The Bible Is a Collection of Books

Passage: 2 Peter 1:19–21

And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Devotion

It’s not quite right to say that the Bible is a book; it’s really a collection of books unlike any other that exists in the world. Between the Old and New Testaments - libraries of their own - the Bible consists of 66 books written by over 40 different authors, spanning 2,000 years. It’s full of history, songs, laws, letters, visions, biographies, and even journal entries. There is no book like it!

The first books of the Bible were written by Moses, telling the story of how God created the world, chose a people, rescued them from slavery in Egypt, and brought them safely into the Promised Land to dwell with them. Historians chronicled the history of Israel in the land, telling the stories of kings and their reigns. Prophets spoke God’s word to His people. The great king David wrote worship songs for the Lord (called Psalms), and his son Solomon added songs, sayings, proverbs, and parables to the wisdom literature in Israel.

By the time of Jesus in the 1st century, these books were being read, studied, and applied to everyday life. After Jesus’s death, His followers wrote four accounts of His life, called Gospels, and early Christians started planting churches and sending letters across the empire to encourage one another and teach the young churches how to live. Sometimes these letters were long and theological, like Romans. Others were practical Q&As, like 1 Corinthians, or short heartfelt notes of encouragement, like 2 and 3 John. Soon the early church collected these Gospels and letters to pass around and use for building up the church. All the way though, God was speaking, encouraging, teaching, and ensuring that His word would be preserved in this collection we call the Bible.

Despite this wide variety of authors and time periods, the Bible you read today is coherent, consistent, and covers the story of God’s mission to save His people from their sins and bring them back into a relationship with Him. The different perspectives, time periods, and genres complement each other because they are all inspired by God. As Peter wrote in this letter to the early church, the Bible isn’t simply an interpretation of what God has done; it is His own word. These authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit as they wrote, which means the Bible we read today is God communicating directly to us. It will never not be relevant, and it will never lose its power to transform our lives.

This little gospel book, called the “Evanis Gospels” is from the 11th century. At the time, sections of the Bible like the Gospels were bound together for people to read. In this copy, there are beautiful miniatures at the beginning of the gospels, showing the writers working on their books. This picture, from the beginning of the Gospel of John, shows the young gospel writer looking to Jesus and writing at His direction, exactly what 2 Peter 1:19-21 tells us all the biblical writers did. They were testifying to what they had seen, carried along by the Spirit, and pointing the world to Jesus.

Reflection

Q1. What are the main themes or ideas of the Scripture passage?

Q2. What does this devotional tell me about who God is?

Q3. How does this devotional challenge or encourage me?

Q4. What specific action can I take to live out this teaching?

Q5. Who should I share this with for encouragement or accountability?