BIBLE STUDY TECHNIQUES

The disciple of Jesus Christ not only believes the word of God, but studies it, obeys it, and builds his or her life around it. This goal requires work, and study so that the Christian, like a soldier, is prepared to live life for the Lord! No soldier enters into combat however, without first knowing his weapons, and understanding how to use them effectively against his enemy. The Bible is the Christian's weapon against sin and Satan, and this lesson is intended to instruct him in how to study it, and then use it in his life.

A. The Apostle Paul lists all the spiritual weapons available to the Christian in Ephesians 6:11-17, and refers to them as the "whole ___________ of God."

B. Notice also that every Christian is to be capable of using ”the __________ of the Spirit”, which is the __________ of God (Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12)!

C. The Bible is said to be the Christian's primary offensive weapon against sin in his life, and against the temptations that the world attacks with. The only way however, for the Bible to be the effective weapon it was designed by God to be, is for the Christian to study it, and put it into their life through memorization! You can’t use a weapon you are not familiar with!

A. It is commanded..."____________ to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed" (2 Tim 2:15).

B. Another reason is because it is profitable for the Christian (2 Tim 3:16; Psalm 1:1-3) - not monetarily, but spiritually. The benefits are eternal!

C. It gives the Christian victory! As a powerful weapon, the Bible will give you victory over sin, and temptation (Psalm 37:31; 119:11).

D. The Bible is a guiding _________ to the Christian (Psalm 119:105). It provides instructions on how to go through life, where to go, why go a certain path, and even when to go (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

E. Special blessings are promised for those who ___________, ___________, and ___________ the things written in the Bible (Revelation 1:3) - not what another man says, or even what your church says!

F. The Bible is the only means to test religious teaching - "If they speak not according to this ______ it is because there is no _______ in them” (Isaiah 8:19,20). God gave His word to be the only basis for truth (John 17:17).

G. What source did Christ use three times to defeat Satan? _______________ (Matthew 4:4,7,10). So, it is important to know it well enough to use it!

A. Study it daily. “They ___________ the word with all ____________ of mind, and searched the Scriptures _____________” (Acts 17:10,11). The people in Berea did not simply believe even the Apostle Paul, but rather tested what he said by the word of God!

B. Study it obediently. "Be ye ___________ of the word and not __________ only" (James 1:22). The goal of Bible study is wrapped up in finding what the Bible says about a subject, and then doing what it says to do!

C. Study it contextually (Isa 28:9,10). The Bible is not a list of do's and don'ts that can just be extracted at random, but rather a revealing description of God and His will that must be read in context - a verse is understood only in light of the meaning of the surrounding verses. See for example what happens when you read Matt 27:5 with Luke 10:37! The wrong kind of Bible study can be deadly, because you start making the Bible say what YOU want it to say - and that is how cults are established!

D. Study the Bible systematically. Study it by reading it through once every year. To read through the Bible in a year, you need to read an average of four chapters a day, which will take you about 20 to 30 minutes.

1. As you study your Bible, use a sharpened pencil, and record your thoughts in the margin of your Bible, or in a good notebook!

2. Take notice of things in your Bible that stand out, and make you think. Verses like Sins to avoid (Col 3:5,6,8,9; 2:8; 1 Cor 6:9,10); Promises to claim (Jer 33:3; Philp 4:13,19); Examples to follow (1Pet 2:21-23); and Commands to obey (Matt 28:19,20; Eph 6:18; 4:31,32). Mark those verses using multi-coloured pencils, or lightly-coloured pens, and marking verses by a colour like: Blue for Promises; Red for Warnings; Green, or Yellow for Important Information; Orange for Prophecy; and any two-colour combination for other special identification. This helps you find the verses later when you need them.

Every believer should have a quiet time and every Christian family should have a family Bible time, and every Christian is to be in church, learning the Bible through preaching and teaching.

A. The Quiet Time - King David said: "I will ___________________ in thy precepts" (Psalm 119:15; 1:1-2). A quiet time is a Christian's personal time of talking to and listening to God through prayer and reading the words of God, the Bible. To have a Quiet Time you need to:

1. Choose a convenient time - decide when is the best time, and have it. Don't wait for a convenient time because it probably will never come!

