Ezra 10: Ezra summons all the people to Jerusalem. There he tells them that everyone who married a foreign woman must send away their wives and children. They all agree as a community. That pretty much sucks!
12/9 Reading (2 Chronicles 29-31; Psalms 73-74)
2 Chronicles 29: This is the first of four chapters focusing on Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah. According to the CEB study bible notes this length is second to only David and Solomon, indicated the Chronicler felt Hezekiah’s reign was pretty good. This chapter focuses on his work to restore the Temple. He establishes rules again and rededicated the temple to God.
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12/2 Reading (2 Chronicles 10-12; Psalms 70-72)
One of the things I’ve started to notice throughout this journey is how I feel connected to things in a different way. I’ve always been a big fan of Christmas songs (just ask my lovely bride). It’s one of my favorite times of the year. However, this year feels a little different. I feel a different type of connection to the music and the discussions than I have in years past. I mentioned this to one of my F3 brothers and he said this made perfect sense because the words have a different meaning now. That’s probably it, but I want to go deeper. I need to go deeper. The only problem is that nothing is coming to mind at the moment. One thing that I need to do better is to write down these thoughts as they hit me and then compile them into one of the reflections like this.
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11/25 Reading (1 Chronicles 22-24; Psalms 68-69)
1 Chronicles 22: David prepares for the construction of the temple. He brings his son, Solomon, to the area and tells him that he will be the one to build the temple because God told David that he had spilled too much blood. David also prepares his generals for Solomon.
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11/18 Reading (1 Chronicles 4-6; Psalms 65-67)
1 Chronicles 4: Now we return to Judah’s line, but instead focus on his other descendants. And now on to another one of Israel’s sons, Simeon.
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11/11 Reading (2 Kings 13-15; Psalms 60-64)
2 Kings 13: Jehu’s son, Jehoahaz, became king of Israel. This was followed by Joash. Elisha dies in this chapter, but it’s unclear who follows him. The chapter ends with description of God displaying compassion towards Israel while they are being mistreated by Aram.
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11/4 Reading (1 Kings 19-21; Psalms 56-59)
1 Kings 19: Ahab and a friend pretty much threaten Elijah, who runs in fear of his life. God meets him on the road and tells him to go to certain people and anoint one as the next King of Israel and another as the next prophet to succeed him.
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10/28 Reading (1 Kings 1-3; Psalms 52-55)
Introduction to 1 Kings: It’s interesting to read that we don’t know who wrote the two books of Kings. I do like that based on what’s written here that we can determine when they were most likely written. For example, “based on the latest events recorded in 2 Kings, the author must be living either in exile in Babylon or in Jerusalem in the post-exilic era” (CEB Study Bible, p. 514 OT).
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10/21 Reading (2 Samuel 7-9; Psalms 49-51)
2 Samuel 7: The notes in the CEB study bible indicate that verses 1-17 of this book is “the most important theological passage in the books of Samuel. God announces through the prophet Nathan a covenant commitment to the dynasty of David.” The text indicates that David desires to build a temple for God’s chest (the Ark). God talks with the prophet Nathan and tells him to not let David build the temple. Instead his son will do it. I want to also include a picture I took of a little sidebar from the CEB study bible:
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10/14 Reading (1 Samuel 22-24; Psalms 45-48)
1 Samuel 22: Saul is really starting to lose it. Clearly he wants nothing more than to kill David. Jealousy and power has definitely gone to his head. Just flat out nuts. In this chapter he had one of his people kill the priests of Nob. Actually, he slaughtered them. Again, Saul has clearly lost his mind.
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