Book Chain
The Death of Joseph
Yahvah Fills the Tabernacle
Firstborn Goes to Yahvah
By the Jordan River
Joshua Succeedes Moses
The Death of Joshua
Family Inheritance
The Death of King Saul
King David
King Ahaziah Seeks Baal
The Captivity of King Jehoiachin
The City of Jerusalem
The Captivity of Jerusalem
Jerusalem Emptied of People
Return to Jerusalem
Walls Broken Down
Foreign Women
The King's Horses
Moving Mountains
Into the Sea
Repentance
Harlotry
Dew
Shaking and Sweeping
Singing
Praise Yahvah
Generations
Fearing God
The Virtuous Woman
Solomon's Genealogy
Sacred Assemblies
Edom Judged
Mountain's of Esau
Fire
Scattering and Seizing
Review
Solomon Succeedes David
Vessels
End and Beginning
Three Denials
Baptism
A Fearful Angel Encounter
Jesus Taken Up
Imprisonment
Fragrant Offerings
Increasing Love
Immanual
Joy
Perseverance
Damnation
Blessing
Gospel
Prophets
Greetings
Wandering
Entrusted
Comfort
Faith
Faithful
Complete
Eternal Life
Equal Faith
Knowledge of Jesus
Love in the Faith
Face to Face with Jesus
The Tree of Life

Connecting the Books

The discovery that the books of the Bible connect together end-to-end across the Bible began several years ago while attending a college lecture. One of my favorite Bible professors took a rabbit trail from the main lecture, or so it seemed, but the seed he planted that day would later grow into the "Book Chain," one of the core proofs for the book order presented on this website.

My professor explained that there was a Hebrew manuscript in antiquity, in Alexandria Egypt I think, that was remarkable for the fact that it's book order veered from the common Hebrew book order of the day. In particular the book of Ruth had been moved from it's normal position and placed after Proverbs.

My professor explained to the class that this unique placement of Ruth may be justified given the special context that links Ruth and the end of Proverbs. "Remember how the book of Proverbs ends," he said, "there's the famous search for a wife of noble character."

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. (KJV)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. (KJV/NC)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10A worthy woman who can find?(ASV)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10¶ Who can find a diligent woman? For her price is far above rubies. (LAM)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10A good wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. (RSV)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. (NIV)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10Who can find a worthy woman?
For her price is far above rubies.(WEB)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10Who can find a worthy woman?
For her price is far above rubies.(WEB/HNV)

29 Proverbs of Solomon 31:10 10Who can find a diligent woman? For her price is far above rubies. (BRB)

He went on to explain that Ruth is "a woman of noble character." Remember the night Ruth visited Boaz at the threshing floor and gestured for his hand in marriage? What did Boaz say in response to Ruth?

30 Ruth 3:11 11וְעַתָּ֗ה בִּתִּי֙ אַל־ תִּ֣ירְאִ֔י כֹּ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־ תֹּאמְרִ֖י אֶֽעֱשֶׂה־ לָּ֑ךְ כִּ֤י יוֹדֵ֙עַ֙ כָּל־ שַׁ֣עַר עַמִּ֔י כִּ֛י אֵ֥שֶׁת חַ֖יִל אָֽתְּ׃ (WLC)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. (KJV)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. (KJV/NC)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou sayest; for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a worthy woman. (ASV)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, fear not; for I will do for you all that you ask of me; for all the family of our people know that you are a virtuous woman. (LAM)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, do not fear, I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of worth. (RSV)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. (NIV)

30 Ruth 3:11 11Now, my daughter, don't be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman. (WEB)

30 Ruth 3:11 11Now, my daughter, don't be afraid; I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people does know that you are a worthy woman. (WEB/HNV)

30 Ruth 3:11 11And now, my daughter, do not fear; for I will do for you all that you ask of me; for all the family of our people know that you are a virtuous woman. (BRB)

Boaz said everyone in town knows that you are a woman of noble character. Maybe as good students of the Bible we are supposed to know this also. By the end of the story Boaz and Ruth are wed and the search for a wife of noble character is finished as is the search for where Ruth belongs in the book order.

I was so excited by the idea that the books of the Bible link together like Proverbs and Ruth that I went back to my dorm room that afternoon and set out to learn how the other books of the Bible connect. Other than a few books at the beginning of the Bible I was unable to make any linkages because I had somehow missed the fact that my professor had cited a book order different than my modern Bible (NIV). I quickly gave up looking, but never forgot the story of Ruth following Proverbs.

A New Book Order

Fast forward several years. I'm out of college and doing social service work with young men and women and reading my Bible devotionally in my spare time. While reading the Bible on a day off from work I realized the book of Isaiah is like the TABLE OF CONTENTS for the Bible, providing a map for correctly ordering the books of the Bible. With this newfound knowledge I began matching each book in the Bible with a chapter in Isaiah.

Somewhere early in this process of studying the book order in Isaiah I remembered my professor's talk on Proverbs and Ruth and realized after reordering the books of the Bible using Isaiah they might just connect together. So I began comparing books that I had already placed using Isaiah and sure enough they were connecting in a manor clearly as fascinating and informative as the example from college several years earlier.

As I continued matching the books of the Bible with their chapters in Isaiah I simultaneously checked to make sure the books connected end-to-end as a second witness or verification of the book order and was amazed to watch the books connect time and again. (There were a few instances that stumped me for awhile but eventually each linkage made sense). I finally called this system the "Book Chain."

The Book Chain

For fun let's look at a couple examples from the Book Chain before making a few observations about this system. Let's take Ruth and Song of Solomon next since we've already seen how Ruth follows Proverbs.

After the wedding of Boaz and Ruth the end of the book of Ruth provides a short genealogy extending forward in time to King David. It's interesting to know that Ruth is some number of generations up the family line from David and causes one to think Ruth may have been written during David or Solomon's lifetime. In any case here's the genealogy at the end of Ruth.

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18וְאֵ֙לֶּה֙ תּוֹלְד֣וֹת פָּ֔רֶץ פֶּ֖רֶץ הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־ חֶצְרֽוֹן׃ 19וְחֶצְרוֹן֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־ רָ֔ם וְרָ֖ם הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־ עַמִּֽינָדָֽב׃ 20וְעַמִּֽינָדָב֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־ נַחְשׁ֔וֹן וְנַחְשׁ֖וֹן הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־ שַׂלְמָֽה׃ 21וְשַׂלְמוֹן֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־ בֹּ֔עַז וּבֹ֖עַז הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־ עוֹבֵֽד׃ 22וְעֹבֵד֙ הוֹלִ֣יד אֶת־ יִשָׁ֔י וְיִשַׁ֖י הוֹלִ֥יד אֶת־ דָּוִֽד׃ (WLC)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.(KJV)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19And Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21And Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.(KJV/NC)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez begat Hezron, 19and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, 20and Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, 21and Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22and Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat David.(ASV)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19And Hezron begat Aram, and Aram begat Amminadab, 20And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Shelah, 21And Shelah begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat King David. (LAM)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now these are the descendants of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19Hezron of Ram, Ram of Ammin'adab, 20Ammin'adab of Nahshon, Nahshon of Salmon, 21Salmon of Bo'az, Bo'az of Obed, 22Obed of Jesse, and Jesse of David. (RSV)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18This, then, is the family line of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, 19Hezron the father of Ram, Ram the father of Amminadab, 20Amminadab the father of Nahshon, Nahshon the father of Salmon, 21Salmon the father of Boaz, Boaz the father of Obed, 22Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David.(NIV)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, 20and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon, 21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, 22and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.(WEB)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now this is the history of the generations of Perez: Perez became the father of Hezron, 19and Hezron became the father of Ram, and Ram became the father of Amminadab, 20and Amminadab became the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon became the father of Salmon, 21and Salmon became the father of Boaz, and Boaz became the father of Obed, 22and Obed became the father of Jesse, and Jesse became the father of David.(WEB/HNV)

30 Ruth 4:18-22 18Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hezron, 19And Hezron begat Aram, and Aram begat Amminadab, 20And Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Shelah, 21And Shelah begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, 22And Obed begat Jesse, and Jesse begat King David. (BRB)

Now the idea is to link the end of Ruth to some other book in the Bible. Let's try the Song of Solomon. Here's the opening line to the Song of Solomon.

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1שִׁ֥יר הַשִּׁירִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לִשְׁלֹמֹֽה׃ (WLC)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1The song of songs, which is Solomons. (KJV)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1The song of songs, which is Solomon's. (KJV/NC)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1The Song of songs, which is Solomon's.(ASV)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1THE song of songs, which is Solomon's, the son of David king of Israel. (LAM)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. (RSV)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1Solomon's Song of Songs. (NIV)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1The Song of songs, which is Solomon's.(WEB)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1The Song of songs, which is Solomon's.(WEB/HNV)

31 Song of Solomon 1:1 1THE song of songs, which is Solomon's, the son of David king of Israel. (BRB)

Note that Solomon, the son of David, signs his name at the opening of this book. In effect what's happening by placing Song of Solomon after Ruth is the genealogy that ends Ruth is extended one generation further to include David's son Solomon.

