Read the Bible Through -- Can we? Finally?

Depleted · Dec 30, 2017

Beez said:

I've read all the Bible. I've never managed to read it from beginning to end though. (Usually give up in the oh-so-depressing prophets section. Last time, I gave up when I really needed some time in the Psalms.)

But I also tend to study while reading, so no way I can read the whole thing in a year to begin with. (What does he mean when he says...?." And off I go to find out. lol)

Hubby, on the other hand, has taken to reading it once a year. Ends up, "there's an app for that." Here's the PDF for a study plan. http://bibleplan.org/plans/mcheyne/

If you have eSword, M'cheyne's study plan ought to be in it.

MattforJesus · Dec 30, 2017

Beez said:

That is a good objective to read through the Bible.

I have read through the Bible around the time of 1996.

If a person read through the Bible they will get a bigger picture of it,and understand it better,and they will be amazed at how they understand things they did not,and understand things better that they somewhat knew,and understand things where they had a wrong understanding of it.

And as you read it you will read something in later books that give meaning to what you read in an earlier book,and it will be more clear to you.

Act 17:11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

But a person does not have to read through the Bible to be saved,and if you claim Jesus as Lord and Savior,and allow the Spirit to lead you,representing goodness,you are good to go.

1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1Ti 4:3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
1Ti 4:4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
1Ti 4:5 For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

The goal for those in power is to establish the new age movement interpretation of the Bible in the world,based on evolution which the world believes in evolution.

The world one day will say Peace and safety,as they try to establish peace on earth,and will have a unified religious system,based on the new age movement interpretation of the Bible,based on the occult,nature worship,witchcraft,spiritual evolution through nature,which they believe people can still evolve through nature,and Jesus is not Lord and Savior,but a good teacher in spiritual enlightenment,and an ascended master,and do not acknowledge a personal God,but the God of forces,or the power of nature as their higher power.

Any belief contrary to the new age movement will not be tolerated,and if they try to convert someone to that belief then it is a hate crime punishable in the international criminal court system.

That is about the only deception you need to know about.

A person does not have to read through the Bible to be saved,and as long as they claim Jesus as Lord and Savior,and allow the Spirit to lead them,representing goodness,they are good to go,and basically at this point in time the only deception they have to avoid is the new age movement interpretation of the Bible.

Keep claiming Jesus as Lord and Savior,for one day they will not tolerate it,but follow Him as a good teacher in spiritual enlightenment.

But when the world says Peace and safety,as the nations come together,Paul said the saints will not be deceived by that for they will know it is not the operation of God,and will lead them to the beast kingdom which they will rebel against God.

Rosemaryx · Dec 30, 2017

tanakh said:

I have started reading the OT for the first time since walking with our LORD ( 2 years saved now ) and I love it...I am just about to start on Psalms

...Through reading the OT, I am learning so much about the character of God, and how truly He is in His promises, and have come to know what long suffering is and His patience, I would not of understood these things had I not read what I have read ...

Lots of times I have come across things I do not understand, but when something does catch me, I stop and ponder on it and see what God is telling me...I have a not book that I write it everytime the LORD shows me something, then I re-read it out to God, and I amazed at what He is showing me, so yes the OT is very important...xox...

maxwel · Dec 30, 2017

trofimus said:

I think plenty of heresy can occur from not reading and understanding the Old Testament.

So although it "may" be better to spend more time in some books than others, I think it is vitally important to include the Old Testament in your reading and study.

Whenever Jesus talked about scripture, he was quoting the Old Testament... I don't think we should overlook it.

Beez · Dec 30, 2017

preacher4truth said:

For myself, I am not looking for rewards.

I, personally, came here specifically to learn about the Reformed doctrine. I learned some things at first but the threads seem more into fault-finding, vitriol, and repeating the same things over and over daily, so it has become more of a social thing. So I'm not here so much anymore; instead, I do more study, without the help.

Lucy-Pevensie · Dec 30, 2017

Beez said:

Hi Beez,

I was going to suggest (as did someone else) to try using an audio Bible at least some of the time. You would have a break from the actual reading if it becomes strenuous.

Do you have a plain modern English translation to use? I see a lot of people will only use The King James version.
That might make it a bit less pleasurable if you have to keep stopping to translate (in your head) the archaic language into modern usage. I always found the KJV to be an awkward read. Unless I'm in the mood for poetry.

Depleted · Dec 30, 2017

Beez said:

Does bi-focal-you hate teensy-little-writing you? What were we thinking back then? Big writing means we can go back and read it even when we get to the point where needlework is out the window. lol

preacher4truth · Dec 30, 2017

Beez said:

Where have you inquired on here about Reformed Doctrine?

20 · Dec 30, 2017

The one of reasons why we're read and meditate on his Word is a next, God use His Word to prepare and equip his people to do every good work KJV2Timothy3:16-17 16.All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; 17. That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Lucy-Pevensie · Dec 30, 2017

trofimus said:

I totally disagree. It's an integrated whole. I wouldn't be without the Old Testament. The Prophets especially and The Psalms. These are like God himself speaking directly. Not a narrative like some of the other books. Also it's pointless trying to understand The Book of Revelation without the Old Testament.

I might suggest one could start with the New Testament first and move on to Genesis later.

Depleted · Dec 30, 2017

trofimus said:

Seriously? The Bible is a book alllll about God. All of it! The OT is the gospel concealed. The NT is the gospel revealed. You know how the book turns out now. Go back and see where God was telling what he would do (Jesus is the lamb/the scapegoat) with very few getting the foreshadowing until it happened. Tons and tons of foreshadowing in the OT, if you but know how God worked it out.

It's like rereading a book you love and when you go back, suddenly it all makes sense. You didn't know that was foreshadowing the first time, but you sure know the second time.

God wrote the book for foreshadowing. He does it the best. I used to see the prophets as doom and gloom. Now I see them having a praise-fest on what God will do... eventually. They were psyched! They were psyched because God was doing a big thing through pain and suffering.

What do you find in the OT? The Lord himself! And he knew his plan all along and was setting everything up to see it through. Biggest thing? It's not over yet! He's still working his plan out, and now using us to do so.

preacher4truth · Dec 30, 2017

trofimus said:

I would have to disagree with you here.

As Art Azurdia rightly stated; Having the NT only is like having the answers to a test but not knowing what the questions are.

And then there is this: All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable...2 Timothy 3:16.

For that reason alone I would offer no mitigating thoughts on any portion of Scripture, OT or NT.

trofimus · Dec 30, 2017

Lucy-Pevensie said:

OK, The Old Testament I have in print has about 2400 pages (because there are also variant readings to some books), the New Testament has about 600.

If I want to invest my short free time into studying Scriptures and if I will not prefer the New Testament, I will end up spending most of my time in the old one, logically. Which is not a good thing, I think.

I must prefer the New Testament 4x more, if I want to spend the same time in both testaments. And I do not, I want to spend more time in the current testament, that means I must prefer reading/studying the new one even more.

That means I simply cannot read every verse in the OT as many times as every verse in the NT. I have read some OT books in the past and never returned to them again. Why? Because I have more important Scriptures to read.

Nehemiah6 · Dec 30, 2017

Beez said:

Sure.

1. Commit yourself to making your life disciplined. An undisciplined Christian is in violation of Scripture (2 Tim 2:15).

2. Ask a friend to become your monitor on a daily basis so that you are compelled to be disciplined.

3. Ask that friend to check with you daily whether you have read the portion of the Bible assigned for that day. If not that friend must insist that you sit down and do so immediately.

4. What you need is someone who will apply some tough love to you and hold you accountable for every infraction.

5. The best way to reduce infractions is to impose a heavy fine on yourself for each infraction (say $10.00 or $20.00). That money must be held in trust in a piggy bank by your friend.

There are many sources which provide a daily Bible reading schedule. Just Google that and get to it.

https://www.ligonier.org/blog/bible-reading-plans/

Lucy-Pevensie · Dec 30, 2017

preacher4truth said:

Oh that beautiful word is alive like fire! Don't you just love it? There are details revealed about Jesus in the OT, it's like finding little diamonds! He suffered more than we realise. They pulled out Jesus' beard. We wouldn't have known that from the NT Narrative.

“The New Testament is in the old Testament concealed; The Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.”
- Saint Augustine

maxwel · Dec 30, 2017

trofimus said:

As a creature of free will (which you may not even believe) you have every prerogative to read whatever you like.

But you do seem to start with the presupposition that the NT is simply "better".
To this I would have to say, "Better in what ways?", or "Better for what?"
What precisely is better about it?

If we think about it, we'll find different parts of the Bible are "better" for different things.
This is why many people feel a balanced approach is to read and study both testaments.

Many people spend EQUAL amounts of time in both the OT and NT.
Others feel that since the OT is just a larger text, they SHOULD spend more time in it, as might be inferred from the sheer size of the text.

But like many things, this is an area where we have both "liberty in christ" as well as our own personal needs.

In matters of liberty we apply "prudence", not law.

trofimus · Dec 30, 2017

Lucy-Pevensie said:

Just curious, where does the OT say that?

trofimus · Dec 30, 2017

maxwel said:

I would say "because its after Christ's resurrection, its about the current covenant that applies to me, directly. Not to Israel 3000 years ago (which can have some shadows and prophecies useful for me, but not in the same way as the reality is useful to me).

maxwel said:

Sure, I am just discussing, not making any "you must do as I do" statements

CherieR · Dec 30, 2017

There are some things that has the books of the bible and boxes for the chapters that you can check off when you read them. I have read much of the bible, but not all. I have been one to read something and then re-read it and re-read it again. It might help me memorize things but does not help with speed. I would like to get better at just reading instead of looking it over again. Some people like reading aloud and I have done that before, but generally prefer reading silently.

My mom has read the bible through quite a bit( not sure how many times). What helps her is having a goal like read the bible in a year plan.

maxwel · Dec 30, 2017

trofimus said:

Practical Value of the OT

Again, it's fine for you to focus more on whatever parts of scripture you feel led to focus on.

But I would probably steer away from such a narrow explanation of "better."

Some Reasons that Different Parts of Scripture are Better for Different Things:
- You can't fully understand Christ or his work without the entire context of the Old Testament.
- You can't understand the book of Revelation without understanding the book of Genesis.
- You can't understand the book of Revelation without ENORMOUS amounts of study in the OT.
- You can't have a good understanding of ANY portion of the scripture without first understanding Genesis... the foundation and origin of all Biblical principles.
- You can't have the practical wisdom God intends for you without the study of the "wisdom books" in the OT.
- You can't understand the real "heart" of God, and our relationship to Him, without understanding the depths of emotion and exultation in the Psalms.
- You can't even find the correct approaches to hermeneutics, exegetics, or epistomology without studying the Old Testament.
- You can't even understand God's view of HIS OWN WORD without delving into the Old Testament.
- Finally: You find principles of psychology, sociology, family, relationships, spiritual devotion, spiritual relationship with God, ministry, business, management, sales, project planning, time management, marketing etc. etc. etc. THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT.

If you focus on the NT to the exclusion of the OT,
you are missing out on VAST AMOUNTS of wisdom, principles, and knowledge which DO APPLY TO US TODAY.

That being said, there are still no "laws" about this,
and you have "liberty in Christ" to focus on whatever things you feel led to focus on.

Read the Bible Through -- Can we? Finally?

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