A Panoramic View of the Bible
The Bible, incomparably the most
widely circulated of books, at once provokes and baffles study. Even the
non-believer in its authority rightly feels that it is unintelligent to remain
in almost total ignorance of the most famous and ancient of books. And yet
most, even of sincere believers, soon retire from any serious effort to master
the content of the sacred writings. The reason is not far to seek. It is found
in the fact that no particular portion of Scripture is to be intelligently
comprehended apart from some conception of its place in the whole. For the
Bible story and message is like a picture wrought out in mosaics: each book,
chapter, verse, and even word forms a necessary part, and has its own appointed
place. It is, therefore, indispensable to any interesting and fruitful study of
the Bible that a general knowledge of it be gained.
First.
The Bible is one book. Seven great
marks attest this unity.
1) From Genesis the
Bible bears witness to one God. Wherever he speaks or acts he is consistent
with himself, and with the total revelation concerning him.
2) The Bible forms
one continuous story-the story of humanity in relation to God.
3) The Bible
hazards the most unlikely predictions concerning the future, and, when the
centuries have brought round the appointed time, records their fulfilment.
4) The Bible is a
progressive unfolding of truth. Nothing is told all at once, and once for all.
The law is, "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full
corn." Without the possibility of collusion, often with centuries between,
one writer of Scripture takes up an earlier revelation, adds to it, lays down
the pen, and in due time another man moved by the Holy Spirit, and another, and
another, add new details till the whole is complete.
5) From beginning
to end the Bible testifies to one redemption.
6) From beginning
to end the Bible has one great theme-the person and work of the Christ.
7) And, finally,
these writers, some forty-four in number, writing through twenty centuries,
have produced a perfect harmony of doctrine in progressive unfolding. This is,
to every candid mind, the unanswerable proof of the divine inspiration of the
Bible.
Second.
The Bible is a book of books.
Sixty-six books make up the one Book. Considered with reference to the unity of
the one book the separate books may be regarded as chapters. But that is but
one side of the truth, for each of the sixty-six books is complete in itself,
and has its own theme and analysis. In the present edition of the Bible these
are fully shown in the introductions and divisions. It is therefore of the
utmost moment that the books be studied in the light of their distinctive
themes. Genesis, for instance, is the book of beginnings-the seed-plot of the whole
Bible. Matthew is the book of the King, & etc.
Third.
The books of the Bible fall into
groups. Speaking broadly there are five great divisions in the Scriptures, and
these may be conveniently fixed in the memory by five key-words, Christ being
the one theme (Luk_24:25-27).
PREPARATION:
The OT
MANIFESTATION:
The Gospels
PROPAGATION:
The Acts
EXPLANATION:
The Epistles
CONSUMMATION:
The Apocalypse
In other words, the Old Testament
is the preparation for Christ; in the Gospels he is manifested to the world; in
the Acts he is preached and his Gospel is propagated in the world; in the
Epistles his Gospel is explained; and in the Revelation all the purposes of God
in and through Christ are consummated. And these groups of books in turn fall
into groups. This is especially true of the Old Testament, which is in four
well defined groups. Over these may be written as memory aids:
REDEMPTION
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
ORGANIZATION
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
I, II
Samuel
I, II
Kings
I, II
Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
POETRY
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of
Solomon
Lamentations
SERMONS
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Again care should be taken not to
overlook, in these general groupings, the distinctive messages of the several
books composing them. Thus, while redemption is the general theme of the
Pentateuch, telling as it does the story of the redemption of Israel out of
bondage and into "a good land and large," each of the five books has
its own distinctive part in the whole. Genesis is the book of beginnings, and
explains the origin of Israel. Exodus tells the story of the deliverance of
Israel; Leviticus of the worship of Israel as delivered people; Numbers the
wanderings and failures of the delivered people, and Deuteronomy warns and
instructs that people in view of their approaching entrance upon their
inheritance. The Poetical books record the spiritual experiences of the
redeemed people in the varied scenes and events through which the providence of
God led them. The prophets were inspired preachers, and the prophetical books
consist of sermons with brief connecting and explanatory passages. Two prophetical
books, Ezekiel and Daniel, have a different character and are apocalyptic,
largely.
Fourth.
The Bible tells the Human Story.
Beginning, logically, with the creation of the earth and man, the story of the
race sprung from the first human pair continues through the first eleven
chapters of Genesis. With the twelfth chapter begins the history of Abraham and
of the nation of which Abraham was the ancestor. It is that nation, Israel,
with which the Bible narrative is thereafter chiefly concerned from the
eleventh chapter of Genesis to the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.
The Gentiles are mentioned, but only in connection with Israel. But it is made
increasingly clear that Israel so fills the scene only because entrusted with
the accomplishment of great world-wide purposes (Deu_7:7).
The appointed mission of Israel was,
1. to be a witness
to the unity of God in the midst of idolatry (Deu_6:5;
Isa_43:10);
2. to illustrate to
the nations the greater blessedness of serving the one true God (Deu_33:26-29; 1Ch_17:20-21;
Psa_102:15);
3. to receive and
preserve the Divine revelation (Rom_3:1-2);
and
4. to produce the
Messiah, earth's Saviour and Lord (Rom_9:4).
The prophets foretell a glorious future for Israel under the reign of Christ.
The biblical story of Israel, past, present, and future, falls into seven
distinct periods:
1) From the call of
Abram (Genesis 12) to the Exodus (Exodus 1 - 20);
2) From the Exodus
to the death of Joshua (Exodus 21 to Joshua 24);
3) from the death
of Joshua to the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy under Saul;
4) the period of the
kings from Saul to the Captivities;
5) the period of
the Captivities;
6) the restored
commonwealth from the end of the Babylonian captivity of Judah, to the
destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70;
7) the present
dispersion. The Gospels record the appearance in human history and within the
Hebrew nation of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, and tell the wonderful
story of his manifestation to Israel, his rejection by that people, his
crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. The Acts of the Apostles record the
descent of the Holy Spirit, and the beginning of a new thing in human history,
the Church. The division of the race now becomes threefold-the Jew, the
Gentile, and the Church of God. Just as Israel is in the foreground from the
call of Abram to the resurrection of Christ, so now the Church fills the scene
from the second chapter of the Acts to the fourth chapter of the Revelation.
The remaining chapters of that book complete the story of humanity and the
final triumph of Christ.
Fifth.
The Central Theme of the Bible is
Christ. It is this manifestation of Jesus Christ, his Person as "God
manifest in the flesh" (1Ti_3:16),
his sacrificial death, and his resurrection, which constitute the Gospel. Unto
this all preceding Scripture leads, from this all following Scripture proceeds.
The Gospel is preached in the Acts and explained in the Epistles. Christ, Son
of God, Son of man, Son of Abraham, Son of David, thus binds the many books
into one Book. Seed of the woman (Gen_3:15)
he is the ultimate destroyer of Satan and his works; Seed of Abraham he is the
world blesser; Seed of David he is Israel's King. "Desire of all
Nations." Exalted to the right hand of God he is "head over all to
the Church, which is his body," while to Israel and the nations the
promise of his return forms the one and only rational expectation that humanity
will yet fulfil itself. Meanwhile the Church looks momentarily for the
fulfilment of his special promise: "I will come again and receive you unto
myself" (Joh_14:1-3). To him the
Holy Spirit throughout this Gospel age bears testimony. The last book of all,
the Consummation book, is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" (Rev_1:1).