BIBLE MEDITATION:
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16
ENCOURAGING WORD:
There are 66 books in the Bible – 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament, they are written by 40 different authors over a period of 1,500 years. These authors lived in different places and different times, with different cultures. They had many different occupations and lifestyles, but the focus of what they have written is the same - to reveal God's heart and will for mankind. When you read through the Bible, you will conclude that the Bible had to be written by someone from outside of our time domain because it clearly teaches history and foretells things in advance that are going to take place with 100% accuracy. I have a real good candidtae for who that might be. It is all inspired by none other than the Creator of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That fact alone, is clear evidence of a creator.
The reason that most people have a hard time understanding the Bible is because they don’t know who it is written too, and who is doing the writing! I’ll give you a brief explanation on how the Bible is laid out to the best of my knowledge in hopes that you will be encouraged to read the Bible for yourself.
To start with, the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are known to the Hebrews as the Torah, or more specific, The Law! These five books were written by Moses. They are what the Jews believe is the road to their salvation. Most of the Jews today have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and are still living under the law today. We, as born-again believers know that Jesus Christ fulfilled the law and the prophets, and we are now under the age of grace. We are no longer under the law, but most of the denominational churches still teach that we are saved by good works. Ephesians 2:8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” What does it say… “not of works”.
The meaning of "you are not under law, but under grace."
What Does the Bible Teach About Grace? You will see how without God's law there would be no need for grace, and how without Jesus Christ the grace of forgiveness would not be possible.
We are saved by grace, and not from anything we could possibly do. God's goodness leads us to repentance and a changed and improved life.
Grace is universally needed by everyone - from the prodigal son to the well-adjusted righteous person who still falls short and can only look to God's grace for salvation. Nothing of ourselves can save us.
But know this, when you receive grace, that does not give you a license to sin. Once you truly receive the unmeritted gift of grace, you will not continue living in any sinfull life style. You will slowly transform into the image of Jesus Christ. If you find yourself falling away from serving Jesus, then you have never really accepted grace in the first place.
Now, let's move on. Next you have the books of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel 1 & 2, Kings 1 & 2, Chronicles 1 & 2, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Job which are true historical events that took place in those days. These books are also Old Testament stories that mirror New Testament pictures. For example, the book of Ruth is really a story of a kinsman redeemer and Jesus’s future plan of redemption for the church and His people, Israel.
Now, let’s start with the book of Judges where we read; Judges 21:25; “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”
According to the Babylonian Talmud, the prophet Samuel wrote the book of Judges. The word “Talmud” is a Hebrew word meaning “learning, instruction.” The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism and consists primarily of discussions and commentary on Jewish history, law (especially its practical application to life), customs and culture. So, Samuel would indeed be a likely candidate. The book of Judges goes through some of the history of Israel before they had kings. The rest of the books in this segment, without getting into too much detail are events in history that have great implications and symbolism of future events that have already taken place, or will take place in the coming days.
The events recounted in the book of Ruth are situated in the period documented in the book of Judges, suggesting a common authorship. Jewish tradition attributes Samuel as the author of the book of Ruth, and there’s no real reason to doubt that Samuel wrote it. This is a beautiful 4 chapter love story and when you understand the sybolism, you will see a beautiful pcture of the redemptive plan for His people Israel and the true church. This is another teaching in and of itself with lots of symbolism. When you understand the symbols and what they stand for, this book will come alive like never before.
Like the books of Samuel and Kings, the book of Chronicles was initially a single work before its division in the Greek Septuagent. In modern Bibles, Chronicles is split into two books, and 1 Chronicles is placed after 2 Kings. In the Hebrew Tanakh, the book of Chronicles concludes the Jewish Scripture. No one knows for sure who wrote 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles starts with a genealogy from Adam through King Saul. From there, the book of 1 Chronicles records events of Israel’s history beginning with Saul’s death and tracing David’s reign as king. The book ends with King David’s death.
