It's About God and about You

Reading the Bible daily is like daily eating. Physically, we are what we eat. Morally and intellectually, we are what we read, because reading is food for our minds. What we read will show in our daily actions. Yet, it is not only what we read, but how we read. We must rightly divide the written word lest we get the wrong idea even after reading.

The word given to us in the Bible came from men of ancient times, when people known as "homosapiens" first appeared on earth. Those men had a greater knowledge of the origin of mankind than we do, because they had firsthand observation. The first man knew his origins. Men today can only guess at it, or we can trust the word of those people who wrote it down at that earlier period of time in the life of mankind.

At first, the story of man was told from father to son. But in those early days of mankind, men lived long enough to see many generations of sons, and the first known man, Adam, was able to tell the story of his origin, which he knew firsthand, not only to his own son, but also to his great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson. That sixth-generation great grandson, Lamech, told it to his own son, Noah, who survived the Great Flood, and to his grandson, Shem, who helped Noah build the Ark. These men were very close to the One they called God, and knew Him as their Creator. They were close enough to Adam to know he had no earthly father and was created directly by God. That's how we come to know about God.

Shem lived long enough to tell the story firsthand to Jacob's son, his tenth-great-grandson. By this time, men were writing their memoirs on stone tablets, and even on papyrus, writing the records of the family chronicles. Jacob's sons spent their years in Egypt, where they learned to write. Moses was born in Egypt, and was the great-great grandson of Jacob. It is possible that Jacob himself taught Moses. Their family records are in now in our Bible.

To sum it up, Adam, the first known man, told the story of how he came into this world to Lamech. Lamech told it to Shem, and Shem taught it to Levi. Moses was the great grandson of Levi, and wrote it all down. What Moses wrote is contained in the first five books of the Bible. It is about God, the Creator and His Creation, and is called the Law. It was written in Hebrew, and in Hebrew is called The TORAH. It's the Law of God as those men knew Him to be. The Law of God does not change, it is WHOM and WHAT He is. The TORAH is the basis for all the other books written about TORAH, which is God. God is His own very Word. God is what His Law is.

The Bible is your life. It is the story of how your life came into being. In the Bible is the Law of Life. The TORAH is the Law set in motion by God to guarantee man the Right to Life and Freedom to live his life happily. Reading the Bible sets the Law of the Creator into our minds, and into our very being, and gives us a heart after God's own heart. It molds us into His Image, because it shapes our thinking by His thinking. The answers to life's questions are in His TORAH, the first five books of the Bible.

Rightly Dividing the Word

Over the years after Moses received the TORAH from God, others wrote down the story of the journey of Jacob's family, the Israelites, to their own land. They were to keep the Law of God in that land so the rest of the nations would have a light, showing His Way. They forgot that Way, and began to do as other nations. Some of their spiritual leaders, called prophets, brought messages to them, telling them what would be the end of their nation and kingdom, if they did not keep the TORAH. There is also some poetry about God in the Bible. At first these were separate writings on scrolls. We now have them all together, many books compiled into one book we call The Holy Bible.

These writings are divided into four groups - The Books of the Law, The Books of History, The Books of Poetry, and The Books of Prophecy. This makes up the Old Testament. In a typical Bible, they are read in that order. There are some Bibles in which there is a different arrangement. The Hebrew Bible does not have the "New Testament" which is found in a Christian's Bible. The New Testament was added to the original Hebrew Bible about two hundred years after Jesus lived on earth. It is the story of Jesus and his followers, and also contains letters written by his followers, each called a book. It too is made up of groups of books, referred to as The Gospels, History, Epistles (letters), and The Apocalypse (revelation).

For years, most Christians who have read the Bible through, have started at the first book, the Book of Genesis, and continued reading on through the very end, on a schedule which completes the reading in one year. It's a good thing to do. There is one problem with it. It is a big Book, with much deep reading, and by the end of the year, most have forgotten the TORAH which they read in the beginning, which is the basis of all that followed. They become distracted from the basic Law of God, which causes much misunderstanding about His Law.

If you were to read the TORAH three times a year, which is like appearing before the LORD three times a year, as He commanded, it would stay in your mind as you read the other writings and would reveal things to you which you didn't know were there in the Bible. When you have TORAH in your mind and heart, those words are inside you and will come to your mind when you have a need for them. You will find this promise in the Book of Deuteronomy, chapter 30. God says His word is our very life.


A Bible Reading Schedule

This plan calls for reading four chapters each day, with two extra chapters added at the end of week. Read two in the morning, then two at night. On Friday and Saturday nights, read an extra chapter. You will be reading a total of thirty chapters per week. You will be reading the entire Bible, and will read The TORAH three times, all in one year


Poetry
This Bible reading schedule is different. It begins with the Books of Poetry, located in the heart of your Bible. . There are five Books of Poetry in the arrangement of the typical Bible used by Christians:
Job
Psalms
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Solomon's Song
Read these first. They make a good "Introduction".

TORAH
After you have completed those five books, go to the beginning of the Bible and read the TORAH. The TORAH also consists of five books:
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy

History Immediately following The TORAH, are the Books of History, which begin with Joshua. There are twelve books in this group:
Joshua
Judges
Ruth
First Samuel
Second Samuel
First Kings
Second Kings
First Chronicles (Kings of Judah)
Second Chronicles (Kings of Judah)
Ezra
Nehemiah
Esther

TORAH
After completing the reading of the History Books, return to the TORAH and read it again!


Prophets
Following that second reading of The TORAH, read the Books of Prophecy. Those books follow the Books of Poetry. There are seventeen of them, some large, some small:
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Lamentations
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

TORAH The last chapter of Malachi tells you what to do next. He says to "remember the law of Moses". That's The TORAH again, written down by Moses, containing the Law of God. So, that's the next reading. Return to the TORAH and read it again, a third time

New Testament
After the third reading of The TORAH, read The New Testament, which tells of the coming of Jesus of Nazareth, heir to the throne of King David, "called the Son of the Highest". (Luke 2:32) It is the second part of the Christian Bible, beginning with the Book of Matthew's Gospel, and ending with the Book of Revelation. This will end a year of reading.

Repeat!
You will want to begin again with the Books of Poetry and follow the same schedule each year. Reading it in this order is a Bible Study in itself. You will learn things as never before. It will become your very life! (Deuteronomy 32:46, 47)

If you are Jewish, and do not read the New Testament, just read the TORAH again! You will have two weeks left over in the year. Take a break for Succot. You will have other readings to fill that time period. After Succot, pick up where you left off and continue reading.

The Bible is your very life!