A Brief Outline of the Books of the Bible – Joshua, Judges, Ruth

JOSHUA.

Joshua gives us the establishment of the people in the land by divine leading and power, according to promise.  There is conflict, snf the faithfulness of the people’s walk with God is tested.

The career of Joshua begins with crossing the Jordan in the power of resurrection, and has its place of power for conflict in Gilgal – circumcision – death to the flesh.

They eat of the corn of the land before they have any conflict.

JUDGES.

While Joshua is a book of victorious power, Judges is the book of failure in faithfulness, so that power is lost,   Only that God intervenes in mercy, from time to time, to deliver and revive.   Gilgal is exchanged for Bochim. Gilgal, the denial of the flesh, though seemingly of little importance, was the place of power; Bochim was the place of tears, but the angel of God was there.

RUTH.

The Lord intervenes Lord in grace to bring in the promised seed, and the restoration of Israel, but in the way of grace, on a new footing.   Because of a famine in the land, Naomi, who represents Israel, goes away, and loses everything.   Ruth comes back with her, and Boaz (strength) raises up the inheritance.   It was old Israel, in some sense: the child was born to Naomi, but on the principle of grace, for Ruth had no title to promise.

Lightly edited by Sosthenes, May 2014

A Brief Outline of the Books of the Bible – Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

LEVITICUS

Leviticus gives us God in the tabernacle, as in the midst of His people, ordering all things that suit their relationship to Him.  The feasts represent Him as in the midst of the people, a circle round Himself.

NUMBERS

Numbers treats the journey through the wilderness, with insight into the inheritance (for us heavenly).  It present a full prospect of all God’s ways in bringing them in, and of Christ Himself as the One who is to reign.   Reference is made in this last remark to Pisgah, and to Balaam’s prophecy.

DEUTERONOMY

Deuteronomy provides a recapitulation of all God’s ways and dealings with Israel, as motives to insist on obedience, and to put the people on moral grounds in direct relationship with Himself.   The three great feasts (chap. 16) have this character.   The testing character of the law is stated, and at the same time the purpose of God in blessing, spite of failure under the law, is revealed; closing with the prophetic blessing of Israel, in respect to their then present condition.

Lightly edited by Sosthenes, May 2014

A Brief Outline of the Books of the Bible – Exodus

In Exodus we find God visiting His people; redemption, and the establishment of relationships with His people. These relationships are presented in the testing of law, and the arrangements of grace.

lay-preachingIn Exodus we find God visiting His people; redemption, and the establishment of relationships with His people.  These relationships are presented in the testing of law, and the arrangements of grace.   God bears with His people, with the distinct purpose of dwelling with them, and making them dwell in a place He had prepared for them.   There are four immense principles – redemption, bringing to God, God’s dwelling among them, and consequently holiness.   Priesthood is established to maintain the relationship with God, when the people cannot be in immediate relation.   Connected with all this you have, the judgment of the world, and the final deliverance of the earthly people.  With Moses, the man of grace, you have Zipporah, who represents the church, whereas the people are witnesses of Christ’s abiding connection with Israel.

From the Red Sea to Sinai we find the whole picture of God’s dealings in grace in Christ by the Spirit on to the millennium, and the millennium itself.

In chapter 19 the people put themselves under law, and get law instead of worship founded on deliverance and grace.

Lightly edited by Sosthenes, May 2014

A Brief Outline of the Books of the Bible – Genesis

Creation is first treated of; then innocence, lordship, and marriage, the figure of union with Christ. Next we have the fall, man’s sin against God, and then in Cain man’s sin against his brother. There is, at the same time, a witness of certain righteous persons: Abel in sacrifice, Enoch in life, and Noah in testimony of approaching judgment. You then get the complete corruption of the whole system, and the deluge.

GENESIS.

Ilay-preachingn this book we have all the great principles of God’s relationship with man, without bringing in redemption which makes a people for God and a dwelling-place for God in man.   You never, save in chapter 2:3, get the word “holiness” in Genesis; and you never have God dwelling with men.

Creation is first treated of; then innocence, lordship, and marriage, the figure of union with Christ. Next we have the fall, man’s sin against God, and then in Cain man’s sin against his brother.   There is, at the same time, a witness of certain righteous persons: Abel in sacrifice, Enoch in life, and Noah in testimony of approaching judgment.   You then get the complete corruption of the whole system, and the deluge.

