A Biblical Timeline Banner Gives A Graphical Representation To Help Teach Biblical Events And Principles
In a Bible group some years ago, one person who had been a Christian and laboured in the local Church for many years, said,"Yes, but Abraham had the Law and so he understood about......" (they weren't referring to the pre-mosaic law) I wonder just how many Christians would actually pick up the inaccuracy in this statement. Moses came about five hundred years after Abraham and so it is an impossibility. I have since compiled a Bible timeline chart and explained graphically the chronology of individuals and events.
Unfortunately, a many preachers and teachers in our churches go on and preach shallow, superficial, light weight, flimsy messages and their Church members scarcely grow in Bible knowledge and understanding. Preachers love to preach'moral essays' and'warming affirmations' because supposedly, if we really love people this is what we'll do. Regrettable it seems, if God's people are falling through the cracks'for a lack of knowledge' so long as we're positive and loving to all. In reality, the more relevant we become to this world, the less relevant we're to this world.
Some time ago, I was speaking on the death, life, burial and resurrection of Jesus, and a retired minister and powerful preacher of Scripture, who had been a minister for 40 years, marched up and reproved me smartly over some fascinating points I made and he referred to 1Ti 1:4'Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.' I humbly asked him if I had been teaching anything of a heretical nature in any way, to which he answered"No". I continued to describe that in the case of that particular verse, it was not referring to examining Scripture but to the false teachings and school of thought of the Gnostics, but he wouldn't accept it. So, how can a 40 year minister & laborer in the Gospel, not understand and know about something that possibly 1/2 the books of the New Testament refer to?
How could he study and teach the Bible clearly without being familiar with something that was so influential in the New Testament church? And then how can the congregation hope to comprehend these things and be in a position to understand their Bible properly, if they are not informed?
Why do we dwell on our pet themes and sugar coated preaching?
We instruct on a text from 2 Kings and a story about Abraham and a topical from the book of Colossians and then the obedience of Jacob or the perseverance of Noah - bits from here and all over, but we do not put it all at once in a visible understandable, simple to remember, perspective with a good Bible TimeLine with Church History as well. Constantly we're bombarded with new books, modernist ideas, a few of them dangerously leaning toward Progressive thinking, but if we were to be coached the basic principles of Church history, we then wouldn't be so doomed to repeat it.
Let's us as instructors and preachers stitch together the fragments of God's Word and His plan into a seamless tapestry that our people are able to draw on for the rest of their lives, helping them to comprehend God, His Eternal Plan, the function of the Church and ways to better interpret the Bible to live by.
It's not hard to do, and it's not boring if we're prepared to put in a bit of study and prayer and fervor, and just possibly you can use a Bible Timeline too.
For added info concerning a Bible TimeLine go over to our Bible TimeLine Chart website and see the Bible study tool.
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