam and Eve lived and the period when Noah lived, the number of people on the earth had increased tremendously. The sad part is that most of the people who lived when Noah did were very wicked. In fact, the Bible says that man's thoughts were always evil. However, there was one righteous man, Noah, who obeyed God. God wanted to wipe out all of the wicked people on the earth, but chose to save Noah because of his righteousness. God told Noah that He was going to send a great flood to destroy the earth and all the evil people. He gave Noah instructions to build an ark so that Noah, his family, and some of the animals and birds would be kept alive. Noah built the ark and gathered his family and the animals into it just as God had commanded him to do. For forty days and forty nights the rain fell. All living creatures that moved on the earth except those in the ark died. After some time, when the floodwaters had receded, Noah, his family, and the animals were able to leave the ark. God put a rainbow in the sky and said that it was a sign of His promise to Noah and all living creatures for all time that He would never again destroy all life with a flood.

Abraham & His Descendents  (Genesis 11:26-50:26)

Abraham was a faithful servant of God. Because of Abraham's faith and obedience, God made some promises to him. Two of the promises that are particularly important in God's plan are:

(1) God promised to make Abraham into a great nation and
(2) God promised that all nations on the earth would be blessed through Abraham.

God made these same promises to Abraham's son Isaac and to his grandson Jacob. Jacob's name was later changed to Israel. This great nation that came from Abraham was the Israelite nation (later also called Jews). The Israelite nation was made up of twelve tribes, one for each of the twelve sons of Jacob. The second promise to Abraham was fulfilled in Jesus (Galatians 3:16). He blessed all nations by offering salvation and remission of sins to all who come to Him.

Moses & The Israelites  (Exodus 1-40; Numbers 1-36; Deuteronomy 1-34)

When Jacob's sons were all grown and had families of their own, there was a famine in Canaan, where they lived. They ended up moving to Egypt, where there was plenty of food. At that point they were in good standing with the Egyptians. However, after several years (when Jacob and all his sons were dead), there was a new Pharoah (king of Egypt) who saw that the Israelite nation was multiplying tremendously and began to see them as a threat, so he made the Israelites slaves. While the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, a baby was born who was named Moses. Although Moses was an Israelite baby, he was raised as the son of the Pharoah's daughter. When Moses became a man, God chose him to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and guide them to the land of Canaan, which God had promised to restore to the Israelites. God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians, after which the Pharoah finally decided to let the Israelites go. Along the way from Egypt to Canaan, many events occurred. God parted the waters of the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through on dry land, escaping the Egyptians who had decided to pursue them.

Law of Moses   (Exodus 19-40; Leviticus 1-27; Numbers 1-10; Deuteronomy 4-31)

When Jacob's sons were all grown and had families of their own, there was a famine in Canaan, where they lived. They ended up moving to Egypt, where there was plenty of food. At that point they were in good standing with the Egyptians. However, after several years (when Jacob and all his sons were dead), there was a new Pharoah (king of Egypt) who saw that the Israelite nation was multiplying tremendously and began to see them as a threat, so he made the Israelites slaves. While the Israelites were in slavery in Egypt, a baby was born who was named Moses. Although Moses was an Israelite baby, he was raised as the son of the Pharoah's daughter. When Moses became a man, God chose him to lead the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt and guide them to the land of Canaan, which God had promised to restore to the Israelites. God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians, after which the Pharoah finally decided to let the Israelites go. Along the way from Egypt to Canaan, many events occurred. God parted the waters of the Red Sea so the Israelites could walk through on dry land, escaping the Egyptians who had decided to pursue them.

The Judges  (Judges 1-21)

By God's power the Israelites were able to conquer the people living in Canaan and settle there themselves, with land given to each of the twelve tribes. At this time the Israelites did not have a king. God wanted them to see Him as their only king. However, God sent judges to lead the people. These judges served many purposes. They taught the people to follow God instead of the idolatrous practices of surrounding nations. They led the Israelites in battle against their enemies. When the Israelites disobeyed God and were defeated by their enemies, the judges showed the Israelites their sin and told them that if they would obey God again, God would deliver them.

