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Have you been blessed by January’s reading?
I sure have – I’ve enjoyed January’s reading a great deal. Perhaps it’s because we’re reading a bit slower than last year. Both my husband and I sensed Jesus’ great compassion as we read the final chapters of John. The man who had just been betrayed by all his followers and crucified by his enemies built a fire on the beach and had breakfast ready when his friends who had worked all night came in. He asked them to put some of their fish on the fire – making them feel like they had contributed to the meal. He commissioned Peter, I believe as a way of assuring him that his betrayal had not disqualified him for ministry. Graham Cooke is fond of saying “Jesus is the kindest person I know.” This scene bears witness to that statement.

The Gospel According to Matthew
In February we’ll read another of the Gospels – the book of Matthew. It is told from a hugely different perspective, but it’s the same story. Matthew was writing to Jewish Christians and emphasizes that Jesus fulfills the Jewish Scriptures. The book is written in the style of an ancient biography. Interestingly, ancient biographies were often organized topically instead of chronologically, and that’s the approach Matthew took. You’ll find the sayings of Jesus organized according to topic, not in the order Jesus said them.

It’s also interesting that the book of Matthew, or one of the documents Matthew used as a source when writing the Gospel, may have been used as a training manual for new Christians. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Copyright © 1993 by Craig S. Keener) says this about the book of Matthew:

[Matthew] portrays Jesus as the epitome of Israel’s hopes for his Jewish audience, but also emphasizes missions to the Gentiles: outreach to the Gentiles is rooted both in the Old Testament and in Jesus’ teaching.

Sounds like good study material to help us become well-grounded believers. Jesus is not only the epitome of Israel’s hopes, He is the epitome of our hope as well.

Finally, you’ll find my husband’s life verse in Matthew:

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33

“All these things” covers a lot of territory! What a challenge to believe this and live it when things are tough!

From Genesis to Exodus
We’ll also finish the book of Genesis and begin to read through Exodus. Egypt, Moses, Aaron, Pharaoh, plagues, miraculous deliverances, manna, water from rocks, Jethro’s visit, The Ten Commandments – all this and more await us! What an adventure the book of Exodus is. Consider reading it with that perspective. Imagine yourself as one of the Israelites as you read through the book. How would you have responded in each situation?

There are certain passages that I just fall in love with every time I read them. Genesis 1:1 is one of them:

In the beginning God created…

I don’t know why, but those words are magical to me.(Magical in a good sense – in the sense that they inspire awe every time I hear or read them.) Another two verses are those that begin the Ten Commandments:

“I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt.
“Do not worship any other gods besides me.”
Exodus 29:2-3

Be prepared to be challenged! He has rescued us from slavery to sin and demands that we worship no other gods beside Him.

Enjoy your February reading! Experience the adventure!

The recommended reading schedule is below.

To download a PDF of February’s recommended reading plan, click here.

But Sarai, Abram’s wife, had no children. So Sarai took her servant, an Egyptian woman named Hagar, and gave her to Abram so she could bear his children. “The LORD has kept me from having any children,” Sarai said to Abram. “Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed.
          Genesis 16:1-2 (NIV)

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”
          Exodus 32:1 (NIV)

It was out of impatience that Abram and Sarai pursued having a child in an unnatural way.  It was out of impatience that the children of Israel asked for another God to worship. In both cases, the participants were looking at the situation around them not at the Lord. Had they been looking at the Lord, their hearts would have been renewed, their faith and bodies strengthened.

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
          Isaiah 40:31a (KJV)

but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
          Isaiah 40:31a (NIV)

1 Corinthians 13:4 teaches us that “Love is patient” God is everlastingly patient with us, can we be anything else with Him? Let’s wait upon Him, put our hope in Him. Read what Scripture says about the promises of God:

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 
          2 Corinthians 1:20

God is faithful to His promises – they are “Yes” in Christ – but the “Amen” is spoken by us through Christ to the Glory of God.

Let’s not be tempted to sin during the waiting but instead say “Amen” to the promises of a God who is faithful to fulfill them.

                                               By guest blogger, Phil Hovatter

If you’ve been reading through the Bible with us this year (a.k.a. “Resting at the River’s Edge”) you might be thinking of the last part of Exodus as “fly-over country.” Can we be honest with each other for a moment? I have lots of favorite portions of Scripture. By extension that means that there are some portions that are – shall we say – not so favorite. I bet you have a bunch of these as well: lengthy, dreary prophecies against Moab or Edom; all those bits in Leviticus about mold and pus and hairs; and of course the dreaded genealogies. (I actually like the genealogies, but that’s a topic for a future blog.) I think it’s a safe bet to lump in the specifications for the building of the Tabernacle found in Exodus 25 through 40.

Consider this for a moment: the record of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth gets boiled down to one verse in Genesis 1:1. The details of that creative effort consume the remainder of that one chapter. In contrast, God spends sixteen chapters in Exodus specifying the plans and execution of the construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishing, then goes on for all 27 chapters of Leviticus giving instructions for how it is to be used. Call me crazy, but I think there might be more here than meets our 21^st century eyes.

I didn’t want to just gut it out and grind my way through this lengthy passage of Scripture. Not when God has gone to such pains to preserve these details in His eternal Word. So I determined that I would make a little effort to scratch beneath the surface and see what I could learn. And I knew just where to start.

In my personal library I have a little volume about the Tabernacle that was written years ago by one of my favorite Bible teachers, Dr. J. Vernon McGee. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard any of his radio broadcasts of Thru the Bible, but in them he goes through the entire Old and New Testaments in five years. Dr. McGee has been dead for over 20 years, but these broadcasts are replayed on Christian radio around the world and are available online. But I digress. I own an old copy of a booklet he wrote entitled The Tabernacle: God’s Portrait of Christ. This excellent publication is now available for free as a PDF download from Thru the Bible’s website. 

I was arrested by the very first sentences of the book:

“The problem of establishing a dwelling place with man is of supreme importance with God. In the pages of Scripture it is of chief concern to Him.”

There it is in a nutshell. God created us for fellowship with Him, but through Adam’s sin all of mankind has been separated from Him. Sinful man is totally incapable of restoring that fellowship. If it is to be done at all, it has to be entirely God’s doing to bring restoration.

The whole story of the Bible is the account of how God is progressively bringing mankind back to Him, with the culmination found at the end of the book in Revelation.

Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
                                              Revelation 21:3 (NIV)

But this process is progressive and stretches throughout all of human history. It started in Genesis with God walking and talking with men such as Adam and Enoch. It continues with God revealing Himself to Moses and giving him detailed instructions for how a sinful nation can live with and approach a holy God without being incinerated along the way. It gets fleshed out (literally!) by the coming of the Son of God to pay the total penalty for the sins of all mankind. And it comes to fulfillment at a wedding feast in the New Jerusalem.

The Tabernacle is a critical waypoint along that historic journey.
It speaks of the holiness of God who yearns to be among His people, but who has to keep them safe in His presence. In the details for the construction of the Tabernacle there is no room for human creativity and imagination. Every detail is specified by God. Nowhere will you find the word “or.” God gives no place for human input or suggestion. He has provided a way – one way – for His people to approach Him for worship and fellowship.

In the Old Testament, it was through the offerings and sacrifices at the altar. In the New Testament era, it is through the forgiveness and Lordship freely offered by Jesus Christ. If our creativity or ingenuity or initiative rebels against God’s prescribed procedures and seeks a way to Him of our own devices, that is sin.

There is significance in every detail in the blueprint for the Tabernacle. Every tent peg, every curtain clasp, every seacow hide is part of the portrait of Christ. Here are just some tidbits that rock my world:

• Notice how in the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, everything is covered in precious gold. The Holy of Holies is where the presence of God would dwell. As you get further from the presence of God, metal items go to silver, and finally to bronze.
• The altar of burnt offerings is the starting place for the sinner in his approach to God. A sacrifice is made to satisfy God’s holiness.
• Then one proceeds to the brass laver to wash himself, a picture of the sanctification that follows forgiveness of sins.
• From there, only the priests could enter into the Holy Place where they would find the table of bread. The bread got changed every week, with the old bread being eaten by the priests, with wine. (Did I hear you say “communion”?)
• There was the altar of incense, which is an image of prayer, and the golden lampstand that illustrates the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• And finally the Holy of Holies, where only the High Priest could enter and only once a year, where the presence of God rested on the Ark of the Covenant.

