August 27, 2000 Humble Messenger

The Book of Books
There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible: 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 chapters in the New Testament. 773,692 words make up the books of the Bible [KJV] and 3,566,480 letters of the alphabet compose the words of the Bible. The average word has less than five letters of the alphabet in it.

The Bible was 1,600 years in writing. The first book was written about 1,500 B.C and the last was written about 96 A.D. Some of the writers were: Moses, educated in Egypt, and was a shepherd; Joshua, a spy and a soldier; Ezra, a scribe and pious priest, Nehemiah, a cup bearer to the king; David, a musician, shepherd, war hero and a king; Isaiah, a prophet; Ezekiel, a Jewish exile; Daniel, a statesman; Amos, a shepherd and a peasant; Matthew, a tax collector and hated publican; Luke a physician; Paul, a tent maker; Peter and John were fishermen; also ignorant and unlearned. All of these men wrote at different places at different times; but, when their works were all put together they formed a unity that cannot be denied. Each harmonizes with the other perfectly. The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119.

The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9. The middle chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117. The middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8. The shortest book in the Bible is 2 John. The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117. The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35.

There are two chapters in the Bible which are similar: 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37. The verse that has all of the letters of the alphabet but J, is Ezra 7:21. The verse that has all of the letters of the alphabet but O, is Daniel 4:37. Job is possibly the oldest book that is known to man -- it is found in the Bible.

There are 850 references made to the Old Testament in the New Testament. 280 of these references are direct citations.

The four accounts of the gospel of Christ contain 3,920 verses. 1,865 of these are the Lordıs words recorded. Of His quoted conversations, 179 verses are literal Old Testament words. Ten percent of the daily conversations of Jesus was Old Testament verses literally quoted.

Do you like adventure stories, poetry, history, literary or love stories? All kinds may be found in the Bible‹take your choice.

The size of the Bible has been a discouragement to some. The average Bible has from one thousand to twelve hundred pages, and these are pages crowded in the margins with relatively small type. The size of the Scriptures is enough to discourage the average man from ever hoping to really understand the Bible. Yet, this is a first look at the Scriptures which leads to an essentially false conclusion. When one learns how to "rightly divide" the Scriptures, the great size is no longer a serious problem. It takes about ninety hours to read the Bible in its entirety, even in a casual way.

John Wycliffe, born in 1320 A.D. was the first to translate the Bible into the English language over a period of 22 years. It was translated from the Latin Vulgate. Cardinal Hugh divided it into chapters in 1250 A.D. William Tyndale was the first to put an English New Testament in print, 1525 A.D. Sir Robert Stephens was the first to divide any part of the Bible into verses, 1551 A.D.

Eulogy of the Bible [author unknown]. "Many years ago I entered the wonderful temple of Godıs revelation. I passed the portico of Genesis and walked down through the Old Testament art gallery where the pictures of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David and Daniel hung on the wall. I entered the music room of the Psalms where the Spirit swept the keyboard of nature, and brought forth the dirge-like wail of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, to the grand impassioned strains of Isaiah, until it seemed that every reed and harp in Godıs organ of nature responded to the tuneful touch of David, the sweet singer of Israel. I paused in the chapel of Ecclesiastes where the voice of the preacher was heard, and into the conservatory of Sharon where the "lily of the valleyıs sweet scented spices, some pointing to far off events, but all concentrated upon the moon-lit hills of Judea, for our salvation. I entered the audience room of the King of kings, and caught a vision from the standpoint of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John; entered the Acts of the Apostles, where the Holy Spirit was doing His office work in the forming of the church; passed into the correspondence room where Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John penned their epistles. I stepped into the throne room of Revelation, where all towered into glittering peaks. I had a vision of the Lord upon His throne in all of His glory, and I cried, OEAll hail the power of Jesusı name, Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him, Lord of all.ı" Carl A. Allen via Susquehanna Sentinel, August 6, 2000 Clarence R. Johnson, evangelist and editor.

NEWS
Elaine Cannonıs biopsy results are not back yet. She has an appointment Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. at LBJ Hospital. If you can assist by providing her a ride to this appointment,  please contact her . . . Jim Porterfield is taking interferon to combat hepatitis. The cure rate is not very high and side effects often accompany the treatment . . . Gene Waldrop is a little better following his back injury, but is still having difficulty sitting up . . . Phyliss Tuttleıs father is under hospice care . . . Susan Dunbar had gall bladder surgery last week. She is doing well and expecting to return to work Monday . . . Linda Ottersbachıs colonoscopy test last Friday came back with good results . . . Margaret Wilborn is at home recovering from the surgery on her broken leg. She seems to be doing well . . . If you would be interested in being part of a menıs training class to work on lesson preparation and delivery, please sign up on the list, in the foyer and indicate which starting date would be best for you . . . Wayne Chamberlain is scheduled to be with us in a gospel meeting November 10-12 . . .  Mark Roberts is scheduled to be with us in a gospel meeting January 19-21, 2001 . . . Lordıs Supper Preparation for September: Leggs . . If you would like to study the book of Jeremiah next quarter (beginning Sunday, September 3), please indicate by signing the list on the bulletin board in the foyer. Auditorium will study Ecclesiastes . . . A discussion class will be offered on the subject of marriage, divorce, and remarriage, beginning Monday evening at 8:00 p.m. at my house. The class will be limited to about four sessions. Since this is a "round table" discussion format, the class will be limited to six people. A list is in the foyer. The first six to sign will comprise the class. If there is more interest in such a class, additional classes can be made available . . . The latest newspaper article (8/30) is posted on the web site and on the bulletin board in the foyer . . . Steve Ruddıs web site provides an interesting and instructive section on the "Antichrist." See the email version of the bulletin for instructions . . . Wednesday morning class will resume September 13, 10 a.m.