Finding your way about the Bible is not as difficult as some might think. Try this simple experiment. Hold your Bible closed in front of you. (It must be a basic copy without a concordance etc. at the back.) Now, find the centre of the pages and open it. It is almost certain that you will be in, or near the five poetical books, consisting of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. All these provide a great amount of interesting reading, and are just so easy to find.
History
Now, holding, or clipping, those pages together, divide the left hand pages into two and you will be close to the division between what is termed The Pentateuch or the main historical books. The five books of the Pentateuch tell first about God’s Creation, and the earliest times of God’s people Israel, plus all the laws that governed them.
The historical section beginning with the book of Joshua leads on to the period of the Judges, and then Samuel, which begins the period of the Kings, taking us right through to the sad period of the captivity of the nation into Babylon and their return, in the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. In a nutshell, that is the left hand part of your Bible, but you are still only halfway.
Prophecy
Now, on the right-hand side of the poetic section, take those remaining pages and divide them fairly equally in two. The left hand section contains the prophetical books of the Old Testament; four Major prophets and twelve Minor prophets. These are conveniently grouped, but historically, they relate to different periods in Israel’s history. The final book is Malachi, which concludes the Old Testament.
New Testament
You will discover that the right-hand side of this division contains the whole of the New Testament, which forms less than a quarter of the Bible itself. It may be short but it contains all the information about God’s plan of salvation for mankind, centred on the Lord Jesus Christ.
It begins with the four Gospel accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. It is followed by the exciting period of the Acts of the Apostles, telling how, in miraculous ways, the Gospel (good news), was spread abroad. Then follow twenty one apostolic letters, or Epistles, each containing valuable teaching about Christian living. Finally comes the Book of Revelation.
This is a book of sign and symbol containing amazing prophecies, leading up to the triumphant return of Christ to earth, and the establishing of the Kingdom of God
Once you know the Bible you get a lot of encouragement to begin reading it. If you haven’t started already, why not begin today?
