• Sun      Mar 1   Luke 13–15     Ps. 25
• Mon     Mar 2   Luke 16–18     Ps. 26
• Tue      Mar 3   Luke 19–21     Ps. 27
• Wed     Mar 4   Luke 22–24     Ps. 28
• Thu      Mar 5   Num. 1–2        Ps. 29
• Fri        Mar 6   Num. 3–5        Ps. 30
• Sat       Mar 7   Num. 6–7        Ps. 31

Luke’s Gospel account culminates in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It concludes with his appearances to his disciples and finally his ascension. In the last chapter of Luke, we see something that comes up all through the Gospels, and really all through the NT. In Jesus’s interactions with his disciples between his resurrection and ascension, and as we read along in the rest of the NT, it is abundantly clear that Jesus and the apostles—those who wrote the books of the NT—all had a strong conviction that the OT Scriptures all point to Christ.

Jesus rebukes the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, telling them they should have seen from the Scriptures that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer, die, and rise again (Luke 24:25–27). Before their eyes are opened to see it is Jesus talking with them, he opens their eyes to the OT Scriptures to see how they are all about the Christ. Then he appears to the eleven disciples and shows them too that the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms—the whole Hebrew Bible, or what we call the Old Testament—all finds its fulfillment in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah (24:44–47). Jesus believes the whole OT points to him, so does Luke, and so do the rest of the writers of the NT. If this was their perspective, it seems it should be ours too. Let us keep this in mind as we go back and pick up where we left off in our reading in the OT.

After finishing Luke’s Gospel, we move back to the Pentateuch and pick up where we left off a couple weeks ago. Numbers is the third part of the five-part book of Moses and it continues the narrative from Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus. At the beginning of Numbers, Moses and the Israelites are still at Mt. Sinai, and they remain there until chapter 10.

The first few chapters of Numbers include lists of names and the numbers of people in the tribes of Israel as well as a lot of details about where and how the tribes are to be positioned in the Israelite camp. There is also quite a lot of detailed instruction for the Levites and priests who were responsible for all that went on in and around the tabernacle. Admittedly, it can be a bit tedious to read through some of this material, like it may have been in the later parts of Exodus and throughout Leviticus. And yet, a genealogy in Numbers, or detailed instructions for how to handle disease in the skin or in the home, is inspired Scripture just as much as anything else in the Old or New Testament. We can be confident that somehow this is profitable for us, it shapes us, and it helps us to grow towards maturity and to be “equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16–17)

One of the ways this kind of passage shapes us is by cultivating an attitude of humble submission before God. By choosing to spend time reading these chapters we are saying, “Lord, I’m not exactly sure what this list of difficult-to-pronounce names has to do with me or my life, but I trust that you are good and you have given your word, all of it, to communicate with your people and make yourself known. So, because I want to know you, and because you are perfectly wise in all your ways, I am choosing to come to you and hear from you in the way you have chosen to communicate with me, even though I don’t always understand it.” He will honor that kind of humble posture. Simply obeying him and abiding in him through his word will form us into Christlikeness over time.

To use an example that may seem silly, this is kind of like Mr. Miyagi telling Daniel-san to paint the fence and wax the cars. Daniel does not understand why. What’s the point? What does this have to do with learning Karate? But the repeated motion of painting and waxing forms Daniel. It trains him in ways he does not realize while he is doing it. When we repeatedly read through the Bible, even the parts that are less obviously relevant, we are taking the opportunity to be shaped in ways we may not know we need to be. We submit to our wise and kind Lord, standing under his word in order to understand the glorious mysteries he reveals to us there.

We are now over two months into this read thru, and I wonder how it is going for everyone. It is quite likely, I imagine, that some have kept up and read pretty consistently and some have not. That is ok! Maybe you have fallen behind the scheduled reading, or maybe you are just joining in and starting now. Here are a few ideas if you are behind a bit or if you are joining in the read thru now.

First, don’t feel guilty. Reading through the Bible like this is not a competition or a way to prove your Christian maturity—either to yourself, to your pastors or fellow Christians, and certainly not to God. As we have been saying, the aim is to grow in a regular habit of reading Scripture. We are cultivating a practice of spending regular time meeting with God to hear from him through his word, which he has graciously given us as the main means by which we know him. This is a patient, lifelong journey. It is not just an accomplishment to achieve or an obligation to fulfill. The Lord is gracious and kind, and we can rest in the finished work of Christ. We read the Bible not to gain his favor but out of joy as a response to his love. We read because we desire to know him more.

That is the first and most important thing to keep in mind if you are not up to date with the reading schedule. With that in mind, there are a couple ways you could get back on the schedule. You could simply jump in at the reading for this week. Just skip what you have missed for now, or if you have not started yet and are thinking of joining the read thru, just jump in where we are now. This means you will miss some reading this time through, but it also means you can be reading where others at GBC are reading, which is one of the benefits of doing this together as a church. Also, remember, the Bible is meant to be read repeatedly over the course of a lifetime. You can fill in next year what you may have missed this year.

The other option is to try to catch up. You could set aside a larger block of time one day, or maybe an hour or so on a couple days, and settle in and read a larger set of chapters. This in itself can be a really rewarding practice, even if you are not doing it to catch up on the read thru. It is a way to resist the relentless pull we probably all feel to hurry up and get things done. True, you will be picking up the pace in one sense, but you will be doing so by slowing down and sitting with Scripture for more than just a few minutes.

These are a couple ways to catch up with the reading schedule if you are behind or just now starting. But again, the main thing is to rejoice in God’s grace in Christ and to read his word because you love him and want to know him.

• Sun      Feb 22 Lev. 23–25      Ps. 18
• Mon     Feb 23 Lev. 26–27      Ps. 19
• Tue      Feb 24 Luke 1–2         Ps. 20
• Wed     Feb 25 Luke 3–5         Ps. 21
• Thu      Feb 26 Luke 6–7         Ps. 22
• Fri        Feb 27 Luke 8–10       Ps. 23
• Sat       Feb 28 Luke 11–12     Ps. 24

As you finish reading Leviticus, notice how the theme of holiness continues right up to the end of the book. Also notice how, in chapter 26, the Lord looks ahead into Israel’s future and tells them what will happen if they are faithful to him and if they keep his commandments, and what will happen if do not listen to him and obey his commandments. Moses will address the next generations of Israelites with similar prophetic predictions in chapter 28 of Deuteronomy.

Both Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 give a preview of the rest of the OT. All the consequences for sin outlined here would end up coming true, including the exile and the scattering of Israel and Judah among the nations (Lev 26:33). Despite the foreboding tone of the chapter, and the sad reality that ensued after Moses’s time, there is also a glimmer of hope in this chapter. If they confess their sin and turn humbly back to the Lord, he will remember their forefathers. He will remain faithful to his covenant promises (26:40–44). Looking back on this as Christian readers, we can praise God he has made good on those promises in the atoning sacrifice and great high priest of a new and better covenant!

The Gospel of Luke includes the most extensive and familiar account of Jesus’ birth and early life. The first few chapters in Luke are filled with miraculous stories, angelic worship, fulfilled promises, the Messiah’s arrival, and profound declarations of worship for the God who lifts up the lowly, redeems his people, and is worthy of the highest praise.

Luke begins his Gospel by saying he is writing these things to give an orderly account so Theophilus (and we) can know with certainty about the things he has been taught, so Theophilus (and we) can be confident that these things are true and that they really matter (Luke 1:1–4).

There are many similarities between Luke’s Gospel and Matthew and Mark, and John too, but there are also some differences. Like we have noted before, it is important to notice the distinct emphases and messages of each of the four Gospels. We are not just trying to understand “what really happened,” but we are trying to understand the inspired meaning of each of these four accounts of Jesus’s life and ministry. As a biblical author writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Luke is trying to say something that is distinct from what Matthew, Mark, and John are saying—similar and complementary to be sure, but unique, nonetheless.

One of the distinctive aspects of Luke’s Gospel is the emphasis on the universal scope of God’s saving work in Christ. Salvation is for all nations and peoples. We see this in places like Simeon’s song in chapter 2, where he blesses God as he holds the child Jesus in his arms. He quotes from Isaiah and rejoices that he has now seen the Lord’s salvation, which he prepared “in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel” (Luke 2:29–32).

Luke also pays special attention to the lowly and marginalized in the eyes of the world. Notice as your read along how often Jesus highlights people like shepherds, women, the poor, and others who may be devalued or thought of as lower-class citizens, particularly in the first-century Roman-ruled world. The values of God’s kingdom are often opposite the systems and values of the world, and this right-side-up kingdom value system is exemplified most clearly in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah. Luke pays special attention to this theme throughout his account.

There is a pivotal moment in chapter 9 of Luke. There, in verse 51, it says, “Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem.” The rest of Luke’s Gospel moves in that direction, towards Jerusalem. That is where Jesus would accomplish what he came to do. The reason Christ came, the purpose for which the second Person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh and dwelt among us, was to die for the sins of the world.

Next week we will be reading Luke’s account of the culminating events of Jesus’ life on earth, his death on the cross for our sins, and his miraculous and victorious resurrection. This is the good news announced to the shepherds by the angelic host (Luke 2:8–14), the message John the Baptist prepared the way for in the wilderness (3:4–6), the gospel Jesus commissions his disciples, and us, to take to the world (24:44–49; Acts 1:8).

Reading through each of the Gospels allows us to savor both the deeds of Jesus and the cross of Christ. As long as people have been reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John there has been a tendency either to emphasize Jesus’ compassionate works—healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, loving the lowly—or to focus only on his atoning death and victorious resurrection. But reading the Gospels well urges us to reject this binary choice. The Gospels call us to see Jesus as the one who came into the world to meet the physical needs of those around him. And the Gospels make it clear that Jesus’ miraculous deeds of compassion demonstrated to those he healed and to us today that he was the long-expected Messiah who came to conquer sin and death through his own death on the cross and through resurrection from the dead three days later. The compassion he showed in his acts while here in the flesh demonstrated who we was and pointed to the greatest act of salvation and healing he would accomplish at the cross. Rather than having to choose one emphasis or the other, we rejoice in both as we read the Gospels.

We also continue our reading in the Psalms this week. Psalm 19 is one of the psalms for this week, and this is one of the psalms that extols the value of Scripture. There are two main movements of this psalm: The first speaks of God’s revelation in creation, and the second of his revelation in his word. After praising the God whose glory is declared in the heavens and whose handiwork can be seen in all of creation (Ps 19:1–6), the psalmist, David, recounts the value and benefit of God’s word. 

The law of the LORD is perfect,

          reviving the soul;

the testimony of the LORD is sure,

          making wise the simple;

the precepts of the LORD are right,

          rejoicing the heart;

the commandment of the LORD is pure,

          enlightening the eyes;

the fear of the LORD is clean,

          enduring forever;

the rules of the LORD are true,

          and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold,

          even much fine gold;

sweeter also than honey

          and drippings of the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

          in keeping them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7–11)

“The law (Torah) of the Lord,” “The testimony of the Lord,” “the precepts of the Lord,” “the commandment of the Lord,” “the fear of the Lord,” and “the rules of the Lord.” Each of these has significance in its own right, but, generally speaking, they are all different ways to refer to what God has given in his inscripturated word.

The psalm speaks of the intrinsic nature and value of Scripture, and also of its benefit to those who read it, meditate on it, and live by it. This psalm helps cultivate in us a desire for God’s word. It reminds us the truth of what the Scriptures are—their invaluable qualities and great benefit to us. And while simply knowing this should foster in us a longing to know God through his word, even if our desire is lacking, we can trust the Lord to help us. We can ask him to strengthen our faith, to help us see the value of his word, to open our eyes and hearts to see what he has to say through it, and to grow us in Christlikeness so we live lives that glorify him in response to our reading of his word. He if faithful and he will bring joy to our hearts and enlighten our eyes as we cultivate habits of seeking him in his word. And we can be confident that, as we do, we will taste and see that he is good.

