Dancing in the Kingdom- Table of Contents
Dancing In the Kingdom – Part 1 – Shadows of the Kingdom – Chapter 1 – Prelude
The library
[Bible references: Daniel 9:2; Jeremiah 31:31, Matthew 21:42; 26:28; Mark 12:24; Luke 4:21; 24:13-35; John 2:22; 5:39]
The Bible we have now is in one binder, but it was not written that way. It was not written as one book by one person at one time with a series of chapters. The Bible actually contains a library of different texts written by different people in different time periods. Originally, those texts were written on individual scrolls and over time people collected those scrolls to make a little library of scrolls, or what we now call “books.”
The term, “Bible,” comes from ” the Phoenician word for “reed,” byblos.” Later on, that word was transliterated into Greek as “ta Biblia,” which means “the books” or “the library”. After that when the word was translated in Latin as “Biblia” and in English as “Bible.” The Bible then is a collection of “books” which were first written on scrolls.[1] In New Testament times, Christians started to make copies of the Bible texts in a “codex” form, sort of like today’s books. This format allowed multiple texts to be put in a single codex.[2]
The “books” within the first part of the Bible, before Jesus was born, were written mostly in Hebrew over a period of 1500 years and we call that set of books the “Old Testament.” The books written after that were written mostly in Greek over a period of 50 years and we call that set of books, the “New Testament.” In all the major Christian traditions, the New Testament has 27 books while the number of books in the Old Testament have at least 39 books.[3]
The word testament means either 1) a disposition or will or 2) a covenant or an agreement. We get the term “New Testament” from the book of Jeremiah 31:31(NIV) “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.”
The books in our biblical library contain many kinds of literature, there is historical narrative, biography, prophecy, poetry, letters written to and from various people, various kinds of wisdom literature, rules of conduct, instructions for how to build things, interpretations of things previously written. All that complexity makes it difficult for people to figure out how to use the Bible. But at the same time, despite all its complexity, the essence of what we need to know can be known by the average person.[4]
The Old Testament writings centered around God’s covenant of Israel as mediated by Moses. The Hebrew Bible contains 5 books in the Torah, 8 Books in the Prophets, 11 books in the Writings. In the Protestant version of the Bible, the Old Testament contains 5 books of the Law; 12 historical books, 5 poetical books and 17 prophetic books. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox version also contain other books which were accepted by the Jews in Egypt but not by the Jews in Palestine[5].
The “New Testament” writings written after the death of Jesus centered around God’s covenant to the world as mediated by Jesus. It contains 4 Gospels (“Good News” about Jesus), 1 history book, 21 letters (some written by Paul to various churches, some written by Paul to individuals, and some written by other apostles to the churches), and 1 prophecy book (which is also written as a letter).
[1] Soroski, Jason. “What does ‘Bible’ mean and how did I get that name?” Bible Study Tools www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/explore-the-bible/what-does-bible-mean.html
[2] Encyclopedia Britannica “codex manuscript” Encyclopedia Britannia Britannica.com/topic/codex-manuscript
[3] See Appendix C – Books of the Bible
[4] Got Questions “What is the doctrine of the perspicuity of Scripture?” Got Questions www.gotquestions.org/perspicuity-of-Scripture.html
[5] These were known as the Deuterocanonical (second canon) Books, although the Protestants call them the Apocrypha. (See Appendix C – Books of the Bible)
Observe
Read Luke 24:13-35. We don’t know all the scriptures that Jesus was explaining to the two disciples, although Appendix D may provide some of those passages. What scripture passages “burn” in your heart?
Dancing In The Kingdom 