BR-13 Chronological Bible Read (March 26 — April 1)

Congratulations for making it one-fourth of the way through the Chronological Bible! (And, if I'm any judge, the hardest part to read). I don't know about you, but I am glad to have that behind us. It's important ... but really difficult to slog through.

It's pretty much all story from here. I hope all is well with you. Keep those questions and comments flowing in.

Blessings,
Steve

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We are reading The One Year Chronological Bible (New Living Translation - Tyndale). The best way is with your own copy of this Bible translation. Or, copy and paste this link to the daily reading schedule:
http://www.oneyearbibleonline.com/readingplan/oneyearchronologicalbiblereadingplan.pdf

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Key thoughts from this week
Joshua 12:7 through Judges 6:40

March 29 - Joshua 20:1-9
More about the Cities of Refuge - this was something new under the sun. Revenge killing was the standard of the day for just about all people, not just the Israelites. You can see some of our present justice system practices reflected in the cities of refuge. The accidental killer is protected from the relatives of the deceased while s/he moves through the justice system. Very interesting change.

March 30 - Joshua 24:14-15
"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" - Here's the famous declaration of Joshua, made as he comes to the end of his life. He knows the people are undependable, so he places the choice before them, one more time, hoping their jointly voiced commitment will carry them through.

March 31 - Judges 2:10-15
Not far into the Book of Judges, just one generation later, "the Israelites did evil in the Lord's sight." Here we go again.

March 31st, Judges 3:12-30
Two of my favorite Judges are in this week's readings: Ehud and Deborah. I like Ehud because of the ingenious way he dispatches the evil king of Moab, AND for the fact that because of him, "there was peace in the land for eighty years." Great leader!

April 1 - Judges chapters 4 & 5
Deborah, the great Judge of Israel, called "the mother of Israel," led Israel in good times and bad. She was a prophet, a judge (i.e., the leader of the entire nation), and dearly loved by the people. The military commander refused to go to war without her by his side. And in the end, she brought 40 years of peace to Israel. Here's what we all need to remember: God chose Deborah to lead the nation of Israel. God chose her to be His prophet.

Quick shout out to Jael: gutsy move, woman!

Saving Gideon for next week ...