Revelation 17:9-12, “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.”
The first five books of the Bible were penned by God's servant and friend, Moses. Of course, God Himself is the divine Author of all the Holy Bible. This is what we mean when we say that the Bible is “inspired” by God. I believe that the King James Bible is both verbally (every word) and plenary (the entire canon of 66 books) inspired by God. To be “inspired” simply means that these words in the Bible came from God Himself, and not from men! It grieves me that young people who are raised up by godly parents, to believe that the Bible is word-for-word inspired, then attend some corrupt religious institution like Hyles-Anderson College (HAC) or Pensacola Christian College (PCC), and by the time they graduate they no longer believe that we have an inspired perfect Bible today!
Listen to what Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) had to say about this matter of infallibility! Even Brother Hyles admits that he was messed up about the Bible for a time, when he graduated from some lame Bible seminary. The most dangerous place for a Bible-believing youth today is BIBLE COLLEGE!!! Go figure! Young person, don't you allow some lifeless, corrupt, fuddy-duddy, Bible college professor shake your faith that we have a perfect, reliable, infallible, inerrant, holy, preserved and inspired King James Bible today in 2022!!!
By God's grace, I like to use this passage of Scripture as a template to teach the entire Holy Bible. We know from Revelation 17:18 that “the woman” is Jerusalem (Israel). Revelation 17:18, “And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” The Bible dates itself at approximately 4,000 BC in time. Genesis is the first book of the Bible, a book of beginnings. A popular term in studying the Bible is the “law of first mention.” For example: Genesis 14:4, “Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.” The first mention of the number thirteen in the Bible speaks of rebellion. If you are familiar with heavy Metal Music (which I am), then you know that the number 12 is revered in Rock Music. This is because 13 is the number of rebellion! Take a look for yourself of this Google search for the number 13 and heavy metal. If you look closely, you will see the number 13 appear often on album covers. Interesting, huh?
So in teaching the Bible, a good Bible teacher will always look back to Genesis to see if there is a “first mention” of a particular topic that he is teaching. Another example of the “law of first mention” is the serpent tempting Eve in Genesis 3:1-5. I use this passage all the time when teaching the Bible. In this passage we find the first corrupt Bible revision by the Devil, which successfully caused Eve to go astray. You cannot trust these modern Bibles.
Here's a perfect example below of what I'm warning you about. I examined a Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) website today, researching what they teach about Bible repentance. Folks, SDA is a Satanic religious cult, who preach another gospel (which is essentially the same heresy of Lordship Salvation). The article I read quoted Acts 2:37-38 from the New Living Translation (NLT), which is a very deadly and corrupt revision of the Bible. Here is a comparison between the trustworthy King James Bible and the NLT:
KING JAMES BIBLE (KJB) - Acts 2:37-38, “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”
NEW LIVING TRANSLATION (NLT) - Acts 2:37-38, “Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do? Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Do you see what the translators of the NLT did, adding to God's Word? Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. ” Anyone can look up the meaning of the Greek noun for “repent” (metanoia), which simply means: “a change of mind.” Even Wikipedia gets repentance correct!
There is an insatiable hankering in sinful men to ADD to what God has already plainly said. In Genesis 3:1, the crafty wicked serpent changed God's Words (Romans 1:25), placing a question mark where God had placed a period. Whereas God had told Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:16-17 that they COULD eat of ALL the trees in the Garden of Eden except one (the Tree of Knowledge); the subtle serpent turned it all around, telling Eve in the form of a question that God said she COULDN'T eat of any of the trees! God didn't say they couldn't eat of any of the trees, God said they could eat of all the trees, except just one!
This is so typical of the heathen world to blame God. Unsaved sinners act and talk as though God is a tyrant, who enjoys depriving humanity of having fun and enjoying all that life has to offer. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our wonderful and good God has freely given to all men the wondrous blessings of sight, sound, taste, feeling and smell. God created an incredible array of fruits, vegetables, meats, seeds, oils and spices to enhance our life. God gives us the beauty of a sunset, the joy of a happy sound, the wonderful smell of grilled chicken, the succulent flavor of beef and shrimp. I deep friend some breaded oysters for lunch today. Heaven came down! I love seafood, and I love all the food I see...lol. God is so good.