When we finish Exodus at the end of February, we’ll move on to Leviticus, where we’ll learn the roll of offerings, festivals and laws about how to live together as a people of God. Let me encourage you not to fly over this precious territory.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.” Exodus 19:10-11 (NIV)

Imagine if you knew the Lord was coming to visit you the day after tomorrow. How would you prepare? What would you do for the rest of the day today and all day tomorrow? When I read this passage, I was caught up in such excitement that God was going to come down from heaven to visit with the people of Israel.

Moments later I was a bit convicted. God wants to come down and visit with me regularly, but I don’t always spend the time and effort necessary to prepare myself to receive Him. Perhaps even worse than that, I don’t anticipate God’s visit. I want to always be excited that TODAY is the day I will meet with God and He with me. What a way to live! In anticipation of hearing from the Creator of the universe.

God told the Israelites to “consecrate” themselves, to wash their clothes and to “be ready.” The word translated “consecrate” (or “sanctify” in the King James Version) is qadash and means “to make clean” or “keep holy” or “purify.” Before the Israelites were to meet with God, they were to clean themselves up and remain holy or set apart for Him. If I want to meet with God, I need to do all I can to make myself clean and keep myself holy. That means avoiding those conscious sins and asking God to reveal things in my life that are impure. It means going to God regularly and asking for His forgiveness and sanctification.

God also told the Israelites to “be ready.” As I read the passage, I was reminded of the night before a family vacation – we were to “be ready” to leave when we woke up (which was always at 4am because my dad was a truck drive and he wanted to do as much driving in the dark before the rest of the world woke up). That means we had our bags packed and our clothes laid out, but more than that, it meant that we were emotionally ready to jump out of bed and hit the road. And we were excited about it.

Being ready to meet with God is very similar – it means that we have an anticipation, a physical and emotional willingness to “move” when God says to move, and a spiritual openness to hear what He says. Perhaps most of all, it means that we are excited to hear from Him. God wants us to want Him. He responds to our openness to Him. The oft-quoted verse from Revelations is “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.” (Revelations 3:20) Jesus is speaking to believers. He is saying that He won’t knock the door down, but he will knock. If we open the door, He comes in. He waits to be invited.

I want to live my life in the mode of making myself ready and anticipating God’s visit. Then when He knocks, I want to be there to say “Lord, I’m so glad you’re here. Welcome. Let’s share the day together. Make my heart your home today, Lord.”

Every time I read Exodus 16, I am struck by verse 8.

The Israelites have been traveling for about two and a half months. They had seen God give them favor with the Egyptians causing the Egyptians to give them their gold and silver as they left. They participated at the Red Sea miracle by crossing on dry land and then watched as God resumed the flow of water to rush over the Egyptian horses and riders and kill them. They sang and danced about the great victory. They saw God make bitter water pure in Marah. They must have rejoiced when God lead them to a place in the desert with “twelve springs and seventy palm trees” (Exodus 15:27).

But now they were facing hunger again. So they “grumbled against Moses and Aaron…‘If only we had died by the LORD’S hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’” (Exodus 16:2b3).

How quickly we forget how bad slavery really was when we begin to experience the responsibilities and trials of freedom. Our poor memories cause us to want to return to slavery! Make it not so, Lord!

The Israelites were saying that they would rather be a slave to their former Egyptian masters who had been abusive to them, than to learn to trust the invisible God. Not that He was really invisible. I have reiterated the dramatic miracles that the Israelites had experienced in less than two and a half months. It wasn’t just one or two miracles – I count five in my list above. And my list doesn’t include the most precious miracle of all – that the Lord led them every day with His visible presence – He led them with a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night (Exodus 13:21-22). The Lord was there among them day in and day out.

