I sincerely apologize for the delay. I have been out of town at training for the last couple of months!
At any rate, today's readings are:
1 Kings 11:1-12:33
Psalm 69:5-15
Proverbs 17:20-22
John 12:1-26
Again, use your own translation of Scripture. As you read, write down any questions you have in a notebook that you can keep throughout the year. Once we’ve finished reading through the entire Bible, go back and see how many of those questions you’re now able to answer.
This daily reading, like most days, should only take 15–20 minutes — so go ahead and get it done!
Remember, this plan is simply for reading through the Bible cover to cover. Reading is not a replacement for studying Scripture. It’s best to do both. For example, I’m currently reading through the whole Bible, but I’m also memorizing the book of Ephesians. Memorizing forces me to dig deeper into each verse and truly understand it.
At the end of the day, it’s important to know not only what God’s Word says, but what it means.
Military?
Perhaps we should infer that the plan bites off more than most people can/want to chew,
so may I suggest paring it down, even if it takes two years to complete?
The way I do it with regard to the OT (in Key OT Teachings) is by citing only those verses which are related to the NT.
For example with regard to Genesis 1-14:
In this lesson
key (related to the NT) truths introduced in the OT are cited along with brief commentary.
Gen. 1:1-3. “
God created the heavens and the earth” by saying “Let there be…”, so the supernatural world manifests the Word of God in an impersonal way. As Paul taught in Rom. 1:20, “
Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” And John says in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh [human] and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The scientific “big bang” theory regarding the origin of the universe is quite compatible with the biblical story, theorizing that just before the expansion all matter in the universe was compressed into a “singularity” of energy or “light”. However,
the point of Genesis is not how the world was created or how long it took,
but who created it and why. It is concerned with metaphysics rather than mere physics. There is no reason to believe that the “days” in Genesis 1 must refer to 24 hour periods, because 2Pet. 2:8 says “With the Lord a day is like a thousand [or a billion] years”, so it is permissible to believe God created the world using whatever methods taking however long scientific data seem to support.
Gen. 1:27. God created man in his own image, male and female. Here we have the equality of the sexes expressed 3,000 years ago, because the word “image” obviously refers to God’s personality rather than to sexuality.
Essential equality is confirmed in Gen. 2:22 by Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib or side to be his partner rather than from his foot to be his slave.
Although all of Jesus’ twelve apostles were male, many of his disciples were female, and
Paul wrote (in Gal. 3:38), “There is neither… male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” In Eph. 5:21, Paul added “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Again, current scientific theory based on genetic research is that humanity descended from one couple in Africa about 50,000 years ago, which is compatible with the biblical story of Adam and Eve, which has two accounts, neither of which is meant to be scientific or historical (explaining how and when), but rather theological and moral (God is Creator and people are sinners).
Gen. 2:24. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” indicates that
marriage is a spiritual union of one man and one wife, not merely a ceremony or legal contract.
Jesus quoted this verse and added “So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matt. 19:4-6) The only relationship in which sexual intercourse is appropriate or moral is marriage; extramarital sex is the sin of fornication, which is akin to the sin of pornography (cf. Gal. 5:19, Rom. 1:27). Also, because divorce is wrong, the only moral option for a married couple is to
work to be happy rather than be miserable and become spiritually divorced, and if happiness is not achieved, it would have been better not to marry (cf. Matt. 19:8-10).
Gen. 3:4. The serpent contradicted God and thereby tempted Adam and Eve to commit the first sin. In Gen. 2:17, God had told Adam and Eve they would die if they ate fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but the serpent
introduced the option of ungodliness or functional atheism, which they chose.
The first or original sin was not eating physical fruit, but rather choosing not to doubt the Devil, not to cooperate with God, and not asking God why the serpent contradicted what He had told them (Matt. 7:7). It is wise to question God.
Gen. 3:7-13. Adam and Eve tried to cover up their crime, refusing to accept responsibility for their mistakes. They should have confessed immediately (1John 1:9). Instead
their ungodly attitude was manifested by a chain of sins, including their silly attempt to hide from God and to blame someone else and very likely “dysfunctional” parenting that probably contributed to the emotional disturbance (anger) in Cain that resulted in the murder of Abel and so on and so forth through the millenniums, initiating
humanity’s sinful history of “King of the Hill” (KOTH) strife.
Gen 7:4. After Noah’s family was safely in the ark, God waited seven days before executing judgment on sinful humanity in the form of forty days of rain that flooded the earth. This event is reprised in Num. 14:20-35, which records the Lord’s judgment of Israel’s sins by making that generation wander in the wilderness for forty years before entering the land of Canaan.
The writer of Hebrews cited Israel’s wandering (in Heb. 3:7-4:13), stating that the opportunity for entering “God’s rest” or being saved provided “Today” ends when a sinner hardens his heart and refuses to cooperate with God’s voice (cf. Psa. 95:7-8, Isa. 6:9-10 = Matt. 13:14-15).
Gen. 9:6. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed.”
Capital punishment is appropriate for capital crimes. This is the first time the role of humanity in establishing moral laws and enforcing them with just or logical consequences is affirmed in the Bible.
Its NT equivalent is Rom. 13:1-4, which is intended to discourage people from choosing or practicing KOTH.
Gen. 9:7-17. In verse seven,
humanity is commanded to “Be fruitful and increase in number”, but not to overpopulate and pollute the earth. In verse 15 God says, “Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.” If God promises not to destroy life again, neither should mankind create a flood of pollution that destroys it, but rather
mankind should be good stewards of our earthly resources and perhaps limit procreation if needed in order to do so. (Of course, sin is the worst form of pollution.)
Gen. 11:9b. “…The Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” This verse apparently contradicts the teaching of Paul in 1CR 14:33: “God is not a God of disorder [disunity or KOTH] but of peace.”
Sometimes when interpreting the Bible, we are forced to choose between diverse interpretations or conceptions of God if they cannot be harmonized. In this case, it would seem that
the writer fails to distinguish between God’s intentional will for all to be saved (1Tim. 2:3-4) and unified (John 17:20-23) and His permissive will that allows souls to sin (Matt. 23:37), become divided and engage in KOTH.
Gen. 12:3b. All people on earth will be blessed through Abraham. About 2,000 B.C.,
Abraham became a monotheist and moved from Ur to Canaan, where he became the patriarch of the Hebrews, who became the Israelites after the Exodus and eventually the Jews by the time of
Jesus, who fulfilled God’s promise made to Abraham by completing His mission as Messiah or the Savior of all humanity who accept Him as Lord.
This covenant is restated in Gen. 17:1-14, 18:18-19 & 22:15-18. Abraham is also claimed as the patriarch of the Arabs through Ishmael (Gen. 16:12, 17:19-21 & 21:9-21), who are part of the Gentiles or people who would be blessed by accepting God’s Messiah (Eph. 2:11-3:6).
Discussion? Corrections? Additions?
