How do you eat an elephant? This is an old joke but the point is one bite at a time. The Bible is like eating the elephant we take it one bit at a time. But we approach it different than other books we read, because it is not like other books.
The Bible is completely unlike any other book that we will ever read and therefore must be approached differently than other books we read. Most books are designed to start in chapter one and be read straight through until the last page. In most books the story is successive, and really only understood when read in this successive manner. The Bible, however, really should not be read this way though. Most books are written using one style of writing. The Bible however is a collection of books and contains many types or styles of writings. There are also many different authors who wrote at very different times in history. It did take approximately 1600 years for all the books of the Bible to be recorded. The separation in time and space between Moses and John make it amazing that there is such integrity found in the Word of God. All those things make the Bible a very complex and different type of book to read than any other.
To start in Genesis and end in Revelation makes the Bible not easier to understand, but far more difficult to comprehend. When trying to teach kids to read scripture there are monumental challenges if we read the Bible page for page in the order it has been put together. If we start in Genesis we might be fine for a while, but we will certainly loose children by Leviticus and they will never learn what they need to live a life pleasing to God.
It is my intent that this booklet help you to continue your journey through God’s word gaining insights into who God is, and who you are in Christ. The Bible is our first-hand knowledge about God and this can only be obtained in reading the Scriptures themselves. In academics we encourage people to come as close as possible to the original source for things. In knowing God our original source is His word. Knowing how to read the Bible is vital.
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