The Bible isn’t a book; it’s a library.
The Bible is …
- A collection of 66 different books
- Written in three languages
- Across three continents
- Over a 1,500-year time period
- By 40 different authors
The authors include farmers and fishermen, shepherds and doctors, priests and prophets, philosophers and kings.
What is it? It’s actually a collection of poems and prophesies, letters and laws, histories and biographies that shows us God’s love for us.
And to understand the context of what you’re reading, when you open up the Bible, you’re always going to ask three questions …
Three Simple Questions
- Who wrote it?
- To whom was it written?
- What is its purpose?
So, let’s practice this together. We’ll open up the Bible to Philemon, and we’ll try to get the context as we go. Philemon starts with these words …
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker … and to the church that meets in your home … (Philemon 1:1-2)
First of all: Who wrote it? Paul. It’s the shortest letter he ever wrote – only 335 words.
What’s interesting is that he identifies himself as “Paul, the prisoner.” He doesn’t say, “Paul the apostle.” Almost every other time, he says, “Paul the apostle.” But here he writing to an old friend. And he doesn’t want to pull his official rank on his friend.
And the leads to our second question: To whom was it written? It was written to Philemon, a wealthy businessman who led a church in his home, and was an old dear friend of Paul.
• “What is God saying to me?”
• Is there a PROMISE to be claimed?
• Is there an EXAMPLE to follow?
• Is there a COMMAND to obey?
• Is there something to KNOW about God?