Inscribe the Word - October Scripture Writing Plan
This October, We begin inscribing gleanings from the New Testament. If you’ve been following us since the beginning of this year, January of 2019, we started to write out treasures from every book of the Bible. Beginning with Genesis in January and finishing with Revelation in December, we have taken this season to write out gleanings from God’s Word. This month, we begin the New Testament and The Gospels and Acts.
When I finished reading the Old Testament last month, I was in awe of one thing . . . How greatly I need a Savior. As we inscribe the Word in October, we meet our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The entirety of the Bible rings out His name, and this month, we will be inscribing His words.
WHAT HAPPENED BETWEEN MALACHI and MATTHEW?
If you finished inscribing Malachi with us, you will open Matthew and find a completely different world. The Romans? Where did they come from? The Old Testament ends with the people of Israel beginning to return to the Holy Land after Babylonian captivity, but they are still under the thumb of the great empire at the time; Persia. We open Matthew and Israel is occupied by Roman rule. What happened?
You may not have realized that there are actually 400 years between the end of the Old Testament and beginning of the New Testament. Often they are called the “400 Silent Years” because in these years, God was silent. The prophets were not speaking as the stage was being set for a Savior.
Although the Bible doesn’t record the history of those 400 silent years, history itself has been preserved through writers like Josephus. If you are interested in getting a bit “nerdy” with me regarding the 400 years between the Testaments, there are two resources I recommend.
THIS ARTICLE by Ray Steadman gives a quick and comprehensive run down of those 400 years. THIS BOOK by author H.A. Ironside is short and inexpensive and goes into historical detail.
We are living in an age, much like the people of old, where God is seemingly silent. But there is hope . . .
“It is amazing how God utilizes history to work out his purposes. Though we are living in the days that might be termed "the silence of God," when for almost 2,000 years there has been no inspired voice from God, we must look back -- even as they did during those 400 silent years -- upon the inspired record and realize that God has already said all that needs to be said, through the Old and New Testaments. God's purposes have not ended, for sure. He is working them out as fully now as he did in those days. Just as the world had come to a place of hopelessness then, and the One who would fulfill all their hopes came into their midst, so the world again is facing a time when despair is spreading widely across the earth. Hopelessness is rampant everywhere and in this time God is moving to bring to fulfillment all the prophetic words concerning the coming of his Son again into the world to establish his kingdom. How long? How close? Who knows? But what God has done in history, he will do again as we approach the end of "the silence of God.”’ - Ray Steadman
WHY WRITE THROUGH THE BIBLE ?
This year we began a new series here at A Symphony of Praise called “READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR.” This plan is a minimalistic, simple, and efficient way to read the Bible in a year. As I was praying about the direction for Inscribe the Word in 2019, I felt in my heart to go along with the reading plan as we WRITE THE BIBLE in a year. Now before you get nervous - no, we aren’t writing the entire Bible (although that is a dream of mine to accomplish!). We are taking gleanings out of the Scriptures and writing parts of the chapters.
The word glean means to collect bit by bit gradually. We are going to collect some of the key treasures out of the entire collection of sixty-six books of the Bible. It is going to be thrilling and exciting, and I cannot wait to start writing (and reading) the Word with you this year.
GLEANINGS FROM The GOSPELS & ACTS.
In January, we started with the first two books of the Bible; Genesis and Exodus.
In February, we finished the Pentateuch, the Law, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
In March, we inscribed part one of the Historical books of the Old Testament.
In April, we inscribed part two of the Historical books of the Old Testament.
In May, we inscribed The Psalms.
In June, we finished the poetic books with Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
In July, we began the major Old Testament prophets with Isaiah and Jeremiah.
In August, we inscribed Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
In September, we inscribed the final books of the Old Testament Minor Prophets.
This month, we turn our attention to the rest of the New Testament with The Gospels and Acts.
THE BOOK OF Matthew.
WHO: The Gospels do not contain the names of the authors who write them. However, most New Testament scholars and Jewish historians give the authorship of Matthew to the disciple of Jesus and former tax-collector - Matthew. Matthew is also called Levi in The Gospels.
WHEN: Matthew is the first book of the Synoptic Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Although Matthew appears first, many scholars believe Mark was actually the first written. It seems Matthew and Luke both borrowed from Mark’s Gospel.
The exact date of the writing of Matthew’s Gospel is unknown. Most scholars date it between AD 60 and 70. This is approximately 10 years after the death of Jesus.
AUDIENCE: Matthew writes primarily to the Jewish people.
JESUS in Matthew: Matthew writes to present the Jewish people with a clear picture that Jesus is the Messiah and He is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The Book of Matthew gives us Jesus as the Messiah; Immanuel, God with us.
