It’s organized by literature and not by chronology
I took the challenge to read the New Testament Bible in chronological order with a group of Christians on Facebook. We used the NLT One Year Chronological Study Bible and watched the animated overview video for each book through the Bible Project.
It took us four months to read the entire New Testament. I enjoyed reading a little bit every day and commenting on Facebook with other readers. On the last day, I asked why all Bibles were not written in the order when events happened. The leader tasked me to find out.
I know the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit and comprised of history, letters, poetry, stories, and prophetic writings.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV)
These books were not arranged in chronological order, but grouped together into sections according to type of literature. The different types of literature offer changes in content, writing style, and purpose. We can divide the 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books into history, letters, poetry, and books of prophecy.
History books include such books as Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, and Esther which describe Israel’s life and circumstances. In the New Testament, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts are historical.
Examples of letters are found in Romans, Colossians, Hebrews, James, and Jude. These include letters written to individuals and churches.
Poetry is mainly in books such as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Malachi are some of the prophetic books. And of course, the book of Revelation.
We can find chronological order within each different type of literature. For the most part, the historical events of the Old Testament are in chronological order. The prophet Isaiah lived before Jeremiah, so his prophecies are first in the Bible.
But not all books can be placed chronologically — for example, the book of Job — because there is no record of when the events took place. Others have overlapping timelines. And following a strict timeline is not always the best way to convey fundamental truths.
I enjoyed reading the Bible in sequential order to better understand the historical flow of what took place from Genesis (1445–1405 BC) to Revelation (AD 94–96). But maybe next time I’ll read through the Bible cover to cover…backwards.
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Want to go deeper in your worship and walk with God? You’ll find this story—and many others that reveal the heart of true worship—in Prayer, Church & The Bible: Exploring Biblical Truths About True Worship, available on Amazon.