2. Be consistent - form a habit of doing it every day. You are going to have to make it as important as ________ and sleeping is (Job 23:12).

a. Begin with prayer, asking God to speak to you, and show you His will for you daily (Psalm 119:18).

b. Read your Bible - like you would any other book, reading at least one chapter each time. If you are going to read through the Bible in one year, you will need to read at least four chapters a day.

c. When you find something that has special meaning to you, underline those verses with your pencil, or light colored markers, and then copy a few select ones to the small pocket-sized note cards to memorize them later.

d. Write out your thoughts and conclusions in a notebook so that you can begin to apply the Scripture to your life. Think about how the verses relate to your life. Ask yourself 5 questions as you read:

e. As you read, when you notice something confusing, or very special, take time after you have finished reading the current chapter, to go back and study out the portion of Scripture for more insights. Get your Concordance out and look up key words to see what else the Bible has to say on that subject. Remember, the Holy Spirit may be trying to get your attention about something. If your Bible has cross-references in the margins, look those up too. Be sure to write down what you found in your notebook.

f. Finish in prayer, thanking God for speaking to your heart in such a wonderful, and personal way!

2. To those who are saved, preaching is the ___________ of God (1 Cor 1:18), and is a wonderful time for the Disciple to learn and grow.

3. As Christians we are to receive the word with ________________ like a thirsty man receives water (James 1:21). Never become unteachable, or unreachable, because preaching prepares you to serve and disciple others later! It takes a humble heart to receive instruction.

4. Church members are to be ____________ of the word and not ______________ only taking what they have heard from the Bible, and conforming their lives to it (James 1:22).

5. Bible study groups are great places to learn the Bible. Remember to make sure, when looking for a group, that it is under the authority of a local church (i.e., that it is sponsored by a Bible believing church and pastor). Not everything that calls itself a Bible Study really is one.

VI. Bible Study Tools - Things that can help you learn more in your Study Time

A. Bible Cross-References. Most Bibles have some sort of Cross Referencing system either in the center column, or embedded in each verse. Use these references to help you understand what other portions of Scripture say about the subjects in the verse you are reading. If your Bible does not have a similar system, then consider buying one that does because it is so helpful and easily accessible when you are reading and studying the Bible.

B. Study Bibles - Beyond the cross-referencing system, there are many Bibles that have Study Notes along with the Scripture that are designed to give the student more in-depth information about each verse and subject. These Bibles are very good to have, and are more often than not, the only Bible helps you need. Be sure to only use the notes as opinions, and not as absolute. They are not always going to be right!

C. Concordances - A Bible concordance is an alphabetical index of the words used in the Bible, listing where they appear. Some Bibles come with a mini-concordance in their back pages. But when a Christian wants to know what the entire Bible says about a subject or word, you need a Complete Concordance. A good one is the Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, which lists every word, and every place that each word occurs in the Bible!

D. Bible Atlas - This is a handy set of maps of the lands in the Middle East where all the events of Scripture took place. They help you understand distances and terrain that people would have had to deal with back then.

1. The last thing a Christian may want to obtain for their library of tools is a set of Bible Commentaries and Study Guides. Commentaries usually are large volumes of writings by authors on each and every verse in the Bible. They bring together archeology, history, various languages and other helpful tools into the understanding of Scripture.

2. Be aware that commentaries can be very destructive to the faith of young Christians. Many authors do not believe the Bible is the pre-served word of God. They usually spend more time questioning the Scriptures instead of commenting on them! So, look hard for ones that help you grow in grace, and not in criticism of God’s word.

3. Study Guides are outlines of notes on Scripture. These are not as extensive as commentaries, but often more practical.

4. Bible Dictionaries are reference books that contain definitions of words and proper names as found in the Bible, helping the student better understand the meaning and context of verses.