Matthew also starts his book with a geneology of Jesus from Abraham through the generations. Again, this is to put an exclamation point on the Kingship of Jesus.
THE BOOK OF MARK.
WHO: Most scholars believe that the author of this Gospel was Mark. We read much about Mark in the book of Acts where he is known as “John Mark”. John Mark was a cousin of Barnabas and he accompanied Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s first missionary journey. Mark was also very close with the apostle Peter. We see in 1 Pet. 5:13, that Peter calls John Mark, “my son”, a term of relationship and affection. Much of the book of Mark comes from Peters teaching and ministry.
WHEN: There is no specific date for the writing of the book of Mark. Scholars have suggested dates from A.D. 55 to 65. Mark was most likely written early in the A.D. 50s.
WHERE: Most evidence points to Mark writing this book in Rome.
AUDIENCE: Mark’s original audience was the Romans and Christians in Rome. While Matthew wrote for the Jews, Mark wrote for a Gentile audience. His theme is on
JESUS in Mark: While Matthew shows is Kingship and Authority as the Messiah, Mark shows Jesus as a servant. Mark brings out the humanity of Jesus and the emotions of the Savior. The miracles of Jesus are prevalent in Mark reiterating the fact that Jesus came not only as a King, but as a suffering servant.
THE BOOK OF LUKE.
WHO: Like the two before, the Gospel of Luke does not list a specific author. However, church historians credit this book to Luke the physician who traveled extensively with Paul. Luke and Acts were written by the same author and scholars give the title to Luke.
WHEN: Based on evidence from the text, Luke was most likely written near or around AD 60.
WHERE: Most evidence points to Luke writing this book in Rome; possible Caesarea.
AUDIENCE: The original audience for this book was Theopholis, “one who loves God”. Theopholis was a Roman dignitary and possible was Luke’s benefactor and patron. There are many theories as to who Theopholis was, but the contents of Luke are for Christian’s in every age and in every century. While Matthew writes for the Jewish people, Luke is writing for the Gentiles.
THEME: Luke is the longest of the four Gospels and is written with eloquence of speech. Luke was highly educated and this comes through in his writings. He emphasizes women and their importance to the ministry of Christ as well as the frequent mention of illnesses and diagnosis’s; something he would be keen to being a doctor.
JESUS in Luke: In Luke, we see Jesus as the Savior to all. He is presented as the perfect human and the one through whom salvation flows to all who believe in Him.
THE BOOK OF JOHN.
WHO: John the apostle, son of Zebedee and brother of James, who was called a “Son of Thunder”. John was the Apostle whom Jesus loved. He also wrote the books of 1-3 John and Revelation.
WHEN: No exact date is given, but most scholars identify the date later in John’s life, AD 80-90. Some scholars say he wrote this Gospel while exiled on the isle of Patmos.
AUDIENCE: John wrote for unbelievers; Gentiles who could find eternal life in Jesus. The natural conclusion is that John was writing to Greek-speaking, Jewish non-Christians living outside Israel.
JOHN and the Synoptic Gospels: The Gospel of John is not part of the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke because it’s content is so vastly different from the other three. Personally, I believe this is because John knew Jesus’ heart. The others knew of His works, His ministry, His Lordship, and His authority, but John knew His heart. For a full detail of the differences between John’s Gospel and the others, this article is most helpful.
JESUS in John: In the Gospel of John, Jesus is I AM. He is the eternal God who was and is and is to come. John speaks of His Deity and His eternalness.
A quick guide to the Gospels
This chart may prove helpful in understanding the difference and similarities to the Gospels. (Source)
THE BOOK OF ACTS.
WHO: The author of this book is known by scholars to be Luke the physician; the writer of the Gospel of Luke and traveling companion to Paul.
WHEN: Most likely this book was written around AD 63-70.
AUDIENCE: Acts is the second volume of Luke’s two-part narrative of the origins of Christianity. Like his Gospel, the original audience was Theopholis.
THE TITLE: “The title Acts is the translation of the Greek term praxeis. In secular Greek, the word praxeis was used to summarize the heroic accomplishments of great individuals. In the book of Acts Luke focused on Peter and Paul, the pillars of the Jewish and Gentile church, respectively.” - Moody Bible Commentary Introduction to the Book of Acts.
THEME: Luke’s purpose in the Book of Acts is to give an accurate account of the birth of the Christian church. In Acts, through the Holy Spirit, believers are encouraged to preach the good news of Jesus Christ both to the Jews and Gentiles thus establishing and furthering the Church.
I hope it has post has been beneficial to you as you study the Word this month.
As always, my prayer is that you see Jesus in every book we read.
