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The Israelites are Moving On & So Are We

Well, as we just read in Genesis, Joseph’s family joined him in Egypt. Seventy of them, it reiterates in Exodus 1:5. But after a time, the current Pharaoh that Joseph had served died. And the Israelites multipled rapidly. And the new Pharaoh believed the Israelites were a threat to them. So he enslaved them.

You’ll read about all that in Exodus 1. Then you’ll read about how God hears the cry of his people and raises up someone to lead them out of slavery. That someone is Moses. The first half of Exodus is dedicated to the Israelites gaining their freedom from the Egyptians. The second half is dedicated to God teaching the Israelites how to be a people led by God. There is much we can learn about being a people led by God as we read the book of Exodus.

 We’ll also read the gospel of Mark. Most scholars believe that Mark was the first gospel to be written. Luke (and the book of Acts) were written shortly after Mark’s gospel was written. Then came the gospel of Matthew.

In January, we read Matthew’s gospel. It was written primarily to Jewish Christians — people who would already have a strong understanding of the Old Testament about A.D. 70. Mark’s gospel, on the other hand, was written primarily to Roman Christians — people who would not have such a strong understanding of our God and how He interacts with people. It was written about A.D. 64. The gosepl of Mark begins to “connect the dots” for the Roman Christians, who would have heard many stories about Jesus, but didn’t understand them in a greater context. You’ll find that it is fast-paced, moving quickly from scene to scene.

We’ll fill out the month by continuing to read in Psalms. The book of Psalms is actually broken into three sections, called books. We will complete the first book by reading through Psalm 41.

 Finally, we’ll finish the month by beginning to read the book of Esther.

Sounds like a lot of reading! We stay true to our schedule of 4-5 chapters five days a week, so it’s not nearly so overwhelming as it might sound. The daily reading plan for February is shown below.

Recommended Reading Plan for February

If you prefer to download a PDF of the plan, click here. 

 Day  Date

 Recommended Reading

 February 2009
 M  Feb 2  Exodus 18  Psalms 7-9  
 Tu  Feb 3  Exodus 19-20  Psalms 10-12  
 W  Feb 4  Exodus 21-22  Psalms 13-15  
 Th  Feb 5  Exodus 23-24  Psalms 16-17  
 F  Feb 6  Exodus 25  Psalms 18-20  
 M  Feb 9  Exodus 26  Psalm 21  Mark 1
 Tu  Feb 10  Exodus 27  Psalm 22  Mark 2
 W  Feb 11  Exodus 28  Psalms 23-24  Mark 3
 Th  Feb 12  Exodus 29  Psalm 25  Mark 4
 F  Feb 13  Exodus 30  Psalms 26-27  Mark 5
 M  Feb 16  Exodus 31  Psalms 28-29  Mark 6
 Tu  Feb 17  Exodus 32  Psalms 30-31  Mark 7
 W  Feb 18  Exodus 33  Psalms 32-33  Mark 8
 Th  Feb 19  Exodus 34  Psalm 34  Mark 9
 F  Feb 20  Exodus 35  Psalms 35-36  Mark 10
 M  Feb 23  Exodus 36  Psalm 37  Mark 11
 Tu  Feb 24  Exodus 37  Psalms 38-39  Mark 12
 W  Feb 25  Exodus 38  Psalms 40-41  Mark 13
 Th  Feb 26  Exodus 39  Esther 1-2  Mark 14
 F  Feb 27  Exodus 40  Esther 3-5  Mark 15-16

To download a PDF of January’s reading schedule, click here. 

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