Survey of the Bible

Introduction

Too often, we are guilty of reading in the bible without reading the full bible. We read our favorite sections of James, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians or John and study each individual detail, all the while forsaking the forest to examine a tree.

We read in the Bible without reading it for itself; without being engrossed in the story of God’s redemptive plan.

There are several pitfalls:

We come to a passage like Romans 2:29 where it talks about the circumcision of the heart and the message is totally lost on us! I know this doesnt happen here but cant you just imagine someone of the world reading this kind of passage thinking, “What has circumcision to do with the heart??” Paul needs an anatomy lesson!

Even worse we come to a passage like Romans 9 that has been heralded by calvinist scholars as “the tiger that prowls about the jungle devouring those who hold fast to the freewill confession.” They rip Romans 9 out of its context and thus totally miss the true nature of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. They read a passage like: Romans 9:17-20

Romans 9:17–20 LSB

17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and in order that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? Will the thing molded say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this”?

While completely ignoring the Holy Spirit’s intent in writing this passage.

The Bible is a storybook. When i say story I dont mean fiction; When I say story, what comes to mind?

Fiction

And in part your right: its the myth thats true. Its written in the style of a myth and yet is the most factually accurate, truest, most real thing you will ever read. The Bible is Hisotry! It is His Story. How God brought back wandering man into his fold.

What kind of tools might you need in investigation of a story? When you read a story what skills do you use?

Imagination? Enthusiasm?

Totally different tools than you would bring to read say a scientific journal report. A scientific journal report may not be read in its entirety. Of the research paper’s I’ve read I often skim them to get a necessary citation for one of my essays. This cant be done with the Bible. You can read in a scientific journal without reading the scientific journal. You cannot read in the Bible without reading the Bible.

It takes a whole other level of seriousness

False teaching is the most condemned sin of the NT.

2 Timothy 2:15 LSB

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

2 Tim. 3 Example

So we want to approach the bible like a book.

We will seek to do that today: spend the next 40 minutes trying to see the Bible story for what it is: in its entirety.

Before the Flood

In the beginning: Come all the way back with me there. There is no world, no universe, no life as we no it today. The physical world as we know it today didnt exist. It was chaotic, formless, void. What did exist? How did all we know come in to being?

In the beginning there were three beings that we know of. They are as everlasting as eternity: Yahweh the Father, Yahweh the Word and Yahweh the Spirit. Three seperate beings, yet one in purpose, in righteousness and in deity.

In fact Genesis 1:1 will tell us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The hebrew word elohim is a plural noun that means spiritual beings that I believe to be refering to the trinity. The word for created however, is the hebrew word bara. It is a singular noun. Be like us saying (The people was at the party instead of saying the people were at the party.) This seems to me to be intentionally awkward in its phrasing, it shows us multiple beings performing one action. They are three seperate beings united in action. They comprise the Godhood.

At some point (tho its unknown when) lesser heavenly beings were created. Hosts of angels, seraphim, cherabim, and other heavenly creatures seem to play some part in the primordial existence. At some point, (we dont know when) these lesser heavenly beings rebelled (2 Peter 2:4 “4 For if God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them into the pit and delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment;” Isaiah 14). A place away from the presence of God was prepared for them.

This is the thigns that seem to have happened before the “In the beginning” we now can open our bibles and begin reading: Genesis 1:1-5

Genesis 1:1–5 LSB

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

The bible is a book; because it is a book it begins like a book! It starts with an exposition: verse 1 introduces us to the main character of the Bible and the subsequent verses introduce us to his character.

In these short verses we read about an all powerful God, who animates and vitalizes everything he comes into contact with. We are seeing God, a being, who at his very word nonexistence obeys by leaping into existence. A God, who when he comes on to the scene animates the formless into earth and the void into heaven. A God whose first words that were introduced to are “Let there be light.” Sometimes first words are unimportant: my first words were Mama and I have yet to become a mother. Other times they are important: I know someone whose first words were “ball” and he grew up to be a talented athlete. God’s first words recorded for us in scripture are of utmost importance. From here on out, every time God is involved in a story, every deed he does is in some way a repition of this first one. Every word he says are in some way repition of his first words “let there be light.” This is who God is: the Light bringer.

He is the God who organizes chaos and we see how he does so. He begins by commanding something to come under his orderly control, in the interest of maintaining order he seperates his orderly creation from the chaos (notice: he seperated light from the day immediately after), in the interest of maintaining this seperation he calls it somethign (notice: the light day and the darkness night.)

God has to make seperations: otherwise the thing he has just ordered and perfected will go right back to chaos (true love requires hatred of some things)

But we see light is not the only thing God creates: he creates the entire world!

Day 2 he creates the skies and seas

Day 3: the plants and trees

Day 4: The sun the moon and the stars

Day 5: fish and birds

Day 6 man and animals

And after every single creation even God sees that it is good: Genesis 1:31

Genesis 1:31 LSB

31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

And I believe this adjective can tell us somethign else about his creation: God created the world for man. You see, the other animals that he created wont appreciate goodness at the same level as man does. A Dog will eat kibble and enjoy it just as much as his own vomit! God makes his creation good for man to enjoy. And God gives man a very special role in it!

Genesis 1:27–28 LSB

27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that creeps on the earth.”

This is the role of man: God’s image bearers: they are Edenic priests that Go before creation and represent God to them and come back and then represent Creation to God. God invites them into a partnership he tels them to be fruitful and mulitply, fill the earth and subdue it. It seems to me that God didnt create his creation to simply be enjoyed, but to be conquered. He gives man, his special image bearers a place in his plan to come alongside him and help him bring the rest of the creation into order (hence the idea of subduing). Oh the riches of his kindness! Oh his faithfulness! How beautiful a picture.

In order however to maintain this partnership there have to be rules (as we have discussed there can be no order without seperation and boundaries.). God had created so many parts of creation to be enjoyed: Genesis 2:9 “9 And out of the ground Yahweh God caused to grow every tree that is desirable in appearance and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” And his one rule to keep this is Genesis 2:16

Genesis 2:16–17 LSB

16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may surely eat; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

And so God gives them one rule; this will be their opportunity to have dominion over themselves. And if they keep God’s only command, which is for their good, they will get to enjoy their relationship with God forever: but we know how the story ends, do they keep this relationship?

Genesis 3:6 LSB

6 Then the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, so she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

Rather than trusting in the things God had said were good and desirable she perverts God’s will and twists it into her own. By forsaking God’s created order, she reverts back to chaos. And so the earth is contaminated because their intercessors rebel against God! Romans 5:12-14

Romans 5:12–14 LSB

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the trespass of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

And from that point onward creation longs for the opportunity to be recreated and order to be reestablished: Romans 8:20-22

Romans 8:20–22 LSB

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

because of Man’s rebellion; God’s good order becomes chaos. The are cursed with death, they are cursed by returning to the chaotic dust God made them out of! In the interest of reasserting order; God has to make another seperation: like he did with light and darkness. However this time it is a sad sepeartion: Genesis 3:15

Genesis 3:15 LSB

15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

Now, ultimately the seed is whom? But in the immediate context of genesis the seed is the city of God versus the city of man.

This conflict begins to be born out in Genesis 4 where the seed of the serpent (cain) bruises the heel of the seed of God (Abel) Because Abel has been murdered, a new seed of God has to be appointed and that is seth.

And this seperation between the seeds becomes even more apparent as we see the wickedness of the descendents of cain versus those of Seth.

Mehujael vs. Mahalaleel

Genesis 4:23 LSB

23 And Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give ear to my word, For I have killed a man for striking me; And a boy for wounding me;

Genesis 4:26 LSB

26 And to Seth, to him also, a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of Yahweh.

The descendents of Cain, however, eventually seem to win out. But God still ahs a plan to redeem man.

