Revival Ministries Australia

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What is the Bible?

The Bible is:

* God’s Word to man

* a collection of 66 books with the longest book being the book of Psalms – 150 chapters long – and four books (Philemon, 2John, 3John, Jude) being single page letters

* a compilation of sacred writings given by God through His Spirit to holy men of old “Prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of old spoke as moved by the Holy Spirit” 2 Peter 1:21

* called the Scriptures and all of Scripture is given by inspiration of God “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” 2Timothy3:16

Who wrote the Bible?

> The first writer of the Bible was Moses, the great prophet of God who led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt in the 15^th century B.C.

> Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible [Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy] after spending forty days and forty nights in the personal glorious Presence of God on the holy mountain. He did not eat or drink for that forty days as he was totally caught up in the Spirit.

So he was there with Yahweh [LORD] forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments” Exodus34:28

>It was in this time that God revealed to Moses the book of Genesis. It covers:

* the creation of the world, the sun, moon and stars;

* the history of mankind from approximately 4000B.C. when God created our first parents, Adam and Eve.

It ends in the 19^th Century B.C. when Jacob, the father of the 12 tribes of Israel went to Egypt because of famine in the land.

>After Moses, various prophets, some priests, at least two kings and a governor wrote the rest of the Old Testament,

but in reality God is the author of all the books of the Bible!

>There are 39 books in the Old Testament and all those books had been transcribed by 400B.C.

>There are at least 44 men who wrote the various books of the Bible over 1500 years

>Amazingly, all books of the Bible flow together, giving us a deep understanding of God

New Testament

>consists of 27 books

>four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, which are testimonies of what Jesus said and did including the

extraordinary facts concerning His birth and His resurrection from the dead

>The Gospels are followed by the book of “The Acts of the Apostles” which is an exciting historical account of the beginning of the church: how thousands of people were transformed by believing the message of the gospel which had been preached by apostles who had been appointed and trained by Jesus.

In the Gospels and the Acts

there are many supernatural signs, extraordinary wonders, healings and miracles and deliverances

from evil spirits.

>Then there are 21 “Epistles” or “Letters” written by apostles of Jesus, that explain the Christian faith and the church

It is remarkable how different

the church of the New Testament is to the “churches” we see in

the nations today

>The last book of the Bible is “a revelation of Jesus Christ [Messiah]” Revelation1:1

The book of Revelation is the most complex book in the Bible as it is a series of visions that John received in heaven.

Old and New together

The New Testament is found in the Old Testament

The Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament

The Old and New Testament Scriptures fit together, making a perfect whole.

The Bible is a book of revelation

The Bible speaks with an authority no other book has. There are many other sacred and spiritual books that teach something of God and the spiritual realm. But the Bible is a book of revelation given by God to man so that we can “know Him who is from the beginning” (1John2:12-14) the One who is the Creator of all things and has created us to be like Himself.

The Bible is an open book; anyone can read the Bible and God will speak to you through the Bible by His Spirit. This is the miracle of the Bible. You can come to know God through His Word written in the Bible.

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