June Book of the Month: Exodus
Several years ago, when my husband and I lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, our church organized a summer book club based on the Book of Colossians. Church leadership encouraged members to host the book club in their homes, inviting family, friends, or neighbors, Christians and non-Christians alike, to discuss this short book of the Bible found in the New Testament. Summer is usually a time when small groups take a brief hiatus before they start up again in the fall, and so the book club idea was the perfect way to encourage members to not only remain in the Word of God on a regular basis, but also share the Gospel message with others in a relaxed environment.
This month, as we celebrate the start of summer and explore the various adventures we all take in life, our Book of the Month is a historical non-fiction title called Exodus. The second book of the Bible located just after Genesis, Exodus is the ultimate story of adventure—a forty-year adventure, in fact, in which the characters experience good and evil, life and death, hope and despair, love and animosity, acceptance and rejection, truth and deception, obedience and rebellion. Ultimately, though, it’s an incredible story of redemption.
If you don’t have a Bible, you can read Exodus online at BibleGateway.com, or you can download a free Bible app to your mobile device. (Personally, I use the Bible App—YouVersion on my phone, and the study Bible I use is called The Lutheran Study Bible. The translation I use is the English Standard Version, often referred to as ESV, but there are many other available translations.)
Whether you’ve read the Book of Exodus before or you’ve never picked up a Bible, I encourage you to join us this month in reading the Book of Exodus, which chronicles in vivid detail a portion of world history from more than three thousand years ago. Below are two reading plans, a 30-day reading plan if you’d like to read through Exodus on your own or with someone in your household, and a 4-week reading plan if you’d like to read through Exodus with others and meet on a weekly basis throughout the month of June to discuss what you’ve read.
Downloadable Reading Plans
As we open the Book of Exodus, we find ourselves in the Mediterranean country of Egypt in the year 1446 BC—a time when the Egyptians are growing more and more fearful of the Israelites who are steadily growing in number and becoming increasingly powerful as a people. Out of fear, the Egyptians begin to oppress the Israelites in unimaginable ways. And as they say, it often gets worse before it gets better.
And so, we begin with Exodus 1:1: “These are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each with his household . . .” (Continue reading on BibleGateway.com.)
