Learning the Books of the Bible through Timeline

Sing It!

If you grew up in church you no doubt remember listening to a song that was supposed to help you learn the books of the Bible. I don’t even remember then tune! Was it sung to the beat of Twinkle, Twinkle? Or was it Jesus Loves the Little Children? Yeah, I have no clue. I’ll be back after a quick YouTube search…

Ok, yeah that was not such a quick search! And I was way off on the beat! Maybe that’s why I never could commit it to memory. This song is all over the place!!!

Are you walking around singing your books of the Bible song? 😉 Are you the last one on Sundays to get to the scripture being studied? Do you flip back and forth just to end up frustrated and at the Table of Contents?

I don’t have the books of the Bible memorized. But, over the years I’ve learned to associate most books with a general timeline from the Bible, helping me to have a better general knowledge of where to go when I’m looking for something. That’s what I’m going to share with you today.

In fact, there’s this FREE Bible study checklist to help you get more out of your study time. Follow its steps so you don’t feel lost. It will help you stay focused and get more out of your time in order to grow in your knowledge of the truth.

Old Testament

We all know that Genesis is the beginning. Then Exodus – Leviticus – Numbers – Deuteronomy – Joshua is the story of Moses leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and Joshua conquering the land of milk and honey. Judges covers the time after Joshua’s death where appointed judges were in charge.

Ruth is next, a stand along recount of redemption and strength for Naomi’s family.

1 & 2 Samuel – 1 & 2 Kings – 1 & 2 Chronicles covers the establishment of kings and their reigns. Saul, David, Solomon, and the slew of descendants that reigned after. The division of Israel, exile of Judah, and return to the Promised land is also covered in 1 & 2 Chronicles.

Ezra – Nehemiah tell the really cool story of the temple being rebuilt. Esther covers this as well as her reign as queen and advocate for the Jews.

Job is the stand alone story of a wealthy man stripped of his fortune, family, and health. God allowed Satan to test Job’s loyalty but Job continued to trust in God.

Psalms – Proverbs – Ecclesiastes provide praise, worship, confession to God and wisdom and life lessons. Song of Songs tells of the love between a husband and wife.

Isaiah – Jeremiah were prophets begging people to turn back to God. Jeremiah also wrote Lamentations. Ezekiel was a prophet to the exiled Jews in Baylonia. Daniel was an exiled Jew. He was thrown into the lion’s den by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar.

Minor Prophets

Hosea – Joel – Amos – Obadiah – Jonah – Micah – Nahum – Habbakuk – Zephaniah – Haggai – Zechariah – Malachi were all the “minor” prophets during that same Old Testament time. Honesty, I know they’re all at the end of the New Testament together but I’m still not very good at remembering the order of these. So let’s try to break them down into major events during their life:

Hosea was the one married to the prostitute and taught about God’s love towards sinners.
Joel prophesied a plague of locusts.
Amos was a shepherd turned prophet when God began giving him visions.
Obadiah prophesied the destruction of Edom (one of Israel’s enemies) and the restoration of Israel.
Jonah got swallowed by the fish for not obeying God and going to Ninevah.
Micah describes how our God hates sin and loves sinners. He also predicted a king from Bethlehem.
Nahum prophesied the destruction of Ninevah after they returned to wickedness.
Habbakuk is a Q&A session between the prophet and God.
Zephaniah prophesied about judgement of sin
Haggai called the people to finish rebuilding the temple after they’d stopped halfway through.
Zechariah prophesied about deliverance from sin through the Messiah.
Malachi is the last prophet of the Old Testament.

New Testament

Matthew – Mark – Luke – John are the gospels; four accounts from four men on the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of Christ. After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles got to work on spreading the news of salvation through faith in Jesus – which is the book of Acts.

Romans are the people group that lived among the Jews and the next audience that received the good news. Then as early churches started popping up, the apostles wrote letters to them to help them grow in their faith. First & Second Corinthians -Galatians – Ephesians – Philippians – Colossians – 1st & 2nd Thessalonians are all churches that received letters.

1 & 2 Timothy were letters from Paul to encourage Timothy. Paul also wrote letters to fellow believers Titus and Philemon.

Hebrews is a book for just that, the Hebrew people.

James – 1 & 2 Peter – 1 & 2 & 3 John – Jude are all authored by their namesakes and help believers mature in their faith.

Revelation is the last book of the Holy Word of God-breathed scripture. It is a vision given to the apostle John and revealing the second coming of Christ.

Knowing His Word

If you haven’t already, grab your FREE Bible study checklist to help you get more out of your study time!

So I know this is not as catchy as that little jig we talked about and tried to sing along with. But I hope this timeline helps trigger your memory as you navigate your Bible next Sunday or tomorrow or even tonight. Knowing His Word helps us grow and mature in our faith and fulfill the purposes He has for us. Part of knowing His Word is knowing its order. I challenge you to learn it! I’ll be working on learning it better too!

Do you have tips for knowing where to find a certain book in the Bible? Comment below – help a girl out!!

And, just for kicks, here’s another song…