Yet, billions of ungrateful people on earth today ignore God. They blaspheme His holy name. They curse Him and never speak a word of gratitude toward Him for all His many blessings. Listen friend, the only reason you woke up today is because God keeps you breathing! Acts 17:24-25, “God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;” There are 86,400 seconds in each day, have you thanked God with just one of them? The first thing I do each morning when I wake up is thank God for another day. Each day is a gift from God, which is why we call it “THE PRESENT.” I thank God every time I eat, whether it be tasty deep-fried breaded oysters or bland oatmeal.
I've said these things as a brief introduction to learning the Bible. I could give you a bunch of boring facts and dead genealogies, but I have instead taught you to be thankful to God in every thing, to avoid the Devil's corrupt modern Bible versions, and to look for “the law of first mention” in the book of Genesis to help you understand the Bible. There's nothing new under the sun friend! The same subtle sneaky snake in the Paradise of Eden, is the same ole smut-faced Devil today trying to kill, steal and destroy your life (John 10:9-10), rendering you absolutely useless for God. Satan desires to ruin your family!!! Please don't help him do it!
In the book of Exodus we see much mention of Egypt, Pharaoh and the Egyptian people. Ramses II was likely the Pharaoh whom Moses confronted with God command to: “Let my people go!” I have always enjoyed listening to one of my favorite preachers, Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988). Dr. McGee was a Presbyterian minister, as was also Evangelist Billy Sunday (1862-1935). I used to listen to Pastor McGee on the radio while driving to work in the early 1990's, not even realizing that he had graduated into Heaven in 1988. I highly recommend Pastor McGee's free online THRU THE BIBLE 5 year series!!! Dr. McGee has such a humble and cordial friendly way of teaching, and you can hear the country preacher in him. Dr. McGee was a very learned man, saturating his Bible studies with much secular history, which makes learning the Bible much more enjoyable and effective.
The book of Exodus (or exit) is all about God using His servant Moses to deliver God's people (the Jews) out of bondage in Egypt. In the Bible, Egypt is a picture of the unsaved person. Nothing good ever came out of Egypt in the Scriptures. Egypt in the Bible symbolizes the world.
Some Bible teachers mistakenly teach that leaving Egypt is a type (representation) of salvation, but that is inaccurate (in my humble opinion). It is the parting and crossing of the mighty Red Sea that symbolizes God's great salvation, since only God could have parted the waters. The Hebrews leaving Egypt symbolizes leaving the world behind, but that is not salvation. Crossing the impossible Red Sea is a picture of salvation, which is a supernatural miracle of God. The only thing required by the Jews was enough faith to enter into the Red Sea on dry ground, which God had prepared for them in His mercy and grace.
The Wilderness to me symbolizes a believer's growth in grace. The Jews wandering in the Wilderness for 40 years represents the backslidden Christian life (i.e., they didn't grow). The Promised Land (where all Jews 21 and up in age were forbidden by God to enter because of their persistent complaining) represents the victorious Christian life, which is lived only by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; 2nd Corinthians 5:7). Most of the Jews never entered into the Promised Land, including Moses, because he disobeyed God when he struck the rock twice. God said to strike it once, which would have been a type of Christ being smitten once for the sins of the world. When Moses ruined that type, God banned him from entering into the Promised Land, but at least Moses got to see it and weep.
The book of Leviticus is all about the priestly work of the tribe of Levi (or Levites). There were 12 tribes total. God instructed the other 11 tribes to tithe of the firstfruits of all they owned, to support the tribe of Levi whose work was to set up and maintain the Tabernacle, and to perform all the ceremonial law rituals as God had commanded. This is why God became upset with the sons of Eli, priests, who were sleeping with harlots at the tabernacle door. They were also supposed to eat whatever meat they grabbed from the big cooking pot, but they were being choosy and only selecting the best portions of meat for themselves. God became upset with them and the prophet Samuel had to confront Eli about his rebellious sons.