Having had in Enoch a figure of the church, we get in Noah deliverance through judgment.   Then a new world begins, God entering into covenant with it, and government introduced to prevent violence.   But the governor fails, and God’s plans as to the races of men are brought out.  We find God making nations, in consequence of man’s attempt to remain united so as to be independent.   In the midst of these nations we have, in Nimrod, imperial despotic power in an individual.  It is connected with Babel, the place of man’s wickedness.   In point of fact, the division of mankind into nations comes by judgment.

Shem’s family having been owned on the earth – the Lord God of Shem, national existence is recognized as God’s principle of the constitution of the earth.   He now begins an entirely new thing.   He calls out an individual to be the head of a blest race.   Whatever individual saints there had thus far been, there had been no counterpart of Adam as the head of a race.   Abraham was called out to be this.   Election, calling, and promise are connected with his calling.  Consequently you have Abraham here, as a stranger and pilgrim, with nothing but his tent and his altar.   He fails, like everybody, but God judges the world – Pharaoh’s house – for him.

We then get the distinction between a heavenly-minded and an earthly-minded man; the world having power over the earthly-minded (Lot), and the heavenly one (Abraham) having power over the world.  In connection with this we have in Melchizedek the future priest upon his throne, linked with God’s supremacy over heaven and earth.   Abraham’s separation from the world having been demonstrated, Jehovah presents Himself to Abraham as his shield and reward.   We first get the earthly inheritance and people, that is, in promise.  Abraham looks for the promise in a fleshly way, and that is all rejected.   We have then the promise to Abraham of being the father of many nations, God revealing Himself as God Almighty.   We have also His covenant with Abraham, and the principle of separation to God by circumcision.   Chapter 18 gives the promise of the heir, the judgment of the world (Sodom), and the connection of a heavenly people (Abraham) with God, by intercession.   In chapter 19 we have the connection with the judgment of the earthly people (Lot), saved as by fire through the tribulation.

What follows this, in chapter 20, is the absolute appropriation of the wife, whether Jerusalem or the heavenly bride, as the spouse of the Lord.  The old covenant (Hagar) is cast out, and, the true heir (Isaac) comes.   He takes the land (chap. 21).

Chapter 22 begins another series of things. The promised heir having being offered up, the promise is confirmed to the seed.   Sarah dies (chap. 23): this is the passing away of the old association with God on the earth.  Hence, in chapter 24 Eliezer (in figure the Holy Ghost, or His work on earth) is sent to take a wife for Isaac (Christ), who is Heir of all things.  Isaac is not permitted to return to Mesopotamia.   So, Christ, in taking the church, cannot come down to earth.

However, the moment we get Jacob, we get the head of the twelve tribes.  He goes to Mesopotamia for Rachel and Leah, typical of Israel and the Gentiles.  Jacob is the elect, but not the heavenly people.   He goes back to Canaan, gets the promises, with all sorts of exercises, as Israel will, but, if he does, he must give up old Israel (Rachel) to get Benjamin, the son of his right hand.

In the brief notice of Esau’s offspring we find the world in vigour and energy before God’s people are.   Then another history commences, that of Joseph.  This portrays Christ, though connected with Israel, rejected by Israel, and sold to the Gentiles.  He now comes to be the head, having the throne, and governing all Egypt.  God has done with Israel, receiving a Gentile wife, and calls his children by names typical of Christ’s rejection and blessing outside Israel.   He receives back his brethren in the glory.  This part closes with two distinct testimonies, the will of Joseph about his bones, and Jacob’s prophecy that they will all be back in the land and the promises to Israel be fulfilled.

Lightly edited by Sosthenes, May 2014

A Brief Outline of the Books of the Bible

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Canticles
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation

lay-preachingIn addition to his Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, John Nelson Darby produced a short outline.  They were based on a series of lectures in Birmingham.   This is being reproduced here.

As time allows I will go through it, making the language clearer and up to date, only where necessary.  This will not be a summary.

Click on the appropriate book for the summary.

To download a DRAFT version of the booklet in PDF format, please click here. – Outline to the Bible

The Old Testament

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
1 Samuel
2 Samuel
1 Kings
2 Kings
1 Chronicles
2 Chronicles
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Songs
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

The New Testament

Matthew
Mark
Luke
John
Acts
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation

 

J N Darby – The Soul’s Desire – I’m Waiting for Thee, Lord,

I’M waiting for Thee, Lord,
Thyself then to see, Lord;
I’m waiting for Thee,
At Thy coming again.
Thy glory’ll be great, Lord,
In heavenly state, Lord;
Thy glory’ll be great
At Thy coming again.

 

6.6.11.6.6.11.

