Biblical Theology
G02 God: The Bible

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All the Bible verses quoted in this article are from the King James Version.

Before continuing to discuss God, we need to understand some basic points about the Holy Scripture, also known as the Bible. The Bible is the only book that explains God, His plan, and His intentions for humanity. The Bible records every word of God, which He directly spoke or inspired through His prophets and apostles, or which God Himself, in the person of the Son, directly spoke to humankind when He became incarnate.

The term “Bible” is used to translate the Greek word “γραφή” (G1124), with the specific meaning in the Bible and Theology as the book that records the words of God.

The Bible clearly states in Psalm 138:2, “for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy name.” Therefore, God’s people must always exalt His Word everywhere and at all times. When using the term “Word of God” with the meaning of the Bible, we also choose to capitalize the word “Word,” because the Word of the Lord God is indeed a person. This person is called “the Word” in the Bible (John 1:1), who is God the Son, incarnated as a man named JESUS with the title CHRIST, to reveal the Father to humanity through His words and actions.

The Layout of the Bible

The Bible is divided into two parts, called the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Old Testament

The Old Testament means “the old promise.” God’s old promise in the Old Testament includes:

• Those who keep God’s commandments will be blessed by Him, while those who violate these commandments will be punished by Him.

• There will come a time when God completes the work of saving humanity from sin.

The term Old Testament in the Bible refers both to the old promise that God made with humanity through the nation of Israel and to the part of the Bible written before God the Word incarnated as a human to fulfill the promise of God’s redemption of humanity from sin, while also giving humanity a new promise, also through the nation of Israel. The Old Testament of the Bible was recorded over a period from 1446 BC to around 400 BC. The current layout in the Bible translations is: the Old Testament consists of 39 books of varying lengths, divided into four main sections: Law (5 books), History (12 books), Poetry (5 books), and Prophecy (17 books).

The Old Testament introduces God, reveals the origin of all things, and records the historical progress of humanity from its creation until the time when God remained silent towards humanity for about 400 years. The Old Testament also conveys God’s moral standards, His plan, and His intentions for humanity, including the promise that God will save humanity from sin.

The Old Testament was written in ancient Hebrew, with a small portion written in Aramaic (Daniel 2:4b-7:28; Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Jeremiah 10:11). Hebrew was the ancient language of the nation of Israel and was revived in the mid-19th century after being considered a dead language for over 2,200 years. In 1948, along with the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, Hebrew became the official language of Israel.

Aramaic is a language with the same origins as Hebrew (the Semitic language group of the peoples descended from Shem, the youngest son of Noah; see Genesis chapters 6 to 10). Aramaic was prevalent among the peoples of the Middle East from around 1100 BC to AD 70. When the people of Israel from the Kingdom of Judah were exiled to the Babylonian Empire (606 BC–536 BC), they were forced to use Aramaic, the main language of the Babylonian Empire, in place of Hebrew.

New Testament

The New Testament means “the new promise.” The new promise states that:

• Those who sincerely repent of their sins and believe in God’s salvation will have their sins forgiven by the Father, cleansed by the Son, and reborn by the Holy Spirit into a new person like the Lord Jesus Christ. They are called the Church of God and are given the power of God, also known as the holy spirit, by the Holy Spirit so they can keep *God’s commandments and fulfill the good works that *God has prepared for them.

• Those who, after being saved, faithfully keep *God’s commandments will be resurrected and live eternally in the kingdom of *God.

The term New Testament in the Bible refers both to the new promise God made with humanity through the nation of Israel and to the part of the Bible written after God the Son incarnated as a human. The New Testament of the Bible was written from around AD 43 to around AD 95. According to the current layout in the translations of the Bible, the New Testament consists of 27 books of varying lengths, divided into four main sections: the Gospels (4 books), History (1 book), Epistles (21 books), and Prophecy (1 book).

The New Testament clearly reveals the three persons of God:

• God the Father: also known as *God, He is the one who grants salvation to humanity and forgives the sins of those who accept His salvation.

• God the Son: also known as the Lord Jesus Christ, He incarnated as a human, completed the work of redeeming humanity, and cleansed the sins of those who accepted His atonement through His blood.

• God the Holy Spirit: also known as the Spirit of Truth, descended into the world, regenerates those who accept *God’s salvation into new people in the Lord Jesus Christ, dwells in their bodies, guides them into all the truths of the Bible, and grants them the power of God to keep *God’s commandments. This power is referred to in the Bible as the holy spirit.

• The New Testament also deeply expands on *God’s commandments given in the Old Testament; reveals the mystery of God’s Church; provides prophecies about the end times, the millennial kingdom, and the eternal kingdom of *God; and includes the new promise that God made with humanity through the nation of Israel.

The New Testament was written in ancient Greek (Koine Greek), the prevalent language in the Greek Empire and the Roman Empire, from around 300 BC to AD 300.

Classification and Layout of the Bible in the Original Languages

The content of this section is based on the data in the book “Restoring the Original Bible” by Ernest L. Martin [1].

According to the manuscripts of the Bible in the original Hebrew, the structure and division of the books in the Old Testament are arranged in the following order:

I. The Books of the Law:

1. Genesis

2. Exodus

3. Leviticus

4. Numbers

5. Deuteronomy

II. The Books of the Prophets:

6. Joshua and Judges

7. The Book of Kingdoms, including: Samuel (I & II) and Kings (I & II)

8. Isaiah

9. Jeremiah

10. Ezekiel

11. The Twelve, always combined into one book, including: from Hosea to Malachi

III. The Holy Writings:

12. Psalms

13. Proverbs

14. Job

15. Song of Songs

16. Ruth

17. Lamentations

18. Ecclesiastes

19. Esther

20. Daniel

21. Ezra and Nehemiah

22. Chronicles (I & II)

According to the manuscripts of the Bible in the original Greek, the structure and division of the books in the New Testament are arranged in the following order:

I. The Books of the Gospels:

1. Matthew

2. Mark

3. Luke

4. John

5. Acts of the Apostles

II. The General Epistles:

6. James

7. I Peter

8. II Peter

9. I John

10. II John

11. III John

12. Jude

III. The Epistles of Paul:

13. Romans

14. I Corinthians

15. II Corinthians

16. Galatians

17. Ephesians

18. Philippians

19. Colossians

20. I Thessalonians

21. II Thessalonians

22. Hebrews

23. I Timothy

24. II Timothy

25. Titus

26. Philemon

IV. Prophecy:

27. Revelation

The arrangement and structure of the Bible in modern translations do not follow the original arrangement and structure in the manuscripts of the Bible in their original languages.

According to Ernest L. Martin, the Old Testament is divided into three main parts to correspond with the three-part structure of the temple. The Old Testament books are arranged into 22 books to match the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Additionally, the three parts of the Old Testament, combined with the four parts of the New Testament, form seven parts. The 22 books of the Old Testament plus the 27 books of the New Testament total 49 books, a multiple of 7. The number 7 symbolizes completeness in holiness and spirituality.

In the arrangement of the New Testament, placing the Acts of the Apostles as the fifth Gospel makes the five Gospels of the New Testament correspond to the five books of the Law in the Old Testament. The General Epistles are placed before Paul’s epistles to the seven Churches of that time. Next is the book of Hebrews, which discusses the hope of God’s people for the kingdom of peace, the rewards for God’s people when Christ returns, and a severe warning for those who fall away from faith. Thus, the book of Hebrews is placed immediately after the epistles to the seven Churches. Following this are the pastoral epistles. Finally, there is the prophetic book about the end times, the Millennial Kingdom, and the Eternal Kingdom for those who belong to God, as well as the eternal punishment for Satan and those who do not belong to God.

We believe that most of Ernest L. Martin’s arguments with evidence are reliable. Reading the entire Bible according to the original structure in the manuscripts will undoubtedly provide God’s people with a special appreciation for God’s Word.

Chapters, Verses, and Headings

In the original manuscripts of the Bible, the books were not divided into chapters and verses, as in the translations we have today. It wasn’t until the 15th century that the system of dividing into chapters and verses was initiated. In 1560, the Geneva Bible, an English translation of the Bible, was the first to be published with a system of chapters and verses.

The system of chapters and verses makes it easy to look up a specific passage in the Bible. The name of a book in the Bible, along with the chapter number and verse number, is called the address of a Bible passage. For example, “Genesis 1:1” refers to the book of Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1, which is the address of the following verse: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

In addition to the system of chapters and verses, headings are also added to summarize the content of certain Bible passages, helping readers grasp the main idea of those passages. For example, before Matthew 1:18, there is a heading: “The Birth of Jesus Christ,” summarizing the content of the verses from Matthew 1:18 to Matthew 1:25.

Chapters, verses, and headings are not part of the Bible itself but are merely tools to assist readers in searching the Bible.

Bible Commentary Books

Bible commentary books record the understanding of biblical scholars regarding the content of the Bible.

Good Bible commentary books are written by those who fully believe the Bible to be the Word of God, completely obey the Word of God, and live according to the Word of God. Their interpretation is guided by the Holy Spirit.

Poor Bible commentary books are written by those who do not fully believe the Bible to be the Word of God, or by those who believe but do not obey the Word of God or live according to it. These books are compiled based on human intellect, philosophical influences, and worldly culture. Their interpretation is not guided by the Holy Spirit.

Genuine believers, who earnestly seek the truth of God’s Word and wholeheartedly live by it, when reading through the Bible once, will discern which interpretation books are good and which are bad. The best interpretation books cannot replace the Bible and cannot replace the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of those who sincerely live by the truth of God’s Word.

The Bible is like a diamond, and our life situations in each stage of life, in different cultures, and individually are like different sources of light shining on the diamond. Depending on the light source, the diamond will reflect different colors. The reflection of the diamond under the bright light of the sun is different from its reflection under the light of a clear moonlit night. The reflection of the diamond from the flickering flame of a candle is different from its reflection under the bright light of an electric bulb. However, each reflection is a true reflection of the nature of the diamond.

As true believers in God, when we experience pain and adversity, we understand the Bible differently from when we are peaceful and happy. In our youth, we understand the Bible differently from when we are middle-aged, and in middle age, we understand the Bible differently from when we are elderly. However, these understandings completely reflect the truth of the Bible because we fully believe the Bible to be the Word of God and live according to it. These understandings come from the illumination of the Holy Spirit.

Principle of Bible Interpretation

It can be said that the sole principle of Bible interpretation is to use the Bible to explain the Bible. Only when we use the Bible itself to interpret the Bible can we then use other tools outside of the Bible, such as history, philosophy, and science, to further clarify the meaning that has been explained in the Bible itself. When using the Bible to interpret the Bible, we must respect the grammatical rules of the original language of the Bible, the context of the Bible verse within the entire passage, even within the entire book, and the intended meaning of the Bible verse according to the customs of the time when the Bible verse was written.

The entire content of this book and other commentary books compiled by us adhere to the principle of Bible interpretation outlined above. May the Holy Spirit grant us grace in interpreting the Bible and grace to the readers while reading the books. Amen!

In the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
08/02/2013

Note

[1] Ernest L. Martin. “Restoring the Original Bible.” (Associates for Scriptural Knowledge) 1994.