Two year Bible reading program.

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:28 Understanding to grow in In Israel as in the church, God's people were to serve in different roles according to his will and gifting. There were to be 4000 gatekeepers (23v5). The lists seem to be only of the “chief men” or supervisors (26v12). Their gates were assigned by lot showing God's governance, and they oversaw the temple treasuries and the wealth dedicated to God's use after battle. There’s a sense in which gospel ministers are now gatekeepers, guarding access to the temple that is the church, and to the valuable truths of the kingdom (Matt 16v16-20, Matt 13v52). However, the New Jerusalem has no gatekeepers. Its gates will always be open, as there will be no danger of its

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:27 Understanding to grow in To be “old and full of years” is a mark of honour and blessing (Job 42v17). It was then that David made Solomon king, and gathered Israel’s leaders, priests and Levites in readiness for the temple being built. The Levites were divided according to branches of Levi’s family tree, but in three groups according to his three sons. The note on Jeush and Beriah being counted as one family because they didn’t have many sons shows a concern that workload was evenly spread. Under Aaron, whose descendents were set-apart as priests, we have a summary of the priestly role (23v13). In describing his descendents as having this role “for ever,” the author effectively means generation

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:26 Understanding to grow in 21v1 portrays “Satan” (lit. “adversary”) as God’s means of inciting David to take his census (compare 2 Sam 24v1 and notes). David’s sin is not to trust God to fight for him. What is added to 2 Samuel 24 is his decision that “the house of the LORD” be built on the site where the angel ceased his judgement (22v1). What is particularly striking is that this was on a site owned by a God-fearing Canaanite (21v18), again, showing God’s concern with the nations coming to worship him. Indeed, both Araunah and his four sons were priveledged with seeing the angel. David sacrificed burnt and fellowship offerings (stressing devotion and peace with God), but in calling on the LORD

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:25 Understanding to grow in The events with the Ammonites are probably included to demonstrate the size of victory David could have by God’s hand (see the size of the enemy in 19v6-7). Key is the result: Hadadezer’s vassal kings ended up subject instead to David, and at peace with him. Moreover, the Arameans were then unwilling to assist his enemies. It is through the gospel that Christ brings those whose allegiance is to Satan, false gods or simply their own desires, into subjection and peace with him (2 Cor 10v3-6). Indeed, this Son of David will wrest the entire creation from these false rulers and make it his own. It's something to rejoice in. Joab’s attack on the Ammonites is the context

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:24 Understanding to grow in God is a God of grace. So although David wants to build him a temple, God wants to bless David. And so he enters into the Davidic covenant. His desire is to make David’s name like that of the greatest men of the earth, and provide a place of security and peace for Israel. To this end he promises a “house” (ie. dynasty) for David. David’s response is to be overwhealmed, humbly marvelling that God would do this for him, and praising God for displaying his supremacy in redeeming Israel for himself. He then prays God would fulfil his promise so that people would not only know how great a God he is, but that he is Israel’s God. Reflecting his strong faith, David then reflect

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:23 Understanding to grow in With the ark settled, burnt offerings (expressing devotion) and fellowship offerings (expressing peace with God) were made. And, acting as priest, David blessed the people. The bread and cakes given the people highlighted the fellowship they enjoyed with God. We then read of Levites appointed to pray, give thanks and praise God “before the ark;” and of a song David committed to them. It shows he saw his kingdom as universal in scope. Calling people to sing God’s praise, it also called them to tell of his acts to the nations. They are to always seek God and remember his judgements that “are in all the earth” in the sense that his redemption and protection of Israel had b

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:22 Understanding to grow in Chapter 14 displays what it means for God to be for his anointed king? First, it means they receive tribute from the nations. Just as the king of Tyre gave to David, those of all nations do to Christ. Second, God blesses him with a dynasty (14v4-7). We are those who reign with Jesus. Third, because God fights for his king he will defeat his enemies according to his word (14v8-11). And so all that opposes Christ will be put under his feet and judged, with the final enemy defeated being death (1 Cor 15v25-26). Finally, all will come to fear him (14v17). Chapter 15 displays what it means for the king to be for God? David isn't perfect. Surely he should have prioritised

