Scripture Readings

2026

Week 3: Samson and the Depth of Israel’s Disorder 

Oct 12 — Judges 13 

  • Study Note: Samson’s birth is announced before his conception, and he is set apart as a Nazirite. God begins Israel’s deliverance even before the people cry out. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Initiative in Grace: God often acts before His people recognize the depth of their need. Salvation begins in His purpose and mercy, not in human worthiness. 

 

Oct 13 — Judges 14 

  • Study Note: Samson’s desires are impulsive and self-centered, yet God sovereignly uses even his flawed choices to confront the Philistines. 
  • Heart Focus: God’s sovereignty over our failures never excuses our failures. Beware of interpreting providential outcomes as automatic approval of the desires that produced them. 

 

Oct 14 — Judges 15 

  • Study Note: Samson’s personal vengeance escalates conflict with the Philistines, yet the Spirit of the LORD empowers him to deliver Israel. 
  • Heart Focus: It is possible to be used by God while still needing deep heart transformation. Do not confuse giftedness, influence, or outward effectiveness with mature godliness. 

 

Oct 15 — Judges 16 

  • Study Note: Samson repeatedly toys with temptation until Delilah discovers the secret of his consecration. His strength leaves him, but in his final moments he calls upon the LORD. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Mercy: Samson’s sin brings severe consequences, yet his final prayer shows that failure does not place a repentant sinner beyond the reach of God’s mercy. 

 

Oct 16 — Judges 17 

  • Study Note: Micah constructs a private shrine, makes an ephod and idols, and hires a Levite. Religious language remains, but worship is redesigned according to personal preference. 
  • Heart Focus: Idolatry often keeps religious vocabulary while replacing God’s authority with our preferences. Are there ways you want God on your terms rather than worshiping Him as He has revealed Himself? 

 

Oct 17 — Judges 18 

  • Study Note: The tribe of Dan steals Micah’s idols and priest and establishes corrupt worship. The refrain that there was no king in Israel frames the deepening disorder. 
  • Heart Focus: When everyone becomes his own authority, sin can become culturally normal. Ask where the values around you may be discipling your instincts more strongly than Scripture. 

 

Oct 18 — Judges 13–18 Review 

  • Study Note: Compare Samson’s divine calling with his personal conduct, then notice the transition into the religious chaos of chapters 17–18. 
  • Heart Focus: God’s patience should never be mistaken for approval. Where might His patience be giving you opportunity to repent, mature, or correct a pattern before consequences deepen? 

Week 2: Deliverance and Decline 

Oct 5 — Judges 7 

  • Study Note: God deliberately reduces Gideon’s army so Israel cannot claim that its own strength produced victory over Midian. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Sufficiency: The LORD does not need impressive resources to accomplish His will. Human weakness can become the stage on which His power is most clearly seen. 

 

Oct 6 — Judges 8 

  • Study Note: Gideon refuses the title of king but then acts in increasingly king-like and troubling ways. His ephod becomes a snare to Israel and his own household. 
  • Heart Focus: A faithful beginning does not guarantee a faithful finish. Success can expose the heart as surely as suffering does. What safeguards help keep blessing from becoming self-exaltation? 

 

Oct 7 — Judges 9 

  • Study Note: Abimelech violently seizes power, and Jotham’s parable exposes the destructive ambition behind his rule. God eventually repays his wickedness. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Justice: Evil may appear to prosper for a season, but God is neither absent nor indifferent. He remains the righteous Judge over hidden motives and public acts. 

 

Oct 8 — Judges 10 

  • Study Note: Israel again abandons the LORD for multiple foreign gods. Their cry initially meets a severe rebuke until they put away their idols and serve Him. 
  • Heart Focus: Repentance is more than wanting painful consequences to stop. It turns from the idol itself. When you seek relief from sin’s consequences, are you equally eager to forsake the sin? 

 

Oct 9 — Judges 11 

  • Study Note: Jephthah delivers Israel but makes a rash vow that reveals the confused spiritual condition of the period. Scripture records his vow without presenting it as a model of godliness. 
  • Heart Focus: Religious zeal detached from a sound knowledge of God can become destructive. Let Scripture shape your understanding of God rather than assuming sincerity makes every spiritual impulse wise. 

 

Oct 10 — Judges 12 

  • Study Note: Conflict between Jephthah and Ephraim leads to tragic internal bloodshed. Israel’s enemies are no longer only outside; pride and rivalry fracture the people themselves. 
  • Heart Focus: Pride turns brothers into competitors and disagreements into battles. Consider whether a desire to be recognized, respected, or vindicated is damaging relationships God calls you to preserve. 