• Sun      Feb 15 Lev. 4–5          Ps. 11
• Mon     Feb 16 Lev. 6–8          Ps. 12
• Tue      Feb 17 Lev. 9–11        Ps. 13
• Wed     Feb 18 Lev. 12–14      Ps. 14
• Thu      Feb 19 Lev. 15–17      Ps. 15
• Fri        Feb 20 Lev. 18–19      Ps. 16
• Sat       Feb 21 Lev. 20–22      Ps. 17

After reading Exodus we continue on through the Pentateuch and into Leviticus. As we do so, it is important to remember we are continuing the story from Genesis and Exodus. Leviticus is part three of the five-part book of Moses, the Pentateuch, the Torah. The whole book of Leviticus takes place over about one month (see Exod. 40:17; Num. 1:1) while Israel is still at Mt. Sinai. Keeping in mind the broader narrative context of Leviticus helps put the book in perspective, and it helps us understand what it meant for the people of Israel and what it means for us today.

Exodus finished with the completion of the tabernacle’s construction. The tabernacle was the tent where God would dwell. In fact, God is everywhere. There is no part of the universe where he is not present; and yet, the tabernacle was the dwelling place designed to house a concentrated display of God’s holy, glorious presence among his people.

The tent’s construction has been completed, all according to the plans the Lord instructed Moses to follow (Exod. 40:16–33). A cloud came down and covered the tent, and God’s glory filled the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34). However, even Moses was not able to enter the tent because God’s glorious presence dwelt there (Exod. 40:33). This is the dilemma we are left to ponder at the end of Exodus.

A major aim of Leviticus is to address this problem. It begins with the Lord speaking to Moses from the tent of meeting. Leviticus is full of the Lord’s instructions to Moses, the priests, and the Israelites, teaching them how they are to live with the presence of a holy God in their midst. In many ways, it is all about giving an answer to the question of Psalms 15:1 and 24:3

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? (Ps. 15:1

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? (Ps. 24:3)

Leviticus is probably not everyone’s favorite book to read. Its relevance to us and to our lives as Christians is sometimes difficulty to see. It includes detailed descriptions and instructions, many of which are obscure and confusing. I knew of an old Scottish Bible teacher who would say, “Beware Leviticus!” Many well-intentioned Bible read thru plans have stalled out at this point. But Leviticus is God’s inspired word to us just as much as Psalms or Philippians. It is true and it is profitable for us to read. We can trust that God has something to say to us in Leviticus.

 Here are a few principles that can help guide us as we read through Leviticus and the other parts of the Pentateuch that contain a lot of laws. These are three ways OT laws are important for us today:

First, they show us who God is. Leviticus is about holiness. It shows what it means that the Lord is holy. God’s commandments are grounded in God’s perfect and glorious character. When the people are told to be holy, the reason is because the Lord is holy (Lev. 11:44–45). When we read the laws in Leviticus and the rest of the Pentateuch, we come to know our holy, righteous God more fully. We are not just trying to learn about God, but we are seeking to grow in relationship with him. To do that, we need to know who he is. He is worthy of our worship and he is worthy of our time and attention as we seek to know him by reading his word.

Second, the laws of the Torah show us what God desires from his people. The Lord has not changed. He is the same God who gave Moses and the Israelites the laws of Leviticus. He gave them those laws so they would live lives that honor their God and flourish as they walk with him. He gave them laws because he loved them. We are in a New Covenant relationship with the same God. We are not accountable to all the laws of the Mosaic covenant, the laws God gave Israel at Mt. Sinai. Nevertheless, the principles underlying those laws are eternal truths that are still instructive for us today. They help us see what it looks like to live a life of wisdom and blessing before God and in community with his people. Jesus sums up the whole law by quoting from Leviticus and Deuteronomy. The law, says Jesus, is all about loving God and loving our neighbor. (Matt. 22:34–40; quoting Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18) So while we are not required to keep all the laws precisely as they were given to Israel, we are still called by God to live and love in line with the timeless principles they reflect.

Third, biblical laws show us we need help. Probably the most important takeaway from reading Leviticus and the Pentateuch is to see that we—all humans—are in desperate need of something or someone outside ourselves to achieve the righteousness and holiness God’s character requires. Reading Leviticus should leave us with a healthy sense of helplessness. These laws are impossible to keep. They certainly were for the Israelites. We see this clearly when they break the laws right from the start, even as they were receiving them at Mt. Sinai. This is why there are such elaborate procedures and a whole priestly system to make offerings and sacrifices for sins, known sins and even unknown sins. The blood of animals brought temporary, provisional atonement for their sins, and it anticipated the once-for-all atonement that would be achieved through Christ at the cross.

Leviticus is the word of God. It is Christian Scripture for us. It helps us see who the Lord is, and it helps us understand his loving heart for his people and how he wants us to live in relationship with him and others. And Leviticus helps us recognize our need for his grace and for the atoning work he accomplished in Christ. Without Leviticus, we would be missing a key part of the picture that helps us grasp how beautiful the good news of the gospel really is. Leviticus points powerfully to our Great High Priest and to the Perfect Lamb of God.

For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins. (Lev. 16:30)

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Heb. 9:11–12)

• Sun      Feb 8   Exod. 24–25    Ps. 4
• Mon     Feb 9   Exod. 26–28    Ps. 5
• Tue      Feb 10 Exod. 29–31    Ps. 6
• Wed     Feb 11 Exod. 32–34    Ps. 7
• Thu      Feb 12 Exod. 35–37    Ps. 8
• Fri        Feb 13 Exod. 38–40    Ps. 9
• Sat       Feb 14 Lev. 1–3          Ps. 10

The latter portion of Exodus is dedicated in large part to the instructions for building the tabernacle, then the description of its construction. God gave Moses instructions for the tabernacle while Moses was with the Lord on Mt. Sinai, The tabernacle was a large tent that would serve as a mobile sanctuary, the dwelling place for the Lord’s presence while the Israelites were in the wilderness. This would remain the center of Israel’s worship until a temple was built in the Promised Land during Solomon’s reign as king.

Included in the middle of this section Exodus we also read of one of the saddest displays of sin in all the Bible. The golden calf incident of Exodus 32 marks a low point for Gods’ people and serves as a paradigmatic example of sin and warning to following generations and readers of Scripture. God’s own people, his treasured possession (Exod. 19:5), who he just delivered from slavery in Egypt, they fall into grievous idolatry and rebellion against the Lord. They build and bow to an image of their own making while Moses is meeting with God on Mt. Sinai.

Also in this section, we read perhaps the most definitive and profound statement of God’s character, spoken from the Lord himself.

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” (Exod. 34:6–7)

It is significant that this statement of who the Lord is sits right after the account of idolatry with the golden calf. God’s grace and mercy are seen most clearly against the backdrop of human sin. The Lord’s holy character and human sin will remain in focus as we finish Exodus and begin Leviticus. There will be more to say about Leviticus in next week’s post.

We have also now begun reading in Psalms. Even though there is a coherence and compositional strategy in the way the book of Psalms has been put together, we will spread the Psalms reading throughout the year. The book of Psalms, sometimes called the Psalter, is broken into five parts, or five books. We will start by reading through the first book, which goes through Psalm 41. Then we will break from Psalms for a few weeks before coming back to pick up in book two of the Psalter.

Even though we are reading individual psalms separately, we should keep in mind that they are not totally separate from their context within the Psalter and from their connections with one another and with other Scriptures. In fact, many recent commentaries and studies in Psalms highlight the coherence and strategic design of the Psalter and its parts, showing that the individual psalms have been put together intentionally with an overall structure and design to the book of Psalms as a whole. As you read Psalms, notice details linking the psalms to each other, and themes that flow from one to the next. Also notice the connections between the psalms and other parts of the Bible. One of the benefits of becoming more familiar with Scripture is that we begin to notice more of the many interconnected links throughout the Old and New Testaments.

We can see the intentional design of the Psalms right at the outset. Psalms 1 and 2 function as a joint pair of psalms that introduce the whole Psalter. Here are a few examples of the language linking the first two psalms together.

• In Ps. 1:1 and 6, at the beginning and end of the first psalm, two ways are contrasted: the way of the wicked and the way of the righteous; in Ps. 2:12, those who do not honor the Son will perish in the way.
• In Ps. 1:1–2 the one who meditates on Torah is blessed; in the conclusion of Ps. 2:12 those who take refuge in the Messiah are blessed.
• In Ps. 1:2, the righteous meditate on Torah; in Ps. 2:1 the wicked plot (same Hebrew word as “meditate” in 1:2) against the Messiah.
• In Ps. 1:6, the wicked will perish; in Ps. 2:12, those who do not kiss the Son will perish.

Again and again, we see evidence that the Bible has been put together with a great deal of intentionality. It is a cohesive whole that communicates a message that is at the same time both elegantly unified and also deeply complex. God has been so kind to reveal himself to us.

Beginning in earlier write ups, we have been thinking about the purposes for doing a read thru like this. The first purpose is to meet with God regularly and hear what he has to say. We could say more about that, but for now we will shift to the second purpose, which is to cultivate a lifelong habit of growing in familiarity with God’s word. One of the most amazing things about the Bible is the way it can speak in different registers at the same time. It is both simple and complex. Its basic story and message can be grasped by children, and you can spend your whole life studying it and still just begin to scratch the surface of all it means.

I think this is a feature of Scripture that flows out of the loving character of the God who inspired it. He wants to be known, and he has given us a way to know him. He calls us to have childlike faith (Matt 18:1–4; 19:14), and his word helps us know him from the very beginning of our lives as Christians. And on the other hand, the Bible is not the kind of book that we read just once and now we fully grasp it. It is meant to be read repeatedly, studied, meditated upon. As we do, we can trust that God will show us new and wonderful things in it as we read it again and again over the course of a lifetime.

Reading through the Bible in one year does not have any kind of magic power; it does not automatically produce a more mature Christian life. But each time we pick it up and read it, we are building a foundation of familiarity with the story of our God and of ourselves in his world, and this will form us in ways that result in growth and godliness.

This is a process that takes patience. We are conditioned in our present day to want immediate results and to get the quick, nutshell summary that will tell us what we need to know. There are some really good resources that synthesize the key themes of the Bible, but these are no substitute for the long, patient, soul-shaping journey of daily Bible reading. At whatever point in life you are, and whether you are just starting to read the Bible or have been reading it for a long time, investing a few minutes each day in God’s word will produce the kind of fruitful growth over the course of a lifetime that we cannot get anywhere else.

The goal of cultivating this lifelong habit is not to become an expert in the Bible, to master its content. The goal is to grow in familiarity with its message, and by becoming more familiar with it, we grow in our knowledge of the God who wrote it and in our love for him, and our lives our formed into Christlike character and a love, for God and for others, that flows out of what we have seen in Scripture. We will come back to these ideas later in these posts.

• Sun      Feb 1   Exod. 4–6       
• Mon     Feb 2   Exod. 7–9       
• Tue      Feb 3   Exod. 10–12   
• Wed     Feb 4   Exod. 13–15   
• Thu      Feb 5   Exod. 16–18   
• Fri        Feb 6   Exod. 19–20    Pss. 1–2
• Sat       Feb 7   Exod. 21–23    Ps. 3

Broadly speaking, Exodus has two parts. The first part, chapters 1–18, covers Israel’s time in Egypt, their exodus from slavery there, and their travels towards Mt. Sinai. This section recounts God’s deliverance of the Israelites out of Egypt with mighty acts against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. And the Lord’s miraculous care for his people does not end after they leave Egypt or even after they go through the Red Sea. One of the most consistent threads running through the story of the OT is the theme of God demonstrating his infinite power and his infinite love through miraculous acts for his people. The exodus from Egypt is a paradigm for this theme of God’s mighty salvation that runs through the whole Bible and culminates in Jesus at the cross.

