When we look at our Bible, we are so blessed even though we may not realize just how blessed we are to have our own personal printed copy of God’s will for us.
Our Bible is divided into books, and it was God who determined these divisions. He sent His Spirit upon chosen men to give us a record of so much of what He has done in the past. These men did not give a private interpretation of His will. They were God’s “mouthpieces” and the “handpieces” as He gave us the various books. “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:20-21). God determined the book divisions.
These books were arranged and placed in the order in which we find them by those who received them. They were arranged so that we first have the five books of Moses, for these were the first given. The books of Moses are followed by twelve books of the history of what happened after Moses died. They tell us about Joshua’s work and then the events that followed as the judges and kings led the Lord’s people.
We then have five books containing the psalms (the songs and poems) written by men who lived during the time recorded in those first seventeen books. They are different from those first books which primarily are historical. These poems contain more than the songs of the Jews. They record God’s proverbs, short words of wisdom to shape how men think and the wisdom given through the wisest king who ever lived. This section also tells the conversation between Job and his friends and Job and God. This book is also written in poetical style in the Hebrew Bible and men placed it in this part where we have these poems of the Bible.
There are then the seventeen books of prophecy which were written during the time of those first seventeen books of the Bible. While they contain some historical events, their greater content is the messages given by God to His holy nation after Joshua led them into the Promised Land. The messengers were the “mouthpieces” God used to speak to the nation He had chosen. He used these men to give His words to that nation about their current spiritual conditions and more importantly to give prophecies about the coming of a newer testament.
That first Old Testament contained thirty-nine books and was for the nation God brought out of Egypt. The New Testament is for every person of every nation. More importantly is the fact that it is His will for you and how you live your life. We will write more about this next week.