Review

1. What are the two main principles we should consider when approaching the Bible, and why are they important?
2. Can you name some of the ways that the Bible is a unique book?
3. What is the Unity Principle, and how can it help us understand seemingly contradictory passages in the Bible?
4. Why is it necessary to consider the historical, cultural, and literary context when interpreting the Bible?

Goal of the lesson

The goal of today's lesson is to get a map for the scripture that will help us as we navigate within it.

Before the days of GPS on all of our phones, maps used to be a bigger part of our lives. I remember taking a road trip with my friend in college and printing off a ton of maps to follow.

I also remember a lot of time in school learning about maps of the world and the United States.

Imagine a map of the world. This map is made up of different hemispheres which we might call the old and new world. Each hemisphere contains some continents. Each continent contains countries. If you look hard enough, you'll almost certainly find a map key, which will have a compass rose that tells you where north/east/south/west are and gives you a scale for measuring distance.

We are going to take these pieces of a world map today:

• Hemispheres
• Continents
• Countries
• Key and use it as an illustration for making a map of the Bible.

We are going to start with the key.

The Key

Most maps are going to have a key. The key is kind of like a Table of Contents for the map. It usually includes at least two things:

• A compass rose
• A measurement scale This helps you to read the map. To know what direction you are looking and to know what you are looking at.

When we are making a map of the Bible, we need to start key. We need to know what direction the Bible is "pointing" so we can understand what God is doing. Fortunately, the Bible gives us this key.

Read Luke 24:13-27.

• Who was walking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus? (15)
• What were they talking about? (14)
• What did Jesus say to them? (26)
• What did Jesus use to show them "all things concerning himself?" (27)

Jesus is the Key

The key to understanding the Bible is understanding that it is all about Jesus.

Discuss the following stories and how they are truly about Jesus:

• God's prophecy to Eve - Genesis 3:15
  • The seed of the women - the virgin born
  • Bruise his heel - the cross
  • Bruise his head - ultimate defeat.
  • You could also see Christ in the animal skins God made for coverings for Adam and Eve.
• The ram in the thicket - Genesis 22:13
  • On Mt. Moriah (later Mt. Calvary)
  • Abraham giving his son a picture of God giving His Son.
  • "God will provide himself a lamb"
• Joseph - Genesis 37
  • Went down to Egypt
  • Rejected by his brethren
  • Falsely accused
  • Sold for money
  • Saved His people.
• The Passover - Exodus 12
  • A lamb without spot or blemish
  • Blood covered the home and escaped judgement
• Boaz (Ruth 1-4)
  • Redeemed his kindred
  • Took a gentile for a bride and restored her.

The Hemispheres

If you look at a map of the world, you usually break it down into the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere or "the Old World" and "the New World".

The Bible two has two distinct halves, which we call "the Old Testament" and "The New Testament."

The Old World (The Old Testament)

The Old Testament is made up of 39 books starting in Genesis and going to Malachi.

From Genesis 1-12 God tells the story of mankind, but from Genesis 12, the story focuses in on one family - the family of Israel.

The Old Testament is looking forward to the coming of Christ. In the Old Testament we see:

1. God creating the world good.
2. The fall of man.
3. The need for judgement.
4. The establishment of Israel.
5. The institution of the law and tabernacle.
6. The failure of the kings.
7. The ultimate failure of Israel, exile and return.
8. The need for a Messiah.

From the beginning, the Old Testament is looking forward to Christ. Giving us a desire for a better prophet, priest and king and a Savior who can fulfill the law's demands.

The New World (The New Testament)

The New Testament is made of 27 books starting in Matthew and going through Revelation.

• The first four books, the gospels, tell the story of Christ with a heavy focus on His death and resurrection.
• Then the book of Acts tells the incomplete story of the establishment of the church and inclusion of the Gentiles.
• The rest of the New Testament gives us various letters called epistles explaining the meaning and implications of Christ's death for us.

