Bible and Church History
The purpose of this lesson is to give a brief overview of the Scripture, how the bible came to be, and the history of the church since the canon was established. There are 66 books of the Bible: 39 in the OT and 27 in the NT. Subsequent lessons will mainly focus on various aspects of the Bible as they pertain to the Christian life. I feel it is important to have a big picture in which to place the smaller pieces of the puzzle in context one with another.
The OT is an account of a nation called Israel and a people group called the Jews, or Hebrews. The NT is an account of a Man, the heralded Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God. A very rough outline of the bible can be gleaned by looking at the first three chapters and last three chapters of the book. The events of the book of Genesis, the first book of the bible, take place in the present day area of Iran and Iraq. The first three chapters of the book describe how God created the universe, the earth, all living things, and finally man and woman; how they were in a perfect environment called the Garden of Eden; and how they communed with God and themselves in perfect harmony. This was God=s plan for man and how He wanted them to live - no sin, no sickness, no poverty or lack - all needs met both physical, spiritual and emotional. In the Garden, God tested them by giving them a choice between knowledge or God Himself. The Scripture says God is love. Love presupposes choice: no choice, no love. We cannot love someone if there is no choice not to love that person. Adam and Eve chose not to obey God, not to fellowship with Him, not to be at one with Him. They ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (The tree God chose to represent this faculty was symbolic. There was no inherent knowledge to be gained by eating a piece of fruit). The result of their choice was spiritual death, which is separation from God. God removed them from the Garden to protect them from partaking from the Tree of Life. Had they done this they would have perpetually been in sin without possibility of reconciliation with their Creator. This legacy of sin from Adam=s transgression comes down to us today in the form of the law of sin and death. Towards the end of the third chapter of Genesis is described God=s plan of redemption for man - through His Son Jesus Christ. Redemption literally means to buy back from indebtedness. We are in debt to God=s righteousness by our sin. God is unwilling to go on without us, despite our disobedience.
The good news of the Bible can be appreciated by reading the last three chapters of the Bible. Here is described the restoration of all things. Sin is permanently done away with, death is put away, we are given immortal bodies, living forever with our Creator in a new heaven and earth where we once again live with Him in harmony. The details of this plan of redemption and its implications are what the rest of the Bible is all about.
I will not deal specifically with the account of creation which is described in the first and second chapters of Genesis in this lesson. This is dealt with in a separate lesson.
God=s plan for redemption was inaugurated with a man named Abraham who lived in Babylonia. God called him to the land called Canaan to establish a covenant with him. Abraham=s descendants later migrated to Egypt because of a famine and there grew to a nation. After 400 years in Egypt they were led back to their promised land of Canaan by a man named Moses. There they became a great nation for some four or five hundred years under great kings such as David and Solomon. At the close of Solomon=s reign, the nation divided itself into two kingdoms. The nation consisted of twelve tribes. The northern part called AIsrael@ entailed ten of the tribes and lasted for about 200 years before being taken captive by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. There they eventually disbursed or perished and ceased to be a nation. The southern part, called Judah, consisted of two tribes, and lasted a little over 100 years longer then the northern tribes before being taken captive by the Babylonians in about 600 B.C. A remnant returned to their home land 70 years later in 536 B.C. to re-establish the nation of Israel. The writings of the OT came to a close after this event. For the next four hundred years no Scriptures were written and no prophet of God spoke to His people.
Jesus, the promised Messiah, marked the advent of the new covenant with God and His people. Covenant means contract or a set of promises agreed upon by both parties. I will deal with the concept of covenant in another series in more detail. Jesus of Galilee was the incarnate God, foretold in Scripture, died for the sins of humanity, and rose from the dead after three days as was prophesied. He poured out His holy blood on the mercy seat of heaven and now stands at the right hand God as our Intercessor. The four gospel books of the NT describe His works while here on earth. The rest of the NT is a fleshing out of what all Jesus did for us and how it effects us now as believers on the earth. The last book of the NT, Revelation, mainly describes future events before God=s promised return to rule and reign on earth for a thousand years, known as the Millennium. This last topic will be discussed in more detail in a separate lesson. This is a thumbnail sketch of the bible. Now I will go into a bit more detail of each book, how the bible was assembled and what has happened to the church since the time of Jesus.
The book of Genesis deals with the founding of the Jewish or Hebrew nation. Tradition says that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible (known as the Pentateuch). More than likely he edited existing manuscripts of his day that came down to him, in addition to recording contemporary events of his time and revealed truths from God. He lived some 300 years later than the last events recorded in the book of Genesis.
After the Fall and the ousting from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve reproduced themselves spiritually and physically to beget sons and daughters on the earth. Their spiritual heritage was communicated verbally to subsequent generations. God had communicated much to Adam before sin interrupted their relationship. It=s codification into Scripture didn=t occur until much later. Their first two sons were named Abel and Cain. Abel tended sheep and Cain was a farmer. Cain ended up killing his brother Abel and became the father of the Canaanites. Chapter 5 delineates the genealogy from Adam to Noah. During this time a man named Enoch lived a life so pleasing to God that God Atook him@ to heaven before he died (Gen 5:24; Heb 11:5). Chapter six describes the great evil on the earth among men and also about the man Noah, whom God found to be righteous. God told him to build a large wooden boat, or Ark. After it=s construction, God instructed him to place in the Ark pairs of animals that were in the land, along with his immediate family of eight. This was done to preserve a remnant to re-populate the earth. God then flooded the earth with water in retribution of sin that existed among men on the earth. For forty days the Ark floated above the flooded earth to survive the deluge. Chapters 6-9 describe these events. After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah that He would never flood the earth again. He gave the sign of the rainbow as a seal of His Word. Noah was then commanded to repopulate the earth. Noah=s Ark landed on the mountains of Ararat. A hundred years later, a man named Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, one of Noah=s sons, decided to build a grand tower to reach to the heavens. Mankind at this time conversed in only one language and were unified in their desire to live life without the knowledge of God. Before the tower was completed God supernaturally brought new languages to the people such that they could not understand one another=s speech. God=s intent was that they disperse and repopulate the earth as He intended. Up to this point they were not doing this.
Chapter 12 describes the call of Abraham from the land of the Chaldees in Ur. God=s intent was to redeem all mankind through a chosen people. Abraham was to be the father of this nation. Long before the Law was ever written, Abraham was counted righteous because he believed God would take care of him, make him prosperous, and open his wife Sarah=s womb to bare a son. There was a 25 year period between his first calling and the birth of Isaac, his first son, who would be the seed for this new nation. During this time God was revealing to him the nature of His ways, the details of His covenant, and his posterity=s future. An incident occurred during this time that would become important hundreds of years later. A man named Melchizedek, the priest-king of a city called Salem (peace), approached Abraham after a successful retaliatory fight with the local tribes. Some believe this man to be Jesus because Abraham worshiped him as if he was God and gave a tenth of the spoils to him. The man did not refuse the gift or the homage. Several other such so-called epiphanies, or physical appearances of God on the earth, are recorded in the Bible. From this incident began the idea of tithing material wealth to God. Details of the tithe and finances will be dealt with in another session. Jesus was of the same priestly line as Melchizedek.
Later on, in a moment of doubt, Abraham, becoming impatient for progeny and decided to take matters into his own hands. He impregnate his wife=s servant, Hagar. A son was born of this union named Ishmael. In the eyes of God this was a spiritually illegitimate birth, a work of the flesh as opposed to the work of God. He became the father of the Arabic people of the Middle East who today are in much conflict with the Jews. Isaac, God=s intended son for Abraham, was miraculously conceived in Sarah a few years later and grew to inherit his father=s legacy. These two men, Isaac and Ishmael, became symbolic of the work of the spirit and the flesh: they always oppose one another, even to this day. Isaac had a son named Jacob, who then bore Joseph and 11 other sons. From these brothers was generated the twelve tribes of Israel.
Joseph=s brother=s maliciously sold him to slave traders. He miraculously ended up in Pharaoh=s place as his right hand man, saving the Egyptians, and Joseph=s family, from famine. Joseph graciously forgave his brothers for what they did to him.
Several generations past after Joseph died and the small Anation@ of Israel grew from 70 to over a million. The new Pharaoh had forgotten the blessing Joseph had conferred on his people. By this time the Jews were well established in the Egyptian community and had multiplied exceedingly. Pharaoh became worried that the Jews would overtake the Egyptians so he put them to slave labor, having them make bricks out of mud and straw. At this time Moses entered the scene. He was a Hebrew brought up in Pharaoh=s palace. Through several miraculous events, he delivered the Jews out of Egypt. The so-called Exodus from Egypt back to the promised land occurred around 1450 B.C.
The next book of Exodus deals with the fleeing of the Hebrews from Egypt, their wanderings in the desert, and the covenant they made with God. Deliverance from Egypt was prophesied many years prior and is recorded in Gen 15:13,14. This book records Moses bringing the people out into the desert where they stayed forty years before entering into the promised land. During this time Moses was given the Ten Commandments by God on top of mount Sinai. God miraculously provided for their food, water, and clothing during this time. The end of the book concludes with the erection of the tabernacle and marks the death of Moses. The tabernacle was a specially constructed tent which the priesthood used to worship God and contained the Ark of the Covenant. This was a holy container which held the Ten Commandments carved in stone and some other holy articles.
Throughout this book, and all the OT books, revelation about God and His ways increases in detail and breadth. This is reflected by the new names of God given to describe Himself in different aspects of life. In Ex 15:26, for example, God reveals Himself as Jehovah-Rapha the God who heals you. The OT was originally written in Hebrew.
The next book of Leviticus deals with the Laws of the Hebrew nation. This book serves as a manual for the Jews regarding worship to God. Aaron, Moses= brother, was the first high priest. His genetic lineage was the source of all priests in the future. The men from the tribe of Levi were assigned the task of helping the priests with their duties. This book emphasizes their roles. There are three themes in this book: the holiness of God and his requirements for fellowship with Him; the sinfulness of man; and the atonement or provision God gives for sinful man.
The next book of Numbers deals with the journey of the Jews in the desert wilderness to the promised land. This book records the history of the Israelites in their 40 years of wandering. The reason all the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years was because of disobedience and unbelief in God=s promise to help them and be their God. This book underscores the principal that believing God will prosper you, while disobedience yields calamity. This theme is repeated over and over again throughout the rest of the Old Testament.
The next book of Deuteronomy reiterates the Laws of the Hebrew nation. All told, there are over six hundred laws given by God to His people - the Ten Commandments are a mere summary of these. Chapter seventeen predicts that Israel will have a king, something God did not want; Chapter 28 outlines the blessings and curses of the covenant God struck with Abraham and his descendants. In Christ, we are Abraham’s descendants and heirs of his covenant promises, so this is a very important chapter for Christians. By the end of this book all the people over 20 years of age who had lived in Egypt had now died, with the exception of two men - Joshua and Caleb. Joshua was Moses= right-hand man and would now takeover the job of leader of Israel.
The next book of Joshua deals with the conquest of the promised land of Canaan. This book was penned by Joshua himself and chronicles the events dealing with the taking over of the Promised Land. Many times God commanded Joshua and his army to destroy the people and sometimes the animals also, depending on the severity of the sin of the people. Sin is self-destructive. The indigenous people were slaughter because of their own sin; the Jews were merely the instruments of that destruction. The indigenous peoples were not completely destroyed by Joshua. The complete conquering of the people would not occur until hundreds of years later by King David.
One of the more spectacular victories was the fall of Jericho: God used an unusual method of shouting, praising and marching around the walls to overcome this city. Each new city saw unique methods instructed by God to take it. This is a lesson for us in taking on our AlandA: there are no formulas other than to listen to God and obey.
The next book, the book of Judges, deals with the first 300 years in the land. This book covered the turbulent period in Israel=s history starting with the conquest of Palestine to the beginnings of the monarchy. Though the land had for the most part been conquered by Joshua and the army of Israel, pockets of enemy cities still remained and harassed the tribes as they inhabited the land. The Book of Judges describes the warfare against these people. Several key figures arose among the Hebrews who were called judges. They were instrumental in ruling the nation during this time. This was a time of heroic figures conquering enemies of Israel, followed by apostasy from God=s ways. This yo-yo loyalty toward God was repeated over and over again in the Jewish history.
The book of Ruth deals with the beginning of the Messianic family of David. The events of this book occurred during the period of the judges. It describes the life of a particular Hebrew woman named Naomi living in a foreign land apart from her countrymen. During this time her husband and sons all died leaving her without means. One of her daughters in-law, Ruth, chose to remain with her. They both returned to the Jewish homeland of Israel where Naomi was shown favor by a relative named Boaz. He eventually married Ruth. Although Ruth was not a Jew, she claimed the Hebrew God as her own and her son later contributed to the blood line from which David and Jesus Himself would arise. There are many so-called Atypes@ in the Old Testament. These are people and/or events which are physical analogies of spiritual truths to be manifest in New Testament times. Ruth is a type of Christian: she is not a native Jew but embraces it and is shown grace to do so. Christians are engrafted into the trunk of the Jewish tree by Jesus sacrifice.