I’m posting this first week early so that people who are considering joining us on our journey through the Bible in 2019 will be able to peek at what they can expect to find on a weekly basis as the new week’s passages are posted. I am also looking for suggestions in the comments below on the kinds of things that would be the most helpful and encouraging to readers. What will keep people reading, and what will best inspire comments from readers?
Note: The Read the Bible in Chronological Order blog series has been moved to another of my blogs: Bible Bites 4 You. Expect to find the weekly posts on that blog instead of here.
For those who would like to read the Bible online, the Bible links take you to the Bible Gateway website where you can select from a wide range of translations. You can even listen to the passages on most translations. These links were set for the New Living Translation and the New International Version, but you can change the translation once you open the link. There is a second link for each day for an audio recording. This is added for the benefit of those who prefer to listen including the blind who have software to help them read web pages.
Passages to read this week:
- Jan 1 Genesis 1‐3 Audio Genesis 1-3 NASB
- Jan 2 Genesis 4-7 Audio Genesis 4-7 NASB
- Jan 3 Genesis 8‐11 Audio Genesis 8‐11 NASB
- Jan 4 Job 1-5 Audio Job 1-5 NASB
- Jan 5 Job 6-9 Audio Job 6-9 NASB
- Jan 6 Job 10-13 Audio Job 10-13 NASB
- Jan 7 Job 14-16 Audio Job 14-16 NASB
Click here for bookmark as a PDF file: Chronological Bible – Week 1
Brief overview of the passages for this week:
The first week’s readings include the following accounts:
- From Genesis 1-11
- The creation of the heavens and the earth
- Adam and Eve
- The fall, Cain and Abel
- Genealogies of the first people up to Noah and his family
- The flood, God’s covenant with people and the animals
- The Tower of Babel
- Genealogy from Shem (Noah’s son) to Abram
- From Job 1-16 (Note: Most Bible scholars believe that Job lived after the flood and before the time of Abram.)
- Setting: The land of Uz, a large territory east of the Jordan Valley
- God speaks well of Job
- God allows Satan to test Job
- Job loses sons, daughters, and property
- Job loses health
- Joseph’s three friends visit
- First cycle of speeches by his friends and Job’s replies to them
- Second cycle of speeches begins
Suggestions for things to look for:
- We will be in the Old Testament for most of the year. Look for passages that foretell the coming of Jesus. You may be surprised at how many you will find.
- Key concepts and words to watch for in this week’s readings:
- Sequence of creation (compare to food chain)
- Deception leading to the fall
- Curse of the fall
- Blood sacrifices
- Nephalem
- God’s hand at work in the flood
- Language – from one to many
- Righteousness of Job
- Satan’s role in Job’s life
- Approaches to comforting/confronting Job
- Job’s defence of himself
Sharing what we learn:
I will in no way pretend to be your teacher. One of the Holy Spirit’s roles is to teach us and help us to understand God’s Word. The Holy Spirit is our teacher as we read the Bible. I see my role as a cheerleader to encourage you as you read the whole Bible. I will do what I can to encourage discussion in the comments following each week’s post. Comments that promote understanding will be encouraged. I will also monitor to prevent arguments. We are not here to promote any denomination or to hammer away at any particular doctrine. I will delete comments that cross over this line.
Suggested questions to discuss in the comments below:
- What were your favorite passages?
- What new insights have you gleaned about the nature of God?
- Did you read something that caused you to think differently about your faith or about how you live your life?
- What did you read that surprised you?
- What did you read that disturbed or confused you?
- Did you learn something this time that you didn’t notice the last time you read these passages?
- Feel free to think up your own questions to discuss as well . . .
