This will be my final posting of the Bible schedule on this blog and the readings listed here will take you all the way through the first Saturday in July.
Continuing our journey through the book of II Chronicles. Chapters 6-9 concern themselves with Solomon's reign as king. Israel splits into two nations after his reign - Judah in the south with Jerusalem as its capital and Israel in the north with Samaria as its capital. Most of the rest of II Chronicles is concerned with the history of the kings of Judah with occasional references to the kingdom of Israel. In the last chapter, Judah is destroyed and the people taken into exile in Babylon. In the final verses, the Persian king Cyrus conquers Babylon and authorizes the restoration of Solomon's temple and apparently the return of the exiles, approximately 50 years after they were taken away.
7 - (Su) - II Chronicles 2-5
8 (M) -II Chronicles 6-9
9 (Tu)- II Chronicles 10-13
10 (W)- II Chronicles 14-17
11 (Th) - II Chronicles 18-21
12 (F) - II Chronicles 22-25
13 (Sa) - II Chronicles 26-29
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah used to be one book in the Hebrew Bible before being separated. Both of the books deal with the return of the Israelites from captivity in Babylon. The Book of Ezra consists of ten chapters. Chapters 1-6 cover the period from the decree of Cyrus the Great allowing the first return of exiles (about 538BC) to the completion and dedication of the new temple in Jerusalem (about 515BC). This part of the book is largely told in third person, as if someone is retelling what has been told to them. But chapters 7-10 are largely told in third person (presumably by Ezra himself), dealing with his mission to Jerusalem (about 465BC) and his struggle to purify the Jews from their inter-marriage with non-Jews.
Nehemiah is about 20 years after Ezra. He is the cupbearer to King Artaxerses of Cyrus and is sent to help build up the wall around the city of Jerusalem and reform the people according to the law of Moses. The first part of the book is all hard work - rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, setting up guards along the wall and gates, taking a census of the people, having the law of Moses read to the people, leading the people in repenting for their sins and beginning a new covenant with God. After twelve years of hard work, Nehemiah returns to Susa. Later he comes back to Jersualem and finds that the people have backslid in his absence. So he takes measure to enforce his earlier reforms and asks for God's favor.
14 - (Su) - II Chronicles 30-33
15 (M) -II Chronicles 34-36; Ezra 1
16 (Tu)- Ezra 2-5
17 (W)- Ezra 6-9
18 (Th) - Ezra 10; Nehemiah 1-3
19 (F) - Nehemiah 4-7
20 (Sa) - Nehemiah 8-11
Next we turn to another book of the exile, Esther. The book of Esther is interesting because while the name of God is never explicitly mentioned in the book, God's action is certainly implied. Esther is a Jewish woman living in exile in Persia. When the Persian king Xerses banishes his wife, a contest starts to seek a new queen. Esther is one of the women presented and ultimately Xerses' choice. Tensions arise between Xerses' right hand man Haaman and Esther's uncle Mordecai until the life of all Jews are threatened. My favorite part of the book is Mordecai's question to Esther which spurs her to take a risk: "And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"(Esther 4:14)
I love how we see God working things out among his people for a return after the exile..... prompting the leaders of foreign nations to help rebuild Jerusalem and provide native leaders for oversight. It reminds me of the truth of what Paul wrote centuries later in Romans 8:31: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
21 - (Su) - Nehemiah 12-13; Esther 1-2
22 (M) - Esther 3-6
23 (Tu)- Esther 7-10
24 (W)- Job 1-4
25 (Th) - Job 5-8
26 (F) - Job 9-12
27 (Sa) - Job 13-16
This marks a shift from the books of history and now we enter the books of poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs and Eccelesiastes). In Jewish tradition, Job is understood to be the grandson of Abraham's brother. So chronologically we are going way back into the history of Israel. The book of Job appears to have been written to address the problem of evil and why the righteous suffer. The first two chapters act as a prologue to set the scene and then we move into cycles of speeches between Job and friends.
Cycle 1 (Chapters 3-11) - Job, Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job and Zophar
Cycle 2 (Chapters 12-20) - Job, Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job and Zophar
Cycle 3 (Chapters 21-31) - Job, Eliphaz, Job, Bildad, Job
Job's three friends never seem to waver from their belief that Job must have sinned to incite God's punishment. They continually berate him for refusing to confess his sins, even though they themselves are at a loss as to what Job has done wrong. In their theology, God always rewards good and punishes evil, with no exceptions. Job meanwhile maintains his innocence. He refuses to curse God or accuse God of injustice but wants an explanation as to why this is happening to him.
We get introduced to another person in chapters 3-37. Elihu almost takes a mediator's path - attempting to hold together an understanding of God's sovereign power and righteousness along with God's gracious mercy. He condemns the approach by Job's other three friends and argues that God's righteousness is being misrepresented and his loving character discredited. Elihu lifts up many of God's attributes: mighty, just, quick to warn and to forgive. He suggests that Job does need to repent - not from a particular sin - but from his arrogance in presuming to understand God.
When I read through the book of Job I realize that we still wrestle in today's society with these same issues - understanding evil and suffering and supposing to know how God operates. It's comforting in some part to realize that these are not new struggles. But they are definitely issues worth reflecting on.
28 - (Su) - Job 17-20
29 (M) - Job 21-24
30 (Tu)- Job 25-28
1 (W)- Job 29-32
2 (Th) - Job 33-36
3 (F) - Job 37-40
4 (Sa) - Job 41-42; Psalms 1-2
May God add His richest blessings to the reading, the hearing, the understanding and most importantly the living out of His holy word. Amen.
Blessings,
