Joshua 8:30-35
This sermon will never be one of the popular sermons. When you start preaching about reading and studying the Bible, most people stop listening. But, we know that this is one of the most important topics. Reading the Bible. This must be a top priority in your life.
I want to show you what’s in the Bible concerning the commandment from God for you to read the Bible.
The Bible Commands Us To Read So We Know
I did a quick search through the Scriptures in the Bible on the following four words: read, readest, readeth, and reading. Here’s the result of that search:
We find 82 matches in 76 different verses throughout the Bible. Here’s where the 76 verses are located in the books of the Bible.
Let’s look at some of the verses as we don’t have time to read them all. Here’s the first one in all the Bible with the word read or any of the forms of the word.
Exodus 24:7
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.
This speaks of the word of God. It was read in the audience of the people.
He Shall Read the Word of God
Deuteronomy 17:19-20
And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: 20 That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.
This speaks of a king that takes power. “He shall READ therein all the days of his life. That he may learn to fear the Lord his God.” King Trump needs to read the Bible. Do you know why he needs to read the Bible? Verse 20. “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren.”
The Bible must be read, or you will be high and lifted up against others. You’ll be arrogant. You’ll be proud. You’ll think you have a higher IQ than everyone else. You’ll believe yourself to be God’s gift to all the people. Reading the Bible is very important.
“And that he turn not aside from the commandment.” Knowing the Bible helps you follow God’s commandments. And that is a high, high priority in your life.
Deuteronomy 31:11-13
When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: 13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.
Get All The People Together and Read the Bible
Gather all the people together. Men, women, children, and strangers. Make sure they hear, they learn, they fear God, and observe to do all the words of this law. Everyone needs to know the Bible.
Joshua 8:34-35
And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.
He read all the words of the law according to all that is written in the book of the law. Joshua read the word of God to all the congregation: men, women, the little ones, and the strangers.
Nehemiah 8:6-8
And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground. 7 Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. 8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.
Read the Bible. Come to church. We explain the Bible. We cause you to understand the reading.
Isaiah 34:16
Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
Everything in this book will come to pass. All of it. Read it so you know what will happen. Reading the Bible is very important. When we get to the New Testament, you see Jesus ask the same question over and over again in the Gospels: “Have ye not read? Have ye never read? Have ye not read this Scripture?”
Jesus Did Read the Bible to Others
Luke 4:14-16
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
Jesus read the book of Isaiah to the people in Luke Chapter 4.
Acts 8:28
Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.
The Ethiopian eunuch was saved that day because he was trying to read and understand the Bible. God sent Philip to help him understand.
Colossians 4:16
And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
Read Colossians. That’s a commandment.
1 Thessalonians 5:27
I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.
The Commandment to Read is All Throughout the Bible
You see these commandments all throughout the Bible.
1 Timothy 4:13
Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
And here’s one of the last verses in all the Bible that has the word read. Please listen.
Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
We are to read the Bible. We are to keep the things that are written within the Bible. And we are especially commanded to read and hear the words of Revelation. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy.”
We read, we hear, and we keep the words of the Bible. We do what God asks us to do. We keep his words. So, we know that reading the Bible is a great work that we can do for God. If you are not a good reader or can’t read at all. It’s okay. Listening or hearing the Bible is a great thing to do.
There are Bible apps where you can listen to the Bible.
We Read the Bible in Church
So, how do we fulfill this commandment to read the Bible? Coming to church is a good start because you’re hearing the words of the Bible. You’re constantly getting the word of God throughout every church service. If you come to church 4 services per week, as we have here, you’re reading and seeing the Bible often.
But you can do much better than that. You should be reading your Bible daily.
Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
“And in his law doth he meditate day and night.” The Bible is God’s law. Read it day and night. A good plan is to wake up in the morning, pray, and then read your Bible. At the very least, read your Bible in the morning when you wake up and then at night before bed.
To me, an even better schedule for reading the Bible is to read it at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, and before bed. You can also listen to the Bible while you’re working if you have a job that allows that. You can listen to the Bible while you’re driving to and from work.
The goal is to get as much of the Bible into your life as possible.
How Long Does it Take to Read the Bible
How long does it take to read the entire Bible through? If you haven’t read the Bible through once, it’s time to start working on that goal as soon as possible. It’s time to start today.
There are many different ways you can go about reading the Bible.
For example, it takes about 70 hours to read through the Bible. Or, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. There are 365 days in a year. Let’s say you want to read the Bible through once per year. What should you strive to read each day?
| Times Per Year | Total Time | Daily Time | Total Chapters | Chapters Per Day |
| 1 | 70 hrs | 11.5 mins | 1189 | 3.26 |
| 2 | 140 hrs | 23 mins | 2378 | 6.52 |
| 3 | 210 hrs | 34.5 mins | 3567 | 9.77 |
| 4 | 280 hrs | 46 mins | 4756 | 13.03 |
| 5 | 350 hrs | 57.5 mins | 5945 | 16.29 |
| 6 | 420 hrs | 69 mins | 7134 | 19.55 |
| 7 | 490 hrs | 80.5 min | 8323 | 22.80 |
| 8 | 560 hrs | 92 min | 9512 | 26.06 |
| 9 | 630 hrs | 103.6 min | 10701 | 29.32 |
| 10 | 700 hrs | 115 min | 11890 | 32.57 |
Now, let’s say you wanted to read the Bible every time you sit down to eat. Let’s say you read the Bible at breakfast, lunch, and dinner or 3 times per day. You can set a reading time of just 10 minutes each time you sit down to eat.
