Dave Miller's 2025 Bible Reading Challenge

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 40-44 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Isaiah  40 begins the second major section of the book. The theme changes so dramatically that many (more liberal) scholars assume that there are two different authors. The first 39 chapters deal with judgment for Israel's sin, and now God asserts his intention to restore Israel and comfort. Daily Devotional:   Grace Greater than Our Sin Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt, yonder on Calvary's mount out-poured, there where th...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 37-39, Psalm 76 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Yesterday we spoke of the downfall of Hezekiah, and today we read it (again - as recorded in both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles) and see how pride destroyed this once-great king. As we close chapter 39, we finish the first and longest section of the book in which the judgment of God is pronounced. Now, starting in verse 40, we read of the comfort God will bring to his people when he restores them. The difference in tone is so stark that less conservative scholars be...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 33-36 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     The oracles of Isaiah scan the globe and announce God's judgment all around. But now God is turning to the sins of his own people, primarily of the soon-to-be destroyed Israel and the idolatrous Judah. Daily Devotional:   Misplaced Confidence "God himself couldn't sink the Titanic."  The story has been passed down since that fateful moment in April of 1912 when the Titanic hit an iceberg, began to fill with water, and within hours was at the bottom of the ...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 28-32 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     The oracles of Isaiah scan the globe and announce God's judgment all around. But now God is turning to the sins of his own people, primarily of the soon-to-be destroyed Israel and the idolatrous Judah. Daily Devotional:   A Faithful, Frustrated Father If God had demonstrated anything to Israel throughout the years, it was that he always had a plan and could be counted on when things got rough. When the Hebrews were in bondage in Egypt, God had a plan. It was an odd one. ...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Hosea 8-14 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Hosea is largely written against the Israelite Tribe of Ephraim. Today's reading contains a series of oracles - prophetic words - against Israel/Ephraim, ending in a word of hope. Hosea's prophecy is the first to compare marriage to the human relationship with God. Daily Devotional:   A God Who Judges "It isn't my fault." "It was just bad luck." "They did it first." "I'm only human." We are so often people of excuses, rationalizations, and justifications. ...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Hosea 1-7 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Many prophets were asked to do strange things to illustrate the message of God. Hosea's entire life became a message of grace. He married and then reclaimed a sinful woman to illustrate the infidelity of God's people. Daily Devotional:  I Am Gomer The prophets did some weird things to demonstrate the anger of God against sin and the love of God for his people. One wore ill-fitting undergarments to show how irritating Israel's sin was, but Hosea's story is perhaps the most g...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   2 Kings 18:9-20:21, Psalm 46, 80, 135 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     We have actually read through the life of Hezekiah three times now - In 2 Chronicles, in Isaiah, and here in 2 Kings. We focus again today on his pride and downfall, from a slightly different perspective. There is a reason to focus on this man's life. He was such a good king that he led Judah to return to God. He was an agent of genuine revival. But he was also the agent of Israel's destruction. The last 15 years of his life, the years he lived b...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :     2 Kings 18:1-8, 2 Chronicles 29-32, Psalm 48 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     The life of Hezekiah is inspirational and tragic. He was a turning point in Judah's life, leading them in a great revival, but his late-life spiritual failure also sealed their demise. He raised a son named Manasseh, who became the most evil of all Judah's rulers - so wicked that God determined judgment would fall. Daily Devotional:   Microwave Revival Hezekiah was one of the best kings of Judah, one of only two who were c...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 23-27 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     These readings are cosmic - big issues - God's glorious judgment and his amazing power for his people. Daily Devotional:   Our Sovereign God God is mighty and powerful, sovereign over the world - but not everyone experiences that sovereignty in the same way. In Isaiah 23 and 24, we read that God's judgment falls on Tyre and then on the entire world. He strips bare the earth and makes it desolate in Isaiah 24:1. Those who ignore his warnings against sin will one day ...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 18-22 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Isaiah turns his attention to Egypt, Cush, and then Babylon - the focus of all false religions in the world, which will one day be destroyed by the coming kingdom of Christ. Daily Devotional:   Fallen Is Babylon Its story begins in Genesis 11, when some men built a Tower that was supposed to reach to heaven. Throughout the Bible, Babylon both literally and figuratively represented the world system - political, religious, and military - that stands in opposition...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Isaiah 13-17 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Today's readings carry the pronouncements of God against the pagan nations around Israel. Daily Devotional:   How You Are Fallen One of the great mysteries in life is where sin came from. Why would anyone, created by God and dwelling in glory with him, choose to sin? How did Satan become Satan? Due to some inadequacies in the King James translation, people have reached some false assumptions about the Evil One. Isaiah 14:12-15 tells about the arroganc...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16-17 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Ahaz was one of the worst of Judah's kings, but his son Hezekiah became a good kind - the best of the best, until the end of his reign. While evil King Ahaz was ruling, the last kings of Israel were ruling there and God was bringing the final judgments on that wicked land. Hezekiah, in his youth, witnessed the judgment God brought on Israel for its wickedness.  Daily Devotional:   Why Did Israel Fall? Why did Israel fall? There could have been so m...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Micah 1-7 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Micah alternates between oracles of judgment and oracles of restoration. The Hebrew form of Micah means, "Who is like Yahweh?" God pronounces judgment against his people when they sin, but always with a view toward restoration. The most famous verse in Micah is likely Micah 5:2, where Bethlehem is identified as the home of the Messiah, the ruler of Israel. Daily Devotional:   Amazing Prophecies Look at the prophecies of Micah 5:2-4. They are stunning in the clarity and...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   2 Chronicles 27, Isaiah 9-12 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Isaiah is a book of mountaintops. Every one of the prophets is a message from God, but Isaiah's is the Himalayan range, with peaks of glory in so many places. In chapter nine, we encounter the famous Christmas prophecy of the Messiah's rule - the government will be on his shoulders (actually, more millennial than Bethlehem), and in chapter 11, we read of the Davidic King on whom the Spirit of the Lord rests and who causes the curse of  God on creation to ...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Amos 6-9 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     Isaiah was royalty, but Amos was a fig farmer and sheepherder - a nobody that God chose to do his work. He came from the southern kingdom of Judah, but his prophecies were directed against the northern tribes of Israel. Amos is likely the first of the written prophets. Daily Devotional:   God's Plumb Line Amos 7 is a series of three visions that God gives to the prophet. The first, in verses 1-3, is a vision of a plague of locusts descending on Israel and picking the land cl...

  Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2026 This year, we will read the Bible chronologically, as it happened, instead of simply reading from Genesis to Revelation.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New.  Bible Readings :   Amos 1-5 In Bible Gateway, we will link to the NIV this year, though you can choose any version you prefer.  Background:     As we move through the Major Prophets, we will also intersperse the 12 minor prophets among them. Amos was an early prophet who spoke to the northern 10 tribes, Israel. Daily Devotional:   Other People's Sins Amos 1 and 2 is a brilliant sermon, one that illustrates a point about sermons that appeal to the flesh as opposed to those that speak to the spirit. Amos begins the sermon by addressing the sins of Israel's pagan neighbors, their enemies. I can only imagine the joy of ...