What's in the New Testament?

We commonly refer to the Bible as a “book” – in fact, it is the best-selling book of all-time.  However, the Bible itself is a collection of 66 individual books.  These books were written over approximately 1500 years, by 40 different authors, and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors to write His words and His message to humanity.  Each author brought their own experiences, concerns, and writing style…and as such, we have a variety of literature types within the Scriptures.  The major division of the Bible’s books is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For this blog post, we’ll look at what God has said in the New Testament:

New Testament – This is a collection of 27 books which details Jesus’ birth, ministry, death on the cross, His resurrection, and the world-wide impact of these events.  They are divided into 5 different categories:

The Gospels – These 4 accounts tell of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection.  The only other historical contemporary to Jesus who had four biographical accounts of their life at that time was the Emperor Tiberius.  The gospels show a remarkable consistency for having been written by four different authors writing for four different audiences.  The gospels are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

History – Just one book, Acts.  It begins with Jesus giving the disciples their mission to tell the world about Him, and then He ascends into the heavens.  The rest of the book tells how this mission was fulfilled through the early church.  It also reveals Paul’s incredible conversion to Christianity and his role as a missionary.

Paul’s letters – Not only did Paul take multiple missionary trips, bringing the gospel to several nations around the Mediterranean, but he also wrote letters to the churches he established and specific people he partnered with in ministry.  These books contain a mixture of Christian doctrine/teachings and practical advice on how to live like Jesus in a messed-up world.  Paul’s letters include: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

General letters – These are smaller letters written to larger Christian audiences.  They contain additional teachings and practical applications.  These letters include: Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude.

Prophecy – The book of Revelation is God’s foretelling of the end of earth’s history and the beginning of Jesus reign into Eternity Future.  You’ll find lots of symbolism and references back to many Old Testament people and situations.  Whereas Genesis begins with the story of Paradise Lost, Revelation ends with Paradise Restored.

A few things to keep in mind:

The Bible isn’t a science text – but it does contain some science references.  The Bible isn’t a history book, but there’s never been an archeological find that has contradicted a historical statement in the Bible.  The Bible never claimed to be “the book of every explanation”, but it does contain everything we need to understand God’s love and design for humanity.  The Bible tells us of God’s original partnership with us, how we fouled it up, and God’s plan to rescue us from the mess we’ve made.

I hope and pray that this brief description is helpful to you…perhaps even spurred some questions or curiosity about a book of the Bible you haven’t read in a while.  I’ll end with Paul’s encouragement to his protégé, Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Keep Pressing,
Ken

What’s in the Old Testament?

We commonly refer to the Bible as a “book” – in fact, it is the best-selling book of all-time.  However, the Bible itself is a collection of 66 individual books.  These books were written over approximately 1500 years, by 40 different authors, and in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek).

Through the Holy Spirit, God inspired the authors to write His words and His message to humanity.  Each author brought their own experiences, concerns, and writing style…and as such, we have a variety of literature types within the Scriptures.  The major division of the Bible’s books is between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  For this blog post, we’ll look at what God has said in the Old Testament:

Old Testament – This is a collection of 39 books of ancient Hebrew literature, which begins with the story of Creation and the fall of humanity into sin, which separates all of us from God.  These texts continue through the establishment and history of the nation of Israel, which are broken down into 4 major categories:

Torah/Pentateuch – These are the 5 books of Moses.  Torah is Hebrew for “teaching” and Pentateuch simply means “five books”.  These books detail out how God created everything, but quickly focus in on the establishment of the nation of Israel.  The books include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

History – These 12 books travel through Israel’s many ups and downs as they struggle between keeping in step with God and doing everything on their own.  Many of the familiar Old Testament stories are found in these books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

Poetry/Wisdom – This is a collection of some of the most interesting and beautiful poetry you’ve ever read.  Many common sayings we still use today trace their origins back to this section of the Bible.  These books include: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.

Prophecy – God sent many prophets to Israel throughout the centuries.  Their writings are divided into what is call the “Major Prophets” and the “Minor Prophets”.  However, that distinction has nothing to do with the importance of their individual message, rather the prophets’ writings are divided up by size, with the Major Prophets having significantly bigger texts than the Minor Prophets:

Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Ezekiel
Minor Prophets: Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi

After Malachi’s teaching, God did not send a prophet to speak to Israel for approximately 400 years.  Then everything changed with the arrival of Jesus. 

Some modern-day Christians have wondered if it’s worth our time to read and study the Old Testament.  After all, since Jesus came and saved us, wouldn’t His teachings be enough for us to focus on?

The Apostle Paul had to say this to the church he planted in Corinth, in reference to the events of the Old Testament:

1 Corinthians 10:11
These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction

There are three ways to learn – by instruction, by example, or the hard way.  God has given us instruction and examples in the Old Testament so we don’t have to learn the hard way.  As such, it’s definitely worth our time to see what God has to say in those books.

Keep Pressing,
Ken