Chapter 19 is a transition point in Exodus, marking the shift from the first major section of the book to the second. Moses and the Israelites arrive at Mt. Sinai in chapter 19 and there they receive the laws from the Lord. The rest of Exodus, from chapter 19 through chapter 40, is taken up primarily with the giving of the law, including instructions for the tabernacle and its construction. The setting for the second half of Exodus is at Mt. Sinai, and in fact, the whole book of Leviticus and the first part of Numbers also take place while the Israelites are at Sinai. This broad context of the Pentateuch is important to keep in mind as we read through Exodus, reminding ourselves that these chapters are part of the larger narrative of God and his people.

Exodus contains some of the most familiar and famous stories in all the Bible: Moses and the burning bush, the plagues in Egypt, Israel’s exodus out from Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea, the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai. Epic movies have been made about these events. I will probably always imagine Moses looking like Charlton Heston from Cecil B. DeMille’s classic film.

Some parts of the Bible are more familiar than others. Whether you are reading a passage that is quite unfamiliar, or it is a story you have heard or read many times, either way it is good to try to read with fresh eyes. Try to notice the details in the text. Everything that is said has been included for a reason. You may be surprised at the new things you will see that you may not have really noticed before.

And there is a flip side to this principle too. As you read, you will also probably realize that the Bible sometimes does not say what you always thought it said, and it definitely will not say what you sometimes wish was included. Just as everything that is in there is there for a reason, so also everything that is not there is not there for a reason. Sometimes the authors—and God as the divine author—leaves our questions unanswered. And that is not something to be lamented. Resist the temptation to import or assume or speculate about something that is left out. There are gaps in the text, and those gaps are important. It can be good to trust God’s wisdom in Scripture’s inspiration and let the unanswered questions remain unanswered.

We have been considering the purposes for doing a read thru like this, reflecting first on the point that we are doing this to meet with God regularly and hear what he has to say. We follow Jesus’ commands to abide in him by reading his word regularly. Now, we noted earlier that someone calculated you could read through the whole Bible in approximately 75 hours. I suppose you could skip work or school for a week, find a secluded place, and just read for several hours a day and get through it all at once. There would certainly be a lot of benefit to that, but it is not the same as reading a manageable portion regularly, daily, or at least most days.

I think we can see a helpful analogy in the principle of manna. This week we read Exodus 16, where God miraculously provides manna for the Israelites in the wilderness. He sent it every day for six days a week and he instructed them to collect a certain portion each day, enough for each member of the household. But they were not to collect more than the allotted portion for one day and they were not to leave it over to the next day, except on the sixth day, when they were to gather twice as much in preparation for the Sabbath. Day after day, for 40 years, the Lord gave just what they needed, not more and not less. They were simply to obey his instructions to gather the manna daily and they were to trust that he would provide what was needed for their nourishment again the next day.

In a similar way, by spending time regularly, daily reading the Bible to hear from him, we are nourished with the spiritual bread of Scripture. We do not need to consume it all at once or feel pressure to take it all in and understand it fully right away. Meeting with God in his word is a regular, daily habit that sustains us and helps us grow in our knowledge of and love for God over time.

When we order our day around reading his word, it means we are making it a priority to receive what he has graciously given to us. It is an investment of time, and it is okay to admit that it can seem like another task in our already busy lives. We will find, though, that as we make it a priority and a regular part of our day, he will reward that effort, and it will become a joyful habit instead of a monotonous chore. It may even become the part of our day we look forward to most. In future posts, we will continue to reflect on the idea that cultivating the habit of Bible reading helps us grow in a lifelong journey of knowing God through Scripture.

There’s another interesting detail in one of these stories in Exodus, another part of God’s mighty acts we encounter in this week’s reading. In Exodus 17, when the children of Israel defeat the Amalekites in battle, which is clearly a victory from the Lord, he instructs Moses to “write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua.” (Exod. 17:14) This is the first time the idea of writing down Scripture occurs in Scripture. There are other instances like this recorded int eh Bible too—places where it talks about writing something down that would later become known as Scripture—but this is the first. God wanted his people to remember what had happened there, for future generations to know what he had done. The Bible was and still is God’s way to make himself known and remembered to his people.

• Sun      Jan 25 Matt. 26–28
• Mon     Jan 26 Mark 1–3
• Tue      Jan 27 Mark 4–6
• Wed     Jan 28 Mark 7–9
• Thu      Jan 29 Mark 10–12
• Fri        Jan 30 Mark 13–16
• Sat       Jan 31 Exod. 1–3

Last week’s post mentioned the two general purposes for doing a Bible read thru: 1) to meet with God regularly and hear what he has to say, and 2) to cultivate a lifelong habit of growing in familiarity with God’s word. We will come back to the second point later, but let us consider for now the first point and the value of meeting with God and hearing from him regularly.

In John 15, Jesus instructs his followers to abide in him as he abides in us. His word abides in us, and we bear fruit, act as his true followers, and glorify God by abiding in him. Having a plan and setting aside a little time each day to sit and read a few chapters of his word is perhaps the most tangible and practical way to put into practice this instruction from Jesus. It really is pretty simple, but there is no better way to abide in Christ than to read his word.

We have the Holy Spirit in us. God is with us. The very presence of Christ, by his Spirit, is dwelling within us as Christ-followers and among us as his church. That is an astounding benefit of the gospel and the true experience of every follower of Jesus. And the same Spirit that dwells in us is the Spirit who carried along the prophets and apostles in the writing of Scripture (1 Cor. 2:12–13; 2 Pet. 1:21). We are to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Eph. 6:17), in our daily battles that are not against flesh and blood. Reading God’s word is a way, the best way, to encounter the God who created all things, who loved us and saved us through his Son, and who is near us and with us.

