With the Wallstreet Journal reporting that Bible purchases were up over 22% in 2024 (as of the end of October) over the same period the previous year, it shouldn’t shock us that digital Bibles are experiencing similar growth.

YouVersion Bible app set a record for the number of single day installs, 798,000, on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025. On that same day, it reported that over 18 million people engaged the Bible through the app.

“We tend to see a seasonal uptick in Bible engagement at the beginning of the year as people start new habits and are interested in reading the Bible for the first time,” said Bobby Gruenewald, the developer of the app, in an interview with the Christian Post. “What’s interesting to us is that this year’s increase is even higher than this same time last year, and it’s a trend we’re seeing globally.”

YouVersion’s Most Popular Verse for 2024

With the chaos enveloping the world, people are increasingly turning to the Bible for answers. This was revealed by YouVersion’s most popular verse in 2024, found in the book of Philippians,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. (Philippians 4:6 NASV)

The Restoration of the Tabernacle of David

But most surprising is that some of the countries reporting the biggest increase in Bible engagement were Muslim dominated. Ethiopia reported an increase of 197%, Egypt had a 74% increase, Ghana 65% and Pakistan 48%. Overall, the Muslim dominated North Africa saw a 297% increase in Bible engagement and the Middle East a 166% increase.

This increasing interest in the Bible among Muslims was in fact indirectly predicted in the Bible.

The Book of Amos has an interesting prophecy that talks about the restoration or rebuilding of the Tabernacle of David that would result in a remnant of Edom coming into the Kingdom of God:

On that day I will raise up
The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down,
And repair its damages;
I will raise up its ruins,
And rebuild it as in the days of old;
¹² That they may possess the remnant of Edom,
And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,”
Says the Lord who does this thing. (Amos 9:11-12 NKJV)

The Tabernacle of David was a tent that King David set up in Jerusalem which housed the Ark of the Covenant. It existed for a brief period of time between the Tabernacle of Moses and the construction of the Temple by King Solomon.

It resulted in a new emphasis in worship expressed in the Psalms that included dancing, clapping, shouting, singing, and playing musical instruments (see Psalm 30:4, Psalm 47:1, Psalm 149:2-5, Psalm 150:3-5).

But Amos’ prophecy also stated that a ‘remnant of Edom’ would come into the Kingdom of God. Today, this would include people living in many of the Muslim dominated countries in the Middle East.

When the Holy Spirit fell on the gentiles in the early church resulting in many becoming Christians, James cited this passage in Amos at the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:16-17). He used it to explain why the Church, which was predominantly Jewish at the time, should embrace the new gentile Christians as equals in the Kingdom of God.

In other words, the church fulfilled Amos’ Tabernacle of David prophecy.

The YouVersion Bible app also reported that a record number of people engaged the Bible in 2024, breaking the previous record set in 2023, CBN reports.

The YouVersion Bible app was created in in 2008 by Life.Church, a multi-site church pastored by Greg Groeschel based out Edmond, Oklahoma. Since it was created, the app, which now provides translations in 2,100 languages, has been downloaded on over 850 million devices.