I teach a class on Wednesday night I call “66.” You might see that it is a shortened version of Route 66, which is a survey of the 66 books of the Bible. Last night we finished up I & II Kings. 2 Kings ends with the exile of the Jews to Babylon. 136 years before, the northern tribes (10) called Israel, were taken captive by Assyria. The 2 southern tribes called Judah were now over.
As I closed I asked who was exiled to Babylon. The answer of course is Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego (among thousands of others). To further complicate matters, I & II Chronicles is next. Then Ezra and Nehemiah who returned from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem. Ezra, the priest, concentrated on the spiritual; Nehemiah was the builder.
The point I made is while the Bible is a cohesive collection of books, totally inspired by God revealing His will and His character, it is not in order. Genesis through Nehemiah flow naturally. And they should, they are history books. But the rest of the books are not in chronological order. Otherwise, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon would be interspersed with I & II Samuel and I Kings. Talk about huge books! And you would also have to split up Psalms for when they were written. Isaiah would be broken up into little fragments throughout Kings and Chronicles. The same could be said about the other prophets- major and minor- as well.
The Bible is God’s divinely inspired, written word. It is not a product of human ingenuity infused with divinity. It is not a self-help book with a few God-things or God-words added for good measure. It is a divine gift produced as men were moved by the Holy Spirit. Every word, sentence, chapter, book, and syllable was originally given by God’s divine inspiration. God’s Word, as we have it, is complete.
To sum it up: God’s Word is authoritative, sufficient, infallible and inerrant (without error) and is all we need to know how to live a life that honors God.
So…what is the Bible to you?
The Bible is most definitely God’s Word given to us, Bill. Where would we be without it? No place good!
By the way, I’d like to read the Bible in chronological order; do you have a study guide you could recommend? Thanks!
Blessings!
No place good is correct Martha. As it is, we have the Bible and still find ourselves in a mess. I know at one time I saw a Chronological Bible. John MacArthur has done One Perfect Life (Jesus) and One Faithful Life (Paul) and they are in chronological order. I enjoyed reading them during my Encounter Time.
The Bible is God’s divine word, every written word is the word of God himself. The Bible is the truth, it’s the Divine authority of God, and it’s a doctrine that can teach us how to fulfill our lives to live in God’s will not our own will. The Bible is our guide on how to live out a truly kingdom life. We learn why only Jesus can save us from our sins, and make us righteous through Him. It opens up a relationship with God through our Savior. We get our name written in the Book of Life, when we accept the Lord as our Savior.
That about says it all Gail. 🙂
I am so grateful that God’s Word never changes like shifting shadows. That it is our guide and light for the path ahead. Thank You, Lord, for knowing exactly what we’d need to follow You and live for You.
I, too, am grateful Linda. Unlike the changing seasons, God never does.