As you may know there are 66 books that make up the Bible. These were probably written by around 40 different people at different times over a period of 1500 years. But together they make up one big picture or meta narrative. Each of these books plays a part in making up the big picture in much the same way that individual pieces of a jigsaw puzzle enables the big picture to be seen.
Over the years in which I have been teaching from the scriptures I have delighted in looking at complete books and drawing out their main theme or themes so that we can see just why each book is in the Bible. This is much the same as identifying the corner pieces, borders, or key sections of a jigsaw puzzle. But I have never done this systematically working through from Genesis to Revelation.
That's why I am enjoying a series that I am running at Yelvertoft Congregational Church just now. We started a few weeks ago with Genesis and tommorrow I am dealing with Judges. What has been great is to see the way in which those attending (even mature Christians) are gaining a fresh appreciation of this most marvelous and important of books. It is also good to see Christians appreciating the Hebrew scriptures - so often neglected in favour of the New Testament.
Yet Jesus said these books testify of him, and on the road to Emmaus he went right back into the books of Moses as well as the prophets to help two disciples understand "the big picture". As Christians we have a special place of honour for Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. But it is the Hebrew scriptures that enable us to understand exactly who he is. That's why every one of the 66 books in the library is important.
If anyone is interested in the notes I could post them here. They are only simple outline explanations.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Hi!
I admit I am a bit interested to see those notes...in my experience, the OT has been neglected because, since Jesus saves, we should worry more about the NT and what it has to say about faith and Christianity.
I would love to be able to better understand some of those hard-shell OT books. If the notes are copious, you don't have to post them in full.
Thanks!
I would love to have your notes for my personal study.Could you send to my e-mail address (wongfongyang@gmail.com)
So we can keep in touch through FaceBook.
Post a Comment