About two years ago, life started to get bad.  I was told to read Job.  I was devoted to God, thought He was real, but this, to me, is cruel.  I never thought the God of the Bible could hurt one of His own.  If what I am going through is a Job thing… why?  Why do we humans have to go through such bad things?

 

Sincerely,
Horribly Hurting

Dear Horribly Hurting,

The book of Job does answer your question, but you have to understand the point of the book to get the lesson.  God never hurt Job; the devil did (Job 2:7).  Job suffered because the devil accused God of protecting Job too much.  He accused Job of serving God, not out of love, but out of a desire for blessings (Job 1:9-11).  The devil was wrong, though; Job didn’t renounce God even when he was suffering (Job 1:22).  Job’s life testifies that serving God is about more than just being blessed; it is about love.

When christians remain faithful to God throughout immense trials, they prove to the world that Christianity is not a club or a Sunday activity – being a christian is a way of life.  When people take up their crosses and follow Christ, the world sees that we are serious (Matt 16:24).  When we suffer for doing right, we have nothing to be ashamed of; we are glorifying God (1 Pet 4:15).  It is through many trials that we enter God’s kingdom (Acts 14:22).  We here at AYP don’t know exactly what it is that you are suffering through, but if you suffer as a christian, know that you are not suffering in vain (1 Pet 3:17-18).  In this life, you may get bad things – but no matter what, in the next life, you shall be comforted (Lk 16:25).

Who did Adam and Eve's children marry?

 

Sincerely,
My Family’s Not That Close

Dear My Family’s Not That Close,

They married each other.  Adam and Eve were the only people God created on day six (Gen 1:27, Gen 2:25).  Adam and Eve were given the command to “go forth and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 1:28).  Since there was only the two of them in the beginning, their children had to marry each other.  Of course, this makes us think about incest and the problems with marrying people that you are too closely related to, but those were not applicable to the people during the initial years after creation.

Incest is only wrong because God says it is wrong, and He never condemned the practice until well after the Flood (Lev 18:6-18).  It was perfectly appropriate (and necessary!) for people to marry their close relations during early Earth history.  It was also perfectly safe because there was no worry about the genetic problems that we face today.  Today, when people marry someone that is too closely related to themselves, there is a risk of emphasizing genetic defects in the next generation – such as the infamous cases of hemophilia found amongst European royalty.  This wouldn’t have been a problem for the earliest generations of mankind.  In the beginning, Adam and Eve were perfect and without any genetic flaws whatsoever (Gen 1:31).  Therefore, there was no risk for them or for the generations that closely followed them of spreading a genetic flaw.  So yes, as strange as it may seem, Adam and Eve’s children married each other.

I am a christian, but there is one thing I've always been confused about. Hundreds of times throughout the Bible (Old and New Testaments) we are told to "fear the Lord" (Some examples are Deu 10:20, Ps 2:11, Ps 112:1, and Eccl 3:14), but then in certain passages it says that if God lives in you, there is no fear (like 1 Jn 4:18).  This seems to be terribly contradictory and confusing.  Can you explain it to me, please?

 

Sincerely,
Panic Attack

Dear Panic Attack,

The word ‘fear’ is used in two senses throughout the Bible.  ‘Fear’ is sometimes used to mean ‘terror and dread’.  This can easily be seen in the verses like Heb 13:6 and Acts 16:29.  This is the way we use the word ‘fear’ in our modern speech.  However, there is a second distinctly different meaning for ‘fear’.  ‘Fear’ can also refer to ‘respect and reverence’.  When God tells a woman to fear her husband – that means to respect him (Eph 5:33).  It wouldn’t make sense for God to command a wife to be terrified or to dread her husband.  This is also what is meant when God commands servants to fear their masters (1 Pet 2:18).

When God tells us to fear Him, He means that we should revere and honor Him above all others (1 Pet 2:17).  We should never forget that God is in control and mightier than us; those who forget to respect and revere God will be condemned (Rom 3:16-18).

However, when we turn to God and devote ourselves in love to Him, we no longer need to fear Him as our enemy.  When we love God and draw near to Him, He draws near to us (Jas 4:8).  We can now approach God as our Father (Rom 8:15).  As we perfect our love for God, we need no longer tremble in terror (which is one type of fear) because our respect and reverence (another type of fear) for our Heavenly Father has allowed us to boldly approach Him without fear of judgment (1 Jn 4:16-18).

How do I find who wrote all the books of the Bible?

 

Sincerely,
Nom De Plume

Dear Nom De Plume,

Most of the books of the Bible tell us who wrote them, however some of the writers remain unknown.  Regardless of whose hand held the pen, the author of the entire Bible is God (see the post “Who Wrote The Bible?” for more details).  Here is a list of all the books of the Bible and the writers of each of them.  These writers are known because history tells us they wrote the books, or they are known because the books themselves mention who wrote them.  We have only included the names of the books that are not titled after the writers (i.e. we excluded the book of Isaiah because Isaiah wrote it, and the title makes the writer self-evident).

In the Old Testament:

• Genesis through Deuteronomy – Moses
• Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel – mostly written by Samuel
• 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles – Unknown
• Book of Esther – Unknown
• Book of Job - Unknown
• Psalms – mostly written by David
• Proverbs – mostly written by Solomon
• Ecclesiastes & Song of Solomon – Solomon
• Lamentations – written by Jeremiah

In the New Testament:

• Book of Acts – Luke
• Romans through Philemon – the apostle Paul
• Hebrews – Unknown
• Book of Revelation – The apostle John

A good Bible encyclopedia (such as the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) is a great resource for finding out who, when, and why all of the books of the Bible were written.  Finding out the context surrounding the books of the Bible is a tremendously helpful bit of knowledge that will help enrich your Bible study.

My Bible knowledge is pretty good when it comes to the timeline of events and stories, but I feel as though I don't have as good of a hold on just subject-based studies… like remembering what verses to turn to if I'm looking for what the Bible says on a specific topic. How could I beef up my Bible study to better round out my knowledge? And what are some good verses to have memorized?

Sincerely, The Subject Student

Dear The Subject Student,

Topical studies are always trickier than book studies because all the verses are not in one place. You have to hunt all over to find everything that pertains to any given subject. Therefore, the very first verse you should memorize is:

“The sum of Thy Word is truth…” (Ps 119:160)

It is impossible to understand a given subject without looking at everything God says on it. This is exactly why people get into trouble when studying what it takes to be saved (see this post for more details) and what the church should look like (see this post). If you want to understand a topic, take all the verses on it, add them together, and you will see the sum of God’s teaching on that subject.

Another great verse to memorize is:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation…” (Rom 1:16)

If we always remember that God’s Word is the guidebook to life, we will never forget to turn to it for our answers because in the Bible you can find the answers to all things that pertain to life (2 Pet 1:3).

The single most important tool for topical Bible study is a good concordance. A concordance allows you to look up a word and see every time it is used in the Bible. You can also find some bookstores that will sell topical concordances – these are concordances that group verses by topic, even if the same words aren’t necessarily present in each verse. This, too, can be especially helpful. And last, but not least, I recommend (just as a personal preference) the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE). ISBE is an encyclopedia that gives short synopses on every topic that the Bible addresses. ISBE is four volumes and a little pricier than the other two, so you will have to decide whether it is worth owning your own copy.

After that, it is just a matter of looking up the topics you are interested in and combing through the verses. Happy hunting!