The question is, "Does genealogy make sense as the topic or context connecting these books?" It clearly does. You will recall that Ruth is a wedding story. Song of Solomon depicts what is best left till after the wedding vows, the consumation of the marraige through physical intimacy shared between husband and wife, which of course produces a genealogy. So the idea that these books connect by extending a genealogy a little longer is absolutely consistent with the the basic storyline going by when Song of Solomon is placed after Ruth.

Stepping back for a minute and taking more of a bird's eye view we see that there's a theme developing in this section of the Bible. Proverbs ends with the search for a virtuous woman, Ruth fulfills the search by telling the story of Boaz and Ruth's wedding and Song of Solomon takes a look at the next piece of married life, which of course produces kids and brings the story full circle. We might dub this swath of the Bible "Family" or something like that (okay, family might not be that original, but you get the picture).

Micah --- Jonah --- Amos

Let's take one more example, this time across the books of Micah, Jonah and Amos. Micah ends with a reference to "God's mercy" and "throwing sins into the sea."

20 Micah 7:18-19 18מִי־ אֵ֣ל כָּמ֗וֹךָ נֹשֵׂ֤א עָוֹן֙ וְעֹבֵ֣ר עַל־ פֶּ֔שַׁע לִשְׁאֵרִ֖ית נַחֲלָת֑וֹ לֹא־ הֶחֱזִ֤יק לָעַד֙ אַפּ֔וֹ כִּֽי־ חָפֵ֥ץ חֶ֖סֶד הֽוּא׃ 19יָשׁ֣וּב יְרַֽחֲמֵ֔נוּ יִכְבֹּ֖שׁ עֲוֹֽנֹתֵ֑ינוּ וְתַשְׁלִ֛יךְ בִּמְצֻל֥וֹת יָ֖ם כָּל־ חַטֹּאותָֽם׃ (WLC)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (KJV)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 19He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (KJV/NC)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness. 19He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (ASV)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18There is no God like thee, who pardons iniquity and removes the sins of the remnant of his inheritance; thou retainest not thy anger for ever, because thou delightest in mercy. 19He will turn again and have mercy on us; he will sweep away our iniquity and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (LAM)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger for ever because he delights in steadfast love. 19He will again have compassion upon us, he will tread our iniquities under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (RSV)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (NIV)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity,
And passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage?

He doesn't retain his anger forever,
Because he delights in loving kindness.

19He will again have compassion on us.
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
And you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.(WEB)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity,
and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage?

He doesn't retain his anger forever,
because he delights in loving kindness.

19He will again have compassion on us.
He will tread our iniquities under foot;
and you will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.(WEB/HNV)

20 Micah 7:18-19 18There is no God like you, who pardons iniquity and removes the sins of the remnant of his inheritance; you do not retain your anger forever, because you delight in mercy. 19He will turn again and have mercy on us; he will sweep away our iniquity and cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. (BRB)

You can guess what book probably follows such an ending. If you didn't know, the book of Jonah is a short story about the prophet Jonah being thrown overboard while at sea and after a three day ride inside a whale or large fish is ejected onto dry land where he promptly obeys God's call to go to the wicked city of Nineveh and warn the city of impending doom. Here's the pertinent verse for the going overboard part of the story.

21 Jonah 1:15 15וַיִּשְׂאוּ֙ אֶת־ יוֹנָ֔ה וַיְטִלֻ֖הוּ אֶל־ הַיָּ֑ם וַיַּעֲמֹ֥ד הַיָּ֖ם מִזַּעְפּֽוֹ׃ (WLC)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. (KJV)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. (KJV/NC)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. (ASV)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. (LAM)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. (RSV)

21 Jonah 1:15 15Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. (NIV)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. (WEB)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah, and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased its raging. (WEB/HNV)

21 Jonah 1:15 15So they took up Jonah and cast him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. (BRB)

The specifc message Jonah was told to speak included a warning that God would destroy the whole city at the end of 40 days. God must have known what it would take to move the Ninevites to repentance, because at Jonah's preaching they stopped their wicked stuff and turned to God in fasting and prayer. Despite the kind of success that could make any revivalist jealous, Jonah was at odds with the fact God did not destroy the city as he had warned. In his frustration Jonah said to God that he knew before ever speaking to the Ninevites that God is "merciful" and would be compassionate and not destroy the city.

