DO YOU HAVE THE BIG PICTURE YET?
GOD has SPOKEN, but most people don’t usually step back to look at ALL that HE has SAID and CONSIDER what GOD EMPHASIZES. Here is a lesson I use to give NextGeneration missionaries the BIG PICTURE. The God who recorded the beginning that no one but Him witnessed in Genesis is also the God who gives us the ending that no one but Him could have ever written in Revelation.
Isn’t it amazing that God devotes 1/4th or 25% of the Bible to the inseparable union of the world’s destiny with God’s Chosen People of Promise, Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jews? Never forget:
The Centrality of Israel In the Bible
Israel is the 3rd largest topic in the Bible, correct: God/Lord Himself was mentioned 12,000 times (God 4094x/Lord 6781x/plus Jesus, Christ, Spirit, etc.), and salvation (man 3323x/sin 1016x/Jesus 942x); Israel is mentioned over 2900x and Jerusalem 767x. The church 111x, prayer 128x, and the cross 29x are much less mentioned.
Over 200 times God introduces Himself as the Great I am, the God of Israel (plus 17x the God of Abraham, and 25x the God of Jacob). He is not the “I was”, He is the “I AM”; and He is, His was, and has promised in the future that He will be the God of Israel.
Using just an ordinary Bible with no study notes (my Bible is 1100 pages long), you find that:
• 600 pages (Genesis to Song of Solomon) are Israel’s origin, history, wanderings away from God, and worship (that is 600/1100 pages or) 54%; and
• 250 pages are devoted to the prophets (Isaiah to Malachi) that speak of the doom coming first to Israel then and the world in the future (that is 250/1100 pages or) 23%; and then we get
• 110 pages devoted to the Life of Christ (Matthew to John) that lasts for (110/1100 pages or) 10% of the Bible; and then
• 120 pages devoted to the record of Acts to Jude that explains Christ’s Church’s birth and mission for 120/1100 pages or 11%; and then the
• 20 pages of Revelation describing the centrality of Israel and Jerusalem in the end of the world take up almost (20/1100 pages or) 2% of the Bible.
So, just a simple glance at the Table of Contents of God’s Word would make a reader conclude that Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jews are crucial to God. He has chosen to devote fully (4/5ths or) 79% of the Bible to Israel’s origin, calling, chastisement, return, and future troubles that engulf the whole world.
(WNS-63; 091025PM)
Join the LAND OF THE BOOK channel to access weekly video releases over the next year totaling 50+ EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS featuring weekly in-depth Bible Study lessons with John & Bonnie. Clips are taken at just one of the places where we are taking our virtual journey through all the Lands of the Bible & Great Museums of the Bible on the Paul’s Life & Letters Course. Plus all the assigned HOLY LAND, Paul’s Life & Letters Course STUDY RESOURCES, and John’s two most loved books–David’s Spiritual Secret & Living Hope for the End of Days at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVK6dN-9kLDnQhYBFuES09A/join
Follow Discover the Book Ministries to stay up to date:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discoverthebook/
DTBM Academy Courses:
https://dtbma.com/Default.aspx
Purchase John’s Books, Mp3 & DVD resources:
E-Books: https://tinyurl.com/y3wbhlxy
Here are links to our Amazon Pages–
https://www.amazon.com/shop/dtbm
Donate to the ministry: https://dtbm.org/donations/partnership/
For more of Dr. John Barnett’s Bible teaching messages, go to: https://dtbm.org/
https://youtu.be/6qbVp8QWRUg
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings