The Bible

Pre-Introduction: On Our Messages

If you have been with us for some time, you will have noticed that while there is a sort of message or sermon each week, it is not always given by Pastor Kang, or by Elder Park. For instance, those of you who know Bow-Nan may remember that he used to deliver the message once or twice a month. I would like to explain some of the reasons that we have this structure.

Firstly, having two weekly services (that is, the English service and the Korean service) is good, but it is also a great deal of work, and so having a message schedule that alternates between Pastor Kang, Elder Park, and others helps everyone by distributing that load, and helps to keep any one individual from becoming overwhelmed.

The practice of preparing and sharing a message within a supportive group of believes is good training for sharing the Gospel with the world, and a great opportunity for personal spiritual growth. In 2 Timothy 4:2, Paul instructed Timothy to preach the word; be ready in season and out of season, and as we learned some weeks ago, this adhering to this command helps ensure good things for those with whom we interact, and forces us to stay spiritually fit.

Writing to the church at Corinth, Paul encourages the Corinthians to have orderly church meetings, and includes the importance of hearing what others had to say and of weighing it afterward:

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophecy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 1 Corinthians 13:26–32

Not only was this the practice that Paul proscribed for the early church, something like it had already been present in the Jewish synagogues. In Luke 4:12—15, we read that Jesus went and preached in the synagogues,Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit in Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. The notion of someone coming into town and coming and speaking in a local church might seem a little odd to us today, but in scripture it is not given a second thought. Paul, working as an evangelist to whom God had revealed Jesus of Nazareth as Christ, that is, the Messiah who the Jewish prophets had foretold, and recognizing that the Jews were in a unique position to hear the gospel—they were expecting the Messiah, and Paul was ready to tell them all what they has been waiting for! Now, in this traveling and preaching, Paul was acting as an evangelist, but acting as simple members of the congregation, we can learn from his example.

• Acts 13:5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews.
• Acts 13:14–15 [Paul and Barnabas] went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, Brothers, if you have any word of encouragement for the people, say it. (Paul's address here is a beautiful summary of the relationship between God and his chosen people, and how Jesus is clearly the Messiah.)
• Acts 14:1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.
• Acts 17:1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
• Acts 17:10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.
• Acts 17:17 (Athens) So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
• Acts 18:1–4 (Corinth) And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.
• Acts 19:8–10 (Ephesus) And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

Then I would like to encourage you to consider our messages not as a rotation, but as an invitation. Paul spoke in the synagogues because he knew something that he needed to share, and the synagogue was the place to do it. He encouraged the churches to let their prophets and teachers speak at their meetings, and to recognize that none were speaking infallibly, that what they said ought to be weighed carefully afterward. The implication, then, is that we do not need to be seminarians or pastors or full-time evangelists in order to share with those around us.

I would also make the suggestion that people who will be going on missions this summer, or are going to be involved with small group ministry, or any number of similar activities, to consider becoming involved with the Sunday messages.

Introduction

I would like to establish a motivating theme for my own messages, starting today, and for our Bible studies, starting in the fall, and this theme is Biblical literacy. That is, I would like for us to become people who are familiar with the Bible and knowledgeable about the Bible. There are a number of reasons for studying the Scriptures, a number of benefits we gain from studying the Word, and a number of things, I would point out, that we will not get the Bible. The Bible has influenced the Middle-Eastern and Western world since the first words to be penned were set down on papyrus. Let us now consider how the Bible reveals.

The Bible Reveals God

I am currently a graduate student at RPI in the Computer Science department, and my day to day work happens in the RAIR Lab, where I work on logic-based artificial intelligence. I also happen to have a personal home page. If you wanted to learn more about me, for instance, say you were a job recruiter, you might look for information about some of these things. If you want to know about my academic research, you would look for papers that I have written, and the projects that I have worked on. A few years ago, you would probably look at my Xanga, and these days you would probably be sure to look at my Facebook profile. After you had read some of these things, and done some research of your own, you could not say that you personally know me, but you would be justified in saying that you have a much better idea of who I am.

In the same way, knowing the Bible does not enable us to say that we personally know God, but once we do know God, the Bible helps us understand who He is.

