A Practical Guide to Your First Reading of the Bible

Naturally, the first thing you'll need for a good study of the Bible is a good Bible. It will be important for you to have a Bible which includes things like: introductions to each book, annotations, outlines, marginal cross-references, maps, concordance, and other helps. A good Bible choice of this type, especially for beginning students, is the "Ryrie Study Bible." All of the above mentioned items are included, and they are organized in an easy-to-follow manner. I have used other study Bibles, and I find the Ryrie to be the easiest to find my way around in.

Secondly, you must get a good translation. Most people remember the King James translation, which is a very good version, however, it is sometimes difficult to understand the Old English style. There are several modern English translations available, including the Living Bible, New International, Phillips Modern English, Revised Standard Version, New American Standard, Today's English Version, and others. Not all of these translations are considered reliable. In my opinion, the most reliable and easy to read translation is the New American Standard translation. This is considered by many to be the best modern English version of the Bible.

I know that all of this can be a bit intimidating, so to make it simple: Go into a Christian bookstore and ask for a "Ryrie Study Bible, New American Standard Translation, Red Letter Edition." The Red letter Edition will have everything Jesus Christ said printed in red. This is very helpful when studying the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John), which is of course a pivotal section of the Bible. The Ryrie Study bible is also available online at Amazon.com.

Often, Bibles will include a page entitled, "Through the Bible in a Year;" in fact, the Ryrie Study Bible has such a page. Start your Bible study by tearing this page from your Bible and throwing it into the trash. If you're going to take a whole year to read this book, don't bother. This book needs to be consumed in a reasonably short amount of time, so that by the time you get to the end, you have not forgotten what the beginning was all about. I cannot stress enough the importance of connecting the end to the beginning! You have to see the whole Bible as one unit, and in order to do that, you'll have to complete your study as quickly as possible. I don't want to make it sound like you need to quit your job or drop out of school stay at home, and read your Bible all day long -- it's not going to be that tough. As far as I'm concerned, if you can read through the Bible in three months you will have succeeded. Believe me, anyone who can read can get through the Bible in three months.

There are 66 books in the Bible, and there are ninety days in three months. That gives you a day and a half to read each book, but for many books you won't need anywhere near that much time. About one-third of the books of the Bible can be read in less than an hour. Another third can be read in less than two hours. Only about one-third of the books in the Bible will take more than two hours to read. Yes, you're going to have to set aside regular reading time, and it will take some discipline, but I think you can see from the above statistics that it will be easier than most ten-week college courses. After all, there will be no "pop" quiz, no final exam, no term paper. You just have to do the reading. Don't be surprised if you finish far short of three months.

Now, let's get down to business. I'm going to start off very basic. I don't want to leave anybody out, so if you know some of this stuff, please bear with me. The Bible is divided into two major sections: The Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament is concerned with events that happened before the birth of Jesus. The New Testament includes the events leading up to, during, and immediately after the life of Jesus. The Bible was written by several different writers; this is why it is important to have a study Bible. At the beginning of each chapter in the Ryrie Study Bible, you will find an introduction that includes items such as: who the author was, when the book was written, to whom it was written, what the historical setting was like, what the major theme of the book was, etc. This is very helpful, especially to the new student.

I cannot stress enough the importance of the study Bible introduction. These introductions are usually less than one page long and they help you understand why each book was written, how it connects to the rest of the Bible, and what sections are important. Looking carefully at this material before reading each book will greatly increase your comprehension of the Bible. If you cannot afford a study Bible, perhaps you will be able to find one in your local library. Another alternative is to buy inexpensive notes and outlines, which can be found in most Christian bookstores. Please do not begin your study without acquiring some kind of historical notes on each book. This will be critical to your greater understanding of the Bible. I have provided a link box with some very good Internet resources.

Finally, if you are using a study Bible, try to stay away from the footnotes as much as possible. It is easy to get bogged down in reading every footnote. Footnotes are certainly valuable, however, they can take away from the natural flow of the Scripture. Try to only use the footnotes when you are really confused about a passage. Often, if you will only continue reading for a few more verses, the context will explain the meaning of hard-to-understand passages.

 I want to give you a quick overall view of the whole Bible, so that you'll have some idea of where you're going as you read.  It is difficult to go on a long trip if you don't know where any of the landmarks are, or when the big turns come up.

The Old Testament contains 39 books, which can be divided into four sections:

PENTATEUCH

GENESIS thru DEUTERONOMY: This section covers the creation of heaven, earth, man and woman, the introduction of sin into the world, God's judgment of sin, Noah and the flood, the development of God's chosen people, Moses leading the chosen people out of Egypt and across the Red Sea, the giving of the Ten Commandments, and the chosen people's inability to enter the Promised Land.

HISTORICAL SECTION

JOSHUA thru ESTHER: This section records the history of God's chosen people. They conquer the Promised Land, raise up kings, split into two kingdoms (Israel & Judah).

Each kingdom is taken away into captivity and then return to rebuild Jerusalem.

