By Jacob D. Gerber

Bible Readings for August 15th 1 Samuel 5–6 | Romans 5 | Jeremiah 43 | Psalm 19 If the Israelites had treated Yahweh’s glory with contempt in 1 Samuel 4, the Philistines do so much more in 1 Samuel 5. When the Philistines capture the ark of the covenant in battle, they set it next to their god Dagon as a trophy of war (1 Sam. 5:2)—a situation that …

Bible Readings for August 14th 1 Samuel 4 | Romans 4 | Jeremiah 42 | Psalm 18 In 1 Samuel 4, Yahweh brings three major forms of judgment against the people of Israel. First, when the Israelites bring the ark of the covenant out in battle with them against the Philistines, Yahweh hands them over to defeat, and the Philistines capture the ark (1 Sam.…

Bible Readings for August 13th 1 Samuel 3 | Romans 3 | Jeremiah 41 | Psalm 17 Sometimes we imagine that the people living in the Old Testament were constantly surrounded by great signs and wonders—a parted sea here, a prophetic vision there—but that wasn’t the case. Here in 1 Samuel 3:1, we read specifically that “the word of the LORD was rare in t…

Bible Readings for August 12th 1 Samuel 2 | Romans 2 | Jeremiah 40 | Psalms 15–16 If Hannah is put forward as a model for godly parenting, the second half of 1 Samuel 2 reveals the priest Eli as a model for negligent parenting. Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are worthless men who do not know Yahweh (1 Sam. 2:12). They steal for themselves the cho…

Bible Readings for August 11th 1 Samuel 1 | Romans 1 | Jeremiah 39 | Psalms 13–14 Quietly, through a poor, widowed Moabite woman—the most unlikely person possible—God put into motion a plan in the book of Ruth for raising up a king. This king would shepherd God’s people away from doing what was right in their own eyes and instead toward obeying God…

Bible Readings for August 10th Ruth 3–4 | Acts 28 | Jeremiah 38 | Psalms 11–12 In Ruth 3–4, the other sandal drops. We discover here that there is another, closer kinsman-redeemer to the family of Elimelech who would have priority in choosing to marry Ruth (Ruth 3:12–13) and that redeeming Ruth would put that man’s inheritance at risk (Ruth 4:6). U…

Bible Readings for August 9th Ruth 2 | Acts 27 | Jeremiah 37 | Psalm 10 In Ruth 2, we meet the third major figure in this story, a man named Boaz. Ruth, eager to keep the covenant vows she had made to Naomi, sought to provide for her anguished mother-in-law by gleaning in fields, and as she set out, “she happened to come to the part of the field be…

Bible Readings for August 8th Ruth 1 | Acts 26 | Jeremiah 36 | Psalm 9 In the book of Judges, Israel descended deeper and deeper into sinfulness, idolatry, and rebellion. The opening verse of the book of Ruth, then, is ominous: “In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land…” (Ruth 1:1). Will the story of the book of Ruth be anot…

Bible Readings for August 7th Judges 21 | Acts 25 | Jeremiah 35 | Psalms 7–8 In Judges 21, we learn that the eleven tribes of Israel had sworn an oath among themselves, saying, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin” (Judg. 21:18). Quickly, however, Israel recognizes that their rash vow created a terrible problem—without wives, an entire tribe …

Bible Readings for August 6th Judges 20 | Acts 24 | Jeremiah 34 | Psalms 5–6 When all Israel arrives to inquire into what has happened in Gibeah, neither the Levite nor the tribe of Benjamin comes off looking good. Conveniently, the Levite leaves out the fact that he had pushed his concubine out the door to face the violence of the men of Gibeah: “…

Bible Readings for August 5th Judges 19 | Acts 23 | Jeremiah 33 | Psalms 3–4 In Judges 19:1, we read that a “certain Levite” took a wife from Bethlehem in Judah. The author of the book of Judges is careful to state, once again, that this all happened “in those days, when there was no king in Israel” (Judg. 19:1), underscoring the wickedness that we…

Bible Readings for August 4th Judges 18 | Acts 22 | Jeremiah 32 | Psalms 1–2 Judges 18 opens with a repetition of the first half of the theme verse of Judges: “In those days there was no king in Israel” (Judg. 18:1). Little by little, bit by bit, Israel is descending further into sin, idolatry, and rebellion as they forsake Yahweh to do whatever is…

Bible Readings for August 3rd Judges 17 | Acts 21 | Jeremiah 30–31 | Mark 16 After the death of Samson in Judges 16, the book of Judges turns to narrate the final storyline we will read in this dark section of Israel’s history. This last, ugly narrative begins abruptly with a woman cursing whoever it is who had stolen 1,100 pieces of her silver (Ju…

Bible Readings for August 2nd Judges 16 | Acts 20 | Jeremiah 29 | Mark 15 Samson’s end in Judges 16 comes as a tragedy but not as a surprise. As in Judges 14, we find Samson’s weakness for women getting the best of him here in Judges 16, first in a Philistine prostitute in Judges 16:1–3 and then in Delilah, a Philistine woman who loved her people m…

Bible Readings for August 1st Judges 15 | Acts 19 | Jeremiah 28 | Mark 14 The last two days, we have been meditating on the ways the life of Samson foreshadows the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. We will return to that theme tomorrow, but for today, we should spend some time thinking about the tragedy of Samson’s life. Certainly, God accomplishe…

Bible Readings for July 31st Judges 14 | Acts 18 | Jeremiah 27 | Mark 13 Through Samson, God was not merely saving his people by raising up one more judge, as we began to discuss yesterday. Through Samson, God was also uniquely foreshadowing the life and ministry of his own Son, Jesus Christ. Today, we get a few more clues about what the coming Mes…

Bible Readings for July 30th Judges 13 | Acts 17 | Jeremiah 26 | Mark 12 In Judges 13, we read the beginning of the story of one of the more prominent figures in the book of Judges: Samson. Most importantly, the story of Samson foreshadows the story of Jesus in significant ways—very similar to how the story of Joseph foreshadows the story of Christ…

Bible Readings for July 29th Judges 12 | Acts 16 | Jeremiah 25 | Mark 11 At this point, it is already obvious that the book of Judges is an extremely low point in the Bible. Because there is no king in Israel, every man does what is right in his own eyes. Here in Judges 12, we see another step down the long, deep stairway into the dungeon of Israel…

Bible Readings for July 28th Judges 11 | Acts 15 | Jeremiah 24 | Mark 10 In yesterday’s reading, Yahweh tested Israel by promising not to save them after the latest round of rebellion and idolatry. To their credit, Israel repents for seemingly the thousandth time, putting away the foreign gods and returning to serve Yahweh. In response, we read tha…

Bible Readings for July 27th Judges 10 | Acts 14 | Jeremiah 23 | Mark 9 After the leadership of two more judges, Tola and Jair, Israel descends deeper into their rebellion and idolatry, forsaking Yahweh once again. So Yahweh again hands his people over to their enemies to oppress them because of their idolatries (Judg. 10:7–9). And—exactly accordin…

Bible Readings for July 26th Judges 9 | Acts 13 | Jeremiah 22 | Mark 8 With each chapter, the story of Israel during the period of the judges descends lower and lower—from the godly elders who served with Joshua in Judges 1, we now come to the story of the wicked Abimelech. Oddly, Abimelech’s name means “my father is king,” even though Abimelech’s …

Bible Readings for July 25th Judges 8 | Acts 12 | Jeremiah 21 | Mark 7 In Judges 6–7, we might have developed high hopes for Gideon’s potential. Here was a man who began his service to Yahweh in extreme humility, insisting that he was the least man in the weakest clan in all Israel (Judg. 6:15). Still, Yahweh gave him signs to confirm his call at e…

Bible Readings for July 24th Judges 7 | Acts 11 | Jeremiah 20 | Mark 6 In our meditation for Deuteronomy 20, we looked at three of the possible exceptions that would allow an Israelite to opt out of going to war. If a man had just gained a new house or a new vineyard or a new wife, that man was exempt from the requirement of going to battle (Deut. …

Bible Readings for July 23rd Judges 6 | Acts 10 | Jeremiah 19 | Mark 5 After Israel had been oppressed by the Midianites for seven years (Judg. 6:1), God raises up a leader to save his people—not a valiant warrior-judge, but a weak, fearful man named Gideon. And because Gideon is weak and fearful, he has much to teach us about following Jesus in sp…

Bible Readings for July 22nd Judges 5 | Acts 9 | Jeremiah 18 | Mark 4 Judges 4 narrates the story of how Yahweh saved his people from the oppression of Jabin, king of Canaan. The prophetess-judge Deborah sent Barak, the commander of the army of Naphtali and Zebulun into battle against the army of Jabin’s general, Sisera (Judg. 4:4–10). During the b…

Bible Readings for July 21st Judges 4 | Acts 8 | Jeremiah 17 | Mark 3 In Judges 3–4, we read short descriptions of the ministries of four of Israel’s judges: Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and Deborah. As a preface to the stories of three of these judges (Shamgar’s one-verse story being the only exception), we read that the people of Israel sin by serving…

Bible Readings for July 20th Judges 3 | Acts 7 | Jeremiah 16 | Mark 2 In Judges 3:4, we read that Yahweh allowed Canaanites and Philistines to remain in the land “for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.” This does not mean that Yahweh didn’t kn…

Bible Readings for July 19th Judges 2 | Acts 6 | Jeremiah 15 | Mark 1 Judges 2:16–23 explicitly describes the pattern that we will encounter again and again through this book: Israel will sin, and, as a result, Yahweh will hand his people over to judgment. But, when the people cry out to Yahweh to rescue them, Yahweh will raise up a judge for them,…

Bible Readings for July 18th Judges 1 | Acts 5 | Jeremiah 14 | Matthew 28 The positive beginning to the book of Judges is entirely misleading. Joshua’s death leaves Israel without a clear leader for the first time since Yahweh called Moses to shepherd Israel. The question, then, is this: Will Israel continue to follow Yahweh or not? And at first, t…

Bible Readings for July 17th Joshua 24 | Acts 4 | Jeremiah 13 | Matthew 27 In Joshua 24, we find God burying another one of his mighty workmen, Joshua. But before Joshua goes to his grave, he renews Israel’s covenant with Yahweh. We should not miss that the covenant renewal process begins, once again, with the story of Yahweh’s grace toward Israel …

Bible Readings for July 16th Joshua 23 | Acts 3 | Jeremiah 12 | Matthew 26 Joshua’s leadership of Israel seems to have passed surprisingly quickly. Where we followed Moses through four long books of the Pentateuch, from Exodus through Deuteronomy, we find the ministry of Joshua winding down here in Joshua 23. In this final charge to Israel, Joshua …

Bible Readings for July 15th Joshua 22 | Acts 2 | Jeremiah 11 | Matthew 25 At the end of Joshua 21, we read an assurance that all of Yahweh’s promises had finally been fulfilled: “Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass” (Josh. 21:45). This remarkable summary of Israel’s conqu…

Bible Readings for July 14th Joshua 20–21 | Acts 1 | Jeremiah 10 | Matthew 24 In Joshua 20–21, we read about the dwelling places assigned to the tribe of Levi. Importantly, six of the forty-eight cities that the Levites would inhabit served as cities of refuge for the manslayer who had killed a person unintentionally: Kedesh, Shechem, Hebron, Bezer…

Bible Readings for July 13th Joshua 18–19 | Psalm 149–150 | Jeremiah 9 | Matthew 23 For the seven remaining tribes who had yet to receive their inheritance (Josh. 18:1–7), Joshua does not divide up the land unilaterally. Instead, Joshua puts the responsibility of claiming the rest of the land on the remaining seven tribes themselves. Oddly, it soun…

Bible Readings for July 12th Joshua 16–17 | Psalm 148 | Jeremiah 8 | Matthew 22 In Joshua 16–17, the apportionment of the Promised Land to the tribes of Israel continues. In Joshua 15, Judah had received their inheritance, and now in Joshua 16–17, we read about the inheritance of the two half-tribes descended from Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. Whil…

Bible Readings for July 11th Joshua 14–15 | Psalm 146–147 | Jeremiah 7 | Matthew 21 The allotment of the inheritance in the land west of the Jordan begins, rightfully, with Caleb. Caleb and Joshua had been the only two spies to enter the Promised Land and return with a good report. At that point, forty-five years ago when Caleb had been only forty …

Bible Readings for July 10th Joshua 12–13 | Psalm 145 | Jeremiah 6 | Matthew 20 The end of Joshua 11 marked the final warfare under the leadership of Joshua. In Joshua 11:23, we read this summary of the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land: “So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD had spoken to Moses.” Now, it’s important t…

Bible Readings for July 9th Joshua 11 | Psalm 144 | Jeremiah 5 | Matthew 19 In Joshua 11, we learn two important principles about Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan as we read about the final warfare that Israel undertakes under the leadership of Joshua. First, Joshua gives us this insight into the interplay between Yahweh’s sovereignty and th…

Bible Readings for July 8th Joshua 10 | Psalms 142–143 | Jeremiah 4 | Matthew 18 In Joshua 9, Israel fails to ask God before entering into a covenant with the Gibeonites. This is a serious breach in their obedience to Yahweh’s commandments, and in today’s reading, we find that Israel’s actions bring severe consequences—but that Yahweh nevertheless …

Bible Readings for July 7th Joshua 9 | Psalms 140–141 | Jeremiah 3 | Matthew 17 Joshua is one of the high points in all the Bible. While Moses’s ministry was plagued by unbelief and rebellion among the Israelites, and while Israel will sink into idolatry again during the days after Joshua dies in the period of the judges, Israel’s time under the le…

Bible Readings for July 6th Joshua 8 | Psalm 139 | Jeremiah 2 | Matthew 16 In Joshua 8, two critical events take place. First, Israel goes into battle once more against Ai. Second, Israel renews their covenant with Yahweh on Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. Both of these stories are important, since in yesterday’s reading Yahweh had threatened to aban…

Bible Readings for July 5th Joshua 7 | Psalms 137–138 | Jeremiah 1 | Matthew 15 I’ve never forgotten a short rhyme one of my Sunday School teachers taught us during my elementary years: “Achan stole the bacon.” It’s a silly phrase, but that light-hearted line is perfect to help children remember basic biblical content. I would not be the man I am t…

Bible Readings for July 4th Joshua 6 | Psalms 135–136 | Isaiah 66 | Matthew 14 At the end of Joshua 5, Joshua meets a mysterious man with a drawn sword. The fact that Joshua meets him near Jericho (Josh. 5:13) both suggests that Joshua had been spying on the city and also explains why Joshua would tensely ask the man to identify whether he was for …

Bible Readings for July 3rd Joshua 5 | Psalms 132, 133 & 134 | Isaiah 65 | Matthew 13 Before Yahweh takes Israel into the land of Canaan to receive the inheritance he had promised to them for generations through their forefather Abraham, he requires that all the men be circumcised. This is the first time we learn that the generation born in the wil…

Bible Readings for July 2nd Joshua 4 | Psalms 129, 130 & 131 | Isaiah 64 | Matthew 12 The story of how Israel crossed the Jordan in Joshua is more important than simply a record of the route they took to enter the Promised Land. Rather, this event marks a decisive turning point in God’s history of saving his people and bringing them into their inhe…

Bible Readings for July 1st Joshua 3 | Psalms 126, 127 & 128 | Isaiah 63 | Matthew 11 Perhaps the chief difficulty of the Christian life is that we are not always given clear directions about where to go, and even when we know what we are supposed to do, it is not always clear what the consequences will be if we obey. The situation was the same for…

Bible Readings for June 30th Joshua 2 | Psalms 123, 124 & 125 | Isaiah 62 | Matthew 10 When Joshua sends two spies into the city of Jericho, the men lodge in the house of Rahab, who was a prostitute (Josh. 2:1), likely in an attempt to stay under the radar of Jericho’s officials. The people of Jericho discover that Israelites have come into their c…

Bible Readings for June 29th Joshua 1 | Psalms 120, 121 & 122 | Isaiah 61 | Matthew 9 In Joshua 1, we see one of the most extreme transitions in the whole Bible—for the first time since Exodus 1, Israel is without Moses. But at the same time, this first chapter carefully connects the leadership of Joshua back to the leadership of Moses, providing a…

Bible Readings for June 28th Deuteronomy 33–34 | Psalm 119:145–176 | Isaiah 60 | Matthew 8 The shadow of Moses’s impending death hangs over the entire book of Deuteronomy. But, as the people move on into the Promised Land after the death of Moses (which we finally read about here in Deuteronomy 34), it will not only be Joshua who will lead the peop…