Guided reading plans to help you read and understand the Bible.
Tomorrow begins our new quarter so if you haven’t got yourself a new reading plan for the winter quarter, go ahead and print this out. I kept it at about a half-page so it’ll work well to tuck right in to your Bible. You can even use it as a bookmark (although you may then need a couple since we read multiple books at a time). Hope you find it useful.
You may have been longing for some Advent readings for Year in the Bible and if so, this is your week. We are in the third Sunday of Advent and we open up the Gospel of Matthew. It is also our last of the four gospels and it’ll be a bridge from the Fall to Winter quarter.
Take your time with familiar passages like these. Even though we hear about Christmas every year, we always can return to these cherished texts. And it is easy to “hear about Christmas” every year and for that to mean a lot more about shopping and family get-togethers than Immanuel.
We are almost to our final winter quarter so keep your eyes peeled for an updated reading guide to take us all the way to the end.
We have now finished our history blitz, at least according to the calendar. Some of you now find yourself wondering what to do with a mere five chapters to read this whole week. Not long ago, if you divided it evenly for each day, we were reading six chapters per day. Others have no idea who these over-achievers are that I’m talking about and are looking forward to this week being when you finish out 2 Chronicles. That is a good plan, too.
Either way, don’t forget we are in a different genre with 1 John. Take your time. Ask yourself what issues may have been present that caused John to write on these specific topics. If you only have 1 John to read this week, try reading it once through in a sitting and the again slowly. See if that helps you to get a sense of the larger message. There is plenty packed in this short book–we spent almost a whole year studying it not that long ago!
We are in week three of three of the history blitz. How are you doing? Has it been too frantic? Have you been able to make adjustments to get more reading done? Or have you changed the pace and you’ll use this week and next to finish up?
I at least hope you’re still working on it and gaining some appreciation for these books of history. Remember, as God’s chosen people, this is our history, too.
I know for many this week looks different as you may have Thanksgiving plans. I know that I for one am out of town and that throws things off. It may mean that many who use a focus passage in their small group won’t be meeting. There still is a passage and perhaps this week you can use it for personal devotion, or ask a friend or neighbor to go through it with you. The passage comes at the end of Chronicles and is about the rediscovery of the law of God by Josiah.
As we read to the end, think of how it would come about that Israel would lose the law in the first place and try to imagine what this history would look like if they had kept it close at hand.
Solomon’s Temple is given great attention in our readings this week. As I write that it looks a bit wrong to call it Solomon’s Temple. It’s not his. He had it built, but we don’t always name a building after its architect or patron. It was for God.
Anyway–that’s what it is known as and I thought y’all might like to see some artist’s renditions to get a sense of what it may have looked like.
Enjoy. (My favorite is the second one. Be sure to click on it and read all the extra info!)
And here is a video that is another interpretation (and the only one I found with such a tall front to the building–not sure how they did that math… but still interesting 3D look into things).
Welcome to a week of hanging out with the kings of Israel, and then the kings over a divided kingdom of Israel and Judah. We come to 1 Kings to hear more about David and Solomon, who we last read of in 2 Samuel. So while we have followed the story of God’s people through the prophets, we return to see how things progress from Solomon in a more narrative style.
It is a story with lots of kings, the building of a temple, and more prophets taking a stand. It reaches from the end of David to the Babylonian exile we’ve recently read about. Keep in mind something I’ve mentioned before–just because it occurs in the Bible it doesn’t mean it is right. The kings that we’ll read of aren’t all great leaders and followers of God. But that should come as no surprise because again, we’ve already read most of the prophets.
For further introduction: 1 Kings – Bible.org
Starting today, we’ll spend the next three weeks reading 1 & 2 Kings and Chronicles. That doesn’t look like all that much, but maybe it is because I tried to abbreviate a bit. To make it more intimidating I’d say: 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles. Perhaps you still don’t see the big deal. Some weeks have had four books read in one week. That is true. But these books aren’t the minor prophets.
The way I’ve ordered the weeks for Year in the Bible is to have us average about 23 chapters a week. Some weeks push us more and then periodically we have a lighter week when we read fewer chapters. This week (week 7 of quarter 3) has us reading 47. You’ve been warned.
So why in the world would I do this? Well, sometimes I think it was a good idea. Other times I’m just not sure. But it’s too late now to change it! My thinking was that these history books can include a large number of lists and genealogies and more lists. We could stretch Kings and Chronicles out over 2 months and pace ourselves, but I think that if we did so it would bring us into a lull. Instead we’re packing it in. Bear in mind that these books are more of a narrative style of writing so it is a more straightforward read. It is not as slow going as Job or Jeremiah have been. And be positive about it–there are great stories in here. We heard one this morning in our sermon and there are plenty more where that came from.
The three weeks of the blitz are laid out like this:
1 & 2 Kings – 47 chapters
1 Chronicles and 2 Chronicles 1-18 – 47 chapters
2 Chronicles 19-36 – 18 chapters
My advice is to do your best to read it as assigned, and if you need that third week to catch up a few chapters, do so. I’ve already invited you to start early, but you can also carry it on into a fourth week if you’d rather. The week immediately following the history blitz is 1 John with all of its five chapters. That’s all. My intent is for that to be a breather for us so we can slow ourselves and read a great little letter. But again, if you need to use that light week to continue to read Chronicles, please do so.
We’re all adults here. My reading plan is flexible. You can always make your own decisions.
I hope you enjoy. And if you’re bitter about being assigned 47 chapters, you can email me all your complaints. (But the time you spend writing me an angry email may be better used getting all that reading done!)
As we continue to read into Job we have the problem of what to make of the words of Job’s three friends. It seems at times that their words are true and their conclusions right. They talk of the punishment that comes upon the wicked, but they then relate this to Job’s situation, and there it falls apart. The picture we are shown is one in which Job is innocent and that the distress that has come upon him is not a direct punishment for something he has done. So are his friends right or wrong?
It is a little more complex and a word that has helped me in reading it is “appropriate.” Whether one of the friends speaks something that is true, is it also an appropriate statement to make? Is it fitting to the situation and applicable for Job? I felt torn wanting to quote some of these friends when I came across some powerful verses knowing that they’re not quite in the right in their speech. Would I be quoting them out of context?
Again it is good to remember just because someone says something in the Bible doesn’t mean it is “biblical.” Characters from the Bible are not always the examples we remember them to be and the wisdom of Job’s wise friends is not always good. But there are instances where even the naive speak great truth without even knowing it. So ultimately, these three may say some insightful things, but use discernment in judging their words. The only one who is without fault in speech is God, who we’ll get to at the end.
Year in the Bible 