POETICAL SECTION

JOB thru SONG OF SOLOMON & LAMENTATIONS: The term "Poetical" denotes a particular style rather than imaginative or capricious content. These books all speak for themselves, if you study their introductions closely.

PROPHETIC BOOKS

ISAIAH thru MALACHI: There are sixteen prophetical books in all. These prophecies deal mainly with the captivities of the two kingdoms of God's chosen people, Israel and Judah, and can be grouped into three categories:

BEFORE THE CAPTIVITY

Jonah

Amos

Hosea

Obadiah

Joel

Isaiah

Micah

Zephaniah

Habakkuk

Jeremiah

DURING THE CAPTIVITY

Jeremiah

Ezekiel

Obadiah

Daniel

AFTER THE CAPTIVITY

Nahum

Haggai

Zachariah

Malachi

The date of the writing of Obadiah is uncertain, so I have it listed twice. Jeremiah is listed twice because he lived both before and during the captivity. These books are also referred to as major and minor prophets, a division based solely upon the length of each book. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are the four major prophets; all other are known as minor prophets, simply because their books are much smaller.

There are three books in the Old Testament that I want to take special note of:

Leviticus

This book is full of ceremony, ritual, instruction, holy days, observances, and warnings. It is the law of God in detail, and can be about as difficult to read as one of today's law books. I definitely believe this book should be read; however, it will be very difficult to glean any of the great truths found here without the help of a good commentary. For my money, the very best commentary on the book of Leviticus was written by Dr. J. Vernon McGee. Ask at your Christian bookstore for a copy of Vernon McGee's "Thru The Bible Commentary" on the book of Leviticus. These commentaries come in paperback and only cost a few dollars. Many scholars consider Leviticus to be one of the greatest books of the Bible; but without help, you will miss the deeper truths which can be found in this book. Dr. McGee’s books can also be found online.

Job

The poetic style of this book can make it difficult to understand. If you find yourself getting lost, even when you read slowly, I would again recommend purchasing Dr. McGee's commentary on this book.

Proverbs

The first nine chapters of this book are pretty easy to follow if you are using a study Bible with topic headings. Chapters 10-31 are another matter; the proverbs are not placed in any specific order, and it is easy to be overwhelmed by the diversity of topics. My advice is to simply read slowly and take in as much as possible. It might be helpful to read in small sections rather than trying to read the whole thing at once. This is one of my favorite books in the Bible, and there is no doubt that a lot can be learned here, whether you are a Christian or non-Christian. This book is full of wonderfully poignant wisdom!

The New Testament consists of twenty-seven books, and for the most part, these books are much easier to read than the books of the Old Testament. We'll also divide these books into four sections:

HISTORICAL SECTION

MATTHEW thru ACTS: This section includes the four gospels, which are four different accounts of the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. The book of Acts details the spread of Christianity just after the departure of Jesus.

DOCTRINAL BOOKS

ROMANS, GALATIANS, HEBREWS: These are some of the most important books in the Bible for Christians to fully understand. Study these books slowly and meticulously.

CHRISTIAN LIFE AND CHURCH ORDER

ALL OTHER BOOKS (with the exception of Revelation): The bulk of the New Testament deals with the practical aspects of Christianity and is therefore very easy to read and understand. When reading the various books, look closely at the introduction to understand the circumstances in which each book was written.

PROPHETICAL

REVELATION: This is the only prophetic book in the New Testament. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and is a very difficult book to understand. I recommend you read this book slowly, without expecting to take away too much of the deeper meaning. This is the last book in the Bible, and at this point, if you should make a decision to do further Bible study, this would be a good place to start. I would recommend reading any one of three great books by author Hal Lindsey: "The Late Great Planet Earth," "There's a New World Coming," and "Countdown to Armageddon." These are well-written, enjoyable, easy-to-read books, which deal with the deeper meaning of Bible prophecy, centering on the book of Revelation.

The Bible is far too important of a book for anyone to ignore.  Whether or not you are a Christian is not the issue; the issue is the one true God.  This book claims to have been inspired by the one true God; and if that claim is true, you would be very stupid to not study this book at least once, from cover to cover.  The only way you can discover the truth of these claims, is to make your own personal study.  This is far too important of an issue to put in the hands of someone else.  Your eternal existence is at stake.  If you only study one book in your lifetime, this should be the one.  If you have already studied many books, this should be the next on your list.  Christians and non-Christians alike need to take a close, detailed look at the book which claims to be the Word of God, so as to be able to make a clear, rational, unobstructed decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of Jesus Christ.

Let me remind my Christian brothers and sisters that all Bible study should begin with prayer. To those of you who are unbelievers: If you are looking for Jesus, God wants to hear your prayers as well. Those of you who are reading skeptically, please keep an open mind; never study anything with preconceived notions or ideas. No matter what book you are studying, you should always allow the work to speak for itself. I know that you will all be filled with great wisdom when reading this most wonderful ancient text. My greatest hope is that you will also come to know God in a personal way.