The Flood

As man spread over the earth, they practiced wickedness on every hand. Their thoughts were only evil continually. In order to maintain his holy seperation and to protect his sons, God had to destroy mankind—except the only righteous men remaining: Noah and his famiy. Noah accepted God’s grace and took the escape offered. He and his family survived in the ark.

And this seems to be one of God’s many attempts to recreate his earth as holy and pure. He invites Noah again to man’s blessed partnership: to be fruitful and multiply; to fill the earth. Implied in this would be the mandate to have dominion over the ground. But Noah, like Adam and eve rebels against God. He plants a vineyard and becomes drunk off of the wine. Rather than having dominion over the ground he allows the ground to have dominion over him. God’s recreation is once again corrupted into dysfunction at the doing of man. God ever faithful to his faithless subjects

Scattering of the People

Because man rebels again: the distinction between the seed of God and the seed of the serpent pops up again. The seed of serpent, never satiating their wicked desires, attempt to disbobey God’s commands to fill the earth. They decide they want to stay in one place. They attempt to build a city and a tower, in order that they might not be scattered over the earth. And yet, God comes down and scatters them, confusing their language.

Patriarchs

The story then follows a man named Terah, who lived in Ur of the Chaldees. He had three sons, Nahor, Abram and Haran. Haran died while they were still in Ur, and he was the father of Lot. The story mainly focuses on Abram, and God’s promises to him.

God called Abram and told him to leave his country, kin and fathers house to a land God would show him. Abraham obeyed.God wanted him to leave his land, and be defined now by the land that God would show him, he commanded that he leave his kin, because God would give him descendants as numerous as the stars. He told him to leave his father’s house as he was to be the father of a new house: the father of the faithful.

God was going to change his identity. And God remained faithful to Abram. His wife, Sarah was promsied a son even though she was barren. Miraculously God came through and blessed her with Isaac.

The Land nation and seed promise were passed down by Yahweh to Isaac after Abraham’s death. He was going to continue the faithful legacy.

Isaac then had a son named Jacob. This was who the promise was passed down to.

Space doesnt allow us to tell the details of Jacob’s life. Suffice it to say that Jacob ahd twelve sons. One of whom, he loved most. His other sons were fiercly jealous over this fact and sold him into egyptian slavery. Joseph then came to rise to prominence in egypt, and through the working of god’s providence came to save the ancient near east from certain doom. During a particularly harsh famine, Jacob and his family ran out of grain. So they went up to egypt, and there were reunited with Joseph. After much retirauge Joseph has his family move up to Egypt (at the time a household of 75)

Jacob at this time was a very old man. As he lay on his death bed he gave each of his sons a blessing. These sons would form the tribes which would make up the nation of Israel. It was to Judah, his fourth son, that he gave a special prophecy: Genesis 49:10 “10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

The book of Geesis closes with Joseph’s confident assurance to his brethren that the day would come when God would lead the people back to the promised land of canaan. Many years pass before the curtain rises again. Has God forgotten?

The Exodus

The scene looks dark as Exodus begins. There are around three million people called Israelites. A pharoah has arisen who forgot Joseph and his prominence. He feared this vast group of people in his land, and thus afflicte them by maign them his slaves.

But God, never forgetting their promsies appoints for them a deliverer. Moses.

At age forty, Moses (feeling that the Lord had made him the savior of Israel) decides to get to work. He starts by killing an egyptian, and thus has to leave egypt for 40 years. At age 80 he returns to lead the people out of Egypt.

Space barrs any details from being expounded upon. As you likely remember, Pharoah refused to let the people go. God uses this opportunity to show his might by sending ten terrible plagues, which ultimately pinnacled to the death of all Israel’s firstborn and this is when the Egyptians begged Israel to leave.

So the people are up, out of egypt, that nation promise has been fullfilled to Abraham and now they look expectently to the Land promise’s fullfillment.

