4 weeks! Hope you’ve been able to keep up! Let’s stay together and we’ll finish the race!
I want to clear up one thing quickly – these readings are not meant to “fit together”. There will be times that, coincidentally, they do relate, but this will be a rarity. This plan is designed with the long range in mind and therefore it divides out some of the harder to read passages over the course of weeks instead of having to read them consecutively. Reading a couple of chapters each week from Isaiah, for example, is a lot easier to do than to sit down and read those same chapters over consecutive days. The general design is set up so you won’t get bogged down in one book. When it’s the middle of May and you’ve finished Job, you’ll appreciate having not read that over the course of 3 weeks of daily readings, trust me.
One thing that is important for us to remember and realize as we are reading is the context. Though God’s word is for all people at all times, these scriptures were not written directly to us today. We must read these passages with an understanding that the culture of the time was much different than ours. They had much lower views of children and women, for example, which makes Jesus teachings about women and children very important. It’s also important to point out that life at the time of Joshua is more akin to a tribal life that one would watch on National Geographic today than it is to our suburban, genteel Southern society. Life was harsh and the stress was on survival and existence rather than wealth building and education. The fragility of human life made death a much more regular part of their lives. It is hard for us to read of all the destruction, and even more difficult to understand God’s role. Yet when we couple these passages with the words of the prophets who were calling nations to repentance and also read of people being spared because they turned to God, we see the grace that was available.
Today, we may not see the same destruction and battle in a physical way, but there is a very strong spiritual battle being fought in our lives and in society. Those that do not honor God and do not fear the consequences of their sins are seeking to drive our society to debauchery and turn us away from God. And while our response should not be to take up physical arms, there is a clear mandate in scripture for us to stand up for faith. We must realize that we are in the middle of a great battle for our souls and for those we love. Either we fight back or we will eventually succumb to attack. Stay strong and keep alert, for the world doesn’t want you to love Christ.
Keep up the reading! I hope you are sensing the reward of discovering God in scripture!
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