How the Books of the Bible are Organized.

How the Books of the Bible are Organized.

This may seem like a fairly straightforward topic, but to someone new to the Bible, they may never have thought of it.

Our faith is based on historic fact. This is so important, that it must be emphasized over and over again.

We do not believe fables:

"Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do." 1Ti 1:4 

"But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness." 1Ti 4:7 

"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2Ti 4:4 

"Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth." Tit 1:14 

"For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." 2Pe 1:16 

This is History: His Story = God's Story = The account of God working in human events.

So how are the books of the Bible Organized?

The Old Testament is organized as follows:

Genesis to Ester are the books which contain the history of the Jewish people, in basic chronological order.

The Book of Job is considered one of the Wisdom Books, but it too is history, the account of a man named Job; it is not a fable! It is the account of Satan's attack on one of God's people, Job's response, and God's control and involvement final vindication of Job.

Job to The Song of Solomon are The Wisdom Books. They give us wisdom, God's wisdom, wisdom from God, on various aspects of life. I wrote a Blog on each of the Wisdom Books.

The Book of Psalms is a song book. They are inspired songs/poems, and are therefore packed with Truth. They spring out of the human heart, and touch the heart cords of all of us. They also show the intimate and complex inter-action between the Holy Spirit and man, in the writing of scripture.

Then from Isaiah to Malachi, we have the prophets, Malachi being the last prophet. They are arranged in basic chronological order, with some of the prophets speaking to Israel, the 10 northern tribes, and some to Judah, the 2 southern tribes, and some to both, and some to the surrounding non-Jewish nations.

It is here, where the Old Testament ends, that we see a great proof of the unity of the entire Bible, the link and unity between the Old Testament and the New, showing that the Bible, Old and New Testaments, are 2 parts of one unified book; one message, from One God, about one topic: salvation.

The last verses of Malachi, which are the last verses of the Old Testament are:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Mal 4:5-6

The New Testament starts with John the Baptist, of whom Malachi had prophesied:

"In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." Mat 3:1-3

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee." Mar 1:1-2

"And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." Luk 1:16-17

"There was a man sent from God, whose name was John." Joh 1:6 

So important is this link, that all 4 gospels start with John.

The 400 years from Malachi to John and Jesus were silent, with no communication from God. The Old Testament ends with the prophecy of John's coming, the New starts with his arrival.

NOTE: The Apocryphal books, which were written during this 400 year period, were not considered scripture by the Jews, they did not accept them as inspired of God. They were never part of the Bible until the Catholic church incorporated them into their bible at the Counsel of Trent, in the 1500s, as part of the Counter-Reformation, to be in opposition to the Protestants.

So we arrive at the New Testament, how are these books arranged?

The New Testament books are all history books: the gospels record the history of Jesus, Acts records the history of the early years of the Church, all the epistles are written to real people, in real cities, about real events, and even Revelation is history, because since God has planned what will happen, and that plan cannot, nor will not change, Revelation is an account of history yet to happen; that is why it is called "Revelation," it is revealing what will happen.

The gospels are first hand, contemporary, eye-witness accounts of what Jesus said and did.

In his gospel John says:

"And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." Joh 20:30-31

In his first letter, 1 John, he says:

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1Jn 1:1-3

John states the reason for the written record, that those who were not there, could read the first hand accounts, for John was one of the 12 disciples in whose presence Jesus did those things, and that by reading his account, they might believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Luke tells us he personally interviewed the eye-witnesses:

"Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." Luk 1:1-4

And he carried that same methodology through when he wrote Acts:

"The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach," Act 1:1 

Then starting between chapter 20 and 21, he becomes a companion of Paul in his travels; notice the change from "they" to "we."

The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew/Levi the tax collector, one of the 12, an eye-witness to everything.

Mark was written by Mark, Barnabas' nephew. Mark's mother was Mary, the same Mary at whose house they were praying when Peter was in prison:

"And when he (Peter) had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying." Act 12:12 

Mark was personally knowledgeable of Jesus work and many think he is "the rich young ruler."

The Epistles were written to the churches whose histories are recorded in Acts, real people, in real cities, by the people who knew them, about the issues the writer knew were of importance to the people; the point being, these letters were not sent to some vague "some body," the recipients were know to the writer. There are too many examples to name, but consider all of the greetings in Romans 16:

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the first fruits of Achaia unto Christ. Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me. Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved. Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus' household. Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the Lord. Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord. Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them. Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you." Rom 16:3-16

Some of the epistles were written to specific churches in specific cities: Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica. Galatians was written to the churches of a specific region, but a specific event, when Paul challenged Peter at Antioch, which was known to everybody is mentioned. And Hebrews is written to a local church of mainly Jews, in a specific city; see my Blog "An Overview of the Book of Hebrews."

Some of the epistles were written to specific people: Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

James writes "to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad," Jewish Christians scattered abroad because of persecution. James is at Jerusalem, and he writes to his fellow Jewish countrymen who, because of persecution, had fled.

Peter writes to "the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," again, possibly/probably Jews who were scattered through out those areas.

John's first letter is written to a specific group, as he mentions "father, young men, and children," in the faith, obviously people whom he knew. 2 Jhn is written to Christian woman (yes, some think it was to a local church, and John is using "code" because of the persecution), but either way, he knew to whom he was writing. And 3 Jhn is obviously written to Gaius, who was a leader of a local church (see verse 9), John also rebuking one person, Diotrephes, and commending another, Demetrius.

Jude, who was one of Jesus half-brothers, obviously wrote to a local church, for he says that these false teachers were "spots on their love feasts." Communion meals, or "church dinner" type of gatherings.

And Jesus writes to 7 churches, real churches, in real cities.

And the New Testament writers all knew each other. Matthew and John were of the 12. James and Jude were 2 of Jesus half-brothers. Paul, Luke, and Mark had traveled together. And they all wrote to churches and people whom they knew quite well.

So, the purpose of this Blog is to show the inter-connectedness and unity of the entire Bible. That it is really one book, as it presents itself to be. And that should not surprise us, as one person, the Holy Spirit, is the true author of the book, and the subject of the book, is one: Jesus Christ and the salvation from God to men, that is only by Christ.

I hope this will help you as you read your Bible, to see the big picture, the unified picture.

6 March 2026