A. The books called ‘Apocrypha’ (which mean extra writings) were later added to the Bible by Catholic “church councils,” and only show their ungodly desire to make the Bible into a complex, and contradicting book, instead of the perfect, and supernatural one that it always has been! Neither Jesus Christ, nor any New Testament author ever used, or even alluded to anything ever written in any of the Apocryphal books. This goes in the face of the fact that Christ and His apostles quote from every other Old Testament Book! The Apocrypha is made up of 1 & 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus (or Sirach), Baruch, and 1 & 2 Maccabees. These books have other names, and may be attached to the ends of other books in Catholic bibles.

1. They are not included in the original Hebrew Old Testament preserved by the Jews. Romans 3:1-2 states that God used the Jews to preserve His Word; therefore, we know that He guided them in the rejection of the Apocryphal books from the canon of Scripture.

a. Praying for the dead. 2 Maccabees teaches praying to the dead and making offerings to atone for the sins of the dead "He also took up a collection ... and sent it to Jerusalem to provide for a sin offering. ... Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." (II Maccabees 12:43-45).

b. Mediators in heaven. 2 Maccabees also contains the heresy that deceased saints intercede in heaven for those on earth (15:11-14).

c. The Use of Magic. A supposed good angel of God teaches the use of magic in Tobit! "Then the angel said to him, `Cut open the fish and take the heart and liver and gall and put them away safely.' ... Then the young man said to the angel, `Brother Azarias, of what use is the liver and heart and gall of the fish?' He replied, `As for the heart and the liver, if a demon or evil spirit gives trouble to any one, you make a smoke from these before the man or woman, and that person will never be troubled again. And as for the gall, anoint with it a man who has white films in his eyes, and he will be cured'" (Tobit 6:4,6-8). The Bible clearly condemns magical practices such as this (consider Deut 18:10-12; Lev 19:26,31; Jer 27:9; Mal 3:5).

d. Salvation through works is taught in the book of Tobit. "For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin" (Tobit 12:9). "So now, my children, consider what almsgiving accomplishes and how righteousness delivers" (Tobit 14:11). These false teachings must be contrasted with Lev 17:11, which says "it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

e. It’s Good to Lie and Deceive. The book of Judith describes how a supposedly godly widow destroyed one of Nebuchadnezzar's generals through deceit and sexual offers. Her counsel regarding resisting Nebuchadnezzar was contrary to that given by God's prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 38:1-4). God warned the Israelites to submit to Nebuchadnezzar rather than to resist, because the Babylonian captivity and destruction of Israel was a judgment from God upon the Jew's rebellion and idolatry.

Satan's primary attack has always been against the foundation of the Christian faith, the Bible. His goal has always been to question and “________” the Bible, so that its message gets changed (Gen 3:1; 2Cor 2:17). What has happened is this: God wrote one Bible, and Satan seeks to "corrupt" its message by constantly redefining words, and ultimately, removing them, and even entire verses from what God said! These "revisions" are called "modern" translations for the modern world, but are nothing more than satanic "bibles" that keep sinners blind, and lost. A study of Satan's methods will only strengthen your faith in the Bible as the very word of God!

1. The basis for all the different versions of the Bible are founded in the existence of TWO sets of differing Greek "manuscripts": the Majority text, and the Wescott and Hort text. Take note of these names. It is from these two groups of documents, that bibles are translated from.

2. The differences between these two documents are so profound, that they cannot be overlooked as a non-issue. They attack the Deity of Jesus Christ (that He is God); the importance of faith BEFORE baptism (as presented in Acts 8:36-38); and they water down the clear teachings that are present only in the King James Bible.

3. The Majority Text is a group of about 5000 portions of Scripture in Greek that through the past 2,000 years has been accepted by Christians as authentic, and true. What follows is an example of what a passage in the Majority Text looks like, along with the English underneath. Note that verse 37 is present and marked in the figure. This is important because verse 37 disappears in the Wescott and Hort text!

4. The second primary Greek text is the Wescott and Hort Text. It is a set of two Greek manuscripts called the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus. Vaticanus showed up in a Vatican Library in 1481, and Sinaiticus was found in a Monastery on Mt. Sinai in the 17th century. These manuscripts were taken to be older, and more accurate (watch statements like that) than all the rest of the 5000 manuscripts of the Majority Text! Wescott and Hort rejected the authority of the Majority Text and chose rather to accept these Roman Catholic texts that now bears their name.

6. Did you notice what is doctrinally affected if you accept the Wescott and Hort over the Majority text? Satan will go to any length to confuse people (2Peter 3:15,16) by getting them to think baptism is the important thing, and not trusting in Christ alone!

The list comparisons between the resulting English versions are very revealing. Notice how all the new Bibles are from the Wescott and Hort text, and yet only the King James Version is from the Majority text. Therefore, the new versions are NOT revisions as they claim to be, but rather completely NEW bibles based upon completely different Greek texts than what historical Christianity accepted until 1881!!!

C. Every major language has the two types of Bibles - at least one from the Wescott and Hort texts, and the other from the Majority texts. In every language however, the Wescott and Hort versions are ALWAYS sold on the basis that they are supposedly EASIER to read, and not whether they are an honest translation from the correct texts.

D. The current trend among Bible publishers is to edit their bible translations, and bring them back closer to the King James Bible. This has resulted in new “New” Versions being published, so that they now include verses that they had first removed, making them not so different than the King James anymore - can you guess why they did this? Because the KJV sets the pace! The bible believer however must not be suckered into thinking those ‘bibles’ are ok to read and study now – they may be getting closer to the word of God, but why trade what is perfect, for something that is in a constant state of evolution?!

E. Some Critical Scripture Changes. According to Rev 22:18,19, God warns us to never _____, or ________ from His words, and yet look below! Notice the verses listed in the following table, and compare what the Wescott and Hort based versions say in the verse, and then what the King James Bible says. It will alarm you! This is only a sampling of thousands!

Matt 6:13	Last half of Christ’s example prayer is removed
Matt 9:13	The need for sinners “to repent” is removed!
Matt 17:21	Prayer and fasting is evidently not necessary
Matt 18:11	The verse explains the very reason for Christ coming!
Matt 19:16,17	Jesus is not called “good”, and so He is made to only talk about “good”
Matt 23:14	Somebody doesn’t like attacks on money-hungry religious leaders
Matt 27:35	Last half of the verse is missing!
Mark 7:16	Someone is attempting to remove Christ’s plea to the sinner’s free-will
Mark 9:24	The word "Lord" omitted (see also Luke 23:42)
Mark 9:44,46	See if your Bible has these verses, or questions their presence!
Mark 10:24	Someone doesn’t like Jesus’ remarks against trusting in riches!
Mark 11:26	Someone doesn’t like God’s warnings against our disobedience!
Mark 15:28	Someone doesn’t like all the connections back to the O.T. prophecies
Mark 16:9-10	These verses are attacked, and declared untrustworthy
Luke 2:33	The word "father" is substituted for "Joseph" making him Jesus’ father!
Luke 4:4	The words "every word of God" omitted
Luke 17:36	Just a small verse removed - yet it is necessary for the context!
Luke 23:17	This verse is clean gone as well
John 3:13	Jesus is not allowed to be in two places at the same time!
John 5:4	This missing verse explains why the people were gathered at the pool
John 7:53-8:11	This entire section is attacked, and rejected, and yet most important!
John 9:35	Jesus is no longer the Son of God!
Acts 1:3	The word “infallible” is watered down so as to not offend anyone!
Acts 4:27	Jesus is no longer God's Son, but rather Servant (no Deity)
Acts 8:37	Verse either missing or questioned, and yet critical to salvation!
Acts 15:34	Silas is missing!
Acts 24:7	Gone!
Acts 28:29	Also missing!
Rom 11:6	Last half of verse missing.
Rom 16:24	Paul’s usual ending is deleted!
2 Cor 2:17	The word of God no longer is being “corrupted”
Col 1:14	The ‘blood’ omitted - salvation no longer needs the blood of the Lamb!
1 Thes 5:22	We are to abstain from all appearance, not just kinds of evil
1 Tim 3:16	‘God’ is changed to an unknown ‘He’ so that you can’t tell He is God!
1 Tim 6:5	Godliness is the means of gain? Paul is warning about just the opposite
1 Tim 6:10	The love of money is not always bad anymore.
2 Tim 2:15	We do not really have to STUDY our Bible anymore
James 5:16	All the new bibles now command us to confess our *sins* to each other!
1 John 5:7	Verse missing, with part of verse 8 made into verse 7!
Rev 22:18,19	Talk about changing verses! Notice how ‘book’ is changed to ‘tree’

The Bible-believer settles once and for all whether we have the word of God, or not! If we do, then we live by it! If not, then God is a liar, and let’s eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die, and who cares! But as we have seen, God does care - proven in the giving of the Son of God, and the very word of God!

