GROWING IN OUR SKILL
WITH THE BIBLE
By Gene S. Foster, M.S.
GROWING IN OUR SKILL
WITH THE BIBLE
This lesson is designed for the person who has little or no experience with using the Bible. The more advanced person may want to skip the following information and go directly to the questions to follow. If you miss very many of the questions you need to go back and study the material.
The goal of this lesson is to acquaint you with the books of the Bible in the order of their occurrence so you may use the Bible more proficiently. It will greatly increase your enjoyment of reading and studying the Word of God and decrease your embarrassment of fumbling through the Bible in church when a certain Scripture is called out for you to turn to.
This lesson also has some basic information about the organization of the Bible into sections of particular subject matter. You will also learn how to interpret a written Scripture reference so you can look it up in your Bible.
The Table of Contents
All Bibles have a table of contents that give the page number for the start of each book. It is far better to use this aid than to randomly fumble around the Bible which embarrasses and frustrates you and reduces the benefit of your reading. Be aware that the page numbers where a certain book, chapter or verse is found is different in different Bibles because of variations in the size of the Bible and the size of the print.
(Page 2)
THE ORDER OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
THE OLD TESTAMENT
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#
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Name
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Abbrev.
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#
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Name
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Abbrev.
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Pentateuch |
Major Prophets |
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1.
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Genesis
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Ge.
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23. |
Isaiah
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Is.
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2.
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Exodus
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Ex.
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24. |
Jeremiah
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Je.
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3.
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Leviticus
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Le.
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25. |
Lamentations
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Lam.
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4.
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Numbers
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Nu.
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26. |
Ezekiel
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Eze.
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5.
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Deuteronomy
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De
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27. |
Daniel
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Dan.
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History |
Minor Prophets |
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6.
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Joshua
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Jos.
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28.
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Hosea
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Ho.
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7.
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Judges
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Jud.
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29.
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Joel
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Jl.
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8.
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Ruth
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Ru.
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30.
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Amos
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Am.
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9.
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1 Samuel
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1 S.
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31.
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Obadiah
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Obad.
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10.
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2 Samuel
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2 S.
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32.
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Jonah
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Jona.
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11.
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1 Kings
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1 K.
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33.
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Micah
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Mi.
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12.
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2 Kings
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2 K.
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34.
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Nahum
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Na.
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13.
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1 Chronicles
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1 C.
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35.
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Habakkuk
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Hab.
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14.
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2 Chronicles
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2 C.
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36.
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Zephaniah
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Zep.
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15.
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Ezra
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Ezr.
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37.
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Haggai
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Hag.
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16.
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Nehemiah
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Ne.
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38.
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Zechariah
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Zech.
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17.
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Ezra
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Est.
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39.
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Malachi
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Mal.
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Poetry |
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18.
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Job
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Jb.
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19.
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Psalms
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Ps.
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20.
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Proverbs
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Pr.
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21.
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Ecclesiastes
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Ec.
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22.
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Song of Solomon
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SS.
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39 Total books in the Old Testament |
(Page 3)
THE NEW TESTAMENT
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#
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Name
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Abbreviation
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Gospels |
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1.
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Matthew
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Mt.
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2.
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Mark
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Mk.
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3.
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Luke
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Lk.
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4.
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John
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Jn.
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History |
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5.
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Acts
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Ac.
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Epistles |
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6.
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Romans
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Ro.
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7.
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1 Corinthians
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1 Co.
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8.
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2 Corinthians
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2 Co.
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9.
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Galatians
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Ga.
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10.
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Ephesians
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Ep.
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11.
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Philippians
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Ph.
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12.
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Colossians
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Col.
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13.
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1 Thessalonians
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1 Th.
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14.
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2 Thessalonians
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2 Th.
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15.
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1 Timothy
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1 Ti.
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16.
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2 Timothy
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2 Ti.
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17.
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Titus
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Tit.
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18.
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Philemon
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Phm.
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19.
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Hebrews
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He.
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20.
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James
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Ja.
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21.
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1 Peter
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1 Pe.
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22.
