April 18, 2020

Today is Saturday. It snowed here yesterday. Our world desperately needs prayer. Our country desperately needs prayer. We need a miracle.

“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” [2 Peter 1:21 ESV].

The Bible is a miracle. It is a collection of books written by around 40 people over about 1500 years. The authors were shepherds, farmers, a tent maker, a fisherman, religious leaders, kings, philosophers, a tax collector, and one physician. 

In the Bible are six types of literature. Each type contain clues on how to interpret and understand what you are reading. There is “Law.” The “Law” covers three areas. Moral and ethical principles that are binding on everyone at all times. The Levitical code covering festivals, sacrifices, and practices in temple worship. Finally the civil code, detailing the legal handling of crimes and punishment.

Narrative literature covers stories. They break down into two groups. History, which records the events of real people in real places. Parables, stories (not history) to make a point. 

Poetry is next. There are four types of poetry literature. Wisdom literature deals with how to interact with our world, others, and God (e.g. Proverbs). Worship literature is the hearts cry to God (e.g. Psalms). Mystical literature is how we describe when a writer’s motivation is unclear (e.g. Song of Songs). Prophecy, which has it’s own category.

Prophetic literature breaks down there ways. Apocalyptic literature is cryptic imagery meant to contain a secret (e.g. Revelation). There is “forth telling,” meaning it identifies sin and calls for repentance and promises restoration. There is “foretelling,” which is the identification of future events. 

Gospel literature narrate the life of Jesus. The Synoptic Gospels are very similar to each other (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Then there is the “Johannine problem.” I think John wrote last and focused on Jesus’ teachings. In a sense John was filling in gaps and finishing details.

Finally there are Epistles. There are general epistles, written to everyone. Pastoral epistles are written to specific churches. Personal epistles are written to specific individuals. Their style is straight, forward, and logical. 

The Bible makes up a mosaic picture of God and how humanity has interacted with God. It details God’s plan to redeem, repair, and resurrect a spiritually dead, disobedient, and self-destructive humanity. Only the Bible is a reliable road map for our lives.

The reality of our situation is stated by Isaiah, "It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore." [Isaiah 59:2 NLT] We are separated from God by Adam’s sin, which we inherit, and our own sins committed in brokenness. In our brokenness we are like crooked-sticks; self-deluded thinking we are a straight measuring stick.  Only one can straighten the cooked-stick of our lives. 

Isaiah declared, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” [Isaiah 64:6 NLT] The image of infected and impure comes from leprosy. The rags worn by a leper would have smelled of rotting flesh. We have become “nose blind” to the stench of death that clings to us. Only one can scrub the crusted layers of sin's filthy rags we have accumulated in our lives.

Pointing forward to the blood of Jesus, Isaiah claims, “Come now, let’s settle this,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.” [Isaiah 1:18 NLT]

Side note below:

Protestants accept 66 books. (Martin Luther originally only accepted 64.) The Catholic bible contains 73 books, adding 7 books to the Old Testament. Meanwhile Eastern Orthodox churches contain 79 books, also adding to the Old Testament. Essentially Protestants only include the Old Testament books accepted by Jews.