Can someone explain this?

[cwiehle]

Hello everyone,

I am in what you would call the beginning stages of my search for faith. I was subjected to a life changing moment a few weeks back when I rolled my car on my way to work. I can't remember much of it, but the two days I was in the hospital I found myself thanking God that I was still alive,and that I could see my family again. Until then I was in religious limbo for the past 20 years of my life. I have never been Atheist, I always wanted to believe. I have just never understood the possiblilty of certain things the Bible claims. The more I read and talk to you here at CF I am beginning to accept more and more, and that I am not supposed to understand everything. Someone in apologetics said I should hang around here (deeper fellowship) so I am around non-argumentative surroundings and can concentrate more on my Christian education.
I was just going to post a simple question, but it turned into this long intro.

My question was this- Why is there an old and new testament? What is the timeline? I have never read the Bible, but am going to start, this question I posed was one of my first confusions.

Thank you

Chris

 

[Peaceful Dove]

Hello
That is a very good question.
The Old Testament was Sacred Scripture held by the Jews and greatly about the Jews. They contained the Messianic Prophesies (Jesus, our redeemer). They tell beautiful stories about the history of Gods people. They were sufficient until the coming of the Messiah.

The New Testament fulfills the Messianic Prophesies. This collection of writings is the story of Jesus. It is our Salvation story.

 

[cwiehle]

I don't quite understand. The Old Testament was written before Jesus Christ's appearance?

 

[Peaceful Dove]

I don't quite understand. The Old Testament was written before Jesus Christ's appearance?

Yes! I have to confess that in 60 years, I have not read the entire Old Testament. I still plan to.
However I have read all of the New Testament and have taught it.

Do you have a Bible? I still recommend you start in the New Testament but you should know the Old Testament too, because it tells us about our roots.

 

[cwiehle]

Yes! I have to confess that in 60 years, I have not read the entire Old Testament. I still plan to.
However I have read all of the New Testament and have taught it.

Do you have a Bible? I still recommend you start in the New Testament but you should know the Old Testament too, because it tells us about our roots.

Sooo there were prophets that predicted Jesus' arrival?

 

[McWilliams]

The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed.

The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

Actually Christ was present in eternity past and in every book of the Old Testament! He is God and chose to conceal Himself until the time He planned to be revealed to the world in the form of a babe. His plan from eternity past was to be born, crucified, raised from the dead and ascend to heaven. This was His decree from before time began!
John 12:27 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name."

 

[cwiehle]

The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed.

The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.

Actually Christ was present in eternity past and in every book of the Old Testament! He is God and chose to conceal Himself until the time He planned to be revealed to the world in the form of a babe. His plan from eternity past was to be born, crucified, raised from the dead and ascend to heaven. This was His decree from before time began!
John 12:27 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name."

Im still confused, but I'll dwell on that for a while.
C

 

[McWilliams]

There is one God, in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are one, yet three distinct persons.
In eternity past, or before time began the three persons of God decreed a plan for mankind, including the fall of mankind which would forever more mean that all humans are born into the original sin and be doomed to hell. The penalty of sin is death!
However, as we were all doomed to experience God's eternal wrath, God in His great mercy chose some of those to save and to be eternally His. This salvation is a great gift of eternal life with Jesus Christ forever in heaven. If you are aware that you are a sinner and want God's peace He will give it to you! For all of those who reject Him, not wanting anything to do with Him and have no desire to live for Him, those continue on their way to hell as before. This is according to their own choice and desire.
Living for Christ, loving Him and His word is a great privilege, considering that He died to save sinners and to reconcile them to Himself! It is a great privilege and yet also involves persecution at times if we stay the course and determine to please Him. We can have internal peace even when the world around us is in a state of chaos because we know well that we are His and no matter what happens nothing will change that fact!
If you are not real familiar with God's word begin to read it daily. Start with the gospel of John and read it several times and get familiar with it before going on to finish the rest of the New Testament! If you are interested in knowing God that is a good sign that He is calling to you to know Him and to trust Him with your life! What a blessing that is!
God bless you!

 

[soblessed53]

Sooo there were prophets that predicted Jesus' arrival?

Hi and welcome to Deeper Fellowship.

http://biblia.com/jesusbible/prophecies.htm


Prophecies of the OT Fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah and His church
a total of 1,093
50 Specific Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus
The Jewish Mystery
The Messiah, the Christ in Greek


There have been described in the Old Testament 300 prophecies of the first coming of the Messiah and 500 of the second coming, all of then made hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus and fulfilled to the letter in Jesus Christ, the Messiah

 

[cwiehle]

There is one God, in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are one, yet three distinct persons.
In eternity past, or before time began the three persons of God decreed a plan for mankind, including the fall of mankind which would forever more mean that all humans are born into the original sin and be doomed to hell. The penalty of sin is death!
However, as we were all doomed to experience God's eternal wrath, God in His great mercy chose some of those to save and to be eternally His. This salvation is a great gift of eternal life with Jesus Christ forever in heaven. If you are aware that you are a sinner and want God's peace He will give it to you! For all of those who reject Him, not wanting anything to do with Him and have no desire to live for Him, those continue on their way to hell as before. This is according to their own choice and desire.
Living for Christ, loving Him and His word is a great privilege, considering that He died to save sinners and to reconcile them to Himself! It is a great privilege and yet also involves persecution at times if we stay the course and determine to please Him. We can have internal peace even when the world around us is in a state of chaos because we know well that we are His and no matter what happens nothing will change that fact!
If you are not real familiar with God's word begin to read it daily. Start with the gospel of John and read it several times and get familiar with it before going on to finish the rest of the New Testament! If you are interested in knowing God that is a good sign that He is calling to you to know Him and to trust Him with your life! What a blessing that is!
God bless you!

I will read John, but may I ask why you recommend starting there?

 

[McWilliams]

I will read John, but may I ask why you recommend starting there?

Of course! John's purpose in writing the book was the overall message of the gospel 20:31 "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God." John's gospel complements the other 3 gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke and his desire and purpose is to show that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God.

John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that Believing you may have life in His name.

Once that thought is deeply imbedded into your soul and you have asked for His mercy and forgiveness on your life, you are then ready to read the rest of the bible and learn how to best glorify Him in everything you do for the rest of your life!

I pray that He guide you and draw you to Himself and give you the assurrance that you are then forever His! God bless you!

 

[cwiehle]

Thank you

 

[Peaceful Dove]

I suggest you take your time. Always pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit when you read. Don't be in a huge hurry to absorb too much at once.

This is an excellent on line Bible Study. I am familiar with it and can recommend it.

http://www.scborromeo.org/bible.htm

 

[cwiehle]

I will check it out

Thanks
Chris

I suggest you take your time. Always pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit when you read. Don't be in a huge hurry to absorb too much at once.

This is an excellent on line Bible Study. I am familiar with it and can recommend it.

http://www.scborromeo.org/bible.htm

 

[PapaLandShark]

I might also recommend picking up what is called a "Life Application Study Bible". My wife picked one up for me last Christmas, shortly after my conversion, in the NASB translation and it is my constant companion.

Read every day...The recommendations I see above are excellent.

 

[Dee235]

You start with a difficult question.

I must say I was amazed to recently discover that the Old Testament is not in date order.

The Old Testament is the old dispensation. There were the 10 commandments and the people lived under the law. The New Testament is from Jesus' birth. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John cover more or less the same time period. The New testament is grace. From the Old Testament we can see that man cannot keep the laws, (even now we can see that). Jesus came to be the sacrifice for us. We are saved by grace. Nothing we have done can save us, Jesus saves us.

There are some of the Bibles you can buy, that give you the date the book was written (eg Life application).

I have heard that there is a four hundred year gap between the end of the OT and when Jesus was born.

All scripture is God breathed.

 

[Lauri4Him]

The Old Testament begins at the beginning of the creation of the world and mankind. It travels through approximately 4000 years of history between God and people. Not only God's children are spoken of, but also other kingdoms and nations that did not follow Him.

I started in Genesis because I wanted to now the beginning of the story. But after Genesis and part of Exodus I skipped ahead to the New Testament.

The first 5 books are called the Books of Moses and detail this history. Then comes more history of the experiences of Israel. These stories are rather shocking if you don't know Jesus. I would suggest reading the Gospel first.

Then you have the books of praise and wisdom - Psalms and Proverbs. Then there are the books of the Prophets that tell of the future.

This is a very simplified explanantion

The New Testament starts approximately at the 4000 year point and begins it's history with the birth of Christ and traces his lineage back to Adam. It then goes on to tell of His life and purpose - to save the lost - and His death and resurrection. This is called the Gospel and is told in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They each recall their witness of Jesus Christ.

The next book is called Acts and details the experiences of the apostles as they went aboard to spread the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

The remaining books were written to the churches that formed and were for encouragement and admonition in following Christ.

The last book - Revelation is a book of prophesy, it is full of symbols and predictions for the future. This book I found to be better understood with the help of study guides from others who have gone before us and learned much in deciphering of it's meaning. Some people may tell you that this book cannot be understood, don't let them fool you. The title of the book is "The REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST"

Revelation comes from the greek word apokalupsis
ap-ok-al'-oop-sis
Strong's Concordance says the meaning is:
From G601; disclosure: - appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation.

This book is meant to be understood, but only by those dilegently and sincerely seeking to know the truth. Some things need to be searched out.


My own personal experience of first reading the bible went like this:
I read Genesis and Exudus
then went ahead to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
I skipped Acts and read the letters to the Churches and the remaining of the New Testament
Now I was so overjoyed with the gift of Christ that I wanted to praise Him so I read Psalms, next was Proverbs to learn what was good and wise.
Then I went back and finished th Old Testament - now I could Jesus everywhere in the stories.
And last of all I read Acts, now I was ready to follow Christ in reaching out to others.

I find that if you spend time reading every day you can read the whole Bible in a year. Try to read it through once in what ever order works for you, then you will have some idea when reference is made to certain events.

There are free Bible software programs available for download that are also helpful, offering dictionaries, concordances, different versions, and commentaries. I don't think I'm allowed to post links, so if you would like information on these please message me.

May God Bless you and lead you in the way everlasting.
Your sister in Christ,
Lauri

 

[Peaceful Dove]

You might want to copy and paste some of these suggestions somewhere where they can be saved.
For someone new at this, you are having a lot of information given to you. Probably more than you can deal with all at once.
Go slow, and keep it simple.
As you go along, go back and read some of these posts you have saved.

I taught scripture for a long time and I have noted folks who try to swallow too much at once gets an upset tummy.

 

[repentandbelieve]

My question was this- Why is there an old and new testament? What is the timeline? I have never read the Bible, but am going to start, this question I posed was one of my first confusions.

Thank you

Chris

Hello cwiehle, welcome to CF.

The Old Testament sheds light upon the New, and the New upon the Old. Each is a revelation of the glory of God in Christ. There are those who profess to believe and to teach the truths of the Old Testament, while they reject the New and vise versa. However, both are parts of an inseparable whole for Christ declared "They are they which testify of Me." John 5:39.

Scripture is to be compared with scripture. The student should learn to view the word as a whole and to see the relation of its parts. Every part of the Bible is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. The Old Testament, no less than the New as the doors of the New Testament are unlocked with the key of the Old Testament.

Christ as manifested to the patriarchs, as symbolized in the sacrificial service, as portrayed in the law, and as revealed by the prophets is the riches of the Old Testament. Christ in His life, His death, and His resurrection, Christ as He is manifested by the Holy Spirit, is the treasure of the New.

 

[cwiehle]

You might want to copy and paste some of these suggestions somewhere where they can be saved.
For someone new at this, you are having a lot of information given to you. Probably more than you can deal with all at once.
Go slow, and keep it simple.
As you go along, go back and read some of these posts you have saved.

I taught scripture for a long time and I have noted folks who try to swallow too much at once gets an upset tummy.

Good idea, I will try and do that.