Esther 1-5 As the story of Esther begins, it’s now about 483 BC. Ahasuerus (aka Xerxes I) reigns over the Persian Empire. Although the people of Judah are no longer held captive, many continue to live abroad in the lands of exile (as is clearly still true today). Our story focuses on two such Jews, …
Category Archives: RTB 2023 – Chronological Bible
September 15 / I Chronicles 7-9
I Chronicles 7-9 Have you ever traced your own ancestry? Most of us know our parents and grandparents. Some might even remember their great-grandparents. It’s even possible for some to remember great-great-grandparents, though that is now quite rare. Anything beyond that requires good record-keeping, with stories handed down from one generation to the next. Tracing …
September 14 / I Chronicles 4-6
I Chronicles 4-6 I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that most of us have heard of “the prayer of Jabez”. We may not know what that prayer is, but we’ve probably heard of it because of the best-selling book, The Prayer of Jabez: Breaking Through to the Blessed Life, by Dr. …
September 13 / I Chronicles 1-3
I Chronicles 1-3 Wait, what? First Chronicles? Didn’t we finish both First and Second Chronicles a while ago? Well, yes, but we originally skipped the first nine chapters, because these chapters go straight to where we are now in our chronology, getting to the very identity of those returning from the Babylonian exile by tracing …
September 12 / Zechariah 7-8; Ezra 5:2-6:22; Daniel 6
Zechariah 7-8; Ezra 5:2-6:22; Daniel 6 Today Zechariah returns to a more “conventional” prophetic style. Some people come to Zechariah with a question about fasting, and the LORD responds with questions of His own: When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for Me …
Continue reading “September 12 / Zechariah 7-8; Ezra 5:2-6:22; Daniel 6”
September 11 / Zechariah 1-6
Zechariah 1-6 A contemporary of Haggai, Zechariah starts prophesying just a couple of month’s into Haggai’s recorded ministry. Like Haggai, Zechariah encourages Joshua and Zerubbabel to rebuild the Temple, but the form of Zechariah’s prophecy is radically different from Haggai’s — and much more Messianic. Zechariah’s opening statement is straightforward enough, sounding much like other …
September 10 / Ezra 3:1-4:5; 4:24-5:1; Haggai
Ezra 3:1-4:5; 4:24-5:1; Haggai 1-2 Today Ezra introduces us to two significant characters: These two men, together with other leaders, get the returning exiles off to a positive start with a focus on reestablishing worship of the LORD. The first order of business is to rebuild the Altar so that they can offer the appointed …
Continue reading “September 10 / Ezra 3:1-4:5; 4:24-5:1; Haggai”
September 9 / Ezra 1-2
Ezra 1-2 Today we jump into the book of Ezra, which picks up exactly where II Chronicles left off. In fact, most of Ezra 1:1-3 is an almost verbatim repeat of II Chronicles 36:22-23. But since we took a very unchronological “detour” through Job, perhaps it would be useful to take a quick look back …
September 8 / Job 40-42
Job 40-42 See:
September 7 / Job 38-39
Job 38-39 See: