The Format of the Family Scripture Readings

The biblical reading schedule departs from the traditional Torah and Haftarah readings of the Messianic and Orthodox Jewish Communities. If their way of reading the Word is set in your heart, you might find mine a little frustrating. Having followed the Messianic and Orthodox readings of the Torah and Haftarah (and Brit HaDasha or New Covenant) for years, I began to wonder why my grasp of the rest of the Bible was slipping. It was because I wasn’t reading the whole Bible, just certain sections of it. The Family Reading Schedule is designed to be read every day of the week, beginning on the first day of the week (Sunday). And in one year’s time the whole Bible is read.

In home fellowshiPsa and congregations, this will mean that everyone coming on Shabat (Sabbath), will have already read the readings for the week and will be able to discuss it with each other. It also allows for the shepherd to select his teaching from one of the sections and know that his flock will have already read it, and so be ‘more prepared’ to hear the Word of the Lord to them.

I realize that in setting off in another direction from the traditional Torah readings, and also when they are to begin (April or springtime for us, the biblical beginning of the New Year; Ex. 12:2, versus after the Feast of Tabernacles for the Messianic and Orthodox Communities in October), I have launched off in a direction that few in the Messianic Community will care to follow. Having been led to travel down roads that few in that, or any other community care to walk in, I have been able to do this without much of a problem of ‘being different.’ I have already reaped many spiritual benefits that the Ruach haKodesh (the Spirit of the Holy One), has for me in this and I pray that you too find it a tremendous blessing.

One benefit is the way that the Scripture readings compliment one another and how the Lord uses that to reinforce His Word. Another is the fact that every week of the year, I’m in the Gospels (or Acts), reading the words of my Messiah and how the Holy Spirit moved through the believers. And I’m in the Torah (the five books of Moses; Gen. - Deut.), every week also. This is very important as true biblical understanding comes from these two foundational sections. With other yearly readings, one can go much of the year without reading Yeshua’s Words, or the Words that God gave to Moses (or the Prophets, etc.).

The readings (books), for the Tanach (the ‘Old Testament’), are in the order that the Jewish people read them. This will prove important for many reasons. One concerns Matthew, whom many think was the first Gospel to be written. Matthew starts with the Lord’s genealogy. Many are confused by this as it doesn’t usually make for ‘good reading’ unless one is ‘into’ genealogies. Why did Matthew begin his Great News about Yeshua with His genealogy? Chronicles (one book in Matthew’s time and not divided into two as it is today), is the book of genealogies, about Israel and about King David’s lineage from which Messiah would descend. Matthew intentionally begins with Yeshua’s genealogy, thus forming a biblical ‘bridge’ between the ‘last’ book of the Jewish Bible (Chronicles), and his proclamation of Yeshua as the Messiah, King of the Jews, who descended from both Father Abraham and King David. Of course, it’s not the last book in the Christian Bible because it was based on the order of the Old Testament in the Septuagint.

Also, the reading for the New Covenant (Testament) is arranged more in accordance with the way it originally stood. The ancient ‘Church Fathers’ spoke of Paul’s letters being after those of the other Apostles, lending credence to the fact that the Apostles in Jerusalem were ‘before’ Paul in both coming to Yeshua, and in terms of their authority and place within the whole Assembly of Jewish and Gentile believers, which some would call, ‘the Mother Church’ and rightfully so.

It was the Roman Catholic Church that placed the letter to the Romans, and the rest of Paul’s letters, immediately after Acts. This was meant to elevate the Roman Church above all the other congregations, and also ‘to place in the background’, the letters from the Apostles of Jerusalem. I’ve placed Paul’s letters according to their chronology in which they were written. I thought it would be beneficial to see how Paul’s understanding and theology matured over time. And I’ve placed the book of Hebrews just before the Revelation of Messiah in His Glory.

Books like Lamentations and Philemon, that don’t have chapters after them, mean that the whole book or letter is to be read. May Yeshua bless you as you embark on this Scriptural journey with Him. (*In the section Jud 19-1 Sam 4, the book of Ruth is not read.)

Scripture Readings: January 2008 - April 2009: