Know The Bible

There are many people who doubt the Bible is true. There are skeptics who cannot reconcile the differences they see in the Gospels or the brutality of the flood or GOD’s command to eradicate those who lived in the land He gave to Israel. They cannot believe in the virgin birth of Jesus, the parting of the Red Sea or any other miracle in the Bible.

For those who just have doubts when they seek the truth and let GOD reveal Himself to them then they can take the faith GOD makes available to all humans and just believe. This is the beginning of studying and learning the truths of the Word of GOD. This is the truth that sets us free, but it must be learned, believed (even if by faith) and lived before we enter into its freedom.

For those who do not want to believe there is nothing a believer can say to them that will open their closed heart to the truth. If you are one who just does not want to believe in GOD or His Word the Bible, then just stop reading because the rest of this paper is for those who want to know, understand and live the truth in their lives.

I’m not going to try and explain the Bible, first I’m going to tell what the Bible says about itself.

Deuteronomy 7:9-11, “Therefore know that the LORD your GOD, He is GOD, the faithful GOD who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.”

Joshua 1:8-9, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your GOD is with you wherever you go.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the matter: Fear GOD and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For GOD will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of GOD, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of GOD may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Peter 1:2-4, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of GOD and Jesus our LORD, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Revelation 1:3 & 22:18-19, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near…For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, GOD will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, GOD shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things that are written in this book.”

That should be clear, any questions?

Next I want to discuss what some call discrepancies in the Bible. First as it says in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration from GOD…” This should be our underlying faith and trust in the cannon of scripture that we call the Bible today. Second, men who were thought of and who thought of themselves as scholars have removed books from most of the modern protestant versions that are in the Catholic version; these are called the Apocrypha. There are also books that were part of the earliest versions of the Bible that modern scholars do not consider divinely inspired. I am not a scholar and I have not studied these other works to make a determination for myself on their divine origin.

All this to say that as a Christian for 43 years I have read and studied the Bible plus what I remember from my Bible College days, in the 70’s, of Church and Bible History; I am absolutely confident in the divine inspiration and accuracy of the Bible no matter what translation you use. But be careful of versions that are not exact translations of the original texts and early manuscripts, commonly called paraphrased. They make for easy reading but sometimes can blur or obscure what was actually said in the original. Translations are as accurate as scholars can make them in modern language without losing the context and meaning of the original languages.

So far what I am saying is that you the reader have the responsibility before GOD to study His Word to us and to apply them to our lives. In our modern world of skeptics and critics who denounce and ridicule the Bible and those who believe it, we must have full confidence and dependence on the Bible as the divinely inspired Word of GOD for humanity today. This will not happen if you let others tell you what the Bible says, we all must know, believe and live according to what the Bible says, therefore we must study, meditate and read it daily.

The main reason I started writing this paper was to discuss what some say are discrepancies in the 4 gospels about Jesus’ Life. So a little background, the gospels were written by four different men, Matthew, John, Mark and Luke. John was with Jesus from the beginning of His ministry and Matthew (also called Levi) was with Him from very early in his ministry, their accounts are eyewitness accounts. Mark and Luke’s accounts are second hand accounts.

Matthew: Matthew’s design is to present Jesus as the King of the Jews, the long-awaited Messiah.¹ Matthew’s main purpose is to prove to his Jewish readers that Jesus is their Messiah. He was a tax collector and was also known as Levi.² Written between 60 & 70 A.D.

John: John’s purpose is crystal clear: to set forth Christ in His deity in order to spark believing faith in his readers. John portrays Him in His deity as the Son of GOD.¹ John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” was greatly influenced by the Old Testament. It was written about 85 A.D.²

Mark: John whose surname is Mark portrays Jesus as a servant on the move, instantly responsive to the will of the Father.¹ Early Church fathers’ agree that Mark’s gospel reproduces the preaching of Peter.² It is believed to be the first written around 55 A.D. to present Jesus to the Romans as a man of authority and action.³

Luke: Luke, a physician, writes with the compassion and warmth of a family doctor as he carefully documents the perfect humanity of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.¹ Luke’s writing shows him to be a highly educated man, one who wrote from a Greek background and viewpoint. He wrote especially with Gentiles in mind, for he explained Jewish customs and traced the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam. The book was probably written between 56 & 63 A.D.²

“And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of GOD, and that believing you may have life in His name.” “This is the disciple that testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” John 20:30-31; 21:24-25

These scriptures are the clarion verses for the 4 gospels they explain why there are different miracles and parables in the gospels. Each writer led by Holy Spirit wrote what would speak to their intended audience. GOD knew that in time the gospels, letters and revelation would be put together with the Jewish Bible and would become the Bible that we have today. But, that is not how they were written, they were written by different men at different times to different groups for different reasons. Yet when led by Holy Spirit other men put them together and copied them and kept them, they studied them and taught from them and bound them into one book, the Bible of both the Old and New Testaments; The Word of GOD for humanity.

This brings us to a further explanation of the Bible, it is 66 books written by about 40 different authors over a period of more than 2000 years. The Old Testament is 39 books written by at least 30 different authors starting with Moses. The Old Testament covers creation and the history of humanity until Abram (Abraham). Then it follows the history of the Jewish people from Abraham to their return from captivity by the Chaldeans. The New Testament is 27 books written by 8 authors, they cover the life and earthly ministry of Jesus, the beginning and growth of the Church and the Revelation of Jesus Christ about the future of the Church.

If you want to understand why GOD does the things He does, forget it, “’For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” “For I proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe greatness to our GOD. He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a GOD of truth and without injustice.” “As for GOD, His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” “The LORD is righteous in all His ways, gracious in all His works.” “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” “They sing the song of Moses, the servant of GOD, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvelous are Your works, LORD GOD Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of saints! Who shall not fear You, O LORD, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been manifested.’” Isaiah 55:8-9; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; 2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 145:17; John 14:6; Revelation 15:3-4; Study Psalm 2.

What GOD has called us to is not to figure out why He does what He does, but to know Him, who He is. He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him; like Abraham, “Are You not our GOD, who drove out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel, and gave it to the descendants of Abraham Your friend forever?” “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the descendants of Abraham My friend.” “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham believed GOD, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of GOD.”  2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23, study Genesis 18; Matthew 13 & Hebrews 11.

Or like King David, “And Samuel said to Saul, ‘You have done foolishly, you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your GOD…But now your kingdom shall not continue, the LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart…” “…whom GOD drove out before the face of our fathers until the day of David, who found favor before GOD…” “And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave this testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’”  1 Samuel 13:13-14; Acts 7:45-46, 13:22, study John 1:1-18, 3:1-21 and chapters 13-17.

All scripture quotes are from The Holy Bible, The New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994

¹ The Holy Bible The New King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994

² The Holy Bible New International Version, Zondervan Bible Publishers, 1988

³ The Bible GOD’s Word For The Biblically – Inept, Larry Richards, Starburst Publishers