The Kings  (1 Samuel 9-31; 2 Samuel 1-24; 1 Kings 1-22; 2 Kings 1-25; 1 Chronicles 10-29; 2 Chronicles 1-36)

It came to the point where the Israelites were not satisfied having only God as their king. They wanted to have a human king just like the nations around them. Although God knew that this request was a rejection of Him, He allowed Samuel (the last of the judges) to anoint a king for the Israelites. This first king was Saul. For about the next 500 years the Israelites were ruled by various kings.

David   (1 Samuel 16-31; 2 Samuel 1-24; 1 Kings 1-2)

When David was a young man, God told Samuel to anoint him to be the next king after Saul. Before David became king, the Israelites went to war with the Philistines. The Philistines had a giant named Goliath who daily challenged the Israelites, but all of the Israelites were too afraid to fight him. David, however, trusted in God and not only fought Goliath but killed him. Several years later, after Saul had died, David assumed the throne and became the king of Israel. Although he sometimes sinned, like we all do, he always repented and tried to follow God. He was known as a man after God's own heart. God said that David's house and his kingdom would endure forever. From that time on until the Babylonian captivity, at least part of the Israelite nation was ruled by one of David's descendants. The ultimate fulfillment of God's promise, however, came with Christ, who now and forever rules (Matthew 1:1; Hebrews 1:5).

Prophets   (Ezra, Nehemiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)

A prophet is generally someone who tells about future events. Although the prophets of the Old Testament did prophesy about the future, much of what they said dealt with future consequences of events that had already happened or were happening at the time when God gave the prophet the message. Most of the books of prophecy in the Old Testament are primarily filled with prophecies that were for God's people, the Jews. Generally these prophecies came at times when the Jews had been disobedient to God and either were being punished for their disobedience or would be punished if they did not repent. The prophets told the people of the consequences of disobedience as well as the blessings that repentance and obedience would bring. Many of the prophets also told of the coming Messiah (Jesus) who would save His people and set up an everlasting kingdom.

Jonah  (Jonah 1-4)

God told Jonah to go to Ninevah and preach to its inhabitants about their sin. Jonah did not want to go, and he tried to run away from God. He got on a ship that was headed in the opposite direction from Ninevah. God sent a big storm that was becoming dangerous for the ship. Jonah told the sailors that if they threw him overboard the storm would stop. As soon as they threw him over, the sea became calm. God made a great fish swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and three nights. While there, he spent his time praying to God. When the fish spit Jonah out on dry land, God told Jonah again to go to Ninevah. This time Jonah obeyed. Because of Jonah's message, the Ninevites believed God and repented of their sin.

Old Vs New Testament   (The Bible)

The Bible is separated into two large sections, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament tells the history of the world and particularly of the Israelites in the period from the creation of the world until about 400 B.C. The New Testament picks up with the time just before Jesus was born and tells about His life, His death, His resurrection, and His church. Although there are many timeless truths and laws in the Old Testament, the majority of it was written about and for the Jewish nation (the Israelites). The New Testament tells of Christ and recounts the teaching that He and His apostles did. It is this teaching (that of the New Testament, not the Old Testament) that everyone from the time that Christ died until now (and also in the future) is responsible to learn and to obey.

The Gospels  (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

The New Testament begins with the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). The word gospel means good news, and the first four books of the New Testament are called gospels because they tell the good news about Jesus Christ. These books tell of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ. They recount for us some of what He taught and did while He was on the earth. In doing so, they also show how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah (Christ). Each gospel tells about Christ from a different perspective. Thus, some of the events are repeated in more than one gospel; other events are spoken of in only one of the gospels.

Acts   (The Book of Acts)

The book of Acts tells the history of the church as it began and rapidly grew during the first several years of its existence. In this book we have examples of how people were saved in the days of the apostles. We also have examples of how the first congregations were started and how the Gentiles (all nations except Jews) were now offered God's grace through Jesus Christ, signifying that God does not show partiality. Since the written examples of the apostles were inspired by God, we should follow their examples to learn how to be saved and how to worship God acceptably.

The Epistles

(Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2  Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude)

The epistles, which make up the bulk of the New Testament, are letters that were written to individual Christians, single local congregations, or perhaps to several local congregations in an area. These books give most of what we have today regarding how Christians should live and what the church should be and do.

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