Let’s move on to the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is the largest and perhaps the most widely used book in the Bible. It is basically a book of songs, 150 to be exact. These songs run from creation through the patriarchal, theocratic, monarchial, exile and postexile periods. Many of these Psalms were put to music and are still being sung today. One hundred Psalms identify their author with an introduction along the lines of “A prayer of Moses, the man of God” (Psalm 90). Seventy three of these ninety name David as the writer. Fifty of the Psalms do not mention the author, but many scholars believe David may have written some of these as well.
The next book are the Proverbs. Theses 31 chapters are basically detailed instructions on how to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life. The book of Proverbs was written mainly by Solomon, although some portions do come from other authors. The book of Proverbs is an example of wisdom and knowledge in the Old Testament, and it stands out as a primary source on biblical values and such. Its practical principles resonate widely, appealing to people of all backgrounds. Proverbs address different subjects such as wealth, creation, sexuality, friendship, marriage, and child training. Because of its practical nature, Proverbs is often associated with the book of James in the New Testament. For those of you that would like to follow some kind of pattern when reading the Bible, read one chapter a day for a month. Since there are 31 Proverbs and many months have 31 days, read a Proverb a day. It’s a good pattern to follow and a good way to learn how we should live life.
Ecclesiastes is a book written by the Solomon, perhaps the richest man that ever lived. He shares his advice on how riches really mean nothing, apart from God.
Solomon tells us in; Ecclesiastes 1:2; “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; (Solomon) “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
Then, before we get into the prophets we have another book written by Solomon. The Song of Solomon which is considered a love song that is abounding in metaphors and oriental imagery!
The next five books of the Bible are written by the four Major Prophets, with the book of Lamentations stuck in the middle. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are all very prophetic by nature and cover events that happened in their near future all the way up to the present time where many of their prophecies are yet to be fulfilled. The book of Daniel has the most amazing prophecy ever written. Daniel 9: 24-27 gives the whole scope of Israels next 490 years. The Angel Gabriel prophesied to Daniel the exact day that Jesus would present Himself as the Messiah of Israel. Without getting into all the math, 483 years of Daniels 490 year prophecy has already taken place. The door closed when Jesus was hung on a cross just as Daniel prophesied would happen. There is one more seven year period where God deals specifically with Israel. That last seven year period is on the near horizon and will be fulfilled in what we refer to as the Great Tribulation. See, most people are not aware of that. Most likely most of the Christian body has not been taught that truth in your sect of Christianity. Let’s move on. “These four books are called the Major Prophets only because of the length of their books, not because they are any more important than the Minor Prophets. The Minor Prophets also teach on future events that will take place or have already happened. Notice, what are they called, Prophets. All these prophets were inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach them of future events. Many have already been fulfilled, but there wiil be many more that will be fulfilled in our near future. This happens to be about half of the Old Testament. Yet, none of the denominational churches of today teach on bible prophecy. The Holy Spirit spent all this time sharing the future with his prophets, and the churches of today ignore it as if it has no value. Do you think God would waste His time teaching prophets of future events if they had no bearing on the future. Shame on these churches, they will be held accountable for neglecting to teach these important Words from God. You will also be held accountable for not studying the whole Bible, so don’t think that you can blame your pastor or priest for not teaching you the whole counsel of God when you stand before Jesus Christ at the White Throne Judgement. You most likely have Bible, read it and if you don’t, go buy one. You are responsible for your own salvation, nobody else. Most people don’t have a problem spending lots of money on alcoholic beverages at a bar, but they won’t buy a Bible. Shame on you also! An alcoholic beverage may make you feel good for a couple hours, but the Bible will make you feel great for all eternity.
One more thing to ponder, most of the prophets died a martyrs death. If they knew how much their teachings were being mocked and the fact that they died sharing these prophesies, they would roll over in their grave with sorrow and pain. Many died sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that many others could be saved. We should be ashamed that we just blow off all their teaching as just stories written by men.