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:21 Understanding to grow in The Spirit-inspired declaration of 12v18 is key to the whole section. Like those joining David, we align with Christ for God is with him and will establish his rule. We are now “the army of God” (12v22), doing battle with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. As David's coronation approaches, men from every tribe come over to him. Noteable are those who had remained loyal to Saul until then, and those who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” The picture is of the kingdom united: Those from every tribe are “one of mind” in making David king, and so feast with him. Similarly, to understand our times is to transfer our allegiance to Christ

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:20 Understanding to grow in The history begins with a tale of two kings. Saul died because of unfaithfulness in not keeping God's word. David succeeded in taking Jerusalem because the Lord was with him and acting according to his promises. It all stress the importance of the word of God - a reminder for us to keep it and trust it too. But God's king's kingdom was established not just by him, but through his mighty men. They showed courage and devotion to the point of risking their lives. For this reason David honoured them and gave them responsibility. The message is that we should choose God's chosen king Jesus. And in doing so. And one cannot but think of how he uses his people t

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:19 Understanding to grow in You can tell why the books are named Chronicles. More genealogies! Two things are noticeable about those that remain. First is the stress on the amount of fighting men each had, with a note of those who were outstanding (see also 5v18), to inspire us to great deeds for the Lord as it would have the orginal readers. The second thing to stand out is the lack of the tribes of Dan or Zebulun. It may be that records were lost, stressing how absolute the exile of the northern kingdom by Assyria was in the eighth century BC. We should remember Joseph’s line was split into the two tribes of Ephraim and Mannasseh (7v29), of which the former became the key tribe of the northern k

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:18 Understanding to grow in The spiritual concern that should mark God’s people is highlighted by Jabez’s prayer. Just as he was “more honourable” than his brothers, so we should seek to be set-apart by a godly concern. And God will hear us when we pray an equivalent prayer for him to bless, expand, be with and protect us or his church. The inclusion of Gentiles in the lists is not just a symptom of the people’s compromise in not remaining pure, but also a sign of God’s readiness for anyone to join his people - as if by adoption (4v18). Another noticeable detail is the stress on creativity (4v14, 21, 23), pointing to how ours is to be used in service of Christ and his church. The smaller populatio

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:17 Understanding to grow in 1 and 2 Chronicles was orginally just one book. It retells Israel's history with a focus on the southern kingdom of Judah. We don't know who wrote it - some think Ezra. The books begin by setting Israel’s history in its wider context. Israel’s history is about world history. We read how the people are descended from Adam and Abraham with a stress on David’s line. This reminds us that through Abraham’s royal seed, God is going to bring blessing to the whole earth, cursed as it is in Adam. It looks the church therefore to its mission to bring that blessing to others by sharing the gospel of Christ (Gal 3v6-14). Father can mean any male ancestor and son any male de

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:16 Understanding to grow in Mark's account of the resurrection is the briefest. Some think its abrupt ending means the original end may have been lost. Mark notes first, that there was no mistake as to where Jesus was buried as the two Mary's were there. Second, he notes the heavenly significance of the events, by the miraculous removal of the "large" stone and the intriguing man dressed in the uniform of heaven (16v5 with 9v3). Third, Mark stresses the reassuring fact that this fulfilled what Jesus had said would happen. So the disciples need not fear in facing life post-crucifixion, as they will see Jesus again. Finally, we see the women nevertheless left "trembling and be

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:15 Understanding to grow in What stands out here is how serious guilt of those who condemn Jesus. Knowing Jesus was being set up Pilate was still ready to have him flogged and crucifed. And the Jews were ready to have a murderer released in order to ensure that Jesus died. We also see here the irony of Jesus' kingship. He is ridiculed as "king of the Jews" when that is just who he is. He is bowed down to in jest when bowing is just what should be done. He is mocked as unable to come down off the cross despite claiming to be the Messiah, when he remained there willingly only because he was the Messiah. And it is this that makes the crown of thorns is in some way fitting, for his great

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:14 Understanding to grow in Here the obedience of Christ to his Father, and his great love for his people shines out. He was "overwhealmed" to the point of death in Gethsemane - evidence that he knew that he was to face was not just the physical and psychological torture of his trial and execution, but the spiritual torture of experiencing the God-forsakeness due for sin when to that point he'd eternally known only the sweetest of fellowship with his Father. Yet despite all that, he still declares "not what I will, but what you will." Of course in this time of trial he longs for fellowship, but he had to suffer the failings of his disciples too. They would not follow him in

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:13 Understanding to grow in The hostility of the Jewish leaders now comes to a head. Contrast their scheming with the devotion of the woman with perfume. And then contrast her readiness to sacrifice materially for Jesus with Judas' readiness to betray him for money. What love for Christ looks like is obvious: giving our all. Of course what happens next proves how worthy Jesus is of our all. He times the last supper to show he is the fulfilment of the passover - he is the lamb to be sacrificed in the place of his people so that God's judgment passes over them. By the means of his broken body and shed blood, his followers will come to drink with him in his kingdom. Yet, there is warning here

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:12 Understanding to grow in After his rejection by so many of his people, here Jesus predicts the judgment that it warrants - the destruction of Jerusalem that took place under the Roman General Titus in AD70. The detail of this chapter is much debated, but verses 1-23 seem to deal with the lead up to this destruction. The turmoil of v5-8 display how significant the event is, with the whole creation in a sort of labour, about to give birth to something new. The sort of events later recorded in Acts are also prophesied, promising persecution, but also the Holy Spirit's enabling. The "abomination that causes desolation" refers us back to Daniel 9v25-27, where an "anointed one"

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:11 Understanding to grow in The religious teachers display their dire spiritual state by their attitudes to Jesus. Rather than being genuinely interested, they try and catch him out. The Herodians, Pharisees and Sadducees were different groups. But they were quite happy to unite in their opposition. Jesus' responses display his superior wisdom, pointing to his true identity. His point about there being no marriage in heaven as we will be like angels, does not imply we will not forever know a special relationship with our spouse. It is simply to say that like angels we will not be married in the kingdom of God, for now is the time for having and raising children (The comment about resurrection

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:10 Understanding to grow in Throughout the Old Testament God had spoken of how he would come to his people looking for the fruit of righteousness. By cursing the fig tree then, Jesus was showing what the Jews would face for not producing the fruit God wanted. It is no surprise then that Jesus immediately drives the money changers out of the temple. The people were concerned with wealth rather than worship. And Jesus' actions were a foretaste of the destructive judgment on the city and temple in AD70 that God would bring about at the hands of the Romans (predicted in Mark 13v1-19). This people's unrighteousness was especially apparent in their leaders. Rather than recognizing Jesus, they ju

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:9 Understanding to grow in To be truly great in God's eyes is to serve. That's what Jesus life and teaching brings home. Again he tells his disciples he is to be rejected and killed. He then uses this in response to James and John's request for priveledged positions in glory. The "Son of Man" is the one given all authority in Daniel 7v13-14. Yet Jesus says that as this Son of Man, even he came to serve by giving his life as a ransom, to purchase people for God. And so Jesus' disciples must be ready to do the same. And Jesus' entry into Jerusalem confirms the point. By riding a colt and receiving praise (see Ps 118v27), Jesus is showing himself the promised king who wo

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:8 Understanding to grow in The sort of faith that God looks for is a child-like readiness to trust and so obey. That's why Jesus blesses little children and says the kingdom of heaven "belongs" to such as these. And that's why he then calls his disciples "children" (v24) when teaching from the rich man, that he could not enter the kingdom because, although he kept the commandments, he was not ready to trust Jesus enough to obey him. Of course, Jesus doesn't ask everyone to sell all they have. The point is that we should so trust Jesus that we are ready to give up whatever he might ask. And the reassurance he gives is that those who do will receive a hundred times as

BEGIN WITH PRAYER "Lord open my eyes and my heart." Read slowly so that you take in. And as you do, turn your heart to God, thanking him for the good you discover and praying his will home for you, your family, your church and the world. Wisdom to chew on Proverbs 28:7 Understanding to grow in Because Jesus is the Messiah, nothing is more important than our response to him. So we are told "everything is possible for one who believes" (9v23). Through faith or the prayer of faith, demonic powers are overcome. With the boy's father, we might well therefore ask Jesus to help our unbelief. But the right response is not just one of faith but obedience. So the disciples are taught that in following the one who serves even to death, they are to serve rather than argue over who is the greatest. They are to be ready to welcome even children in his name and accept others who seek to serve Jesus. Moreover, response to those who belong to the Messiah is param