The word “Bible” comes from the word “Biblos” in the Greek language. It means “book.” The Bible is a very special book because it is the inspired word of God. The Bible is not just one book, but a series of books in one volume.

The Bible contains two large divisions called “Testaments.” The first is the Old Testament, and the second is the New Testament. Each of these large divisions also contains many smaller divisions called “books.” The Old Testament has thirty-nine of these books, and the New Testament contains twenty-seven. The heavenly Father inspired about forty men to write these books, and they contain God’s will for man.

The Old Testament has some of the most interesting stories ever written (and the best part is that they are true). In this part of The Bible, we read about the beginning of time, the creation of the earth, the beginning of man, and how God deals with man. This part of God’s word is very important. And we should study it carefully, because it has some great lessons for us (1 Cor. 10:6, 11; Rom. 15:4).
 
The New Testament tells us about the birth, life, and death of Jesus, the Son of God. The New Testament also tells us that when Jesus died on the cross, He took the authority of the Old Testament away (Eph. 2:14ff; Col. 2:14). So, even though the Old Testament is inspired by God, and is important for us to know, we cannot find in it what God wants us to do to please Him today. For that information, we must go to the New Testament.

The Old Testament contains many stories that help us to understand how God wants man to obey Him. God has not always told men to do the same things. For example, God told a man named Noah to build an ark (giant boat) so that he and his family might be saved from the Great Flood. When Noah obeyed, God saved Noah and his family from the flood that destroyed all other humans upon the earth (Gen. 6:8-22). Noah is the only one God told to build an ark, so we are not required to build arks today. But we are required to do what God tells us to do. In the next few issues of this paper we shall be studying some lessons from the Old Testament, and noting how they help us to be pleasing to God.