There is Unity in the Bible

I used to be sort of a Luddite, but then I couldn’t find that happy medium of when I would chose to decide technology became bad. Even those who shun reading on electric devices still are using a rather new technology in the book, when you look at it from world history. Starting somewhere around the 1st century, the idea of a codex came into the Roman Empire. Prior to that, the “books” were scrolls. But with the codex you have the idea of stacking the payprus and binding and it became the standard almost immediately. I’m sure there were a few people who said, “back in my day, we didn’t have these fancy ‘bindings’ . If we wanted to read something, we’d get the scroll.” But, the technology (thankfully) caught on. That being said, with scrolls, you would have collections of scrolls, not just one giant scroll of the “Old Testament”.

But, prior to the New Testament, the people wouldn’t have called their Bible the “Old Testament” because it wasn’t yet old. So why do we? Why are there two different sections? Jeremiah 31:31-34 tells us the old covenant was the promise made to Israel, but also tells us there was a new covenant coming. What is it and when did it come? Hebrews 10:12-18 tells us the new covenant comes with Jesus (Hebrews 12:24). The New Testament is the new covenant. You can think of it this way, it’s not the “last will and testament” but rather it is the promise of what the testament provided, the promises of God to His people. So the Old Testament is the first covenant God made with Israel, until the fulfillment of those promises in Jesus Christ. The New Covenant begins with Jesus. They don’t contradict, since it was part of God’s plan from the start.

The Bible is a little library, divided into sections of the Old and New Testaments and not each book is written in the same style. The Lord divided the Old testament into three sections, the law, the prophets and the Psalms (Luke 24:44). In the New Testament, you start with the gospels, which tells the story of Jesus from four different perspectives, for four different purposes. Luke, was a physical by trade, wrote his gospel as a historian, gathering the facts of eyewitness accounts (Luke 1:1-4). John said he wrote his gospel so you would have faith in Jesus Christ (John 20:31). Matthew wrote his gospel primarily for Jewish readers, and Mark gives a brief account of Jesus life, hitting the high points of His earthly ministry in quick detail. You have history (Acts) and the epistles (which is just a different way of saying letters) written to either individuals or churches, and closing out with prophecy in Revelation.

This is important to better understand what it is you are reading. For example, Psalms 23:1-2, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” Here is a truth taught in a poetic way. I don’t think the Lord will literally make me lay down in a pasture, but this is a poem and the image of a shepherd (the Lord) and a sheep (me) and from it I can understand the truth of the Lord’s care for me. Understanding the books and their purposes will help you to read it. Let’s imagine we are back in school, and it’s 8 am and it’s time for history class. You get out your book and you read about the American Civil War. What would you expect to find? Information about key people, important battles, political struggles. You might even find some interesting tidbits about minor players playing a big role. The bell rings and now it’s English Literature class and you get out your copy of Shakespeare’s King Lear and read, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child.” Now, that’s a truth spoken it a way to make you stop and think about it. The child doesn’t literally have sharp edges, but metaphorically speaking, a sharp tongue. The bell rings and it’s time for Math. You get your book out and there is a brief section on the theory but it’s mostly examples to look at and formulas to remember. You read the problems, think about the theory, spot the concept in the example, then work it out yourself. God also teaches us in the Bible in various ways (Hebrews 1:1-2). Sometimes we read history, sometimes, a poem, or you might read the dimensions of the tabernacle or the sacrifices and offerings in Exodus and Leviticus and look at that pattern and formula for worship and sacrifice and work out from that picture truth about heavenly patterns (Hebrews 9:23).


That being said, just because there are two divisions doesn’t mean there are two different Scriptures. There is unity with the Bible. God inspired the Word from Genesis to Revelation and there is a common and unified plan of salvation, by grace, through faith, in Christ. The old testament saints were waiting on the promise of the Messiah and had faith in what he would do and we look back to the promises fulfilled and what Jesus did for us. The Bible points us to Christ because all of God’s people have always looked to Christ (Luke 24:27; John 5:39). The Bible developed, in time, as God gave more light. The more light added to the unity of the whole. But just because Moses didn’t have the full light of the finished Book, doesn’t mean you should read Exodus without the light of the New Testament. It also means that you can also study the Bible topically, since there is unity. You can learn the Bible as a whole, to see what God says about a topic to gain fuller understanding of God’s will in a particular area. The Bible wasn’t written in a systematic theology, where every truth is found in a certain chapter. There isn’t a Trinity chapter or a “family chapter” but, the Bible teaches those truths throughout, and we mine the depths of Scripture to learn God’s will for us.