PSA Bible Reading Challenge 2023-2024

Once again a brief summary would be helpful.  We find the tragic story of Cain and Abel where God accepted and loved the sacrifices of Abel more than those of Cain.  Instead of trying to explain why, because it doesn’t say why, although in Hebrews 4:11 we see that it was by faith that Abel brought his offerings.  We could assume the opposite, that Cain did not have faith, but that would be reading into the story a bit too much.   We find the first two people who were born and then the first fratricide, which will be a constant theme in Scripture and in history.  But God redeems, God forgives, God allows Cain to have a life and brings new life out of Eve.  

We then have that followed by the the story of Noah and the flood which culminates with all of the animals coming on board the ship and the riding out of the storm.   Noah was identified as being the only one righteous, and it is that distinction which allows him to be chosen to carry out the plans of the Lord.  There should be a lesson in there to pursue the righteousness of the Lord not because we hope to win a prize, like eternal life, but rather so that we can understand our lives as a response of gratitude for what God has already done for us.  

In John we find Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, an encounter that left his disciples dumbfounded.  You see the Samaritans and the Jews hated each other, but Jesus took the time to not only speak to the Samaritan woman, but also to empower her to be a disciple herself as she brought the news of salvation to her village, and as a result, many believed. 

We then find the healing of the man by the pool.  If you have a chance I would encourage you to join us as we take a journey to Israel in the Spring of 2023.  We go every 5 years.  We will see this pool and the exact location where this healing took place.  It is here where we see that the religious leaders, angry at Jesus for healing someone on the Sabbath and probably jealous that he is getting all the attention, begin to persecute Jesus.  

There is so much content in six chapters of Scripture that it might be helpful to at least give a brief outline of each of our readings.  Genesis provides us with two creation accounts, what I like to call the creation account followed by the details of the creation of humans.  Chapter 1 gives us the 7 days of creation, chapter 2 gives us the creation of humans, and chapter 3 gives us the betrayal of humans against God which continues as a theme throughout all of Scripture.  We will see time and time again that God provides and gives gifts and we betray God even to the most simple things.  But God remains faithful and even in the midst of God’s faithfulness we find that there are repercussions to our betrayal.  

There is a word for that betrayal, and it is called sin.  It is that sin which ultimately leads to our death, for as we read in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin are death.  What we gain from our sin is death.

When we get to John we find John’s take on the creation narrative which has everything to do with the Word of God being present from the beginning of creation and that Word becomes flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.  Talk about a heavy dose of theology!  This is our Christmas story that we just celebrated a week or so ago.  Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior, is God, fully God.  As disciples of Jesus Christ this basic truth has to be a building block to our faith.  He is not just a good person, or a prophet, or someone that we ought to emulate, yes he is all those things, but he is God.  Even the creator of the heavens and the earth.

That chapter then ends with John the Baptist calling Jesus the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and Jesus calls his disciples.  The second chapter contains Jesus’ first miracle, which is that of changing water to wine.  And then the third chapter has the visit of one of the main religious leaders of Jerusalem at the time who comes to Jesus at night and becomes a convert and one of his disciples.  

Welcome to the read through the Bible for 2022.  As we begin this journey together I can’t encourage you enough to stick to it in a way that you will be disciplined to reach Scripture each and every day.  Six chapters a day is not a small feat, but one that is doable and one that will be extremely gratifying once we are finished.  But even more important than the gratification we will feel when we are finished, are the lessons that we will be learning from Scripture along the way.  This will surely deepen our relationship with our Savior.  Let’s look at Psalm 119.

What a way to start the reading with Psalm 119.  The key to this Psalm is found in vs.105 where we hear the familiar words: “They word is a lamp unto my feet, and light unto my path.”  Throughout the entire psalm you have the writer, we think it is David, referring to his love for the laws of the Lord and asking for protection against those who would mock him because he is so in love with God’s laws.

A couple things there.  I have not found a time in my life where following God’s commands have created a scenario where people mock me.  When I was in college I joined a fraternity and I was the only one who did not drink alcohol in the fraternity and I never sensed a spirit of mocking me for that decision, but rather over time there was more of a spirit of my fraternity brothers trying to understand my decision and contemplating if that decision might also be a good one for them as well.  Have you ever found yourself where the decisions that you have made to follow God have been met with mocking?

But that is a consistent theme throughout this psalm and in Scripture in general.  A sense that those who follow God’s commands will be mocked, or to us New Testament terminology, will be persecuted.  It is no wonder that Jesus says blessed are you if you are persecuted and reviled for my sake.  As we make our way through this reading I hope that the theme of this psalm will come true.  That we will find ourselves longing and desire more and more of God’s word to play itself out in our lives and we would see the things of this world that used to have a hold on us gradually slip away.  

I want to leave you with this song that was important to me when I first came to know Jesus on January 14, 1986.

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The day of the Lord, what we would call the second coming of Christ, is always a day that we much anticipate.  Although here, Amos describes the day of the Lord, the day when God will come to judge, as one that is not really something we should wish for.  God describes it as a day of destruction and a day when things will be shook and the pillars will fall and be broken down.  Those who are not killed by the collapse will be killed by the sword of God.

Throughout this entire chapter we find ourselves wondering who can escape the day of God’s coming?  But then we see a transition in vs.11.  This is also a great way to end our Challenges.  As we have made our way through the entire Scripture over these last five years we have learned so much, and primarily we have learned that the authority in which we find in Scripture is one that we do not have a choice to overlook.  

Starting in vs.11 we see good news proclaimed that God will not entirely forget the people of Israel.  God will repair the breaches and raise up the ruins.  God will not allow Israel to fall completely into ruin and disappear from the history of the earth.  In fact, vs.15 states that the time is coming when they shall never be plucked up out of the land that I have given them.  We are currently living in a time when just over the past 75 years Israel finds itself as a nation.  That is a drop in the bucket of time.  Who knows how history will evolve and if that promise has come true now, or if it is reserved for a future time?  

Often in prophecies the Lord chooses to use images and object lessons to describe what God’s desires and wishes are and what is about to happen next.  Here Amos is shown a fruit basket to demonstrate that just as quickly as it comes, so as quickly will it go away.  Did you notice what the Lord was the most upset about?

As you get to vs.4 you see that the prophet is speaking strongly against those who trample on the rights of the poor and the needy.  This is a group of people who have no one to speak on their behalf.  No one is going to provide resources for them to make sure that their needs are met.  We often have an ideology that the poor are poor because of their decision making.  But how short sighted that is to not take into consideration the multiplicity of variables that go into someone being poor.  There is absolutely systemic favoritism to those who have will continue to have and have it even more abundantly.  The lower you start on the totem pole, the harder it is to rise to the top and have your needs met.  The higher you are on that pole, the easier it is to have your needs met.  It is simple societal truths that make this reality something that Hosea dealt with and something that we deal with as well.

In theory a prophet is supposed to serve the King by bringing the Word of God.  But over history we see that the prophet when they do bring the Word of God to the king, it tends to conflict with what the king wants.  This is especially the case here with Amos and the king and the kingdom of the North, Israel.  Amos speaks about all of the terrible things that God has said he would do against Israel, and Amos pleading on behalf of the people that they would be spared.

God shows him the locusts that he has prepared to go against the land, Amos asks that he would not, and God does not.  God shows him the fire he is about to bring down on the land and Amos asks that he would not, and God does not.  God finally shows him a plumb line, which is used to define that which is level and uses it as an example of how he is going to destroy the city eventually.  

It is after this last example that the upper echelon of Israel, the priest, the king, ask Amos to take his words and go South, to Judah, where he can prophesy terrible things against them.  Amos’ answer is unique.  He says, I’m actually not even supposed to be a prophet.  I just tend trees, sycamore trees, and God called me to come and speak.  So, no, I’m good, I think I’ll stay here.

We continue to find ourselves assaulted by the words of Amos as they press upon the pride of Jacob as being the downfall of the people of Israel.  Again, the issue with those who do not follow or obey the way of the Lord is because the people of God have turned toward idols and have not maintained their faithful devotion to God.  

We read a few times the prophet say “Alas”, and that is for the state that the people of God are in.  He especially is speaking out against the ruling class, those who are “at ease” and have the ability to lie on beds of ivory and sing idle songs, you know, the type that David used to sing but not nearly as good.  As a result of their complacency they are going to be the first to go into exile (vs.7).

What we find here is really one recognition of how God has turned his back on His people time after time simply because the people of God have turned their back on Him time after time.  I think all you need to hear is the last verse which states: “Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation, O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts, and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to teh Wadi Arabah.”  Now, those are fighting words.

Here Amos emphasizes the need to seek out God and God alone.  Nothing else within our religious life can be a substitute for the seeking after God.  Being a follower of Jesus should entail spiritual disciplines and a discipleship that is serious and consistent.  But nothing can substitute for seeking after God.  Our desire to do God’s will and to be in God’s grace needs to be the priority in our life.  Nothing can replace our desire to be a follower of Jesus.  

We see in this passage the repetition of the phrase: “Seek the Lord and live…”  What does seeking the Lord look like?  Well, for sure we can tell you what it doesn’t look like.  It isn’t trampling on the poor, it is speaking the truth, it isn’t taking bribes and using your power to extend your own desires, it is keeping silent.  He follows seek the Lord with seek good so that you may live.  God is good, we know, that, all the time.  

He then transitions to those who would be complacent and pretty self confident in their status before the Lord.  Who of us looks forward to the day of the Lord?  He says be careful, because we think the day of the Lord is the day that we will be reunited with Jesus, but in fact the day of the Lord will be darkness and not light, it will be gloom with no brightness in it.  Our complacency could be our downfall.