Introduction to the Bible

    Our word "Bible" comes from the Greek word biblion, referring to a roll of byblus or papyrus, the material upon which words were written.  In one sense, the Bible contains a lot of diversity.  It contains a total of sixty-six (66) different documents.  The first section, frequently called the “Old Testament,” contains thirty-nine (39) documents, associated with the patriarchal age (creation to Moses) and the Mosaic Age (From Moses to Jesus).  These books were written between 1446-400 B.C., primarily in the Hebrew language with a few portions in Aramaic.  The second section, the “New Testament,” contains twenty-seven (27) documents associated with the first coming of Jesus and the New Covenant that He established.  These writings were produced between 45-95 A.D. in Koine (or “common”) Greek.  The traditional view would recognize at least forty (40) different authors involved in the production of the Bible.  There are a number of different types of literature (genres) used in the Bible, including law, history, genealogies, poetry, wisdom, prophecy, riddles, drama, biographical sketches, gospel, parables, letters, sermons, apocalypse, etc.

The “Unity” of the Bible

    For all of its diversity, the Bible also demonstrates an amazing unity.  While many events and portions of the material have “historical particularity” (applying directly to a certain historical setting), there is also a tremendous amount of “eternal relevance” so that many events, lessons, and principles apply equally well to all people in all cultures and times.  This amazing “unity” and relevance is attributed to “divine inspiration” - the claim and conclusion that these materials were gathered and arranged under the direction of a supernatural editor.  From the earliest chapters, we find many references that “God spoke” and His words were recorded, or that He communicated through selected spokesmen, “Thus says the Lord, . . . . .”  This Divine oversight of the project - inspiration - is asserted in Second Timothy,

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16,16)

and described in Second Peter

But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.  (2 Peter 1:20,21)

    While time and other studies can demonstrate the general scientific and historical validity of the Bible, other evidences of the Bible’s inspiration are offered in the accurate fulfillment of predictive prophecies and the continuous theme which unfolds throughout the story and holds the whole Bible together.  From Genesis to Revelation we find the presentation of one plan of salvation, for the Bible is a story about "Someone" very special coming to deal with our sin problem.^[1]  The Old Testament tells us that "Someone is Coming" to deal with our separation from God (Genesis 3:15).  To this end, we are provided with a genealogical “roadmap,” to point us to the lineage of this “coming one” - he would come through the first woman, Eve (Genesis 3:20) and then through her descendants,

     The genealogies in Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-37 summarize the two converging lines from different sons of David to the earthly parents of the promised savior, Jesus.  The four Gospels announce that "the 'Someone' is here, while the rest of the New Testament letters tell us about the establishment of the Lord’s church and provide useful information for all in view of the fact that the "Someone is Returning" someday.

     In addition to these things, the Bible also contains a “typological” unity as ancient events can later be seen as divinely-designed pre-figurements of the substitutionary death of Jesus.^[2]  There is also an “ethical unity” as basic principles of “right/wrong” religious and social attitudes/behavior seem to carry through for people of faith in all ages.  The general character of “righteousness” seems to be quite consistent, although there are some adjustments in ceremonial matters under different covenants.

Understanding “Covenants, Promises, & Faith”

 “Does national Israel still have a special place in God’s plan?”

 “Does national Israel still have a special claim to the land of Canaan?”

 “Should Christians be keeping the Jewish Sabbath?”

 “Are the Mosaic/Levitical food restrictions still in effect?”

     Questions like those above are quite common and they arise from the natural confusion associated with the different covenants that are mentioned in the Bible.  Distinguishing and defining these covenants and dispensations will go a long way in helping us to understand such issues, which are related to the continuity/discontinuity between the Mosaic and New Covenants.  Under the overarching theme of redemption through a Messiah to come from a specific human lineage, there are also recognizable subdivisions of God’s historical workings as He selected and worked with the Messianic lineage.  Most commonly, we think of the “Old Testament” and the “New Testament.”

Dispensations

     A “dispensation” is a period of time during which God deals with mankind by certain means as He “dispenses” His kindness and revelation, accepts worship, and deals with sin.  This writer agrees with the general view of the Rabbis of Jesus’ time that Biblical history (and world history) can be divided into three major dispensations.  These three eras of world history were:

            1. Primitive (from Creation to the Law)

            2. Under the Law (Under the Mosaic Covenant)

            3. Under the Messiah^[3]

 The key to understanding the transition from one system to another is noted in Hebrews 7:12 – both the priesthood and the Law/Covenant which define it change at the same time.  Thus, the Patriarchal age stretched from creation to the giving of the Law at Sinai, with a simple law system (Genesis 9) and the patriarchal heads of each major clan leading worship for their clan (Genesis 8:20; 12:7; Job 1:5).  Then came the Mosaic age, which lasted from the giving of the Law at Sinai until Jesus’ first coming.  During that era the Mosaic Law was the covenant in force and the Levites of Aaron’s family were the priests.  With Jesus’ first coming, the Messianic age began and the Law of Christ (Galatians 6:2) is in force, with Jesus holding a high priesthood similar to Melchizedek (Hebrews 6-8) and Christians functioning as a priesthood under Him (1Peter 2:5,9,10; Revelation 1:6; 5:9,10; 20:4-6).

Covenants

"Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;  (Deuteronomy 7:9)

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. (Luke 22:20)

    A covenant is a solemn agreement between two parties, sworn by an oath, with blessings or penalties attached to keeping/violating its terms.  While covenants and dispensations may sometimes be almost identical, a covenant can be with an individual as well as a larger group and may be of shorter or longer duration than a dispensation. 

    Covenant "formulary" refers to the essential elements by which any covenant can be identified and its basic nature understood.  Here we are concerned with such things as identifying "who" is involved in a covenant, what ongoing duties are required of covenant members, the benefits or penalties associated with the covenant, and the means by which one enters into a covenant relationship.

    First, the parties are those formally involved in the Covenant.  As such, they are both clearly named in the covenant document and there should be no question as to who is/is not involved in the arrangement (Exodus 34:27,28).  Marriage licenses and business contracts demonstrate this feature by naming all the involved parties and what their relationship to the agreement is.  Second, while often defined above under the title "stipulations," the terms are the ongoing duties or responsibilities of the covenant that are to be faithfully performed by the vassal or inferior party.  Such "terms" are usually identified in Scripture in connection with such words as "perform/do/keep/obey.”  Third, there are promises/curses, which are the rewards for keeping the covenant^[4] and the penalties for violating or abandoning it.^[5]  Finally, we come to the oath-swearing.  No matter what the content of the arrangement, it did not become "active, binding, or in force" until both parties swore the oath.  This was the "signing on the dotted line" that bound the vassal to the contract and put him in line for the blessings or curses, depending on his performance of the terms.

            Ordinarily, the solemn nature of the covenant was emphasized by the method of sealing it - an animal was sacrificed, split in two, and both parties walked through the blood.  When you contacted this “covenant blood,” from then on you were in covenant relationship.  The "walking between the halves" (Genesis 15:9-10,17-18; Exodus 24:1-8) was the ancient form of oath-swearing.  The "blood of the covenant”^[6] sealed the covenant.  The split animal also represented a "self-curse" in that it pictured what should happen to you if you didn't keep the covenant (cf. Joshua 2:14,19; Hebrews 6:1-8; 10:26-31; 2Peter 2:20f).  As the Babylonian exile approached, Jeremiah referred to this as the fulfillment of the "oath-curse" (Jeremiah 34:18-20) for abandoning the Sinaitic covenant.  His Jewish audience understood what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of an unfaithful servant being "cut in two" (Matthew 24:51).

The Promise & Covenant Between God and Abraham

    Of major importance to understanding the whole Biblical story, the next step after the initial promise of a savior in the Garden (Genesis 3:15) is the promise and covenant which God made with Abraham,

Now the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;  And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.  (Genesis 12:1-3)

    With hindsight we can see that this promise sketched out the rest of the Biblical program in outline form.  Through two covenants, God would fulfill the promise in Genesis 3:15.  First of all, Abraham’s physical descendants would become a great nation in the promised land and this refers to Israel’s theocracy under the Mosaic covenant in Canaan.  God would later inform Abraham as to when and how this nation of his descendants would come to control Canaan (Genesis 15:13-16).  Secondly, God would provide an international (“all the families of the earth”) blessing though Abraham’s messianic descendant and this implies some major changes - the Gospel age and a New Covenant.  Looking back on it, the apostle Paul came to this same conclusion - explained how the promise to Abraham was fulfilled by means of a two-stage program involving Israel’s temporary Canaan-centered covenant, followed by the coming of the Messiah and an era of international blessing through a New Covenant international Church (Galatians 3-4).

The Role of Faith

    One of the things that many modern readers of the Bible wonder about how people before the first coming of Christ were supposed to relate to God.  The European “Christian theocracy” that developed from the efforts of Constantine and Theodosius pushed Roman Catholicism towards an Israelite/Pentateuch model for society.  Reacting to this Rome-centered theocracy, several of the major 16^th century Reformers placed great emphasis on salvation “by grace” and “by faith” (even “Grace/faith-only).  Part of the misunderstanding that developed was the belief that “law” and “works” (apart from faith) was the proper means by which Old Testaments people were supposed to approach God (instead of grace/faith) and, with Christ’s coming, there was a major change in how people were to relate to God.

     Granted, there was a change in covenants when Jesus came and initiated a “new covenant” (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 8:6; 9:15; 12:24) and this change involves some details and actions that differ from the previous Sinaitic covenant.  However, the concepts of God’s goodness/grace and of human faith and submission have been a part of the Divine-Human relationship from the beginning.  Neither is the idea of justification/righteousness “by faith” something that entered the picture by means of the New Covenant.  These ideas were firmly presented as the model for true righteousness long before the Law of Moses was given at Sinai!