I better mention the following. Understanding prophecy does not have have any bearing on your salvation. Prophecy is not to scare us, but prepare us. Bible prophecy alerts us as to where we are on Gods prophectic calander. When we come close to all things being fullfilled, that should give us a urgency to share the truth of salvation all the more, and that is where we are at. Jesus tells the disciples the following. John 14:29; "I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe." This is a good explanation as to why the Bible is filled with prophecy. Not to save, not to scare, but prerpare! If you are not prepared for what is coming, you may be left behind because you neglected to take the warning seriously about what God said would happen. Whether these things come to fruition sooner rather than later, you should not wait another day to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, tomorrow may be too late. Once its too late, its too late, no second chance.
Now that we have that understanding, lets enter into the New Testament. The end of the law and the prophets. Here is where many churches get confused and as a result teach a lot of false doctrine. You can’t combine the Old and the New Testament and treat it as if it were written to the same people. It is written by the same sourse...the Holy Spirit, The Old Testament is written to the Jews which includes a lot of biblical history. The Jews were under the Law until Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. Once Jesus was crucified, that brought an end to the Law and the Prophets and ushered in the church age which began in the book of Acts. The Old Testament is all about the Law and the New Testament is all about grace. Nobody that died in the Old Testament went directly to heaven. If they were found righteous before God, they would have entered a place called Paradise (Or Abrahams Bosom) where believers would remain until Jesus was put to death and descended into Paradise where He then lead captivity captive.
Ephesians 4:7-10; teaches us that Jesus went to hell or to Hades to release the prisoners held there and took them to heaven into God’s presence. “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: “When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.” (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.”
The idea is that before His death, all Old Testament believers went to Abraham’s bosom—(The paradise part of Hades). Hades, or Sheol was seen as the place of the dead with three areas or compartments: (1) the Abyss or Tartarus, the place of confinement for those demons who sinned in the days of Noah; (2) Torments, the place of suffering for all unbelievers until the time of the resurrection of the unjust and the “Great White Throne Judgment” when they will be cast eternally into the lake of fire, and (3) a third place separated by a great gulf (see Luke 16), called Abraham’s Bosom, the place of blessing for believers.
Here is a true event that took place. It tells about a certain rich man and a righteous man named Lazarus. When the rich man died, he was taken to the part of hades that we refer to as the Abyss or Tartarus or Hell as it is more commonly known. Lazarus being a righteous man died and was carried by the Angels to Abrahams Bosom. (Paradise) Two different destinations, one for those that would enter heaven with Jesus as He rose from the dead, and one for those that would wait in hades for the day of judgment which comes after the one thousand years Millennial kingdom. Because Christ had not yet died to pay the penalty for their sin, they were not yet able to go directly into the presence of God. After His death, however, the barrier was removed, and He took them out of paradise and into God’s presence. Just so you understand, the paradise that is mentioned in these verses no longer exists. It was emptied once Jesus opened the gates of heaven. Now when people die, they go direct to heaven if they are believers and if they have not received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, they will be cast into hell where they will remain until the day of Judgment that will come to all those that rejected Jesus Christ and His propitiation for their sins. At that day of judgement, all those that are present, will be tried and cast into the “Lake of Burning Fire” for all eternity. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you will not be present at this judgement. You will not have anything to be judged for because Jesus took away all your sins when He hung on the cross. The blood that He shed was the price that He paid for our sins. If you do not accept the price that Jesus paid for you, you will be present at this judgement and your eternal destination will have been determined. No second chance. The judgement that God put on Jesus was the judgment that we (The Tue Born Again Belivers) were supposed to suffer. Those that reject Jesus Christ will pay a much more severe punishment during the second half of the tribulation and well into The Lake of Burning Fire forever.
Now, the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are all eye witness accounts of the life and death of Jesus Christ! Matthew is the Gospel written by a Jew to Jews about a Jew. (Jesus) Marks introduces Jesus Christ as one who came to serve, not to be served. He puts Jesus in the light of how we are to live our lives once we come to Christ…we are to serve, not be served!
