BIBLE REFERENCE:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” 2 Timothy 3:16;
WORD OF ENCOURAGEMENT:
Over the course of about twenty five years of studying the Bible, I found that it is very important to know the following details of the scriptures, “who is doing the writing” “who is it being written too” and “what is the message referring to.” This is the main reason for all the misunderstanding throughout different denominations of Christianity. A great Bible scholar once said and I quote, “The Bible consists of 66 books written by over 40 authors and when you understand it as it was meant to be understood, you will come to the conclusion that it had to inspired from outside of our time domain. That is an undisputed truth, but yet millions of people, including pastors and priests argue that fact. The reason…it’s because they themselves do not put the Holy Spirit first, therefore, they try to interpret the Bible the best they can to satisfy their own understanding.
I’m going to explain how to understand the Bible to the best of my knowledge and I going to share how it made the Bible actually come alive for me. I am going to break it down starting with Genesis and concluding with Revelation. We start with the first five books of the Bible which are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. These five books are referred to by what the Jews call “The Torah” (Or the The Law). This was the law of the land that all Jews studied and lived by to the best of their ability. They were written by Moses to “The Nation of Israel” and they were written exclusively to the Hebrews and all their decedents. Here is a quick breakdown of the fist five books of the Bible.
Genesis; The creation of the world. The patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob and his sons go down to Egypt. Jacob blesses his sons before his death.
Genesis; 1:1-6:8; “The history of creation, The world is created in six days.”
Genesis; 6:9-11:32; “Noah pleases God, A flood destroys the world. God’s rainbow promises that the world will never again be destroyed in its entirety.”
Genesis; 12:1-17:27 “Promises to Abraham, Abraham leaves Mesopotamia for the Promised Land.”
Genesis; 18:1-22:24 “The son of the Promise, Abraham welcomes three angels into his tent and learns that his wife Sarah will give birth to a son.”
Genesis; 23:1-25:18 “Sarah’s death and A bride for Isaac, Abraham’s servant finds a suitable wife, Rebecca, for Abraham’s son Isaac.
Genesis; 25:19-28: “The families of Ishmael and Isaac, The birth of Esau and Jacob. Isaac blesses Jacob. Genesis 25:23; “And the Lord said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger."
The next thirteen books are accounts of the historical events that happened during the time that proceeded Noah’s flood. Many of these books will refer back to the Torah during their teaching. Also, many of these stories have significant messages tucked away that turn out to be Old Testament pictures of New Testament teachings. For instance “The Book of Ruth” has a beautiful message about how a Jewish Kinsmen Redeemer (Boas) who took a Gentile Bride (Ruth) and helped redeem Naomi (Israel) back to her promised land. If you read this small four chapter book and understand the symbolism, it will come alive and bring chills up and down your spine. The Kinsmen Redeemer, Boas is symbolic of our future Kinsmen Redeemer (Jesus Christ). Ruth is a Gentile Bride which is symbolic of the church (The Born-Again believers). Jesus has promised to remove His Bride before the great and terrible day of the Lord. God made this promise to His Bride in 1 Thessalonians 5:9; as we read below
1 Thessalonians 5:9; “For God did not appoint us (His Bride the Church) to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
All those that accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and become Born-Again will not go through the tribulation period. They will be raptured out of this world prior to what Jesus refers to as the worst time in Human history.
Matthew 24:21; “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
Let’s move on to the rest of the Old Testament. The books of Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs are excellent books filled with wisdom and knowledge written by a few different writers. It is certain that David wrote most of the Psalms.
The key Word in the book of Proverbs is “Wisdom”, the ability to live life skillfully. A Godly life in an ungodly world, however, is no simple assignment. Proverbs provides Gods detailed instructions for His people to deal successfully with the practical affairs of everyday life.; how to relate to God, parents, children, neighbors, and government. Solomon, the principal author, uses a combination of poetry, parables, concise questions, short stories, and wise maxims to give us a memorable form, the common sense and divine perspective necessary to handle life’s issues. A good way to study Proverbs is to read one Proverb a day. Since there are 31 Proverbs and there are quite often 31 days in a month, it makes it easy to stay on track by starting out each day reading a Proverb. This is a very good learning tool.
Next, the key word in Ecclesiastes is vanity, “the futile emptiness of trying to be happy apart from God.” The preacher (traditionally taken to be Solomon, the wisest, the richest and most influential king in Israel’s history) looks at life “under the sun” and from the human perspective, declares it all to be empty as we read in;
Ecclesiastes 1:1-8: “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, King in Jerusalem. “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;“ Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again. All things are full of labor; Man cannot express it. The eye is not satisfied with seeing, Nor the ear filled with hearing.”
Power, popularity, prestige, pleasure, nothing can fill the God-shaped void in mans life but God Himself. But once seen from God’s perspective, life takes on meaning and purpose, causing Solomon to exclaim, “Eat, drink, rejoice, do good, live joyfully, fear God, and keep His commandments!” Skepticism and despair melt away when life is viewed as a daily gift from God.
The “Song of Solomon” is a love song written by Solomon and abounding in metaphors (A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true, but helps explain an idea or make a comparison) and oriental imagery, (Mental Images) Historically, it depicts the wooing and wedding of a shepherdess by King Solomon, and the joys and heartaches of wedded love.
Now, lest move on:
Then we get to what we refer to as the Major Prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The book of Lamentations is tucked away between Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It is believed that Jeremiah wrote this book because he lamented (Mourned) over Jerusalem because of their unwillingness to repent which lead to their Babylonian captivity. The Major Prophets are not named major because they are any more important than the Minor Prophets, it’s just that their books are much longer. Their prophecies are mostly written to the Jews about judgement, promises of the coming Messiah and events that they will face in the end of days. Note of Interest, every prophecy about the first coming of Jesus Christ has been fulfilled with 100% accuracy. Where people get confused is, what prophecies apply to what events and when are they to be fulfilled. It takes a lot of uninterrupted study time to do some diligent research to understand what is written and who it is written to and who it applies to. Side note, I can tell you with sincere honesty, nobody can understand the Bible unless we are born-again and have a relationship with Jesus. Therein lies all the confusion of how to interpret the Bible. If you have that relationship with Jesus, everything in the Bible will make sense, but if we have not been born-again, then we start to allegorize the Bible just as many mainline denominational churches are doing. I can tell you that even though most of the prophecies in the old Testament are written to the Jews, they also include the future Jewish Messianic believers along with the Gentiles that have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and have become (Born-Again in to the Holy Spirit.) So when they speak of the “Day of the Lord” that is a future reference to the end of days which we seem to be coming in the very near future, because of all the signs God told us to watch for when we approach the end of time as we know it.
Then we get to the twelve books of the “Minor Prophets”. They are very similar to the Major Prophets in the messages that they are sending, but much smaller in size compared the four Major Prophets. All the Prophets in the Old Testament are messengers of God. Every Prophecy has either come to fruition with 100% accuracy, or they are on the near horizon. Since all the prophecies have come to fruition with 100% accuracy, why do most of the Bible teachers of today ignore what is unquestionably in the very near future according to Gods Word. We should all be very aware of what is coming so we can prepare for the rapture and then the second coming of Jesus Christ to the earth to set up His one thousand year millennial reign from Jerusalem upon the throne of King David.
That brings us up to the New Testament. We start with the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark Luke, and John. These four books are written by four different writers that tell the life and times of Jesus Christ from His Virgin birth in a manger all the way to His crucifixion. In reality, what we have the pleasure of reading is only a fraction of what the life of Jesus consisted of. We read what the Apostle John said in;
John 21:25; “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
Some of the Gospels may seem contradictory but keep in mind, they are written from four different people from four different perspectives. When you do an in depth study of all four Gospels, you will see that they are all in sync on with how they complement each other’s writings.
The four Gospels that we find in the New Testament, are of course, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first three of these are usually referred to as the "synoptic gospels," because they look at things in a similar way, or they are similar in the way that they tell the story. John is the persuasive Gospel. It’s written to show the miracles of Jesus, so that those who read his story will believe in Him and have everlasting life.
John 20:30–31; “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
John’s account of Jesus’ teachings and miracles emphasize the divine nature of Jesus Christ. To John, Jesus is the cosmic Son of God, come to destroy the works of the devil. The whole book is arranged to present Jesus in this way. That means the gospel of John has a very different feel from the other three. The way the gospel starts is a good example. Mark begins with Jesus’ baptism. Luke begins with the happenings surrounding Jesus’ birth. Matthew begins with Abraham, and traces the generations down to Jesus. But John takes us all the way back to the very first words of the Bible: “In the beginning”
John 1:1; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John is telling the story of the divine being who became flesh, dwelt among us, and died so that we might have everlasting life.
After the four Gospels, we come to a very important book where the Church is concerned…it is the beginning of “The Church Age” or “The Age of Grace” where God turned His attention to the Gentiles while the Jews have been subjected to judicial blindness until the fullness of the gentiles comes in as we read in;
Romans 11:25; Where Paul writes, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.”
I believe the fullness of the Gentiles refers to the rapture of the church. When the true believers are taken up to meet the Lord in the air, that is when God will once again turn His attention to the Jewish Nation to fulfill the seventeith week of Daniel that is so perfectly laid out in the scriptures in advance. At lot of people refer to the Book of Acts as the Acts of the Apostles when in fact it really focuses on Peter and Paul. This is also where the Apostle Paul is called by God to be the prophet to the Gentiles or the church to be more specific.
We read in Acts 2:1–3; “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.”
This was the beginning of “The Church Age” as it is referred to today or also referred to as and the “Age of Grace” which we are currently living in.
Then we are privileged to be introduced to a wonderful man named “Paul”, the apostle to the Gentiles. He writes to seven different churches of Asia. All these letters are written to the church where Paul actually reveals mysteries that were never mentioned in the Old Testament, such as the rapture of the church. This is where a lot of Bible teachers get confused. The Old Testament is written to the Jews, The New Testament is mainly written to the Gentiles. When you try to live by the laws in the Old Testament and then accept grace in the New Testament, it can’t be done. Works is works and Grace is grace. One cancels out the other. If you try to live under the Law and at the same time accept Grace, it will be so confusing that nothing will make sense and that is exactly why there is so much confusion and allegorizing of the scriptures in the main line denominations. The Old Testament is Not written to the Gentiles even though we can apply their Psalms, Proverbs, and laws to our everyday living. Of course, the “Ten Commandments” and the “Sermon on the Mount” apply to all mankind, so we need to use some common sense when distinguishing what is written to all mankind and what is in reference to the Jews of that day. It takes an intense study to understand the difference. The seven churches consists of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and to the Thessalonians. These are the letters that the Gentiles should study with sincere intensity. In other words, read and understand what Paul is saying to each church. These seven churchs line up with the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation. This is an exciting study in an of itself.
Now, after Paul has written all the letters to the seven church’s, he then turns to a few men with messages to them personally. Timothy 1 &2, Titus, and Philemon. Then we come to the book of Hebrews which is referred to as the book of Faith. No one is sure of who the writer of Hebrews is, but for reasons that are obvious to me, it has to be Paul. But nonetheless, regardless of who actually wrote it, it is written to Messianic believing Jews, which also include Born-again believers.
The we get letters written by three of Jesus’ Apostles, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, John 1-3 and Jude. These four writers have an exceptional message to share to all regarding the end of days. These four writers are describing end time events and how they relate to the Jews in the last days for the most part, but also apply to the saved gentiles. James, however, can be confusing to the average reader. James emphasizes that Faith without works cannot be called faith. “Faith without works is dead” and a dead faith is worse than no faith at all. Faith must work; it must produce, it must be visible. Verbal faith is not enough, mental faith is insufficient. Faith must be there, but it must be more. It must inspire action. Now, here is where the it gets confusing. Faith without works is dead as we hear James declare. However, note that works does not save you, only through the finished work of what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross can we be saved. If we truly are Born-again, then our actions will be proof of our conversion. If we don’t show our faith by our works, then our conversion has been lip service only. Also, some believe that if you are a good person, you will go to heaven whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not. That is a lie from the pit of hell. To sum it up, Jesus Saves, good works are proof that you are saved. Good works outside of believing on Jesus Chris as your Lord and Savior are dead!
Peter seems to be writing his letters to the believing Jews. In writing to the Jewish believers struggling in the midst of persecution, Peter encourages them to conduct themselves courageously for the person and program of Christ. Of course, his messages also refer to the gentile believers as well. We need to understand that Peter was the apostle to the Jews and Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles.
The last and probably the most applicable book in the Bible at this time in which we live, needs a whole study in and of itself which I will break down at a later date.
The book of Revelation is broken down into three parts. In Revelation 1: 19, Jesus tells John, “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” I’ll explain this as good as I can without reading the whole chapter. The things that John has seen is the throne room of God. Revelation 1:10-17; “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.”
These are the things that John saw. Then Jesus tells John to write the things which are. These are the seven letters to the seven church in chapter two and three. These seven churches lay out the history of the church age. Then the things that will take place after this is what will take place during the tribulation period. Once you get to chapter four, the church is no longer mentioned until we get to chapter nineteen. Chapter four through eighteen are all about the tribulation period of time that is about to come to fruition to all unbelievers that I believe is in the very near future. The church will have been raptured and won’t be here during this horrible time. This time is for God to judge an unbelieving world and for the Jews to be brought down to there knees where there only hope is in Jesus Christ. This is where all the Jews eyes will be open, and they will look upon Jesus as the One they have pierced as we read in the following verses. Zechariah 12:10; “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.”
I know this is a very brief version of how to better understand the Bible, but one that I hope will help you navigate through the scriptures with a little more understanding. Like I said at the beginning, you need to know who is doing the writing, who it is written too and what time in world history should it be applied too. The biggest mistake we can make is to say we won’t read it because it is too hard to understand. I say, of course it is, to the unbeliever, but to those that truly believe, The Holy Spirit will reveal His Word to us and all we have to do is ask and be sincere in our asking!
Start reading in the book of Acts. The book of Acts is the beginning of the church age. Then moving on to Romans continue through the rest of Paul’s Epistles. From Romans – 2 Thessalonians. Then read the rest of the New Testament from 1 Timothy – Jude. After you have done an intense study of these books, then go to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark Luke, and John. At this point you will have read the whole New Testament with the exception of Revelation. After you have read the Gospels, then continue one more time to read from Romans – Jude. This should give you a very good understanding of the New Testament. This should take you quite a while…do not hurry through it…take your time.
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.”
God Bless you and take care!
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