IX. The Superiority of the King James Bible of 1611 - The Authorized Version. When the Bible believer examines the facts, the King James Bible of 1611 is found to be superior to any other English Bible because of the following four main reasons: its Source, its Honesty, its Fruit, and its Enemies.

A. The Source of the Translation. The simple belief is that God both inspired, and then preserved His word without error (Matt 24:35; Ps 12:6,7).

1. The AV translators chose to use the available 5,200 agreeing Greek copies of the New Testament as the source of the King James Bible.

2. All other versions primarily use only TWO Greek copies of the New Testament to translate from - these two have over 35,000 differences between them and the AV copies.

1. The AV translators took no liberties in translating the Bible. They did not attempt to paraphrase, or “interpret” hard passages. If a passage of Scripture was hard to understand, then it was translated that way. If they needed to add a word to help the meaning, they put it in italics.

2. Most other Bibles attempt to “fix” problems with the Greek and Hebrew by trying to figure God out. The AV translators did not!

1. Ease of Memorization - The AV is much easier to memorize and retain because of the way it is written, and the way it impacts the heart.

2. True Revivals- No other Bible has brought about real revival (i.e., the closing of pubs and bars, the restoration of families, the fear of God instilled in entire communities) except the AV! All other "bibles" water-down, and weaken the heart of the Christian from that of a strong soldier, to a lazy, lukewarm, and emotionally unstable compromiser.

3. No confusion - The AV is much clearer than the other versions, especially in areas of important doctrine. Note the differences between the AV and another version in the following verses: 1 Cor 1:18; Acts 8:37

1. The Roman Catholic Church - The AV 1611 is considered to be “anti-Catholic” - which it is - and is not permitted to be read by Catholics.

2. The Liberal branch of “Christianity” - The AV 1611 is considered to be archaic, and a hindrance to modern “me” philosophy - which it is!

3. The Lazy Christian - The AV requires a person to think and study instead of having all their thinking done for them with paraphrases!

4. The Carnal Christian - The AV makes the worldly Christian uncomfortable because it does not compromise on God’s hatred of sin!

The following section lists the basic information that you need to understand as you read and study God's word. It is intended to help you understand just what is the underlying "structure" of God's ways of doing things. It won't explain "everything," but will lay-out the framework of people and truths in the Bible.

A. The Main Events of the Bible - what follows are the important events in history and prophecy as recorded in the Bible! Take careful note!

1. The Creation. The Bible teaches in Genesis 1, and throughout the Scriptures that God "created" everything there is about 6,000 years ago, and that everything is currently wearing out, and not improving.

2. The Flood. About 4,600 years ago, a world-wide flood occurred that wiped-out all land-dwelling creatures, including mankind (Genesis 6). Everyone died except for Noah, and his family, who were saved because they obeyed God, and built an ark which contained two of every kind of land animal. It was the flood that fashioned the continents into their current shapes, and lifted the mountains to their current heights.

3. The Calling out of Abraham. Abraham is a cornerstone of the Old Testament. He lived in an ungodly city called Ur, but decided to obey God's word and leave Ur to follow God's will for his life. When God promised Abraham that He would give him as many children as the number of the stars, Abraham didn't doubt, but simply believed God, and became the father of the race of people called the Jews, who because of Abraham, are the people of God (Genesis 12-25).

4. The Bondage in Egypt. The descendants of Abraham were called Jews. These Jews went to dwell in Egypt, but were enslaved by the Egyptians for over 400 years (Genesis 30 through Exodus 3).

5. The Passover. Just before Israel was set free from slavery in Egypt, God commanded that every believer get themselves a lamb, and to kill that lamb in their place. They were to then take the blood of that lamb, and place it visibly upon the outside doorposts of each home, and God promised to "pass over" them in His judgment (Exodus 12)!

6. The Promised Land. Abraham had been promised a piece of land known as Canaan. It was over 400 years later when Joshua led the nation of Israel into Canaan and conquered all its inhabitants (The Book of Joshua). It is where Israel now dwells, and always will be Israel's.

7. The Kingdom Age. Israel became a kingdom under three great kings named Saul, David, and Solomon. Many other kings followed them (1 Samuel – 2 Chronicles).

8. The Captivity. After about 400 years in the Promised Land, the people of Israel lost interest in following the God of the Bible, and became totally idolatrous. God gave them over to their enemies, who came into their cities, and took all the healthiest, and strongest, and most beautiful away to distant lands as slaves again. Israel had gone full cycle, and would have to wait for 70 years before they could begin to rebuild their lives back under God.

9. The Old Testament. This set of 39 Books in the Bible contains the history of the world from Creation, up to about 400 years before the birth of Jesus. It was written in Hebrew, and pointed toward Christ.

10. The Nativity of Christ - His First Coming. God became flesh and dwelt among us here on earth almost 2,000 years ago. He lived a sinless life for 33 years, and then died as our substitute for sins on the cross to pay off our sin-debt to God. Everyone of His day wanted Jesus to rule as King, but His first coming was not to rule, but to save!

11. The New Testament. This set of 27 Books in the Bible records the life of Christ, and presents the truths and freedoms that can transform any sinner into a true saint.

12. The Rapture. A catching away of the Christians from the earth just before the beginning of the time called the Tribulation. It occurs so fast that people won't know what happened!

13. The Tribulation. Seven years of disasters and troubles that will rock the very foundations of this planet (Revelation 6-19). It will result in 1/3^rd of the population of the earth dying.

14. The Second Coming of Christ. Christ Jesus, and all Christians are coming back again! Jesus promised that He will defeat Satan, and will establish a true kingdom of heaven on earth (Revelation 19). We don't know when it will happen, but look for it everyday expectantly!

15. The Millennium. This is the 1,000 year reign of Jesus Christ on this earth, who will return the earth back to what it was like in the Garden of Eden (Revelation chapters 20,21).

16. The New Heaven and New Earth. Once the Millennium is over, God will destroy this entire universe by fire, and start over with a perfect universe, and earth, with no more sin, or Satan around (Rev 21 & 22).

1. Adam and Eve (Gen chapters 2,3). These were the first humans on earth, and from them are all humans, and because of their disobedience to God, we have death, and sin, and separation from God.

2. Cain and Able (Gen 4). Here were two brothers, sons of Adam and Eve. Abel worshipped God with the sacrifice of lambs, and Cain with his own good efforts. When God only appreciated Abel's lamb, Cain ended up killing his brother out of envy, and became the first murderer!

3. Noah (Gen 6-9). Noah was the only man who followed and obeyed God in his day - the rest of the world was caught up in wickedness and violence. He was commanded to build a huge ark that would carry both himself, his family, and two of each kind of animal through the coming world-wide flood.

4. Nimrod (Gen 10). Nimrod began again false worship, and open rebellion to God's word. He built Babylon, and attracted all the world to worship his false Gods, which are the basis for ALL the world's religions still (including Catholicism), except for Biblical Christianity!

5. Abraham (Gen 12-25). The father of the race of people called Israel, or the Jews. It was his faith in God that moved God to choose to use him to bring the promised Messiah into the world. It was his people that God would use to pen the Scriptures, and keep them from error.

6. Isaac (Gen 21-35). The miraculous born son of Abraham. This boy was the promised son of Abraham, and was born when Abraham was 100 years old, and his wife Sarah was 90!

7. Jacob (Gen 25-49). He is one of Isaac's sons. He is a trouble-maker, but gets converted, whose name gets changed to Israel by God because he finally surrenders to the Lord.

