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OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY
Many people periodically grow ambitious and determine to read
the Bible all the way through; few make it. Why? Frequently,
well-intentioned souls quit because they do not possess a sense of the
overall purpose of the Word of God; therefore, they do not understand
how the parts relate to the whole. Our goal in this study is to
provide material that the student may keep and use for future
reference.
THE BIBLE
The Bible is comprised of 66 individual books ranging in size
from one chapter to one hundred fifty chapters. Some books are
historical in nature, while others are poetic, prophetic, biographical,
or predominately doctrinal. Depending on the publisher, the amount of
pages in a Bible may number about 2,000. Does that seem like a great
quantity of material? Of course it does. But if the Bible is the
inspired Word of God (and it is), and it reveals God and every
spiritual truth we need to know (and it does), should we not be
more devoted to this book than anything else in our lives? If we
commit some facts to memory, we can be assured that they will be
useful to us for the remainder of our lives. Please start work on
the time chart, which helps put the various parts of the Bible into
perspective.
WHY WAS THE BIBLE WRITTEN?
1. To reveal God to mankind (1 Cor. 2:11-13).
2. To reveal mankind to mankind (John 2:24-25; 4:29; Heb. 4:12; James
1:23-25).
3. To reveal redemption to mankind (Romans 6).
4. To reveal truth to mankind (John 8:31-32; Pr. 23:23; Rom. 1:18; 2
Thess. 2:10).
5. To reveal God's will for mankind (1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 2:3; 2
Thess. 2:15).
6. To reveal proper conduct for mankind (Col. 3).
7. To reveal eternal habitations to mankind (2 Thess. 1:6-10).
BRIEF BIBLE OUTLINE
1. God creates the world, including mankind (Gen. 1-2).
2. Sin disrupts the perfect fellowship between God and man (Gen.
3:1-10).
3. Sin affects and alters the perfect creation God had made (Gen.
3:11-11:32).
4. God selects a man through whom to bring a Savior into the world;
the remainder of the Old Testament chronicles the history of this
man's descendants (Gen. 12-Mal.).
5. Jesus redeems mankind (Matt.-John).
6. Salvation (which is in the church) is explained (Acts-Jude).
7. God's saints will ultimately be victorious (Revelation).
*Send comments or questions concerning this survey to Gary Summers.
[Old Testament Survey Index]
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