Yet Scripture records that the “whole community” grumbled against Moses and Aaron. There wasn’t a single person to be found (other than Moses and Aaron) who remembered God’s faithfulness and encouraged the community to remain faithful.

And then we come to verse 8 – Moses points out the reality of the situation when he says to the people “You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.” (Ex 16:8b)

…And I am reminded that my grumbling is never against the situation or the people that I’m in the situation with, but against God.

Do you see that without the situation being what it was, God would not have had the opportunity to show His power and faithfulness to the Israelites. God’s ability to do the miraculous and His mercy to reach down and rescue us cannot be demonstrated until we’re in the position of needing a miracle. If I want to see God work a miracle in my life, I must need a miracle.

How foolish of me to grumble about the very circumstances that (1) God allowed in my life (2) so that He could demonstrate His power and faithfulness to me! It’s like grumbling at God’s miracle in the making. I don’t want to grumble at God while he’s making a miracle just for me.

Will you join me in that? Let’s make our lives a wonderful no-grumble zone, and instead practice trusting God for our own miracle in the making.

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. 

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

Let’s start at the very beginning!

As we begin our time together at the River’s Edge, we’ll start with the Book of Beginnings, Genesis. We’ll read about how God created the world and everything in it. Everything was perfect…until we messed up God’s perfect world. We’ll read about that as well. We’ll then begin a journey about how God continually called His people to return to Him and how we continually walked away. You may be wondering why I’m saying “we” when we certainly didn’t live in the Garden of Eden and we didn’t walk with Moses and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (we’ll meet all of those men in January). Within each of us is an independent nature that is prone to doing things our way (instead of God’s way) wandering away from Him at the slightest instigation. So I say “we” because if we had been in the Garden of Eden, we would have followed Adam & Eve’s example. Perhaps we would have led the effort!

We’ll also begin to learn about Jesus, reading first in Matthew about how Jesus is related to Abraham who we’ll be reading about in Genesis. We will read the entire book of Matthew in January, so we’ll also learn about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

We’ll round out the month with a few Psalms.

That sounds like a pretty good way to get started! What are waiting for? The readings for January are shown below.

Recommended Reading Schedule

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

If you’d like a PDF that lists all the chapters in the Bible so you can chart your progress, click here.

⁴⁰The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years.⁴¹In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the LORD’S forces left the land.⁴²This night had been reserved by the LORD to bring his people out from the land of Egypt, so this same night now belongs to him. It must be celebrated every year, from generation to generation, to remember the LORD’S deliverance.
                              Exodus 12:40-42 (NLT)

“So this same night now belongs to Him.” God establishes times that belong to Him. His word says that the Sabbath, the seventh day, belongs to Him. Do you observe one day a week as belonging to the Lord? I don’t want to be legalist and say that it has to be any specific day because we live in a different world than the Israelites did. Our society doesn’t stop on one day of the week to allow everyone to observe a Sabbath on that day. Not being legalistic, being flexible brings both freedom and a need for discipline: freedom to observe a Sabbath on the day of the week that best fits your lifestyle and schedule, and discipline to not let the day go by unrecognized.

The day already belongs to Him. Will you take time this week to recognize the One who owns it?

  ⁴⁰The people of Israel had lived in Egypt for 430 years.⁴¹In fact, it was on the last day of the 430th year that all the LORD’S forces left the land.⁴²This night had been reserved by the LORD to bring his people out from the land of Egypt, so this same night now belongs to him. It must be celebrated every year, from generation to generation, to remember the LORD’S deliverance.
                                                  Exodus 12:40-42

God had reserved that specific night as the night of deliverance for His people. God has reserved specific times for our deliverance. If you’re going through a trial, know that God has set aside a specific time for your deliverance. If you’re in bondage to some situation, know that God has set aside a specific time for your deliverance. Like the Israelites, be looking toward God and praying for your deliverance. Be obedient in the interim, but know that He has not abandoned you, any more than He abandoned the Israelites.