For the sake of time I cannot go into detail about all the books of the Bible, as I would like to, but the purpose of this particular blog is to simply familiarize you with the gist of the Bible.
Moving forward in the Old Testament we have the chronological books (1 and II Kings, I and II Samuel and 1 and II Chronicles). Then we read the Poetic books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon). I love the book of Proverbs, which is packed full of God's wisdom. God made the book of Proverbs in such a way that they stick in your mind. Proverbs isn't written like a normal book; it contains individual thoughts, changing subject matter in a heartbeat, so that you don't need to remember lengthy passages to benefit from it.
Proverbs is a book of nearly a thousand of wise sayings, which are easy to remember. The book of Proverbs contains 31 chapters and 915 verses. Amen! When using the KJV, there are 929 chapters and 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 260 chapters and 7,957 verses in the New Testament. This gives a total of 31,102 verses, which is an average of 26.2 verses per chapter, and 25.3 words per verse. Wow! That is neat stuff!
In the Old Testament we find the MAJOR prophets (e.g., Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah), and the MINOR prophets (i.e., Joel, Daniel, Nahum, Zechariah, et cetera). A good way to understand the Old Testament concerning Israel is in three stages:
- Israel as One Nation (during the time of Saul, David and Solomon)
- Israel divided into the Northern Kingdom (during the time of Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah and Nahum)
- Israel divided into the Southern Kingdom (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Lamentations, Habakkuk, Joel)
The Old Testament provides a unique and intriguing history of God's people, the Jews. God began His covenant with the Jews with Abraham, then his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. And then Jacob's son, Joseph (during the world power of Egypt). I love to teach the Bible using Revelation 17:10-12 as a template, which helps to organize the books and characters of the Bible.
TIME is God's way of letting His friends (i.e., His children) know what He is planning next on His prophetic calendar. I am so thankful to God that He loved me so much, that He gave us His inspired Word to let us saints know where everything is headed. God didn't leave us in the dark, so to speak. We already KNOW that we are on the winning side in Jesus Christ! Boy that makes me happy. I KNOW what to expect ultimately when all is said and done in the future. Having this incredible knowledge from the Holy Bible, and the solid confidence that it gives every believer who abides in the promises of God in the Scriptures, it makes each day of life so much better, full of inexplicable joy, comfort and hope.
We read in Revelation 19:10, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” The Holy Bible contains 31% prophecy. As we just read, the spirit of ALL prophecy is THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS!!! So when you study any portion of the Bible, always look to see how that particular passage relates to the blessed Savior. It's all about Jesus dear friend!!! This will help you rightly divide the Word of Truth (2nd Timothy 2:15).
Also, be very careful about reading into the Bible what is not there. I hear so many Baptist preachers foolishly use Revelation 4:1 as a lame attempt to prove a pretribulation Rapture. Revelation 4:1, “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Dear friend, this verse does NOT teach the Rapture! I hate when Bible teachers do this, taking passages way out of context in a sinful attempt to justify whatever particular doctrine they are trying to push.
I literally heard a local pastor a few weeks ago use the following passage to preach a New Year's message. Luke 22:50-51, “And one of them [Peter] smote the servant [Malchus] of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.” The pastor said that Jesus gave Malchus a “New Y-ears!” Oh boy! Let me out of here!
The cults of Seventh-Day Adventism and the Jehovah's Witness, and sadly even rogue Baptist preachers like Robert Breaker on YouTube, crunch a bunch of numbers from the Bible, taking passages out of context, to set dates for Christ's return and teach all manner of bizarre prophecies. Please don't listen to them, and don't you do it yourself. I agree with Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980) that we should let the Bible speak for itself! The Bible way to interpret the Bible is with the Bible. Where the Bible is silent we should be silent.
I'm telling you, today's Bible colleges and churches are flooded with all manner of unbiblical teachings, simply because preachers ADD to the Bible what it does not say. Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” I love that passage of Scripture. EVERY WORD OF GOD IS PURE! That means somewhere in this world today we must have an EVERY WORD BIBLE!!! I believe I have it in the time tested, true and timeless incorruptible, infallible, inerrant, holy, preserved and inspired KING JAMES BIBLE. Everyone who denies what I just said either sanctions the Devil's modern perverse Bibles, or else they refuse to expose them as being corrupt.
Not one verse in the inspired King James Bible says to repent “of your sins” to get to Heaven. Yet, thousands of Bible teachers and preachers all across America teach this doctrine of devils. Jesus Christ came to redeem us from our sins, by paying for them with His blood on the cross. So what is there for us to repent of? How can we turn away from the sins which Christ has washed away forever with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). Oh foolish Bob Jones University crowd! Who hath bewitched you that you should believe another gospel? (Galatians 3:1-3). I'll tell you who bewitched them—Pastor John MacArthur, that's who!!!
So as you study the Bible dear reader, stick to THE BIBLE!!! This brief blog article hasn't been comprehensive, but I gave you some important starting points, practices and precautions to help you avoid becoming another heretic. God bless you and please study your Bible, which is the greatest gift God has ever given to this world. Here are some notable quotes that I have saved over the years about our beloved Holy Bible...
“The Bible is no mere book, but a Living Creature, with a power that conquers all who oppose it.” —Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)“It is impossible to enslave mentally or socially a Bible-reading people. The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom.” —Horace Greeley (1811-1872)“The existence of the Bible, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity.” —Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)“That book [King James Bible], sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.” —U.S. President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)“The Bible has been the Magna Carta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it.” —Thomas Huxley (1825-1895)“So great is my veneration for the Bible that the earlier my children begin to read it the more confident will be my hope that they will prove useful citizens of their country and respectable members of society. I have for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible every year.” —U.S. President John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)“It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible. ” —U.S. President George Washington (1732-1799)“The Bible, composed by many authors, over a period of many centuries, yet ONE BOOK, is, in itself, the outstanding Miracle of the Ages, bearing aloft its own evidence of its Superhuman Origin.” —Henry H. Halley (1874-1965)“The Old Testament is an account of a Nation. The New Testament is an account of a MAN, The Nation was founded and nurtured of God to bring the Man into the world.” —Dr. Henry H. Halley (1874-1965)“Bible reading is an education in itself.” —Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)“The Bible is worth all other books which have ever been printed.” —Patrick Henry (1736-1799)“The whole hope of human progress is suspended on the ever growing influence of the Bible.” —U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward (1801-1872)“God Himself became a Man, to give mankind a concrete, definite, tangible idea of what kind of Person to think of when we think of God. God is like Jesus. Jesus was God incarnate in human form. His appearance on earth is the Central Event of all history. The Old Testament sets the stage for it. The New Testament describes it. As a man, He lived the most strangely Beautiful Life ever known. He was the Kindest, Tenderest, Gentlest, most Patient, most Sympathetic man that ever lived. He Loved people. He hated to see people in trouble. He loved to Forgive. He loved to Help. He wrought marvelous miracles to feed hungry people. For relieving the suffering He forgot to take food for Himself. Multitudes, weary, pain-ridden, and heart-sick, came to Him, and found healing and relief. It is said of Him, and of no other, that if all the deeds of Kindness that He did were written, the world would not contain the books. That is the kind of man Jesus was. That is the kind of Person God is. Then: He Died, on the Cross, to take away the Sin of the world, to become the Redeemer and Saviour of man. Then: He Rose from the Dead: is Alive Now: not merely an historical character, but a Living Person: the Most Important Fact of History, and Most Vital Force in the world today.” —Dr. Henry H. Halley (1874-1965)“The reason you don't like the Bible, you old sinner, is because it knows all about you.” —Billy Sunday“The Bible will always be full of things you cannot understand, as long as you will not live according to those you can understand.” —Billy Sunday
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