The Substance, Sense, and Sequence of the Scriptures

A Study Guide

Keith Freedman

• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9781644712399
• eBook ISBN: 9781644712405
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Bibles

If God were to write sixty-six books of various lengths and styles, and put them all together into one collection, what would He say to us? What information or content would He record? What would be the substance of His writings?Would He communicate an overall message through the multiple accounts? Would He write a story with a plot and an engaging conflict? Would the story have a heroic central character and a murderous, lying evil counterpart? Would there be a climactic scene, a surprise twist in the plot, a huge battle, and a "they all lived happily ever after" resolution at the end? Would we understand the big picture? What would be the sense of the collection of writings?Would the order of the books and letters give structure to the overall message and develop the composition? Would the placement of the books provide the timeline and assist in the continuity of the account? Would the order of the books indicate the progression of the events from beginning to end? What would be the significance of the sequence of the record?Within the pages of this book, one will find that God has written and ordered the Scriptures as a complete composition, a record from creation to eternal glory, a composition having substance, sense, and sequence.

Chapter 1

Old Testament

History: A People of Promise [Genesis – Deuteronomy]

History: A People of Promise [Genesis – Deuteronomy]

As we open the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures, there are many key items to take note of in order to clearly understand God’s communication to mankind. These items pertain to the Jewish program, God’s ultimate purposes for the nation of Israel. These key items include:

+ the names of God, and the significance of those names

+ the covenants of God, made with Noah, Abram, Israel, and David

+ the feasts established for the Israelites to annually practice (rehearse)

+ the contract of blessing for obedience and cursing for disobedience

+ the adversarial actions of the evil one and his angels

The Old Testament:

= the story of God and His people, Israel, and the old covenant – within the larger arena of the angelic conflict

Genesis = God creates a new world and man, the evil one contaminates both, God must destroy most of mankind; then God begins to build a nation, covenanting with the patriarchs of Israel {4004-1804 BC} (Genesis = a record from creation to the death of Joseph)

The book of beginnings = Genesis records the beginning of the world, of man, of sin in this world, of Satanic dominion in this world, and the beginning of Israel.

The cast: God, first as Creator, then Judge, then nation builder; Satan, the serpent and adversary; and man, in male and female form, made lower than the angels; and the angels, some disobedient to God and others serving the Most High.

The setting: while this book begins with God creating this world and man, much has already happened in ‘the holy mountain of God’ and ‘in the midst of the stones of fire’. Lucifer, the anointed cherub that covereth, has defiled God’s sanctuaries by a multitude of iniquities, mounting a rebellion against God, attempting to take the place of the Most High. [Is. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:14-19]

The plot: God creates a new world and a new creature to have dominion over that world. God intends to make a new habitation for Himself and commune with man, who is made in His image and after His likeness. Every time Satan looks at man, he sees an image-bearer of God.

If we peek at the end of God’s story, we find out that after the great day of God’s wrath comes the last resurrection and final judgment, then God will dwell with man on earth [see Rev. 21:3]. Many passages indicate that the earth is to be God’s place of habitation [Gen. 1:26-28, 3:8-9, 28:16-19; Ex. 3:1-5, 18:5, 19:2-3, 16-20; Deut. 12:5; and Ps. 48:1-2; 69:16-17, 132:13-14].

+ God strategically makes man a little lower than the angels for He has determined to deal with Lucifer by way of lesser creatures. Not only will the evil one be humiliated in view of man, but One in the form of man will ultimately vanquish the self-exalting, anointed cherub. Using lesser creatures is God’s classic way of dealing with the proud and high-minded. [Ezek. 28:18-19; 1 Cor. 1:26-28; Heb. 2:6-7; James 4:6; Rev. 19:11-21, 20:10]

+ In contrast to the evil one who wanted to be like the Most High, the Son of God will humble Himself and take on “the form of a servant” and come in “the likeness of man” [Phil. 2:7]. And in that form, the Son will defeat the adversary’s challenge.

+ God gives the man free volition in the Garden but the evil one tempts man to sin and thereby corrupts God’s new world and makes the ‘image-bearers of God’ like unto his own disobedient likeness. The evil one successfully infects both realms (heaven and earth) and creatur...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Closing Thoughts and Understandings from the New Testament
• Afterword