I bristled when someone called the Bible a history book. Sorry, but I just don’t buy that. Sure it has lots of history in it, but it also has lots of poems and songs in it and I don’t call it a poem book or a hymnal. It also has many do’s and don’ts so could I call it an operators manual? How about calling it a syllabus? Maybe it’s an instruction manual, or a white paper, or if you read it on line, an e-book? There are 66 books in the Bible so maybe it should be the Reader’s Digest multi-century condensed book of books? Or how about a biography, because it is all about God, or better yet, since lots of folks call it the inspired Word of God, maybe we should call it an auto-biography? Maybe we just leave it at the “all time best seller”? How about “THEE Book of Books?’ Well if it is a history book is surely is poorly written. Many people THINK that they find multiple contradictions in the Bible. I think the first four words of the Bible proves it’s not a history book and if it was, the first four words would read, “In year XXXX, God” and not “In the beginning God.”! So if the Bible is neither none of the above, or all of the above, what is it?
For me it’s all about God and our relationship with Him. From the very beginning through the very end, God is trying to tell us that He would love to have a personal intimate relationship with each of us. In the Old Testament man tries to figure out who God is and what God wants of man and it is told in all kinds of different ways, through events, stories, experiences, songs, poems, and yes even laws. Seems as to me that didn’t work very well, or at least we are very slow learners. Yet, the Old Testament did provide a great learning tool for us today. The New Testament, on the other hand, is God showing Himself to us in a very personal way, and through Jesus Christ’s actions we better understand God and what God wants of us. Still not sure the New Testament is working any better in accomplishing His goal, than the Old Testament did. Time will tell. The Bible is much like one of the names for Jesus Christ, that we find in Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” So too is the Bible, the beginning and the end, and everything in between. I liken it to what Isaiah says in Isaiah 40:8, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.”
Have a very Blessed Christmas.