Have you ever wondered where to start reading the bible, or how not to read the bible? Reading the entire Bible can often feel like an overwhelming task, but it does not have to be. You just need a map. Starting with the right map, you can read the entire Bible, understand it, and have it affect the quality and direction of your life.
Before jumping in, you must know that The Bible is not just a single book although it is bound together as one. There are 66 books of the Bible, that as a collection, form a library. Just like your life is made up of individual moments that you collect to the story of your life, the Bible is made up of individual writings that were collected to tell the story of Jesus. As one author notes, “The Bible is the unified story of Jesus.” This library is filled with different styles of writing like poetry, narrative, history, and even old literature like prophecy and apocalyptic. Written over the course of 1500 years, the plot line has all the twists and turns of life. Filled in the pages of the scriptures are what it means to be truly human.
However, the Bible ultimately is not about you… but it is for you. The Bible is a story about God and how he, through Jesus, is restoring the world. But through it is a story for us and how we can be changed through a restored relationship with Jesus.
What is the best order to read the bible for the first time?
So, because the Bible is about God, let’s jump into reading it from that perspective. A great place to start is with Jesus.
Who is Jesus?
Read: John, Matthew, Mark, Luke + Acts
Always start by asking the question, “Who is Jesus?” Get to know him through his biographies (called The Gospels) – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The book of Acts is a very exciting story of how the good news of Jesus spread by the work of the Holy Spirit through the first churches.
How do I follow Jesus?
Read: Romans 1 + 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 + 2 Thessalonians, 1 + 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 + 2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude
After you learn a bit about Jesus, read the letters written by a few of the leaders of the earliest days of the church to the first Christians who are trying to figure out what it means to follow Jesus. All these writings are letters. So, picture yourself reading a letter from a friend or mentor of yours! You would hang on to every word, just as the first Christians did, looking for what to do next.
Why did Jesus have to come?
Read: Genesis – Malachi
Although God had certain intentions for the world, our sins broke everything. God, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, began to rescue the world and put everything back together again.
Up to now, all the readings have been in what is called the New Testament. However, there is a section that was actually written first, aptly titled the Old Testament. The Old Testament was written before Jesus but it points us to Jesus through the history of the nation of Israel. At the core of Israel’s relationship with God was a deeply held hope that God would come to save them and put the world back together again. God was going to do this through “a suffering servant” known as “the Messiah.” Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus acknowledges that Old Testament is about him when he says:
“When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” - Luke 24:44-49
Although it will be harder and take longer to read and study, The Old Testament is helpful (especially Genesis 1-11) to understand how much of a problem our sin truly is, the struggle it creates in us and the world, why need Jesus to save us and the world we messed up.
The Introduction
Read: Genesis 1-11
Law of Moses
These books tell the story through Israel, God is going to be a “blessing to all the nations.” Israel often thinks that they themselves will be the blessing and receive the blessing, but God has Jesus in their mind the whole time. Jesus is ultimately born into a Jewish family from a Kingly Line – the Line of David.
- Israel’s Laws – Genesis 12-50, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
- Israel’s History - Joshua, Judges, 1 + 2 Samuel, 1 + 2 Kings, Esther
Prophets
Israel’s story is ultimately one of struggle. In fact, the name of their nation “Israel” means to, “wrestle with God.” The people of Israel ultimately wrestle to keep their covenant with God and hold him to be first in their life. This forces them to fight with themselves, splitting the nation into two kingdoms – Northern and Southern. The split makes the nation weaker, ultimately forces both into exile when neighboring nations of Assyria and Babylon conquer them. The worst part is Israel’s temple, the place central to their relationship with God, was destroyed.
The Old Testament Prophets are split into three sections based off this monumental event in Israel’s history.
- Pre-Exile: Warnings that they are off course and in danger
- Exile: Writings from within the struggle of exile
- Post Exile: Affirmations to rebuild the temple and keep their covenant
Pre-Exile Northern Prophets: Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah
Pre-Exile Southern Prophets: Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
Exilic Prophets: Ezekiel, Daniel, Jeremiah
Post-Exile Prophets: Obadiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Joel, Malachi, Ezra, Nehemiah
Summary
Read: 1 + 2 Chronicles
A summary of most of the Old Testament and the history of Israel. 1 + 2 Chronicles is the last book in the Jewish Bible, and it ends with a fragment, “He must go up…” ultimately pointing to the coming of Jesus.
How do I do life well?
Read: Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Job, Lamentations, Ruth
All the scriptures offer a lot of wisdom when it comes to following Jesus and living life the way God intended us to. There is a smaller collection of writings specifically known by the wisdom it offers, appropriately called Wisdom Literature. Although these writings fit into the overall arc of God’s story in unique ways, and still ultimately point to Jesus, they don’t rely on knowing the backstory nearly as much.
Psalms – A prayer book for staying faithful to God through life and expressing emotion
Proverbs – General wisdom covering many themes and topics
Ecclesiastes – A wise view on the arc of life
Song of Solomon – Wisdom about marriage/dating through the story of a couple
Job – A story about a man’s excruciating grief and how God stays at the center of his life
Lamentations – A collection of Israel’s laments where they passionately express grief and sorrow
One great way to fit Wisdom Literature into your overall reading plan is to read one chapter from one of these books – especially a Psalm and a Proverb. In fact, Proverbs has 31 chapters – you could read one chapter from proverbs every day each month!
How does it all get put back together?
Read: Revelation
The Bible wraps up with a truly confusing yet hopeful book. The back half of Daniel (chapters 7-12) and Revelation are part of a genre called apocalyptic literature. “Apocalyptic” is just a big word that means, “revealing” or “revelation” and it was written as an encouragement to churches while they were struggling with yet another hostile takeover. Ultimately, the message of Revelation is that Jesus is going to overcome and fully restore the world back to what God intended it to be. This will happen when he returns.
Sometimes having an outline of the overall narrative helps you read. Here is an outline, zoomed way out, so you remember where you are in the overall arc of the Bible’s story:
- Creation: Genesis 1 – 2
- Fall: Genesis 3-11
- Struggle: Genesis 12 – Malachi
- Redemption: Matthew – John
- Church: Acts - Jude
- Restoration: Revelation
Where to start reading the Bible daily?
Sometimes the best place to start reading the Bible is with a Bible Reading Plan. On our website we have dozens of options. Everything from Mothers of the Bible to Stories of Mental Health in the Bible.
You can also use these video book overviews before you start a book to get an idea of what you are about to read! We also created an article to dive deeper and find out what Version of the Bible to use.
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