Inscribe the Word - June Scripture Writing Plan
Happy June, Dear Friends. Summertime is here! We love the summers around our home. Long summer days mean beach fun, pool parties, and being out in God’s Creation.
I am thrilled to be inscribing the Poetic books of the Old Testaments this month. I think that they are the perfect summertime Bible reading. I would encourage you to not get swept away in the “busy” of summer. Be diligent in studying and inscribing the Word. Don’t neglect the Lord or His love for you. It’s easy to do that in summer, isn’t it? Let’s make a pact that this summer will be different as we inscribe gleanings from Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
WHY WRITE THROUGH THE BIBLE ?
This year we began a new series here at A Symphony of Praise called “READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR.” This plan is a minimalistic, simple, and efficient way to read the Bible in a year. As I was praying about the direction for Inscribe the Word in 2019, I felt in my heart to go along with the reading plan as we WRITE THE BIBLE in a year. Now before you get nervous - no, we aren’t writing the entire Bible (although that is a dream of mine to accomplish!). We are taking gleanings out of the Scriptures and writing parts of the chapters.
The word glean means to collect bit by bit gradually. We are going to collect some of the key treasures out of the entire collection of sixty-six books of the Bible. It is going to be thrilling and exciting, and I cannot wait to start writing (and reading) the Word with you this year.
GLEANINGS FROM The Poetic Books of the O.T.
In January, we started with the first two books of the Bible; Genesis and Exodus.
In February, we finished the Pentateuch, the Law, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
In March, we inscribed part one of the Historical Books of the Old Testament.
In April, we inscribed part two of the Historical Books of the Old Testament.
In May, we inscribed The Psalms.
This month, we turn our attention to Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon (Songs) which will conclude our study on the Old Testament Poetic Books.
THE BOOK OF JOB
WHO: The author of the Book of Job is unknown. Some scholars suggest Moses or Solomon. Elihu, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezra are also speculations. But truly, the author is unknown.
WHEN: The date of the occurrences found in the Book of Job is quite interesting. Job is one of the earliest books of the Bible chronologically. Based on the evidence in the book itself, Job was written most likely after the Tower of Babel and before Abraham. Job predates Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. Keep this in mind as you read through and inscribe the Book of Job.
WHERE: The majority of the Book of Job takes place in the Land of Uz which is most likely between Damascus and the Euphrates River.
PURPOSE: While the Bible says that Job was a blameless and upright man (Job 1:8), he was still a sinner in need of the redemptive blood of Jesus. Job was a man full of self-righteousness and pride, and God needed to deal with him. The Book of Job addresses one question - “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. We will find that answer as we read and write through the Book of Job.
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon.
I included these three books into one explanation because they all have something in common. They were all written by Solomon and they all touch on a specific area of his life that we can grow and glean from.
WHO: The author of these books is Solomon. (While he wrote much of the book of Proverbs, he also compiled many of the “sayings of the wise”, and added them to the entirety of the book.)
WHEN: Solomon wrote or compiled Proverbs early in his reign while his heart was still toward the Lord, Ecclesiastes later in his reign after he had turned from God, and Song of Songs probably somewhere early on in his life.
BACKGROUND: The book of Proverbs is the book of wisdom and instruction. Ecclesiastes in the book on folly. Song of Solomon is the book on love. Solomon certainly was familiar with all three. While he started out his kingship full of wisdom, understanding, and instruction, he repeatedly forsook the Lord and rejected His blessings. This turn from God resulted in the folly and “vanity” he writes about in Ecclesiastes.
PURPOSE: For us today, the purpose is clear. Proverbs shows us that we need the wisdom of God to govern our lives and to teach us how to use the knowledge we’ve been given. 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—”. The wisdom that Solomon speaks of in Proverbs is our Lord Jesus Christ. He became wisdom for us. Do you want to know wisdom? Know Him!
Ecclesiastes tells us that without Christ, we will never be satisfied. Without Him, everything under the sun (outside of the realms of Heaven) is “vanity” (a word that Solomon uses 37 times in this book). Vanity means a wasting away, an emptiness, a breath, a vapor. Without Christ and the wisdom that only He can give us, we can gain the whole world and will not find any pleasure in it; everything outside of Him is a vapor - vanity.
Song of Solomon shows us that once we turn from pleasing ourselves - once we turn from the world - once we get in tune to Christ, we can experience a love like no other. He is the Beloved of Song of Songs, and we are His precious bride; the Shulamite woman.
My prayer is that through these Poetic Books of the Old Testament, you see Jesus.
In JOB, He is our Redeemer.
In PROVERBS, He is Wisdom.
In ECCLESIASTES, He is the Meaning of Life.
In SONG of SOLOMON, He is our Lover.
I pray through this study, you are blessed!
With All My Heart,
E R I K A M I C H E L L E
