Theme & History
What a person talks about
everytime we meet him is obviously important to him. What God talks
about over and over again must be important to him. What is important to
him should be important to us!
When NT writers speak tirelessly of the death and resurrection of
Christ you know it is crucial. What they said (see 1 Corinthians 2:2;
15:3) is what they practiced (see the book of Acts).
Covenant is one of the rich strands of Bible teaching. To know some
of the differences and likenesses between the Old covenant and the New,
to know how the Mosaic covenant relates to the Abrahamic covenant and
how they both relate to the New covenant in Christ would really open up
the Bible for you. To have a clear idea of what a covenant meant in
ancient times would unlock so many doors to understanding God's way with
Man. (We hope to offer you a brief study on this later.)
Other major themes would include Sin, Faith, Blessing, The People of
God, the Law, Judgement, Salvation, the Sovereignty of God, the
Gospel and Suffering.
Allow Broad and Clearly Taught Truths to Act as Guidelines
We all learn new truths every day but most them don't change our
lives because they are not major truths. Now and then we discover a
truth which explains so much that was mysterious. That is an exciting
experience. A line in a book may light up the whole book, a medical
discovery may explain a host of facts and link them into a system
instead of a mass of disconnected truths. There are sections and verses
of scripture which do that for us and we need to watch out for them. Let
me illustrate!
Ezra 2:67 says 435 camels went with the people who returned to Israel
in the days of Zerrubabel. That's true! But the fact that there were
435 camels (rather than 450) is of no great significance! It doesn't
affect our view of God or Man, it doesn't help to explain the grand
design of creation or help us to understand the Bible as a whole. Truths
like this are not to be denied or ignored but they are of minor
importance for Bible study! Other truths have tremendous consequences
for Bible study. Let me mention only a few!
A man asked Christ which was the greatest commandment in Scripture
(Matthew 22:34-40). Christ told him what it was. He also told him
what was second. Then he said (22:40): "All the Law and the Prophets
hang on these two commandments." As a door hangs on hinges, Jesus
taught, the entire OT teaching on human response to God hangs on two
commands to love. That has profound consequences for OT study. What lies
behind and under the many hundreds of rules and laws listed in the OT?
Matthew 22 tells us that the rules were the guidelines for lovers rather
than simple legal requirements. The OT must be read in light of Matthew
22. (See also Romans 13:8-10 in this connection.)
In 2 Peter 3:9 we hear that God doesn't want anyone to perish and in
Ezekiel 18:23 we're told God has no pleasure in sinful people dying in
their sins--he would rather they turned to him and live! These verses
have profound consequences. These and a host like them make it clear
that God wants us to have life with him rather than death without
him. Any teaching, then, that says God has created countless millions
for no other reason than to eternally torture them because that is what
pleases him cannot be true! This is the way brutal tyrants behave. Those
who have been subjected to such people need to know that God has
nothing in common with such characters. This means that no obscure or
difficult verse should be understood to teach that he has pleasure in
creating us so he can torture us (in this life or the life to come). See
also John 3:16-17 in this context.
Genesis 1:26-27 teaches that God made Man in his image. There is one
God and he made all of us in his image. This truth has far-reaching
consequences. No man is sub-human, no person (whatever the colour,
creed, sex, culture, social status or ethnic roots) is to be dehumanised
or treated unjustly. (See James 3:9 and Proverbs 14:21-22.) This
"creation truth" should make us look at ourselves and our neighbour as
something more than "animals that walk upright". This truth forbids us
to prostitute ourselves or our fellow-man. This "creation truth" allows
for a healthy nationalism but it calls us to recognise a "brotherhood of
Man" behind all the different cultures, languages and races.
2 Corinthians 5:10 tells us we will all appear before the judgement
seat of Christ to give an account for our lives. This verse, and many
like it, sets our minds at ease (to some degree) as we look at the
injustice and oppression all around us. When we are tempted to think the
powerful and brutal are untouchable, truths like these help us to wait
for the final outcome. Genesis 18:25 and Matthew 11:22,24 both deal with
God's judging process. With 2 Corinthians 5:10 they teach us not to
worry about questions we can't answer just now. Everything will be
worked out in justice. We can depend on God to do that.
1 Peter 2:18-25 speaks to people who were suffering through no fault
of their own and Peter comforts and challenges them with verses 21-25.
The innocent Christ suffered and God used it to bring life to people.
Christ's suffering means suffering doesn't need to produce despair. It
also means God's love is not absent when suffering is present because
God allowed Jesus to suffer even though he loved him beyond measure.
Peter assures his readers that judgement is coming and all wrongs will
be fully righted (1 Peter 1:15-17 & compare 2 Peter 3:1-13).
GET TO KNOW BIBLE HISTORY REALLY WELL
What is true of biblical statements is true of biblical events! In
our own lives we can see events that made a tremendous difference. We've
read of or experienced some history that changed the world in radical
ways. (The French Revolution, the rise of Islam, World Wars I and II,
the rise to power of Gorbachev and the profound changes that were
triggered by that, are examples of what I mean.)
In your study pay special attention to the major events of biblical
history. There are a large number of them (but not too many for you to
become well acquainted with). Get to know the story of the events
themselves! (Be able to tell the facts, the places, the names.) But look
also for what the events mean, what the events teach.
We need to know the biblical history:
Because it often explains what Bible writers meant when they wrote;
Because God revealed himself not in words only but in deeds;
Because history shows the purpose of God developing;
Because biblical history shows us our spiritual roots as part of mankind;
Because history shows us both our failures and our possibilities under God;
Because God himself became part of that history in Jesus Christ.