After finishing Matthew, we move right into the second of the four Gospel accounts, the Gospel of Mark. This coming Sunday will be resuming our sermon series in Mark, which we began last year.

Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels. It is also the most action packed and fast moving. In all four of the Gospels, the crux of the narrative is Jesus’ death on the cross. In Mark, the plot advances toward that point at Golgotha more quickly than in the other Gospels. You will probably notice the word “immediately” occurring often throughout Mark, giving the sense that Jesus is moving with a sense of urgency from one miraculous act to another on his way to the cross.

While Mark shares a lot of similarities with the other three Gospels, there are some differences too. Mark is most similar to Matthew and Luke. John’s Gospel tells the same basic story, but in the most distinctive way. As we read the Gospels, it is important to remember that these differences matter. It may seem a bit strange and unnecessary for us to have four separate versions of this same story. But remember, each of the Gospels tells the story a bit differently with different emphases and a distinct message.

If he had thought it best, God could have inspired Scripture to include just one account of these events, perhaps it would have been like a harmonious, chronological mashup of what we have in the four Gospels. But he did not do that. In his infinite wisdom, he chose to include four different versions of the story of Jesus’ life, ministry, death, and resurrection. We do well to pay attention humbly to this.

Mark highlights Jesus’s deeds more than his words. Several of the long speeches or sermons of Jesus that are included in Matthew are missing from Mark. Mark also highlights the mystery of Jesus’s identity. Those who should have understood who he was, do not get it, at least at first. Instead it is often the ones we might least expect who understand that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s Son.

Mark 8:27–33 is a key passage in the book. There, Peter, who represents the disciples, finally gets it, at least partially. In reply to Jesus’s question, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter says, “You are the Christ (the Messiah).” (v. 29) Unfortunately, right after this Peter responds to Jesus in a way that makes it clear he still misses the point. He rebukes Jesus for saying he will soon die (v. 32), and Jesus rebukes him and says, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” (v. 33)

Mark’s Gospel ends in basically the same way all four Gospels end. Jesus is risen from the dead, out of the tomb, and he appears to his disciples. As you read through each of these accounts of Jesus’ life, take in the story, resist rushing through what may have read many times before, notice the details, meditate on the wonder of this familiar but amazing story, and let it stir your heart to worship our risen Savior.

We will also begin Exodus at the end of this week. Exodus follows Genesis as the second part of the Pentateuch. As the narrative moves from Genesis to Exodus, the focus shifts from the story of a family to the story of a nation. God has been faithful and fulfilled his promises to bless the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He has used difficult circumstances and even sinful acts to accomplish his purposes (see Gen. 50:20). And now, while they are in Egypt, outside the Promised Land, Abraham’s descendants, the family of Jacob, have been fruitful and multiplied and grown into a great nation (Exod. 1:7, 12). God appears to Moses and calls him to lead his people out of slavery. They will leave Egypt to go to the land of Canaan, the land the Lord promised to give to Abraham’s descendants. There will be delays and years of wandering in the wilderness on the way to the Promised Land, but God’s mighty act of deliverance from Pharaoh and Egypt is the first step. The early chapters of Exodus set the stage for the exodus from Egypt.

As we read the early chapters of Exodus, it’s important to keep in mind that they are setting the stage not only for what follows in the rest of Exodus, but also for the rest of the Pentateuch, and indeed in the rest of the story of the whole Bible. God’s miraculous deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt is a picture of his deliverance of his people from slavery in sin. The exodus is one of the greatest displays of God’s goodness and love; it is the event that is recalled most often throughout the rest of the Bible.

• Sun      Jan 18 Matt. 5–7
• Mon     Jan 19 Matt. 8–10
• Tue      Jan 20 Matt. 11–13
• Wed     Jan 21 Matt. 14–16
• Thu      Jan 22 Matt. 17–19
• Fri        Jan 23 Matt. 20–22
• Sat       Jan 24 Matt. 23–25

We are into the fourth week of this year’s read thru, and I hope and pray you are starting to get into a bit of a rhythm as you incorporate Bible reading into your day. Whether this is the first time you have read these stories in Genesis, or whether they are very familiar to you, reading them is helping to form a view of the world and of the God who is involved in the world he created. It is his perspective of our world we are gaining as we read of these ancient people.

It is good to keep reminding ourselves of the purpose for doing a read thru like this. We could think of many benefits, like the value of doing this together as a church. That is one thing I am especially excited about. We will hear connections from the Sunday sermons to passages we have covered in the read thru, and it will be rewarding and encouraging to be able to talk with each other about what God is teaching us, knowing others are reading the same things we are. There are many other valuable reasons for us to be reading through the Bible in a year, as individuals and for us as a church.

Broadly speaking, we could put the main purposes for doing a Bible read thru into two areas. It may be helpful to summarize these two points generally, then unpack them a little more over the next few weeks.

First, we are reading through the Bible in a year to meet with God regularly and hear what he has to say. And second, we are doing this to cultivate a lifelong habit of growing in our awareness and understanding of God through his word, and being shaped by what we learn.

We will dig more into both of these points and explore together some of the many ways reading through Scripture can be a valuable and lifegiving part of our lives as followers of Jesus. As we do, it is important to keep reminding ourselves that we are not reading just to read. We are doing so to invest a little time each day to receive from God the communication he has graciously given us. And we are reading God’s word so that we can know him and so we will live in a way that honors him, both in our devotion to him and in our love for others.

