The
Bible is a wonderful book that God has given us. It teaches us who God is, what
He desires, and how we can be saved. Everyone can understand the Bible.
However, there are aspects of the Bible that causes people confusion. In this
article, we will begin to examine the different divisions in the Bible.
The
Bible is written over a period of about 1,500 years. God used about 40
different men to give us the Bible. It contains 66 different and unique books.
In order to better understand it, we need to break the Bible down into simpler
and smaller parts. When we examine the smaller parts of the Bible in the larger
context of God's purpose of the Bible, then we can gain a greater understanding
of the Bible.
Our Bible has two main divisions in it:
The Old Testament and The New Testament. It may be easy to understand this
division if we use different names: The Old Covenant and The New Covenant. A
simple definition of the word covenant in the Bible is an agreement that God is
making with mankind. In a covenant, God is promising to do something and man is
promising to faithfully follow God. The covenants in the Bible have the
understanding that God is the great king and the people are His servants.
The
Old Covenant was given to the Israelite people. The period of the Old Covenant
is actually divided into two other divisions. The first division is sometimes
called the Patriarchal Period. It is called this because God is mainly dealing
with the heads of the household. The major people are Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. This time period is recorded in the book of Genesis.
Some believe that the book of Job took place during this period as well, but
that is open for debate. This period is unique and different from the rest of
the Bible.
There is no known written word from God
mentioned during this period. The first book of the Bible is Genesis, which is
written by Moses. Moses lives about 400 years after the time of Abraham. Since
there is no known religious writing, we do not have a written law during this
time. For example, when God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He gave Moses a
written law to explain what sin is, how to atone for sin, the design of the
Jewish religion, and the every day behavior of the Jewish people. When we read
the book of Genesis, we should keep this in mind. The Bible is recording how
men behaved without a written Word. The accounts of Noah, the tower of Babel,
and Sodom and Gomorrah teach us how wicked the world can be without the Word of
God restraining evil. This time period also teaches us that man cannot save
himself.
Even
without the written Word, God did implant into man an understanding of right
and wrong. Throughout the book of Genesis there is an understanding that
murder, rape, drunkenness, lying, stealing, and idol worship is wrong. However,
the conscience of people during this time was warped and ignored what God had
implanted in them. God made them accountable for breaking His moral code. While
God overlooked some foolishness, He did not completely ignore sin. People were
punished for their wickedness.
The
fathers, or head of the household, were seen as priests of the family. They
made sacrifices and offered prayers to God during this time. It was something
that was passed down from Adam to his children. Unfortunately, not everyone
learned it. Even after the time of Noah, false worship arose and led many
astray.
During
this time period, God is focused on beginning His plan to bring the Savior into
the world. God makes a promise to Adam and Eve that through them would come a
Savior. Genesis 3:14 So the Lord God
said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all
livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the
days of your life. 15 And I
will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and
you will strike his heel.” This is the
first prophecy about Jesus Christ.
The
book of Genesis shows how God was bringing this promise into the world. He
continues this promise when He kept Noah and his family alive during the time
of the flood. Without Noah and his family, the world would have died with no
hope of salvation and all men/women who lived before the flood would have been
lost in an eternity in hell. After Noah, God choose a man named Abraham to
continue this promise. God gave Abraham this promise: Genesis 12 The Lord had said to Abram,
“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I
will show you. 2 “I
will make you into a great nation, and I will
bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I
will bless those who bless you, and whoever
curses you I will curse; and all peoples on
earth will be blessed through you.” The rest of the book
of Genesis shows how God fulfilled the promise to Abraham and how He protected
that promise in a hostile world.
When
we study the Patriarchal Period (book of Genesis), there are some things that
we need to remember that will help us understand the Bible clearer:
1. Read Genesis in
its moral, religious, and ethical context. The rest of the Bible contains laws
and commandments that these people did not appear to have access to. Therefore,
the followers of God during this time period may do some things that we are
forbidden to do. Their lives are not a complete example for us to follow. We
must follow their example while examining the commandments given to us to day.
For example, they did practice polygamy but that does not mean we should. God
clearly forbid it in the commandments in the Bible. Follow the commandments of
God.
2. Read Genesis with
its purpose. The purpose of Genesis is to inform us how we go from Adam to the
time of Moses. We see why the Jewish people are important. The purpose is to
show us how God's plan came together. It also shows us how wicked man is
without the written Word of God.
3. Read Genesis in
its timeframe. Some want to make the Bible look hypocritical or point to
inconsistencies by reading Genesis out of its timeframe. Genesis, and the
Patriarchal Period, occurred before the law and before the commandments of the
New Testament. These people did not live under those laws and requirements. We
should not hold a standard against them that God did not.
4. God's moral
standard is consistent. Even without a law, God's moral standards are
consistent throughout the Bible. His stance on human life, human sexuality, and
human behavior is the same. This shows us that God does not change. It also
shows us that He requires us to follow that moral code no matter what. There is
no excuse for us since we have access to that moral code.
The
Patriarchal Period is just one section of the Bible. Another section is the
Mosaic section and we will examine that next.
