The Bible is a fairly large book, running from maybe one thousand pages to fifteen hundred according to its layout, etc. A little guidance may therefore be welcome to give some help in understanding its format.
Itself a book, it comprises sixty-six books of varying lengths, each one with a name. Some are in the form of poetry, others are written in prose. These books are divided into chapters and verses, added centuries ago by man for ease of reference, but the text of the books is of divine inspiration, ‘God-breathed’ as that process is described in the New Testament. The only exception to the man-made numbering occurs in the Book of Psalms, where the one hundred and fifty psalms appear plainly as individual entities. An example of a reference to a particular verse, using the abbreviated form of the name of the book would appear as Gen. 1:10, meaning the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, verse ten. A passage of scripture comprising several verses would be shown, for example, as Gen. 1:10-19. The abbreviation ‘vv’, is sometimes used and stands for ‘verses’. On the contents page of the Bible, the books are shown in the order in which they occur, and not in their alphabetical order.
You will find that the sacred writings are divided into two main sections, namely the Old and New Testaments, the Old being roughly four times the length of the New. These two sections are clearly noted in the Bible layout, but each section is further divided into four parts and here there are no printed indications of where one part ends and another begins.
THE OLD TESTAMENT
The Old Testament’s four sub-divisions are a) the Pentateuch [the Five Books] at the beginning of the Old Testament, b) the historical narratives of ancient Israel, c) the Wisdom Literature and lastly d) the writings of the Jewish prophets.
(a) The Pentateuch
This was written by one man, Moses, and covers the time span from the creation of the universe to about the year 1450 BC. It comprises five books, the books of Genesis (Gen.), Exodus (Exod.), Leviticus (Levit.), Numbers (Num.) and Deuteronomy (Deut.) being basically a recapitulation of the three previous books. The main events it deals with are the Creation, the fall of man, the Flood, the calling of Abraham, founder of the Jewish nation, that nation’s development into twelve tribes, their four hundred year servitude in Egypt, their deliverance from that servitude at the hand of Moses, the giving of the Ten Commandments and the Jewish Law to Moses by God and the forty-year wilderness journey of the Jews from Egypt into the Promised Land, Canaan, or Palestine as it is now called. The section on the Jewish Law details their system of sacrifices, which foreshadow the ultimate self-sacrifice of Christ in the New Testament.
(b) The Historical Narratives
Coming next after the Pentateuch, there are twelve books which narrate the history of the Jewish nation, Israel; they cover events from c. 1450 BC to 430 BC. These books are named Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Sam.), 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles (Chron.), Ezra, Nehemiah (Neh.) and Esther.
In them are recorded the entrance of the Israelites into Palestine, conquest of and settlement, their government by judges, the establishment of the monarchy, their subsequent division into two kingdoms, one of two tribes (the kingdom of Judah) and the other of ten tribes (the kingdom of Israel). These kingdoms continued until their constant backsliding into idolatry brought on them judgment: the invasion, conquest and transportation of each kingdom into captivity, that of Israel in 740 BC into Assyria by the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser, and that of Judah in 597 BC into Babylonia by the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The kingdom of Israel never was restored to its homeland, but after seventy years of captivity the kingdom of Judah was, and eventually from this, the smaller kingdom, was born Jesus Christ, of the descent royal as to His humanity.
(c) The Wisdom Literature
This is the name given to the third portion of the Old Testament, which is largely in the form of poetry. It consists of five books: Job, the Book of Psalms (Ps.), The Proverbs (Prov.), Ecclesiastes (Eccles), and the Song of Solomon (Song Sol.). These deal with timeless truths and the experiences of mankind at large, while two (Psalms and the Song of Solomon) speak prophetically and symbolically of Christ.
(d) The Prophets
The final section consists of the prophecies of the great Jewish writing prophets who flourished from the eighth to the fifth century BC. Again these books appear largely in the form of poetry, the most majestic ever written. Each book bears the name of the prophet who wrote it and these are; Isaiah, Jeremiah, The Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbukuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Their contents are interrelated with the narrative of the historical books and speak of the dealings of God with man. Further, they speak clearly of the birth and death of Christ, God’s Messiah, Who was yet to come at the time they were written.
THE NEW TESTAMENT
We now proceed to the second major division of Scripture, the New Testament, the four sub-divisions of which are: the four Gospels, the Book of Acts, the Epistles, and the Book of Revelation. Here, as in the Old Testament, there are no printed indications in the text to show were one sub-division ends and the next begins.
(a) The Four Gospels
These detail the birth, life, death, resurrection and (Mark and Luke only) ascension of Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah. The books are named after their writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
(b) The Acts of the Apostles
This was written by Luke, the penman of one of the gospels, and it details Christ’s ascension, the manner of His second coming, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, and the founding and spread of the Christian church within the Roman Empire.
(c) The Epistles
These are a series of letters written by apostles, some to fledgling, individual churches and some to the church at large. They cover a wide range of topics relating to the way we are to live the Christian life and to set our churchmanship in order. But supremely they set the Lord Jesus Christ before us, showing that the way of salvation is solely through faith in Him. What good news this, to helpless, sinful man!
(d) The Book of Revelation
This book commences with a glimpse of Christ in His ascended glory and then proceeds with a series of letters from the glorified Christ to the author of the book, the apostle John; these give the prophetic history of the church. After a tremendous depiction of the glory of God in heaven, the writer then unfolds with considerable use of symbolism, world events from about 90 AD to the end of time. In his gospel the writer, the apostle John, sets out the kingship of Christ in the heart of the individual and in the book of Revelation he sets out His final kingship over the whole world.
Thus we have in the Bible a volume penned by a variety of human writers who were each inspired by God as they wrote. It covers events from the beginning to the end of time and deals with the whole range of human experience; there is no other comparable book on earth. Take it, read it, pray over it and it will prove to be the Bread of Heaven.