The one thing most needed is the study of the Bible. The study of a verse here and there in the Bible, is not the study of the Bible.
The study of subjects in the Bible, even though there be many subjects and much study of them, is not the study of the Bible.
A person may be able to quote many texts of Scripture on many subjects in the Bible, and yet be sadly lacking in real knowledge of the Bible.
Verses here and there, even many of them together,--this is not the Bible. Subjects, even many of them, traced by the concordance from beginning to end of the Bible--this is not the Bible.
The Bible was not written in subjects nor verses, but in thoughts-the thoughts of God. The Bible is the Word of God, and words express thoughts. The Bible, therefore, as the word of God, is the expression of the thought of God.
• There are thoughts of God expressed in single words.
• There are thoughts expressed in single verses.
• There are thoughts expressed only in whole chapters.
• There are thoughts expressed only in whole books.
• And there are thoughts expressed only in the whole Bible together.
And true Bible study is to find, to receive and to dwell upon thoughts of God expressed in single verses, expressed in several verses, expressed only in whole chapters, expressed only in whole books, and expressed only in the whole Bible together.
Therefore, we are not saying that there should never be any study of single verses, nor of passages, nor of subjects, in the Bible. We are only saying that even when verses and passages and subjects in the Bible have been studied, the Bible has not yet been studied.
It takes all that is in the Bible to be really the Bible. And plainly a person has not thoroughly studied the Bible till he has studied everything that is in the Bible-everything that goes to make up the Bible.
And in order to study everything in the Bible, it is plain that it is necessary to go through the Bible, and through the Bible, and through the Bible--always be going through the Bible, until you know the Bible.
The Bible is composed of the story of:
• The creation:
• The fall:
• The flood, in its cause and effects:
• The re-peopling of the earth, and the confusion of tongues:
• The patriarchal times:
• The life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph:
• The oppression and exodus of Israel:
• The conquest and inhabiting of the land of Canaan:
• The dwelling of the people in the land:
• The Kingdom of Israel:
• The division of the Kingdom:
• The Kingdom of Israel-the ten tribes-until their destruction, the Kingdom of Judah-until their captivity:
• The captivity:
• The return from the captivity, and the re-establishment of the people and worship of God in the land:
• The prophetic sketch of the course of empire to the end:
• The coming of the Messiah, and his rejection:
• The re-building and organization of the church of God:
• The prophetic sketch of the course of the church to the end and to her glorious triumph in eternal glory.
Please study this list until you know it and you will know what is in the Bible. And then you will be prepared to begin the study of the Bible.--Medical Missionary, March 11, 1908.