HOW
TO READ THE BIBLE
Dear
Friends in Christ,
This
is the notes I have taken and compiled from various sources while preparing to
study the Bible. This gives some basic knowledge and background on the books of
the Bible so one can relate to it and understand the contents better.
Promises to
claim as we read the Word of God
Open my eyes
that I may see wonderful things in your law.
~
Psalm 119:18
.. for you have
one Instructor, the Messiah.
~
Matthew 23:10
But when he, the
Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth
~
John 16:13
Now, how to read The Bible?
Best way is to
read it from Genesis
OR
Start from
John's Gospel
"In the
beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God" – that’s
how it starts.
To
begin with, here is the list of the Books of the Bible with their
authors.
Book No.
|
Name of the Book
|
Author
|
1
|
Genesis
|
Moses
|
2
|
Exodus
|
Moses
|
3
|
Leviticus
|
Moses
|
4
|
Numbers
|
Moses
|
5
|
Deuteronomy
|
Moses
|
6
|
Joshua
|
Joshua
|
7
|
Judges
|
Samuel
|
8
|
Ruth
|
Samuel
|
9
|
1 Samuel
|
Samuel; Gad; Nathan
|
10
|
2 Samuel
|
Gad; Nathan
|
11
|
1 Kings
|
Jeremiah
|
12
|
2 Kings
|
Jeremiah
|
13
|
1 Chronicles
|
Ezra
|
14
|
2 Chronicles
|
Ezra
|
15
|
Ezra
|
Ezra
|
16
|
Nehemiah
|
Nehemiah
|
17
|
Esther
|
Mordecai
|
18
|
Job
|
Moses
|
19
|
Psalms
|
David and others
|
20
|
Proverbs
|
Solomon; Agur; Lemuel
|
21
|
Ecclesiastes
|
Solomon
|
22
|
Song of Solomon
|
Solomon
|
23
|
Isaiah
|
Isaiah
|
24
|
Jeremiah
|
Jeremiah
|
25
|
Lamentations
|
Jeremiah
|
26
|
Ezekiel
|
Ezekiel
|
27
|
Daniel
|
Daniel
|
28
|
Hosea
|
Hosea
|
29
|
Joel
|
Joel
|
30
|
Amos
|
Amos
|
31
|
Obadiah
|
Obadiah
|
32
|
Jonah
|
Jonah
|
33
|
Micah
|
Micah
|
34
|
Nahum
|
Nahum
|
35
|
Habakkuk
|
Habakkuk
|
36
|
Zephaniah
|
Zephaniah
|
37
|
Haggai
|
Haggai
|
38
|
Zechariah
|
Zechariah
|
39
|
Malachi
|
Malachi
|
40
|
Matthew
|
Matthew
|
41
|
Mark
|
Mark
|
42
|
Luke
|
Luke
|
43
|
John
|
Apostle John
|
44
|
Acts
|
Luke
|
45
|
Romans
|
Paul
|
46
|
1 Corinthians
|
Paul
|
47
|
2 Corinthians
|
Paul
|
48
|
Galatians
|
Paul
|
49
|
Ephesians
|
Paul
|
50
|
Philippians
|
Paul
|
51
|
Colossians
|
Paul
|
52
|
1 Thessalonians
|
Paul
|
53
|
2 Thessalonians
|
Paul
|
54
|
1 Timothy
|
Paul
|
55
|
2 Timothy
|
Paul
|
56
|
Titus
|
Paul
|
57
|
Philemon
|
Paul
|
58
|
Hebrews
|
Paul
|
59
|
James
|
James (Jesus’ brother)
|
60
|
1 Peter
|
Peter
|
61
|
2 Peter
|
Peter
|
62
|
1 John
|
Apostle John
|
63
|
2 John
|
Apostle John
|
64
|
3 John
|
Apostle John
|
65
|
Jude
|
Jude (Jesus’ brother)
|
66
|
Revelation
|
Apostle John
|
Based
on the King James Version of the Holy Bible
·
Written by Approximately 40 Authors
·
Written over a period of 1,600 years
·
Written over 40 generations
·
Written in three languages: Hebrew,
Greek and Aramaic
·
Written on three continents: Europe,
Asia and Africa
·
Written in different locations:
wilderness, dungeon, palace, prison, in exile, at home
·
Written by men from all occupations:
kings, peasants, doctors, fishermen, tax collectors, scholars, etc.
·
Written in different times: war, peace,
poverty, prosperity, freedom and slavery
·
Written in different moods: heights of
joy to the depths of despair
·
Written in harmonious agreement on a
widely diverse range of subjects and doctrines
OLD TESTAMENT
Old Testament is
the History before Jesus came to the earth.
It has 39 books – the sequence is:
5
BOOKS OF LAW
1.
First Book – Genesis talks about the beginnings. How
Abraham became a big nation - the nation of Israel. After Abraham, his son, his
sons and generations. They were for 400 years in Egypt
2.
Second Book – Exodus tells us about how Abraham’s
generations came out of Egypt After they came out, God made them a nation
Israel and gave them laws; basically the 10 Commandments
3.
Third book – Leviticus is God explaining the law in
detail to the priests
4.
Fourth book- Numbers where the entire nation is
counted, by tribe, by clan and family
5.
Fifth book – Deuteronomy is the of the second book of law
with more explanation of the law to the common man
12
BOOKS OF HISTORY
1.
Joshua – was the leader who took over from Moses after
Moses died (Moses was the one who brought Israel out of Egypt). Actually after the
Israelites came out of Egypt, they wandered for 40 years, and then they had to defeat
several kingdoms and then take their land, as per God's promise. That
consolidation was done by Joshua. But there was no king, because God said He
would lead them
2.
Judges – Since there was no King because God said He
would lead them, there were "Judges" who would judge Israel according
to their sins whenever they needed judgment
3.
Ruth - is a short love story that happens in that time
4.
1st
Samuel – the prophet
5.
2nd Samuel – the prophet
6.
1stKings – of Israel
7.
2ndKings of Israel
8.
1stChronicles - these are the accounts of what the
kings did
9.
2nd Chronicles - these are the accounts of what the
kings did
Three persons who did
extraordinary things for God and Israel
10. Ezra
– built the temple
11. Nehemiah
– built the walls
12. Esther
– as the queen saved the Jews from a racist attack
God said "He is a rewarder of
those who sincerely seek Him"
5
BOOKS OF POETRY
1.
Book of Job -
story of a man who is put to suffering but sees God's glory in the end
2.
Book of Psalms - a collection of Hymns
3.
Book of Proverbs - a collection of several short
proverbs, most of them are one liners
4.
Book of Ecclesiastes, also called the
"Preacher"
5.
Songs of Solomon - It is about the romance between two
lovers, but it actually talks about God and the Church. The names of the lovers
are not mentioned, it is just "he" and "she"
5
MAJOR PROPHETS
The books are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations (written
by Jeremiah), Ezekiel and Daniel.
Now the prophets,
what they wrote were messages for the kings but their prophecies were very
powerful.
The thing is
during the time when the kings ruled Israel, some were good and some were bad
and disobedient. So these were the prophets sent by God to correct them exhort
them or encourage them
These books were
written around 1000 years before Christ, but they have prophecies about Christ
like that he would be born to a virgin in Bethlehem and about his death and
many events told 700 years before Christ.
12
MINOR PROPHETS
Then there are
also 12 Minor Prophets, minor because they are smaller books, but not in power
or their importance. The Minor Prophets are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi - the last
book is the book of Malachi which was written about 400 years BC.
Then there was
400 years of silence from God, no prophets no word, nothing. In that time, due
to Israel's disobedience, God gave Israel over to other kings’ disobedience to
God, in that they did not follow God's law and did not listen to the prophets
who warned them.
