Tag: Christianity

January 30, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 30: Matthew 4, Exodus 13, Exodus 14 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 4 tells of Jesus being led into the wilderness and be tempted of Satan as he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Jesus combated Satan with scripture, but Satan could quote scripture too. In the end Satan left him and Jesus began his ministry and called his first disciples.

In Exodus 13 the feast of unleavened bread is formulated and the consecrating of the firstborn to the LORD. The Hebrews have escaped from Egypt, and a proposed route is suggested.

Exodus 14 then tells of the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea and how the pursuing Egyptian army drowned.

January 29, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 29: Matthew 3, Exodus 10, Exodus 11, Exodus 12 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 3 presents John the Baptist, preaching repentance. He came to prepare the way of the Lord. Jesus came to be baptized by John. Afterwards the holy Spirit descended like a dove on Jesus and a voice from heaven said: “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased”.

Exodus 10: More plagues, the plague of locusts and the plague of darkness. Now the LORD is hardening Pharaoh’s heart.

In Exodus 11 Moses and Aaron proclaim the tenth and final plague: The death of the firstborn. Interestingly enough the plagues of Egypt are also in the Quran, four are the same, five are different, and one is missing altogether. Guess which one!

Exodus 12 tells of how God instituted the Passover. The name comes from the action that night, that when the angel of death came to kill every firstborn in Egypt, if he sees the blood of the pascal lamb om the doorposts and the lentil of the house, he will pass over that house. The chapter is fantastic, read it and marvel!

 

 

 

January 28, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 28: Matthew 2, Exodus 8, Exodus 9 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

In Matthew 2 we get to meet with the Magi (probably about 15 of them including servants) coming to Jerusalem to ask about the King of the Jews. This worries King Herod and all Jerusalem, and Herod asks the Scribes and the learned men where he was to be born. They answer “In Bethlehem of Judea”, but are otherwise remarkably uninterested. The wise men go to Jesus (he is by now at least a few months old), but do not report back to Herod, but return another way. Meanwhile Joseph s told to get out of there and flee to Egypt. Herod gets furious that he has been had and murders all male children under the age of 2 in and around Bethlehem. Herod dies soon after, and goes back to Nazareth. In the Middle East, Christians are now called Nazarenes.

Exodus 8 is very interesting. It tells of three more plagues of Egypt, the plague of frogs, the plague of gnats and the plague of flies. The Egyptian magicians had no trouble duplicating elements of the plague of frogs, but when it comes to the plague of gnats they throw up their hands and said “This is the finger of God”. From then on they cannot duplicate any of the plagues.

In Exodus 9 there are three more plagues, the plague of livestock, the plague of boils and the plague of hail. But Pharaoh’s heart remained hard.

January 27, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 27: Matthew 1, Exodus 5, Exodus 6, Exodus 7 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Matthew 1 tells of the spiritual genealogy of Jesus, starting with Abraham. Joseph was of the kingly line and adopted Jesus. It then tells of the birth of Jesus. It also tells of Mary remaining a virgin until the birth of Jesus.

in Exodus 5 Moses and Aaron goes to Pharaoh and ask for a 3 day reprieve for his people so they can go and worship God. Like all dictators Pharaoh reacts to this petition and makes life even more miserable for the Hebrews, he wants them to gather their own straw and still make as many bricks as before. The Hebrews blame Moses for stirring up trouble for them.

In Exodus 6 the LORD (Jehovah) promises deliverance and will give them the promised land. Then comes an interlude where the names of the heads of the clans of Israel are listed. Moses protests and does not want to talk to Pharaoh any more, so Aaron will speak in his place.

In Exodus 7 God promises Moses to give him all he must say, and Aaron is to tell it to Pharaoh. God also says he will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and not let the people go. Aaron threw down his rod and it became a snake. The Egyptians duplicated it. The first plague out of ten occurred, turning the water of the Nile to blood.

 

 

 

January 26, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 26: Psalm 7, Psalm 8, Exodus 3, Exodus 4 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Psalm 7 is a shiggaion, a dithyrambic ode of David. I would love to hear what the music to this Psalm sounded like.

Psalm 8 on the other hand has been set many times to music. Even I have sung it many times, both as a choir number and the first verse  as an introit. Looking for the music I found a far better rendition of the Psalm, this one by Marty Goetz.

Exodus 3 is where God reveals himself to Moses in the form of a burning bush and declares “I am that I am”. Jesus makes a similar declaration in John 8:58 “Before Abraham, I am”.

In Exodus 4 God gives Moses his call. At first Moses comes up with one objection after another, but God persuades him with signs that he must go back to Egypt, face Pharaoh  and lead his people.

 

January 24, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 24: Psalm 5, Psalm 6, Genesis 49, Genesis 50 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Psalm 5 is a prayer extolling the joy of praising God and praying towards Jerusalem, but is also an urgent prayer to do away with and destroy all wickedness and wicked people.

Psalm 6 is likewise a prayer, this time of a humble David asking for mercy, but also to destroy David’s enemies.

In Genesis 49 Jacob blesses all his sons with a very different blessing for each of them

And finally in Genesis 50 Jacob is buried back in Canaan near Mamre where Sarah also was buried. Joseph forgave his brothers; “Ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good”. Finally even Joseph dies, and he wills that his bones will be carried out when they depart  and enter into the promised land.

 

January 23, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are five chapters.

January 23: Psalm 3, Psalm 4, Genesis 47, Genesis 48, Proverbs 1 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

Since there are less than 365 chapters in the New Testament, there will be filling in days with Psalms and Proverbs.

Psalm 3 is a Psalm of David from when he fled from his son Absalom.

Psalm 4 is David’s appeal to righteousness, and the blessings that follow.

Genesis 47 tells of how Jacob and his descendants settled in Goshen, about the continuing famine, and how Joseph, controlling the food supply enslaved the people. All power corrupt,…

Genesis 48 tells of how Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh. He blessed Ephraim ahead of Manasseh, even though Manasseh was the older of Joseph’s sons.

Finally there is Proverbs 1. It extols the virtue of wisdom. Read it and apply it.

 

 

January 22, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 22: John 21, Genesis 44, Genesis 45, Genesis 46 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

John 1 tells of the eighth miracle of Jesus. This miracle of a great catch of fish happened after Jesus resurrection and was a sign of new beginnings. Jesus reinstates Peter and tells him to feed his sheep.

Genesis 44 tells how Joseph tested his brothers by having Joseph’s own silver cup placed in Benjamin’s sack as the brothers returned back to Canaan. They all passed the test and returned to Joseph to await his judgment.

In Genesis 45 Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, and all rejoice. It contains the phrase “But God” and shows clearly that God was in control all the time.

In genesis 46 Jacob joins his brothers in going to resettle in Egypt, and is a retelling of the names of all that went

January 21, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are three chapters.

January 21: John 20, Genesis 42, Genesis 43 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

John 20 deals with the resurrection, and Jesus is not there, only his grave clothes. It is now first day of the week and Jesus shows himself for most of the disciples, but not Thomas. He doubted their testimony, and it is from this we have the expression “Doubting Thomas.” Later, when even he saw Jesus, he bowed down and worshiped him saying “Mu Lord, and my God”. Jesus also gives the promise of the Holy Spirit.

In Genesis 42 there is famine in Canaan, as seems to happen quite regularly, so Joseph’s brothers go down to Egypt to buy food. They meet Joseph, now governor of Egypt, and he demands to see Benjamin, who was left behind with Jacob. They agree to do so and leave one of the brothers behind as collateral. Joseph was very distraught at the proposition, since Joseph and Benjamin were his favorite children.

But in Genesis 43 the famine continued, so they had to go back to Egypt for more. This time they had to bring Benjamin with them to keep their promise to Joseph. Joseph gives them all food from his table, and he gives a five times larger portion to Benjamin. So ends that chapter.

January 18, read through the Bible in a year.

Today there are four chapters.

January 18: John 17, Genesis 37, Genesis 38, Genesis 39 (click on the chapter to begin reading)

John 18 is commonly called Jesus’ high priestly prayer. In some conservative circles it is also called “The Lord’s prayer.” In it Jesus prays for himself, then he prays for his disciples, and then he prays for all future believers. In the end of the chapter he prays that the believers will see his glory, the glory God gave him before the creation of the world.

Genesis 37 tells of Joseph’s dreams, outrageous as they were they made his brothers jealous, so they sold him into slavery to Potiphar in Egypt.

Genesis 38 tells  the story of Judah and Tamar. one of the rules of the Old Testament is that if a man dies without producing an heir, it was the duty of his brother to try to produce and offspring to his widow. Onan shirked this responsibility, and that was the sin of Onan. Tamar is thus still barren, so she tricks Judah. You can read it for yourself. Judah finally confesses: She is more righteous than I.

Genesis 39 then picks up the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. This is a classic, and for doing the right thing he is falsely accused, and thrown in jail.