Please see below the Daily Bible Readings for this week:

Monday

Morning:  Mark 9
Evening:  Mark 10

Prayer Focus: The Apostolic Church UK and Missionaries

Tuesday

Morning:  Mark 11
Evening:  Mark 12

Prayer Focus: Youth and Children

Wednesday

Morning:  Mark 13
Evening:  Mark 14

Prayer Focus: The Body of Christ

Thursday

Morning:  Mark 15
Evening:  Mark 16

Prayer Focus: The United Kingdom

Friday

Morning: Jeremiah 1
Evening: Jeremiah 2

Prayer Focus: People with Diverse Problems, Parents and Pregnant Women

Saturday

Morning: Jeremiah 3
Evening: Jeremiah 4

Prayer Focus: The All Nations’ Centre, yourself and your family

Sunday

Morning: Jeremiah 5
Evening: Jeremiah 6

Prayer Focus: Praise, Thanksgiving and Worship

Introduction to the Books of the Bible

The Gospel of Mark

Practically all of Mark’s gospel relates to the public ministry of Jesus. During this period, Galilee and Perea were ruled by Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great. Judea, Samaria and Idumea were governed by the Roman procurator (or prefect) Pontius Pilate, who had been directly commissioned by Emperor Tiberius.

There is general agreement among the Early Church Fathers that Mark’s gospel reproduces the preaching of Peter. When one turns to the gospel, one can find Peter’s personality on almost every page. Peter was impulsive, aggressive, and active. That is the character of the gospel.

Undoubtedly, the main characteristic of Mark’s gospel is action. If one examines carefully a harmony of the synoptic gospels, he will soon discover that Mark has most of the miracles but few of the parables. Long sections of the harmony have parallel columns of material from Matthew and Luke, with nothing from Mark. In such cases, the material almost always consists of the sayings of Jesus. Matthew and Luke devote much of their gospels to Jesus’ teachings; Mark majors on action. This is what one would expect if Mark reproduces Peter’s preaching.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah was a prophet in the southern kingdom (Judah) during the last forty years of its existence (627-586 b.c.). He lived through the period of the disintegration of the kingdom, witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and spent the remaining years of his life in Egypt. The book bearing his name offers the content of his messages as well as extensive information about the prophet during OT times.

Although more is known about Jeremiah and the circumstances concerning the writing of the book bearing his name than about the other books of the OT, numerous questions about its composition remain. It was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 605 b.c., that Jeremiah was specifically instructed to commit his messages to writing (Jer 36:1-8). Baruch was engaged as the prophet’s scribe to record that which pertained to Jeremiah’s ministry which had begun in 627 b.c. This scroll was burned by King Jehoiakim the next year.

Once more Jeremiah was instructed to write down what had been consumed in the fire. Again it was Baruch who served as scribe. How much the concluding notation “and many similar words were added to them” (36:32) included is difficult to ascertain. Significant also is the fact that in the year 605 b.c. Baruch was assured by Jeremiah that his life would be preserved through the perilous years that awaited Judah and Jerusalem as predicted in the prophet’s message, which was committed to writing (45:1-5).