 

Oct 11 — Judges 7–12 Review 

  • Study Note: Review Gideon’s later years, Abimelech, and Jephthah. Notice that the judges themselves increasingly reflect the disorder of Israel. 
  • Heart Focus: God’s gifts and usefulness do not make a person immune to spiritual decline. Pray for endurance, humility, and a heart that values faithfulness more than visible success. 

Introduction: Judges records Israel’s repeated descent into idolatry and oppression after Joshua, summarized by the refrain that everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Ruth occurs during this same era but provides a beautiful counterpoint of covenant loyalty, providence, and redemption. Together the books expose the ruin of autonomous human hearts and quietly prepare the way for David and the coming King. 

Week 1: The Cycle Begins 

Sept 28 — Judges 1 

  • Study Note: Israel begins occupying the land but repeatedly fails to drive out the Canaanites completely. The chapter introduces the compromise that will shape the book. 
  • Heart Focus: Small compromises rarely remain small. Where are you tempted to tolerate what God has clearly called you to put away? 

 

Sept 29 — Judges 2 

  • Study Note: Judges provides its theological explanation: a generation arises that does not know the LORD, Israel serves the Baals, God gives them over to oppressors, they cry out, and He raises judges. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Compassion: Even while disciplining persistent rebellion, the LORD is moved by His people’s groaning and repeatedly provides deliverance they have not earned. 

 

Sept 30 — Judges 3 

  • Study Note: Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar begin the recurring cycle of apostasy, oppression, crying out, and deliverance. God uses unexpected instruments to rescue His people. 
  • Heart Focus: God is not limited by what appears impressive to us. Do you evaluate usefulness by human strength, status, or appearance rather than by God’s ability to work through whom He chooses? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oct 1 — Judges 4 

  • Study Note: Deborah and Barak confront Sisera, while Jael becomes the unexpected instrument of his defeat. The narrative emphasizes that the LORD delivers Israel. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Sovereignty: He directs rulers, armies, weather, and unlikely individuals so that human boasting is stripped away and His purposes stand. 

 

Oct 2 — Judges 5 

  • Study Note: Deborah and Barak’s song interprets the victory of chapter 4 as the LORD’s intervention and praises those who willingly offered themselves for His cause. 
  • Heart Focus: Worship remembers God’s works and rightly assigns Him the glory. Take time to name specific evidences of His faithfulness rather than allowing answered prayer to fade quickly from memory. 

 

Oct 3 — Judges 6 

  • Study Note: Gideon is called while Israel suffers under Midian. His fear and questions are met by God’s patient assurance, yet the chapter also exposes Israel’s entrenched idolatry. 
  • Heart Focus: Before Gideon confronts Midian, he must tear down the altar of Baal at home. What competing loyalty in your own heart needs to be confronted before you focus on problems around you? 

 

Oct 4 — Judges 1–6 Review 

  • Study Note: Trace the cycle introduced in Judges 2 and identify its repetitions. Notice also how Israel’s compromise becomes progressively more serious. 
  • Heart Focus: Sin promises freedom but produces bondage. Where have you seen this pattern in your own life, and how should that recognition deepen your vigilance and dependence on grace? 

Week 4: Covenant Faithfulness 

Sept 21 — Joshua 20 

  • Study Note: Cities of refuge provide protection for one who kills unintentionally until proper judgment can occur. The arrangement joins justice with protection against personal vengeance. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Justice and Mercy: God’s law neither trivializes guilt nor permits uncontrolled vengeance. His character is perfectly righteous and never capricious. 

 

Sept 22 — Joshua 21 

  • Study Note: The Levites receive cities throughout Israel. The chapter closes with one of Joshua’s great theological summaries: not one of the LORD’s good promises to Israel failed. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Unfailing Word: God’s faithfulness is total, not approximate. His people can look backward at fulfilled promises as grounds for trusting what remains future. 

 

Sept 23 — Joshua 22 

  • Study Note: The eastern tribes’ altar nearly causes civil war until careful inquiry reveals its intended purpose as a witness rather than a rival place of worship. 
  • Heart Focus: Zeal for truth must be joined with careful listening. How quickly do you assign motives to others before seeking understanding and dealing with concerns truthfully? 

 

Sept 24 — Joshua 23 

  • Study Note: Joshua’s farewell warns Israel that future faithfulness requires separation from idolatry and steadfast love for the LORD. The same God who fulfilled blessing will also fulfill covenant warning. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Immutability: God does not change His moral character. His promises and warnings are trustworthy because He remains eternally consistent with Himself. 

 

Sept 25 — Joshua 24:1–15

  • Study Note: Joshua rehearses God’s sovereign acts from Abraham through the conquest before calling Israel to choose whom they will serve. Grace precedes the demand for covenant loyalty. 
  • Heart Focus: Biblical obedience grows from remembering grace. Before asking, “What must I do?” rehearse what God has done. How should His mercy reshape the allegiance of your heart? 

 

Sept 26 — Joshua 24:16–33 

  • Study Note: Israel vows to serve the LORD, and Joshua warns them against superficial confidence. The book closes with Joshua’s death and Joseph’s bones buried in the promised land. 
  • Heart Focus: Strong words are easier than lifelong faithfulness. Ask God to expose places where profession outruns practice and to cultivate persevering obedience. 

 

Sept 27 — Joshua Review & Synthesis 

  • Study Note: Re-read Joshua 1:6–9, 21:43–45, and 24:14–24. Trace the book’s themes of promise, presence, obedience, holiness, inheritance, and covenant loyalty. 
  • Heart Focus: Complete the month by answering: What has Joshua taught you about the God who keeps His Word, and what response does His faithfulness call for in your life? 

Week 3: Receiving the Inheritance 

Sept 14 — Joshua 13 

  • Study Note: Though much land remains to be possessed, distribution begins. The Levites receive no territorial inheritance because the LORD Himself is their inheritance. 
  • Attribute Focus: God as Our Portion: The greatest gift God gives His people is not land, prosperity, or circumstances, but Himself. Every lesser blessing is meant to lead us back to the Giver. 

 

Sept 15 — Joshua 14 

  • Study Note: Caleb, now eighty-five, still trusts the promise God made decades earlier. His perseverance contrasts with the unbelieving generation that died in the wilderness. 
  • Heart Focus: Long obedience requires long memory. Are you allowing delay, age, or difficulty to weaken confidence in truths God has already made clear? 

 

Sept 16 — Joshua 15 

  • Study Note: Judah receives its inheritance, including the territory from which David and ultimately the Messiah will arise. Yet the chapter also notes incomplete conquest at Jerusalem. 
  • Heart Focus: Partial obedience can leave enduring consequences. Ask whether there are areas where you have settled for incomplete obedience because full obedience seems difficult. 

 

Sept 17 — Joshua 16–17 

  • Study Note: Ephraim and Manasseh complain that their allotment is insufficient, but Joshua challenges them to clear and possess what God has given rather than retreat before obstacles. 
  • Heart Focus: We often want God to remove difficulties rather than strengthen us to obey through them. Where might complaint be obscuring an opportunity for faithful action? 

 

Sept 18 — Joshua 18 

  • Study Note: Seven tribes have delayed possessing their inheritance, prompting Joshua’s question: “How long will you put off entering to take possession?” 
  • Heart Focus: Spiritual procrastination can masquerade as caution. Is there a clear act of obedience you already know God requires but continue to postpone? 

 

Sept 19 — Joshua 19 

  • Study Note: The remaining tribal allotments are completed, and Joshua receives his own inheritance last. The leader who served Israel receives his portion after the people are provided for. 
  • Heart Focus: Godly leadership serves rather than grasps. Consider whether your responsibilities toward others are shaped more by self-interest or by a willingness to put their good before your own. 

 

Sept 20 — Joshua 13–19 Review 

  • Study Note: Review the distribution of the land and notice the repeated language of inheritance, boundaries, possession, and unfinished work. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Generosity: The detailed allotments remind us that God does not merely rescue His people from bondage; He faithfully provides what He has promised them. 

Week 2: Sin, Judgment, and Victory 

Sept 7 — Joshua 7 

  • Study Note: Achan’s hidden sin brings covenant consequences upon Israel. The chapter underscores the holiness of God and the seriousness of taking what He had placed under the ban. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Holiness: Sin is never insignificant before a holy God. What we call private or small is fully visible to Him and must never be treated casually. 

 

Sept 8 — Joshua 8 

  • Study Note: After Achan’s sin is judged, God graciously restores Israel and gives victory at Ai. Joshua then reads the Law publicly at Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim. 
  • Heart Focus: Failure need not be the final chapter when sin is dealt with God’s way. Genuine repentance returns us to obedient dependence upon His Word. 

 

Sept 9 — Joshua 9 

  • Study Note: The Gibeonites deceive Israel, and the leaders fail to seek the counsel of the LORD. Their decision illustrates the danger of judging merely by appearances and human reasoning. 
  • Heart Focus: Competence is not a substitute for dependence. Where are you tempted to make decisions because the facts seem obvious without prayerfully submitting your judgment to Scripture? 

 

Sept 10 — Joshua 10 

  • Study Note: God fights for Israel against the southern coalition. The extraordinary lengthening of the day emphasizes that creation itself is subject to the Creator’s purposes. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Omnipotence: No army, king, circumstance, or natural limitation can frustrate what the LORD has determined to accomplish. 

 

Sept 11 — Joshua 11 

  • Study Note: The northern campaign concludes with repeated emphasis that Joshua acted as the LORD commanded Moses. The conquest advances through sustained obedience rather than isolated spiritual enthusiasm. 
  • Heart Focus: Faithfulness is usually built through repeated obedience. Do you tend to seek dramatic spiritual moments while neglecting the ordinary commands God has already made clear? 

 

Sept 12 — Joshua 12 

  • Study Note: The list of defeated kings is a record of God’s concrete faithfulness. Biblical history names places and rulers because God’s promises unfold in real history. 
  • Attribute Focus: God’s Providence: The LORD works through particular people, places, battles, and years. His sovereign care is not abstract; He rules the details of history. 

 

Sept 13 — Joshua 7–12 Review 

  • Study Note: Review the movement from Achan’s sin to Israel’s restored victories and the summary of conquered kings. 
  • Heart Focus: Consider the contrast between self-reliance in chapter 9 and dependence upon God throughout the surrounding chapters. Where do you most need to cultivate conscious dependence on Him? 

Introduction: Joshua records Israel’s entrance into Canaan under the leadership of Joshua after the death of Moses. The book demonstrates the LORD’s faithfulness to His covenant promises, His holiness in judgment, and the necessity of trusting and obeying His revealed Word. As you read, watch for the repeated connection between God’s sovereign power and Israel’s responsible obedience.

  • August 31: Joshua 1

Study Note: Joshua’s courage is grounded not in self-confidence but in God’s presence and revealed Word. The command to meditate on the Law day and night establishes Scripture-shaped obedience as essential for Israel’s leader.

Attribute Focus: God’s Faithfulness: The LORD is now bringing Israel into the land promised centuries earlier to Abraham. Time does not weaken God’s promises; what He has spoken He will accomplish. 

 

  • September 1: Joshua 2

Study Note: Rahab recognizes what many in Canaan refuse to acknowledge: the LORD is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Her protection of the spies demonstrates faith acting upon what she has come to believe about Israel’s God.

Heart Focus: Faith takes God at His word and acts accordingly. Ask whether your choices reveal practical confidence in what God has said, especially when obedience carries a cost.

 

  • September 2: Joshua 3

Study Note: The crossing of the Jordan deliberately echoes the Red Sea. The ark goes before the people, emphasizing that Israel enters the land because the presence and power of the LORD lead them.

Attribute Focus: God’s Power: Flood-stage waters cannot obstruct His purposes. The Creator rules creation and is fully able to make a way where His people cannot.

 

  • September 3: Joshua 4

Study Note: The twelve stones are a commanded memorial so future generations will ask what God did. Biblical remembrance is meant to preserve testimony to God’s mighty acts.

Heart Focus: We are prone to forget yesterday’s mercies when facing today’s difficulty. What works of God should you intentionally remember and rehearse to strengthen present faith?

 

  • September 4: Joshua 5

Study Note: Before Jericho, Israel renews covenant signs and celebrates Passover. Joshua then encounters the commander of the LORD’s army and learns that the central question is not whether God is on Joshua’s side, but whether Joshua stands under God’s authority.

Heart Focus: It is easy to recruit God into our plans. Submission asks a different question: Am I aligned with His will, His Word, and His purposes?

 

  • September 5: Joshua 6

Study Note: Jericho falls through an unusual battle plan designed to make clear that victory belongs to the LORD. Israel’s obedience is the instrument; divine power is the cause.

Attribute Focus: God’s Sovereignty in Judgment: The conquest is not autonomous human expansion but divinely ordered judgment after generations of Canaanite wickedness and the fulfillment of God’s covenant promise.

 

  • September 6: Joshua 1-6 Review

Study Note: Review the opening movement of Joshua: God commissions His servant, leads His people across the Jordan, renews covenant identity, and gives victory at Jericho.

Heart Focus: Where have these chapters exposed a need for greater courage, remembrance, submission, or obedience? Choose one truth about God to carry into the coming week.

Close

Archives

No archives to show.

Categories

  • No categories
↑