How Do I Read the Scriptures?

The Organization of the Scriptures

The scriptures are large and complicated. How are they organized?

If you understand how the scriptures are organized, they are not complicated.

There are two major sections in the scriptures:

  1. The Jewish part of the scriptures, or the Old Testament.
  2. The Christian part of the scriptures, or the New Testament.

The Jewish part is about the Jewish people. It was written long before Jesus was born. It tells about the law, the Jewish nation, and their rise and fall. It includes narrative, legal material, messages, poems, and wisdom.

The Christian part is about Jesus and his followers. It was written after Jesus died. It tells about Jesus' life and message, and how his followers established a movement. It contains narrative, letters, and a vision.

Each of these two parts have several subsections.

What is in the Jewish part of the scriptures?

The Jewish part contains:

  1. Law.
  2. History.
  3. Poetry.
  4. Prophecy.

The law was given by God to the nation of Israel through Moses. It tells about where the law came from, how the law was given, and gives the content of the law.

There are five books of law, from Genesis to Deuteronomy.

The history tells about the history of the Jewish people. It begins with the early entrance into Canaan, or Palestine. It proceeds through the founding of the monarchies. It travels through several periods of rises and falls of the empire. It ends with the destruction, captivity, and exile of the nation.

There are twelve books of history, from Joshua to Esther.

The poetry subsection contains poetry, songs, and wisdom.

It includes songs of praise, lament, and others. It includes wisdom sayings and books that discuss philosophical topics.

There are five books of poetry, from Job to Song of Songs.

The prophecy section contains messages of warning from God through prophets. It is not primarily future-telling, despite claims to the contrary. A prophet speaks for God. He provides a warning from God: comply or face peril. The warning of peril contains threats of punishment. This is not so much future-telling as it is warnings of specific consequences.

There are seventeen books of prophecy, from Isaiah to Malachi.

What is in the Christian part of the scriptures?

The Christian part contains:

  1. Gospels.
  2. History.
  3. Letters.
  4. A vision.

The gospels tell about the life, teachings, and death of Jesus. Jesus claimed that he fulfilled the intent of the Jewish law. He claimed to institute a new Jewish kingdom that was spiritual, not national. He was executed as a criminal, but rose from the dead.

The gospels contains four books from Matthew to John.

The history section contains one book: Acts of the Apostles. It covers the period from Jesus' death through the founding of the early church. It discusses the rapid growth and obstacles of the early church.

The letters contain letters from early church leaders. These letters attempt to help the early church overcome challenges.

Paul wrote the first group. The first letters are from Paul to churches. The second letters are from Paul to individuals.

The second group of letters are from other church leaders.

There are 21 letters, from Romans to Jude.

Their is a single vision, Revelation. It is one long vision--it is not called Revelations; it is called Revelation. The apostle John was exiled on an island. While their, he received a vision from Jesus. This vision uses fantastic images to make a point.

The point is that God will in fact win in the end. Anyone discouraged by persecution should not be fooled by immediate appearances.

Look at the next Section.