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
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment