WHY THE BIBLE?
Why is the Bible such an important book? Other faiths besides Judaism and Christianity have ‘holy’ books. Why is the Bible so special. Take a long look at it. It was written by hundreds of people – not just one human being. God is the only author and He used various people throughout thousands of years to write 66 Books. Why did He do that? He wanted us to have a picture of His Beloved Son, Jesus. That is what the Bible is: a photograph album of Jesus.
You don’t see that? Neither did I for many years. People always told me that Jesus was in every book in the Bible, but I had read the entire Bible and I didn’t see Jesus in lots of it until I came to Matthew. Then there was a lot about Jesus from then on. I had to be taught to see what God had been trying to teach me for years.
Look at Genesis for example. In Chapter one, God is called Elohim (which is a Hebrew plural word). Why is it plural? Because God is 3 persons in one – just as we are. My mother was mother, wife, daughter – 3 persons in one. My father was father, son, husband – 3 persons in one. Same person, different roles. When you get to Genesis 2, human beings are created and God is now called Jahweh Elohim and translated as ‘LORD GOD’. The Jahweh is the heart of God, the compassion of God – or Jesus. The Holy Spirit, the Helper, is also mentioned in verse 1 as hovering over the earth before and during it’s formation. God in 3 persons: Creator, Jesus, Comforter. Just like us.
God took 1.5 chapters to write about creation and the rest of the book to talk about Redemption. Do you know the salvation story is in chapter 5 of Genesis? I didn’t. Until someone showed me. All through the Bible, Jesus is seen: I have been reading the book of Numbers and it talks about a wave offering and a heave offering. You do that – wave something in front of you, then heave it from floor to ceiling. What does that make? Yes, the sign of the cross. The Israelites camped in the wilderness in the sign of the cross with the tent of the Holy tabernacle in the middle of them. Every time God looked down upon them He saw the sign of the cross. Every time they offered burnt offerings it was in the sign of the cross. The blood on the doorposts and lintel of the house during Passover made the cross sign.
There are 5 colors that are prominent throughout the Bible. Red, blue, white, purple. Gold. Red is a symbol of blood, blue is a symbol of sky, purple is a mixture of red and blue, white symbolizes purity, and gold symbolizes divinity. Jesus was perfect man (blood – the word ADAM means ‘human of blood’), from heaven (blue), pure of sin (white), and perfect God (gold). There are also 4 animals mentioned that were on the curtains of the tabernacle, the flying objects that Ezekiel saw and other places in the Bible. Always the same 4 – human, ox, lion, eagle. All through the Hebrew Scriptures! They also represent the 4 Gospels which are to come. In Luke: Jesus is very human; Matthew: Jesus is like the lion (king of beasts), Mark: Jesus is a servant like the ox, and John: Jesus is the God Who came to us from heaven like the eagle.
God loved you so much that He wanted you to have a complete photo of His Son, Jesus. Look for Him.
Rev. Joyce Kaplan, M.Div., Retired United Church of Christ pastor.
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