I’M waiting for Thee, Lord,
Thyself then to see, Lord;
I’m waiting for Thee,
At Thy coming again.
Thy glory’ll be great, Lord,
In heavenly state, Lord;
Thy glory’ll be great
At Thy coming again.

Caught up in the air, Lord,
That glory we’ll share, Lord;
Each saint will be there,
At Thy coming again.
How glorious the grace, Lord,
That gave such a place, Lord;
It’s nearing apace,
At Thy coming again.

We’ll sit on Thy throne, Lord,
Confessed as Thine own, Lord,
Of all to be known
At Thy coming again;
But glory on high, Lord,
Is not like being nigh, Lord,
When all is gone by,
At Thy coming again.

The traits of that face, Lord,
Once marred through Thy grace, Lord,
Our joy’ll be to trace
At Thy coming again;
With Thee evermore, Lord,
Our hearts will adore, Lord,
Our sorrow’ll be o’er
At Thy coming again.

But, better than all, Lord,
To rise at Thy call, Lord,
Adoring to fall,
At Thy coming again;
With Thee, clothed in white, Lord,
To walk in the light, Lord,
Where all will be bright
At Thy coming again.

For ever with Thee, Lord,
And like Thee to be, Lord,
For ever with Thee,
At Thy coming again;
I’ll live in Thy grace, Lord,
I’ll gaze on Thy face, Lord,
When finished my race,
At Thy coming again.

I’ll talk of Thy love, Lord,
With Thee there above, Lord,
Thy goodness still prove,
At Thy coming again.

J N Darby, 1881

Selected verses in Little Flock Hymn Book  (1962, 1973) – No 19

This is a paraphrase of a similar hymn by Hannah Burlingham ‘I’m waiting for Thee, Lord, Thy beauty to see Lord’  Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978 – No 440

 

J N Darby – Love Displayed – We’ll Praise Thee, Glorious Lord, Who Died to set us Free

Soon wilt Thou take Thy throne,
Thy foes Thy footstool made,
And take us with Thee for Thine own –
In glory love displayed!

Jesus, we wait for Thee,
With Thee to have our part;
What can full joy and blessing be
But being where Thou art!


S.M.

WE’LL praise Thee, glorious Lord,
Who died to set us free;
No earthly songs can joy afford
Like heavenly melody!

Love that no suffering stayed
We’ll praise – true Love divine;
Love that for us atonement made;
Love that has made us Thine.

Love in Thy lonely life
Of sorrow here below;
Thy words of grace, with mercy rife,
Make grateful praises flow!

Love that on death’s dark vale
Its sweetest odours spread,
Where sin o’er all seemed to prevail
Redemption glory shed.

And now we see Thee risen,
Who once for us hast died,
Seated above the highest heaven,
The Father’s Glorified.

Soon wilt Thou take Thy throne,
Thy foes Thy footstool made,
And take us with Thee for Thine own –
In glory love displayed!

Jesus, we wait for Thee,
With Thee to have our part;
What can full joy and blessing be
But being where Thou art!

J N Darby, 1881

Edited version in Little Flock Hymn Book  (1962, 1973) and in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978– No 235

The Story of a Young Lady Intent on Entering a Mixed Marriage

Two principles regulate the ways of God with regard to us.

God keeps our hearts to cause them to see what His purpose is.
Christ intercedes for us with respect to our infirmities.
You have to understand the big difference between weakness and will. Both hinder us, but God distinguishes one from the other. “The word of God … is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb 4:12). Nothing, not one thought, is concealed from Him. His word is simple, plain, and clear; it speaks in your conscience: do you hear it? Or are you foolishly deluding yourself, feeding upon the illusions that you cherish? Are you resisting God, and provoking Him to jealousy? You cannot escape: He has a hold over your conscience, and will never give it up.

unequal-yoke

The original article by J. N. Darby was entitled ‘Reflections on Mixed Marriages’ and is in Darby’s Collected Writings, vol. 16 (Practical 1) p.171)

A young Christian lady, Miss A., accepted an offer of marriage from a worldly unbeliever.   She tried to hide this from both her family and the Christian assembly she attended. However a brother from that assembly heard about the attachment, and spoke kindly to her, warning her of the sorrow that could ensue from such an unequal yoke.   She persisted with the course she was on, and left home to live with a Christian friend.   The friend was surprised at her request to facilitate the relationship, knowing that her fiancé was an unbeliever.   However, shortly thereafter she fell ill with a violent fever, and admitted that this was the chastening of the Lord. She died three days later, having been convicted of what she had been doing.   She died full of joy, and in complete self-judgment.

