A Minister's Bible - Anonymous Prayer

2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."

The book "Valley of Vision" is a collection of prayers and reflections on scripture that I have found to be of great blessing to my soul over the years.  In today's post I want to share with you a prayer entitled "A Minister's Bible".  Many of the prayers in "Valley of Vision" were anonymous, reflecting the humility and deep spiritual relationship the authors had with Jesus.  May this piece be of blessing to you this Lord's day.

A Minister's Bible - Anonymous prayer

From the Book: "The Valley of Vision"

O God of a Truth

I thank thee for the holy Scriptures

their precepts, promises, directions, light

In them may I learn more of Christ,

be enabled to retain His truth

and have the grace to follow it.

Help me to lift up the gates of my soul that He may come in

and show me Himself when I search the Scriptures

For I have no lines to fathom its depths,

no wings to soar to its heights.

By His aid may I be enabled to explore all its truths,

love them with all my heart,

embrace them with all my power,

engraft them into my life.

Bless to my soul as grains of truth garnered from thy Word;

may they take deep root,

be refreshed by heavenly dew,

be ripened by heavenly rays

be harvested to my joy and thy praise.

Help me to gain profit by what I read,

as treasure beyond all treasure,

a fountain which can replenish my dry heart,

its waters flowing through me as a perennial river

on-drawn by the Holy Spirit.

Enable me to distill from its pages faithful prayer

that grasps the arm of thy omnipotence,

achieves wonders, obtains blessings,

and draws down streams of mercy.

From it show me how my words have often been unfaithful to thee,

injurious to my fellow-men, empty of grace, full of folly

dishonoring to my calling.

Then write thy own words upon my heart and inscribe them on my lips;

So shall all glory be to thee in my reading of thy Word!

Meet the Old Testament

Hebrews 9:1 "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary."

Review
Yesterday we did a flyover of the New Testament through the aid of the thoughts we gathered from Hebrews 9:14-28.  In that chapter we spring boarded into a survey of all the New Testament books by following the following thoughts and outline:

1. Foundation of the New Testament is the Gospels, which portray Christ.  Hebrews 9:11-12

2. History of the New Testament is in Acts which records the preaching about Christ.  Hebrews 9:13-14

3. Epistles of the New Testament serve to explain Christ.  Hebrews 9:15-26

4. Revelation, the last book of the New Testament, prioritizes Christ.  Hebrews 9:27-28

So in short, Christ is portrayed in the Gospels, preached in Acts, explained in the Epistles and Prioritized in Revelation.  In today's blog we are going to utilize the first half of Hebrews 9 to aid us in thinking through the first part of the Bible that is called "The Old Testament".  

Why the Old Testament is important
According to H.L Wilmington, the Old Testament contains 39 books, 929 chapters, 23,214 verses and 593,493 words.  If you were to compare the Old and New Testament by their lengths, you would discover that The Old Testament occupies over 75% of the Bible.  Sadly Christians by and large neglect the Old Testament.  Our lack of desire stems not from it being harder to understand than the New as it does with sheer lack of familiarity with its contents.  My prayer is that this blog post today will whet your appetite to study the Old Testament.  

Briefly comparing Old and New Testament
Much like the New Testament, the Old Testament in our English Bibles can be subdivided into the same four categories that we used yesterday.  Below I have included a comparison of both Testaments to illustrate what I am saying:

Old Testament        
Foundations: Pentateuch or Torah or Law                
Genesis-Deuteronomy  (5 books)                            

New Testament
Foundations: The Gospels
Matthew-Luke (4 books)

Old Testament History: Joshua through Esther (12 books)              

New Testament
History: Acts

Old Testament Writings: Poetic Books or Books of Poetry               
Job-Song of Solomon (5 books)  

New Testament
Writings: Epistles
Romans-Jude (21 books)

Old Testament Prophecy: Isaiah - Malachi (17 books)                    
New Testament
Prophecy: Revelation

Encountering the Old Testament through Hebrews 9:1-10

1. Foundations: Genesis - Deuteronomy illustrated in Hebrews 9:1-5
Christ Pictured
Hebrews 9:1 reads - "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary."  The focal point of Hebrews 9 is the worship center of Israel called "The Tabernacle".  God's promise of salvation began back in Genesis 3 with the institution of the Covenant of Grace to Adam and Eve in the Garden.  Ten generations from Adam, God would reveal to Noah the Ark of salvation wherein he would save he and his family from the world-wide flood. (Genesis 6-9; 1 Peter 3:18-20).  Another ten generations from Noah's son Shem would lead to Abraham, to whom God would call to be saved and become the first patriarch of the Israelite nation in Genesis 12.  From Abraham's day to Moses would span yet another 10 generations and 430 years period of time, connecting the ongoing redemptive plan and promise of God.  To Moses God revealed the law on Sinai and His grace through the tabernacle.   

Contrary to what many people may think, salvation in the Old Testament was based upon grace alone through faith alone in the promise God revealed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as well as their forbears.  The Tabernacle system served to illustrate the promise and functioned together with the law to remind the people that salvation was unattainable apart from the grace of God and their reception of it by faith.  

These truths are why the first five books of the Bible in the Hebrew Bible are  called "Torah", since the word derives from a verb meaning "guidance".  The Apostle Paul spells out the purpose of the Torah or Law in Galatians 3:24 - "Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith."  

The tabernacle system spoken of in Hebrews 9:1-5 served to picture the Person and work of Jesus Christ.  For example, the seven main furnishings of the tabernacle functioned together as a unit, detailing the journey that the worshipper would make from the world of sin to the throne of God.  If we had more time we would go through each of those, but the point of Hebrews and the foundation of the Old Testament: The Torah or Pentateuch (the five books) is to picture and point the way to Jesus.  

2. History: Joshua to Esther serve to Anticipate Christ. Hebrews 9:6-7
Hebrews 9:6-7 states - "Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, 7 but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance." As the writer of Hebrews underscores the preparation that would had went into the Tabernacle, we see the key theme of the remaining historical section of the Old Testament.  The people had been prepared under Moses, and now they were going to be led by Joshua in to the promised land.  The people would carry with them the tabernacle through Joshua and Judges and Ruth.  

By the time you reach 1 Samuel, the Tabernacle is currently at a town called Shiloh, with the system of worship and great decline.  God had in mind to call forth a prophet Samuel, who would end up anointing two kings: Saul and David in 1 Samuel.  In 2 Samuel you see David anointed twice more to become the greatest king of the United Kingdom of Israel.  In the books of 1 &2 Kings and 1 &2 Chronicles we see the kingdom led by Solomon, David's Son, who would build the temple.  According to 1 Kings 6, we are now 480 years after the days of Moses.  

Following Solomon's death, the United Kingdom divided and roughly 20 kings reigned in both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.  God warned the people time and time again that if they did not listen, He would send them into exile.  Sadly they ignored God's prophets, and so Israel in the Northern kingdom was exiled by Assyria and the Southern Kingdom would be later exiled into Babylon.  The Northern Kingdom would never be reformed, however after 70 years in Babylon, the people of Jerusalem to the South would return.  The books of Ezra and Nehemiah details the lives of God's people after the Babylonian exile.  It is in Esther that we historically reach the end of the Old Testament historical section.

Throughout that section of 12 books, we hear the growing cry for a redeemer.  Undoubtedly God continued to reveal things about Him, such as the promise of Him being the Ultimate King who would sit on David's throne in 2 Samuel 7:8-16.  Nonetheless you can hear the groans of history through the historical books as Christ is anticipated.  

3. Writings: Christ Prayed for and Praised.  Hebrews 9:8-9
Hebrews 9:8-9 states - "The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, 9 which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience."  As the writer of Hebrews continues, he tells us that the Holy Spirit was signifying that the way into the holy place remained off limits to the people.  

In the writings of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, we see God's people praying and responding on a personal level to the increasing darkness of the world and the urgent need for the Redeemer to come.  Job prays for it in Job 9:33 and David writes about it in Psalms such as 2 and 110.  Solomon and the other writers of Proverbs urge us to trust in the Lord with all our heart in passages such as Proverbs 3:5-6 and Proverbs 30:4-5.  Solomon warns us about how this world can destroy a person in Ecclesiastes and then we see Christ pictured beautifully in Song of Solomon.  All the while we are gaining the leverage needed to pray for the coming of the Lord, predicted in the final section of the Old Testament: the Prophets.  

4. Prophets focus on Christ predicted.  Hebrews 9:10-11
Hebrews 9:10 states - "since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation."  Just as we see in The New Testament, the Old Testament section of our Bibles in English ends with a prophetic tone.  Seventeen prophets occupy this last part of the Old Testament, with Isaiah leading off the pack.  It is in Isaiah 7:14 and 9:6-7 that we see Christ's virgin birth and Kingdom predicted, along with His death and resurrection predicted in Isaiah 53.  

Jeremiah and Lamentations portray the grief of our Savior as well as the New Covenant age that He would institute at His coming. (Jeremiah 31)  Ezekiel reaffirms Jeremiah's message by speaking further on the New Covenant age that will eventually lead into the Millennial reign of Christ.  Daniel starts out his prophecy as a 15 year old boy some 800 miles from home, in Exile, in Babylon.  For 70 years Daniel would live in the courts of Nebuchadnezzar and later on Darius of Persia.  To Daniel God would send far reaching visions about his own day and ours.  By the time he is 85, Daniel composes the most detailed prophecies you will find in Daniel 9,10,11 and 12.  

Hosea to Malachi are termed the "Minor Prophets", not because of their rank in the scriptures but mainly their relative size.  In the original Hebrew Old Testament they constituted one scroll, reminding us that though different men in different stations of life, yet they had one unified message: salvation, and one unified focus: God's glory.  Hosea portrays Christ the faithful spouse, Joel the sending of the Spirit and Amos pictures Christ the Plumb line of truth.  

Obadiah's prophecy gives an outline of the events of Christ's future coming and Jonah is used by Christ to picture what would be His death, burial and resurrection.  Micah tells us there is no God like Him and Nahum reminds us that He is an ever present comfort.  Habakkuk tells us that He answers prayer and Zephaniah tells us details about the day of His return.  Haggai asserts that Christ is the Desired treasure and Zechariah has him on the cross, raised and returning to earth to redeem His people.  Malachi finishes out by paving the way for what will be John the Baptist's ministry of preparing for the coming of the One whose sandals he would be unworthy to untie.  

Conclusion
In short, The Law as the foundation of the Old Testament pictures Christ, the History books anticipate Christ, the writings pray for and praise Christ and the Prophets predict Christ.  

To God be the glory!

Meet the New Testament

Hebrews 9:11  "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation." 

Introduction:
We will begin today's post with a quiz: What has 7,959 verses; 181,253 words and has been in existence for nearly 2,000 years.  Answer: The New Testament.   The purpose of today's post is to introduce you to the New Testament.  What is it's message, contents and chief point?  All of these questions will be answered in this fast-fly over of that glorious section of our Bibles that we call the New Testament.  Hebrews 9:11-28 will be our vehicle of choice, so strap in, buckle up, because its going to be a fast ride!

The Message, contents and chief point of the New Testament

1. The Foundation of the New Testament - The Gospels: Portray Jesus
Hebrews 9:11-12 states - "But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Where in the New Testament do we go to find out when and where Jesus appeared and what He did? The foundational books of the New Testament, the four Gospels, give us four portraits of what Jesus did.

Matthew presents the Majestic Christ, Christ our King.  In Matthew 1 we see the opening genealogy demonstrating His legal right to Israel's throne.  By the time you reach Matthew 27:37, you find our Lord on the cross with a sign above Him reading: "This is Jesus the King of the Jews." Following His resurrection from the dead, Jesus asserts in Matthew 28:18 that all power has been given to Him on Heaven and on earth.  Mark comes next, with his emphasis being upon the Mission of Jesus - the Suffering Servant.  Mark 10:45 has Jesus coming to serve and give His life a ransom for many.  Luke's account is the most historical, connecting us to Jesus the Perfect man, the New Adam.  In Luke 3:23-38 we see Jesus' genealogy differently from Matthew's.  Matthew traced Jesus bloodline through Joseph as being legally related to David, since Joseph was not his biological father according to the flesh.  However Luke traces Jesus' bloodline through Mary to demonstrate him to be be the biological heir of David, the biological fulfillment of Abraham's promise and biologically included in the bloodline of humanity.  As the New Adam, Jesus states in Luke 19:10 how He came to seek and save that which was lost.  

Those first three portraits together present Jesus in his humanity, with glimpses of His Deity.  In John's Gospel we see the emphasis being upon Jesus Christ as God in human flesh.  By the time you get through all four Gospels, you get the full picture of what Jesus Christ had done.   

2. Historical Section: The Book of Acts is about Jesus being Preached 
Hebrews 9:14-15a states - "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (15) For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant..."  The Gospels view Jesus in the past tense: what He did.  With the Book of Acts and the Epistles, we are seeing Jesus in the present tense: Who He is.  The Book of Acts is really a companion volume to the Gospel of Luke.  Together with Luke, both occupy nearly 30% of the New Testament's length!  The point of Acts is to show what happened following Jesus' resurrection.  In Acts 1 we see Jesus giving final instructions to His disciples before His ascension into Heaven.  Acts 1:8 is really the key to the whole book: "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” The reception of the power of the Holy Spirit occurs in Acts 2, with the early church going forth to proclaim the Gospel first in Jerusalem. (Acts 1-8)  Then we see the second stage of the church's mission going forth into all Judea and Samaria under the leadership of Peter and John in Acts 9-12.  Then the third stage of the church's mission occurs when Saul is converted and as Paul, spreads the Gospel to the remotest reaches of the Gentile world - northward and Westward. (Acts 13-28)  

The Book of Acts is undoubtedly a book of missions, but it is also a book of preaching.  Nearly 20 sermons are recorded in part or in full length, giving the reader first hand information on what was preached about Jesus in the 30 or so years of time recorded in Acts. Then finally, Acts is a book of the Holy Spirit, wherein He is mentioned some 40 times.  

The Book of Acts' relationship to the remaining section of the New Testament (Epistles) is to provide the historical backdrop and occasions for the writing of most of Paul's letters.  

3. The Writings or Epistles Explain Jesus Christ
Hebrews 9:15 tells us - "For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."  From Hebrews 9:15-26 we see a full explanation of what Jesus did and is doing, a function that describes the main point of the 21 New Testament Epistles.  In the Gospels we see 30% of the material being devoted to the final week of Jesus life, crucifixion, burial and resurrection.  In those six hours that He hung on the cross, all four Gospels reveal what happened.  However in order to understand the meaning of the cross and resurrection, we need to hear the preaching of Acts and the explanation of the Epistles.  What is an epistle?  An epistle is a 1st century form of what we would call a handwritten letter.  Normally there was an introductory section (salutation), a doctrinal section, a practical section and then a closing section (epilogue or conclusion).  Thus in Galatians we see Christ our curse bearer, Ephesians depicts Him as the Ascended King, Philippians details Him as God who humbled himself into full humanity and Colossians reveals His Full Deity revealed in full humanity.  1 and 2 Thessalonians unfold the truth of His snatching away of the church prior to His touching down upon this world in His return.  1 and 2 Timothy and Titus unfold Christ as the Chief Shepherd over his church, with under shepherds doing His bidding through the preaching of the word and loving of the people.  Philemon is devoted entirely to the theme of forgiveness and Hebrews explains the relationship of Christ's accomplished work to the predictions of the Old Testament. 

With Paul's letters being 13 or 14 in number (depending upon your view of Hebrews' authorship), the remaining epistles cover the entire range of the composition of the New Testament.  James is the earliest of all the Epistles, connecting the preaching and teaching of the Early church back to Jesus.  As half-brother of Jesus according to the flesh, he would have unique insight along with the other half-brother of Jesus who authors the book of Jude.  1 and 2 Peter came from the hand of the Apostle Peter who was the leading spokesman in the first 12 chapters of Acts.  1,2,3 John represents the end of the Apostolic period, with the Apostle John being the author who wrote them in 90 A.D.  Then the book of Jude, being composed by Jesus half-brother Jude, closes out the section of the New Testament sometimes called "The General Letters or Epistles". Paul's letters explain Christ's accomplishment and Christian salvation to the end of time.  The General Epistles take this same theme and show how Christ's work give power to endure suffering and to overcome the increasing encroachment of the world upon the Christian.  


4. The Book of Revelation Prioritizes Jesus Christ
Hebrews 9:28 states - "so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."  We have seen how the Gospels provide the foundation of the New Testament in their portrayal of Christ.  Acts provides the material necessary for the preaching of Christ, with the Epistles serving to Explain Christ.  This passage in Hebrews 9:28 illustrates a summary statement about the New Testament's final book - The Book of Revelation.  Revelation is all about revealing to the reader Jesus Christ. (Revelation 1:1).  In Revelation 1-3 we see Christ and His church.  By reading Revelation 4-5 you see Christ worshipped and in the section of 6-18 you see Christ Sovereign over history.  In the fourth major section of Revelation 19-20, you see revealed Christ and His coming reign, with the final two chapters devoted to Christ in eternity with His bride.  