Mark 10:45; tells us; “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Luke writes about Jesus Christ as the suffering servant. He writes with compassion and warmth of a family doctor as he carefully documents the perfect humanity of the Son of Man. Johns emphasis is on Jesus Christ, and portrays Him in His deity as the Son of God. We follow the four gospels with the book of Acts. This book is often referred to as the Acts of the Apostles, but in reality, it is written about two Apostles in general, Peter and Paul. The beginning is focused on Peter and the beginning of his ministry. In chapter 2, it would appear that it was the time when the church age began, “The Day of Pentecost”
Acts 2: 1-4; “When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
When we get to chapter 8 we are introduced to this incredible character by the name of Paul. From this point on we learn about the life and times of the Apostle Paul. Starting with the book of Romans through the book of Philemon, Paul is the writer of all thirteen epistles. These letters are extremely important letters to the church. Paul was chosen to be the Apostle to the gentile believers by God Himself. Even against Paul’s wish, he did as he was instructed. His heart was with the Jews, but his mission was to the gentiles. Without going into detail on each book, let me just explain, these books need to be read and studied by those that claim to be Christians. Hebrews is a book that many people question the authorship, but it has signs of Paul’s writing style all over it. Then we end the letters to the church from James, Peter, who wrote two letters, and John who wrote three more letters and lastly, Jude.
Last, but not least, the book that so many fear and don’t understand, The Book of Revelation! This book is so misunderstood because very few ever took the time to read and study it. This is the only book that promises a blessing to the reader.
We read this fact in; Revelation 1:3; “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
It appears that very few people want to claim this blessing because very few people will take the time to read and study it. This book is clearly about events of the end of days that are in the very near future, however, most of the denominational churches of today will not touch this book with a ten-foot pole. They go as far as to say, all these events in Revelation already happened. First thing I would ask is this, when was Satan bound and chained in Hell for one thousand years. Case closed on that theory! How sad! They are doing their congregations a huge injustice. What people do not understand is that if you are a born again believer the book of Revelation is the Blessed Hope. When read and understood, it should bring much comfort to those that believe. If you are an unbeliever, then you should be fearfull beyond words. The book of Revelation consists of mainly two groups. It is a time when the Jewish people will be brought to their knees to the point where their eyes will finally be open, and they will receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah after all these years. This time is what the Bible refers to as “The time of Jacobs Trouble’ as we read in Jeremiah 30:7; “How awful that day will be! No other will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.” The Jews will suffer at the hands of the Antichrist at the half way point of the tribulation. This event goes by the name of (The abomination of desolation) when the Antichrist’s true colors are revealed. He’ll turn on the Jews and attack them: Jesus will, however, spiritually preserve 1/3 of the Jewish people and they will be the ones that will enter into the one thousand year Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ. 2/3 will perish during the last half of the tribulation. The second group will be those that rejected Jesus Christ during the church age. They will suffer the wrath of God, which will turn out to be worse than anything anybody has ever suffered. This is where you will be if you miss the Rapture and enter the tribulation period. Now, there is a third group that we refer to as the tribulation saints. These are those that accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior during the tribulation. If you are one of those, you will be saved from the torment of hell, but most likely you will be put to death by the Antichrist. So, as you can see, the unbelieving Jews will go through this horrible time, for the soul purpose of bringing them to their knees in repentance. The Gentiles that enter this time will have the choice to remain loyal to the antichrist or turn to Jesus for their salvation. Either way, you will suffer during this time. You will suffer at the hands of the antichrist, or you will suffer the wrath of God which will be no picnic.
Wrath is defined as “the emotional response to perceived wrong and injustice,” often translated as “anger,” “indignation,” “vexation,” or “irritation.” Both humans and God express wrath. But there is vast difference between the wrath of God and the wrath of man. God’s wrath is holy and always justified; man’s is never holy and rarely justified. The wrath of God is a fearsome and terrifying thing. Only those who have been covered by the blood of Christ, shed for us on the cross, can be assured that God’s wrath will never fall on them. “Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!”
Romans 5:9; “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
During the seven year tribulation, the church age believers will not be present during this time. We read these couple verses from the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 26:20-21; “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain.”
Here is one of those prophecies that were written in the Old Testament that will have fulfillment just before the tribulation. Isaiah is telling us that if you are a believer during the church age, you will be removed right before the tribulation will start. Let me break down the book of Revelation for you. The first two chapters are all about the church age. The seven letters to seven churches lay out church history.
The seven churches described in Revelation 2-3 are seven literal churches at the time that John the Apostle was writing Revelation. Though they were literal churches in Asia Minor at that time, there is also spiritual significance for churches and believers today. The first purpose of the letters was to communicate with the literal churches and meet their needs. The second purpose is to reveal seven different types of individuals/churches throughout history and instruct them in God’s truth.
A possible third purpose is to use the seven churches to foreshadow seven different periods in the history of the Church.
The opinion that each of the 7 churches represents a phase in Church history came from comparing what the letters say with actual events in the life of the Church. This was only discovered with hindsight, but the specific churches the Lord chose to address and the order in which He did so was unusual enough to arouse the curiosity of scholars.
What they discovered is that the letters provide an accurate historical summary of the last 2000 years, and a realistic prophecy of the time left before the 2nd Coming. This is especially interesting when you see Thyatira as the Catholic Church and notice that some are promised to be taken in the rapture while others will be left behind, Sardis as the main line protestants, where the same is true, Philadelphia as the born-again evangelical church where all will be taken, and Laodicea as the apostate church is where all will be left behind.
We are currently living in the age of Laodicea, which is the last church mentioned in the letters to seven churches. It is considered the luke warm church. 2 Timothy 4:3; “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” This is describing the Laodicean church which is the last church to exist just before the Rapture of the church.
I could spend hours teaching of the book of Revelation, but I just wanted to give everybody a better understanding of how the Bible is laid out. When I finally understood the layout above and who the scriptures were written too, the Bible started to make a lot of sense. My explanation doesn’t even touch the surface of what the Bible teaches, but hopefully it will give you an idea of where you might want to direct you studies.
Romans 15:4-7; “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.”
So, why was prophecy written? Romans 15:4-7 explains it very well. So, you have a choice, you can continue to follow the teaching of those denominations that don’t teach you what you need to know, and go on believing the false doctrine that is spread through these churches if you wish. When you have time, read the letters to Thyatira and Sardis. See what church your sect of Christianity falls into. These two churches represent most of the Christian body today. You will notice, unless you repent and turn from these churches, you will enter the tribulation. Both of these mention the same thing, “He who overcomes.” There is a special reward for those that turn away from false doctrine and give their lives to Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a religion; Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. No religion can save you, only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross can we be saved. So, you are either counting on your religion to save you, or you are counting on Jesus Christ to save you. Two completely different directions. Choose which direction you want to go. I’ll end with this Bible verse that I share quite often. Listen to what it says and ask yourself, “Am I going through the wide path that leads to destruction or am I on the narrow path that leads to everlasting life.
Matthew 7:13-14; “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Look at the size of the sect of Christianity that you are following. Is it wide or is it narrow, are there many or are there few? Pretty obvious if you ask me. Those that you most despise that are sharing Gods word on the streets are those that are going down the narrow path. If you are one of those that are rejecting to hear the truth, maybe you should listen for a change and hear what they have to say. Most of them have been called by the Holy Spirit to share the message of repentance and salvation to the world.
I’ll end with these two verse. “Mark 16:15-16; “And He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”
Jesus called his Disciples to go out and preach the gospel and few people believed their teaching. All but John were martyred for their faith in Jesus. Today God has called many to share the message of the Gospel, but just as it was back then, most people are rejected the truth of salvation today just as was prophesied years ago. We are also being laughed at and mocked at, but the day is coming when that laughing and mocked will turn to sorrow and regret. So, get focused on Jesus Christ, get to know Him personally because we are living in the days of His soon return. Don’t be a fool to think there is a lot of time. Once again, it is your choice what you decide. God will not make that choice for you, He will just honor what you choose.
Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! …To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!
Please choose today whom you will serve, for me and My house, we will serve the Lord.
God Bless and Take care!
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