The following might have been from a word given at her funeral by JND. I don’t know. Here is a summary.

 

God can interfere in discipline to free His children from the sad spiritual consequences of their unfaithfulness.   This young lady clearly knew she was acting against the will of God.  But she did not know how, or have the strength, to stop.   God was forced to take her away from this world, to keep her from a sin which she did not desire to commit, nor which she had not the strength to resist.

God knows the influence that the world has over the Christian’s heart – it appears amiable.   Those, who are near Christ, are shielded in grace from its influence. Satan is at war with the believer, surprising us when we are not on our guard.   He transforms himself into an angel of light, appealing to our worldly feelings and desires. When we are clothed with whole armour of God, resisting the devil is not the problem, because Christ has already overcome him. But he snares us, and we have to know our hearts, and discover the traps that he has set.   A heart that is simple and occupied with the Lord, escapes many things which trouble the peace of those who are not near Him.   But the troubled and tormented soul finds complete joy and restoration in the saving grace of the One that he has so foolishly forgotten. The Lord knows how to deliver as well as having compassion on us.

Two principles regulate the ways of God with regard to us.

  1. God keeps our hearts to cause them to see what His purpose is.
  2. Christ intercedes for us with respect to our infirmities.

You have to understand the big difference between weakness and will. Both hinder us, but God distinguishes one from the other. “The word of God … is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” (Heb 4:12). Nothing, not one thought, is concealed from Him. His word is simple, plain, and clear; it speaks in your conscience: do you hear it?  Or are you foolishly deluding yourself, feeding upon the illusions that you cherish?   Are you resisting God, and provoking Him to jealousy?   You cannot escape: He has a hold over your conscience, and will never give it up.

God could have left you to yourself. He could have left you to experience very humiliating failures.   With Israel God said, ‘Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone’ (Hosea 4:17). What punishment! What chastening it is to be left alone by God.  But our God does not deprive us of the light of His countenance and the sweetness of His communion. He reaches us by His word, in order that our consciences may see things as He sees them.   Christ has loved us so much that He humbled Himself even to death for us. Stop, poor soul, and ask yourself if your proposed intention is agreeable to Christ, the One who gave Himself for you to save you? He has your salvation at heart; He loves you, and does not desire that you should suffer the terrible discipline consequent on the folly of following your own will.  God desires that you should not lose the enjoyment of His communion.   He is full of mercy and has compassion on us and on our weaknesses. However, He is tender and pitiful in His ways; but remember that if we are determined to follow our own will, God knows how to break it. God is not mocked, and what a man sows he will reap; see Gal. 6:7. The worst of all God’s chastenings is that He should leave us to follow our own ways.

He warns His children by His word. If they do not listen, He intervenes in His power to stop them.   He can then bless them.   See Job 33:14-30. There was a bad state in Corinth; some of them were sick and others had even died. But Paul says, ‘If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.’ (1 Cor. 11:31).   God is a consuming fire, and, when the moment of judgment is come, it begins at His house. (See 1 Peter 4:17).   I do not doubt that a large part (not all) of the sickness and trials of Christians are chastenings sent by God because of things that are evil in His sight. We have neglected our consciences, and God has been forced to produce in us the effect which self-judgment ought to have produced.  Things may need to be corrected so that we may live more in communion with God and glorify Him in all the details of our lives.

So as to our sad matter, it is absolutely impossible that a Christian should allow him or herself to marry a worldly person, without violating every obligation towards God and towards Christ.   If a child of God allies himself to an unbeliever, it is evident that he leaves Christ out of the question, and that he does so voluntarily in the most important event of his life.   He has chosen to live without Christ; he has abandoned Christ and refused to listen to Him. He has deliberately preferred to do his own will and exclude Christ, rather than to give up his own will in order to enjoy Christ and His approval.  What a fearful life-long decision it is, to settle to choose an enemy of the Lord’s for a companion! The influence of such a union will draw a Christian back into the world. The end of those things is death. (Rom 6:21). The fact is, that unless the sovereign grace of God comes in, the Christian man or woman will always yield and enter little by little upon a worldly walk. Nothing is more natural. The worldly man has only his worldly desires. The Christian, besides his Christianity, has the flesh.  Now he must abandon his Christian principles, and please his flesh, if he is to unite himself to one who does not know the Lord. And it cannot be a happy union; they will have nothing but quarrels – ‘How can two walk together except they be agreed?’ (Amos 3:3). He will have sacrificed his conscience, his Saviour and his soul to honour and/or money. His will is unrestrained, and he will have given up communion with his Saviour.

We see in the sad case of our young friend, that the discipline brought her to a judgment of self and the flesh. In her weakness, she laid down her burden at the feet of Jesus. She sought strength in Him alone. She accepted in her heart that she was only sin, that Christ was perfect righteousness, and God was perfect love.   Though she distrusted herself, I do not think that the young lady had been stripped of self.   Many Christians are in this condition.   When we come to a knowledge of how deceitful and treacherous the flesh is, Christ has a larger place in the heart, and there is more calm, and less self.

Before she was entangled in her affection, our young friend would have shrunk with horror from the idea of the action she planned. Her heart had abandoned God; it dreaded man more even than God.  God loved Miss A. and she really loved God. But God had to remove her from this world, because she did not have the courage to return to the right path. God took her to Himself. She died in peace, and through pure grace she triumphed.

What a solemn lesson it is for those who wish to depart from God and His holy word, to satisfy an inclination which it would have been easy to overcome at first, but which, when cherished in the heart, becomes tyrannical and fatal!  May God grant to the reader of these lines, and to all His children, to seek His presence day by day.

J N Darby – Unfoldings – O Lord, Thy Glory we Behold

O LORD, Thy glory we behold,
Though not with mortal eyes;
That glory, on the Father’s throne,
No human sight descries.

C.M.

O LORD, Thy glory we behold,
Though not with mortal eyes;
That glory, on the Father’s throne,
No human sight descries.

But though the world can see no more
Him it cast out with scorn,
The eye of fresh-born faith can soar
Above – where He is gone.

‘Tis not for human eye to see
Nor human ear to hear,
Nor heart conceive what it may be,
Or bring the prospect near;

But God in love has freely given
His Spirit, who reveals
All He’s prepared for those, in heaven,
Whom here on earth He seals.

‘Tis thence, now Christ is gone on high,
Redemption’s work complete,
The Spirit brings His glory nigh
To those who for Him wait.

Blest gift! As sons we look above
And see the Saviour there;
And, fruit of God’s now well-known love,
We shall His glory share.

God has been glorified in Man;
Man sits at God’s right hand –
Obedient in the race He ran,
Can now all power command.

In lowliness on earth, as Son,
The Father He made known;
And now in heaven, His work all done,
He sits upon His throne.

And we our great Fore-runner see
In His own glory there;
Yet not ashamed – with such as we,
As First-born, all to share.

For we as sons through grace are owned,
And “Abba, Father,” cry;
Heirs too, so rich did grace abound,
Joint-heirs with Him on high.

The Father’s love, the source of all,
Sweeter than all it gives,
Shines on us now without recall,
And lasts while Jesus lives.

The new creation’s stainless joy
Gleams through the present gloom,
That world of bliss without alloy,
The saint’s eternal home!

J N Darby, 1881

Edited version in Little Flock Hymn Book  (1962, 1973) and in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978 – No 81

J N Darby – Love Divine – Father, Thy sovereign Love has sought Captives to Sin, gone far from Thee

FATHER, Thy sovereign love has sought
Captives to sin, gone far from Thee

Hymn by John Nelson Darby (1800-1882)

L.M. 

FATHER, Thy sovereign love has sought
Captives to sin, gone far from Thee;
The work that Thine own Son hath wrought
Has brought us back in peace and free.

And now, as sons before Thy face,
With joyful steps the path we tread,
Which leads us on to that blest place
Prepared for us by Christ, our Head.

Thou gav’st us, in eternal love,
To Him to bring us home to Thee,
Suited to Thine own thoughts above,
As sons, like Him, with Him to be

In Thine own house. There Love divine
Fills the bright courts with cloudless joy;
But ’tis the love that made us Thine
Fills all that house without alloy.

Oh, boundless grace! What fills with joy
Unmingled all that enter there,
God’s nature, Love without alloy,
Our hearts are given e’en now to share.

God’s righteousness with glory bright,
Which with its radiance fills that sphere –
E’en Christ, of God the power and light –
Our title is that light to share.

O Mind divine! so must it be,
That glory all belongs to God.
O Love divine! that did decree
We should be part, through Jesus’ blood.

Oh, keep us, Love divine, near Thee,
That we our nothingness may know;
And ever to Thy glory be –
Walking in faith while here below.

J N Darby 1880

Edited version in Little Flock Hymn Book  (1962, 1973) – No 87, 88

Edited version in Hymns for the Little Flock 1962 and 1973 Nos 87 and 88 and in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1978 – No 331

 

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