About this Blog

Seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Bitesize Bible Study – About the Bible

By Anushka, on 27th September 2010

Bitesize Learning is all the rage in the UK, mainly for teenagers studying for their exams.  A topic is presented in small chunks, with bullet points and easy to remember sentences.  This seems to be a good way to study, so I’m going to do a series on Bitesize Bible Study.  The subject matter will be fairly easy going – if you want more in-depth study on the Bible take a look at The Bible Study and see what you can find.

What is the Bible?

  • A collection of 66 books
  • Written by many different people over a period of about 1200 years
  • All books reflect the same message – God’s plan for the world through Jesus Christ

Where does the action take place?

  • Initial action takes place in the Middle East, from Iran and Iraq, over to Israel, and down to Egypt
  • Jesus lived in the land of Israel
  • Paul the apostle spread the gospel throughout the Mediterranean region, as far as Italy
  • Jerusalem is God’s chosen capital city

How is the Bible divided and why?

  • The Old Testament is 39 books, and represents the time period from c.2000 BC up to 400 BC
  • The Old Testament focuses on the people of Israel and their history, and the law of Moses
  • Many Old Testament people receive promises from God about Jesus coming in the future
  • The New Testament is 27 books, and covers the time period from 0 AD up to around c.90 AD
  • The New Testament focuses on the work of Jesus, and the spread of the early Christian church
  • Jesus often referred back to the Old Testament – he thought it was very important!

What’s in the Bible for us?

  • In the Old Testament man fell away from God by sinning
  • God promised to send his son Jesus Christ, so that we all have a way to be reunited with God
  • In the New Testament God sent his son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins
  • God has promised us eternal life in His kingdom, as his gift, if we believe in Him and Jesus, and ask for forgiveness of our sins
  • The Bible is the inspired Word of God and it tells us how to live our lives in a way that is pleasing to Him

Next time: – Bitesize Book of Genesis

Leave a comment   Bible Study   , , , ,  

Why bother with the Old Testament?

By Anushka, on 4th August 2010

We know that everything in the Bible is there so that we can learn from it.  The apostle Paul tells us this:

All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16

When Paul was writing his letters don’t forget that his Bible WAS the Old Testament, so clearly he thought there was much we can learn from it.

If you read the Old Testament you will be struck by the way its written as a history book rather than a means of religious instruction.  We are to learn by reading about other peoples lives, and more importantly the mistakes they make, because believe me, in many cases the Old Testament is a catalogue of how NOT to worship God!

The Israelites worship idols, they follow false gods, and they complain about their lot.  They are constantly under attack from enemies because they fail to trust in God, and they only turn back to him when they are in trouble.

And as for the individuals: they commit adultery, murder, and theft.  They lie, they covet and they disobey God… I could go on.

But hang on, its not as if we are perfect ourselves.  How many of us have told lies, been jealous of someone or in some other way committed a sin?

Every single one of us!

Which is the whole point.  We are not perfect and neither were God’s chosen people.  If we read the Old Testament we learn about how people dealt with their mistakes and the consequences, we learn about forgiveness, we learn that its okay to say I’m sorry to God and try again.

We also see how these flawed people sometimes managed to get it right!  David was called a man after God’s own heart. Moses was referred to as the friend of God. There is a message there for us that if we try hard to do what God wants, he can be pleased with us, and because of Jesus, he will forgive us when we do wrong.

So next time you read something from the Old Testament, remember, these were real people.  They lived their lives just like we do, they had the same desires and physical needs.  They made the same mistakes.  They had the same capacity for good, the same altruistic motives.  They sometimes struggled with their faith and went through highs and lows in their lives.

Let’s take comfort from the experiences of those people who lived in Old Testament times, and learn from them, knowing that these were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.  God [has] planned something better for us so that only together with us [will] they be made perfect – Hebrews 11:40

Leave a comment   Spiritual Thoughts