Bible School

After a summer break the Bible School will start meeting again on Tuesday, September 28th, 7.45 - 10.00pm at The Oaks.

We will meet fortnightly, as far as possible, and this time we will be studying the book of Revelation together.

Anyone interested is welcome to join us.  Please contact Christine McConnell (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) .

Revelation

There is plenty evidence to suggest that this book was written by the apostle, John, one of the three apostles especially close to Jesus. In John's gospel he describes himself as the disciple who Jesus loved - not because Jesus loved him more than the others but perhaps because he was so amazed by it.  As far as we know he is the only apostle who was not martyred and lived to a ripe old age.  The story goes that, toward the end of his life, he had to be carried into the church meeting by some of the younger men and, when he was asked to speak his message was very simple but reflected what he regarded as the most important message he could give, 'Little children, Love One Another'.

Revelation was written around 95AD so about 60 years after the crucifixion by which time John himself must have been in his 90's. The whole book is a prophecy received by John from Jesus himself (1.1-3; 22.18). There is something special about the book. Firstly a blessing is pronounced on those who simply read it, or hear it and take to heart what is written (1.3). Secondly, a curse is pronounced on anyone who adds anything to it, or takes anything from it (22.18, 19). No other book of the Bible is given this status. So, when handling this book...Handle with Care!

The book of Revelation belongs to the class of literature known as Apocalyptic. The kind of imagery we find in the book is difficult for us to understand but was not difficult for the original readers for whom this imagery was readily understandable. At the time of writing the church was undergoing persecution. Basically, the message of Revelation is that everything will be alright in the end. God has already determined victory over Satan and his evil forces. Even though things may be difficult now, and persecution may even lead to death, eternal salvation is assured for those who resist till the end and remain faithful to God and to his son, Jesus Christ.

If you want to know more join us on Tuesday evenings!

 

Here is a short overview of some of the other books contained in the Bible.

AN OVERVIEW OF THE BIBLE

 The Bible covers a period of 2100 years, from Genesis 12 onwards. The Old Testament covers 2000 of  those years and the New Testament, just 100.

 THE OLD TESTAMENT

The Pentateuch(?? – 1400BC)

Pentateuch simply means 5-volumed and refers to the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy).

For the Jews these books are extremely important: they form the Book of the Law or Torah, the foundation of the Jewish Faith. 

Who wrote the Pentateuch?

Traditional view is that Moses wrote all five books. Since the Enlightenment in the 19^th century there has been a tendency to be skeptical about traditional views (scholars have identified different writing styles in the books and the most popular theory is that about four different writers have been brought together by an editor). However, there is no good reason to believe Moses did not write these works, or at least a great deal of what is contained in them.

How would he have known the stories contained in Genesis since he would have been born about 300 years after this period? Oral tradition was very strong, stories handed down from generation to generation (still the case in many third world cultures). Sometimes other books are mentioned in the Bible which no longer exist but which the Bible writers could have referred to (Numbers 21.14).

 Genesis

Genesis is the foundational book for the whole Bible. The book tells us what the problem is with our world, and the rest of the Bible tells us how God is working to put it right.

Whatever you believe about the creation narrative in Genesis 1 & 2, without these opening chapters the rest of the Bible would not make sense. So, if Genesis is not true, neither is the rest of the Bible. But we do need to remember that it is not meant to be a scientific book, though scientists would agree that the order in which things were created in Genesis is what they would expect.

And archeological evidence also confirms the reliability of much of this book.

 Is it necessary to believe in Adam and Eve as real people? The New Testament assumes the historical fact of Adam, and Paul builds some of his theology on it, so yes…Bible believing Christians need to believe in the existence of Adam and Eve. Their creation and fall is the crucial starting point to the Biblical story. From then on the whole Bible is concerned with the reconciliation of man with God.

Genesis 1-11: How things began – origin of world and nations; the flood (attested to in manuscripts from other contemporary cultures); Babel. It is not possible to date this period. One problem is that the genealogies are not all-inclusive. ‘Father of’ and ‘son of’ are looser terms than for us and can mean ‘ancestor of’.

Genesis 12-50: The Patriarchal period, Abraham (the choosing of him and Israel) – Joseph; dates are something like 2000 – 1700 BC.