We are in the Gospel of Matthew all week, and we finish the book on Sunday. Matthew’s Gospel ends with Jesus’ parting words to his disciples:

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18–20)

In this charge, which we call the Great Commission, Jesus gives his disciples and us today the outline for our task as his followers. Jesus’s disciples have been with him for a while by now. They have walked with him, watched him in action, and heard him teach. By this point, at the end of the Gospel’s narrative, they have seen their Lord crucified, and now he is alive again. He has risen and will soon ascend to be with the Father; but before he does, he leaves them with these instructions. He sends them out on a mission to tell the world what they have seen and heard, and to call others to follow him too.

Gresham Bible Church’s mission is to carry on this same task, to be disciples who make disciples, all for God’s glory and by the transforming power of the gospel. We have the same mission Jesus gave to those first disciples. It is the same mission the Church has always had since Jesus’s ascension, and it will be our mission until he comes again. Our hope and prayer is that reading the Bible together as a church will help us in this mission. May we, like the disciples, take what we are seeing and hearing and spread the news. As we come to know our glorious, triune God better, we will want others to know him too.

• Sun      Jan 11 Gen. 32–34
• Mon     Jan 12 Gen. 35–37
• Tue      Jan 13 Gen. 38–40
• Wed     Jan 14 Gen. 41–44
• Thu      Jan 15 Gen. 45–47
• Fri        Jan 16 Gen. 48–50
• Sat       Jan 17 Matt. 1–4

This week we finish reading through Genesis. Well done making it through the first book of the Bible—or the first part of the five-part book of Moses! We are just a couple weeks into the new year and we have seen the beginning of the story of God and his work in the world. It began with his creation of all things and moved to his covenant relationship with the family through whom he will bring about his great plan of redemption.

At the end of Genesis, Abraham’s grandson, Jacob is an old man. He and his family of twelve sons are in Egypt, where God is preserving them during the famine in the Promise Land. As he nears his last days, Jacob, who God has renamed Israel, blesses his sons. Genesis 49 is a large poetic section in the midst of the narrative context. It records the blessing Jacob pronounced on each of his sons as he gathered them together to tell them what would happen “in the days to come” (Gen. 49:1). He clearly loved Joseph the most, as we can see from the portion of the blessing directed towards his second youngest son. (Gen. 49:22–26)

However, the section of this poetic blessing that is most striking is the blessing of Judah. There we see the language of royalty and a prophetic expectation of a king who will come from Judah’s line.

Judah, your brothers shall praise you;

     your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

     your father’s sons shall bow down before you.

Judah is a lion’s cub;

     from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down; he crouched as a lion

     and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

     nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until tribute comes to him;

     and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Binding his foal to the vine

     and his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

he has washed his garments in wine

     and his vesture in the blood of grapes.

His eyes are darker than wine,

     and his teeth whiter than milk.

Keep this in mind as we continue reading through the OT, and look for echoes of this blessing to Judah along the way. Similar language comes up in several places, including another of the large poetic sections in the Pentateuch, Balaam’s oracles in Numbers 23 and 24. Even in the earliest book of the Bible there is a trajectory of messianic expectation. The hope for a coming king from Judah’s tribe ultimately culminates in Christ. He is the one who will fulfill the promise of Genesis 49, and he is the promised seed from Genesis 3:15.

The Gospel of Matthew comes next in our reading. Matthew is the first book of the NT, and Matthew opens with a genealogy. This is an interesting literary genre to begin the NT, listing the generations from Abraham through David to Jesus the Christ, the Messiah. The genealogy is just one of several ways Matthew’s Gospel links back to Genesis and to the Pentateuch. We see clearly from the very first verses of Matthew that the whole Bible—what we call the canon of Scripture—fits together as a unified work; and the focal point of the canon is Jesus, the incarnate Son of God. The pivotal turning point of the story of all Scripture is Christ coming in the flesh to dwell with his people as Immanuel, God with us (Matt 1:23). As we read along in Matthew and the other Gospels, we will see how Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection fulfill all the hopes and expectations we are covering in the OT portion of the read thru.

In chapter 4 of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy and says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4, citing Deut. 8:3) We can trust that he will feed and sustain us by his word. Like the manna in the wilderness, we can trust he will provide what we need from his word each day. We don’t need to worry that we are not getting totally stuffed as full as we could get all at once. He is faithful to instruct and guide us, each day giving what we need for that day through the nourishment of the Bible. We pray as Jesus instructed his disciples to pray, asking that he would give us this day our daily bread (Matt. 6:11). And we can trust that he will provide the spiritual sustenance we need through the bread of his word.

Matthew’s Gospel gives one of four biblical versions of Jesus’ life and ministry. The Gospels all recount the most wonderful story there is, of the God of the universe coming in the flesh to be with the people he created and to save them. They tell the Good News of the long-expected Messiah, of his life and ministry, and his death, resurrection, and ascension. The rest of the New Testament unpacks the significance of this story and builds on what we read in the four Gospel accounts.

Each of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—paints a distinct picture, with its own emphasis and message. They are four equally true accounts of Jesus’ life, but when we read them we are not only trying to figure out “what really happened” as much as we are trying to understand and listen to the message each of these four biblical books is trying to convey about what really happened. That may seem like a meaningless distinction, but it really matters. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all had something to say. When we read the Gospels, we are hearing what God has to say through his inspired word. We do well to notice the particular things each of the Gospel writers, carried along by the Holy Spirit, want us to see about Jesus.

Matthew, more than the other Gospels, presents Jesus as the fulfillment of OT promises. He is the promised descendant of Abraham, the King in the line of David, and the new and better Moses who came to usher in a new and better covenant. In Matthew 4, Jesus succeeds where Adam failed and sinned. Jesus resists the devil’s tempting lies. Also in Matthew, in chapters 5–7, Jesus goes up on a mountain, like Moses on Mt. Sinai, and delivers a new set of laws to live by. As you read through Matthew, notice all the ways Matthew points back to the OT to show how Jesus fulfills was the Scriptures anticipated.

• Sun      Jan 4   Gen. 10–11
• Mon     Jan 5   Gen. 12–15
• Tue      Jan 6   Gen. 16–18
• Wed     Jan 7   Gen. 19–21
• Thu      Jan 8   Gen. 22–24
• Fri        Jan 9   Gen. 25–27
• Sat       Jan 10 Gen. 28–31

This week we continue reading in Genesis. After the early chapters of Genesis, the focus of the story narrows, moving from a broad perspective of all creation to the story of Abraham and his family. In the chapters we are covering this week, we read of God’s faithfulness to his promises to bless Abraham and to bless all humanity through Abraham and his offspring, or seed (remember Gen 3:15). The story focuses on Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son Jacob, because it is through this lineage that the promised seed will come.

We read Genesis as the first book of the Bible, but in one sense, Genesis is just part one of the first book of the Bible. We could say the first book of the Bible is really the five-part book of Moses, the Pentateuch, or the Torah—Genesis through Deuteronomy. The is what the early readers thought of as the first book of the Bible, and it’s how the rest of the Bible refers to the opening part of Scripture (e.g. Josh. 23:6; Neh. 8:1).

It is helpful to consider the broader context of the Pentateuch as we read through Genesis. The first readers Moses had in mind when writing Genesis were the Israelites getting ready to cross the Jordan river and go into the promised Land. Deuteronomy and the rest of the Pentateuch were originally addressed to this same generation. When they read these stories in Genesis—stories about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their travels and trials in Canaan and outside the Promised Land—they would be reminded of the Lord’s faithfulness to the promises he had made generations earlier. In a similar way, we too can be strengthened in our trust of God’s steadfast love and the certainty of his promises.

As we keep working through the Pentateuch in our reading, we will come back again to this idea that Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are best read together as one book.

Some of you will find time in the morning to start your day with Bible reading. For some, it works better to do it later in the day. Whenever you do it, it’s a habit worth practicing. Over the next couple weeks these write-ups will cover different aspects of what we are doing when we open Scripture each day, and why it is valuable to do so. But for now, let me just suggest you get in the habit of praying briefly before starting your reading. Simply pray and ask God to open your eyes to see and your ears to hear what he has said through his word. Ask him to help you understand what you are reading and to help you know him and love him more through your reading. Ask him to reveal areas of sin in your life or ways to put into action what his word says.

Here are a few verses from Psalms you could use to help guide these pre-reading prayers:

Make me to know your ways, O LORD;

teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me,

for you are the God of my salvation;

for you I wait all the day long. (Ps. 25:4–5)

 

Teach me your way, O LORD,

that I may walk in your truth;

unite my heart to fear your name. (Ps. 86:11)

 

Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God!

Let your good Spirit lead me

on level ground! (Ps. 143:8–10)

Some of you may have read through the Bible many times, some did last year’s read thru, and for some of you, this may be your first time reading all the way through the Old and New Testaments. For all of us, cultivating a lifelong habit of spending regular time in God’s word is one of the most valuable things we can do. As we grow in our familiarity with Scripture, we are accepting God’s invitation to meet with him and hear his voice. The words of the Bible are the very breath of God, given for our benefit, so that we might be instructed, encouraged, sometimes corrected, and by reading it be equipped for a flourishing life that is pleasing to God (2 Tim 3:16–17).

There will be a weekly write up here on the church blog to offer encouragement and a bit of explanation as we read along. We are very glad you’ve decided to read through the Bible this year!

Week 1, January 1–3: Genesis 1–9

• Thu      Jan 1   Gen. 1–3
• Fri        Jan 2   Gen. 4–5
• Sat       Jan 3   Gen. 6–9

Genesis is the book of beginnings. It lays the foundation for the rest of the Bible. It tells us who God is and how this world and all creation came into existence. In Genesis we also learn who we are in relation to God and to each other. It all begins with a good creation, but things go sideways quickly when the first humans, Adam and Eve, sin by not trusting and obeying the loving Creator. What God intended for a blessing becomes cursed because of the first humans’ fall into sin. But God initiates a plan to restore all things. He will send an offspring of Eve, literally a “seed” of the woman, who will come from Abraham’s lineage. This promised seed will overturn the curse of sin, defeat his enemies, and bring restoration and blessing to all the families of the earth (3:15, 12:1–3; 15:1–6). We’ll see how this story unfolds as we keep reading in Genesis.

This read thru plan continues through Genesis and works through every book of the Bible in 2026, ending the year with the book of Revelation. We will alternate back and forth between the Old and New Testaments. The Psalms will be spread throughout the year, and the books we will be preaching through on Sunday mornings will be covered in the read thru plan sometime during the corresponding sermon series. You will see how it works as you go. Like last year, we will be following the order of the Hebrew Bible, instead of the order in our English Bibles. There will be some explanation about this as we go along, especially when we come to the points in the reading where the canonical orders differ. Last year we discussed this and other things about the read thru in an episode on our church’s Life Together podcast.

There are about three chapters each day. This may sound like a lot, and it will take some commitment to carve out this time each day. But really is not a lot of time. This infographic article from Crossway shows an estimate of the total time to read through the Bible: about 75 hours. Spread out over a year, that is about twelve minutes a day. Just over ten minutes each day is worth the investment to cultivate a daily habit of time with the Lord.

We have two different layouts for the plan: a booklet that lists the reading for each day, and a bookmark that lists the readings for the whole week. You can access those here. There are also printed booklets and bookmarks available at church on Sunday. Choose whichever one you like, or take one of each.

We do not want to do something like this just because we are supposed to or out of an unhealthy sense of duty just to check a box. However, the way to avoid doing something simply out of duty is not to avoid doing it altogether. Rather, as we are taking steps of obedience and trust, we ask the Lord to stir our hearts to find joy doing what is honoring to him and best for us. Building godly habits that help us grow as disciples of Jesus will feel more like discipline some days, and that is not a bad thing. And over time, our daily times with the Lord will be the part of the day we look forward to most. The Bible is a gracious gift from our Creator and Savior, and it is the main means by which he has made himself known to us, his people. What a privilege to be able to know him by reading his word!