ADDENDUM SIX
TODAY I want to put forth the REAL truth in this note about the true canon of the Bible, how many books there really are and how they were originally arranged. It was Ezra who finished what is called the "old covenant " and John who put together the so called "new covenant ". Actually both covenants can be found in what we call today "the Old Testament" and you can fall for old testament relations towards God even in the "New Testament" .... of course, the difference is whether you are attempting to keep God’s commands in your own power by the old life, or whether God is writing His laws on your heart gradually bringing you into agreement with Himself.
So first of all this needs to be said: there are only FORTY-NINE (49) BOOKS in the Bible!!! (49 is God’s number for Jubilee!) Explanation is following. The first section is called the LAW and was written by Moses consisting of FIVE (5) books:
1. Genesis 50
2. Exodus 40
3. Leviticus 27
4. Numbers 36 .... and
5. Dueteronomy34
The second section is called the PROPHETS and consists of SIX books (6-11) and consists of much history as well as prophetical writings:
6. Joshua - Judges (we consider it 2 books but THEY did not!) 24 + 21 =45
7. Book of Kingdoms (we consider it as 4 books: I & II Samuel and I & II Kings but not originally so) 31+29+22+25=107: chapters that is (after man added chapters and verses)
8. Isaiah 66
9. Jeremiah 52
10. Ezekiel 48
11. Hosea 14- Joel 3 - Amos 9 - Obadiah 1 - Jonah 4 - Micah 7 - Nahum 3 - Habakkuk 3 - Zephaniah 3- Haggai 3 - Zechariah 14 - Malachi 4 ... however, we consider these as separated books; 12 to be exact, but in the original canon certified by Ezra, it was not so. Altogether the chapters are 68.
The 3rd section was the PSALMS or WRITINGS consisting of all the rest of what we call the Old Testament. This books #s: 12 through 22: ELEVEN books in all, however, we consider them to be more.
12. Psalms 150
13. Proverbs 31
14. Job 42
15. Song of Songs 8
16. Ruth 4
17. Lamentations 5
18. Ecclesiastes 12
19. Esther 10
20. Daniel (why this wasn't in the prophets, I do not know!) 12
21. Ezra 10 - Nehemiah 13 (considered 1 book) =23
22. I Chronicles 29 - II Chronicles36(1 book) =65
........................................ Now comes what we consider the New Testament ......................................................
Section 1. This was NOT considered by them part of the New Covenant; rather they considered it to be an interim BETWEEN the 2 testaments or covenants. There were 22 (the number of knops on the OT Lampstand in the holy place which many scholars say is the number that means light) books on each side of this mid section of 5 books sandwiching them!
23. Matthew 28
24. Mark 16
25. Luke 24
26. John 21
27. Acts28
Section 2. This section was called the JUDEAN EPISTLES because they were considered to the JEWS (there were the 2 tribes and the 10 tribes: the Jews were considered the 2 tribes with many from Levi mixed in, however the term Gentiles in the "NT" writings are mainly talking about the other 10 tribes which had mostly been dispersed into Europe and some other nations also), however, I would be bold to be unbiased, noting there was a mix of all of them everywhere although certain majorities of peoples were in certain areas. Also James is specifically addressed to the 10 tribes scattered abroad.
28. James 5
29. I Peter 5
30. II Peter 3
31. I John 5
32. II John. 1
33. III John 1
34. Jude1
Section 3. is called the ISRAEL EPISTLES .... written to the 10 tribes who were scattered before the Jews ever were scattered to Babylon, the majority of whom never returned to Palestine even to this very day.
35. Galatians 6
36. I Thessalonians 5
37. II Thessalonians 3
38. I Corinthians 16
39. II Corinthians 13
40. Romans 16
41. Colossians 4
42. II Colossians (we call it Ephesians) 6
43. Philemon 1
44. Philippians 4
45. I Timothy 6
46. Titus 3
47. II Timothy 4
48. Hebrews 13
49. Revelation 22
My NT historical order is this (Although, really, only the Pauline epistles should be written like this to get a better perspective historically. In other words my order in my NT online is not based on historical events but in what order I believe these books were actually WRITTEN.): Galatians, James, I Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, I Corinthians, II Corinthians, Romans, Mark, Matthew, Luke, Collosians, II Collosians (which we call Ephesians, Phillipians, I Timothy, Acts, Titus, John, I John, II John, III John, I Peter, II Timothy, II Peter, Hebrews, Jude and Revelation. You can see my explanation of this in my Word of God series at: http://www.lostkeysrevelation.com/NTOrderExpl.htm where I have a link to a NT in this order as translated by Robert Young ( the YLT) and it has NO chapters and NO verses as I stripped them out so you can get a feel of how it was first read.
The End