 Exodus – Deuteronomy

We are now looking at a period around 1500BC; all these books are concerned with the events of Moses lifetime: the Exodus, the Law giving, the building of the Tabernacle, the chance to enter Canaan, and the wilderness wanderings for forty years because of their lack of faith.

Only two of those who left Egypt actually lived to see Canaan being occupied: Caleb and Joshua. 

Deuteronomy ends with warnings concerning the consequences of obedience and disobedience, and the account of the death and burial of Moses (which he couldn’t have written!).

 Moses death is dated around 1406BC.

The Historical Books

These books chart Israel’s history from the invasion and occupation of Canaan, the exile of the northern kingdom in 721BC and the southern kingdom in 587/6BC, and the return from exile around 538-444BC.

 Joshua (1400BC)was a personal assistant to Moses when he was a young man, a sort of disciple. He, along with Caleb, supported the invasion of Canaan. He became Moses’ successor when he was about 70/80. and he led Israel for 40 years. Some traditions ascribe the writing of the book to him, others say Samuel was the writer. It was most probably written before 1000BC.

After Joshua’s death a series of Judgesruled Israel (1300-1100BC). Because the years each judge reigned seem to cover a period of 400 years, yet only actually cover a period of 200 years, it is likely that there was often more than one judge at a time. Israel was not yet a nation under one ruler, but groups of tribes under different leaders. There was no line of succession and sometimes there were periods when a group had no leader at all and Israel reverted to ‘doing evil’. God raised judges up when this led to a time of crisis, usually when Israel needed delivering from her enemies. These judges were usually fighting men (and woman!), whose success was owed to the Holy Spirit coming on them in power.

 The story of Ruth takes place in this period. She was the Great Grandmother of David.

The traditional Jewish view is that Samuel wrote at least part of Judges but that other prophets also contributed, shaped and edited it (see 1 Chronicles 29.29).

 Samson was the last Judge in the book of Judges, but it looks like Eli, the priest in the opening pages of I Samuel, was also judge as well as a priest, and that his sons were set to succeed him. They were rejected by God and Samuel was appointed by God in their place. Samuel was the greatest leader of Israel since Moses.

 1 & 2 Samuel (1100-950BC), besidestelling the story of Samuel, also relates the beginning of the monarchy, and its first king, Saul (who failed to be obedient) and the second king, David, the greatest king Israel ever had (he became king around 1000BC). The desire to have a monarchy is seen as a negative thing – a rejection of God as their king, which God nevertheless allows – and amazingly utilizes in prophecies about a future king: prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. Under David Israel finally becomes one nation, with a capital city.

Two other themes arise in these books: the choosing of Jerusalem as the capital, and the place where God dwells, and the plan to build a Temple where the people can meet with their God.

 1 & 2 Kings(950-562BC) follows on from 2 Samuel and begins with the death of David and the appointment of Solomon as his successor. David’s reign was one of expansion and prosperity, which continued under Solomon. Only at this time did Israel possess virtually all of the land that God had promised her. Solomon’s greatest achievement was the building of the Temple. The age of David and Solomon was a golden age in Israel’s history which led, in later times, to a longing for something like it in the future, under a king like David.

 But most of 1 and 2 Kings is concerned with Israel’s downfall. After Solomon’s death the kingdom was divided (930BC). His son, Rehoboam, reigned over the two tribes who formed the southern kingdom, Judah and Benjamin; and Jeroboam became king over the ten tribes which made up the northern kingdom, Israel. Most of the kings of Israel were unfaithful. During the reign of Omri, 885-874BC, the fifth king of Israel, God raised up Elijah to speak to the kings on His behalf. Elijah ministered during the reigns of Ahab and Ahaziah. Elisha replaced him during the reigns of Jehu, Jehoahaz and Jehoash (842-782BC). The kingdom ceased to exist in 721BC when most of the population went into exile to Assyria. The land of Israel was settled by the ancestors of the Samaritans…

… and the ten tribes disappeared from the pages of history. 

The southern kingdom, Judah, lasted a while longer, due mainly to the fact that they had Jerusalem and the temple, and the royal line of David. But we gain an insight into their religious life on three occasions: the reigns of Joash,  Hezekiah (who was reigning when Israel went into exile) and Josiah, all three of whom decided to clean up Judah’s spiritual life. On each occasion the Temple was in a bad state of repair, the priests were not looking after it, Temple services had stopped, the feasts were probably not being kept and idolatry was rife. One telling account is in 2 Kings 22.8 where the book of the Law is found and it is clear that no-one knew any longer what was in it.

Judahfinally fell to the Babylonian empire in 587/6BC when Jerusalem and the Temple were totally destroyed. There were two smaller exiles before that: one in 605BC, when Daniel was included in the exiles, and one in 597BC, which included Ezekiel.

 We don’t know who wrote Kings but it was probably written around 550BC. Clearly other records also existed, which the author was able to use (1 Kings 11.41; 14.19).

 1 & 2 Chronicles: According to Jewish tradition Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah originally formed one work, which was possibly written after the return from exile (538-424BC). Again, as with Kings, other sources were used (2 Chronicles 16.11; 27.7). 1 Chronicles tells us about David’s reign, and has a more ‘religious’ purpose than Kings. It is concerned with Judah rather than Israel and more concerned with the king’s attitude to the spiritual life of the nation. The book ends by seeing the exile as God’s judgment and the restoration as a fulfillment of God’s plan.

 The people remained in exile for a period of around 70 years, after which a remnant returned to Israel and rebuilt the temple. The first return was in 538BC, another group returned with Ezra in 458BC and a third group in 444BC with Nehemiah.

Only about 50,000 Jews, out of a possible 2,000,000 returned to Judah from exile. There are several reasons for this: they had a comfortable life in Babylon; they were a new generation that had no connection to Judah; the journey back was 900 miles, and they would be returning to a devastated, destroyed land.

 Both Ezra (537-424BC) and Nehemiah (445-430BC) are accounts of the returns from exile. The traditional view is that Ezra wrote Chronicles and Ezra, but much of Nehemiah is made up of his personal memoirs so at least some was written by him.

 The book of Esther may have been written by Mordecai, Esther’s uncle. The story takes place during the reign of King Xerxes (486-465BC) and tells two stories: how God preserved Israel when she was threatened with extinction; and the origin of the Jewish feast of Purim.

Poetic Books and Wisdom Literature

It is possible that Job was a contemporary of the patriarchs (2000-1800BC). Nothing in the book gives a clue to who wrote it or when the story took place. No record remains of where UZ was either (Job 1.1). The story concerns God’s justice in the light of human suffering.

The 150 Psalms were written over several hundred years. Of the 150 Psalms one is ascribed to Moses and 73 to David. Basically it was the hymn book for the temple worship.

 Proverbs is a sort of guidebook on how to live wisely. Some of the sayings were written by Solomon in the 10^th century BC; others are anonymous. The final editing of the book probably took place in the 5^th century BC.

 Ecclesiastes offers us the key to the meaning of life: God alone holds the key and he is to be trusted.  Traditional view is that Solomon wrote this book, though the language seems too modern for the 10^th century.

 The Song of Songs illustrates the rich wonders of human love, but is also interpreted to illustrate God’s love, or Christ’s love for the church. If Solomon is the author then the book was written in the 10^th century BC.

 The Prophets

 All these prophets would have been prophesying in Israel and Judah during the period we read about in the books of Kings and Chronicles. The prophetic books are not in chronological order in the Bible but are grouped as Major Prophets and Minor Prophets.

The main themes that are apparent in these prophecies: Israel’s inability to be faithful to her God; her tendency towards idolatry, continually going after the god’s of other nations; God’s repeated attempts to bring Israel back to him; Israel’s failure to listen; Israel’s failure to obey the laws God had given her, or tendency see them as laws requiring only an external obedience; Israel’s failure in the area of social justice – especially justice for the underdogs.

 Isaiah (740-686BC)prophesied to the southern kingdom of Judah around the same time as Micah. Also around this time Amos and Hosea were prophesying to the northern kingdom, Israel. Isaiah was prophesying to Judah when Israel fell and went into exile. Though he prophesied 100 years before the fall and exile of Judah he foretells both it and a future restoration. His prophecies also concern the end of the age when the whole creation will once again be reconciled to God.

 Jeremiah (627-585BC) prophesied in the final years of the southern kingdom and himself went into exile to Egypt. Of all the prophets he is the one who allows us to see his character through his message. Lamentations is traditionally understood to have been written by him.

 Ezekiel (597BC)prophesied from his place of exile. He is probably the least known of the major prophets, though we all know the story of the dry bones. Because of his prophecy with quite exact measurements of a future temple, many believe that a fourth temple will eventually be built.  There is even a store of wood in Israel all ready for when God opens the way for the rebuilding.

Daniel (605-530BC) was taken into exile as a young boy in 605BC and remained in exile all his life, first under the Babylonian empire and then the Persian empire. Interestingly he was probably in his 80’s when he went into the Lion’s den!  The book covers 75 years of Daniel’s life, but 440 years of Israel’s history! Scholars tend to be skeptical about his prophecies being given in the 6^th century BC when they so accurately reflect what happened in the 2^nd century BC.

 Hosea (750BC) and Amos prophesied to the northern kingdom, though only Hosea was actually from there.  His life with an adulterous wife is used as a picture of God’s relationship with adulterous Israel.  We see, in chapter 11 for instance, God’s heart of love for his people.

 Joel cannot be accurately dated; it could be as early as 9^th century or as late as 4^th

Amos (750BC) was a contemporary of Hosea and prophesied to Israel though he came from Judah.

Neither Obadiah nor Jonah can be dated with any accuracy; possibly 9^th century.

Micah prophesied at the same time as Isaiah.

Nahum and Zephaniah were from the 7^th  century.

Habakkuk prophesied around 606BC when Judah was under threat from the Babylonian empire.

Haggai, Zechariah & Malachiall prophesied after Judah returned from exile, from 538BC onwards and were possibly contemporaries of Ezra and Nehemiah. Malachi was the last prophet and his ministry was around 440BC.

After these prophets there follows a period of about 400 years of virtual silence. No book in the official Old Testament says anything about this period (except Daniel, prophetically), and there is a Jewish belief that the Spirit was withdrawn from Israel during this time.

Some Bibles include the books of Maccabees, which do cover this period.

But Malachi closes with a promise (4.5,6)….and 400 years later the New Testament opens with its fulfillment!

 The Old Testament in the form we have it today may not have been put together until around the 1^st century BC, or even later.

THE NEW TESTAMENT

In the 400 years of ‘silence’ a lot happened on a spiritual level.  The prophecies of Isaiah, for instance, included prophecies of a glorious future for Israel under a king who excelled in justice and wisdom. But the reality of the return from exile was very different. Israel was restored to her land but only free from foreign rule for a very short period under the Maccabees. First the Persian empire was in charge, then the Greek empire, followed by the Roman empire. The prophecies therefore became a future hope of a restoration of Israel under an Anointed One sent by God to free them from political rule and bring in a glorious future where Israel would be in perfect relationship with her God. The word Messiah means Anointed One, and as the New Testament opens this is what the Jews are expecting: a Messiah who will free them from Roman rule, and be a political leader of a restored Israel.  Many false Messiahs did appear from time to time, even in Jesus’ day. But when Jesus, the real Messiah appeared he was not what the religious leaders had in mind! This is one reason why Jesus himself was careful not to use the word Messiah too much. The idea that a genuine Messiah would end up being crucified was totally unexpected – even the disciples never got their heads around that, until after the resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

 We read the gospels from our modern Christian perspective. But we need to remember that Jesus came to Israel, to the Jews, and almost never ministered to anyone outside of the Jewish race. If we read the gospels from this perspective we can learn to see his message in a different light. 

 Let’s go back to Abraham. God promises that a great nation will come from him and experience God’s blessing. Under Moses God takes this nation out of Egypt and intends to settle them in the Promised Land. After years of Israel’s disobedience and their empty promises of faithfulness, God finally gets them settled in Israel, but they never actually succeed in being faithful to the covenant. Their history is one of evil and disobedience, with the occasional repentance and promise to do better.  Finally God has had enough and they go into exile.

The main reasons for the exile are unfaithfulness, idolatry and a lack of social justice.

But God does not forget Israel. He brings them out of exile and resettles them in their land. However, if you read the Old Testament books written during and after this restoration it is clear that Israel has learnt nothing. 100 years after their return God’s voice becomes silent, and remains so for 400 years.

 And then, suddenly, the Holy Spirit returns and heaven opens again over Israel. First John, and then Jesus, walk out of the wilderness and proclaim that God is acting on Israel’s behalf once again, to restore them, to establish a new covenant with them, not by following a set of laws but by following the Anointed One sent by God who will make it possible for the Jews to be faithful to a new covenant, by giving them his Holy Spirit to live in them and work through them.

 Once again the majority of the Jews refuse to listen to God. Towards the end of his life Jesus gives them final warning (see Luke 21. 20-24). If they refuse this final word from God they will be rejected and the offer of salvation will go to the Gentiles. Jerusalem will be destroyed, and so will the Temple. What we have traditionally called ‘the cleansing of the Temple’ is now being seen as an acted prophecy: the Temple, with all its sacrifices etc. is about to cease to exist, as a result of God’s judgment; and God is once again set to reject his people ( for a time….). 

 Jesus was crucified around 30AD. Forty years later Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. Once again the Jews went into exile; only this time the exile lasted almost 1900 years. 

 The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke)

Mark was the first gospel to be written, about 55AD, so say 25 years after the crucifixion. It was written by John Mark. He is possibly the young man who fled naked from Gethsemane (Mark 14.51) and his home may be where the Last Supper was held. It was also used for a prayer meeting when Peter was imprisoned (Acts 12.12) Mark traveled with Paul and Barnabas, at first proved unreliable but was later Paul’s companion when in prison (13.13;15.37-39). Tradition has it that he was also very close to Peter and his gospel is a result of what he learned from him. It is the shortest and simplest gospel. Both Matthew (one of Jesus’ disciples: the tax collector also known as Levi) and Luke ( a doctor who traveled with Paul and the only Gentile to have a book in the Bible) probably had a copy of Mark’s gospel in front of them when they wrote theirs, but probably also other sources which have since been lost. Matthew was written between 60 and 70AD and Luke around 60-65AD. In those days it was not the tendency to write in chronological order. Matthew, for instance, has collected Jesus’ sayings into five ‘sermons’.

 John’s Gospel was written by the disciple John, who was very close to Jesus. He was the only disciple not to be martyred and lived to a very old age. He wrote his gospel between 85-90AD, when he was probably in his 80’s. Clearly his gospel is a very different style to the others. They tell a history of Jesus’ life whereas John adds a theological perspective.

It is clear, from John 20.30;21.25, that Jesus did much more than we read about in any of the gospels.

 John also wrote the letters 1, 2 & 3 John (written around 90AD)and the book of Revelation, the last book to be written, probably around 95AD. 

 The Acts of the Apostles isalso written by Luke and forms the second volume of his ‘history of early Christianity’. It could also be called a ‘history of the Holy Spirit’s activity in the early church’. Most of the book is concerned with Paul’s missionary journeys, but all of the book is concerned to show how the Holy Spirit led the church, from ‘Jerusalem…. to the ends of the earth’.

The book was written around the same time as Luke’s gospel.

 The Letters of Paulare written either to churches he established on his missionary journeys, or churches he hoped to visit, often to correct mistaken ideas or warn of the dangers of false doctrines which arose very quickly.

 Romansis written to a church Paul hoped to visit soon. He probably wrote it in 57AD and it is the most comprehensive and systematic statement of the Christian faith in the Bible.

1 & 2 Corinthians, plus at least one other that is lost, are written to resolve some of the difficulties he was experiencing with this enthusiastic, but sometimes rather foolish, church. Both letters were probably written around 55AD.

 Galatianswas written around 50AD, probably the first Paul wrote; Ephesians, 60AD; Philippians, 61AD; Colossians, 60AD; 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 51AD; 1 & 2 Timothy, 64 & 66AD; Titus, 64AD; Philemon, 60AD.

2 Timothy was Paul’s last letter, and he was probably martyred soon afterwards

Various other letterscomplete the New Testament.

Hebrews was written by an unknown disciple, possibly Barnabas or Apollos, both of whom we read about in Acts. It was written before the fall of Jerusalem in 70AD.

James was written by the brother of Jesus, who became the leader of the church in Jerusalem.  The letter was written around 48AD so one of the earliest New Testament writings we have.

1 & 2 Peter were written by Peter, the leading disciple, around 64AD and 66AD.

Jude is probably another brother of Jesus and his letter was written around 65AD.

 The New Testament in the form that we have it now, was put together over a longish period in the 2^nd  and possibly 3^rd centuries. As long as the apostles were around, and the next generation who knew them directly, it hadn’t seemed necessary to put everything together. But once that immediate connection with the apostles was gone it became essential to establish which writings were authoritative and which were not. 

Many other writings were circulating, some of which have been rediscovered in recent years, but which were eventually rejected by the Early Church Fathers.