Kingdom Treasures
One day, at the end of a series of parables about the kingdom of heaven, Jesus explained to his disciples, ‘every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old’ (Matthew 13:52, NIV). A teacher of the law or scribe knows the law–the Old Testament–well. A scribe who now follows the kingdom of heaven understands how the reign of King Jesus fulfils the expectations of the Law and the Prophets.
I began writing this curriculum for my daughter Catherine when she started grade five. As a disiple of Jesus, I wanted to instruct Catherine in the Law, the Prophets and the Kingdom. I wanted to give her a ‘way of seeing’ the Holy Scriptures.
I have arranged the Scriptures chronologically into 600 readings of about the same length: 450 readings in the Old Testament and 150 in the New Testament.
Middle and high school students can read one lesson for each school day, and work through all 600 lessons in four school years.
Others may want to read six days a week right through the year. Doing so, you should be able to study through the whole Bible in two years.
Each day you will follow the guidelines on the bookmark to (1) pray, (2) read through and mark the assigned passage, (3) think through questions and write answers, (4) write your own ideas, questions, application and summary and (5) pray again.
My goal with these questions is to help you understand the flow of the Bible’s one story. You will understand this by reading through the Scriptures in a mostly chronological (rather than canonical) order. You will make connections with earlier parts of the story as that story spirals forward. The questions emphasize a narrative and literary approach to focus on the Scriptures as God has given them to us. As we read, we seek to think and see from the perspective of the authors and their first readers.
Finally, this booklet will help you develop the skills of Bible study, using a study Bible. Questions will tell you to look at its book introductions, textual and study notes and cross-references. I recommend most the ESV Study Bible (Crossway) or the NIV Study Bible (Zondervan). Zondervan has published the notes from its Study Bible with the KJV and NASB as well.
In writing these questions, I have found the most help in Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart’s outstanding How to Read the Bible Book by Book: A Guided Tour. I thank God also for other teachers who have opened my eyes to see and my ears to hear what the Spirit shows and says to the churches.
May God grant you eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to understand.
By his grace,
Ernest
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
