The Bible For Beginners And The Rest of Us

A Guide to Making Basic Bible Sense

Arlington McRae

• Publisher: Embassy One Publishers
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9781944539023
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Beginner Bible study. Do you wish someone would write a bookfor beginners that tells you how to read the Bible? There are many beginner Bible study books that provide a guide to reading the Bible and how to read the Bible daily. Perhaps you need a beginner Bible study plan. Well, rejoice! God has heard your cry! Today He has answered your prayers.

Are you trying to read the Bible but you don’t get much from it? You know the Bible should make sense to you. But your question is, “Why am I having so much difficulty?” Or, you are an experienced student of the Bible. But you know there is much more for you to learn to make you comfortable discussing it.

The Bible For Beginners And The Rest of Us is designed to tell you what you need to know and do to truly understand the Bible? Over the past twenty years, God has prepared the author — Arlington McRae — and anointed him saying, “Feed My Sheep”. Under this anointing, with meticulous skill and care, he has written the first of five guidebooks that demonstrate how you can read and truly understand the Bible — God’s revelation of Himself to the world, and in particular, His revelation of Himself to you.

It is God’s desire to give you the ability to read, study and truly understand His Word for yourself. This book is written to help you do just that.

In this book you will

• Learn the major Bible divisions and how they relate one to another
• Gain an overall picture of the Bible, its story and message
• Learn how a god-given perspective and context truly matter
• Understand Bible threads (themes) that link the books and stories together
• Be encouraged to seek your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ

While this book is brief and to the point, it conveniently connects you to additional online resources providing much more detail to greatly enhance your biblical knowledge.

Read it. Digest it. Live it.

THE

Bible For Beginners

And The Rest of Us

A Guide to Making Basic Bible Sense

Expanded Version

Arlington McRae

VOLUME PREFACE

Whether you are seeking God or you are a committed unbeliever, you want to know if there truly is a god. If there is, what you have learned about Him thus far is sporadic, piecemeal, and inconsistent, having too many gaps, lacking coherency – i.e., a logical, orderly, and consistent relationship of its parts. You think knowledge of God should be completely logical and His ways understandable. You want to know if the Bible can be trusted. But for you, there are too many unanswered questions. I understand your frustration. I lived it. But today, I am at peace. God, my heavenly Father, has taught me all I need to know to experience peace in my quest to know Him and to have more of Him. And I believe the reason you are holding this book is because the God of the Bible loves you and wants an intimate relationship with you too.

If you are a Christian (or maybe one raised in the church but have yet to truly submit and commit to Jesus Christ), you may be struggling as well to find coherency in the Bible. “Law, history, Gospels, Psalms: how do these divisions relate one to another?” “What is the simple message of the Bible?” “What is God’s will for my life?” These are all legitimate questions. Sunday after Sunday, we may listen to sermon after sermon with no apparent relationship to one another and little relationship to how we actually live our lives. Far too many of us struggle to relate Sunday activities to the rest of the week. We know God is out there somewhere. At least we hope He is. “But when is He going to intervene in my struggles, in my lack, in my emptiness?” With greater understanding of Him, and who we are as human beings, we would come to realize that He already has intervened in so many wonderful ways. And we would find our security and significance in Him rather than broken relationships, and “things” of the world.

The unbeliever and the Christian struggle alike because we lack the light of an illuminating “perspective” and “context” (a new twenty-first century paradigm) from which we can make sense of God’s Word, discover solid biblical truths, and learn how to apply them to the way we actually live our lives (Christianity is a new way of life, not a religion). Still, the God of the Bible is wooing us because He truly loves us – unbelievers and Christians – and He is seeking an intimate love relationship with each of us. We would come to know and appreciate that if only we could learn to read the Bible with genuine understanding.

Or, perhaps you are searching for the purpose of life? Perhaps you lack motivation, optimism, or contentment. Perhaps your life lacks meaning. Your big question might well be, “Why are we here?” To you I say, learn of Jesus, the Son of God. He is what you are missing. He is what you are actually seeking.

The answers we are all seeking, to the questions that truly matter, are in the Bible and in God’s Son, Jesus. This volume, and those which follow, is my attempt to encourage you, to guide you and to help you to begin your own journey to truly understanding and appreciating the significance of the entire Bible – the authentic revelation of the only true and living God.

The purpose of this book,

indeed, this entire series,

is to provide a biblical

Perspective & Context

to help you read and

understand the Bible,

the revelation of

the only true and living God.

HOW TO USE THIS VOLUME

When studied carefully, this book will point you in the direction to finding the best that Jesus has to offer. It is not offered simply to tell you what I say. Instead, it is designed to help you discover for yourself and understand what God says. It presents a process, not a one-time reading event. It is a small volume, but it is packed with vital knowledge. So apply it every time you study the Scriptures. We are certain you will come to value its content more and more as you do. We pray and it is our hope that the results will bring you much joy.

You might think of this book as providing three levels of knowledge with each one building on the other. The three levels include, (a) the written text including quotations, (b) the referenced Scriptures in the appendix, and (c) the referenced web articles.

Think of this book also as Jesus’ outstretched hand in darkness beckoning you to come closer to Him. You can hear His voice. But all you can see is darkness. Therefore, you must grope about for Him. That is the effort you must make to lay hold of His person. I have already made the effort (through twenty years of intense Bible study) to make this book as easy as possible for you to follow and grasp. We even fixed it so you don’t even need to purchase a Bible. All you have to do is make a few steps of your own and have an Internet connection.

Speaking of steps, I believe most God seekers and students of the Word of God will achieve maximum benefit from the whole of their investment in this book by approaching it in three phases, according to the three levels of knowledge incorporated herein:

First, quickly read the book from cover to cover to include the charts and only quoted Scriptures; pausing frequently to ponder and visualize a picture of what you have read and how it might apply to you. Also take this time to make written notes. Skip the referenced (underlined) Scriptures and web articles (i.e., the highlighted text) as well as the Scripture references included in the charts. We expect you will find this first pass a quick read. No Bible is required for the eBook version. This first pass may prove sufficient for many seasoned Bible students.

Second, along with a study partner (recommended), reach deeper by reading the book again more slowly and more thoughtfully. Meditate on, and consider seriously each significant point. Take the time to ponder and explore each and every significant point – e.g., what does it say and how does it impact your thinking? This time, using the internal hyperlinks (i.e., the underlined Scripture references) or if you desire, your own Bible, or an online Bible study tool such as www.biblegateway.com or https://net.bible.org, incorporate the text of all the referenced Scriptures in your study (including those in the charts). Pause to ponder their meaning and significance to the point this book is making. Ask yourself, “What does this Scripture passage add to the author’s point?” Again, skip the referenced web articles.

Third, for those who desire to reach even deeper into God’s Word, do a cursory read of this book a third time but make careful study of each referenced hyperlinked web article (i.e., the highlighted titles). Using the article’s internal hyperlinks (if available), your Bible or an online Bible study tool such as www.biblegateway.com or https://net.bible.org, incorporate the article’s referenced Scriptures into your study. This time, multiple study partners would be especially beneficial in helping you explore the deep recesses of God’s word.

Along the way, use what you have learned to practice applying your new knowledge to your Bible study. When you have finished this volume, make it a habit to apply all you have learned to enjoy your study and examination of God’s Word. It truly is food for the soul (Matthew 4:1-4).

When this book asks, “Any questions?” that is your queue to make notes to yourself including listing on paper or in a computer, any questions in your mind at that point. As you proceed through this book, look for answers to your questions. Also look for further explanations or insights into what you already know or have recently learned. Take time to enjoy the process!

Each time you and your study partners sit down to read this book, and to read and study the Bible, you will find it extremely beneficial to remember to pause, and seek God’s assistance through prayer. Whether you are a believer or not, take time to pray! Ask Him especially to guide you and to teach you what He wants you to learn today. Then follow your spirit’s lead. God may point you to various Scriptures that may appear to be disconnected. Follow His lead. And please be confident in knowing that He is faithful and trustworthy to answer that prayer because He has made a promise to do so (Matthew 7:7-8).

Part 1

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Perspective

There was the true Light [Jesus] which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own [Israel], and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even those who believed in His name.

John 1:9-12

1

SEEKING GOD’S PERSPECTIVE

Typically, in church, we drop new Christians into our instructional programs like dropping a boatload of lost souls in the middle of the ocean. No matter which way they look, all they see is water. No matter which direction they choose to go, the outcome is the same – hopelessness. They will still be lost until they can see the shoreline in the far distance. In the same way, we drop new believers into the vast ocean of God’s Word. Week after week, year after year, we feed them small bits and pieces of the whole of God’s Word. They attempt to sort and store the pieces in a logical pattern so they make sense. They are striving to visualize a unified efficacious message from the whole of God’s Word. But try as they might, their efforts seem useless. Therefore, in time, too many give up trying and become imitators. If the Word of God is to be logical and aesthetically consistent for unbelievers and for new believers, if they are to have a solidly biblical perspective for assimilating and integrating biblical content, we must start them at the beginning. Then follow a logical and consistent pattern that leads to an understanding of a coherent whole. Moreover, we must do the same for seasoned Christians who have yet to acquire an insightful coherent whole of God’s Word from God’s perspective.

The Learning Process

God designed the human brain to observe, feel, listen, read, accumulate, record, organize, assimilate, correlate, and retrieve information in a logical and consistent manner. From infancy, we are collecting and recording bits and pieces of information. At first, we accumulate many pieces of data looking for a connection between them. If no connection is found, that piece of data is stored in its own brain-folder. We attempt to connect and store each new piece of information with data already organized and stored in the various folders of our brain. When we have collected sufficient data in a folder on a given subject, concept, or thing, we attempt to organize it in a manner that yields coherency within that subject area, and to connect it with any other bits of data stored in other folders. If we are successful, having sufficient data on a given subject, we are able to discover logic, order, and aesthetic consistency. Therefore, we are able to draw valid conclusions from a given subject and determine its relationship to other subjects.

Baby Christians begin life in much the same way as natural babies. Void of sufficient Bible knowledge, they observe, feel, listen, read, accumulate, record, organize, and attempt to assimilate, correlate, and retrieve biblical information in a logical and consistent manner. This should enable them to draw logical, consistent, and valid conclusions and to develop their own sense of perspective from which to analyze and evaluate all future input and actions. Unfortunately, for far too many of us – unbelievers, beginners and mature Christians – it has not worked out the way God intended.

This book, and this entire series, is my attempt to introduce you to the Bible in a manner that will enable you to read your Bible and draw logical and consistently valid conclusions. Prayerfully, this will lead you to a God illuminated perspective for reading, scrutinizing, and understanding the Bible, God’s revelation of Himself to us, and particularly, God’s revelation of Himself to you. Only then will you come to know the true meaning of who God is, who man is and who you are; and thereby begin to appreciate the mighty and magnificent work Jesus Christ has already performed on your behalf. From this foundation, new and experienced believers can begin to understand and value the program of God and their role in it; and thereby, be motivated to commit themselves totally to Jesus Christ and His ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:14-21).

Perspective

We have difficulty with our biblical perspective because we usually learn the Bible piecemeal. From childhood or as mature adults, we are bombarded with disconnected messages from the Bible...

Table of contents

• Greetings
• Title Page
• Copyright Notices
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Series - BIBLE THREADS: Keys to Understanding the Bible
• Volume I - The Bible For Beginners And The Rest of Us