What's In the Bible?

Intro: What is the Bible?

The Bible is the best selling and most influential book of all time.

It has been translated 2,000 times.

BIG QUESTION: What is the Bible?

The Bible is:

One Book

Made up of 66 Books

History

Poetry

Letters

Apocalypse

Written by more than 40 authors

Written over a period of 1600 years

Tell many different stories that make up one big story of God and what he’s done for us

Why does knowing that the Bible is by different authors in different genres matter?

Because we will misunderstand what the Bible is saying if we don’t think about context?

We do this automatically. Imagine scrolling through Facebook and you see:

News story

Recipe

Stand up comedy video

Review of a local business

Just as we must understand genre to read normal writing, we also should understand the genre to understand the Bible. If we read poetry as history, for example, we will miss the point that the human and divine author have for us.

What is the Bible Good For?

2 Timothy 3:16 CSB

All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness,

Teaching

Rebuking

Correcting

Training in righteousness

The Old Testament (39 books)

The Hebrew Bible - Written in Hebrew with a few sections such as parts of Daniel in Aramaic.

Septuagint, the Greek OT had extra books which weren’t part of the biblical Canon. (Primary Bible of Jesus and New Testament)

This is the Bible that Jesus quoted most often and is most often used throughout the New Testament.

When Jerome translated the Bible into Latin in what’s called the Vulgate he included some of these books, but not all. (Catholic Bible)

The reformers separated or removed these books called the apocrypha going back to the original Hebrew Scriptures but translated into modern languages like German or English.

Four Section

Torah/Pentateuch

Historical

Prophets

Writings/Wisdom

Jesus reduces this two sections to describe all of the Old Testament, “the Law and the Prophets.”

The Bible Tells One Big Story. Who is the Central Character in the Old and New Testament?

Luke 24:27 CSB

Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

According to Jesus all of scripture is concerning himself.

New Testament (27 books)

Written in Greek

Four Sections

The Gospels

Acts

The Epistles

Revelation

The Meaning of Testament

Testament: Means promise.

These are promises God made to humanity

The Bible is the story of God’s big promises, how he kept them, and what they mean to us.

2 Corinthians 1:20 ESV

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.

This passage is more about Paul’s travel plans than explaining God’s promises.

Paul is trying to explain his uncertainty about visiting Corinth he’s got a yes and a no regarding the visit? When life is uncertain he reminds himself and his readers about true certainty- The promises of God fulfilled in Jesus.

Paul is saying that all of God’s promises are fulfilled, find their yes, in Jesus.

Because Paul can trust God’s promises in the Old Testament, which we see Jesus fulfilled in Jesus, Paul is confident that we can trust Jesus’ promises to us.