THE BIBLE IN 10 MINUTES, 5 DAYS A WEEK

If you missed last week’s plan, check out week 5 here.

WEEK SIX

Hello, and welcome to week six of the Off the Shelf bible reading plan. We hope week five was an opportunity for you to get a taste of the wisdom literature in the Bible. This week, we begin a two-week look at the Prophetic Books in the Bible. This section of the Bible starts after the wisdom books and goes through the remainder of the Old Testament. In total, this section contains seventeen books. While these books come after the wisdom books in the Bible, they are actually historical accounts and writings of the prophets that correlate to the time frame of the readings we did in week four. In other words, the events of these books took place during the time of the kings before Israel was captured by Assyria, and Judah was captured by Babylon.

So, what is a prophet? A prophet was God’s messenger to his people and other people groups. Primarily, they spoke God-given messages to God’s people to explain where they were off track, to urge them to return to the covenant, and to remind them of what would happen if they disobeyed. While their messages were often heavy and harsh, they were also fueled by God’s love for his people and his desire for them to return to him.

This week, we will be reading from four different prophetic books, which will give us a snapshot of what these books are about. The books we are reading this week are all considered minor prophets. Next week we will read from the major prophets. The terms minor and major have nothing to do with their importance or value. These are terms used to describe the length of the books. The minor prophets are much shorter books. This week we begin with the book of Hosea.

DAY 1  | Today we will read the first two chapters of the book of Hosea.  It is important to note that while the prophets were God’s messengers, they often faced great difficulty because of their role.  Sometimes, God even asked them to do difficult things to help his people understand the message.  As we will see in Chapters 1 and 2 of Hosea, God asked Hosea to do something incredibly difficult. Today, read Hosea chapters 1 and 2.   

DAY 2 | Today we will read chapters three and four of Hosea. These chapters contain Hosea’s reconciliation with his wife and then God’s warning against Israel. This is a challenging passage to read, but we need to keep in mind that God did all of this because he genuinely wanted to be in relationship with his people.  Today, read Hosea chapters 3 and 4. 

DAY 3 | Today we leave the story of Hosea and jump into another message from God through the prophet Joel. In the book of Joel, God uses a natural catastrophe to remind his people of their sin and call them back to obedience.  In the midst of this awful event, we also get to see God’s care for his people. Today, read Joel chapter 2. 

DAY 4 | Today we are reading from the prophet Amos.  In chapters three and four we get another glimpse at the coming judgment against Israel for their disobedience.  As with all the readings this week, these chapters remind us of how seriously God takes our sin, and how deeply he desires for us to return to right relationship with him. Today, read Amos chapters 3 and 4. 

DAY 5 | For our final reading this week, we are reading Habakkuk chapters 1 and 2.  In these chapters we get to listen in on a conversation between Habakkuk and God.  Habakkuk questions God about his silence and why he would use an evil nation to accomplish good.  Today read Habakkuk chapters 1 and 2 to hear God’s answers. 

Thank you for joining us this week. Join the conversation at Off the Shelf Facebook Group!

THE BIBLE IN 90 DAYS
Also, If you are looking for a challenge, it’s not too late to jump into the Bible in 90 days plan. This plan is designed to walk you through the Bible over the course of just three months. That works out to 12 pages of reading each day—a commitment, but certainly manageable, and one that’s well worth making.
Start plan here: https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13-bible-in-90-days