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Joshua

Joshua is a great read, especially if you are bloke, because there is lots of action! It is the story of how the new Israelite community moved in and took possession of the land promised to them. God explicitly states that all the inhabitants of the land were to be utterly driven out or destroyed in order to ensure God’s people’s remained spiritually pure and completely devoted. The story of Joshua largely revolves around how the people went at doing this task. Joshua was their leader who had to bravely lead the people. Yet the story reminds us that ultimately their divine warrior, the LORD God, is the one who would defeat all their enemies if only they would trust Him.

This conquest comes as a fulfilment of the promises the LORD God made to Abraham way back in Genesis 12. Here is this great nation under God’s great blessing, being given a land of their own; a land where they can live out their covenant relationship with the LORD.

There certainly is a lot to celebrate about this historic occasion as they take the land at long last (this seems to be the main focus of the book). However, make sure you don’t miss the unbelief and sheer laziness of the people as they ultimately fail to claim all the land they should, and fail to do it the way the LORD God had stipulated.

Key reflection questions:

  • How has God shown His great faithfulness to His people?
  • What indications are there, that the people of Israel are not going to live the right way in God’s land?

Judges

From the positive tone of Joshua, to this! Your first day of reading into Judges paints a pretty sad picture of how the Israelites are falling well short.

Overall, the book of Judges tracks the downward spiral of the Israelite’s national and spiritual life, from the death of Joshua to the birth of Samuel. This was a time of great immorality, largely due to Israel’s failure to drive out the inhabitants of the land as they had been instructed.

Judges is about 12 military/civic leaders (or ‘judges’) who save the people of Israel as they establish themselves in the Promised Land. Some of these leaders could best be described as ‘interesting’, others are odd, some are downright bizarre! They are all leaders God graciously sends to lead the people out of the moral mess they find themselves in over and over again. Despite successfully delivering their nation from trouble, the deliverance they offer is temporary at best. We are left asking ourselves: what is the long-term solution?

The book of Judges closes by setting the stage for the people’s desire for a human king. We are left feeling that somehow a monarchy will provide the answer, and it does, though not the kind we might first expect!

The tension is building, if the people fail to live properly in the very land that God has graciously given them, what then? How will their holy God deal with this problem?

Key reflection question:

  • In light of these flawed leaders, what would it take for someone to really lead God’s people?

Ruth

The book of Ruth paints a heart-warming picture of a God who is intimately and lovingly concerned for those who turn to Him in faith – whoever they are. God’s incredible kindness to ordinary people in the middle of their pain and suffering seems to be the main point of the book.

The book operates on two levels. On the first level we have the unlikely love story between Boaz, a wealthy Israelite and Ruth, a poor foreigner. Yet Boaz’s gracious care of Ruth and her mother-in-law points us to the bigger picture. As Ruth finds refuge and redemption in Boaz, we come to understand something of the care God provides His people who take refuge in Him. Furthermore, as the book closes, we see God’s plans unfold through the family tree of Ruth and Boaz. This genealogy leads to King David, ancestor to the King of Kings, Jesus, in whom we meet the fulfilment of God’s extraordinary plans and the ultimate manifestation of His kindness.

Key reflection questions:

  • What aspects of God’s character shine through in this story?
  • Some people say that the God of the Old Testament is so different to the God of the New Testament. Do you agree?

Mark

Mark is the second biography of Jesus’ life. Although Mark is by far the shortest Gospel, it is packed full of action. It focuses more on the activities of Jesus and less on His teaching than the other Gospels. Furthermore, Mark is no detached biographer, he clearly has an agenda in writing about Jesus. Mark immediately seeks to prove his opening conviction (of 1:1) that Jesus is ‘the Christ, the Son of God’. Once that is established he then wants his readers to come to terms with Jesus’ universal call to be His disciples. Over and over again Mark returns to this theme. Discipleship for Mark is not about some code of conduct, it is a real relationship with the risen Jesus.

Key reflection questions:

  • Mark 1-8: Looking afresh at Jesus’ life, what do His actions reveal about His true identity?
  • Mark 8-16: What does it really mean to be a follower of Jesus?

1 and 2 Samuel

1 and 2 Samuel are the first of two historical books which describe Israel’s transition from a loose group of tribes to a strong and united nation. After seeing how the leadership provided by the various judges was no solution for Israel, we are left pondering what would happen if a king was to rule over them?

These two books introduce Israel’s change in politics. Israel calls for a king so that they can be ‘like the other nations’. Whilst this sounds like a very questionable basis to change the leadership of God’s holy people, we see God in His sovereignty, allowing this to proceed. These books then, track the rise and fall of the first kings of Israel – Saul and David.

Ultimately we see God exercising His overarching kingship as He inaugurates David’s throne (and not Saul’s throne). In these books, God not only establishes a kingship but a temple for Himself. God’s amazing promises to David in 2 Samuel 7 are the blue-print of God’s plan for His eternal rule of His world.

Key reflection questions:

  • David’s throne continues on, whilst Saul’s throne ends. What is it about David and his rule that makes him a better leader than Saul? What is it that both Saul and David lack as God’s king?

Hebrews

The book of Hebrews is all about enduring as a Christian, and warns against the dangers of leaving Christ. It seems to be a letter/sermon written to Jewish Christians who were wavering between Judaism and Christianity. It suggests the recipients were facing ongoing persecution for their faith in Jesus. As a result, many were turning their backs on Christianity and returning to their Jewish ways. The writer’s big message seems to be: Jesus is better so why would you go back to what is inferior?

Over and over again the book of Hebrews reminds us of how Jesus trumps all the Old Testament characters, institutions and practices. Hopefully your readings from the Old Testament and your familiarity with these events will make the writer’s point all the more clear. It will also help you look at these Old Testament characters, institutions and practices with the proper attitude and perspective.

Despite Jesus being superior to all else, the writer is also keen to remind us that Jesus is just like us – a human who faced temptation and suffering and yet He remained faithful. I find this book a wonderful encouragement – I hope you do too!

Key reflection questions:

  • What makes Jesus better than anything else?
  • When we are undergoing temptation, what can we remind ourselves from the message of Hebrews?

1 and 2 Kings

As you might have guessed by the title of these books- they are about the kings of Israel. Whilst 1 and 2 Samuel contained a deep exploration of two kings of Israel (Saul and David), 1 and 2 Kings cover nearly a 500 year span of Israel’s monarchy (970-586 BC). It describes the period between the death of David all the way to the Babylonian exile. It traces the division of the Jewish nation into the Kingdom of Judah (or ‘the southern kingdom’) and the Kingdom of Israel (or ‘the northern kingdom’). If you like politics, then I guess you would find these books a great read. However, ultimately the writer is looking at the rise and fall of these kings from a religious point of view. He stresses God’s covenant with His people and their responsibilities.

Keep Moses’ final addresses in your head as you read the ebb and flow of these kings (especially Deuteronomy 17:14-20, and while you’re at it, 1 Samuel 8:10-18). Sadly, stocks in Israel plummet through these two books. 1 Kings opens with Israel in its glory, 2 Kings closes with Israel in ruins. As we read the record of the lives and characters of the nation’s leaders hopefully God’s warning and exhortation comes through loud and clear to all future believers.

Key reflection questions:

  • What does it take to lead Israel well? What is the ultimate reason why Israel’s kings crash and burn?
  • What does this covenant require of Israel so they can happily dwell in the Promised Land under their God?
  • Why would a loving and sovereign God allow His people to go into exile and have their Temple destroyed?