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The Transitional Period

An Overview Of The Bible

The Bible is like the script of a play or a motion picture. It covers the history of man upon earth. When a student reads the beginning of the Bible, he is reading the beginning of time. As the student reads chronologically through the Bible, he is generally reading through the script of history. The book of Malachi closes out the Old Testament canon at 389 B.C. The Gospel according to Matthew begins the New Testament around 4 B.C. through 33 A.D. As the diligent student continues reading through the New Testament, he is reading the script of the history and prophecy of man after Christ. The book of Acts covers the resurrection of Christ through the official blindness of Israel. The Apostle Paul reveals doctrines for born again believers (Rom. 16:25-27; Eph. 3:1-7). The Epistle to the Hebrews reveals doctrines for the last days, which covers the Time of Jacobs Trouble (Tribulation) and the beginning of the Millennium. The last nine books of the Bible generally focus upon the doctrines and events during the time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1-4; Heb. 1:1-2; James 5:1-6).

The theme of the Scriptures is kings and kingdoms. The two major kingdoms are called the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God occurs 70 times and the kingdom of heaven occurs 33 times in the Bible. These two kingdoms have some similarities, but they are two separate kingdoms. As God and heaven are not the same (Gen. 1:1), so the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are not the same. God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and heaven is a place (John 14:2). The kingdom of God usually refers to a spiritual kingdom that operates within man (Luke 17:20-21; Rom. 14:17), but occasionally it is associated with the kingdom on earth (Luke 9:27; Gal. 5:21). The kingdom of heaven is a literal, physical, earthly kingdom that has been placed under the authority of many. Both kingdoms will be together in the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 6:33; Rev. 11:15).

Both kingdoms were present with Adam, but the kingdom of God was forfeited as a result of the fall. The kingdom of God does not appear until the penalty of sin was paid at Calvary, which allows for the new birth of the believer (John 3:1-7). The Old Testament records the history of the kingdom of heaven, while the New Testament records the history of the kingdom of God. In the Old Testament God commanded the Jews to literally fight for an earthly kingdom (Deut. 7:1-8; 1 Sam. 15:3), but in the New Testament this is forbidden (2 Cor. 10:3-6). The death sentence was ordered for apostates in the Old Testament (Deut. 13), but a spiritual sword is used to rebuke heretics in the New Testament (Titus 3:10-11).

The dominion over the kingdom of heaven was passed from Adam to Noah to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and to the nation of Israel. It was officially taken from Judah under the reign of Jeconiah (Jer. 22:24-30). The control over earthly kingdoms belongs to Satan and he gives it to the Gentiles with the limitations that God places over him (Dan. 4:34-37; 2 Cor. 4:4). The first worldwide ruler was Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon (Ezek. 26:7; Dan. 2:37). This period of time is called the times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24; Rom. 11:25; Rev. 11:2, 15) and it covers the last 600 years of the OT through the end of the Tribulation. All earthly kingdom builders are deceptive and violent as beast of prey (Dan. 7:17; Matt. 2:16-18; 11:12-14; Mark 10:42).

The greatest doctrine of the 1611 Authorized King James Bible is when the main Person of the Bible is crowned the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Lord Jesus (Luke 24:25-27; Rev. 19:11-16). The first four books of the New Testament focus upon the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus. Matthew focused upon the King of the Jews (Matt. 2:2). Mark focused on the servant of the Lord (Mark 10:45). Luke concentrated on the humanity of Jesus (Luke 19:10) and John concentrated on the deity of the Saviour of mankind (John 20:30-31). These books constitute a transition from the Old Testament into the New Testament.

The three main transitional books are Matthew, Acts, and Hebrews. These books are dangerous to rest upon for doctrinal issues. The book of Matthew operated under the Mosaic Law until the death of Christ (Matt. 27:50; Heb. 9:16-17). The Lord prophesied that both kingdoms were at and, but this was conditioned upon the acceptance of the Messiah by the people of Israel (Matt. 11:12-14; 17:10-13). The Messiah was rejected and crucified. During the crucifixion the Saviour petitioned the Father to forgive the Jews. The LORD answered that prayer and gave the Jews another opportunity to receive their Messiah in the book of Acts. As the book of Deuteronomy refers to a second giving of the Law so the book of Acts refers to the second opportunity for the Jews to accept their Messiah (Acts 2:36; 3:14; 4:10-12; 7:51-53). The Jews as a whole rejected the Messiah again; therefore, the book of Acts records the transition from the Jews to the Gentiles (Acts 28:25-28). The book of Acts also records the transitions from Israel to the church, from Peter to Paul, and from Jerusalem to Antioch.

The Apostle Paul records the doctrines for the Body of Christ (Romans 11:13; 2 Corinthians 11:2), which is made up of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. The primary ministry of the Lord was Jewish (Matt. 10:5-6; Rom. 15:8), but the primary ministry of Paul was to the Gentiles (Rom. 15:16). The saved Gentiles primarily make up the Body of Christ. After God resurrects the born again believers in Christ during the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13-18), God will commence with the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel because there is one remaining week to fulfill (Dan. 9:24-27).

The book of Hebrews records the doctrines for the people during the Seventieth Week of Daniel’s prophecy. This is called the last days because it is the final days of the dominion of the Devil and the Gentiles over the kingdoms of the world. Hebrews is a transition book that is opposite of the book of Acts. Everything reverts back under the Mosiac Covenant, but it has been amended by the doctrines of Hebrews. The amendments of the sacrifices of the Law will be necessary because the penalty for sin has been paid by the sinless blood of the sinless Lamb of God (John 1:29; Heb. 9-10; 1 John 1:7; Rev. 12:11).

The book of Revelation reveals the judgment of God upon the nation of Israel for their sin of rejecting and crucifying their Messiah (Matt. 27:25; John 1:9-11). The loving Messiah is revealed in the book of Revelation as the Judge of the universe (Heb. 12:23-29; James 5:9). The Lord Jesus Christ will judge NT saints for their service at the Judgment Seat of Christ in heaven (Rom. 14:10-12; 1 Cor. 3:12-15; 2 Cor. 5:10-11; 2 Tim. 4:1) and the nation of Israel on earth during the Tribulation. The King of kings will conquer and judge the kingdoms of the world at the end of the Tribulation (Joel 2-3; Matt. 25:31-46; Rev. 11:15). The Lord Jesus will be crowned the King over the whole earth and He will rule the earth from Jerusalem for 1000 years (Isa. 11:9; Jer. 23:5-6; Hab. 2:14; Zech. 9:9; Rev. 20:1-6).

Satan will make one last attempt to conquer the kingdoms of Christ after the 1000 years, but he will fail and he will be fired from his evil works of deception (Rev. 12:9-10; 20:10). The heavens and the earth will be destroyed and the Great White Throne Judgment will take place (2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev. 20:11-15). The standard of this judgment will be the sinless Son of God and the sacred Scriptures (John 12:48; Rom. 2:16). The Judge will throw the Book at the lost and sentence them into the everlasting lake of fire (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:15). The believers of God will live happily ever after with the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8-9)

There are 39 books, 929 chapters, and 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and the New Testament contains 27 books, 260 chapters, and 7,957 verses. The complete preservation of the inspired words of God totals 66 books, 1189 chapters, and 31,102 verses in the beloved Authorized King James Bible. The ideal preparation for eternity is to believe and obey these everlasting words of God (2 Thess. 3:1; 2 Tim. 2:15; Rev. 22:18-19).

(Text from ‘The Common Man’s Reference Bible’)

Notice from The Common Man’s Reference Bible:

Since the word of God is not bound any honest and sincere use of the text in this work is granted. No monetary gain for use is granted. Dishonest use is forbidden and unlawful.