Reading the Old Testament in 2024

 

Reading the Old Testament

 

Good morning beloved,

 

In my reflection on reading the NT I have two immediate goals, to encourage us to read one NT chapter per day, which will lead us to read the entire NT during the coming year.

 

In today’s reflection I also have two goals, to encourage us to read one OT chapter each day, which will expose us to the entire OT – since there are 929 chapters in the OT, reading one chapter per day will not result in reading the entire OT in a year, but it is a start for those of us who need either a start or who need to renew our relationship with the Word.

 

In a third reflection, which I will hopefully send either later today or tomorrow, I will encourage us to read one Psalm each day throughout the year, indeed, for the rest of our lives.

 

Again, there are many Bible reading schedules online, such as those found at the American Bible Society and you may find a comprehensive one that appeals to you. The only way to know the Bible is to read the Bible, it is not to read about the Bible. Yes, there are resources to help us think about what we are reading, and the quality and type of resources are varied, but if we aren’t going to read the Bible we aren’t going to know the Bible. Also, as a reminder, this isn’t about information or data, it is about a relationship with Jesus Christ and our Father (and with one another) in the Holy Spirit.

 

There are 39 books in what we call the Old Testament, filled with names and places and people who are not only not familiar to most of us, but we also can’t even pronounce many of them. As for pronunciation, do the best you can, the people are all dead and won’t care.

 

When I think about the OT (in our current context), I don’t think about 39 books, I rather think of 5 sections – this is helpful to me because 5 of anything is easier to think about than 39. In terms of a mansion, I don’t think in terms of 39 rooms but rather of 5 wings or sections or corridors. In my own OT reading I want to make sure that I am being refreshed in all 5 wings throughout the year – that is, whether I actually read the entire OT in a given year I want to ensure that I am reading within each genre during the year (and please understand that my own approach to reading has varied over the years – but the key is that it has been consistent, it has been daily – I want to meet Jesus Christ in His Word in the fabric of my life).

 

I am not a proponent of reading the Bible straight through from beginning to end. This means that I am not a proponent of reading the OT from Genesis straight through to Malachi. I am not opposed to such straight through reading, it’s just that I like to mix things up and I think varying the genre we are reading is refreshing. Plus, as a whole, the OT is not written in chronological order – parts of it are and parts of it are not – on the other hand, the OT is very much integrated, it forms a coherent whole – which means that while I am reading Malachi that I am seeing its relationship with Leviticus and 1 Kings. (The more familiar with the Bible we become the more we’ll see that in reading one Biblical book we are reading all the Biblical books – but this is something you need to experience yourself).

 

Here are the 5 wings of the mansion: The Books of Moses, History, Poetry, the Major Prophets, the Minor Prophets (“minor” because their books are not as long as those of the “major” prophets). As I said, thinking about 5 is easier than thinking about 39.

 

The Books of Moses are the first 5 books of the Bible. The books which give us the story of the history of Israel and Judah are Joshua – Esther. The books of poetry (though there is poetry elsewhere in the OT) are Job – Song of Solomon. The Major Prophets are Isaiah – Daniel. The Minor Prophets are Hosea – Malachi.

 

Whatever your Bible reading plan may be, I suggest that it include each of these sections. For reading one OT chapter a day in 2024, here is a suggestion:

 

Genesis: this is foundational on many fronts, plus, there is nothing quite like the story of Joseph – a picture of Jesus in many ways. O yes, if you want to glance through the genealogies rather than deeply ponder each name, I think you will be okay. There are treasures in the genealogies to be sure, but perhaps it’s best to pan for gold another time so as not to get bogged down.

 

1 & 2 Samuel: This gives the foundation of Israel’s monarchy, centered about King David – as with Genesis, there are many foundational elements here that are woven throughout the Bible.

 

Job: I make a point of reading and pondering Job at least once each year. Not only is suffering a mystery which we will never fully understand this side of heaven, but the book of Job is a reminder of how foolish our (or at least mine) thinking can be and of the danger of justifying ourselves.

 

Jeremiah: Here we see our challenges in living for Christ in a hostile cultural and religious environment. We also see challenges in vocational ministry and in other forms of church leadership – will we be faithful to Christ, or will we cave into what the crowd wants? (2 Tim. 4:1 – 5). Will we align ourselves with the Kingdom of God or with nationalism and political agendas? I make certain that I work through Jeremiah every year, as well as his book of Lamentations (which I’ve read multiple times in 2023 – it is so contemporary!).

 

Hosea – Malachi (the Minor Prophets): I’ve included all of the Minor Prophets in my suggested reading. They span a broad spectrum of time and location. Some of these prophets were in the Northern Kingdom of Israel, some in the Southern Kingdom of Judah, and some spoke specifically to other nations (Jonah, Nahum, and Obadiah). Three of these prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, served during the Restoration after the Babylonian Captivity. Some will be easier to read than others, but don’t we want to put more weight on the bar if we are going to grow?

 

It's a shame we don’t live in these prophets because they have much to say to us about Jesus Christ and about our own life situations – as individuals, as families, as congregations, and even as nations. The Bible is more than history, it is God speaking to us and into our world today in and through Jesus Christ.

 

If nothing else, once you’ve read the Minor Prophets you will have done something few others have done…including no doubt many in vocational ministry.

 

When you get to Haggai ask yourself, “Is this a picture of me and my church? Are we looking after ourselves or are we putting the Kingdom of God and His Temple before our own agendas?”

 

Exodus, chapters 1 – 24: Here is the foundational narrative of Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, and the forming of the Hebrews into the entity of Israel – a people called to worship and serve God and serve the peoples of the earth.

 

Proverbs: This book of wisdom has many treasures, and Jesus appears throughout it if we have eyes to see Him…for let’s recall that in Him is all wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:1 – 3).

 

Judges: This takes us back to the time before the Monarchy – a time of anarchy, and yet in the midst of anarchy we see God revealing Himself to men and women and groups of people. Can we see our own society mirror the lawlessness of the book of Judges, a time when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes”? Will you and I stand with the faithful minority and seek to be faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ, or will we go along to get along and sell our souls?

 

Well, the above are simply some suggestions that will take you through 2024 by reading one chapter a day. Hopefully we will want to “read the rest of the story” – but we need to begin somewhere and somehow.

 

Much love,

 

Bob