So the New Testament looks back on Christ and the cross, explaining the meaning of His life and death for us.

The Countries

Going back to a map of the world, the biggest thing that sticks out is the countries. This is usually the first thing that you look at.

There are over 200 countries on our world map. These are grouped together into sections that are somewhat similar. (Zambia is similar to South Africa, Ukraine is similar to Russia.) Each country has it's own government and is its own state.

As we make a map of the Bible, there are no "countries" in it, but there are 66 individual books.

Much like "countries" on a map, these are grouped together but each stand on their own. Each book has it's own author or authors and theme.

Again, there are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament.

Open your Bibles to the table of contents and familiarize yourself with the books that are there.

The Continents

Very few people have all of the countries of the world memorized, but most of us have memorized the seven continents. These are seven geographical groupings of countries that go together.

You might not be able to tell me all of the countries in Asia, but you can probably tell me that Malawi is in the continent of Africa and this helps you with a basic grasp of world geography.

In a similar sense, we can break down the Old and New Testaments into groupings that help us understand the shape of the Bible.

Old Testament Groups

Say this after me "5, 12, 5, 5, 12." (Repeat several times.)

Each of those numbers corresponds to a grouping of books in the Old Testament.

5 books of Law

These books are sometimes called "The books of Moses" or "the Penteteuch" (which literally translates "5 books")

1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy

12 Historical Books

1. Joshua
2. Judges
3. Ruth
4. 1 Samuel
5. 2 Samuel
6. 1 Kings
7. 2 Kings
8. 1 Chronicles
9. 2 Chronicles
10. Ezra
11. Nehemiah
12. Esther

These books take us from the conquest of the promised land (Joshua) through the period of the kings and to the exile and return.

5 Books of poetry

1. Job
2. Psalms
3. Proverbs
4. Ecclesiastes
5. Song of Solomon

5 Major prophets

1. Isaiah
2. Jeremiah
3. Lamentations
4. Ezekiel
5. Daniel

These are not called "major" because they are important, but because they are big.

12 Minor prophets

1. Hosea
2. Joel
3. Amos
4. Obadiah
5. Jonah
6. Micah
7. Nahum
8. Habakkuk
9. Zephaniah
10. Haggai
11. Zechariah
12. Malachi

These are not called "minor" because they are unimportant, but because they are small.

New Testament Groupings

Say this after me "5, 9, 4, 9" (Repeat several times.)

Each of those numbers corresponds to a grouping of books in the New Testament.

5 Historical Books

40. Matthew
41. Mark
42. Luke
43. John
44. Acts

The first four of these tell the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection from four different viewpoints. Acts tells the history of the formation of the church.

9 Christian Church Epistles

40. Romans
41. 1 Corinthians
42. 2 Corinthians
43. Galatians
44. Ephesians
45. Philippians
46. Colossians
47. 1 Thessalonians
48. 2 Thessalonians

These are all written by the Apostle Paul to churches that were mostly made up of Gentiles. Sometimes they are called "the Pauline epistles."

4 Pastoral Epistles

1. 1 Timothy
2. 2 Timothy
3. Titus
4. Philemon

These are also written by Paul, but are distinct in that they are written to individuals and not to churches.

9 Hebrew-Christian Church Epistles

1. Hebrews
2. James
3. 1 Peter
4. 2 Peter
5. 1 John
6. 2 John
7. 3 John
8. Jude
9. Revelation

These books are written by other writers (not Paul) and several have a jewish primary audience (like Hebrews.)

Sometimes these are called "the General Epistles."

Conclusion

So we have made a map of our Bible.

• We have determined what the key is: it's all about Christ.
• We have broken it into two sections like hemispheres - the Old and New Testaments.
• We have seen that the Bible is made up of 66 individual books that each stand on their own.
• We have broken those sections down into groupings like continents - (5, 12, 5, 5, 12 and 5, 9, 4, 9)