Why use Bible Topics as a study aid?

There are many ways that people study the Bible, some just read through starting at the book of Genesis ending with Revelation and enjoy the stories the books contain. Others follow the direction of their Pastors, Vicars and Priests, mainly on the days they attend a religious service. We have found that, to get the most truthful information from the Bible it is important to use both Hebrew and Greek (old and new) Testaments or Books. If we search for a thought, Bible belief or topic (such as those on the left) in both Hebrew and Greek scriptures we will find that all references will harmonize, some giving different views or ideas of the topic you are searching. For instance, if we wanted to know the exact genealogy of Jesus then we need to look at Matthew 1:1-17 which is the genealogy through Joseph according to the Jewish custom. If we then look at Christ's genealogy as recorded by Luke at Luke 3:23-38 we will see that this genealogy is through Mary the mother of Jesus. Both these genealogies prove that Jesus truly did come through the line of David. (see 2 Samuel 7:12-16, Isaiah 11:1, Matthew 1:1, Luke 1:32, Acts 15:15-16 and Hebrews 1:5)

Picking a topic that you are interested in then studying that one topic will lead to an understanding of that topic. Working your way through topics will help with your understanding from God's point of view and not your own or others point of view.

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Angels

The word angel, in both the Hebrew and Greek scriptures (Old and New Testaments), has the meaning of 'messenger' according to Strongs Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Therefore, an angel of God can be anyone or anything sent or used by God to deliver His message. The Scriptures also speak of angels (or messengers) as spirit beings in the heavenly realm. These can be the holy angels who have been faithfully carrying out the will of God for thousands of years. Today, there are angels who have fallen from God's grace and dwell within the earthly realms whereas they used to dwell in the heavenly realm before being cast out. Today, God's holy angels do not show themselves to anyone, they do not materialize in the form of a human, animal or object, as they were able to in the past. God has prevented this for the sake of mankind. If anyone claims to have seen angels, images of the dead, or heard voices pertaining to be from angels or the dead, these people are being deceived and should be viewed with a great deal of concern.

We are living in the time that Jude the brother of James speaks of in Jude 1:6 (there is really only 1 chapter here but I have used the chapter number for clarity), Here he states that there will be a judging of the fallen angels (see also 1 Corinthians 6:3). Therefore, we can expect to see a great increase of spiritism and occultism in the earth today, deceiving many. In fact, Christians need to be especially on guard to guard themselves against this insidious foe, because we are the special targets of Satan and the fallen angels—demons. “Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith...” (I Peter 5:8,9 taken from the ESV) The power to be strong and to resist these evil influences is in the Word of God, the Bible. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17 KJV) It is our responsibility for our spiritual well-being and to keep us walking towards our Heavenly Father, to learn just exactly what God's Plan is for mankind by continuing in our search of His Word.

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Antichrist

According to James Strong, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance, the Greek word 'Anti' has the thought or meaning of 'instead of' or 'in place of' and appears some 19 times in the New Testament as the word 'of'. Romans 12:17 Recompense to no man evil for evil ... The word 'for' is the Greek word 'anti'. At 1 John 2:18 the word 'antichrist' is the combination of two Greek words, 'anti' (in place of) and 'christos' (Christ) having the meaning to stand in place of or opposed to Christ. The word 'antichrist' appears only 5 times and is only found in John epistles and in these cases has the thought of a group of body that misrepresents, counterfeit, taking the place of Christ.

Other titles given in the New Testament of this ominous body are “The Man of Sin”, “That Wicked One”, “Mystery of Iniquity”, “The Son of Perdition” and “The Beast”. Our Lord refers to this same character as the “Abomination of Desolation” spoken of by Daniel the prophet. (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31, 12:11) In Daniel’s prophetic vision, this same character was also prefigured by a little horn, or power which grew out of a terrible beast and made war with the saints — the true children of God. Daniel 7:8,21. The book of Revelation details symbolic prophecies concerning this same Antichrist figure. It portrays a cruel, beast-like character; subtle, hypocritical, deceptive, and tyrannical. The Apostle John shows a gradual development of the Antichrist in the midst of the true Christian Church. Ascending in power and influence, Antichrist becomes a church and state system, reaching the very pinnacle of earthly wealth and power all the while claiming authority and power from God.

