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SEPTEMBER & OCTOBER
Congratulations… If you have made it this far…you have completely read through the New Testament and now all that remains is the rest of the Old Testament.
OLD TESTAMENT…
Continue in your reading through the book of Job which is followed by Song of Solomon and Ecclesiastes. Both of these books were written by King Solomon and are part of the five books known as the Poetical books. The others are Job, Psalms and Proverbs. King Solomon was the wisest man to have ever lived because his wisdom came from God. The book of Ecclesiastes was written about Solomon’s search to discover truth which included the meaning of life and the fact that life is not always fair. He summarizes his search with the discovery that the whole duty of man, is to fear God and keep His commandments.
Song of Solomon is a love poem written to illustrate the joy of authentic love found in marriage. It also symbolically speaks of the loving relationship between Christ and His church.
When you have completed the last of the Poetic books you will begin the remaining 17 books of the Old Testament known as the prophetic books. The prophetic books are divided into two sections known as the Major Prophets and the Minor Prophets. It is important to understand that the only difference in these two divisions is the size of the books and not the importance of their writing. All of the books in the Bible are equally important in understanding God’s heart for us…His creation.
You will notice that the prophetic books are not listed in your bibles in the same order that you will be reading them. This is because that they are not listed chronologically. We are going to be reading through the prophetic books of the Old Testament as close to the chronological order in which they were written as possible, which will make it easier for you to understand what they are saying. In every instance, with the exception of Lamentations, each book bears the author’s & prophet’s name. Lamentations is the exception to this and was written by the prophet Jeremiah. As you are reading through the prophets…pay close attention to three things 1) what was the time period in which it was written 2) to whom it was written to 3) what the message was about.
The Old Testament prophets brought God’s word to the nations of Israel & Judah among others and included warnings of judgment, warnings and hope for the immediate future (as well as warnings and hope for the distant future), and hope in the coming of Jesus the Messiah.
The first book of prophets we will be reading is Joel. Joel was a prophet to Judah speaking prophecy and judgment to call Judah to repentance in order to avoid judgment. It is unknown as to when it was written. The next prophetic book will be the book of Jonah. Jonah speaks of God’s mercy. It was delivered to Nineveh around 783-753 BC in order to show that God loves everyone and desires that all would be saved. Amos was a prophet to Israel delivering a prophecy of judgment to accuse and judge Israel for their injustice and lack of mercy. It was delivered around 760-750 BC.
Next is Hosea written around 755-710 BC. It was a prophecy of warning to Israel to illustrate Israel’s spiritual adultery and provide a warning of impending destruction. The book of Isaiah is one of the most profound prophetic books in all of the Old Testament. Isaiah was known as the Messianic prophet speaking so clearly of Jesus as the Messiah. It is the first of the Major Prophets we are reading. It also was a prophecy of judgment written around 740-680 BC to convince Judah that salvation was possible through repentance and hope in the Messiah. Micah prophesied to both Israel and Judah around 739-686 BC to warn people of judgment and to offer hope. Nahum was a prophecy pronouncing judgment upon Nineveh and the Assyrian empire. It was written around 664-612BC. Zephaniah prophesied to Judah with a message of judgment in the hopes of motivating repentance. It was written around 640-628 BC.
The final book of this Bible reading cycle is the major prophet Jeremiah. Written in 626-580 BC, Jeremiah warns Judah of their destruction, to remind them of their sin, and convince them to submit to the Babylonian invaders.
A word of encouragement… Take your time reading through the prophets. Don’t worry about trying to understand everything. Just appreciate the things you do understand. If this is the first time you have read through the prophets, there may be a lot of things you don’t understand. Not to worry, as the years go by, the more you read and study through the bible, the more you will begin to understand and discover the amazing links that exist between the Old and New Testaments.
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| 9/1/2008 |
Job 18-19 |
| 9/2/2008 |
Job 20-21 |
| 9/3/2008 |
Job 22-23 |
| 0/4/2008 |
Job 24-26 |
| 9/5/2008 |
Job 27-28 |
| 9/6/2008 |
Job 29-30 |
| 9/7/2008 |
Job 31-32 |
| 9/8/2008 |
Job 33 |
| 9/9/2008 |
Job 34-36 |
| 9/10/2008 |
Job 37 |
| 9/11/2008 |
Job 38-39 |
| 9/12/2008 |
Job 40-41 |
| 9/13/2008/ |
Job 42, Ecclesiastes 1 |
| 9/14/2008 |
Ecclesiastes 2-4 |
| 9/15/2008 |
Ecclesiastes 5-8 |
| 9/16/2008 |
Ecclesiastes 9-12 |
| 9/17/2008 |
Song of Solomon 1-2 |
| 9/18/2008 |
Song of Solomon 3-6 |
| 9/19/2008 |
Song of Solomon 7-8 , Joel 1 |
| 9/20/2008 |
Joel 2-3 |
| 9/21/2008 |
Jonah 1-4 |
| 9/22/2008 |
Amos 1-4 |
| 9/23/2008 |
Amos 5-7 |
| 9/24/2008 |
Amos 8-9 , Hosea 1 |
| 9/25/2008 |
Hosea 2-5 |
| 9/26/2008 |
Hosea 6-9 |
| 9/27/2008 |
Hosea 10-13 |
| 9/28/2008 |
Hosea 14 , Isaiah 1 |
| 9/29/2008 |
Isaiah 2-4 |
| 9/30/2008 |
Isaiah 5-7 |
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| 10/1/2008 |
Isaiah 8-9 |
| 10/2//2008 |
Isaiah 10-12 |
| 10/3/2008 |
Isaiah 13-14 |
| 10/4/2008 |
Isaiah 15-19 |
| 10/5/2008 |
Isaiah 20-22 |
| 10/6/2008 |
Isaiah 23-25 |
| 10/7/2008 |
Isaiah 26-28 |
| 10/8/2008 |
Isaiah 29 |
| 10/9/2008 |
Isaiah 30-32 |
| 10/10/2008 |
Isaiah 33-36 |
| 10/11/2008 |
Isaiah 37 |
| 10/12/2008 |
Isaiah 38-40 |
| 10/13/2008 |
Isaiah 41-42 |
| 10/14/2008 |
Isaiah 43-44 |
| 10/15/2008 |
Isaiah 45-47 |
| 10/16/2008 |
Isaiah 48-49 |
| 10/17/2008 |
Isaiah 50-53 |
| 10/18/2008 |
Isaiah 54-56 |
| 10/19/2008 |
Isaiah 57-59 |
| 10/20/2008 |
Isaiah 60-63 |
| 10/21/2008 |
Isaiah 64-66 |
| 10/22/2008 |
Micah 1 - 3 |
| 10/23/2008 |
Micah 4-7 |
| 10/24/2008 |
Nahum 1 - 3 |
| 10/25/2008 |
Zephaniah 1 - 3 |
| 10/26/2008 |
Jeremiah 1 - 2 |
| 10/27/2008 |
Jeremiah 3-4 |
| 10/28/2008 |
Jeremiah 5-6 |
| 10/29/2008 |
Jeremiah 7 |
| 10/30/2008 |
Jeremiah 8-10 |
| 10/31/2008 |
Jeremiah 11-12 |
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SKIP TO THE MONTH YOU ARE READING BY CLICKING A LINK BELOW:
JANUARY/FEBRUARY , MARCH/APRIL , MAY/JUNE , JULY/AUGUST , SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER , NOVEMBER/DECEMBER