     From the earliest pages of Genesis, we see characters like Enoch (Genesis 5:22-24) and Noah (Genesis 6:8,9) who are known as righteous and blameless men who “walked with God.”  This is not “righteousness by law/works,” but the picture of an ongoing “faith” relationship.  When we encounter Abraham, we again see a mixture of divine promise (Genesis 12:1-3), human submission and obedience (Genesis 12:4; 22), promise and covenant-making (Genesis 15), and one item that stands out as characteristic of the whole relationship,

 Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).

Being in a right relationship with God and “righteous by faith” are not concepts that begin with the apostle Paul, but rather are at least as old as Abraham (if not Noah and Enoch).  The principle of relating to God on the basis of “faith” in His existence and goodness is stated as being descriptive of how all of the OT faithful related to God,

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. . . . . ³⁹And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, (Hebrews 11:6,39)

    Rather than separate one’s inward mental conviction from the outward actions called for by that conviction (as post-Reformation evangelicals often do), one’s faith was demonstrated by their words and actions.  This is shown by the Shema (Deutronomy 6:4,5) and its joining of the intellectual facts (“Hear - the Lord is One”) with the proper response (“Love God” with all of your being).  Israel was told what God wanted from them (Deuteronomy 10:12,13; Micah 6:8).  While Abraham’s inward conviction that God would provide the promised descendants was “reckoned to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6), it was the actions called for by faith that brought forth a similar comment on Phinehas (Psalm 106:30,31; cf. Numbers 25).  Abraham was commanded to circumcise his sons and male servants as a “sign” of the covenant, but this was NOT some kind optional “outward expression of an inward grace” (Genesis 17:14).  Those living under the Mosaic Law were called to obey an extensive law system and disobedience required sacrifice and could even lead to excommunication from the society or death.  The New Testament writers repeatedly warn against empty verbalizations of faith that are not supported by actions submitted to God’s will.^[7]

    The particular covenant/dispensation in force at a particular time does not change the nature of the basic relationship, only the specific types of actions that are performed on the basis of faith in God’s existence and goodness.  Animal sacrifices, circumcision, baptism, etc. each have their own particular meaning and are associated with different covenants, but each is a matter of faithful submission to the God who calls us to himself according to the covenant in force.  Under the Abrahamic Promise/Covenant, the faithful men were to be circumcised (Genesis 17:1-9), to which was later added the Mosaic Covenant, in which the faithful were called to also obey a law system that was designed and intended to regulate “national Judaism” in Canaan as they awaited the Messiah’s coming.  The Law was not a natural enemy of “faith,” for in itself Paul said the Mosaic Law was a holy, righteous, good, and spiritual (Romans 7:12,14) guide for national life.  However, it was never intended to replace or nullify the earlier international promise of salvation to be provided through the coming Savior (Genesis 3:15; 12:3).  Paul explains the relative roles of the promise to Abraham, the Mosaic covenant, and coming of Messiah in Galatians 3.  The concept of “salvation by works” was just as erroneous while the Mosaic Law was in force as it was after the New Covenant had been put in place.  The real problem was not with the Law itself, but with how Jews had come to view the Mosaic Law - approaching it as a “works” salvation system - as an end in itself, rather than a temporary covenant to be followed as an expression of submission to the God who gave it.  When Jesus was asked what the “greatest commandment” of the Law was (Matthew 22:35-40), He did not single out any of the “10 Commandments, but pointed out that the whole Mosaic system was designed to “hang/swing” on two basic “hinge” principles - love for God (Deuteronomy 6:4,5) and love for other people (Leviticus 19:18; cf. Romans 13:8-10).  While much of Judaism mistakenly came to see the Law as being based in “works” (Romans 9:30-32), Jesus said that it was supposed to be based on love, because love "for God and fellow man" would want to do the things commanded and not want to do the things forbidden - thus love "fulfills" the Law (Romans 13:8-10)!

    When Paul said “the Law is not of faith” (Galatians 3:12), he was speaking to this erroneous attitude, for a person could obey and live under the Mosaic Law (or any "law" system) without any concern for the God who gave it.  The same attitude is present in those who go through religious rituals of any kind just for the outward show of doing it or loyalty to the earthly religious institution, but have little or no heartfelt trust in the God who commands certain actions to be performed.

    Outward rituals carry only as much meaning as God ordains them to have and those submitting to the action bring with them.  Sincerely following traditions of mere human invention may be worthless because no divine promises are attached and God is not obligated to honor our mistaken notions.  It may be equally worthless to ritualistically observe divinely-commanded things without sincerity, faith, and love towards the God who commanded them.

Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy

All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible

To send a question to Chuck: chuck@severnchristian.org