Nebuchadnezzar,
who built the Hanging gardens of Babylon, was the king of Babylon who invaded
and conquered Israel then Persia, King Darius, and king Xerxes so on until the
Romans became world rulers then Jerusalem was under the Roman Empire. All this during
the 400 years of silence; then during the reign of Augustus Caesar, there was Silence
because of disobedience. The prophets said, "If you do not obey the LORD
and turn back now, Nebuchadnezzar will come and destroy Israel." And when
they did not listen, that was exactly what happened.
Then during the reign of Augustus Caesar,
Jesus was born, as per the prophecy.
Silent treatment
followed by the birth of Jesus-
Now, until
Jesus, the relationship was between Israel and God; but when Jesus came, it was
for God's love to be shown to the whole world and the people of Israel. But sadly,
they rejected Jesus.
NEW TESTAMENT
New Testament is
after Jesus came to the earth. It has 27
books and the sequence is:
4
BOOKS WRITTEN BY DISCIPLES OF JESUS
These books were
written by close disciples of Jesus - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
This was about
what Jesus did when he was walking on the earth called gospels. Gospel
according to Matthew, Mark Luke and John; all of them are accounts of what
Jesus did on the earth. They end with the crucifixion and the resurrection of
Jesus.
1
BOOK OF HISTORY
The Book of Acts
was when Jesus came back from the grave, showed himself and went back to
Heaven. This is the Ascension of Jesus, then the coming down of the Holy Spirit
as the Promised Comforter, and the growth of the early church. Then He promised
that the Holy Spirit would come down on His disciples and they would go about
the whole earth, teaching about God's love and how this is shown to us through
Jesus.
It is in this
book that we read how the early church suffered got scattered and triumphed.
God is a God of
peace and not of confusion.
This means that
because Jesus suffered, our pain is taken away.
13
EPISTLES WRITTEN BY THE APOSTLE PAUL
These books are
called the Pauline Epistles.
1.
Romans
2.
1
Corinthians
3.
2
Corinthians
4.
Galatians
5.
Ephesians
6.
Philippians
7.
Colossians
8.
1
Thessalonians
9.
2
Thessalonians
10. 1Timothy
11. 2 Timothy
12. Titus
13. Philemon
These are the
books that teach Theology and also are aimed to build up the churches in their
Faith and teaching of the Christian conduct.
BOOK
OF ROMANS
This book was written by Paul to explain that salvation is
offered through the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is one of the most profound
books in existence and is certainly one of the most valued parts of the Holy
Scriptures
2
EPISTLES TO CORINTHIANS
1&2 Corinthians talks about unity in Christ and working and operating
harmoniously as a Church. Chapter 13 on Love helps us witness this.
GALATIANS
This book talks about the Fruit of the Spirit – Love, Joy,
Peace, Forbearance, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and
Self-Control.
EPHESIANS
In this book, Paul tells us to take
up the whole armor of God. The
breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith
that, upon close examination of the function of each piece of armor and the
attribute Paul assigns to it, there are some incredible lessons to be
learned.
PHILIPPIANS
This book is the Book of Joy - about Christ in our life,
Christ in our mind, Christ as our goal, Christ as our strength,
and joy through suffering. It was written during Paul’s imprisonment
in Rome, about thirty years after Christ’s ascension and about ten years after
Paul first preached at Philippi. This book is also called “Resources through
Suffering.”
COLOSSIANS
In this book, the Preeminence of Christ over the church is
described as the relationship between the head and the body.
2
EPISTLES TO THESSALONIANS
1&2
Thessalonians are the books that talk about Christian conduct and preparing for
Christ's coming. The first letter — 1 Thessalonians — was written to a
community of believers who had been Christians for only a short period of time,
probably no more than a few months.
Paul's Second Epistle
to the Thessalonians is in one sense a follow-up to the first letter.
Evidently, the first letter was well received. People were satisfied with
Paul's explanation concerning those who died and were ready and willing to
suffer persecution if need be in order to remain true to the gospel that Paul
preached.
Both of Paul's letters
to the Thessalonians were addressed to one church and were occasioned by the
problems associated with that particular group of church members. It is quite
unlikely that Paul anticipated any further use to be made of his letters. Little
if anything in them throws much light on the theological issues involved in
Paul's interpretation of Christianity. The letters do, however, indicate the
type of instruction that Paul gave to newcomers in the Christian movement.
2
EPISTLES TO TIMOTHY
1&2
Timothy are with rules for pastoring a church - for pastors, deacons, elders
and leaders. These books are so named because they are addressed to Timothy,
Paul's travelling companion and assistant on his missionary journeys.
TITUS
This book is considered to be a Conduct Manual for the Church. It
was written to counsel Titus concerning the work Paul had left him to do. It
contains:
·
the qualifications of
the presbyters to be selected
·
the method of dealing
with false teachings
·
instructions to the
different classes of the church
·
exhortations to Titus
himself
PHILEMON
This book is about a runaway slave. Paul appeals
to Philemon regarding a runaway slave Onesimus who has met
Jesus and found refuge with Paul. Paul claims that Onesimus's conversion has
resulted not only in his personal transformation but in his usefulness to
Philemon.
BOOK
OF HEBREWS
This book that
compares the Old Testament with the New Testament; how the types of Jesus (type
here means an example of Jesus who was not yet revealed, but his character have
been demonstrated) re-confirmed in Jesus as The Promised Messiah.
EPISTLE
OF JAMES
This book talks about the
demonstration of Faith through our works.
2
EPISTLES OF PETER
In 1 Peter and 2 Peter, we
see that the general emphasis is on the Christian growth.
3
EPISTLES OF JOHN
The author of these books is traditionally believed to
be John the Evangelist, also known simply as "the Elder".
·
1 John - living in the
light - blood of Jesus cleansing us from all sin
·
2 John - Abiding in
God
·
3 John - prosperity in
all ways, Christian fellowship
BOOK
OF JUDE
This book gives us
general warnings, says whatever had to be revealed has already been revealed, so
we cannot add or delete from the word. It talks
about contending for the faith. These are short letters of the New Testament
that are often neglected, but the neglect of this important letter says more
about us than it does about the Book of Jude. Its neglect reflects more the
superficiality of the generation that neglects it than the irrelevance of its
burning message.
REVELATION
This is the book
of prophecy, which is very cryptic but we now see how accurately the prophecies
are being fulfilled. This was written by the Apostle John when he was sent to
the island of Patmos for solitary confinement.
May
the Lord add a blessing and hearing upon the reading of His Word!
Desire
God’s Word
Like newborn
babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your
salvation,
~ 1 Peter 2:2
Study the Word of God
Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be
ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
~ 2 Timothy 2:15
God’s Word acts in you
~– 2 Timothy 3:15, 16
Do God’s Word
Do not merely
listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who
listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at
his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and
immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently
into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not
forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they
do.
~ James 1:22-25
God’s word will never return to Him void but will accomplish
its work in you as you study and follow. God bless you as you do.
.. so is my word
that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
~ Isaiah 55:11
AMEN
|
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information contained herein is the sole proprietary of Anuradha and may not be used or
reproduced except as specifically permitted in writing. For any specific
requests, you may reach out to anupogalur@gmail.com
|
The Christian Motto:
For every task at hand, consider your calling and know that the chief end is to
glorify God in all that we do.
God will take us as we are, and the love of Jesus is
waiting for all with open arms.
We don’t need to reach a certain level of goodness before
we can pray; walk into a church or even read the Bible. We need to believe that
nobody is too broken for the grace of Jesus.
“For the grace of God has
appeared, bringing salvation for all people" Titus 2:11
Amen!
Anuradha Pogalur