21 Jonah 4:2 2וַיִּתְפַּלֵּ֨ל אֶל־ יְהוָ֜ה וַיֹּאמַ֗ר אָנָּ֤ה יְהוָה֙ הֲלוֹא־ זֶ֣ה דְבָרִ֗י עַד־ הֱיוֹתִי֙ עַל־ אַדְמָתִ֔י עַל־ כֵּ֥ן קִדַּ֖מְתִּי לִבְרֹ֣חַ תַּרְשִׁ֑ישָׁה כִּ֣י יָדַ֗עְתִּי כִּ֤י אַתָּה֙ אֵֽל־ חַנּ֣וּן וְרַח֔וּם אֶ֤רֶךְ אַפַּ֙יִם֙ וְרַב־ חֶ֔סֶד וְנִחָ֖ם עַל־ הָרָעָֽה׃ (WLC)

21 Jonah 4:2 2And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. (KJV)

21 Jonah 4:2 2And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. (KJV/NC)

21 Jonah 4:2 2And he prayed unto Jehovah, and said, I pray thee, O Jehovah, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I hasted to flee unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness, and repentest thee of the evil. (ASV)

21 Jonah 4:2 2And he prayed to the LORD and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I fled before to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious and merciful God, patient and of great kindness, and thou art ready to turn away calamity. (LAM)

21 Jonah 4:2 2And he prayed to the LORD and said, "I pray thee, LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and repentest of evil. (RSV)

21 Jonah 4:2 2He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. (NIV)

21 Jonah 4:2 2He prayed to Yahweh, and said, 'Please, Yahwehf , wasn't this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you repent of the evil. (WEB)

21 Jonah 4:2 2He prayed to the LORD, and said, 'Please, LORDf , wasn't this what I said when I was still in my own country? Therefore I hurried to flee to Tarshish, for I knew that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm. (WEB/HNV)

21 Jonah 4:2 2And he prayed to Yahvah and said, I ask, oh Yahvah, was this not what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I fled before to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, patient and of great kindness, and you are ready to turn away calamity. (BRB)

We see in Jonah's story and even his words an echo of the words spoken by Micah at the end of his book, namely that God is merciful and can throw sins into the sea to avert judgment on the remnant of his people. So the books of Micah and Jonah connect on the theme of God's Mercy.

Where Jonah ends with God's Mercy, the next book, Amos, opens with a list of eight places that are gonna get it no matter what. The first place is Damascus.

22 Amos 1:3 3כֹּ֚ה אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה עַל־ שְׁלֹשָׁה֙ פִּשְׁעֵ֣י דַמֶּ֔שֶׂק וְעַל־ אַרְבָּעָ֖ה לֹ֣א אֲשִׁיבֶ֑נּוּ עַל־ דּוּשָׁ֛ם בַּחֲרֻצ֥וֹת הַבַּרְזֶ֖ל אֶת־ הַגִּלְעָֽד׃ (WLC)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: (KJV)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus saith the LORD; For 3 transgressions of Damascus, and for 4, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: (KJV/NC)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: (ASV)

22 Amos 1:3 3¶ Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron; (LAM)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus says the LORD: "For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing sledges of iron. (RSV)

22 Amos 1:3 3This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath. Because she threshed Gilead with sledges having iron teeth, (NIV)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus says Yahweh:(WEB)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus says the LORD:(WEB/HNV)

22 Amos 1:3 3Thus says Yahvah, For 3 transgressions of Damascus, and for 4, I will not turn away its punishment, because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron; (BRB)

Note the specific language, "I will not turn away punishment" (ie like I did with Nineveh in the book you just read). This exact phrase is directed against eight places in the first two chapters of Amos and provides a startling contrast to the mercy shown to Nineveh at the end of Jonah.

While Micah and Jonah connect on the theme of God's Mercy, Jonah and Amos connect on the theme of God's Judgment. Backing up again for a bird's eye view, we notice the similarities between the over-arching themes of God's Mercy and God's Judgment in this section of the Bible. Like two sides of one coin we realize that should we find ourselves prophetically warned of impending judgment we can either be like Nineveh and stop our wickedness and turn to God in fasting and prayer, or we can persist in our ways until we get stomped like Damascus and the places targeted in the opening chapters of Amos.

Conclussion

All the books of the Bible connect together in the Book Chain in a fashion similar to the examples we've explored and often with over-arching themes over swaths of books, like Family over Proverbs, Ruth and Song of Solomon or Mercy and Judgment over Micah, Jonah and Amos.

It's important to note also that there are typically many linkages between any two books along the Book Chain. We've only cited short and obvious connections so far, but careful study usually uncovers many levels of context between the books and is a fruitful study for those so inclined.

The Linkages page has for now a minimum set of scripture quotes for each linkage in the Book Chain. With time we'll add notes to flesh out how the Book Chain works each step along the way. What's there now is a good launching pad to further study.

Ryan Eaton
Updated October 19, 2007
October 5, 2007

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