richment, and encouragement, its

dynamic influence bringing a

deepeniugjoy into our daily lives."
But, if that's the case, then most
people must be tone deaf!
For some Christians the Bible
is a source of controversy, con-
fusion, debate and division. It is
more like a jigsaw puzzle than a
lamp unto their feet! They are re-
duced to reading the Bible as a
secret prophetic code to be de-
ciphered and charted, or a manual
on soul winning, or for finding so-
lutions to personal problems.
The solution to this problem is
to learn how to read the Bible as
try to read the whole Bible will
aid you in following the story of
redemption. There are several
summaries of the Bible within
the Bible.
A. Acts 7, the defense of
Stephen, summarizes the progress
of the redemptive plan of God.
B. Isaiah is a summary of the
Bible in structure as well as theme.
Like the Bible as a whole, Isaiah
consists of 66 divisions (chap-
ters), which are divided themati-
cally into 39 "O.T. chapters" and
27 ''N. T. chapters." Like Gen-
esis, the first book of the Bible, it
begins with creation. Like Rev-
Many Christians are familiar
only with a number of stories in
the Bible which they heard as a
child or learned in Sunday
School. Thus, they have the
impression that the Bible is a
book of stories about interesting
people of faith and incredible
events. Lacking an appreciation
for the unified story-line of the
Bible, they view it as a collec-
tion of disconnected incidents
rather than as the coherent,
purpose-driven Word of God.
They have been exhorted and
encouraged to read the Bible
and perhaps have done so once
or twice, but they usually
fizzle out by Exodus,
certainly by Leviticus.
elation, the last book of the
..... ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ w Bible, it concludes with a
How to Read the Bible
Biblically
They read exciting things
about the Bible, ''Thy word
is a lamp unto my feet and
prophecy of the new heav-
ens and new earth. The first
39 chapters deal with O.T.
a.:============:=1 themes, creations, sin,judg-
a light unto my path" ( Ps.
119:105). It gives wisdom and
nnderstanding (119:98, 99).
Some verses declare how the
Bible is a source of joy (Psalm
119:14,47,70,162). Jeremiah
15: 16 reads, "When your words
came, I ate them; they were my
joy and my heart's delight. ... "
The Thessalonians "Welcomed
the message with the joy given
by the Holy Spirit" (1 Thess.
1 :6). Unfortunately, it never or
rarely becomes such to them.
They read glowing comments
about the Bible by others. "The
Bible appears like a symphony or-
chestra," writes J. I. Packer,
"with the Holy Ghost as its
Toscanini; each instrument has
been brought willingly, spontane-
ously, and creatively, to play his
notes just as the great conductor
desired .. .It is meant to be a con-
stant means of enlighteument, en-
a book of covenant purpose and
thematic development. The Bible
carmot be read with the profit God
intends if we ignore its frame-
work, theme, pattern and flow.
We must learn to read the Bible.
biblically! The various portions
of Scripture form one book, the
revelation of God's eternal plan
of redemption. Each part adds
to our understanding and appre-
ciation of that plan and is vital if
we are to be God's holy people,
dedicated to him in every area of
life.
The following two methods will
help you learn to read the Bible
as God intends.
READ THE SUMMARIES
OF THE BIBLE
The unity and harmony of the
Bible is unveiled in summaries of
the Bible within the Bible itself.
Reading these first, before you
4 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon December,1999/January,2000
ment. The last 27 chapters deal
with N.T. themes, redemption,
salvation, righteousness.
C. 1 and 2 Chronicles also
provide useful summaries of the
Bible. They begin with Adam and
conclude with language that par-
allels the Great Commission (cf.
2 Chron. 36:23; Mat. 28: 18-20).
2 Chronicles is the last book in
the Hebrew Bible. It was com-
posed after the exile for the rem-
nant returning to Palestine. It con-
cerns the temple and the kingdom
of God, in preparation for the
N.T. in which Christ, the Son of
David, the Son of Abraham
(Matt. 1: 1), comes to gather the
remnant, inaugurate the kingdom
of heaven, and to build His
temple.
D. Psalms 104 - 106 is an-
other summary of the Bible.
Psalm 104 celebrates creation
(Gen. 1). Psalm 105 continues
1he story of God's dealing wi1h His
people beginning with Abraham
and 1he covenant made wi1h him
and his descendants. It traces 1he
progress of redemptive history
wi1h Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and 1he
Exodus through Moses and
Aaron. It concludes wi1h 1he dec-
laration that this was all because
From these summaries, we
learn that the goal of salvation is
not merely to be saved from hell.
Salvation also entails deliverance
, from our enemies, a heart to wor-
ship and praise God, a life of
righteousness, and a divine prom-
ise that all the nations will know
and glorify the Lord! I hope you
are beginning to get the message!
N.T (Luke 24:44). The O.T. was
also referred to as the Law and
the Prophets (Matt.7:12; 22:40;
Luke 16:16; Acts 13:15; 26:22).
The Law is 1he Pentateuch, the
first five books of the Bible. The
"Prophets," according to the He-
brew definition, included books
that we identify as the Historical
books, Joshua _ Kings. These
of God's cov-
enant wi1h Abra-
ham (vv. 42-45).
God's purpose is
to have a people
in fellowship
with Himself in
worship, holi-
ness, righteous-
ness and truth.
God's purpose
in creation and
redemption fo-
cuses on the
land, a numerous
"seed," and a
blessing to all1he
nations! This
points to the
ThL' IlehlL'w Old 'fL'slanlcllI Arrangement
are called the
"Former" (ear-
lier) Prophets
according to
the Hebrew
O.T. These
were called
"prophetic"
books" be-
cause they
were written
by men who
spoke for God,
though they did
not necessarily
predict the fu-
ture. The "Lat-
ter" Prophets in
I The Law - Torah I
I
The Prophets
I I
The Writings
I
1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Nwnbers
5. Deuteronomy
N.T. and particularly to 1he Great
Commission and 1he history of re-
demption as it unfolds and ad-
vances in Acts. There we see God
sending 1he Apostles to baptize all
1he nations of 1he ear1h (1he land),
a numerous seed as 1housands are
being converted, and the bless-
ing to all1he nations as the gospel
goes to the Gentiles. Psalm 106
rehearses the terrible sin of the
people in the wilderness, the re-
bellion at the Red Sea, and con-
cludes with the cry for salvation
(vv.47-48). These perspectives
define for us what it means to call
the son of Mary "Jesus, for He
will save His people from their
sins" (Matt. 1:21).
A. Fonner Prophets A. Poetical Books
1. Joshua 1. Psalms
2. Judges 2. Job
3. Samuel 3. Proverbs
4. Kings B. Five Rolls
B. Latter Prophets 1. Ruth
!.Isaiah 2. Song of Songs
2. Jeremiah 3. Ecclesiastes
3. Exekiel 4. Lamentations
4. The Twelve "Minor"
5. Esther
Prophets C. Hisoorical Books
1. Daniel
2. Exra,Neherniah
3. Chronicles
READ THE BIBLE
ACCORDING TO ITS
DIVISIONS.
While there is no "inspired"
order of the books of the Bible,
we should not suppose that it has
been put together haphazardly,
nor should we fail to note the
progressive revelation of redemp-
tion in the order in which the
books were inspired and written.
The Hebrew Bible is arranged and
organized differently 1han 1he En-
glish Bible, however.
A. THE HEBREW O.T. has
three divisions: the Law, the
Prophets, and the Writings.
This division is referred to in the
the Hebrew
Bible refers to the books that we
identify as the Prophets, the five
Major and twelve Minor proph-
ets. Their last division, the Writ-
ings, included books that we call
the Poetic books: Ruth, Lamen-
tations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-
Nehemiah, and Chronicles. The
last book in Jesus' canon, the
Hebrew Bible, as we have noted,
was 2 Chronicles. Knowing this
helps us understand the words of
Matt. 23:35: "Upon you shall
come all the blood of Abel to
Zacharias." This is a reference to
the last book in the Hebrew Bible
- 2 Chron. 24:20-22. In other
words, the guilt of all the blood
from A to Z, 1he entire QT, is on you.
December,1999/Jannary,2000 'TIlE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 5
B. THE MODERN O.T.
ARRANGEMENT OF THE
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE is
based on the Septuagint, the
Greek translation of the O.T.
which was written in the inter-
testamental period (c. 150'
B.C.). This arrangement is
four-fold (or sometimes five-
fold): The Law, History,
Poetry, and the Prophets
(five-fold if you divide them
as Major Prophets and the
Minor Prophets).
For the sake of simplicity, we
can also reduce the 39 books of
the O.T. into three categories,
History (17 books), Poetry (5
books), and Prophecy (17
books). The history and pro-
phetic sections can both be sub-
divided into groups of five and
twelve books. The seventeen
History books can be divided into
the five books of Moses, the
Pentateuch, the history of the es-
tablishment of God's covenant,
and then twelve other history
books that relate the outworking
of the covenant in the lives of the
people in terms of covenant obe-
dience or disobedience. The sev-
enteen Prophecy books may be
divided into Five Major Proph-
ets and Twelve Minor prophets.
We ought also to know that the
prophets may be distinguished
into pre-exilic, exilic, and post-
exilic prophets. This will obvi-
ously detennine their message and
our understanding of the message
and application of these proph-
ets.
The three major divisions of the
O.T. books (History, Poetry, and
Prophecy) are related to each
other like a sandwich more than
like link sausage. In other words,
one genre does not link to the
other, one after another, chrono-
logically, but they overlap each
other. The fIrst seventeen books
of the O.T. actually cover the
whole O.T. period - from Gen-
esis to Malachi. 1 and 2
Chronicles, the last two books of
the Hebrew Bible, cover the
whole history and hope of the
O.T. The Poetry books were
mostly written during the period
of the history of the kings, par-
ticularly David and Solomon, and
overlap the history books. Most
of the Prophets, at least the pre-
exilic prophets, were written dur-
ing the period of the kings; the
remainder were written following
the kings and during exile and the
return. Hence, each division lays
over the other. While you are
reading Psalms, for example, it is
helpful to tum to the historical
books and correlate it with what
was going on in David's life. Itis
also helpful to remember that the
major portion of the Proverbs
were written by Solomon or as
wisdom literature associated with
Solomon, the wisest man who
ever lived and who was a type of
Christ, the one who is greater
than Solomon.
C. THE HISTORICAL,
PROGRESSIVE, COVENAN-
TAL, DEVELOPMENT OF RE.-
DEMPTION THE BIBLE.
Using these structures, we can
trace God's progressive redemp-
tion from "promise to fulfIllment."
Cornelius Vanderwaal in his
book, Search The Scriptures,
Vol. 1, Genesis - Exodus,
(Paideia Press, St. Catherines,
Ontario, Canada, 1978), provides
a covenantal, theological frame-
work (pg. 44) for reading the
6 - THE COUNSEL ofCbalcedon - Decembw,1999/January,2000
Bible biblically. He uses the four-
fold division of the o. T.
Latter Prophets (The 17 Old
Testament Prophetic Books)
Warnings .and promises
rooted in the covenant look-
ing forward to the New
Covenant
Poetic Books
The Wisdom and Songs of
the Covenant
. Former Prophets
(Historical Books)
The Lord upholds His cov-
enant
Pentateuch
Early History
The Covenant at Mount
Sinai
The law of the Covenant
Looking at this chart you can
see the harmony, unity, and pro-
gressive development of God's
relationship with His people.
Another helpful analysis of the
message of the Bible is that of Dr.
Henry Krabbendam, professorof
Bible at Covenant College. ill his
class notes on Genesis, he sug-
gests thilt, following the Hebrew
divisions of the Bible, the Law,
the Prophets, and the Writings, we
can compare the Bible to a house.
The FOUNDATION of the
house is the Law, the Pentateuch.
The WALLS of the house are the
Prophets. The WINDOWS of the
house are the Writings. The
ROOF OF THE HOUSE is the
N.T. The "golden thread" that
mus through the whole is the cov-
enant promise, "I will be a God
to you and to your seed and you
will be my people."
I. THE FOUNDATION
OF THE HOUSE - THE
PENTATEUCH.
The Law is the foundation of
the O.T. and of the entire Bible.
These five books set forth the re-
demptive history that led up to
Israel's entrance into the land of
Canaan. They begin with creation
and God's command to Adam to
subdue the earth. Then they re-
late how Adam plunged all man-
kind into sin, misery, and death
through his first transgression. In
Gen. 3:15 God announced his
plan of redemption, a seed of the
woman who would crush the head
of the Serpent, Satan, and his
seed. God's purpose is to over-
turn the effects of the curse and
to create a new heaven and earth
in which righteousness dwells.
That covenant of grace was
perpetuated through the covenant
of preservation with Noah. It
was advanced with Abraham, as
God made it clear that this prom-
ise included a land, the whole
earth, a numerous seed, and a
blessing to all the nations through
a miraculously provided and res-
urrected seed, Isaac, a type of
Christ. The necessity offaith to
inherit God's promise of salvation
is made explicit at this point. The
covenant of grace was continued
through Isaac, Jacob (Israel), and
his twelve sons, the twelve tribes
ofIsrael. Under Moses, Godre-
deemed His people from bond-
age, brought them to Mt. Sinai
where He gave them an exhaus-
tive revelation of his law for life
as the people of God, and formed
them as His nation (Exodus- Lev-
iticus). They were led to the bor-
der of Canaan, but could not en-
ter because of unbelief. God con-
signed them in his wrath to wil-
derness wandering for 40 years
(Numbers). At the end of the 40
years, in preparation for entering
the land, God renewed the cov-
enant and reiterated His law
(Deuteronomy). As with Adam
in Gen. 2, blessings and curses
are armounced for faithful obedi-
ence to God and His word.
God has at this point brought
His people full circle. Having be-
gun with Adam, to whom he had
given His law and instruction to
subdue all things, God has now
formed a new people out offallen
humanity. He has chosen, re-
deemed, and called them to his
covenant. He now gives them His
law and tells them to go in and to
subdue the land of Canaan, a
"down payment" on the promise
to Abraham to give him a land and
to bless all the nations through
Him.
This is the foundation for the
remainder of the Bible, the N. T.,
the Great Commission. For in
Christ, the seed of the woman, the
miraculously provided seed of
Abraham, all the promises and
purposes of God have become
"Yea, and Amen." Everything else
is but the advancement and ful-
fillment of the Pentateuch.
II. THE PROPHETS (AC-
CORDING TO THE HEBREW
DESIGNATION - THE HIS-
TORICAL BOOKS ACCORD-
ING TO THE CONTEMPO-
RARY ENGLISH VERSIONS
OF THE BIBLE).
The prophets, as we have
noted, in the Hebrew Bible are di-
vided into the former and latter
prophets. Joshua through Kings
are the former prophets, and
Isaiah through Malachi are the lat-
ter prophets. As Dr. Krabbendam
suggests, the books may be com-
pared to the walls' or continuing
structure of the house, the history
of the covenant.
The Former Prophets (Histori-
cal books) cover the conquest of
Canaan and the period of the
Judges and the Kings. These
books also tell us how the people
of God were blessed when they
kept the covenant, and how they
were cursed and disciplined when
they did not believe and obey
God's commandments.
The history of the covenant
during this time reveals that al-
though Israel was chosen, re-
deemed, and called to be a light
to the nations, she was still sinful
and experienced the curses of the
covenant. Her officers, the
prophets, priests, and kings did
not have the power to' save the
people. Many of her prophets are
false, her priests unclean, and her
kings unjust and self-serving. In
the midst of the progress and ad-
vancement of the covenant is the
cry for a true prophet, priest, and
king, looking to the new covenant
in Christ.
In connection with the period
of the kings, the divided kingdom,
come the Latter Prophets, Isaiah
- Malachi, the preachers of the
O.T. What is their "text"? It is the
covenant law of God. "You hear
the prophets base their plea on
God's covenant as they appeal to
the people to serve the Lord.
The ... prophets speak of God's
promises, demands and
threats .... They cling to the Law of
Moses, pointing back to the pro-
visions of the covenant and the
earlier redemptive deeds of the
December,1999/January ,2000 -THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon -7
Lord, which guarantee the Mes-
sianic deliverance to come. The
prophets also point to the sanc-
tions, the threats contained in the
iaw of Moses. Those threats
would surely be carried out, they
warned, if the people of the Lord
did not repent. Thus, the proph-
ets stood on the shoulders of
Moses - and on their predeces-
sors shoulders as well."l
In the midst of this prophetic
preaching is the promise that God
will fulfill His purposes, He will
keep the covenant. He will send
an anointed one, a "Messiah,"
who will be a faithful king, a true
prophet, and a spotless priest. In
him God's saving purposes will be
realized. The Messiah will make
God's people holy, and he will
conquer God's enemies so that
the whole earth and every nation
will worship God and keep His
commandments (Isa. 2). God will
send His Spirit and write His law
on their hearts, and He will be
their God and they will be His
people (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek.
36:25-27). This is the "new cov-
enant" He will make, fulfilling His
promise to Abraham of a land, a
seed, and a blessed future.
III. THE WRITINGS OF
THE HEBREW BIBLE FORM
THE WINDOWS OF THE
HOUSE.
As Dr. Krabbendam says
concerning these books, "Atten-
tion is focused upon the blessed
life of them that walk in the wis-
dom of the covenant and keep
God's commandments in heartfelt
obedience and the wretched state
of them that spurn its wisdom and
transgress God's. command-
ments." The Law is the founda"
tion; everything refers back to
God's covenant with Abraham The New Testament is to the
and Moses. Even the Davidic O.T. as fulfillmentis to promise.
Covenant has as its goal the es-
tablishmentofGod's people, the
seed of Abraham as a holy na-
tion, the Mosaic Covenant.
The Writings, the Poetic
Books in particular, presuppose
the other books. "Psalms and
Lamentations give us a sense of
the struggle Israel underwent in its
relationship to God as it sought
to win the covenant blessings. As
we read them, it's almost as
though we were present in a
temple service. We look right into
the heart of the praying believers.
How they plead for the fulfillment
of God's promises! How they
complain about their suffering!
How earnestly they confess their
sins! How grateful they are for the
deliverance they have received,
and how they yearn for the ulti-
mate redemption!" We are
shown how deeply Israel believed
the words of Moses: "The Lord
will vindicate his people" (Deut.
32:36; Ps. 135:14; Rom. 12:19;
Heb. 10:30; Rev. 18:20; 20:4).
"Wisdom books like Job,
Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are in-
tended to help the covenant
people stay on the Lord's path
and accept His leading. The book
of Proverbs can be read as a com-
mentary on the Ten
Commandments ... .In this book,
we find concrete applications of
the fear of Yahweh, which is the
beginning of wisdom. Thus these
'poetic' books are based on the
Pentateuch. Their foundation is
God's covenant with His
people."2
IV, THE NEW TESTA-
MENT - NEW COVENANT -
THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE.
The new covenant was neces-
sary because of the limitations of
the old covenant. It was not suf-
ficient to accomplish God's pur-
poses to Adam and Abraham. It
had no power to save ultimately.
It was external, and had no power
to make the people holy, and to
enable them to keep God's com-
mandments. Instead it directed
them to the coming Lamb of God.
The new covenant draws together
the themes and purposes of God
progressively revealed in the O.T.
In Christ, the covenant of com-
mencement, preservation, prom-
ise, law, and kingship are realized.
The shadows are swept away and
the implicit becomes explicit be-
cause he has come according to
the promise and actually secured
the fulness of God's grace for sin-
ners (Jer. 31:31;Heb. 8:13).
A. THE GOSPELS: THE
MANIFESTATION OF
CHRIST3
The three sections of the O. T.
culminate in the N.T. Matthew
1:1 opens with the "genesis" of
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the
Son of Abraham! He is the ful-
fillment of God's promises to
Abraham and David. He is the
second Adam, the One who ful-
fills the creation mandate originally
given to Adam (Rom. 5). He is
the seed of the woman (Gen. 3: 15
wi Gal. 4-5). Those who believe,
whether Jew or Gentile, will in-
herit the promises to Abraham (cf.
Rom. 4; Gal. 3). They are the
Israel of God (Gal. 6:16). Those
who do not believe, whether Jews
or Gentiles, will be cut off. Jesus
is the "King of the Jews," the Son
of David, whose kingdom is eter-
8 - TIlE COUNSEL of Cbalcedon - December,1999/January,2000
nal and will fill the earth as all the
nations come into His kingdom
and keep the holy, just, and per-
fectlaw of God, the law of Moses
(Matt. 2:3; 2 Sam. 7; Isa. 2). He
is the fulfillment of the types and
shadows of the sacrificial laws.
He writes the law on our hearts
(Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:25-27),
causing and enabling us to keep
His laws, not merely in external
form but in the greater righteous-
ness Jesus described in Matt. 5-
7, the Sermon on the Mount. In
contrast to the other leading evan-
gelical theological system,
Dispensationalism, Jesus is no
antinomian! Jesus does not call
men to follow him merely as Sav-
ior and not as Lord! Jesus inau-
gurated His kingdom (Matt.
4: 17). He did not postpone the
kingdom, as some assert, thereby
throwing the message of the Bible
and of the kingdom out of gear.
His kingdom has come, the na-
tion ofIsrael has been judged for
its rejection of the Christ, and the
new covenant has been inaugu-
rated with Jews and Gentiles who
repent and believe the good news
of the kingdom (Matt. 4: 17). He
gave His disciples the great com-
mission, reminding us of the great
commission to Adam in Gen. I,
to go into all the world. and make
disciples of all the nations, teach-
ing them to observe everything
which He has commanded!
B. ACTS: THE PROPAGA-
TION OF CHRIST
In Acts, we read that having
sealed the new covenant with His
blood, He poured out the Holy
Spirit which the Father had prom-
ised in Ezekiel 36:25-27 and Joel
2:28-32. The purpose of this out-
pouring was so that his Church
might be empowered to accom-
plish the Great Commission (cf.
Isa. 61-62). Jesus has been ex-
alted to the right hand of the Fa-
ther until He makes his enemies
His footstool (Acts 2; Gen. 3:15).
Acts shows us the progressive
fulfillment in the early days of the
chnrch in fulfilling the promise to
Abraham of a land, a seed, and a
blessing to all nations. It ends with
the great perspective, not of de-
feat, but of growing conquest
(28:17-30). Even though Paul
was in prison, nothing could stop
the advance of the kingdom of
God!
C. EPISTLES: THE
INTERPETATION AND
APPLICATION OF CHRIST
The Epistles are covenant
letters as well. Some, like
Romans and Galatians, explain
how Jesus is the fulfillment of
the promises and purposes of
God and call the people to faith
and obedience. Others address
particular problems of doctrine
or living. In both cases, the
writers caUthem to live as new
covenant Christians, in faith and
obedience.
D. PROPHECY: THE
CONSUMATION IN CHRIST:
The Book of Revelation has
been more of a puzzle than a ''rev-
elation" to Christians. But need
it be so? God calls it a ''revela- .
tion," an unveiling. It was written
by John for the people of God liv-
ing in those days, 1:1-3. The
problem is that Christians have
taken the literal words fignratively
and the fignrative words literally!
"The time is near," Rev. 1:3, they
have tnrned into thousands of
years, and apocalyptic-symbol-
ism they have taken literally. What
has been overlooked is that the
Book of Revelation wasn't writ-
ten yesterday! And many com-
mentators are coming to believe
that it was written before J erusa-
lem was destroyed in70 A.D, to
prepare the people of God for the
coming destruction of the Temple,
the end of Judaism, and the ulti-
mate triumph of the people of
God, those to whom John was
writing.
What does reading the Bible
biblically mean to us? It means
that we must view the Bible as
setting forth God's plan and pur-
pose of creation and redemption.
It produces understanding and
confidence about the future, be-
cause we know that we will reap
in due time if we faint not and that
onr labor is not in vain in the Lord.
Reading the Bible biblically means
reading the Bible as the revela-
tion of the progressive unfolding
of the redemptive purpose of
God, who has created, chosen,
called, redeemed, and restored
his people to fellowship and com-
munion with Himself. It means
restoring man in the image ofGod,
in righteousness and holiness, with
dominion over the creatures. It
means restoring man as God's
vice-regent in the earth. It means
restoring marriages and families
(Mal. 4; Eph. 5), restoring the
dignity and fruitfulness of work in
our callings (Gen. 1; Eph. 6).
Faithfulness to it will enable us to
be salt in light in onr society, pro-
claim the good news of the king-
dom of God, and disciple the na-
tions to Christ, until the Day of
His coming when He presents the
consummated kingdom to His
Father (I Cor. 15:25-27).
December,1999/January,2000 - THE COUNSEL ofChaIcedon -9
I. YOU MUST READ
THE BIBLE ACCORDING
TO THE AUTHOR'S PUR
POSE. The WSC Q 1 begins
with our chief end, which is to
glorify God and to enjoy Him
forever. Q.2 goes on to
answer the question,"What rule
has God given us to direct us
how we may glorify and enjoy
him?" by saying ''The Scriptures
of the Old and New Testament
are the only rule to direct us
how we may glorify and enjoy
him." Q.3 answers the ques-
tion, "What do the scriptures
principally teach?" by saying,
"The Scriptures principally
teach what man is to believe
concerning God and what duty
God requires of man." That is
what the Bible is about.
A. It PRINCIPALLY
teaches us what we are to
believe and do. 2 Tim. 3:16
tells us that all Scripture is
profitable. But that does not
mean that all Scripture is as
profitable as every other. How
important is it to know the
names of the Levites and priests
in 2 Chron. 17:7,8? How
important is it for uS to under-
stand Cretan poetry, which Paul
refers to in Titus 1:12? Letus
not neglect the principle things
of what we are to believe and
do. We must be careful that out
of theological curiosity we do
not devote more time than is
expedient or edifying to explor-
ing these trails.
B. It teaches us not only
what we must believe, but
what we must do. We must
not avoid or omit doing what we
have been commanded to do in
the name of more study as to
what to believe. As someone
has said, "We already know
more than we do!" The Shorter
Catechism Q 1 speaks of
mlm's chief or ultimate end,
implying that there are
subordinent ends. As Chris-
tians, we have various ends,
purposes, responsibilities, and
duties which are incumbent
upon us besides our study of
theology and the Bible. Thomas
Vmcent, in his commentary on
the Shorter Catechism Q 1,
says that subordinate ends are
diligence in particular callings.
Men may also eat, and drink,
and sleep, for this end, and they
may nourish and refresh their
bodies. Men may also moder-
ately desire and endeavor after
the enjoyment of such a portion
of the good things of the world
as is needful and useful. While
all men (and women) must be
"theologians," this does not
. constitute the totality of their
Christian responsibility. Chil-
dren mustbe educated and
prepare for vocations, fathers
must work and provide for their
family and future. Of course, a
greater danger for most today is
lack of attention to Biblical and
theological study.
C. It teaches us what we
must believe concerning God
and do, what duty God reo
quires of man. Ps. 51 records
that the people had a false view
of God and this false view led
them to sinful practices. When
Josiah rediscovered the law of
God, he discovered that the
people were disobeying God,
he repented and instituted
reforms in terms of the Word of
God, 2 Kings 22. What hap-
10 -TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon -December,1999/Jannary,2000
pens when men do not follow
the word of God? Read Judges
17-18. Life without acknowl-
edgment of God's rule is
unhappy, confused, and dis-
pleasing to God!
II. WE MUST READ
THE BIBLE AS ONE BOOK
- The Bible is a large book of
66 books, but ultimately and
essentially it is one book, John
5:39, Luke 24:27, John 15:26,
2 Tim. 1:9,10. The Lord Jesus
Christ gives unity and authority
to the whole Bible from Genesis
to Revelation by His reference
to the O.T. scriptures as the
Word of God and His promise
of the Spirit to His disciples to
bring to remembrance all that
He has said. "The center of the
Bible is the incarnate and
glorified Christ by whom all
things will be renewed," - Willem
Van Gemeren. It is the story of
what God has purposed and
done with man through Christ.
The Bible is a book about
what God has said and done.
Center stage does not belong to
man, but to God. It is God-
centered and Christ-centered.
It is the record of the sovereign
God who is the absolute Lord
of heaven arid earth and of all
creatures and men. It is the
record of how God deals with
the world. It is the record of
God's setting up of His kingdom
on earth, creating and dealing
with man in a special and unique
way. That special way is God's
relationship established with
man by way of a "covenant."
The covenant is the relationship
established by God with man in
which he promises life or death,
blessings or curses, based on
faith and obedience. It is a
bond and promise oflife and
love for obedience and curse for
disobedience.
God established a covenant
with Adam and all his
poseterity. When Adam, and
thus all men, fell in sin, the
curses of the covenant came
into play. But God in His mercy
spoke a word of promise of
grace, Gen. 3:15, which He had
purposed in eternity to do.,
Eph. 1:4ff. Thus, He holds out
the promise of forgiveness and
new life to those who return to
Him in faith and obedience,
trusting Jesus Christ as their
Savior and Lord. At the same
time, this redemption is not up
to the whim or free will of men,
but God will save a people unto
Himself. It is He who regener-
ates some men's hearts, drawing
them to Himself, saving and
renewing them in His image, and
giving them an eternal inherit-
ance. The rest of the Bible is
abont how God is doing this.
The Bible is the book of the
. History of Redemption. It is not
just history, or just a history of
what God did. It is the history
of God's moving to restore
sinful people and all of creation
to a right relationship with
Himself while destroying all His
and their enemies. It is progres-
sive - gradual. It is the record
of God's creation and purpose
of redemption of men through
His Son for the glory of His
grace. It is the story of the
kingdom of God, God with us,
and the redemption of men by
His Son for His glory. It re-
counts how God in eternity
purposed to create and permit
the fall in order to redeem men
by His Son. Right from the
beginning, Gen. 3: 15, God
revealed that He would redeem
a people unto Himself and
would crush the head of the
serpent and his seed. It is God-
centered and not man-centered.
It is a revelation of the sovereign
will and purpose and power of
God and not the sovereign free-
will of man who does God a
favor by believing in His Son
and receiving Him as Savior.
ill. WE MUST READ
THE BIBLE AS OLD TES-
TAMENT AND NEW TES
TAMENT.
The word "testament" as
used here is unfortunate and
misleading. It is the same word
as covenant, and thus the Bible
is divided into the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant.
The terms "Old" and "New"
may be misunderstood as well.
Many Christians say "We are
N.T. Christians!" Or, "That's in
the Old Testament." We think
of old as something to be
discarded, like an old shoe.
Old with reference to the "Old"
Testament has the significance
of former or prior, not useless
or worthless. The New is the
fulfillment of the Old. The Old
is the platform for the New.
Moses was writing about Christ,
John 5:46; Christ came to fulfill
the law and the prophets, not to
abolish them, Mat. 5:17.
Christ and the apostles regarded
the O.T. as their Bible! We
ought to say that we are Biblical
Christians.
God established a covenant
with man, Adam, before and
after the fall. This promise was
repeated and enlarged through
Abraham and David. This
covenant established was not
fulfilled in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament even fortold
that God would make a new
covenant in the future, Jer.
31:31-34. Jesus came to fulfill
the Old Covenant, Luke 1 :72-
73, and spoke of His blood as
ratifying the New Covenant,
Mat. 26:28, Heb. 8:6-8.
So, we should not think of
the Bible as being divided into
two halves, but two halves being
united in one book. The N. T.
is not a break with the O.T., but
the fulfillment of the O.T., Mat.
1: 1. We must not throw up a
real division between the O.T.
and the N.T., saying that the
O.T. was for the Jews and now
is past history, irrelevant; that
the N.T. is for Christians and
we are a N.T. church. THE
BIBLE IS TWO BOOKS
UNITED INTO ONE BOOK,
THE O.T. THE PROMISE
AND THE N.T. THE FUL-
FILLMENT.
Augustine said, "The O.T. is .
in the N. T. revealed and the
N.T. is in the O.T. concealed."
Thomas Watson wrote, "The
two testaments are the two lips
by which God has spoken to
us." One theologian has said
that the Old and New Testa-
.ments are like the two halves of
a sentence; both are necessary
before we can read the whole
sentence. There are similarities
and differences to be sure. The
N.T. says that Christ is the end
of the law in one sense, "the end
of the law for righteousness to
everyone who believes,"Rom.
December,1999/January,2000 -THE COUNSEL ofChaicedon-11
10:4. But He did not come to
put an end to the righteousness
the law manifests, but to estab-
lish it. We ought to think of and
read the two testaments as
promise and fulfillment.
Dr. W. H. Griffith Thomas
wrote that if one only found and
read the O.T. He would come
to the conclusion that it is a
book aboutunfulfi1led promises,
unexplained ceremonies, and
unsatisfied longings. Butifwe
were handed the N.T., he would
discover that the very first page
the birth of Jesus is described as
taking place to fulfill what God
had promised in the O. T., Mat.
1 :22. He would go on to find
that in Christ the promises are
fulfiIled, the ceremonies ex-
plained' and the longings and
hopes satisfied.
. We have One God, One
Messiah, One moral law, One
way of salvation, One people of
God, and One hope of eternal
life. The New covenant is not
differing in nature from the old
covenant. What the gospel of
the new covenant proclaims is
that Christ has fulfilled the
prefigurations and shadows and
types of the old covenant,
thereby bringing about complete
forgiveness of our sins. Christ
also received the gift of the Holy
Spirit, who in turn equips the
church for the world-wide task,
not limited to the one nation of
Israel. In the expansion of the
church across the earth we see
fulfillment of what Isaiah had
prophesied long before, Isa ..
42:1-7. Thus we are to view
the new covenant, new
testatment, as a fulfillment of the
old covenant, not a break, not a
new plan, not an additional plan
introduced because the former
was postponed.
TheN.T. is the fulfillment and
completion of the promises of
the O.T. God completed the
sentence He began in the O.T.
He revealed part of the plan and
purpose of redemption to
Adam, another part to Noah,
more to Abraham, more to
Moses, and even more to
David, until in Jesus Christ its
full glory is revealed, Heb. 1: 1,
2. The O.T. was the truth, but
not the whole truth. In the OT
God spoke slowly, gradually,
and progressively. In the N. T.,
He speaks finally, fully, and
freely.
IV. WE MUST READ
THE OLD TESTAMENT:
The O.T. begins with God, the
mightly, creating, and sovereign
God. It tells us that God cre-
ated man and told him to work,
to marry and raise a family, and
to exercise dominion over all of
creation to the praise of God. It
shows that we are in partnership
with God. I'm here in God's
world, I belong to Him, I have a
task, and I have to be faithful.
God made a covenant with
Adam, a promise ofIife and
death.
Man broke the covenant with
God, sinning by eating the
forbidden frnit. Marriage was
affected, work was affected,
and their relatonship with God
was wrecked as well. But God
does not let the Devil succeed.
He comes to man and promises
to restore the relationship with
Adam and Eve and with a
portion of her seed, Gen. 3:15.
Now will be born to Eve chil-
12 -mE COUNSEL of Chalcedon -December,1999/January,2000
dren who by human nature are
children, products of the Devil,
but by God's grace, she will
also bear children whom God
will regenerate. God will
restore man's relationship with
Himself, restore man in the
image of God, restore man's
family and work. One of her
seed will crush the head of the
serpant, see Rom. 16:20. The
Creator will be the re-creator
and He promises a Savior.
