Thursday, December 29, 2016

RIGHTLY DIVIDE THE WORD OF GOD (Part 3)

Bible Design

Get to know your Bible. It is a well-designed book. Some give up reading or studying the Bible because they don’t know its design. There has been a conspiracy for centuries to destroy the Bible. The war is still on. Today, instead of burning the book, scholars discredit it. The progenitors of higher Bible criticism teach that the Bible is the written record of wandering desert dwellers struggling to come up with a concept of God. Just the opposite is true.

 “The Holy Bible covers three main categories: history, prophecy and instruction from God.

“Through history and prophecy, the Bible covers all God intended to cover of Earth and world events from the creation on into the future and the eternity beyond. But, in a sense, this Book of God—His revealed knowledge for His people—leaves a most conspicuous gap in the progress of world events.

Why?

The Bible is a sweeping—highly successful—project of God. It has preserved key ancient historical records that would have been lost to mankind. For example, Genesis 10 is an ancient genealogical record preserving for us the roots of modern nations. David Noss, co-author of the book, A History of the World’s Religions, states: “[T]he Hebrews were historical-minded, and not in any casual or intermittent way, but steadily.”

In its prophecies, the Bible shows us clearly that an all-powerful God is directly carrying out a plan on Earth. That plan reveals the awesome future of man. It is an afterlife far exceeding any expectation of a heaven. And the Bible contains the deep spiritual wisdom and instruction that produces the wonderful happiness that all men want.

Understand the uniqueness of the Bible. For example, its history is not like any other. There are gaps in the history. Not understanding why, scholars criticize the book. Remember, the Bible is sacred history—God’s intervention in human affairs. Discussing the gap in Bible history, for example, the Bible gives no history of anything concerning such populous nations as China, India and Japan. None regarding Russia except in yet future prophecy. History is concerned to the one nation Israel, and the few other nations only as they were involved in contact with Israel.

Why?” (ibid.). Realize that just because major nations are not mentioned in the Bible does not mean those nations are not important to God. The Bible is clear on this matter. God loves the whole world (John 3:16). In terms of history, the Bible focuses on Israel only because God’s history with that nation is an example of what God plans to do with all nations—within His time frame.

The Bible’s New Testament Church history is also scanty. There are four whole books, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, devoted to the biographical sketch of the human life of Jesus, and a history of the first early years of the Church. That’s all—except the symbolic prophecy of Jesus in Revelation 2 and 3 of the seven eras of the Church. But even here, many shout and scream that these two chapters are not a history of successive eras of the Church, but an account of the seven phases of the Church as a whole, without regard to the time sequence of periods or eras. Actually, these two chapters are depicting both. … But otherwise, there is nothing in the Bible revealing conditions in the Church from the first century to now.


Why?” (ibid). Even though Church history may not be what we would like it to be, God has provided what we need. Instead of whining about the supposed lack of history, we should work to fully understand what God has provided. Concerning Bible history, Mr. Armstrong concluded, “One simply cannot understand this—nor the Bible message—unless one knows the great purpose of God and His master plan for its accomplishment” (ibid.). Every human must come to accept how miraculous and wonderful the Bible truly is. God purposely designed it according to His wishes. The Bible is as a coded book. God wants to decode it for every man, woman and child. That process can only take place for those people willing to look into the Bible with an open, unprejudiced mind.  see Part 4

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