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2 Peter
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2 Pe.
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23.
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1 John
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1 Jn.
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24.
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2 John
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2 Jn.
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25.
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3 John
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3 Jn.
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26.
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Jude
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Jude
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Prophecy |
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27.
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Revelations
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Re.
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27 Total books in New Testament |
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66 Total books in the Bible (39 + 27) |
(Page 4)
SUBJECT MATTER BY SECTIONS OF BIBLE
OLD TESTAMENT
Pentateuch
- Creation & Flood
- Abraham
- Tribes of Israel
- Law of Moses
- Israel from Egypt to Promised Land
History
- Israel’s arrival in Promised Land
- Wars
- Good and bad leaders and their effects on Israel
- Israel’s breakup into northern and southern kingdom.
- Israel’s captivity and return to Jerusalem
Poetry
- Job – suffering saints
- Psalms – David, a picture of Christ
- Proverbs – Solomon’s wisdom
- Ecclesiastes – Solomon’s regrets
- Song of Solomon – Lessons about love between man and God
Major Prophets (long prophetic discourses)
- Pictures of Christ
- Woes to Israel & other nations
- Suffering servants of God
- Israel in captivity & related history
- End time prophecies
Minor Prophets (shorter prophetic discourses)
- Rebukes from God to Israel
- Lessons in faithful service
- End time prophecies
- Israel’s final word from God
(Page 5)
SUBJECT MATTER BY SECTIONS OF BIBLE
NEW TESTAMENT
Gospel
- Birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
- Ministry of Christ – events, miracles & teachings
- Calling and training of future Apostles
- Each Gospel is named after its human penman
Acts
- Early history of the Christian church
- Doctrinal operating principles for churches
- Ministries of Peter and Paul
Epistles
- Letters from Paul, Peter, John, Jude and James to churches or believers
- Historical events, especially the missionary journey’s of Paul
- Doctrinal principles and details
Revelation
- Letters of rebukes and exhortations to 7 ancient churches
- Prophecy of the Great Tribulation; the antichrist; end of man’s rule and Satan’s influence.
- Second Coming of Christ; Thousand year kingdom of Christ; final judgment of lost sinners; eternal glory.
THE CATHOLIC OLD TESTAMENT
The Catholic Bible contains seven ancient books in addition to the 39 already listed for the Old Testament. The Jews knew about these books but uniformly rejected them as Scripture because they didn’t meet the test of Scripture. God did not witness to their hearts about these books being Scripture so they were rejected by the Jews throughout all the centuries when the Jews were exclusively preserving the Word of God.
The Roman Catholic Church decided to include these books as Old Testament Scripture in 1546. The books in question are:
Tobias
Judith
1 Machabees
2 Machabees
Wisdom
Sirach (Ecclesiasticus)
Baruch
(Page 6)
These books are indeed ancient writings but age alone does not determine canonicity (qualified as Scripture). The books do have historical and literary value but they are not Scripture. Therefore these books are rejected by Jews, Protestants and Baptists.
ORGANIZATION OF BIBLE
FLOWCHART…FROM THE GENERAL TO THE PARTICULAR
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BIBLE
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TESTAMENTS
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BOOKS
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CHAPTERS
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VERSES
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FINDING VERSES
- You should memorize the books in the order of their occurrence in the Bible.
Yes, it takes effort but this will make your Bible reading and study both enjoyable and efficient. It’s ok to carry a Bible with index tabs at first but if you have been saved for awhile this marks you as a person who doesn’t read God’s Word much.
- References:
References are always given in the following order:
BOOK –CHAPTER : VERSE—VERSE PORTION
EXAMPLE: Genesis: 3:14 Matthew 7:7 John 1:1-14*
*This shows that we are considering verses 1 through 14.
- If you don’t remember where to look for a book, use the table of contents in the front of your Bible. That is a lot better than fumbling and frustration and it will still help you to learn the location and order of the books.
Questions to Build Your Skills
The Study Questions are in PDF format. You will need free Acrobat Reader to view this file. If you do not have Reader, click here to download from Adobe's site.