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Armageddon

The word “Armageddon” appears only once in the King James version of the Holy Bible at Revelation 16:16 where it reads "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Armageddon is a Hebrew word that has no other English translation and in this context is a place. Popular Christian thoughts and beliefs depict Armageddon as the total destruction of the earth and all those inhabitants that have not accepted Christ including all other living creatures. This is far from the truth.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 reads "One generation passeth away and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever." God never lies and all scripture is inspired by God (Titus 1:2, 1 Timothy 3:16) therefore we know that no lasting harm will come to the earth.

Is the popular view of Armageddon trying to portray God as a cruel God, a God that would destroy mankind just because they were misguided, misled and confused without offering an opportunity to learn in an environment free from lies and misconceptions? Would a God of Love, a God that allowed His only begotten Son to suffer and be put to death as a criminal, really allow such destruction? Ask yourself who would gain from such deception. It is true that scripture does speak of a time of trouble, but this time of trouble is designed and allowed to bring about a cleansing of the earth's governmental and religious systems. This cleansing is a prelude to the answer to many Christians prayers when they ask for God's Kingdom to rule on earth as it is in heaven. Before God's Kingdom can rule on earth it must first clean those systems away that stand against God's Plan for mankind.

It is true that scripture mentions the "Fire of God's anger", a "Whirlwind", a "Destroying Storm", a "Flood of Mighty Waters", and a "Great Earthquake". All these are symbolic terms relating to, in the main the cleansing of the earth during the time of Christ's presence for the second time on earth. In short, Armageddon will be God's last intervention in the world of mankind's affairs preventing them from destroying each other and especially God's chosen nation Israel. Armageddon is the last battle of mankind before God's Kingdom is established here on earth. ________________

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Baptism

It was the custom of the apostles of Christ that baptism would follow their teaching and preaching not only to the Jews but also the Gentiles. After Philip had finished preaching all things concerning the Kingdom of God to some Samarians they were baptized. (Acts 8:12) After the teaching by Philip, the Ethiopian eunuch was converted and baptized as his symbol of his conversion. (Acts 8:35-38) Cornelius and his household accepted Peter's words regarding Christ and God's Kingdom and that very day were baptized. (Acts 10:44-48) At Acts 18:8 we read "... and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized." Lydia and her household after listening to the words of Paul were baptized. (Acts 16:14-15) The Philippian jailer after listening to Paul and Silas whilst in prison believed and was baptized. (Acts 16:25-33) In all cases all those who were baptized learned first, then accepted what was being taught was from God through Jesus or through the apostles of Jesus. In all these cases water baptism was as a result of actions of the Holy Spirit compelling those accepting God's Kingdom and Christ to show their acceptance to others by water baptism.

Reading again through these examples you'll notice that baptism followed learning and acceptance of the teaching of Jesus regarding his Father's Kingdom, hence only those capable in age, maturity and state of mind would accept water baptism as the outward sign of their acceptance. At this point you could ask - What about young children or those who have not heard or understood God's message? What about all those who have been "blinded by the god of this world"? (2 Corinthians 4:4) Be assured, put your mind at rest, God has a plan and this plan is currently working on earth's affairs as you read this brief article. God has promised that through His Son, Jesus, and because of the faithfulness of Jesus, He (God) will indeed "...deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God ..." (Galatians 1:4) and God's will is that all men (including women and children) "...be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-5) Notice also that in verse 6 it says, speaking of Jesus "...gave himself a ransom for all , ..."

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Bible

No one alive today has seen God nor heard His spoken word directly. (John 1:18) What confidence then, can we have that the Bible is truly the word or messages from God for mankind? The Bible, as we know it today is a relatively new concept, taken from many other writings from times well before Christ's arrival here on earth. It was copied by scribes, who, in the main copied the exact words directly from older papers onto new parchment. In Germany around 1440 a Johannes Gutenberg is cited for inventing the first moving part printing press. Some 10 years later he printed a copy of the Latin Vulgate known as the Gutenberg Bible which is considered the first mass produced version of the Bible.

After all this copying by hand for thousands of years then, copied onto the printing press, it is almost impossible to prevent mistakes happening in various versions. The Bible's original scripts were not written in English, so in the translation from Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic and other dialects into English other errors could and have arisen. But we have the confidence that God has seen to it that any errors that have crept in can be seen as an error and the correct thoughts are correctly written elsewhere in scriptures. (2 Timothy 3:16) No mistakes significantly alter God's message to mankind. Just consider what the Bible has gone through, bannings, burnings, death for ownership and it's still here. Most of the prophecies have already been completed with others being fulfilled today and a few yet to be fulfilled. This truly is God's words, messages for all of us.

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Jesus Christ

The name Jesus means savior or Jehovah's salvation. (Matthew 1:21) The name Christ means anointed, Messiah. Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Israel, and of the entire world. He was "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners." He came into this world as a perfect babe in Bethlehem and he grew to perfect manhood. As a man he "gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time." (Hebrews 7:26, 1 Timothy 2:6) He was the perfect life exchanged for the life of Adam which was forfeited when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden. Jesus purchased Adam and all of Adam's offspring by paying the penalty for Adam's disobedience. (Romans 5:14-21)

Jesus called God his Father, and spoke of himself as the Son of God. Jesus asked his disciples, "But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, 'Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.'" (Matthew 16:15-16) A father is a life-giver. A son is an offspring, one who receives life from a father. This distinction implies that God, the Father, existed first and that His "only begotten Son," Jesus, proceeded from Him. (John 3:16) Jesus said of Himself, "I proceeded forth and came from God." (John 8:42) The Apostle Paul clarified the distinction between the Father and the Son thus: "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." (1 Corinthians 8:6)

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Chronology

The Bible is the only record of man's history, from the creation of man to the birth of Jesus Christ. Then from just before the Birth of Christ we also have modern history as an additional support of Bible Chronology. It is the only work in the world which traces the first man, Adam, through successive links to the birth of Christ, nearly four thousand years later. If it was not for the unbroken links of events in the Bible, we would have no evidence of mankind’s development before the year 536 BC, which is recorded as the “first year of Cyrus”. This is considered the earliest reliable date secular history can reach. Dates earlier than that can only be proved through use of Bible Chronology.

The Bible prophecies supplement yesterday's and today's history, the Bible is therefore the only record in the world which furnishes a view of human history as a whole. It carries us from the lost paradise of Genesis to the restored paradise of Revelation, tracing the pathway of humanity between these two events.

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The Church

The word “Church” appears eighty times in the King James version of the Bible. Three times it is spoken of by Jesus, once when he tells Peter that the “Church" will be built upon this rock, the rock of truth, the truth Jesus was teaching about His Father's Kingdom. He also used the word twice more when speaking of the correct way to deal with wrongdoing within the ecclesia, the name given to groups of followers of Christ, or the Church. (Matthew 16:18, 18:17) Nearly all of the occurrences of the word “Church” refer to the gathering, the group of Christians in any one area, not a building as we tend to mean today. In the book of Revelation (chapters 2 & 3) the word “Church” is used seven times and on each of those times it is referring to one of the seven stages of development of Christ's Church from his day right up to our day, represented by the Laodiceans. (individuals not buildings)

Christ's Church is made up of individuals who have consecrated their lives to God even as far as death. During the early periods or stages of the Church development many members suffered many pains living up to their consecration, some were put to death in various anguishing manners.

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Creation

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. We don't know when for the scriptures, the Creator's words, don't tell us. All we are told is that in the beginning. (Genesis 1:1) This of course is very exciting because “in the beginning” implies there is more to come. We know that initially the earth was without any form, no life existed just a thought in God's eyes. Then over the next five creative days. The word “day” has been translated from the Hebrew word “yom” which has a number of meanings. It could mean a 24-hour day, often refers to the hotter part of the day between sun-up and sun-down, or it may mean just a period of time, for example when we talk of "our parents’ day" a time in the past. The scriptures don't tell us the length of a creative day but there are some clues that lead us to believe that each creative day is seven thousand years. These creative days start following the creation of the heaven and the earth. Each creative day brought about changes which eventually, over a period of forty-nine thousand years or so, we have what we see around us today. A perfect environment for all forms of created living forms. Basically there are two forms of living matter that rely on totally different gases to exist. One system requires oxygen to live and gives off carbon dioxide as a waste material; the other requires carbon dioxide to live and gives off oxygen as a waste product. How could this develop spontaneously?

During creation everything that would be required for the welfare of mankind was prepared and ready for their creation. Initially Adam was created and given some rules and tasks for his benefit, then Eve was created. Mankind was given anything they needed to live forever here on the earth, the home created for them. It has been argued that God only created mankind and all of creation just to test them before moving to heaven or hell, depending on your beliefs. Absolutely no mention of this anywhere in the first book of the Bible. In fact, the Bible does say that God's original plan is that they should live forever here on the earth. Ask yourselves why did God remove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and why did He not allow them back? Many would say because Adam and Eve sinned or disobeyed God, but according to Genesis 2:16-17. the punishment was death. They were thrown out of the garden and kept out because if they were allowed to return after their disobedience they could eat from the “tree of life” (Genesis 2:9, 3:17) and live forever. See Genesis 3:22-24 where God Himself says that because of Adam’s disobedience they (Adam and Eve) have similar knowledge regarding “good and evil” as did God and so to make sure that Adam’s punishment would be fulfilled they had to be prevented from eating of the “tree of life” and live forever.

One day in the near future all mankind will have the opportunity to live, once again forever on a perfectly developed earth in perfect health. As one more proof that God's intention was for all mankind to live forever on this earth is the fact that this earth will exist forever. Mankind will not be able to permanently harm or destroy this earth. (Ecclesiastes 1:4).

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Death

A dictionary definition of death is – “the permanent cessation of all vital functions: the end of life”. God's Word - the Bible has a different view, Daniel when writing about a particular time period, “...at that time shall Michael stand up...” (Daniel 12:1) then this is followed by “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake...” (Daniel 12:2) Here Daniel is likening death to sleep. Recall the words of Jesus concerning the death of his friend Lazarus, “This He said, and after that He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.’ The disciples then said to Him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’” (John 11:11-14). The Bible expresses the term death in a number of ways but all seem to have the thought of an overcoming of something; we can be “dead to sin” (Romans 6:2,11, Romans 7:6, 1 Peter 2:24), having the thought of overcoming sin. We can also be “dead to self” (Matthew 16:24-25, John 12:25) with a similar thought of being “dead to sin” but in this case we overcome the human tendency in man towards self-will, self-importance, rather than God's Will.

It is reasonable to assume from the biblical record that, had Adam and Eve not sinned, they would have continued to live forever (Genesis 3:22). The account in Genesis indicates that mankind was intended to maintain a relationship with God by trust and obedience in His Word. As long as Adam and Eve were faithful to God, God provided them with the source of life. However they disobeyed and the punishment for their disobedience was death (Genesis 2:16-17) not only for them but for every human being that followed them, in fact all mankind. (Romans 5:12) God's original Plan was for mankind to live forever, here on earth with no thought of death. Has God had to change His first plan? Was mankind capable of altering God's Plan? Of course not; note how God, having prior knowledge of man's character weakness (for man although perfect lacked an understanding of sin, death, deceit and willful wrongdoing) knew that man would be tested and would fail. A method to return man back into the favor of God was developed resulting in the death of Jesus Christ as a ransom to free all mankind from the bonds of death. (1 Corinthians 15:21, 1 Timothy 2:5-6)

It is true that today mankind still dies, or rather falls asleep, but recall our first scripture in Daniel 12:1-2, all those asleep in the graves will awaken when Michael the Great Prince stands up. Well Michael, the Great Prince is standing up or is present but in his spiritual form, not visible but as arrived rather like a thief in the night. “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2) Thieves don't make their presence known with shouts and lights but if the householder keeps careful watch they can see the signs of the thief. The same applies to the day of the Lord, many signs pointing towards that day are given, we are warned therefore keep on the watch. “Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” (Mark 13:33) Recall what Daniel says will happen during that day - Daniel 12:1-2 – “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt.”

Yes a time will come, the day (or period) of the Lord, Michael the Great Prince will arise here on earth, Jesus will come to start his rule here on earth as it is ruling in heaven (Matthew 6:9-10) The New Living Translation puts it this way “Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead [asleep in the grave] or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10) Many scoff at the thought of an eternal life here on earth, the resurrection of all those asleep in the graves just awaiting that day. It may seem contrary to the teachings of today but at no time does the Bible mention that the general resurrection of the dead has any other thought but a resurrection here on earth. A small number, a very small number (144,000) will be resurrected to Heaven for a particular purpose. Keep on the watch, do not be misled, the resurrection of those asleep will happen. The words recalling the time when a high synagogue official came to Jesus asking him to return home because the official’s daughter had died; Jesus went with the official and found many in mourning at the house. Jesus told them to stop and go for the girl is asleep not dead, but they all laughed and scoffed at him. Read this account for yourself at Matthew 9:23-25 "When Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, He said, ‘Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.’ And they began laughing at Him. But when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and took her by the hand, and the girl got up." They didn't believe but still the child arose from the dead.

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