Stan Campbell - Bible to Go: Genesis to Revelation in One Hour

Copyright 2006 by Stan Campbell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing front the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptures are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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First eBook Edition: January 2010

ISBN: 978-0-446-57202-6

T he Bible to Go: Genesis to Revelation in One Hour. You've picked up the book, but you're still wondering, What does to go mean?

First, it is my intent with this book to help people who may be unfamiliar with the Bible to accumulate a working knowledge of its contentsfrom Genesis to Revelationin a short time. I know you're busy and may not have time to devote to extensive reading or study. And even if you do, when it comes to the Bible, it can be difficult to know how and where to begin. So if you're continually on the go, this hook can go with you and provide a quick yet meaningful introduction of what is in the Bible.

Also, when you think of the title Bible to Go, it's a reminder that the Bible is not an old, outdated, irrelevant book. It is a book of action, of motion, of life. The author of Hebrews says, The word of God is living and active (Hebrews 4:12), and many people today will attest to that statement.

Woven throughout the Bible is a story line, a plot, a flow of action. The Bible to Go will follow that motion from start to finish. We won't be able to go in-depth. Yet I hope what is here will be beneficial to you, moving you to a better understanding of the Bible, and maybe even a more personal interest .and desire to apply what you're learning,

So, on your mark. Get set. Let's gol.

I t's always good to start at the beginning, yet at the beginning of the Bible we find God already present (Genesis I:I). The theological belief that God is eternal means not only that he will exist forever into the future but also that he has always existed into the eternity of the past.

You'll notice that it's completely dark as we begin our journey through the Bible. We're also in a place that is formless and empty. But all it takes is a word from God and immediately there is light. Another word, and the sky and earth separate. A few more words, and the new world is teeming with plants, animals, and the first human beings (see pages 9798). After each day of Creation, God declares his work good. After humankind is established, however, God evaluates all he has done and deems it very good (Genesis 1:31).

Adam, the first created human, is assigned the task of naming all the animals. In doing so, he notices that for him there is no suitable helper (Genesis 2:20), so God places him in a deep sleep and uses one of his ribs to create Eve. God places them in the Garden of Eden, naked but without shame.

Eden is a paradise. But in time, Adam and Eve do the one thing God has instructed them not to do. After being tempted by a serpent, they succumb and eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, they recognize their nakedness and hide from God.

This original sin initiates a separation from God that has made it more difficult for humans to interact with him throughout the centuries. It results, too, in a curse on the serpent, on Adam (thorns, thistles, and sweat as impediments to future work) and Eve (pain in childbirth and subjection to her husband). But it also results in the Bible's first messianic prophecy: a time will come when a descendant of Adam and Eve (Jesus) will crush the head of the serpent (Satan), even though the serpent will strike his heel (Genesis 3:1419).

After Adam and Eve are evicted from Eden (to prevent their eating from the tree of life and living forever in a state of separation from God), it doesn't take long for sin to spread. When God rejects an offering from their older son, Cain, and accepts one from their younger son, Abel, Cain responds in a fit of jealousy. He lures Abel into a field and commits the first premeditated murder. When questioned by God, he tries to plead ignoranceto no avail.

Soon afterward we come to Lamech, who was the first known polygamist, and boastful as well. But we also read of the first rancher (Jabal), musician (Jubal and metalworker (Tubal-Cain). And this is where we find the Bible's oldest character: Methuselah, who lives to be 969 years old. With such age spans, it's no surprise that people are fruitful and multiply, and the population grows.

But so does sin. People live and die and generally ignore God. Yet a couple of people stand out as positive examples. One is Enoch, the father of Methuselah. We are told, Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away (Genesis 5:24). This cryptic statement is better explained in Hebrews 11:5, which tells us that because Enoch pleased God, God didn't require that Enoch face physical death.

Another exception is Noah, who was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God (Genesis 6:9). Sin has finally reached the point where the LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain (Genesis 6:6). At this time, God limits human life spans to 120 years (Genesis 6:3). He also tells Noah to build a three-deck ark in anticipation of a devastating flood. The ark is to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. By the time he finishes it, Noah is six hundred years old. Two of every kind of bird and animal come to him, and he boards them along with seven pairs of clean (kosher) animals and birds, which can be used for food and later, for sacrifices. Then God shuts the animals and eight people (Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives) in the ark.

The rain begins to fall, and the waters also rise up from all the springs of the great deep (Genesis 7:11). After forty days, the earth is covered. It takes time for the waters to recede, however. Noah and his family are in the ark for just over a year before a dove indicates the land is dry enough for them to disembark (Genesis 7:11, 8:1314). It is at this point that God provides the rainbow as a sign of the covenant he makes with Noah to never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:1117).

And although God has given humankind a second chance to eliminate the wickedness that had become so rampant, it doesn't take long for sin to return. Noah plants a vineyard, gets drunk, gets naked, and is observed by one of his sons, who ridicules him. When he discovers his son's insult, he places a curse on that son's descendants (who will become the Canaanites).