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20 is a relatively small number. Can you imagine summing up the entire Bible in 20 sentences? Over the past 3 days that is exactly what we have done. Mitch Maher came to the Kanakuk Institute and walked us through the most beautiful love letter ever written. So today I am going to share with you Maher’s 20 sentences. You can use the sentences for personal growth, a better understanding and/or best, to share God with others. Later I will give you more detailed information on each sentence. I promise, you will be inspired to dig into the Word!

A Broad Overview of the Entire Bible

1.) The Bible is the inspired, inerrant and authoritative word of God

2.) The Bible is 1 book that consists of 66 individual books

3.)  The Bible’s 66 books are divided into 2 testaments—the Old Testament with 39 books and the New Testament with 27 books.

4.) The big picture of the Bible can be understood in terms of five Christ-centered divisions: anticipation (Genesis – Malachi), manifestation (Matthew – John), proclamation (Acts), explanation (Romans – Jude), and consummation (Revelation).

A Broad Overview of the Old Testament

5.) The Old Testament consists of 39 books written before the birth of Jesus Christ.

6.)  The 39 books of the Old Testament are divided into 17 Historical Books, 5 Poetical Books, and 17 Prophetical Books.

7.) The key to understanding the Old Testament is to realize the Historical Books cover the major storyline of the Old Testament from creation to approximately 400 BC, while the remaining Poetical and Prophetical Books fit in at proper places within that storyline

8.)  The major storyline of the Old Testament can be understood by following Max Anders’ nine eras of Old Testament history: Creation, Patriarch, Exodus, Conquest, Judges, Kingdom, Exile, Return, and Silence.

9.) Concerning the Poetical Books: Job is about suffering, Psalms about worship, Proverbs about wisdom, Ecclesiastes about meaning, and Song of Solomon about marital romance.

10.) The first thing to know concerning the Prophetical Books is that the descriptions Major and Minor refer to length and not importance, but the reference to length is inconsistent; thus, the labels are unfortunate as they are prone to mislead

11.)   The second thing to know concerning the Prophetical Books is that there are three major categories: pre-exilic, exilic and post-exilic; though, three Prophetical Books do not fit into these categories.

12.)   The period between the end of the Old Testament (approximately 400 BC) and the beginning of the New Testament (the ministry of John the Baptist around AD 30) is often referred to as the Silence Period, though God was at work behind the scenes preparing the way for His Son.

A Broad Overview of the New Testament

13.)     The New Testament consists of 27 books written by the early followers of Jesus Christ

14.) The 27 books of the New Testament are divided into 5 Historical Books, 21 Epistles (Letters), and 1 Prophetical Book

15.) The Gospels present Jesus Christ from the unique perspective of 4 different authors writing to four different audiences, and together they paint a compelling, complementary—not contradictory—picture of Jesus

16.) The book of Acts records the spread of the gospel to the city of Jerusalem (Ch. 1-7), the surrounding areas of Judea and Samaria (Ch. 8-12), and the “remotest parts” of the earth through the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul (Ch. 13-28)

17.)    Paul’s letters are best understood in their historical context: after his 1^st Missionary Journey he wrote Galatians; during his 2^nd Journey he wrote 1 and 2 Thessalonians; during his 3^rd Journey he wrote 1 and 2 Corinthians and Romans; during his 1^st Imprisonment in Rome he wrote Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians; after his release from prison he wrote 1 Timothy and Titus; and finally, during his 2^nd and Final Imprisonment he wrote 2 Timothy.

18.) The General Epistles are so called because mainly they are not addressed to specific churches or individuals, but they might better be called “Non-Pauline Epistles.”

19.)  Revelation is the final book of the Bible that records the vision of Jesus that John saw (1:12-16), Jesus’ letters to the seven churches of John’s day (Ch. 2-3), and the things that will take place in the future (Ch. 4-22).

20.) The Bible is to be heard, read, studied, memorized and meditated upon for a lifetime.