II. Navigating the Word of God
In order for the Bible to become an effective tool in your daily life, you need to learn your way around in it. The basic things you will need to understand are that it is divided into two major sections called the Old Testament and the New Testament. These sections are further divided into a number of individual books written at various times by various authors who were led of the Holy Ghost. Each book is further broken down onto a number of chapters generally according to the amount of material contained in it. Finally, each chapter is broken down into a number of ‘bite size’ sections called verses. By this means any portion of Scripture can be easily referenced and quickly found by anyone interested in checking it out. The particular Testament in which a reference is found is rarely given so you would be wise to memorize the books in their proper order in each Testament.

Using the above methodology, to find a verse referenced as John 3:16, you would first of all have to know that the book of John is in the New Testament and further that it is the fourth book from the beginning. This can be determined in most Bibles by looking in the table of contents found either before the Old Testament or before the Testament in which the book is found. Upon finding the Book of John (as distinguished from the books called 1 John, 2 John, or 3 John), you would scan the text for the large numbers that mark off the chapters or for a chapter heading. When you find the third chapter, you simply follow the smaller numbers down the page until you come to number 16. The entire set of words, phrases or sentences found up to the number 17 comprise the verse in question. With a little practice you will soon see how very easy this is to do. From now on, many verses will be referenced without being quoted in these lessons. It will be up to you to look these up and determine how and why they fit the subject being discussed. This will provide abundant opportunities to familiarize yourself with your Bible and soon you will find that you can find any reference within less than a minute, often in a few seconds.

A. Old Testament
Thirty-nine (39) books, primarily Jewish in flavor and outlook. Breaks down naturally into 3 categories. There is overlap of form and function between the categories, nevertheless they are readily distinguishable.
1. History of the world from the perspective of the messianic line to Jesus. Covers approximately the first 3500 years of creation.

2. Inspirational writings, wisdom literature, and instructional writings for living day by day. Mostly valid for any era.