bible reading july 14

Bible reading for July 14.

Joshua 20-21

"Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass." (Joshua 21:45)

LEVITICAL CITIES. The importance of the cities of refuge (ch 20) was emphasized previously in Numbers 35. These locations provided sanctuary for those guilty of manslaughter (without malice) who might become victims themselves of clan vengeance. In chapter 21 the Levitical cities and their pasture lands are designated. This may seem a bit dry to read, but remember, these were the national archives of Israel, to insure that provision for, and preservation of, the Levites would be maintained. God cares about justice, about boundaries, and about food upon the table. He is good, and he is good to his people. And he fulfills his promises to them (Heb 6:11-18; Titus 1:2).

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Acts 1

"He said to them, 'It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'" (Acts 1:7-8)

THE GOSPEL ADVANCES. We begin a new book, the Acts of the Apostles. This is volume II of Luke's writings. Perhaps, it should be called the "Acts of the Holy Spirit" because this book records not just the apostolic testimony about our Lord Jesus, but how the Holy Spirit gives power to witness, grants signs and miracles, and works in the hearts of those who hear the gospel. In chapter one Christ ascends to his Father in heaven, and the disciples await together the coming of the Holy Spirit. Judas is replaced by Matthias, who will serve as the twelfth apostle and witness of the resurrection of Christ (vv 21-22). [On the death of Judas see Constable's notes in the NET Bible]

OUTLINE. Verse 8 gives a geographic outline of the advance of the gospel as recorded in Acts: Jerusalem (ch 1-7), Judea and Samaria (ch 8-12), and the end of the earth (at that time, Rome)(ch 13-28). Theologian Carl Henry stated, "Jesus' incarnation, death, and resurrection are the turning point of the ages." Indeed, the cradle, the cross, and the crown of our Lord are the pivot of history, marking the beginning of the end of the old creation and the beginning of the new creation in the last Adam (1 Cor 15:45-57). All of history is a kind of chiasm around the coming of our Lord Jesus (see chart). The book of Acts, along with the Epistles (NT letters), comprise the Apostles' eye-witness testimony regarding our Lord Jesus. Today, we live in the period where the gospel has swept through much of the world and as we finish the job of world evangelization we eagerly await Christ's second coming. As the angels said, "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven" (v 11).

We are following the Robert Murray M'Cheyne (RMM) two-year reading schedule, as arranged by D. A. Carson.
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The NET Bible is a free, online resource, and a ministry of bible.org.

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Howard Hendricks on OT books chronology

When I was in seminary, Howard Hendricks (aka "Prof") gave us a little card with the books of the OT chronologically arranged. The scanned copy I have was a bit blurry and I wanted to make something like this available for our church class in OT theology ("Story of Redemption"). A few minor edits and here it is...

my burg

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