Bible Reading Plan

Author: Jon Green

John 2
Read John 2

Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ²and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
⁴“Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”
⁵His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”
⁶Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
⁷Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
⁸Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, ⁹and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
¹¹What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
¹²After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Jesus Clears the Temple Courts
¹³When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” ¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
¹⁸The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”
¹⁹Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”
²⁰They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” ²¹But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
²³Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. ²⁴But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. ²⁵He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.

Go Deeper

Jesus’ first recorded sign (or miracle pointing to Him being the Messiah) takes place in John 2 when Jesus turns water into wine. At a wedding in Canaan, the Son of God turns gallons of plain old water into incredible tasting wine! He didn’t add grapes or mix in food coloring. Rather, He changed the composition of the water into wine. At a typical wedding, the best wine is brought out first and then the cheaper wine is brought out later. Jesus flipped it around by creating the better wine. In this first recorded miracle, Jesus does something no human being can do. And just as the wine He created was to drink as a celebration at the wedding, so we celebrate the arrival of Jesus onto the scene.
As a result of this first sign, He started to grow His following. His disciples who were with Him at the wedding believed in Him (see 2:11). At this point, His followers knew nothing about His death and resurrection, but they were witnesses to His power. A few verses later, after clearing the temple courts, Jesus talks about how His body will soon be resurrected after three days. His followers would later recall this statement and they too would trust in Him and believe. Once again, a few verses after that, while in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many saw the signs He performed and they also believed in Him.
At the end of the book, In John 20:30-31, John writes about the other signs Jesus performed that aren’t even recorded. Whether in print or not, the recorded miracles in this Gospel are written so that we might believe. Thousands of years later, we benefit from the recorded words of the Apostle John and the accomplished miracles of Jesus. We believe in Jesus and have life in His name. The words in the Gospel of John are recorded in part so that you and I may know about Jesus—who He is and what He accomplished. Through these written words we may believe in His name, and when we do, everything changes.

Questions

Why did Jesus clear the temple courts in John 2:13-16?
Why do you think Jesus chose to perform His first sign at a wedding?
Since we don’t have Jesus in front of us performing signs and miracles, what did it take for you to believe in Him? Take a moment and thank God for your conversion from death to life through believing in what He did on our behalf.

Did You Know?

Some may be put off or confused by Jesus directly calling his mother, “Woman” in John 2:4. The same word is used in John 19:26 when Jesus asks John to take care of and look after His mother. It’s intended as a courteous expression, not the way we might interpret the word as used in modern day.

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.
August 22, 2023
John Introduction + 1
John Introduction

The book of John, penned by the apostle who also wrote 1, 2, and 3 John and the book of Revelation, was the last of the four Gospels to be written (somewhere between 85-90 AD). Why did John feel the need to write an additional Gospel account, a few years after the other three had already been written? One reason was to add color and more details to some of the stories accounted for in the other three Gospel accounts. The main reason is that John wanted people to know that Jesus was in fact who he said He was. He summarizes his whole motivation for writing in John 20:31: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Not only is the book of John a historical account of the life of Jesus, it’s also a beautifully written piece of prose, full of symbolism and references that his original audience would have understood. The number 7 plays a prominent role all throughout Scripture and the book of John is no exception. Throughout the book there are several instances of the number 7:
There are seven names ascribed to Jesus to describe his fulfillment of the prophecies about him.
Jesus performed seven signs, or miracles, that pointed to him being the Messiah.
Jesus is also described as the Messiah by seven different people throughout the book.
Jesus uses the phrase “I AM” seven times when referring to Himself, echoing God’s interaction with Moses in Exodus 3.
The book of John is a great way to introduce people to Scripture, so invite someone to read alongside you as we begin this journey. As we read these 21 chapters, take note of each one of these references. Grab a journal and take good notes as these stories jump off the page. What do these chapters teach you about the deity of Jesus? What does it teach you about humanity? What are the implications for you today? You will find answers to all of these questions and more as we kick off the book of John.

Read John 1

The Word Became Flesh
¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²He was with God in the beginning. ³Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
⁶There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
⁹The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹²Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
¹⁴The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
¹⁵(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. ¹⁷For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.
John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah
¹⁹Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
²¹They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
²²Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
²³John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
²⁴Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
²⁶“I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
²⁸This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
John Testifies About Jesus
²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ³¹I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
³²Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴I have seen and I testify that this is God’s Chosen One.”
John’s Disciples Follow Jesus
³⁵The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. ³⁶When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
³⁷When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. ³⁸Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
³⁹“Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
⁴⁰Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴²And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
⁴³The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”
⁴⁴Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
⁴⁶“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.
“Come and see,” said Philip.
⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”
⁴⁸“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
⁴⁹Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”
⁵⁰Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” ⁵¹He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

Go Deeper

The One who created the world has come into the world. The One who has been present since the beginning, has chosen to enter the story. And while this God was now coming to save His children, His children had no interest in being saved by Him. Verses 10-11 say, “He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” Can you imagine the humility it would take for God to come into the world He created, only to be rejected by His uninterested creation? These people had far better things to do than take note of Jesus. They had careers to pursue, families to take care of, and bills to pay. Meanwhile the light of the world was standing before their eyes, and they were blind to His majesty.
But not everyone missed Him. Some were willing to leave their small lives to take part in the greatest story ever told. The second half of this chapter is marked by people who did see the light. People like Nathanael, Andrew, and Phillip took note that this Jesus was calling them to something greater. He wasn’t just another man, but was indeed the Word became flesh.
Can you imagine encountering the One who created all things, only to brush Him off for whatever else was on your schedule that day? Many people in Jesus’ day did dismiss Him. Many people today still do. But today, the Word has moved into your neighborhood. He’s among you. The only question is do you notice Him? Because just like Jesus noticed Nathanael under the fig tree, He notices you today. He sees you and wants to live life with you. You have the opportunity to encounter the humble Creator who has known you before you were even born. Today He’s calling you to follow Him.

Questions

Why do you think John refers to Jesus as “the light”?
What do you notice about Jesus in this chapter?
What keeps you from noticing the light of the world?

Watch This

Click here to watch The Bible Project’s overview of John!

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.
August 21, 2023
Bible Study Methods: Psalm 121

Introduction

We have a few days “off” before we start the book of John next week. To help us all grow in reading the Word on a daily basis and to help us better study and apply the Bible, we’re taking the next three days to share a few tools for reading, understanding, and applying the Bible more effectively. For each of the next three days, we’ve picked three different Bible study methods and three psalms that we studied this summer during the Harris Creek “Soundtracks” sermon series. Our hope is that trying out these methods will help us be more effective in studying and living out God’s Word.

Day three

Remember, the best method to study the Bible is the method that you will use. Keep engaging and studying scripture. His Word is a light, it is eternal, it stands firm (Psalm 119). Today’s method is the APPLE method. Using A-P-P-L-E, we’ll dig into Psalm 121. Grab a journal, Bible, and pen to get started.
A- List any ATTRIBUTES about God you learn or observe from the passage. (Describe His character. What is He like?)
P- List any PROMISES from God you learn or observe from the passage . (What has He done? What will He do?)
P- List any life PRINCIPLES hidden in the text. (Are there commands? What is God asking of His people?)
L- List any LESSONS learned. (Any sins to avoid? Are there examples of ungodliness? What is God trying to teach His people? What is God trying to teach me?)
E- List any EXAMPLES to follow. (In what practical way can I implement this truth? What action needs to be taken?)

Read Psalm 121

Psalm 121
A song of ascents.
¹I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
²My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.
³He will not let your foot slip—
    he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴indeed, he who watches over Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵The Lord watches over you—
    the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
⁶the sun will not harm you by day,
    nor the moon by night.
⁷The Lord will keep you from all harm—
    he will watch over your life;
⁸the Lord will watch over your coming and going
    both now and forevermore.

Practice

Work through each of the five letters of APPLE as it relates to Psalm 121. Put what you learned in the comments below!

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

August 19, 2023
Bible Study Methods: Psalm 46
Introduction

We have a few days “off” before we start the book of John next week. To help us all grow in reading the Word on a daily basis and to help us better study and apply the Bible, we’re taking the next three days to share a few tools for reading, understanding, and applying the Bible more effectively. For each of the next three days, we’ve picked three different Bible study methods and three psalms that we studied this summer during the Harris Creek “Soundtracks” sermon series. Our hope is that trying out these methods will help us be more effective in studying and living out God’s Word.

Day Two

It’s important to remember that there’s no one “right” way to study scripture. The most important thing is that you are studying it. God’s Word doesn’t return void (Isaiah 55:11), so just by engaging with Scripture, you are going to grow and benefit from it. Today’s method, similar to yesterday’s, involves another set of questions for us to ask ourselves after reading the passage. With a journal nearby, these five questions can help us explore each passage on a deeper level:
What do you like about this passage? What emotions does this passage stir up in you? What jumps off the page at you?
What surprises you about this passage? Did you read anything you’d never thought about before? What makes you go, “huh” as you read it?
What do you learn about God? What does this passage teach you about the character of God? Any attributes of God that this passage highlights?
What do you learn about humanity? What does this passage teach you about human nature? Any patterns you see that are still repeated today?
How do you apply these truths to your life? What can you take from this passage and apply to your life right now? How are these truths the same today as they were thousands of years ago?
These questions give us a little bit of everything. They can help you categorize your thoughts, feelings, and convictions after reading a passage. It also gives you an opportunity to apply what you read and live out what it means. Take some time today and practice this method with the passage below.

Read Psalm 46

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
¹God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.
²Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
    and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³though its waters roar and foam
    and the mountains quake with their surging.
⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵God is within her, she will not fall;
    God will help her at break of day.
⁶Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
    he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
⁷The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.
⁸Come and see what the Lord has done,
    the desolations he has brought on the earth.
⁹He makes wars cease
    to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
    he burns the shields with fire.
¹⁰He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”
¹¹The Lord Almighty is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Practice

Work through each of the five questions as it relates to Psalm 46. Answer in the comments below!

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.
August 18, 2023
Bible Study Methods: Psalm 1
Introduction

We have a few days “off” before we start the book of John next week. To help us all grow in reading the Word on a daily basis and to help us better study and apply the Bible, we’re taking the next three days to share a few tools for reading, understanding, and applying the Bible more effectively. For each of the next three days, we’ve picked three different Bible study methods and three psalms that we studied this summer during the Harris Creek “Soundtracks” sermon series. Our hope is that trying out these methods will help us be more effective in studying and living out God’s Word.

Day One

Today’s method we’re sharing involves a three-step process. As we study a passage using this method, we’re like investigators doing a deep dive asking three sets of questions. We’ll share the three steps and some key questions and encourage you to study Psalm 1.
Observation: “What does it say?” or ”What do I see?”
As you look at the verse, what words stick out? Are any words repeated? Look at the context of the verse and passage, specifically looking at the verse prior and following. Is the passage/verse a question, statement, or command? Is the writer describing something or recounting a story or narrative? What did the author see when they wrote the passage? Try to put yourself in their shoes and make some observations. Practically, you can mark anything you observe in your bible or in a journal.
Interpretation: “What does it mean?”
What do you think the author intends in this passage? This is where you can ask a bunch of questions of the text and where you seek to find answers to those questions. For example, if you studied John 11:35 (“Jesus wept”) you could ask: Why is Jesus crying? What led Him to start crying? Are there any other times Jesus wept? As you study the passage and its context, you put your questions and answers together as you attempt to interpret the verse/passage.
Application: “How does it work?” or “What do I do?”
Now that we’ve made some observations and made efforts to understand what the Scripture means, we need to figure out what we do with it. How does this passage apply to me? What do I do about it? How will this passage impact my life or the lives of those around me? James 1:22-25 describes a man who looks in the mirror and sees what he looks like and then turns around and forgets what he saw in the mirror. We don’t want to be people who look into God’s Word and forget what it says. Rather, we want to be people who allow God’s Word to change and transform us, so that we might become more and more like Jesus Christ.

Read Psalm 1

Psalm 1
¹Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
²but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.
⁴Not so the wicked!
    They are like chaff
    that the wind blows away.
⁵Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
⁶For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Practice

Quick summary: The first method we’re sharing with you this week is to take three steps with every passage you study.

Observation: “What does it say?” or ”What do I see?”

Interpretation: “What does it mean?”

Application: “How does it work?” or “What do I do?”

What do you observe, interpret, and apply from Psalm 1?

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.
August 17, 2023
Malachi 4
Read Malachi 4

Judgment and Covenant Renewal
4 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the Lord Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them.²But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. ³Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty.
⁴“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.
⁵“See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. ⁶He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Go Deeper

Malachi wraps up the Old Testament, and this chapter gives us God’s final words to His people before a period of 400 years of silence began. In the book of Malachi, we see God’s care for His people, God’s complaint against His people, and God’s future coming for His people. The book of Malachi begins with the Lord reminding the people of His love and faithfulness. Despite God’s unfailing love, Israel had over and over again had turned away from God and went their own way. This is the storyline of the Old Testament starting all the way back in the book of Genesis. God created man in His image and within a page of God creating man, man rebelled against Him. Man chose to sin and break a relationship with a good and holy God. Despite that, God promised that a rescuer would come to redeem and restore the broken world.
Malachi 4 begins telling us the result of the wicked and the result of the righteous. There will be a day where the wicked will not stand in God’s judgment. It says, “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire” (v. 1). In the coming day of the Lord, those who do not fear Him will have no hope. However, there is a promise for the righteous and those who do fear Him. Malachi says, “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays” (v. 2). This is considered by many scholars to be a prophecy of the coming Christ. Jesus’ death and resurrection will bring spiritual healing in the form of salvation and the means to be reconciled back to a holy God. This is the promise of redemption that we see woven throughout the Old Testament. God is coming for His people!
In the concluding words of the Old Testament, the Lord calls them to “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel” (v. 4). This is not only a call to remember the Law but to obey it. This echoes the call throughout Scripture to remember the Word of God. We are to write God’s Word on our hearts, meditate on it day and night, and do everything it commands us to do. There would be 400 years of silence to come where they would not hear from the Lord. They were called to remember His faithfulness in the past as they await the coming Savior. Just as the people in the time of Malachi were looking forward to the hope of the future Messiah, we get to look back on the cross and look forward to His return. We can praise God today that despite our brokenness, He is faithful to heal, redeem, and restore His people back to Himself!

Questions

What prophecies in this chapter do you see fulfilled in the New Testament?
What does it look like for you to remember the Word of God? Is there a verse you can memorize this week?
Our God is a God of healing! What has the Lord healed you from?

Keep Digging

To learn more about the 400 year period of silence at the end of the Old Testament, click here to read this article from GotQuestions.org.

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

Join the Team

Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].
August 16, 2023
Malachi 3
Read Malachi 3

3 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.

²But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, ⁴and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

⁵“So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

Breaking Covenant by Withholding Tithes

⁶“I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. ⁷Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned awayfrom my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

⁸“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. ⁹You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. ¹⁰Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse,that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. ¹¹I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. ¹²“Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.

Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God

¹³“You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.

“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’

¹⁴“You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? ¹⁵But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”

The Faithful Remnant

¹⁶Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.

¹⁷“On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be mytreasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. ¹⁸And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

Go Deeper

Malachi 3 is full of applicable lessons for us to learn. First, verses 1-6 are prophecies of the two coming “messengers.” Even with Malachi’s name meaning “my messenger,” these verses refer to the prophecies of both John the Baptist and the messenger of the covenant, Jesus Christ. In the first verse, the first messenger is described as “clearing the way”, which points to John the Baptist making the way for Jesus. He spoke with authority to the Jewish people and leaders of that day and prepared them for who was to come.
The beauty in these prophetic books is the hope it gives to those who hear and believe what these prophets said hundreds of years before Christ. God’s people always had a choice in their response to these prophets, and the same is true for us today. Malachi 3:2-6 describes Christ’s purity and holiness that are offered to us as believers. Verse 6 exclaims God’s faithfulness to His people, reminding us God’s love for us never changes. He is always there. As we allow Him, God will manifest His divine nature within us, and this gives us wholeness, joy, and hope now and forever.
In verses 7-15 God spoke three things to His people. First, “return to me.” Second, “you rob me.” Third, “You have spoken against Me.” As we read in the first part of this chapter, God desired their hearts first above all else and their commitment would show in their lives and their temple practices. God convicted the Israelites of their prosperity and personal well-being superseding the laws of God. They were arrogant and self-centered, losing their awe of God and His law. Further, they were failing in their financial support of the temple. Thirdly, they were not trusting God in their current trials and oppression.
There is so much in this for us today. We must sincerely and honestly ask these same questions of ourselves and our families. God, are you first in my life above all else? Am I “robbing” You, God, in any way? Am I speaking against you? The best test of this is to look at our calendars to see how we are spending our time, and further, look at our check books on how we are using our God given resources. Finally, are we grumbling rather than doing our part and then trusting in His provision for us? The conviction of God is good and kind because He offers forgiveness and the way to return. No matter the problem, He will open His arms to us as we repent and return. In Verse 7, God lovingly says, “return to Me and I will return to you.”
Finally, verses 16-17 show the heart of God for those who love and serve Him. His covenant promise to us is His faithfulness. The Lord listened and heard the cries and hearts of those who responded to the message of Malachi, and our Lord will listen, hear, and respond to our same cries. When Christ returns, we will see the difference between the children of God and those who have turned away. The offerings we bring include our money, our time, and our hearts. May we consider the promises of Malachi 3:10 and trust every word God says.

Questions

How did John the Baptist describe himself in relation to the coming Messiah?
Do any of the questions God asked the Israelites apply in your life? Answer honestly and God is there to offer his grace, love, and forgiveness, and direction.
What hope and promises do you hear in Malachi 3:10?

A Quote

Matthew Henry’s commentary on Malachi 3 says, “The saints are God’s jewels; they are dear to him. He will preserve them as his jewels. In the end, all the world will confess that those were wise and happy, who served the Lord and trusted in Him.”

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

Join the Team

Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].
August 15, 2023
Malachi 2
Read Malachi 2

Additional Warning to the Priests
2 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. ²If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
³“Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it.⁴And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁵“My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. ⁶True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many from sin.
⁷“For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. ⁸But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi,” says the Lord Almighty. ⁹“So I have caused you to be despised and humiliatedbefore all the people, because you have not followed my ways but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”
Breaking Covenant Through Divorce
¹⁰Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?
¹¹Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the Lord lovesby marrying women who worship a foreign god. ¹²As for the man who does this, whoever he may be, may the Lord remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the Lord Almighty.
¹³Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. ¹⁴You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
¹⁵Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
¹⁶“The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.
So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.
Breaking Covenant Through Injustice
¹⁷You have wearied the Lord with your words.
“How have we wearied him?” you ask.
By saying, “All who do evil are good in the eyes of the Lord, and he is pleased with them” or “Where is the God of justice?”

Go Deeper

If you picked up on hints of God’s frustrations reading Malachi 1, in this chapter it is explicitly clear and inescapable. In short, God is frustrated with Israel’s priests and how lightly they are taking the covenants. The Merriam-Webster definition of a covenant is “a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement.” All throughout the Old Testament we see examples of God establishing covenants with His people and when they fall short of their end of the bargain (which happens often), it breaks God’s heart.
In this chapter, the priests have fallen short of their covenant with God and the covenant of marriage (which is made between a man and woman before God) is being taken too lightly. The priests had stopped living up to their end of God’s expectations (v. 2). David Guzik of the Enduring Word commentary outlines the four characteristics God was looking for the in the priests, all based on the way Levi lived (v. 5-7):
Reverence
Knowing God’s word
Godly character
Preserving and promoting God’s word: God’s servant
As they fell short of that standard, they caused others to stumble as well (v. 8-9). This passage serves as a reminder to anyone leading in any ministry context that your words, actions, and the living out of your faith can impact others, so it’s vital to live authentically and devoted to Jesus (James 3:1).
Finally, this chapter ends with a reminder of the importance of the covenant of marriage. God doesn’t like divorce. Unfaithfulness is dishonoring to God, so any time you look outside the of marriage for fulfillment in marriage (physically, emotionally, etc.), you’re dishonoring the covenant of marriage and the heart of God. For those reading that are (or will someday be) married, let’s be reminded today that a marriage that points others to Jesus is a great apologetic to the world around us.

Questions

What stuck out to you the first time you read through this chapter? Why?
Why was God so hard on the priests? Why was it so important to Him that they lead well?
What is a takeaway from this passage regarding marriage for you?

