Get a Grip on the Bible

By Jerry L. Burton

Did you ever start to read the Bible and then give up? If so, this Get a Grip approach could help you get into the Word with confidence.

Get a Grip-on the Bible

• Language: English
• Publisher: Burton Books
• Release date: Dec 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781960093738

Jerry L. Burton

Jerry L. Burton, PhD, Church Administration, is a retired USAF officer, business executive, and teacher who contributes articles to science journals. He is also an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a calling from which he will never retire. His greatest passion is sharing the Word of God with others. He lives with his wife, Laura Burton, PhD, also a passionate Christian and academician, in Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

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Merging Culture, History, and Scripture

Jerry L. Burton

Copyright © 2023 by Jerry L. Burton.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without a prior written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review, and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023921640

ISBN: 978-1-960093-75-2 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-960093-74-5 (Paperback)

ISBN: 978-1-960093-73-8 (eBook)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Chapter 1 GENESIS

Chapter 2 EXODUS

Chapter 3 LEVITICUS

Chapter 4 NUMBERS

Chapter 5 DEUTERONOMY

Chapter 6 JOSHUA

Chapter 7 JUDGES

Chapter 8 RUTH

Endnotes

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever picked up the Bible and looked at it without opening it? Have you thought, Wow, this is a huge book!

Then, you open it. Wow, that’s really small print!

Then, you ask yourself. Do I really think I can understand this? Do I really have time to read all of this?

Then, you put the Bible down, thinking, Some other time!

I often did that, too.

This Study Guide helps you get a grip on the Bible by giving you God’s Word in story form.

You will learn basic background information about each book, such as, the author, date of writing, intended audience, culture and history at time of writing. You will study two or three stories, and identify the key messages in each story. At the end of each chapter are review/discussion questions.

My immediate goal, in this Study Guide, is for you to remember at least one or two main thoughts from each book of the Bible from Genesis through Ruth.

My longer-range goal is for you to feel comfortable picking up the Bible, scanning the headings, finding something that catches your interest, and then confidently turning to that section and reading it as a story.

May God Bless you as you study His marvelous Word!

DEDICATION

To Mattie Louise Burton and Ernest Leonard Burton, Mom and Dad: Thank you for loving me and encouraging me in everything I have done. Thank you for setting high goals and high standards for me. Thank you for your songs, your stories, and your love for each other and our family. And, thank you for introducing me to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! I love and miss you both, very much!

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To my good friend, Anthony Valdez, who has helped me edit my manuscript and to all the men in my Small Group who have encouraged and inspired me in this endeavor.

To my lovely gift from God, my wife, Laura, for all the long discussions, the endless patience, and the love for me that she shows every minute of every day. I thank God for her and for all of her godly traits and wisdom.

FOREWORD

My mom was a storyteller. When I was only five years old, she had her own radio program. The elementary schools in town would children into her studio each day. Mom would read Fairy Tales and Bible Stories to them while she was on the air.

Mom practiced her storytelling on me. I look back on those days and realize that my retention was great when I was hearing or reading a story. Most people respond well to stories.

In the Study Guide, for each book, Genesis through Ruth, I give you information in story form.

I start with a small amount of background information about the book: its author, when it was written, who the intended audience was, a little about the time it was written, and what was going on in the world culturally and historically during that time.

I will tell you one or two short stories from the book and explain things along the way. You may have heard these stories before. Then, I share with you one or two stories you may not be familiar with. I try to keep them simple and help you identify key parts of each story.

Sometimes, after I have given you background information, I ask you to read a story on your own. This will help you build your confidence in your ability to read Scripture yourself.

There are discussion questions.

At the end of each chapter there is a list of topics covered in the chapter. This provides you an overview of its contents.

My goal for you is to remember just one or two main thoughts from each book of the Bible from Genesis through Ruth.

May God Bless you through the reading of His marvelous Word!

Chapter 1

GENESIS

In this chapter, you will get a grip on who God is, who we are relative to Him, and how much He loves us and wants love from us.

Genesis, the first book in the Bible, is one of five books of the Bible referred to as the Pentateuch – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In these books, the key thought to remember is that God is revealing Himself to His people. He is also revealing the rules (laws) of the relationship between Him and them.

SECTION 1 – Review – None

In subsequent Chapters, this Section will contain a short review, or summary, of the previous Chapter(s). This will help you see the connection of each book to the next.

SECTION 2 - Preface

In Genesis you will read about the Creation of all things and the spiritual being, God, who created all things. You will also read about two covenants. A covenant is an agreement similar to a legal contract. One of the covenants was between God and Noah. The other covenant was between God and Abram.

The story line in Genesis moves from a purely Spiritual realm, before creation, into what we perceive as a physical realm, after creation. There is at least one universe (a human term with human limitations), with galaxies, stars, solar systems, planets, and more, all created by God. Both the spiritual and the physical realms co-exist and overlap.

It is accepted, based on Moses’ account, that man’s journey began in the eastern region of Mesopotamia – present day Iraq. Looking at Figure 1.1 below, location 1 perhaps is where mankind began life’s journey.