8. The Children of Israel. These are the descendants of Jacob/Israel, and are the people of God.

9. Moses the Lawgiver. God protects Moses from birth, when he is taken in by Pharaoh's daughter, and made the adopted son of the king of Egypt. Moses later discovers that he is a Jew, and renounces his position so that he can be with his people which at the time were slaves. Moses ultimately leads Israel out of Egypt, and to the land promised them called Canaan, which is modern Palestine, where Israel is today. God uses Moses to pen the first five Books of the Bible, which are referred to as "the Law" of Moses.

10. Joshua. He leads Israel into their Promised Land, and defeats all the kingdoms of the land, allowing Israel to possess it in peace (see the Book of Joshua).

11. The Judges. These are leaders whom God uses to bring Israel back to God each generation after Moses and Joshua because they would spiritually drift away. They were before the time of kings in Israel (see the Book of the Judges).

12. The Kings. God set Israel up as a kingdom with Saul as its first king. After him was king David, followed by Solomon. After them, the kingdom splits in two, and each kingdom lasts for no more than 400 years before being taken captive by other countries.

13. Daniel the prophet. There were many prophets used by God to write much of the Bible, but Daniel stands out among them. He is used to write about the coming Messiah (Jesus), and the end times.

14. Jesus the Saviour. Jesus is the whole theme of the Bible - from the first lambs slain in the Garden of Eden, God has been pointing sinners to the only substitute acceptable - that of an innocent Lamb. God became flesh, gave His life freely on the cross, and was buried, but then after three days, rose again, and ascended to heaven victorious over both sin and death! That makes Him our only way to heaven, by faith!

15. Satan, the devil. Satan's name used to be Lucifer, an arch-angel, but he turned away from God and sought to de-throne the Lord. He was kicked out of heaven, but still works destruction in God's creation. He only seeks to destroy what God has created, and set himself up as God. He is doomed to burn forever with his followers in the lake of fire!

16. Angels. Angels are spiritual beings that minister for God here on earth. They only do what God wants done, not what we want done.

1. The Depravity of Mankind. At the start of the Bible, God shows that mankind, even in the most perfect of environments, will chose to go their own sinful way instead of God's way. God however, will not give-up on the work of redeeming us from sin's power and price. All humans, at their best, are still sinful, and unable to enter heaven, no matter how hard they try (Psalm 39:5; Isaiah 40:17). They MUST be "born-again" where their sins are completely forgiven, and their names are written in heaven, all by faith in Jesus Christ!

2. The Intervention of God in Human Affairs. In order to keep mankind from self-destruction, and total loss, God has had to intervene sometimes with disasters (like the world-wide flood of Noah's day, etc.), and with the coming of Jesus Christ. God is in no way ignoring our condition here on earth, but intervenes at the right times, in the right ways. As a matter-of-fact, He intervenes in everyone's life daily!

3. The Salvation of Sinners. The primary reason for intervention is to restore what sin has ruined, and He does that one heart at a time in the lives of sinners who repent, and follow His Son, Jesus Christ. This theme is played-out over and over throughout the lives of all people throughout Scripture.

4. The Coming Physical Kingdom of Christ. The constant struggle with sin on this earth will not go on forever, but will climax with the return of Jesus Christ the second time. He comes again to destroy the works of the devil, and to rule as King of kings. No one knows when He is coming again, but we know He says it is imminent (soon)!

Translated from the TWO Wescott & Hort Greek Text Types	Translated from the 5,000 Majority Texts
Roman Catholic Douay version (1609) - Catholic Bible
*The Revised Version (1881)*
The American Standard Version (1901)
The Weymouth (1903); The Moffatt Version (1913)
The Goodspeed (1923)
The Revised Standard Version (1952)
The Amplified Version (1958)
The New English Bible (1961)	King James Version (1611)
The New World Translation (1961)
Good News For Modern Man (1966)
The New Jerusalem Bible (1966)
The New American Bible (1970)
The Living Bible (1971)
The New American Standard Version (1971)
The New International Version (1978)
The Revised English Bible (1989)
The New Revised Version (1990)
The “New” King James Version (1982) - A merge of both text sets
Various new editions of other versions, and “New” versions that are trying to merge the two texts