By the Way

This passage is reminiscent of Amos 5:21-24 where God (through His prophet Amos) says this:
21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
23 Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
24 But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

Join the Team

Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].
August 14, 2023
Malachi 1 + Introduction
Malachi Introduction

Malachi was a prophet, alive at the same time as Nehemiah. We don’t have a ton of the biographical information we often get about prophets (who his father was, etc.). Instead, Malachi jumps right in with the message that God has given him. At this point in time, morale was low amongst the Israelites. They were starting to question if God even loved them! God, through Malachi, wanted them to know that He did and that there were things in their hearts and lives that needed to change.
So, what’s the main idea of the book of Malachi? Pastor and scholar Chuck Swindoll describes it this way:
“The people focused on their unfortunate circumstances and refused to account for their own sinful deeds. So God pointed the finger back at them, and through Malachi, God told the people where they had fallen short of their covenant with Him. If they hoped to see changes, they needed to take responsibility for their own actions and serve God faithfully according to the promise their fathers had made to God on Mount Sinai all those years before.”
Following the book of Malachi, there was a period of silence for a few hundred years. The Israelites waited and waited, wondering when God would speak again. When the time was just right, God spoke again in a different way: by sending His son.
As we read the book of Malachi, take notes of what sticks out to you! Underline and highlight the words and themes that are repeated. Ask God each day to show you what He wants you to take away from this passage and ask that it would transform your heart as you follow after Jesus.

Read Malachi 1

1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.
Israel Doubts God’s Love
²“I have loved you,” says the Lord.
“But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’
“Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob,³but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wastelandand left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”
⁴Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.”
But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish.They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord. ⁵You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the Lord—even beyond the borders of Israel!’
Breaking Covenant Through Blemished Sacrifices
⁶“A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.
“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
⁷“By offering defiled food on my altar.
“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. ⁸When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.
⁹“Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.
¹⁰“Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. ¹¹My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.
¹²“But you profane it by saying, ‘The Lord’s table is defiled,’ and, ‘Its food is contemptible.’ ¹³And you say, ‘What a burden!’ and you sniff at it contemptuously,” says the Lord Almighty.
“When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?” says the Lord.¹⁴“Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord Almighty, “and my name is to be feared among the nations.

Go Deeper

As we read through the opening chapter of Malachi, it is easy to pick up on the tone of God’s message he’s delivering through His prophet. This message, delivered to the former exiles about a hundred years after they returned, followed the messages of Zechariah and Haggai. Malachi, likely alive at the same time as Nehemiah, was there to deliver both a message of correction, but also to remind them of God’s love.
This passage begins with an opening reminder that God loves (and has loved) Israel all along, dating back to the days of Jacob and Esau (v. 2-5). The story that plays out time and time again throughout the Old Testament is God’s love for Israel, despite His people wandering and returning to their own wants and desires. Knowing the meta-narrative of the Old Testament helps us see just how loving God really is after He had given Israel chance after chance after chance to follow Him. Israel, however, had a hard time seeing it.
Throughout the rest of this chapter we read of God’s frustrations with how careless and thoughtless worship had become, including amongst the priests themselves (v. 6-14). What’s interesting is that the priests weren’t even aware of it themselves (v. 6) and God had to point out to them that they were sacrificing defiled animals to him, which went against the Levitical law (Leviticus 22:20-23). The priests (and Israel) had drifted into this place of going through the motions and thoughtlessly worshiping the God they claimed to follow.
God even goes as far as to say that it would be better to shut the temple doors than to keep doing what they had been doing! As we read this today, it’s an excellent reminder for us to not just show up and go through the motions of the Christian life. We can attend worship on Sunday mornings, meet with our Life Groups, and read the Bible each morning, but if we miss the heart of God in the process then we have missed the mark, just like Malachi’s intended audience. Let’s remember today that God wants our hearts and for us to offer our lives as a living sacrifice to Him (Romans 12:1).

Questions

What stuck out to you most as you read this chapter? Why?
Can you think of a time recently that you’ve gone through the motions? Maybe you drifted there over time. How did you get there?
How can you best prepare your heart for worship each and every time you gather with the body of believers?

Watch This

For a comprehensive overview of the book of Malachi, check out this video from The Bible Project!