We see the historical devel-
opment of the two lines, the two
seeds, Cain and the Caananites,
how Satan continues to seek to
destroy man, but God continues
His pupose thru Seth, Noah,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,Joseph,
etc. Noah found grace in the
eyes of God. Jacob have I
loved, showing God's electing
grace. And I'm working
through Abraham that all nations
. will be blessed. God creates
and redeems a people for
Himself. He brings them out of
Egypt to Mt. Sinai and gives
them His laws which had been
written on their hearts in fuller
and external expression so that
they will know how to please
and serve God in holiness. God
leads them into Canaan, a land
from which they can penetrate
into all the world, be a light to
the nations, Deut. 4.; a place to
serve and worship God.
But they didn't serve God,
and God disciplined them and
raised up Judges to temporarily
deliver them. Then Samuel,
David, and Solomon came.
God keep's his people and
makes a promises, 2 Sam. 7 of
a Son and an eternal kingdom.
David and Solomon were kings
and representative of the great
king who wonld come. Besides
kings, we meet priests and
prophets who ministered to
God's people. But the kings
were wicked, the prophets lied,
and the priests were unclean
themselves. These all served to
typify what they needed but that
man could not be that because
of his sin. God's people went
into captivity for their sin, and
then returned. God reserved a
remnant to Himself. God
raised up Nebuchadnezzer as
His rod then smote Him be-
cause he was puffed up. God
raised up Cyrus to deliver His
people. He brought the seed of
Abraham back to Jerusalem
where the Christ was to be
born. Thus, they pointed to the
need for a greater prophet,
priest, and king - who was and
is the Lord Jesus Christ! In
Christ, now God is fulfilling the
O.T. promises and purposes.
His people are not limited to
Jews, Israel, but to any, only,
and all who like Abraham
believe in Him and worship and
serve Him. The rest of mankind
He will justly destroy for their
sin, unbelief, rebellion, and
disobedience.
A. THE OLD TESTA
MENT MAY BE DIVIDED
INTO THREE TYPES OF
BOOKS: History, Poetry, and
Prophecy. The O.T. books
are not arranged in chronologi-
cal order; they are arranged in
terms of genre, the type of
literature, they are: History,
Poetry, and Prophecy.
The Scriptures of Jesus had
a different order of books than
our Bible. The order is not
inspired. It was referred to by a
3-fold division, the law, the
prophets, and the writings,
Luke 24:44, or sometimes as
the law and the prophets,
Mat. 7:12, 22:40, Luke 16:16,
Acts 13:15,26:22. And they
included different O. T, books in
those categories than we do.
The last book, for example,
in Jesus' Bible was 2
Chronicles. Knowing this
helps us understand the words
oCMat. 23:35, upon you shall
come all the blood of Able to
Zacharias, (2 Chron. 24:20-22),
in other words, the guilt of all
the blood from A to Z, the
wholeOT.
The modern O.T. arrange-
ment is based on the Septuagint,
the Greek translation of the
O.T. written in theinter-testa-
mental period (150 B.C.). This
arrangement is four-fold: The
Law, History, Poetry, and the
Prophets.
For the sake of simplicity, we
can divide the 39 books of the
O. T. into three categories,
History (17 books), Poetry (5
books), and Prophecy (17
books). The history and
prophetic books can be further
sub-divided into groups of 5
and 12 books: The 17 history
books can be divided into the 5
books of Moses, the
Penteteuch, the history of the
establishment of God's cov-
enant, and then 12 other history
books which relate the out-
working of the lives of the
people in terms of covenant
obedience. The 17 Prophecy
books may be divided into 5
Major Prophets and 12 Minor
prophets. We ought also to
know that some of the prophets
are pre-exilic, exilic, and
postexilic. Moreover, these
three major divisions are related
to each other like a sandwich
rather than link sausage. They
overlap each other. The 17
history books cover the whole
O. T. (1 and 2 Chronicles
covers the whole history of the
O.T.). The Poetry books were
written during the period of the
history of the kings, David and
Solomon. And most of the
Prophets, at least the pre-exilic
prophets, were written during
the period of the kings as well,
and the rest were written fol-
lowing the kings and during the
exile and the return.
.B. THE NATURE OF
THE O.T. REVELATION:
1. It is mSTORlCAL. It
is not merely theology, system-
atic theology. Our religion and
redemption is rooted in history.
God did things in history. It
does not tell us all we'd like to
know about creation, for ex-
ample. It is salvation history.
2. It is also PROGRES
SIVE: There is a story,
progress; step by step God
leads his people along, revealing
more about Himself, His will,
and His salvation. When Israel
was a child, God loved them as
a child, Has. 11:1,3. Now
God has completed His revela-
tion and calls all men to repen-
tance, Acts 17:30. Stop and
look at the scenery as you travel
through the O.T., but your goal
is the end of the journey, Christ
as the fulfillment. The Bible is
like a seed, an acorn, that is
planted and grows to maturity.
The whole tree is in the acorn,
December,1999/January,2000 -THE COUNSEL ofCbalcedon-13
but you can't see the whole tree
while it is an acorn. You have
to wait until it is grown to
maturity.
3. The O.T. is also OR-
GANIC AND EPOCHAL.
By organic we mean that God
moves from seed to growth to
fulfillment. It is like a tree that
grows from a seed to a full
grown tree. Many Christians do
not read it as an organic united
whole, but as separate boxcars
of a train. There is little or no
real connection between each
stage.
The O.T. is epochal, mean-
ing that it deals with specific
people and eras in particular,
some in more detail than others.
It is selective history, not com-
prehensive history. It deals with
a few men and leaves many
gaps, but progresses toward the
fulfillment of redemption . Read
Stephen's sermon in Acts 7 to
get this sense. The key figures
are Adam, Noah, Abraham,
Moses, David, and Jesus.
C. THE CONTENT OF
EACH DIVISION:
1. THE HISTORY (17
Books) - 5 Books of Law and
12 Other History Books: This
is the foundation of the Bible,
not just the O.T. The founda-
tion of man's relationship is
loving obedience to God
through faith. The Law gives us
the announcement and establish-
ment of God's covenant of
redemption with Israel which is
to be a blessing to all the na-
tions, Gen. 15, 17. It begins
with God's law, Gen. 2, contin-
ues with afullerrevelation of
God's law, Ex. 20, and con-
eludes with a reminder of God's
law, Deuteronomy. God created
man to live in faith and obedi-
ence to His commandments.
Man sinned and came under the
guilt and condemnation of the .
law. God redeemed a people to
Himself and gave them His law
in order to constitute them a
holy people, which man had
been created to be.
The Other 12 History books
following the Law, the
Penteteuch, manifest the histori-
cal unfolding of God's covenant
with His people in terms of their
faith, love, and obedience to
Him. This covers the conquest
in Canaan, the Judges, the
period when Israel was ruled by
kings, and following the return
to Israel after the captivity in the
books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
During all this time we see God
maintaining His intent, His
covenant through blessings and
curses, just as He promised He
would do. I Cor. 10: 11 says
these were written for our
instruction. During this time we
are introduced to prophets,
priests, and kings. But they are
all failures, being sinful men.
2. THE POETRY (5
Books) - The Poetic books
are rooted in God's covenant
promises and appeal to them,
Psalm 1, Proverbs 1. As we
read them it is almost as if we
are looking in on a worship
service, the family, the commu-
nity, the hearts of God's people.
We look right into the hearts of
praying, suffering, confessing,
pleading believers as they
struggle to live in faith, love, and
obedience to God in terms of
His law, His covenant and pray
14 -THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon -Decemher,1999/January;2000
for the fulfillment of the prom-
ises of redemption. The Wis-
dom books are intended to help
them stay on the path and live
by God's wisdom instead of
man's. Proverbs can be read as
. a practical commentary on the
Ten Commandments.
3. THE PROPHETS (17
Books) - are the preachers of
the O.T. They are always
appealing to the people to keep
the covenant with God, to keep
his commandments. They
remind the people of what God
has done for them and His law.
They speak of the demands,
threats, and promises. God
promises a Messiah, an
anointed prophet, priest, and
king who will come and through
whom the promises and pur-
poses of God will berealized.
Malachi ends with the promise
of a Son of righteousness which
will arise.
Do you get the point? God
is never stopped. He continues
to unfold and accomplish His
redemption. Salvation is not a
great endeavor, a great offer,
but a great accomplishment!
Someone has suggested this
outline:
THE BOOKS OF THE
LAW - THE FOUNDATION
FOR THE COMING OF
CHRIST;
THE HISTORY BOOKS -
THE PREPARATION FOR
THE COMING OF CHRIST;
THE POETIC BOOKS -
THE ASPIRATION FOR THE
COMING OF CHRIST;
THE PROPHETIC BOOKS
- THE EXPECTATION OF
THE COMING OF CHRIST.
I
D. THE CONTENT OF and 2 tribes). It was during this marital love nd points to a love
EACH OF THE O. T. time that Elij ah and Elisha even greater.
BOOKS: prophesied, and several pro-
3. THE PROPHETIC
1. THE HISTORY
phetic books were written,
BOOKS:
Amos, Hosea (prophets to the
Of the 5 Major (larger)
BOOKS:
N. Kingdom), and Isaiah,
GENESIS, the book of the Prophets, ISAIAH, JER-
Jeremiah, Micah, Nahum,
EMIAH, AND LAMENT A-
beginnings or origins of creation,
Habakkuk, and Zephaniah
TIONS (written by Jeremiah)
sin, redemption, and
(prophets to the S. Kingdom)
are pre-exilic. EZEKIEL AND
covenanting, God's chosen
were written.
DANIEL are exilic, during the
people.
CHRONICLES, 1 & 2,
captivity in Babylonia.
EXODUS, the going out of
repeats much of the history of 2
Ofthe 12 Minor (lesser)
God's people from Egypt and
Sam. and 1 & 2 Kings, focusing
Prophets, HOSEA, JOEL,
the giving of the law at Mt.
on particular historical events up
AMOS, OBADIAH, JONAH,
Sinai.
to the exile for Israel's sins.
MICAH, NAHUM,
LEVITICUS, the laws
EZRA & NEHEMIAH
HABAKKUK AND
pertaining to the priestly work
record the return to Jerusalem
ZEPHANIAH are pre-exilic.
of the tribe of Levi given atMt.
after the exile and the rebuilding
HAGGAI, ZECHARIAH, AND
Sinai ..
of the temple.
MALACHI ARE POST-
NUMBERS, the numbering
ESTHER lived during this EXILIC.
of the tribes and their journey to
time and is an example of God's
As a whole these prophets
the border of Canaan, the
providence in redeeuring His
proclaim God's word, predict
promised land.
people from their enemies.
God's judgments on the disobe-
DEUTERONOMY, the
2. THE POETRY dient, and promise his blessing
repetition of the law before
BOOKS: on those who repent.
going into the land of Canaan to
JOB tells us HOW TO I Cornelius Vanderwaal,
the next generation.
SUFFER. It is the poetic Search the Scriptures vol. 1
JOSHUA, the conquest of
treatment of a patriarch who (Ontario: Paideia, 1978), p. 43.
the land of Canaan by Moses'
lived and suffered during the
2 Ibid.
successor.
early part of the Genesis and
3 These New Testament head-
JUDGES, the history of the
Abraham account.
ings are taken from Norman
people living in the land when
PSALMS, mostly written by
Geisler and William Nix, A Gen-
ruled by different judges; which
David, tells us HOW TO
eral Introduction to the Bible
means "deliverers" or "Saviors."
WORSHIP. It contains songs,
(Chicago: Moody, 1986), p. 27.
RUTH, a personal account
prayers, confessions, and
of Ruth during the period of the
aspirations.
judges and an anc,estor of Jesus. PROVERBS, mostly written
SAMUEL, 1 & 2, the last
by Solomon, tells us HOW TO
judge, and the first kings, Saul
LIVE.
and David. ECCLESIASTES, written by
KINGS, 1 & 2, David's
or about Solomon, tells us
place is taken by Solomon,
HOW TO BE HAPPY.
whose kingdom is later divided SONG OF SOLOMON,
in two, the Northern Kingdom written by or about Solomon,
(Jeroboam and 10 tribes), the tells us HOW TO LOVE. It
Southern Kingdom (Rehoboam reflects the purity of human
December,1999/January,2000 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon -15