8WTB 2010 Week 8

This week I finished my 8 week trek through the Bible on audio, covering 220 chapters which took about 14 hours and 10 minutes. I had attempted an 8 week challenge a few years ago, only to be thwarted a few weeks into it with a job change that had me working at home.

Was it worth it?  Absolutely.  The panorama of Scripture that this kind of exercise affords is marvelous.  And the unrelenting immersion, which can often be difficult, was worth the effort.

By the way, there’s nothing magical about 8 weeks (40 work days).  When I calculated my average commute time to the length of the audio recording, it just happened to match 40 days.

I hope to do this again before the year is over.

DAY 36
Mark 13 to John 1
From Jesus marveling at the unbelief in his home town to the widow’s offering.

DAY 37
John 2 to Acts 20
From the wedding at Cana to Paul bidding a final farewell to the Ephesus church.

DAY 38
Acts 21 to 1 Timothy 6
From Paul setting sail for Jerusalem to Paul admonishing Timothy to fight the good fight of faith.

DAY 39
2 Timothy 1 to Jude
From guarding the deposit entrusted to us to a call for Christians to persevere.

DAY 40
Revelation 1 to Revelation 22
From John’s vision of the risen Christ to Jesus saying “Surely I am coming soon.”

8WTB 2010 Week 7

This week  I covered 138 chapters at almost 9 hours, ending slightly behind my estimate which had me in Luke, though only by 4 chapters.

DAY 31
Ezekiel 30 to Daniel 12
From a lament for Egypt to the sealing up of the Words of prophecy until the end.

DAY 32
Hosea 1 to Zephaniah 3
From Hosea’s wife and children to a prophecy of Israel’s restoration.

DAY 33
Haggai 1 to Matthew 15
From the prophetic command to rebuild the temple to Jesus feeding 4000.

DAY 34
Matthew 16 to Mark 5
From the Pharisees demanding signs to Jesus healing Jarius’ daughter.

DAY 35
Mark 6 to Mark 12
From Jesus marveling at the unbelief in his home town to the widow’s offering.

8WTB 2010 Week 6

This was another slower week that required more reading.  But I managed to cover 120 chapters of the prophets at about 8 hours and 20 minutes.

One of the striking aspects of reading through the prophets is the contrast between the kindness and severity of God. The image of God that prevails in our current Christian culture is an emasculated God of simplistic personal love who has no depth, like a flat, cliched character in a bad story. In contrast, the God revealed in the prophets not only is a God of  wrath (on a corporate and individualistic level), full of severity, his love is far more transcendent than the love drivel we hear from the contemporary church.

I like what D. A. Carson says about God’s love. He says God is love, but love does not define the totality of God.

DAY 26
Spent my commute reading some materials for a project.

DAY 27
Isaiah 33 to Jeremiah 5
From a plea for Gods grace to God proclaiming disaster for the unrepentant nation.

DAY 28
Jeremiah 6 to Jeremiah 31
From the looming disaster of Jerusalem to the coming new covenant.

DAY 29
Jeremiah 32  to Lamentations 5
Jeremiah buys a field during a seige to Jeremiah’s pray that God restores his people to himself.

DAY 30
Ezekiel 1 to Ezekiel 29
From Ezekiel’s vision at the Chebar Canal to a prophecy against Egypt.

8WTB 2010 Week 5

This week was one of my slowest, covering 185 chapters at almost 7 hours. I’ve been reading some material for my job, and my iPhone has made it possible for me to do that on the bus.  I’ve been reading numerous PDF documents as well as a couple of books via the fabulous Kindle application, along with Stanza.  I’ve been doing this since starting 8WTB, but this week had the most reading.

DAY 21
Psalm 49 to Psalm 83
Elihu’s rebuke of Job to the Psalm of Zion, the City of our God

DAY 22
Psalm 83 to Psalm 124
Elihu’s rebuke of Job to the Psalm of Zion, the City of our God

DAY 23
Psalm 125 to Proverbs 30
From a psalm about the Lord surrounding his people to the pressing of anger produces strife.

DAY 24
Proverbs 31 to Isaiah 16
From the woman who fears the Lord to an oracle about Moab

DAY 25
Isaiah 17 to Isaiah 32
From an oracle about Damascus to complacent women warned of coming disaster.

8WTB 2010 Week 4

This week I covered 168 chapters at about 8 hours and ten minutes.  So far I”m right on target with my estimate, being in the Psalms at the end of week 4.

DAY 16
1 Chronicles 11 to 2 Chronicles 17
From David anointed King to Jehoshaphat’s reign.

DAY 17
1 Chronicles 18 to Ezra 10
From Jehoshaphat’s alliance with Ahab to the exiles guilt of intermarriage.

DAY 18
Nehemiah 1  to Job 6
Nehemiah’s prayer to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls to Job’s answer to his first foolish counselor Eliphaz.

DAY 19
Job 7  to Job 32
Job’s answer that life is hard and harsh to Elihu rebuking Job’s three friends.

DAY 20
Job 33  to Psalm 48
Elihu’s rebuke of Job to the Psalm of Zion, the City of our God

8WTB 2010 Week 3

I worked from home one day this week, and also had a few other messages to listen to, but managed to listen through 86 chapters at about 7 hours and 10 minutes.

DAY 11
Worked from home — no commute.

DAY 12
1 Samuel 27 to 1 Kings 1
From David fleeing to the Philistines to Solomon anointed as King

DAY 13
1 Kings i2 to 1 Kings 18
From David’s instruction to Solomon to fleeing to Elijah killing the prophets of Baal

DAY 14
1Kings 19 to 2 Kings 15
From Elijah fleeing from Jezebel to the reign of Azariah in Judah

DAY 15
2 Kings 16 to 1 Chronicles 10
From the beginning of Ahaz’s reign in Judah to the death of Saul and his sons

8WTB 2010 Week 2

This week I got through 119 chapters, at almost 9 hours.

DAY 6
Numbers 27 to Deuteronomy 18
From the Lord appointing Joshua to succeed Moses when he dies to the Lord promising to raise up another prophet like Moses.

DAY 7
Deuteronomy 19 to Joshua 19
From instructions for cities of refuge to the dividing of the land of Canaan among the tribes at Shiloh.

DAY 8
Joshua 20 to Judges 4
From God instructing Joshua to establish cities of refuge to Ehud suppressing the Moabites bringing 80 years of peace to Israel.

DAY 9
Judges 5 to 1 Samuel 2
From the song of Deborah and Barak to Hannah giving birth to Samuel.

DAY 10
1 Samuel 3 to 1 Samuel 26
From the Lord calling Samuel to David sparing Saul’s life a second time in Gibeah.

8WTB 2010 Week 1

This first week I managed to listen to 133 chapters for almost 10 hours and 15 minutes of audio. I have to say it is incredibly refreshing to listen to Scripture.  Here’s how my week unfolded:

DAY 1
Genesis 1 to Genesis 36.
From Creation to Jacob meeting Esau settling in Shechem and the generations of Esau.

DAY 2
Genesis 37 to Exodus 10
From Joseph being sold to the Ishmaelites, to God preparing Moses for the last plague.

DAY 3
Exodus 11 to Exodus 36
From the institution of the passover and final plague to the construction of the tent of meeting.

DAY 4
Exodus 37 to Leviticus 16
From the building of the ark and furnishings of the tabernacle to the Day of At0nement.

DAY 5
Leviticus 17 to Numbers 16
From instructions of making sacrifice at the entrance of the tent of meeting to Korah’s rebellion

8WTB 2010 Begun

Yesteday I began my 8 week trek through the ESV Listener’s Bible.   Rather than give daily updates, I’ll post a summary of my progress at the end of each work week. This is not to gloat, but rather to encourage others to do the same.  I listen to a lot of sermons and interviews on audio, and given that appetite, I think it only fitting that I channel that appetite to an audio reading of Holy Writ. It’s to my shame that I haven’t done this more often.

8 Weeks Through the Bible 2010

Beginning next week I will be starting an 8 week trek through my favorite audio Bible, Max McLean’s Listener’s Bible in ESV.  There are 1186 chapters, and McLean’s Bible audio version is almost 75 hours long. Over 8 weeks this breaks down to roughly 9 hours 20 minutes per week, 1 hour 50 minutes per day, which means 55 minutes each commute. That easily fits into my 1 hour 15 minute commute.

I project that my progress will look something like this:

Week 1: Genesis – Numbers
Week 2: Deuteronomy – 2 Samuel
Week 3: 1 Kings – Nehemiah
Week 4: Esther – Psalms
Week 5: Proverbs – Isaiah
Week 6: Jeremiah – Hosea
Week 7: Joel – Luke
Week 8: John – Revelation

There’s nothing quite like immersing yourself in the spoken word for an intense duration. The picture of God’s Word that emerges is priceless. I encourage you to join me on this trek.

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