Instead of leading the people directly to the land of Canaan, God directed them southeastward to Mt. Sinai. There he made a covenant with them. He promised to be their God and allow them to be His people if they would obey him and keep His commandments. The people wanted God’s blessigns and were quick to agree to the covenant. God gave them a law that specified exactly how they were to live as God’s chosen people.

Until, this time God had spoken directly to the fathers of the faithful families (the seed of God). That system continued with all people except this special group assembled at Mt. Sinai. God was preparing a special people to be ready for the completion of His plan.

Wandering in the Wilderness

As the people move out from Mt. Sinai it becomes apparent that they are not as faithful to God as he is to them. They break their side of the covenant God tells them not to covet in the ten commandments the first story of Israel we read about when they come up from Mt. Sinai is them covetting the food they have in Egypt and complaining. God in the ten commandments commanded them to remember the sabbath and keep it holy in Numbers 15 a sabbath breaker is stoned. The very first commandment: you shall have no other gods, is broken in Numbers 25 where the people lay down and play the harlot with the God Ba’al.

This disobedience really seems to come to a pinnacle in Numbers 13 where the people complain about the land and refuse to Go in. Thus God punishes them, he makes them wait forty years before they go into the land. He banishes them to wander in the wilderness.

Lots of things happen here, and time bars us from any detail. But eventually, Moses, the great ruler of Israel, dies.

Invasion and Conquest of the Land

After the years of wandering, Joshua became the leader in Moses’ stead and led the people across the Jordan River to conquer the land. He is a valiant warrior and leads israel on three main campaigns of the land: the Central, the southern and the northern.

By this time, two of the promsies made to Abraham have been fullfilled by this time. Abraham’s descendants have indeed become a nation, and God has led them to victory in gaining the land.

The israelites remained faithful in Joshua’s day, and as long as the elders who had served him lived. But after their good leaders passed, Israel turned aside once agian from God’s laws.

Judges

The next period of Israelite history is one of cycles. The people would turn aside after alien gods, then God would punish them in order to drive them back to himself, after God punishes them they would come back to the Lord and then enjoy God would appoint for them a judge that would rule and drive out the people’s enemies, and then the people would enjoy times of peace. And in times of peace the people would once again play the harlot.

There are fifteen judges during this time period; and this is who God wants to rule his people

United kingdom

Eventually, the people rebel against God’s care again by throwing off the bonds, they ask for a king that they may be like the other nations. Only they werent supposed to be like the other nations, they were to be God’s nation. But God, always giving people what they want

Under God’s direction, the young man Saul of the tribe of Benjamin was annointed. Saul seemed very humble at first, but came to be rebellious unto God.

God sent his prophet to Bethlehem to anoint a son of Jesse as king. God’s prophet anointed David as king. David was a man after God’s own herat. There are about 130 chapters in the Bible either relating the history of David or recording the psalms he wrote. He was human and made mistakes just as other great men have done. Perhaps we are most impressed with his righteousess as we read his psalms. David wanted to build a temple or God, but God sent Nathan to tell him his son wold.

Before David died, he proclaimed his son, Solomon, king. God appeared to the young king Solomon and told him to ask what he would. Solomon asked for wisdom, so God was pleased and granted him wisdom far above others. In addition, God gave him riches, honor, peace, and long life, if he lived faithfully. Solomon did build the temple as God had promised. The fame of his wisdom and wealth spread abroad. He wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. The nation of Israel reached its greatest size during his reign (he fullfills the seed promise to Abraham by crushing the nations surrounding Israel). Unfortunately, he was led away from God by his many wives.

1 Kings 11:11 LSB

11 So Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this has happened with you: you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, so I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant.

The kingdom was in distress by the time Solomon died. He had overburdened the people with taxes and they wanted relief. When Rehoboam his son became king, the ten northern tribes rebelled because Rehoboam would not listen to their pleas for relief. Jeroboam became king over the northern portion of the land, which retained the name Israel, as the nation had always been called. Rehoboam was left with only two tribes in the south, and he called his little kingdom Judah.

