Hosea, Isaiah, Before Nehemiah, Oh My!

Recently I have made a decision. Well, actually it was a decision made at the goading of some divine inspiration, but a decision none the less. I am going to read through the old testament. I know this sounds like a lame decision to be made but I am pretty stoked about it. *the forthcoming sentence is rather embarrassing for me to admit* See, I have never read through the entire old testament. I have read some books, but not all. Whenever I have tried to read through the old testament I have always tried the "Genesis to Malachi" approach to it. I usually peter out somewhere around Joshua. Then I feel bad for quitting and moving on to something else. I then remember what I wanted to do, which is read through the old testament, but something inside of me says that I need to do it all from beginning to end, straight through, or it doesn't really count. So I go back. Start in Genesis, again. And then don't make it all the way through, again.

I like history. I was fairly decent at it in school. Dates, places, people the whole works always interested me. I finished Hosea the other day and finished the book a little confused. Not at the content of what Hosea was writing about (an excellent book on God's eternal and unfailing love for His bride) but at the placement of the book concerning the chronology of scripture. Hosea is towards the end of the old testament, yet he is talking about the forthcoming exile of God's chosen people, the Hebrews.

As the confusion and discombobulation passed, the inspiration came. "Jon, you like history. Why don't you study some old testament history and learn of my chosen people. You might even be able to read through the old testament in chronological order and get a full feel for what is being said in scripture. Oh, and this time don't be a quitter."

*The writer of this blog would like two things to be known: 1. No, God didn't really call me a quitter. 2. The above quotes do not imply that I heard the actual voice of God. Thank you for reading my small font type attempt at being humorous*

So, starting off on this journey, I double-clicked Firefox, Googled "old testament timeline", and the adventure began. I found out that Hosea was actually written around the time of Isaiah, and the puzzle pieces started to take place. And yes mom, it took me 25 years to come to this place.

In total disregard of the above mentioned thought process, I started reading the book of Nehemiah. And I am glad I did. Incredible book. I will be writing more later on what I have come across in my readings, general thoughts, and insights. If you are looking for some fresh insight from a man chasing hard after God, you need to get your Nehemiah read on.