week 2 - John Meister

pg 51 Bible Reading - a few pointers
Context, context, context...beware the antecedents:
WHO or WHAT are we reading about? example: Genesis 34:11 - Is Shechem male or
female?
Genesis 34:11 And Shechem said unto her father and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in
your eyes, and what ye shall say unto me I will give.
When reading a passage, be certain you know who is being referred to and the events that are
related. Sometimes additional research may be required to understand the situation. This is
where understanding the culture and history of the time is important. - In the example above,
why is Shechem giving something?
TRIVIA:
Most used word: "the" approximately 58,000 times Second most used word (upper and lower
case variations): " Lord " - 7,736 times
2 longest words: 18 letters each - found in: Psalm 56 and Isaiah 8:1 and 8:3
Longest verse: Esther 8:9 - 90 words Shortest verse: John 11:35 - "Jesus wept"
Second shortest verse: 1 Chronicles 1:25 - " Eber, Peleg, Reu, "
Longest Book OT (and Bible): Psalms - 150 chapters 2,461 verses Longest Book NT:
Luke - 24 Chapters 1,151 verses
Shortest Book OT: Obadiah - 21 verses, 670 words Shortest Book NT: 2 John - 13
verses, 298 words
Shortest Chapter: Ps 117 - 2 verses, 33 words
Total (approximate) verses in the Bible: 30,442 - OT: 22,465 NT: 7,957
Total (approximate) words in the Bible: 845,000 - OT: 647,000 NT: 198,000
...beware the counterfeits:
With so many false religions, false teachings and misinformation out there, how can we best
understand the Truth? Simple: READ THE BIBLE.
Follow the example of those that deal with money. They do not study counterfeit currency;
they study the real thing. When a counterfeit is presented it is obvious and clear.
When one reads and studies the Living Word of God and is then presented with false teaching it is
often amazingly clear that it is wrong.
Study God’s Word carefully and commit it to your heart and mind. (Psalm 119:11)
The Bible canon consists of the 66 books mentioned in this course. Beware of other writings that
liberals and skeptics will point to and use to discredit the Gospel message. There is a good
reason why those other books are not included. After you finish reading the entire Bible, pick
up a copy of the Apocrypha, for example, and read a portion, you’ll see what is meant. So
when you hear about the Gospel of Thomas, or Q or other mystery writings that are not
included, some basic scholastic research will point out why these should be ignored. Those
writings have failed the test. The details of such tests are outside the scope of this course.