Reading Through the Bible In a Year(ish): Day 141: 1 Kings 10-11, 2 Chronicles 9, Proverbs 30-31

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Day 141: 1 Kings 10-11, 2 Chronicles 9, Proverbs 30-31

Solomon must have been a pretty impressive man. 1 Kings & 2 Chronicles describe his wealth and his lifestyle then summarizes with this brief sentence:

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. (1 Kings 10:23)

But Solomon, apparently, didn't have his father's strength of character. True, David was led astray by his lust for a woman but He repented. Solomon, on the other hand, continued to be led by his desires:

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done. (1 Kings 11:1-6)

This behavior was not without consequence:

So the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. (1 Kings 11:11-12)

The beauty and charm of a woman is an amazingly powerful thing. It has been the root cause of the fall of many potentially great men throughout history and all the way up to this week's newspapers.

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

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Year(ish)

I posted a link on FaceBook recently that was a plan for reading through the Bible in a year. It's designed to do the readings chronologically so that the reader can get a better feel for the flow of the Biblical narrative. I think this is a good approach. I noticed recently that the same plan is posted on my church's web site.

My problem is I've never been very successful in through-the-bible-in-a-year type reading plans before (notice the date of my first reading)...plus, the important thing is reading the Bible, right? Who cares if it takes a year?

So here's my plan: The chronological design is set up for 6 readings per week which equals 312 daily readings. I'm going to do the 312 daily readings - but they may not be 312 consecutive days. After each passage of scripture I'm going to write whatever comes to my mind from that reading. Don't expect a scholarly exegesis of the text - I'll leave that for others more qualified. What I plan to share is simply how that particular passage spoke to me. Please feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments. On day 312 this blog comes to an end.

There are 2 reasons for doing this on a blog: First, I'm hoping the fact that I'm doing this in a "public" way will provide motivation. Second, I'm inviting you to go on this journey with me. I'm hoping that by doing this together we will be able to "spur one another on" and get a better overview of God's word in 2011(ish).

You can download a .pdf of the plan here.