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Figure 1.1 Mesopotamia

After some unspecified period, the man, Adam, was taken by God and put into a garden which God Himself had planted. Now, we are at location 2 in Figure 1.1. Again, we are not told how long Adam, and his new bride Eve, were in the garden communing in a wonderfully personal way with God.

Enter Satan, the adversary and tempter. Now the road gets rough. After banishment from the garden, man made many mistakes which resulted in some interesting stories. In all these stories, God reveals increasingly who He is and who we were meant to be, and how God and man are meant to relate to each other.

Over an extended period of time, humankind spread out beyond Mesopotamia. Man’s relationship with God became diluted. But one man, Abram, was noticed by God. Abram’s story ranged from Ur, where he was born, to Harran, Figure 1.1, location 3, where his family moved. It was there that God called Abram to become the Patriarch of the Israelite nation.

From Harran, the stories move southward through Shechem and Bethel, Figure 1.1 location 4, then toward the Negev, location 5. Due to a famine in the land, Abram eventually went all the way to Egypt, Figure 1.1 location 6.

The map will lead you through the remainder of the book of Genesis, eventually ending with a man named Joseph in Egypt.

There are many stories along the way – some sad, some funny, and some very scary. You will read four short stories about four major events: In the Beginning, The Fall of Man, The Flood, and The Scattering of the Nations. These stories are from the pre-Patriarchal period and take place in Mesopotamia.

The second part of Genesis tells us about many people, but our focus will be on four people. You will read the stories of these four Patriarchs (fathers) of the nation of Israel: Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

As you read these stories, ask yourself two questions:

What is God willing to do for man; and,

What is God asking man to do for Him?

SECTION 3 - General

Author¹: Moses, by historical tradition, is assumed to be the man who wrote the book of Genesis. He lived from 1526 BC to 1406 BC (120 years).²

Date Written³: Probably between 1440 and 1400 BC. Moses was about 80 years⁴ old at the time he led a group of slaves out of Egypt at the command of God. All these slaves were descendants of Abraham, Isaac (one of Abraham’s sons), and Jacob (one of Isaac’s sons). Moses and the ex-slaves were in the desert (between 1440 BC and 1400 BC) when Moses started writing Genesis.

All the events in Genesis had occurred before Moses was born. The information Moses wrote in Genesis likely came from two sources:⁵

Direct revelation from God; and,

Information that was passed down to the slaves, including his own mother, and told to Moses.

Period Covered⁶: Before Creation to around 1805 BC (Death of Joseph).

Audience⁷: God told Moses to write the book of Genesis so these people from Egypt would know who God was and understand their national and spiritual heritage.

Cultural Setting⁸: Genesis covers an unknown length of time and cultural development. By the time of the writing of Genesis, civilizations were very well developed. There were large cities and nations ruled by Pharaohs and Kings. The eastern Mediterranean area, North Africa, and Near East (Eastern Europe and Western Asia) were engaged in trade and kept very sophisticated records of contracts, daily transactions, and communicated extensively with each other, much as we do today, but without the technology.

Historical Setting:⁹ The historical setting of Genesis is impossible to state, at least for the first eleven chapters. History before the age of writing is, of course, unrecorded. The earliest record we have of any civilization is that of the Sumerians. They dominated Mesopotamia from around 2900 – 2350 BC. During this time, civilization was developing. Urbanization, the creation of centers of living, like towns and cities, took place. Also, the foundations of mathematics, astronomy, law and medicine were developed. All this occurred before the birth of Abraham! Abraham was born around 2166 BC.¹⁰

The center of power shifted throughout the region many times. Just before 2100 BC, the city of Ur took prominence in southern Mesopotamia.

After that, during the period ranging from 2000 – 1600 BC, the Babylonians gained power over the other city-states. The stories in Genesis 12-50 take place during this time.

SECTION 4 – Four Great Events

A. The Creation of the Universe; Adam and Eve

Genesis 1-2

The Creation story accounts for the creation of the Universe as we know it. The first verse in the Bible begins, In the beginning, God. I believe this phrase is the most important part of the Creation story: In the beginning, God.

God existed prior to creating the physical heavens and earth. He existed then and still does exist with other Heavenly Hosts. Sometimes we refer to these as angels. God was not created, but He did create everything else, and He said His creation was good.

We don’t know how long it took God to create everything. God has no time – He just is and can create things as if they are brand new or as if they are ancient by man’s limited standard.

With the LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8 NIV¹¹

God created Adam and Eve (and all of mankind) after He created the earth and everything else in it. Humankind was created in God’s image and was given the responsibility for caring for all the other forms of life, animals and plants created by God.

No one knows for sure where God created man. Most people think it happened in Mesopotamia – that’s part of modern-day Iraq. Look at location 1 in Figure 1.1. The ruins and artifacts found by archaeologists in this area are the oldest found anywhere on earth. So, this area may be close to where God created man.

At the end of the second chapter of Genesis, God had made man, planted a garden somewhere east of the creation spot, and put man in the garden. This was the Garden of Eden. It was there that God created woman. Look at Figure 1.1, location 2.

B. The Fall and the Results of Sin

Genesis 3-5

God had heavenly beings around Him, but they were