52 Weeks in the Word - Week 39

-

  Welcome to Week 39!  

The next two weeks we will be reading the last of the Old Testament, which is made up of several smaller books.  Also, in week 41, we begin the New Testament!

Looking ahead to Week 39:

The reading for Week 39 includes: Amos 1 - Micah 7.

The book of Amos is the only place we read about the prophet Amos in the Old Testament.  His name means burden or burden bearer.  This probably was in reference to the burden he had to carry to prophesy about the judgment to God's people.  It is important to also remember that Amos was a simple man.  He was a sheep breeder, his choice of words.  Most would probably have said shepherd, but Amos could have been trying to make a difference between the career choice of shepherding and the type we know as shepherding people.  He was not educated in prophesying, and they did have schools for that in his time.  He was also a farmer, a simple man.  We know God often used the "simple man", the person without the credentials or experience,  to do mighty works for Him.  

It's also important to understand that the people of God had been divided up into two nations for over 150 years.  Judah was the southern nation and Israel was the northern.  Amos shares information about the kings during this time, which helps with dating of when the book was written.  

Also in verse 1, Amos mentions an earthquake, and the timing was two years before the great earthquake.  I was interested in this, so I did a little extra digging.  Archeologists have found evidence of this earthquake for this time period.  It is believed to have been a major geological event which impacted the area significantly.  It was described not only in Amos, but also in the book of Josephus (historic scholar) as a powerful and unexplainable force of destruction.  It is believed to have been of 7.8 to 8.2 magnitude, with the epicenter to be in Lebanon around the year 760 B.C.

We will also read the book Obadiah, which is only one chapter long.  It is believed to be written around 850 B.C.  Perhaps the overall message of this book is, "God cares for His children."

We will also read the book of Jonah, one many are familiar with at least one event that happens in the book: Jonah running from God's calling and getting swallowed by a big fish.  The book is believed to be written by Jonah, around 750 B.C.  This is a book that can remind us that God calls His people to relay His message even to their enemies.  That can be hard, right?  

Lastly for this week, we will begin the book of Micah.  This book was written between 750 - 650 B.C.  Some could summarize the book of Micah as a warning of the terrible judgment of those who ignore God.  He was trying to get their attention to have them prepared.

We look forward to hearing your comments on this week's reading!  Many blessings to you all this week.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

52 Weeks In The Word - Week 1

-
Image
Welcome!  We are so glad you are interested in reading through the Bible with us this year!  Our heart is that this small group will be an encouragement to you as we set out to read God's Word this year.   What We Will Do: We are using the reading plan from  52 Weeks in the Word  by Trillia J. Newbell.  If you would like a downloadable reading plan to print off, click  here .  If you have not already received your book, contact Ginger or Matt.  The book is not necessary to begin, but you will need the reading plan. Each week we will post a new blog post with a brief introduction to that week's reading that can be found right here.  You may also post comments or questions on that week's reading on this page.   We will not actually be meeting together for this group.  However, Matt and I have placed you in small groups to encourage each of you through out the year to stay focused on the goal of reading through the Bible...
Read more

52 Weeks in the Word - Week 2

-
Image
 It has been such a rich week of Bible reading!  We have been blessed by the dialog in all the groups.   Just a brief recap of the week's chat discussion: Giants mentioned in Chapter 6.  This brought up many more interesting thoughts. Creation and the beautiful gift from the Lord.  We are made in His image.  The various places where we saw examples of Christ or the Gospel, such as with Abraham and Isaac, the three men who came to Abram, and Melchisedek giving his blessing and brought bread and wine. Genealogies and many more... We want to encourage you to keep reading !  If you find yourself needing to catch up, Sundays are great days to do that since there are no extra readings for that day.  Try listening to the Bible with an online app if you find yourself needing a little extra help keeping up.  You are NOT behind, just keep going!   Another great way to be encouraged to read further is joining in with your small group chat...
Read more

52 Weeks in the Word - Week 3

-
Week 2 has come to an end.  This week we've had great discussions going in the group.  Genesis was a book that kept our attention!  It was full of wonderful takeaways, including forgiveness and redemption.   A brief recap of Week 2's discussions: Consequences of blessings and curses Early generations without Jesus or Scripture getting to Heaven Burying idols  Examples of forgiveness The fact that Joseph's brothers did not take his advice when talking with the Pharoah in Chapter 47 Woman being an equal helper to man, with a deeper meaning than the generic meaning of helper today. We even had some of these discussions in the discussion posts this week of the blog, so feel free to go back and read through the first two weeks' discussions on this blog.  We want to encourage you, if you have a question, reach out and ask.  Feel free to leave a comment here or in your small group text.  We have enjoyed digging deeper with you all this week. Looking...
Read more