Welcome, dear listeners, to our series entitled Old Testament Survey. This is a 12-part series in fifteen-minute segments on a survey of the Old Testament of the Bible. But in order to understand what is the Old Testament, we need to begin with understanding what is the Bible. We will explain some foundational concept that helps us to grasp what it is and what it says. The Bible is the scripture of the christian church. It is called scripture because it is a library of books that are recognized by christians as being written by the spirit of God using human writers He chose to do so.

The Bible consists of 66 books. These 66 books are divided into two sections. The first section that covers the first 39 books is called the Old Testament. The second section that covers the remaining 27 books is called the New Testament. This series surveys the Old Testament and the next series covers the New Testament. The old testament is called ‘old’ because these books were written before Jesus Christ was born, lived and did His mission on earth as a human being.

The Old Testament pointed to His coming by prophecies and signs, laws and ceremonies. The New Testament is called ‘new’ because the books in its collection are written after Jesus Christ came to complete His work on earth and physically ascended and returned to heaven. Therefore, the Bible is centered around the person of Jesus Christ. Though both testaments looked to His coming, the New Testament reveals what He taught and did when He came. He is called the messiah because He was chosen and sent by God to reveal God to us and to save us from our sins.

The key truth that underpins the Bible is revelation. The Bible declares that God has chosen to show Himself to us by sending Jesus to us and by giving us the Bible. The word revelation is a noun that speaks of the act or showing or demonstrating something. The Bible is a library of books that shares with us the one revelation of God that is centered on the person of Jesus Christ, who He is, why He came to us, what He did to save us and how we are to respond to Him to be saved.

The Bible is also called the canon of faith and life for the universal christian church. The word canon is drawn from ancient Latin. It means rule. The Bible reveals the truth that God has shown Himself to us in the personal life ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ. This presents and defines the christian faith. It sets the principles and truth that enable and guide christian living. Hence, it is called the canon of faith and life. The Bible records that God reveals Himself to us through history.

The Bible also records the history of the actions and events that God has enacted in human history. And in this world that we know, this includes a time when God met with human persons, in moments of personal encounter. These persons receive messages from God for themselves and for God's purpose, that are worked out through their lives and that of their descendants. Now the history and the messages received from God are weaved together and worked out by the community of those who believe as to what they mean and how they can be applied to human life and existence.

So the concepts and teachings that are so developed is theology. It is the way the faithful understand and applied revelation that has been received through history. The revelation of God is infallible in that God is perfect. And what He reveals is perfect. However, theology is fallible because it necessarily involves how the faithful who are human work out how to understand and apply what God revealed. It is a necessary process and discipline for humankind to receive and respond to God's truth. But it is a process that needs God's gracious input to set us on the right course, both to receive and to respond correctly. So this presents for us our introduction of the Old Testament as a part of the Bible as a whole. And the key underlying concepts that guide us to understand the Bible and the Old Testament. In the next talk, we will go on to present the books and structures that make up the Old Testament.

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