Divided Kingdom

Israel had many kings, as did Judah when the kingdom was torn away.

Israel had no good kings:

Ahab: killed one of his subjects to steal his farm; he hated God and killed his prophets.

Israel’s iniquities caused them to be cut off, never to return.

Judah

Manasseh, sawed prophets in half, built altars for baal, sacrificed his own children to molech.

Ahaz did the same.

It was a time of idolatry: 2 Kings 17:10

2 Kings 17:10 LSB

10 And they set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,

Almost to say they couldnt find a place that they hadnt disobeyd

So God takes them into captivity, back to the land of the chaldees where he called abraham from. They couldnt handle God’s land kin, father’s house so he sent them back to the old one.

But God is faithful and brings them back, saved to sin another day! They fall back into idolatry.

This is the bleak picture of the OT. Where will we go from there?

A hope of restoration from this most dark point is pointed to:

Psalm 72 LSB

Of Solomon. 1 O God, give the king Your judgments, And Your righteousness to the king’s son. 2 May he render judgment to Your people with righteousness And Your afflicted with justice. 3 Let the mountains lift up peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness. 4 May he give justice to the afflicted of the people, Save the children of the needy, And crush the oppressor. 5 Let them fear You while the sun endures, And as long as the moon, from generation to all generations. 6 May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, Like showers that water the earth. 7 May the righteous flourish in his days, And abundance of peace until the moon is no more. 8 May he also have dominion from sea to sea And from the River to the ends of the earth. 9 Let the desert creatures kneel before him, And his enemies lick the dust. 10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands bring a present; The kings of Sheba and Seba offer tribute. 11 And let all kings bow down to him, All nations serve him. 12 For he will deliver the needy when he cries for help, The afflicted also, and him who has no helper. 13 He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy he will save. 14 He will redeem their life from oppression and violence, And their blood will be precious in his sight; 15 So may he live! And may they give to him the gold of Sheba; And let each pray for him continually; Let each bless him all day long. 16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth on top of the mountains; May its fruit wave like the cedars of Lebanon; And may those from the city blossom like vegetation of the earth. 17 May his name endure forever; May his name increase as long as the sun shines; Let all nations be blessed in him; Let all nations call him blessed. 18 Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wondrous deeds. 19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen. 20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.

Daniel 7:13–14 LSB

13 “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.

Isa. 60:15-16

I can’t help but think what a comforting picture this everlasting dominion would be to the Jew during the divided kingdom.

Israel would’ve been a very tumultuous place

Abidjan reigned for 3 years and then died

Ahaziah reigned for 1 year and then was killed by Jehu

Amon reigned for 2 years and was assassinated by his servants

Jehoiachin reigned for 3 months and then was taken captive by the Babylonians

Zedekiah reigned for 11 years but when he was finally taken captive and punished by the Babylonians. His punishment was to watch his children be slaughtered and to then be blinded, making that the last thing he saw.

All to say that these kings were weak, short-reigning, an embarrassment to God’s people.

To look at that externally and to turn to the Bible and see what this king would look like

viii.A kingdom firmly established by God, strong, everlasting dominion, and the Glory and Pride of all nations. This is the king pictured in Psalm 72

Malachi 4:4–6 LSB

4 “Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and judgments which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. 5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome day of Yahweh. 6 “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction.”

Years of Silence

Between the NT and the OT there are 400 years of silence from God. There were God’s prophets but there was no written revelation.

Life of Christ

When we turn the pages to the NT we see the fullfillment of some of God’s promises

One the man going forth in the spirit and power of Elijah:

John the Baptist comes and prepares the way for the Christ. And finally, when the Christ came he takes a back seat,

The king comes wins mighty victories

Philippians 2:6–11 LSB

6 who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Romans 1:6–8 LSB

6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; 7 to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.

And its this king that allows everything to go back to how in was

Revelation 21:1 LSB

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.