A Single, Universal God

The Romans and Greeks and Egyptians all worshiped many deities. These deities had various properties, and some deities were associated with geographic locations—the fertile mother/queen Artemis was worshiped at a grand temple at Ephesus, and wise Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi.

The Bible, though, tells us of a supreme God above all other beings, a God who is responsible for the creation of all things, and who is to be worshiped alone. Indeed, John writes in John 1:3 that All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made., and the Ten Commandments include You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them.

A Holy, Righteous God

It exalts a God who is holy, righteous, faithful, incorruptible, and incapable of error and sin, so different from the Roman, Green, and Egyptian pantheons. The Greek philosopher Xenophanes had said that the gods did all that is shameful and disgraceful among men; they steal, commit adultery, and deceive one another. The God we see in the Bible, though, is good, perfect, and holy. There are Psalms that exalt these attributes of God, and James reminds us (in James 1:13) to let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

A Personal, Loving God

It reveals a God who is personally interested in and loves His creations, including human beings. When God speaks, He often speaks to individuals. He walked and talked with Adam in the Eden as a man walks with his friend, and He called Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, and Gideon, and Samuel, and David, and Solomon, and Job, and Jesus spoke face to face with his disciples, and spoke to Paul, and we see that not only does God love mankind, but he loves a nation, and not only does he love a nation, but he loves a tribe, and not only does he love a tribe, but he loves a family, and not only does he love a family, but he loves an individual, and not only does he love an individual, but he loves me, and he loves you.

The Bible Reveals Man

The Bible reveals God, perhaps in a somewhat biased way (for instance, the history of the Israelites taking Canaan would probably be told very differently from the point of view of the Philistines), but God is not the only thing revealed by the Scriptures. The writings of ancient Greek philosophers declare their thoughts, but just as much, by way of contrast, they expose the thoughts of those on whom they built, and of those whom they opposed. The writings of the founding fathers of the United States paint a picture of England (again, perhaps in a biased way). In the same way, since the Bible documents the history of God's interaction with Man, it thereby reveals something of the nature of Man.

What Man Was Intended To Be

Then God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. … And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:26–27,31

1. O Lord, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!
   You have set your glory above the heavens.
2. Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
   you have established strength because of your foes,
   to still the enemy and the avenger.
3. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
   the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4. what is man that you are mindful of him,
   and the son of man that you care for him?
5. Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
   and crowned him with glory and honor.
6. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
   you have put all things under his feet,
7. all sheep and oxen,
   and also the beasts of the field,
8. the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
   whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9. O Lord, our Lord,
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!Psalm 8

Mankind is created in the very image of God. Every good thing that can be pointed to in the human race points back to God. Mankind was created in the image of God and the parallels are abundant. As God is supreme over the entirety of this creation, so mankind has been given dominion over this earth. As God created and saw that it was good, so is mankind born with an innate love of creating and an appreciation of the glory of what God has created.

What Man Has Become

A quick look around at our world, however, makes us wonder whether we are beings created in the image of a righteous, holy God. We find no shortage of every kind of depravity and cruelty, and even when we try to do what is right and follow after the example of Jesus, we seem to stumble more often than we might have thought possible.

Knowing that the Bible records God's interaction with man, we might expect God to work with the purest, the most righteous and holy specimens of mankind. We might look to the Bible to find those with whom God has been pleased, and try to set them up as examples for us. If we try to do this, though, we will quickly find ourselves crossing off Noah for drunkenness, Moses for murder, David's adultery, Solomon's idolatry, and so on. We soon recognize the truth in Paul's words to the Romans, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (I don't mean to suggest that there have never been righteous people—for instance, righteousness was, in fact, attributed to Noah. I am illustrating the simple fact that we are a corrupt race, and in need of salvation.) In his letter to the Romans, Paul also quotes David:

1. The fool says in his heart, There is no God.
   They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds,
   there is none who does good.
2. The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man,
   to see if there are any who understand,
   who seek after God.
3. hey have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
   there is none who does good,
   not even one.
4. Have they no knowledge, all the evildoers
   who eat up my people as they eat bread
   and do not call upon the Lord?
5. There they are in great terror,
   for God is with the generation of the righteous.
6. You would shame the plans of the poor,
   but the Lord is his refuge.
7. Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
   When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people,
   let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

What Man Is To Become

Fortunately, what Bible tells us about ourselves does not end with the contrast between what we were meant to be and what we eventually became. No, the story of salvation continues with the arrival of the indwelling Holy Spirit that changes us. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:14–17) The Bible shows us what we are becoming.

What is the Bible?

What, then, is this amazing thing called the Bible? The Bible is God's Word meant to be permanently available to His people. Though the millennia, God has communicated with His people in a number of different ways: personal revelation, prophecy, dreams and interpretations, and so on. Some of these communications have been recorded in the Bible, and so the Bible is a record of His interaction with His people through the millennia.

What Effect Does the Bible Have?

We just spent a fair amount of time talking about what is actually in the Bible, at least in terms of what we might expect to find, overall, in the Bible. But even so, there are many true things that we can find in this world, and some of them seem to have an effect on s more than others. What effect does the Bible have on us? We can start by examining what effect the Bible has had on others through history.

2 Kings 22—Josiah's Revival

Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it. And Shaphan the scribe came to the king and brought back word to the king and said, Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house, and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord. Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, Hilkiah the priest has given me a book. And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. And it came about when the king heard the words of the book of the, that he tore his clothes. Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king's servant saying, Go, inquire of the Lord for me and the people and all Judah concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of the Lord that burns against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.2 Kings 22:8–13

We read on to see how Josiah tore down all the places of pagan worship: the houses of cult prostitution, the high places, the Asherah, the various temples for the gods of the peoples around Israel. The word of the Lord exposed and revealed the terrible state of the people, but it also caused them to repent.

Not only did the people repent, but they made forward-looking promises and covenants:

Then the king sent, and they gathered to him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the Lord and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great; and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord. And the kind stood by the pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and all his soul, to carry out the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people entered into the covenant. 2 Kings 23:1–3

To those of us who know God, the Bible calls us back and shows us who we are, and who God is. The Bible also plays an important rule in telling us who Christ is.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he rose and went. And there was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, Go over and join this chariot. So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, Do you understand what you are reading? And he said, How can I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.

And the eunuch said to Philip, About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus. And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized? And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea. Acts 8:26–40

Just reading the Scriptures as they existed at that time were not enough to get the Ethiopian eunuch to know Christ, but they were the starting point and background that made it possible for him to accept Christ as savior and Messiah.

Jesus and the disciples on the road to Emmaus

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? And he said to them, What things? And they said to him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. And he said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent. So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon! Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:13–35

The disciples who had been with Jesus during His ministry and who had heard Jesus preach, still did not understand what was happening around them. Jesus knew exactly what they needed, and what would convince them, and so he explained the Scriptures to them to show them that the Messiah must come and be rejected and crucified and that He would rise again. Though they were present for the biggest events in God's plan for salvation, they didn't understand it until they became familiar with the Scripture.

Structure of the Bible

I hope that by this point the motivation for studying the Bible is clear. In the time that we have left, I would like to quickly give an overview of the structure of the Bible. This may be familiar material for many of you, but it never hurts to review.

The Bible is a collection of about sixty-six books (the standard Protestant canon has sixty-six, though some people consider a few more part of the canon, and some (e.g., Martin Luther) have wondered whether certain books ought not be considered canon, and of course, there are divisions in some books that are considered a single book in Hebrew).

Old Testament

The Old Testament contains all the Scriptures authored before the time of Christ. Within the Old Testament there are number of groups of books. The books of each group are each connected in some way, either topical, or by time period.

The Pentateuch

The Pentateuch comprises the five books authored by Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Genesis records Creation, the introduction of Sin into the world, early civilization, all the way up to God's personal relationship with Abraham (and up to captivity in Egypt). From Moses' point of view, the most recent of these events would have been almost five-hundred years ago. Though Moses wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit, much of the material in Genesis would also have been passed down through oral tradition in some form. Genesis, then, deals with God's interaction with all of humanity.

We often consider Christianity an extension of Judaism, or the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy. These notions are not incorrect, but it is worth mentioning that God has had interactions with people outside of Israel, and outside what has been recorded in the Bible. For instance, Jesus is a high priest according to the order of Malchizedek, and this reminds us that God had dealings with other peoples from the beginning. (Malchizedek was a priest for God who blessed Abraham, and so clearly God was known to other peoples.)

Exodus through Deuteronomy records events that happened primarily within Moses' lifetime. (Though some accounts, e.g., Moses' death and burial, were clearly afterwards.) These include Moses' birth and childhood as Egyptian royalty, his self-imposed exile into a pastoral life, his return to Egypt, God's dealings with the Egyptian Pharaoh that ultimately led to the exodus of the Hebrews from Israel. Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for forty years until they had reached the promised land, though he himself was not permitted to enter in.

Historical Books

The historical books narrate the history of Israel (and some surrounding nations) from the time after Moses' through the time of the judges, the kings, the exiles, and some of the prophets.

After the death of Moses, the Israelites entered the promised land, but still had to conquer it from the many peoples who were already living there. They did not conquer it all at once, and indeed, some of the people whom God instructed the Israelites to remove never left.

Despite Israel's initial jubilation at reaching the promised land and being free to worship their own God, and live on their own land, and receive the blessings God had promised them, the time of the judges is very dark. Numerous stories tell of intruding foreigners and apostasy within Israel. The stories in judges point out that the Israelites had been physically redeemed, in that they had come up from Israel and were, more or less, in the land that they had been promised, but that they were still spiritually weak and prone to stumble. How similar were they to we in our own Christian walks!

Poetical and Wisdom Books

The poetical and wisdom books comprise the Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. These books explore some of the questions that people still ask today, for example Why is there suffering and evil?; Why do good people suffer and evil people prosper? They express wisdom, and praise, and prayer, and portray divine love.

Prophets

After the time of Moses, during which Moses had been instructed to write the commandments and the Law and, presumably, various parts of history, God communicated to Israel through the priesthood and the prophets (who are not, it should be mentioned, mutually exclusive). In the earlier years of Israel's history, communication seem to have been primarily through the priests (consider king Saul learning of God's will through the priests), but during the dispersions, the prophets had a larger role.

Some of the prophets spoke of things to come, including Israel's diaspora, that is, the dispersions and captivities that they were to suffer, or God punishing the nations that did these things to Israel (though they themselves were used by God to punish and purify Israel). Other prophets spoke of the Messiah. Isaiah, for instance, describes Jesus very well.

New Testament

The New Testament was written after the time of Christ, and contains two types of books, the gospels, and letters. The New Testament books are somewhat different than the Old Testament books because they address, initially, a much wider audience than the Old Testament books did.

Gospels

The Gospels record the ministry of Jesus, and the history of the early church. Four accounts of the gospel have been considered canon, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and these would have been copied and sent around to various places in the ancient world. The spread of the Roman Empire makes the New Testament world much smaller, in the same sense that the Internet and globalization is making the world smaller today. (Perhaps the Gospels were the viral videos of the ancient world?)

Pauline Epistles

The apostle Paul wrote a great deal of the New Testament, and his conversion is a great encouragement to any evangelist—both in that a ministry can be effective, even with modest resources, and that there is no one that God cannot change. Each of Paul's letters is usually placed into one of two categories. Though Paul was a Jew, and started his preaching in each city in the synagogue, the Pauline epistles are largely aimed toward the Gentiles.

Church Epistles

Paul's letters called church epistles are letters to churches that he had planted, or helped to establish. The instructions he sent to these churches is still relevant and applicable today, and also helps to understand how Paul's ministry progressed, and how he evangelized.

Pastoral Epistles

Paul's pastoral epistles are those letters that were written to individuals who had, or would eventually have, leadership roles in the local churches. These letters are also relevant and meaningful today, can guide us as individuals, and help us as churches.

General, or Catholic, Epistles

The remaining books of the New Testament are called General Epistles, and these are books that are aimed toward large audiences. For instance, the book of James is written to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad, that is, Jews everywhere. The General Epistles are also, in some senses, aimed toward the Jews and Hebrew Christians, and so supplement Paul's writings that were aimed at the Gentiles.