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

Join the Team

Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].
August 12, 2023
Haggai 2
Read Haggai 2

2 ¹on the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the word of the Lordcame through the prophet Haggai: ²“Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, to Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of the people. Ask them, ³‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? ⁴But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong,Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.⁵‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’
⁶“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. ⁷I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this housewith glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. ⁸‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ⁹‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”
Blessings for a Defiled People
¹⁰On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Haggai: ¹¹“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Ask the priests what the law says: ¹²If someone carries consecrated meat in the fold of their garment, and that fold touches some bread or stew, some wine, olive oil or other food, does it become consecrated?’”
The priests answered, “No.”
¹³Then Haggai said, “If a person defiled by contact with a dead body touches one of these things, does it become defiled?”
“Yes,” the priests replied, “it becomes defiled.”
¹⁴Then Haggai said, “‘So it is with this people and this nation in my sight,’ declares the Lord. ‘Whatever they do and whatever they offer there is defiled.
¹⁵“‘Now give careful thought to this from this day on—consider how things were before one stone was laid on another in the Lord’s temple. ¹⁶When anyone came to a heap of twenty measures, there were only ten. When anyone went to a wine vat to draw fifty measures, there were only twenty. ¹⁷I struck all the work of your hands with blight, mildew and hail, yet you did not return to me,’ declares the Lord. ¹⁸‘From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought: ¹⁹Is there yet any seed left in the barn? Until now, the vine and the fig tree, the pomegranate and the olive tree have not borne fruit.
“‘From this day on I will bless you.’”
Zerubbabel the Lord’s Signet Ring
²⁰The word of the Lord came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ²¹“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. ²²I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.
²³“‘On that day,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.”

Go Deeper

We saw in the previous chapter a message to the people to consider their ways. The Lord had called them to be faithful to complete the building of the Temple, but they had moved God’s command to the bottom of their to-do list. Instead, they had prioritized their own agenda and decided to make for themselves luxurious paneled houses while the Lord’s house was in ruins. They had been blinded by their own comfort, preferences, and sinful desires. However, the people heard this message through the prophet Haggai and responded. This rebuke produced revival. They obeyed the Lord, feared Him, and got to work! Haggai 1 ended by telling us that the Lord stirred up the spirit of the people, and they began work on the house of the Lord (1:14).
In Haggai 2, we see an encouragement and a blessing. Through the prophet Haggai, God told the people, “Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you” (v. 4). The Lord repeats the phrase “be strong” multiple times. This task of building the temple was a mighty one and the people were feeling discouraged. This temple was less glorious than the previous, however it was just a preview of what was to come. There’s a reminder here for them to be strong, knowing that they couldn’t do what the Lord was calling them to do on their own strength. The hardships they are going through would be worth it. The Lord continues saying, “This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear” (v. 5). God repeats a promise He made back in Exodus that His presence will be with them always.
There are many promises that the Lord makes to His people in this chapter. In verses 6-9, God explains why the temple is worth rebuilding. God tells the people, “I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory” (v. 7). This is a key verse in the prophecy. Scholars have differing views on what the “desire of all nations” means, but most would attribute this to the return of Christ. He is the desire of the nations, whether they know it or not. God has set eternity in the hearts of man and there is a universal longing for hope and restoration, that is only found in Christ. We are commissioned with the great task of sharing the hope of salvation to all peoples of the earth.
The Lord encourages them that the “glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house” (v. 9). This house is the temple of God. When Jesus returns, He will fulfill what this prophecy is referring to. The greater glory will come when every nation, tribe, people, and tongue will join Israel in the worship of the Lord. The best is yet to come for the people of God, and the best is yet to come for us. We have a hope that is like an anchor, firm and secure (Hebrews 6:19). We are heirs to a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). We can be strong today in what the Lord has called us to do, because we know how the story ends. Jesus Christ, the desire of the nations, will one day return and reign forever.

Questions

What is the Lord calling you to reprioritize in your own life? Is there an area in your life where you are placing your own comfort over obedience to the Lord?
What is something you are trying to do on your own strength? What does it look like to rely on the strength of the Lord?
God’s desire is that all nations would know and worship Him. He has commissioned us to be His witnesses to all the ends of the earth. What does it look like for you to be a part of making the gospel known amongst all peoples?

Keep Digging

To learn more about the phrase “the desired of all nations” mentioned in verse 7, check out this article from GotQuestions.org!

Leave a Comment below

Did you learn something today? Share it with our Bible Reading Plan community by commenting below.

Join the Team

Interested in writing for the Bible Reading Plan? Email [email protected].
August 11, 2023