Transcript What Is The Bible All About

What Is The Bible All About
66 Books- all inspired of God2 Tim. 3:16,17
First 5- books of the Law
Next 12- books of history
Next 5- Poetry
Next 5- Major Prophets
Last 12-Minor Prophets
The last 22 books take place
in the timeline of the first 17.
Major Prophets
• Isaiah- first of the major prophets- called this
due to the length of each.
• He begins his message about 740 and
continues into the reign of Manasseh beyond
680.
• He prophesies to Israel first and then to
Judah.
• Assyria is advancing to take Israel into
captivity ( godless reign of Ahaz).
• He cooperated with Hezekiah in reforming
Judah, and was probably killed by Manasseh.
Messages of Isaiah
• He announces the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of the
Davidic dynasty.
• He speaks forcefully about the wickedness of the people.
• He leaves a hope to the people. He is known as the Messianic
prophet and points to the hope of Israel and all men in The
Messiah, Jesus Christ (Isa. 7; 9;53) He states how he will
come, how He will die, and how He will arise.
• He shows how God uses foreign nations to accomplish His
purposes and all will come to nothing.
• He speaks of the Babylonian captivity in 586 and calls Cyrus
by name more than a hundred years before he is born.
• He comforts Judah and tells them that deliverance will come
by means of Cyrus (Persians).
• He talks of a spiritual kingdom and holds that forth as the
hope of Israel and all men. That kingdom will be established
by the Messiah.
• The hope of Israel in Christ and His everlasting kingdom- the
church are the central theme.
Jeremiah
• Prophesied about 627-586 to Judah.
• His message- Jerusalem is doomed.
• He prophesies over 40 years and sticks to this message. He
witness a 20 year revival but after Josiah died in 609 the
religious apostasy and moral decay of Judah continued at a
face pace and ended in Babylon taking Judah captive.
• Throughout the books he tells of his personal suffering.
Three times during his time the Babylonians take captives.
• His advice is often ignored by the people
• He tells them to go into captivity- he suffers personally for
his message. He gets his message across in various ways.
• His celibacy is a sign of the coming judgment of God on
Judah. He is spoken of as the suffering servant and the
weeping prophet.
• Chapter 17:7-14- is a moving discourse about the virtues of
trusting in the Lord.
• Jeremiah 2 and 3 speak of God’s tender care of them and he
then calls them a degenerate vine. The term “backsliding” is
a dominant word throughout the book.
Lamentations
• Written by Jeremiah. In this book the weeping prophet
tells of his remorse for the doomed nation of Judah. It
was written about 586 toward the end of his life. The
fall of Jerusalem in 586 was perhaps the greatest
catastrophe in Jewish history to that point.
• The Babylonians destroyed the temple and the entire city
of Jerusalem.
• God is acknowledged as righteous in executing His
punishment on His people but remorse is dominant that
it had to come to that.
• Hope is expressed in the confession of sin and implicit
faith in God and His justice.
• It is written in the form of a prayerful psalm. God’s
anger against those who persist in disobedience is
evident. He wants humility and repentance.
• The book is written in acrostic form. 22 letters in
Hebrew alphabet. 22 verses in each chapter except the
third chapter ( it has 66-repitition of alphabet letter
three times).
Ezekiel
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While Jeremiah prophecies with the people and stays with the
ones who will not go into captivity- Ezekiel prophesies to the ones
who go into Babylonian captivity. He was taken to Babylon 597 570
He is sent to the rebellious nation of Judah ( chapter 2) and it told
to warn them. He is set as a watchman to warn the people.
His name means “God strengthens”.
He was born in Judah in the days of Josiah and taken into
captivity with the group that goes in 597. He is about 30 when he
begins to prophesy.
He warns of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in 586 and he
does this to quell their hopes of a short exile.
He tells them that the future hope of Israel (Judah) is in the
Messiah. He assures the people that God is with them even in
exile. They are assured they will be revived and will survive the
assaults of their enemies in Babylon.
Their return to the land after 70 years of exile is promised and the
glory of God returning to the temple is promised (fulfilled in time
of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Malachi).
His last message is one of hope to a captive people who are pretty
depressed. He also gives them far-reaching hope in the Messiah
and the eternal kingdom (the church).
Daniel- God Is My Judge
• Central character of the book. He prophesies
from the perspective of a captive in the kings
house (foreign territory). He and others are royal
hostages put into service in about 604. His life
spans the entire period of the captivity.
• God is with them and Daniel rises to a high
position under Nebuchadnezzar and continues
there into the reign of Cyrus of Persia in 539.
• The first 6 chapters deal with personal
experiences with his three friends under the
foreign king.
• The last 6 chapters deal with visions he has
received relative to the international scene.
Message of Daniel
• He reflects concern for the future of Judah.
• He is assured of God’s establishment of an everlasting
kingdom (Dan. 2:44). He gives a world history
lesson of over 400 years in this chapter as he
interprets the king’s dream.
• He also stresses that God rules in the kingdoms of
men and gives a nation to whomever He chooses.
• He is also provided with the resurrection hope and the
personal assurance by God that he will stand.
• Chapters 2; 7 and 9 are vital passages that must be
taken in context.
• Premillenialists misuse and abuse these passages to
talk of present day things. They make the gross error
of applying them to a physical revival of literal
Israelites in Palestine.
• It is clear from the context and text that he is
speaking of the time of the Messiah.
High Points in Daniel
• His refusal to compromise with the worldly
power he serves. He prays 3 times daily and is
persecuted for it.
• God’s presence in his life and the lives of those
who love Him.
• He shows what it is like to “let your light shine
before wicked men.” They respect him even
though they do not adopt his ways.
• This book gives us great hope and a timeline as
we see we are not looking back but forward to
what would occur in the days of the Roman
kings.
• It makes sense when taken in context and not
twisted by the doctrines of men.
Minor Prophets
• Hosea- name means “salvation.” He speaks of
the “whoredom” of Israel. God uses Hosea’s
tragic marriage and the unfaithfulness of his wife
to show the parallels of God with Israel.
• Israel is the one involved with whoredom with the
other nations and gods. And God is the husband
who is willing to redeem her back if she will
repent.
• Written about 750 during the reign of Jeroboam
II. Hosea prophesies of the Assyrian captivity of
Israel
• My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge is
a key verse in Hosea.
Minor Prophets Chronologically
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Obadiah
Joel
Jonah
Amos
Hosea
Micah
Zephaniah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
• Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther are
contemporary with Haggai, Zechariah and
Malachi.
Joel
• Joel prophesies about 830 BC.
• He prophesies about the doom of the nations and
the ultimate glory of God’s cause.
• It is an appeal to the people to seek God through
repentance. In repentance they would find
physical blessings as well as spiritual blessings.
• He is the prophet of Pentecost.
• His book begins in gloom and points in anticipation
of a bright and glorious day to come when the
spiritual kingdom of the Lord is established ( Ch.
2:28-32 is fulfilled on Pentecost in Acts 2:16 ff).
Joel deals not only with God being with his people
but also with the Gentile being brought in with the
Jew under the New law of Christ. One law for Jew
and Gentile.
Amos
• His name means “burden-bearer.” Prophesied
during the reign of Jeroboam II after great
revival of the people has brought in
prosperity to Israel. This date is about 760.
• He sees through the corruption and
announces God’s judgment on Israel.
Elaborate sacrifices could never be a
substitute for righteous hearts and practices.
• He uses five visions to speak of the
impending judgment of God but he ends the
book with a hope of the restoration of the
remnant in Judah, after the 70 year exile in
Babylon.
Obadiah
He prophesies to the heathen nation of Edom.
Date- about 845 BC
This book is the shortest of the prophets.
He denounces Edom for its pride.
They will not be able to escape the judgment
of the Lord. Their redemption would come
with the Messiah on the same basis as the
Jew.
• This book shows that God cares about what
the heathen are doing and holds them
accountable for their sins.
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Jonah
• He prophesies in the days of Jeroboam II around
780 BC.
• Differs from all other books of the prophets- written
from historical point of view. It is the history of a
man, a nation and God in His dealings with all of
them.
• Jesus verifies the validity of Jonah in Matt. 12:39-41
and Lk. 11:29-32).
• It is not just a big fish story! It is inspired and is a
real event.
• God cares enough for Nineveh (Assyria) that he
sends them a prophet to get them to repent. They
do and he shows in Jonah the selectiveness and
bigotry of His people. Jonah does see the value of
the Ninevites. He wants them to be punished and
destroyed. God does not. God is merciful to His
own and to all those who will turn to the right ways.
Micah
• His name means “who is like God?”
• He predicts the fall of Samaria ( Israel- the
northern kingdom) in 722-21. He is a younger
contemporary of Isaiah. He ends his prophetic
work about the time of Hezekiah ( Jer. 26:18-19).
• He concerns himself also with the sins and dangers
of Israel’s sister, Judah. He denounces both
leaders and kings.
• In contrast to the destruction of Jerusalem- he
speaks of the hope of restored Zion and universal
peace (fulfilled in the spiritual kingdom of Christthe church).
• God will judge His people now- but hope and
blessing come in the Messiah later.
• He announces the place of the Messiah’s birth as
Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2-15).
Nahum
• His name means “consolation.”
• He prophesies about the destruction of the Assyrian
empire and the justice of God on savage people.
• Date- 663-612 (3:8- fall of No-amon of Egypt).
• He is contemporary with Jeremiah, Habbakuk and
Zephaniah.
• He is known as the patriot prophet. He propesies on
the single theme of the fall and destruction of “that
great and dreadful people”- the Assyrians.
• The Assyrians worshipped the goddess, Ishtar and
were thoroughly pagan. They would build pyramids of
the human heads of their enemies and would skin
people alive to punish them for their crimes.
• God used this brutal nation to afflict Israel but he held
them accountable for their brutality.
Habakkuk
• He prophesies about 612-606.
• He is concerned about the violence and sin of the
people of Judah and announces that God will
send the Chaldeans( Babylon) to punish them.
• The prophet is disturbed by God’s use of the
heathen Babylonians to punish the less-heathen
Assyrians. He is told by God that He will also
punish the Chaldeans.
• The righteous are told to live by faith in God and
not to lose hope.
• He ends his book with a psalm of peace and
praise of God for His wisdom.
• God tells him that he will not understand all of
His ways, even if He told him all of them. God is
greater than man!
Zephaniah
• “Jehovah hides”- meaning of his name. He is
a great-great grandson of Hezekiah. He is a
prophet of royal blood.
• He is born in the trying times of Manasseh.
The wicked son of Hezekiah who filled
Jerusalem with blood. He prophesies during
the time of Josiah about 626 BC
• He issues a call of repentance to the people of
Judah. If God punishes the heathen He will
punish Judah ( 3:1-8).
• He deals with idolatry, social injustice, luxury
and wealth as issues God has with Judah.
Haggai
• He is the prophet among the exiles who returned from
Babylon. He is a contemporary of Ezra and Nehemiah.
He prophesies in the 2nd year of Darius (1:1), which
would make it 520 BC
• His task was to induce the Jews to resume their work on
the temple which had been begun and delayed for 16
years.
• The people begin their work on the temple less than
three and a half weeks after he begins to speak to them.
• Rebuild the temple- NOW- saith the Lord
• He points to the hope of the Messiah when he says the
temple would be filled with glory that would surpass
anything previously seen. He pointed to Zerubbabel as
the one God chose to help carry out His purposes.
• He ties faithfulness and material blessing together;
States that discouragement is no excuse for neglect of
duty; the time to work is now; finally the basis of all
successful preaching is “God says”
Zechariah
• He is the grandson of Iddo the priest. He stresses the
importance of Israel in God’s plan. Date- 520-518 BC
• He assists Haggai in stirring the people to complete
the temple. He began his prophecy about a month
after work had begun on the temple.
• He looks beyond the immediate temple to the Messiah
and the spiritual temple. God would accomplish His
purposes through Israel in bringing the Messiah and
His church into existence. The Messiah would come
from the nation of Israel and his kingdom (the church)
would be a spiritual temple of God.
• Zechariah promises the Messiah and tells of how the
Messiah would be suffer as a good shepherd, a prince
of peace, who would establish spiritual Israel and
subdue all nations in the church.
Malachi
• His name means, “messenger of the Lord.” His
message is addressed to the post-exilic Jews after the
temple is rebuilt and when sacrifices are offered
again.
• He warns the people of their religious laxness. The
date is the period of Nehemiah and Ezra 445-432
• They have dishonored God by 1. Neglect 2. mixed
marriages and 3. Apostasy and half-hearted service.
• He tells them to repent and assures the righteous of
divine promises.
• The book closes with the promise of Elijah the prophet
coming again. This would be Christ and the one who
would come before Him to prepare the way would be
John the Baptizer.
Message and Lessons Of Malachi
• God’s people had again failed to take God’s
Law seriously. They had been back in the
land for over 100 years but instead of
becoming better in worship to God, they had
drifted and then insolently asked- How have
we sinned?
• Worship was in a state of decay- seconds to
God. Will a man rob God?- Answer- YES
• The promise of the Messiah is the last
message we get from this last prophet of the
OT.
• This hope and thought would be in their
hearts and minds for over 400 years until the
opening of the NT and the coming of John the
Baptizer and Christ (the Messiah).
Ezra
• Covers the period of 539-432. Provides a history of the
remnant after the Exile.
• Main events- rebuilding temple, the walls of Jerusalem.
• Ezra was a mild-mannered reformer and a scribe. Most
touching is the occasion of the reading of the law to the
people after they had not heard it in many years- they
weep when they hear it.
• Also the contrast between the new temple and the
grandeur of the Old one (not to be compared).
• He is not satisfied with lazy service which he observes.
• He also deals with the mixes marriages of the people.
• The once noble people are now a pitiful shambles. Ezra
is a reformer and leads the people in spiritual revival,
and many fail to follow his lead.
Nehemiah
• Devoted Jew serving the Persian king, Cyrus.
• He is appointed governor of Jerusalem and sets out to
restore the walls. He rallies the people to work and in
53 days they finish the rebuilding of the walls.
• He then deals with their timid fear of God’s enemies
from without.
• He has no compassion for their lack of faith and puts
them to work with a trowel in one hand and a sword
in the other. He tells them God will fight for them if
they serve Him.
• He is intolerant of evil and plucks out the beards of
those who violate God’s laws. He is zealous and
cannot stand disobedience.
• He leads people in physical and spiritual rebuilding
• Along with Ezra they meet at the watergate and have
a restoration of proper worship.
Esther
• This book is about a Jewish maiden who becomes
queen of Persia.
• When the Jews are threatened with extinction
(through trickery), Esther takes her life in her
hands and appeals to the king on behalf of her
people and they are saved from extinction. Of
course God is behind all of this.
• This book shows God’s providence and how he
cares for those who love Him and serve Him. His
ways are not our ways, but His ways are best.
• God is able to accomplish his purposes without
ever taking over the free will of anyone.
Conclusion
Israel and Judah have fallen away from God on their own
God has sent prophets to warn them to repent
They refuse to do so.
They go into captivity (Assyria- Israel; Babylon- Judah).
God brings back a remnant after 70 years Judah returns
The people are glad to be back and are zealous for
awhile, but they soon fall back.
• The captivity has purged fully the outward idolatry of the
people, but they are still prone to serve themselves
above God.
• God ends the OT with the only hope for anyone and that
is the hope in the Messiah.
• No mere man can atone for the sin. No amount of
sacrifice can atone for it. Only the blood of Jesus can do
that. He is coming- The Messiah is coming- is the last
written message of the OT.
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Steps Of Downfall of Israel & Judah
• 1. Hosea 4:6- Lack of Knowledge
• 2. Hosea 5:5- Pride
• 3. Hosea 6:4- Instability (wishy-washy
service)
• 4. Hosea 7:8- worldliness
• 5. Hosea 9:9- Corruptness
• 6. Hosea 11:7- Backsliding (all call to God but
no one exalts Him).
• 7. Idolatry
• Their history is our history- Their mistakes
and sins are ours. No one can atone for their
sins or ours except the Messiah (Jesus Christthe Son of God- Immanuel).
• HE IS COMING!