Read the Bible for 10 minutes, 3 times per day, or a total of 30 minutes per day. You would almost read the Bible through 3 times per year if you read at an average speed or listen to the Bible on the normal speed.
Listen and Follow Along in the Bible
The Bible app I use has different options for playback speed. You can play the speed at 0.75x, 1x, 1.25x, 1.5x, 1.75x, or 2x. So, what you should do is follow along in your Bible at the speed that is most comfortable to you. I can read fast, so I can use the 2x speed on the Bible app.
If I am able to use the 2x speed on the Bible app, I can read through the entire Bible in about 35 hours. It cuts the normal time in half. For example, I’ve been able to read the Bible through in just 2 weeks that way. That’s just about 2.5 hours per day for 14 days. If you are dedicated to reading the Bible, you can easily do this.
For example, let’s say you wanted to read the Bible through 10 times per year. That’s a big goal. But it’s a very good goal. You will have to learn consistency. You can’t skip sessions. You can’t skip days.
Let’s see what that would take if you can read the Bible at 2x the normal speed. Reading is a skill that you need to get better at. The better you get at it, the faster you can read through the Bible. Reading through the Bible 10 times per year will require 700 hours per year at normal reading speed. At 2x the speed, it will take 350 hours per year. Since there are 365 days per year, you would read the Bible at 2x speed for less than an hour per day.
Let’s say, you set a goal to read your Bible 4 times per day. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and before bed. You’ll read it 15 minutes each session at 2x speed using the Bible app audio while following along in your Bible.
Read Through the Bible 10 Times Per Year!
You would read through the Bible 10 times per year in 350 days. You would have 15 days to spare. You could take 15 days off and still read through the Bible 10 times each year. You’ll begin to remember the stories, the books, the chapters, the verses and more. 15 minutes just 4 times per day at 2 times the normal speed. That’s it.
Here’s another way to plan to read through your Bible so many times per year. We know there are 365 days per year. Let’s say your Bible has 1895 pages. If you have a phone, get it out and go to the calculator. Input 1895 pages divided 365. This comes to 5.19 pages per day to read the Bible through once per year.
Twice per year would be 10.38 pages per day. Three times per year would be 15.58 pages per day. So, take the total number of pages in your Bible and input that number into your calculator. Divide that number by 365 days per year. This gives you the number of pages you need to read each day to get through your Bible once per year.
And then, if you want to do more, and you can, multiply the number of pages by the number of times you want to read through your Bible each year. And stick to that. Get those pages read each day.
I’m getting my phone calculator out. Someone give me the number of pages in your Bible. Look from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. How many you got? Now let’s divide that number by 365. That’s how many pages you need to read each day to read through your Bible once per year. That’s it.
Only 12 Minutes a Day to Read Through the Bible Once Per Year
It only takes about 11 to 12 minutes per day of reading the Bible to read through it once per year. Surely, we can spend 11 to 12 minutes per day reading the Bible. The least you should read through the Bible is once per year. Twice is better. Three times is even better. Ten times is great. Once per month is amazing or twelve times per year.
Let’s say you want to hit that once per month mark. You’re young. You don’t have kids. You can read fast. You listen and read 4 times per day. You would have to read the Bible for about 35 minutes 4 times per day at 2x the normal reading speed. That’s a lot of reading for the year.
Take the number of pages in your Bible, divide by 365, and then multiply that number by 12. For example, a Bible that I used for this example is 1895 pages long. I would have to read 62.3 pages per day to read through that Bible once per month. If I read four times per day, I would need to get through 15.6 pages every Bible reading session.
Look, set a goal for you. And then get it done. Learn how to be consistent. Just as you eat food each day. Treat the Bible as your necessary food. Treat the Bible like you must have it. You must read it every time you have a meal. Don’t skip over the Bible just as you wouldn’t skip over food and water.
Luke 4:4
And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Live By The Word of God
You will not live by bread alone. You need every word of God. You have the word of God within the King James Bible. Know what you have.
Job 23:12
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.
Be like Job who was the most upright man on the face of the earth at that time. He made it in the Bible. He has a book of the Bible named after him. Why? He esteemed or valued the Bible more than the food he ate each day. Do you understand that? You have to find a way to make the Bible that important to you.
Read your Bible. You can do this. Set the goal and stick to that plan for a year. Or set a shorter term goal to read so many chapters per day and stick to that plan. Or set a goal to read so many pages per day and stick to that plan. Don’t quit.
If you can stay consistent reading your Bible, you can do anything else in this life.
Let’s pray.
Leave a Reply