The particular breakdown of the Old Testament into 39 books becomes especially interesting when this organization is coupled with certain other facts mentioned in various places in the Bible. Of course, the "fortuitous" division of the book of Isaiah into the first 39 chapters that emphasizes God's judgement, followed by 27 chapters that emphasizes God's Grace, follows this same general organization.  Now notice the following intriguing corollary to this organization.

Consider the repeated use of the number "40" in the Bible:

• It rained "40" days during the flood (Genesis 7.4).
  
  

• Moses spent "40" years in the land of Midian before being commissioned by God to bring his people out of Egypt (Exodus 3).
  
  

• Moses spent "40" days on Mt. Sinai obtaining the Law while the people turned back to their former Egyptian gods (Exodus 24.18).
  
  

• The Twelve Tribes spied out the promised Land for "40" days before refusing to enter (Numbers 13.25).
  
  

• They were then required to wander in the wilderness for a total of "40" years (Numbers 14.33).
  
  

• Goliath taunted Israel for "40" days before his defeat by David (1 Samuel 17.16).
  
  

• Jonah preached to Nineveh for "40" days before they repented (Jonah 3.4).
  
  

• Jesus spent "40" days in the Judean wilderness before being tested by Satan (Matthew 4.1-2).
  
  

• Jesus spent "40" days on earth following His resurrection, presenting Himself and speaking things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (Acts 1.3).

With these examples, it's not difficult to ascribe a contextual association with the use of the number "40", for it seems always to be used in connection with some kind of trial or testing relevant to the particular event in view.

That being the case, it is striking that the topical arrangement of the Bible, dividing the Old Testament into 39 books and the new onto 27 books, causes the Gospel of Matthew to be the "40^th" book in the Bible. Since the very organization of the Bible has prophetic overtones, it should not be surprising to find that Matthew is intended primarily for Israel for the following reasons.

• Only Matthew's Gospel contains a genealogy beginning with Abraham who was the progenitor of Israel, and focuses on the kings of Judah to show that Jesus had the legal qualifications to be a king, and could therefore fulfill the prophecy given to king David that his throne would be established forever (II Samuel 7.16; Isaiah 9.6-7).
  
  

• Only in Matthew's Gospel was Jesus worshipped by rulers, thereby certifying His ultimate authority as King of the Jews (Matthew 2.1-2).
  
  

• Only in Matthew's Gospel did Jesus describe His earthly rule at the time of the regeneration to be King over the 12 Tribes of Israel (Matthew 19.28).
  
  

• Only in Matthew's Gospel at the occasion of the Sermon on the Mount did Jesus address the details of the Old Testament Law given to Israel, not only expounding it with authority but also showing that He came to fulfill its provisions (Matthew 5-7).
  
  

• Only Matthew's Gospel has the largest number of links with Old Testament prophecies showing how Jesus completely fulfilled the stipulations for the promised Messiah.
  
  

• Only Matthew's Gospel refers to the "Kingdom of Heaven", understood by Old Testament terminology to define the coming of the King from Heaven to set up a Kingdom on this earth with Heaven's standard (Daniel 7.27).
  
  

• Only in Matthew's Gospel are Jesus' disciples directed to go first to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matthew 10.5-7).
  
  

• Only Matthew's Gospel contains parables and similes so worded that they apply most directly to Israel, e.g. (Matthew 13.44, 13.45-46, 13.51-52, 21.28-32).

Consequently, the Gospel of Matthew appealed to a Jewish audience who were well schooled in the details of the Law, Messianic genealogies, prophecies to identify His coming as King, and Old Testament warnings against rejecting Him, so this Gospel properly became the book of "testing" for first century Israel in general, and the Jews in particular. After all, it was only right and proper that God should come to the Jews first, challenging them with the message of Good News, for they were His Chosen People, the ones responsible for the writing of the Old Testament, and the ones most knowledgeable concerning God's Redemptive Plan. Thus we see that at least in this respect, the topical organization chosen for the Bible is very consistent with these facts.

Additionally, pursue this thought another step. If this observed pattern is intentional, it follows that not only has the Old Testament been divided into the correct number of constituent books, but also that there must be no additional inspired books contained between the Old and New Testaments. Additional books would unquestionably destroy the numerical pattern just cited. Therefore by this reasoning alone, we should not expect the fifteen "Apocryphal" books that were written during the Inter-Testament period to be inspired, even though they could provide interesting reading or useful history for a period not covered historically by the Bible.

COMING GLORY

Questions and/or Comments