{"id":870,"date":"2020-05-04T19:30:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T00:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/?p=870"},"modified":"2020-05-04T19:30:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T00:30:46","slug":"understanding-the-old-testament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/04\/understanding-the-old-testament\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the Old Testament"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
\u201cThis book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein \u2026\u201d
Joshua 1:8<\/strong> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is important to know that all of God\u2019s Word is essential.\n\u201cAll scripture is<\/em> given by\ninspiration of God, and is<\/em> profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for\ncorrection, for instruction in righteousness<\/strong>\u201d (2 Timothy 3:15). Not only is it important to know what\nit says, but it is even more important to understand<\/em>\nwhat it says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An easy way to begin understanding the Bible is to become\nfamiliar with it. The history in the Old Testament is very important to further\none\u2019s understanding of the Bible as a whole. In Joshua 1:8 we can read that not\nonly is the book of the law to not depart out of one\u2019s mouth, but it is\nimportant to meditate upon it day and night. Meditate<\/em><\/strong> means \u201cto dwell\non any thing in thought; to contemplate; to study; to turn or revolve any\nsubject in the mind.\u201d This is an important thing to understand as one learns to\nread the Bible. Reading the Bible involves much more than just reading a few\nverses or chapters and then continuing on with one\u2019s day. Reading God\u2019s Word\ninvolves meditating on it \u2013 to dwell on it in one\u2019s thoughts, contemplating\nwhat it says. Although we can understand that this verse in Joshua is initially\nreferring to the first five books in the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,\nNumbers, and Deuteronomy), the importance of knowing God\u2019s Word does not end\nthere. Remember that all<\/em><\/strong> of God\u2019s Word is important!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If one would just recognize that the Bible is very organized\nit would make it much easier to understand. For instance, the Old Testament has\nthirty-nine books easily broken into five groups. The first five books are\ncalled the \u201cLaw\u201d where we can find the first 2,500 years of history and witness\nGod actively involved in the lives of mankind. The second group consists of the\nnext twelve books, often called \u201cHistory\u201d, where we pick up the history of the Israelites\nat the brink of the Promised Land, prepared to enter. The first nine books of\nHistory record the years in which the Jewish people occupy the land\n of Israel. This not only includes\nthe times of the judges (when the people forgot God), the times of the kings\n(when the people rejected God as their king), but also the captivity of God\u2019s\npeople. The last three books of History reveal the remnant of Israelites that\nwere allowed to return to the Promised Land, also known as Israel.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are five books in the middle that can be considered\n\u201cPersonal Books\u201d, for they deal with individual\u2019s experiences with God and are\nvery personal. These books deal with individuals\u2019 heart issues as they seek to\nknow and better understand God. These are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,\nand Song of Solomon. The \u201cMajor Prophets\u201d are the next five books, and the\n\u201cMinor Prophets\u201d are the final twelve books. Understanding the timeframe these\nPersonal Books, Major Prophets, and Minor Prophets take place are imperative in\nthe understanding of the Old Testament as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Testament is organized as well for the ease of\nunderstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading, learning,\nand understanding the Bible is the most important thing a Christian can do.\nAlthough many people are taught a lot of Bible \u201cstories\u201d as a child,\nunderstanding that these were real people and that God worked in these\nindividuals\u2019 lives will make these events invaluable! Remember some words with\nwhich Paul encouraged Timothy. \u201c14. But\ncontinue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of,\nknowing of whom thou hast learned them;<\/em> 15. And that from a child thou\nhast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation\nthrough faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16. All scripture is<\/em> given by\ninspiration of God, and is<\/em> profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for\ncorrection, for instruction in righteousness: 17. That the man of God may be\nperfect, throughly furnished unto all good works<\/strong>\u201d (2 Timothy 3:14-17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you taken time to become familiar with God\u2019s Word? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you meditate (dwell on in thought, contemplate, and study<\/em>) upon a portion of the Bible every day? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Originally Posted at Lighthouse.pub: https:\/\/lighthouse.pub\/blog\/understanding-the-old-testament-\/?src=n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is important to know that all of God\u2019s Word is essential. \u201cAll scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness\u201d (2 Timothy 3:15). Not only is it important to know what it says, but it is even more important to understand what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[390,318],"tags":[444,40,344,238,33,52,25,53,50,93,443,347],"class_list":["post-870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lighthouse-publishing-blog","category-picture-with-verse-and-blog","tag-bible-stories","tag-history","tag-inspiration","tag-instruction","tag-law","tag-major-prophets","tag-meditate","tag-minor-prophets","tag-personal-books","tag-righteousness","tag-scripture","tag-understanding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870\/revisions\/872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/biblicalpath.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}