How To Quickly Find Books In The Bible

Here is how you can quickly find any books listed in the Bible, either New Testament or Old Testament.

Start a Daily Reading Plan

If you read the Bible every day, you’ll begin to learn the books of the Bible much better. One plan that I follow is to read some out of the Old Testament every morning when I first get up and then read the New Testament too. This allows me to learn where certain books of the Bible are at without memorizing them. I don’t have to memorize where all of the books of the Bible are if I am already familiar with it and by reading the Bible every day, you’ll begin to find whichever book you want much easier because you’re already very familiar with it.

Memorize the Order

Some Sunday school teachers have used music to help students memorize the order of the books of the Bible much like the ABC’s song helps children memorize the alphabet. It works very well for youth and they love it but it can also be useful for adults who have trouble finding certain books in the Bible. You can also start with the first five books of the Old and the New Testament and begin with smaller, incremental steps as you progress upward until you have memorized all of the books in the Bible and the order in which they come. I taught Sunday school to children for over 20 years and I began to memorize the order of the books of the Bible along with the youth I taught.

Using Tabs

Many better books stores offer tabs for each book of the Bible and this allows the reader to simply look for the books in the Bible by use of tabs. It’s quick and easy to find any book in this way but there’s also Bibles that use a thumb index where each book of the Bible has the lists of the books in it already and you can find whatever book you’re looking for by simply finding the thumb index where the pages are indented and it allows you to find it and quickly turn to it, which is very useful for following along with the sermons at church or in Sunday school or at Bible studies.

Bookmarks

I have bookmarks in my Bible but I saw a picture of a bookmark where on one side, all of the Old Testament books of the Bible were listed in the order in which they appear and on the other side, the books of the New Testament were listed in the order in which they’re found, so finding the book you want is as easy as finding your bookmark and looking on the list to gain quick access to the book you want.

Grouping of Books

The Bible is divided up for the reader so that they can easily find whichever book they are looking for. For example, all of the wisdom literature books are grouped together in the Old Testament like the Book of Proverbs and the Book of Ecclesiastes. The prophets are also grouped together as the so-called “Major Prophets” and then the “Minor Prophets.” This doesn’t mean that Isaiah’s book is more important. The major and minor classification has to do with the amount or size of the content, not the importance or significance of the context as all the Bible is of major importance. The gospels are all grouped together so there is no problem finding a particular gospel and knowing that the New Testament begins with the Gospel of Matthew allows you to find the other gospels too. The same thing applies with the historical sections in the Old Testament like 1st and 2nd Chronicles and 1st and 2nd Kings. Once you become familiar enough with the Bible, there will be no problem in finding any book of the Bible you want to find. The key is familiarity and the more you read the Bible on a daily basis, the easier it will be to find a book in the Bible that you want to find. Becoming familiar enough with the Bible will help you become familiar enough to know the order of the Books of the Bible.

Conclusion

The Bible is our single greatest resource here on earth and can help us grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ (2nd Pet 3:17-18) as “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2nd Tim 3:16-17). This is why the psalmist wrote “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11). If you don’t believe in the Bible and don’t believe in God, you should understand that the Bible was not written for you or to you. It’s like your reading someone else’s mail. To understand it you must humble yourself and repent of your sins and then put your trust in Christ. Only then can you begin to understand the Word of God.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.