Like the book of Acts, the book of Revelation has a key verse, 1:19 - "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things."  Therefore "the things which you have seen" covers the main bulk of chapters 1-3.  Then "the things which are" could overlap into Revelation 4-5.  Finally, "the things which will take place" could include the overlap of 4-5 as well as chapters 6-22.  Whether looking at the book thematically as we did in the previous paragraph, or structurally from the standpoint of 1:19, Jesus Christ still retains His central Priority.

In tomorrow's blog we will use Hebrews 9:1-14 to do a fly-over view of the Old Testament.  I hope you will be back to see what God has to say in that section of His Word.  Until then, God bless!

The meaning of "Bible", "Old Testament" and "New Testament"

Hebrews 8:6-7 "But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second."

Defining "The Bible", "Old Testament" and "New Testament"

Today's post will deal with matters that pertain to the physical features and contents of the Bible.  Whenever you consider those three terms "The Bible", "Old Testament" and "New Testament", you are using names and terms that are jammed packed full of doctrinal and supernatural truth.

1. Unpacking the term "Bible"

The first term "Bible" derives from a Greek word "biblos" meaning "the book".  According to Norman Geisler and William E. Nix: "The plural form of "biblos" is "biblia", and by the second century A.D Christians were using this latter word to describe their writings."1  Whenever we translate this word from the Greek (the language of the New Testament and early Christians) into the Latin (the language used for over a 1,000 years by Christians in the middle ages), the term becomes "biblia".  English speaking Christian scholars who knew Latin  would take that Latin term and make it into the English "Bible".  What were Christians thinking whenever they deemed the 27 books of the New Testament and 39 books of the Old Testament "Biblos", "Biblia" and "Bible"?  Plainly stated, the term simply means "The Book".  To say that I hold "the Bible" in my hand is the shorthand way of saying that I hold in my hand the unique, complete, inerrant, infallible revelation of God in written form.  

The term itself refers to the authority that God's Divine library, both as individual writings and as a collection hold.  The Bible is the sufficient and final authority for Christian faith, practice and understanding of God's revelation in creation, salvation and Jesus Christ.  Throughout the Bible itself, God makes references to the writings He reveals to His prophets and Apostles as "books".  At least Ten times in the Book of Genesis we see God using the phrase "this is the book of the generations" to mark off those portions that Moses wrote down by Divine Revelation.  Mention is made of the "Book of the Covenant", pertaining to the Torah or law revealed to Moses in Exodus 24:4-8.  Joshua 1:8 speaks of "this Book of the Law" and Psalm 40:7-8 states - Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. (8) I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”  Later on Jesus quotes Psalm 40:7-8 as referring to His own journey from eternity into time through the virgin birth conception. (Hebrews 10)  God's desire to reveal His will in words reflects how he thinks of the revelation of His glory and purposes in Heaven.  In Malachi 3:16 refers to a "book of remembrance" and then of course we see reference to God opening the books in the final judgment of Revelation 20, with reference made to "The Book of Life".

2. Unpacking the Term "Old Testament"

I am sure whenever you got married you heard this saying: "Something Old, something new, something borrowed and something blue".  When we speak of "Old Testament" or "Old Covenant", clearly there is implied that something "newer" came along.  Now we will get to that in a moment.  But first realize that the Bible itself uses this term "Old Testament" or "Old Covenant".  We read for example in 2 Corinthians 3:14 "But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ."  Hebrews 8:13 uses the same term - "When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear."  The term "Old Covenant" or "Old Testament" is both a Bible word and theological description.  

So what do we mean by this term "Old Testament"? The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology gives this fine definition of Testament: "the Biblical term derived from the Latin testamentum. It was used in Jerome's Vulgate to render the Hebrew 'Berit', covenant, in a few instances, as in Numbers 14:44, and the Greek 'diatheke', as in 2 Corinthians 3:14.  Since Tertullian's time it has been used to designate the two main divisions of the Holy Scripture - the Old Testament and the New.  This represents the literary use of the word."2  

The article continues with how the term is used in the doctrinal sense: "As used in Biblical theology, the term may denote the era from the arrangement given through Moses (Exodus 19:5-8); Jeremiah 31:32; Hebrews 8:9) to the death of Christ.3  Norman Geisler explains the term in this fashion: "The Old Testament was first called 'the Covenant' in Moses' day (Exodus 24:8).  Later, Jeremiah announced that God would make a New Covenant with His people (Jer. 31:31-34), which Jesus claimed to do at the Last Supper (Matt. 26:28, cf. 1 Cor. 11:23-25; Heb 8:6-8).  Hence it is for Christians that the former part of the Bible is the Old Covenant (Testament)..."4

The Old Covenant or Testament points back to an event, an era, a system of worship, experience of redemptive living and of course specific books.  The event being the giving of the Law on Sinai in Exodus 19-20.  The era ranging from Genesis 1:1 to the coming of Christ.  The system meaning the worship system of sacrifices, tabernacle, priesthood and temple.  Then of course when we speak of the experience of redemptive living, we are referring not to how people get saved (since it is identically by grace alone through faith alone in both Testaments).  Rather we are referring to how the people of God were going to live out their faith-walk following their reception of the Promises by faith.  The Spirit's work was mainly outward and onward, rather than inward and through the person as it is today. (see John 14:17)  The Old Testament pointed to the need for a New Covenant.  Unless the New Testament was to be revealed, the Old Testament would remain unfulfilled and incomplete. (Hebrews 8-9)  Then finally, the Old Testament in regards to the Books and their groupings in our English Bibles are as follows:

Foundation Books, Also called: Pentateuch, Torah, Books of the Law

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (5 Books)

Historical Books: Joshua - Esther (12 Books)

Poetic Books, Also called: Poetic Books, Books of Poetry, Writings

Job, Psalms,Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon (5 Books)

Prophetic Books: Isaiah - Malachi (17 Books) 

3. Unpacking the term "New Testament"

The term "New Testament", like it's Old Testament counterpart: centers around an event, era, a system of worship, experience of redemptive living and specific books.  The "New Testament" or more accurately "New Covenant" centers around the event of the incarnation of God the Son in the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.  What makes the era of the New Testament "new" involves the doing away of some things and the initiation of some new things as a result of Jesus' arrival and actions.  The worship system of temple, priests and sacrifices were replaced by a church composed of all true Christians, Christ our High Priest and His death being the once for all sacrifice.  

Hebrews 8-9 spells out the profound changes that occurred when the Old Covenant ended and the new covenant began.  The experience of life following salvation would entail the Spirit of God abiding and living inward, a reality unknown in the Old Covenant.  Also too, the New Covenant affords the power to live the Christian life by a permanent indwelling Holy Spirit, something of which the Old Testament saint did not get to experience.  The era of the New Testament gradually transitioned from the arrival of Jesus until His ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  From Pentecost Sunday in Acts 2 until present moment is reckoned the New Covenant era.  

As many differences that exist between the Old and New Testament scriptures, there are some very strong lines of continuation between both.  First, God's program with Israel has not been replaced, but rather suspended or "put on pause" until Christ's return.  According to Romans 11, God's primary focus in the New Testament era is the church, wherefore He is calling people unto salvation by His Spirit and making Israel jealous so as to prepare her for her reception of Christ by faith at His return.  The manner in which people are saved is also identical: Grace alone through faith alone.  Clearly the Old Testament Books are as much equal in authority and value as the New Testament.  As has been often stated: The New Testament in the Old is enfolded, and the Old Testament in the New is unfolded.  

Then of course the books of the New Testament can be subdivided much like what we see in the Old Testament part of the Bible:

Foundation Books: The Gospels

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John (4 Books)

Historical Book: Acts (1 Books)

Written Letters, also called epistles

13 by Paul (Galatians-Philemon, and if counting Hebrews, 14)

1 by James, 2 by Peter (1 & 2 Peter), 3 by John (1,2,3 John), 1 by Jude

Prophetic  Book: Revelation or also called "The Apocalypse"

Conclusion

We have explored the meanings of the terms "Bible", "Old Testament" and "New Testament".  All three terms which we use weekly and daily in our use of the Bible carry much supernatural and doctrinal freight.  My hope and prayer is that after today's post, you will see your Bible for what it really is: God's Holy, inspired, inerrant and infallible Word.  

End Notes_________________

1. Norman Geisler and William Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible - Revised and Expanded.  Moody Press. 1986.  Page 21

2. Walter Ewell. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.  Baker.  2001.  Page 1177 

Whenever we see reference to "Tertullian", Tertullian was an early Church Father who wrote in or around 200 A.D.  He is considered the first major early Theologian to write in Latin, a language which would replace Greek as the chief language of theology in the proceeding centuries of the church up and through the 1600's.  

3. Walter Ewell. The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology.  Baker.  2001.  Page 1177

4. Norman Geisler and William Nix. A General Introduction to the Bible - Revised and Expanded.  Moody Press. 1986.  Page 21

Top Bible Prophecy #6 - Isaiah 53

Isaiah 52:15-17 Behold, My servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. ¹⁴ Just as many were astonished at you, My people, So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. ¹⁵ Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.

Introduction to Top Bible Prophecy  - Isaiah 53
We once again will be looking at another passage that we are deeming: "Top Bible Prophecy".  Isaiah 53 is our sixth Top Bible Prophecy in this series in which we have been studying.  The other five Top prophecies have been: Psalm 110, 2 Samuel 7:8-16, Deuteronomy 30, Genesis 12 and Genesis 3:15.  As I have written in times past, the plan is to expose the reader to major passages that contain prophecies that span the entirety of scripture, history and eternity and of which bring Jesus Christ into sharper focus.  I would encourage the reader to look up the key word "Top Bible Prophecy" in the search engine of this blogsite to see what we have covered in past blogs on Top Bible Prophecies. 

The Book of Isaiah - A Telescopic look at Jesus Christ
Whenever you turn to the prophet Isaiah, you are struck by the numerous references made to the Person and Ministry of the Messiah.  Often Isaiah has been termed the greatest of the writing prophets due to his style of writing, His subject matter (predictive prophecy of major events in both the 1st and 2nd comings of the Messiah) and by virtue of the fact that other contemporary prophets and those thereafter drew from him.  Just as a telescope is designed to take a distant object and bring it into view as it really is, Isaiah by Divine inspiration and prophetic foresight is able to bring to the reader the Person, work and ministry of Jesus the Messiah. 

A few quick examples will confirm the above statement: Predictions concerning Christ's birth (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6-7); His earthly ministry (Isaiah 42, 49); His substitutionary death (Isaiah 52-53); the essential message concerning His current activity as Prophet, Priest and King and His future return and Millennial Reign. (Isaiah 11, 60-66)  In this blogpost today, I want us to zero in on one of those incredible chapters: Isaiah 53, to just see how it functions as another Top Bible Prophecy. 

The Predicted Servant of Isaiah
As we use the telescope of Isaiah's prophecies, we switch lenses to get a closer look at Whom is being predicted.  A series of four songs - called servant songs - occupy the latter half of Isaiah.  The theme of all these songs is of course the figure in question: "The Servant".  As will be briefly shown below. each Servant Song serves to reveal something particular about the Person and Work of Jesus Christ - 700 years from their composition!

1. Servant Song #1  Isaiah 42:1-25  The Servant of the Lord will bring about Justice to the nations. 

2. Servant Song #2 Isaiah 49:1-13 The Servant of the Lord will be born to be a light to Israel and the nations

3. Servant Song #3 Isaiah 50:1-11 The Servant of the Lord will experience rejection by those to Whom He is sent

4. Servant Song #4 Isaiah 52:12-53:12 The Servant of the Lord will experience suffering and be killed by manner of piercing through, only to live again to see the fruit of His work.

These summaries are admittedly very brief outlines, however the four servant songs look remarkably similar in their themes to the four Gospels.  Of the four servant songs, the final servant song is considered the greatest, since it gives the most prophetic detail.  In switching lenses one more time on our prophetic telescope, Isaiah by inspiration of the Holy Ghost gives us a very detailed prediction of the sufferings and triumphs of Jesus the Messiah in Isaiah 52:13-53:12.

Isaiah 53 - Predicting the Actor, Arrival, Act and Accomplishment of Salvation.
1. The Actor of Salvation Predicted - Isaiah 52:13-15
As a preface to this fourth song, Isaiah sees the predicted Actor of Salvation as He will be in His Second Coming.  As much as Isaiah 53 is about the Messiah in His First Coming, we are reminded of a fundamental truth in all Bible Prophecy - that God sees things as they are already completed.  Arno C. Gaebelien, that great prophecy teacher of the early 20th century, termed Bible Prophecy as "pre-history", meaning that God is giving the history of an event that in His mind is a done deal, however the event has not yet occurred.  Isaiah 52:13-14 states how the King will be crowned and reigning in the future.  Isaiah 52:15 describes the means by which He will have to undergo before the crown - namely the "sprinkling", a phrase used often in the New Testament to refer to His substitutionary death on the cross. (Hebrews 9:13 11:28; 12:24; 1 Peter 1:2).  Isaiah is switching topics, reminding us that the cross had to occur first in history before the crown.

2. The Arrival of the Savior Predicted. Isaiah 53:1-3
Just as we see in Matthew and Luke, the Messiah arrives in history by way of birth.  Other passages in Isaiah reveal that this birth will be a virgin birth. (Isaiah 7:14).  The predicted servant of the Lord here in Isaiah 52-53 not only possesses an Eternal Divine nature (52:13-14) but will acquire a very human, albeit sinless nature (53:1-12).  As a man he will grow up tender in childhood, just as Luke 2:52 summarizes: "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."  This section of the Top Bible Prophecy includes information of the nature of His earthly ministry - a ministry wherein he would experience rejection by his nation and isolation. (compare 1 Peter 2:21-24) 

3. The Act of Salvation Predicted.  Isaiah 53:4-10a
It is in this part of Isaiah 53 that we see the heart and main point of the Prophecy.  The Rabbis (teachers of Israel) by Jesus day had a difficult time harmonizing the information here in Isaiah with other prophetic texts that predicted a conquering Messiah.  In fact, the Rabbinic writings looked for two Messiahs: a Messiah ben David (a conquering Messiah) and a Messiah ben Joseph (a suffering one).  The Rabbis thought that maybe the first one would appear to overthrow empires like Rome, with the other Messiah appearing at another time.  However Isaiah 53 stared them squarely in the face. 

Adam Clarke, the able Bible commentator writes a wonderful summary of the predictive purpose of Isaiah 53 in his commentary, which I have included in the end notes at the end of this post. 1

Isaiah 53:4-10a is remarkable in that it predicts a form of suffering of the Messiah that would not be invented for over 300 years!  Isaiah writing in 700 b.c, predicted that the Messiah would be "pierced", a brutality devised first by the Persians and perfected by the Romans by the days of Jesus.  Acts 8:34-35 records a conversation wherein the questioner, having read Isaiah 53, gets the following response and interpretation: "The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him."  According to H.L Wilmington, Isaiah 53:7 is quoted 10 times in the New Testament.2  In my own studies of Isaiah 53 in the New Testament, I found over 40 occasions where various phrases are alluded to, revealing how much this Top Bible Prophecy shaped the New Testament understanding of the life and mission of Jesus Christ.3 

4. The Accomplishment of Salvation Predicted.  Isaiah 53:10b-12
Having looked at the predicted Actor, Arrival and Act of salvation predicted in Isaiah 53, we finally see the Accomplishment in Isaiah 53:10b-12.4 The Servant of the Lord predicted here will have the ability after His horrific death to "see His offspring" (53:10b); "justify the many" (53:11) and view His death as a past event. (53:12) 

Only an alive person can do that.  More specifically, only a resurrected Jesus can do those things!  Only a resurrected Jesus is able to see and ministry to his brothers and sisters according to the flesh. (Hebrews 2:14-15; 4:15; 7:24-25)  Only a resurrected Jesus Christ can be the basis for God's legal declaration of a sinner having Christ's righteousness credited to him at saving faith. (Romans 4:45-5:1)  Only a resurrected Jesus could view His death as a past event! (Revelation 1:18)

Endnotes_______________________

1. Adam Clarke's Commentary.  Volume IV.  Abington Press. Page 203.
"That this chapter speaks of none but Jesus must be evident to every unprejudiced reader who has ever heard the history of his sufferings and death. The Jews have endeavored to apply it to their sufferings in captivity; but, alas for their cause! they can make nothing out in this way. Allowing that it belongs to our blessed Lord, (and the best men and the best scholars agree in this), then who can read Isa 53:4, Isa 53:5, Isa 53:6, Isa 53:8, Isa 53:10, without being convinced that his death was a vicarious sacrifice for the sins of mankind?"

2. H.L Wilmington.  The Complete Book of Bible Lists.  Tyndale Publishers.  Page 37

3. The scripture index of the Nestle-Aland 27th Edition Greek New Testament lists every Old Testament Book alluded to or quoted in every New Testament Book.  This is where I looked to see how many authors actually utilized Isaiah 53.  It is a fascinating study in its own right.

4. The entire text of Isaiah 53:10b-12 reads - "He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. ¹¹ As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. ¹² Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors."