3-9 August 2026 (Genesis, Matthew, Psalms)
Bible Reading Plan
Monday: Genesis 25:19-26:33
Tuesday: Genesis 26:34-28:9
Wednesday: Matthew 21:1-22:14
Thursday: Matthew 22:15-23:39
Friday: Reflection Day
Fluid (fit in any time): Psalm 6:1-10
Reflection and Discussion Questions
Monday (Day 1): Genesis 25:19-26:33
Who were Isaac and Rebekah’s two sons? What two nations descended from them? Who appears to be Isaac’s favourite son, and who appears to be Rebekah’s?
What are your thoughts on Esau and Jacob? Do you see any errors in their actions?
What lesson can be learned from Esau from how he gave up his birthright?
What does Isaac do in Gen 26:7 that is reminiscent of his father’s actions (Gen 20) in the same land and Egypt (Gen 12:10-20)?
After the being sent from Gerar, and moving on from the valley of Gerar where he had the quarrels with herdsmen of Gerar, where did Isaac go, and what did he build there? Why did Abimelech, Ahuzzath and Phicol come to talk to Isaac about and ask him for?
Tuesday (Day 3): Genesis 26:34-28:9
When Esau was 40, he chose to marry two women, both of whom were Hittites, and did not appear to consult his parents. Does this highlight Esau’s strength and independence, lack of good judgement, or somehow both? Thoughts.
Before giving his blessing in his old age, Isaac asks Esau to hunt and make food for him. Rebekah tells Jacob of this and directs him about what he is to do. What actions does Jacob have to do to successfully deceive his father into giving him his blessing?
Do you think Jacob uses God’s name in vain in Genesis 2:20? Does this narrative highlight Jacob’s wisdom and insight or his immaturity, lack of preparation and naivete? Does Jacob show reverence to God, behaving in a righteous manner like his grandfather Abraham?
Why do you think the blessing that is received by deception stands?
Did Esau appreciate that he had in fact given up his birthright, and so it was acceptable that Jacob should be the one who received the blessing from his father?
Where did Rebekah instruct Jacob to go to keep him safe from Esau?
Was Rebekah enjoying her time with Esau’s wives? (cf. Gen 26:35; 27:46)
Did Isaac ask for Jacob to seek a wife from Canaan? If not, where did he go to find a wife?
What do you find interesting about Esau and his actions in Genesis 28:8-9. Is Esau the ‘bad guy’ in the story, the ‘good guy,’ just human, wise, naïve, etc.? What are your thoughts?
Wednesday (Day 4): Matthew 21:1-22:14
Why do you think Jesus asked for a donkey? Would a chariot or war horse have seemed more appropriate? What connections do you see with Zechariah 9:9-10? Why the meekness?
Why did people spread their cloaks and cut branches that over the road? What did this signify?
What was meant by the term “Son of David”? What Psalm does Matt 21:9 quote?
What does “Hosanna” mean?
Why do you think Jesus was going to Jerusalem? In his commentary (NICNT), R. T. France (2007) labels the passage of Matthew 21:1-11 “The King Comes to Jerusalem” What importance does the King coming to Jerusalem have in the author’s construction of the Gospel of Matthew?
Looking at Scripture and commentaries, what interesting references and connections to the Old Testament can you see in Matthew 21:12-17? How do you think this relates to the message the author (and Jesus) is looking to deliver?
What do you think the author was communicating, or bringing attention to, in their reference to the social outcasts and children in vv. 14-16?
Do you think that the fig tree episode was a temper tantrum from Jesus or an illustration that reinforces God’s impending judgement on the unfruitful Israel? If Jesus came to Jerusalem seeking fruit, what did He find? What was His response?
Jesus words in 21:20-22 echo and build upon His words to the disciples in Matt. 17:20, which were spoken after He expelled a demon after coming down the mountain. Do you think that Jesus is promising the disciples whatever they ask as long as they believe, or do you think that He is asserting the importance of remaining faithful in your prayers and actions to God’s will and purpose?
Did Jesus’ question regarding John’s baptism show the chief priests to be more concerned about the power of the people or the power of God?
Does the motivation of personal safety taking precedence over faithfulness to God highlight that their own authority is merely of human origin?
Do the chief priests and elders of the people attempt the question honestly?
Does their claim of ignorance undermine their own claim of competency for discerning what is from God and what is merely of human origin? Explain.
Is there potential for leaders in congregations today to question the words of Jesus and the Apostles with a personal agenda that may relegate the will of God below the will of the leader or group?
What message do you take from Matthew 21:28-32?
Why do you think the religious leaders could or would be so angry at Jesus? How important is the value of humility in reflection for holding ourselves accountable for our actions and beliefs? What are some dangers for a heart that refuses to practice humility?
What psalm did Jesus quote in Matt 21:42?
Is Jesus the stone you trip on or is He your cornerstone? This is a question that needs to be reflected on from time to time, as our societies, cultures, individuals and experiences will constantly influence and potentially lead us into different directions. Remember how much more time you spend in the world than in the church! This is why it is important to reflect on potential changes to our worldview and priorities. Again, I ask, is Christ the stone you trip on, or is He the cornerstone of your life and identity?
What does the parable of the wedding celebration (Matt 22:1-14) say to you, and how serious should our invitation from God be taken?
Do you think Christians in the church can fall short in their understanding and appreciation of the kingdom of heaven? If so, how so, and how should we look to act and understand our privilege?
Thursday (Day 4): Matthew 22:15-23:39
Did the Sadducees believe in the resurrection?
What was the argument that Jesus gave them to correct their error of understanding
Who exactly were the Sadducees and Pharisees?
What were the two greatest commandments, and where in the Old Testament did they come from?
Jesus says, “on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Mt 22:40) What do you think Jesus means by this?
Rather than responding to questions, Jesus finishes Matt 22 asking the Pharisees a question. Explain the greatness of the argument that Christ presents.
What does Jesus mean in Matt 23:3?
What in Matt 23:1-36 do you find particularly interesting?
What is the meaning of the message in Jesus lament of Matt 23:37-38?
Friday (Day 5): Reflection Day
Psalm 6
What are your thoughts on the prayer in sickness that is Psalm 6?
Maybe ask yourself, is there a duty we have to others in sickness and need? If so, then what is it and how is it relevant to our lives as Christians, or simply human beings born in his image?
Below is an explanation that Craigie gives of Psalm 6. Craigie gives a useful introduction
Mortality is of the essence of the human condition. In a life filled with uncertainty and an unknown future, there remains always one certainty, that one day we shall die. But whereas the healthy person knows this, yet learns to live with an awareness of mortality, the sick person may find that equanimity dissolves and the awareness of death becomes more vivid. Health is normal and it may result in praise, but sickness is a reminder and an anticipation of death. Life itself is no longer so good, for it is marred with pain, and the experience of imperfection in living evokes awareness of that ultimate enemy, death. In sickness, the body does not function properly; in death it ceases to function altogether. Thus it is that the psalms conceived on the sickbed are marked by a profound pathos, for though they contain the words of the living, they are haunted by the shadow of dying.
For the modern Christian or Jewish reader of the Bible, it is most difficult to enter fully into the spirit of the OT psalms of sickness. The contemporary Christian and the contemporary Jew can face the experience of sickness and the anticipation of death with a perspective denied to the psalmists, namely belief in a life in God’s presence beyond the grave. Yet there was no such clearly articulated doctrine in early Israel. It emerged only in the latest writings of the OT and found fuller expression in the Jewish centuries preceding the Christian era; but even in NT times, there was a debate between the Sadducees and the Pharisees concerning the legitimacy of a belief in resurrection and life beyond the grave. To grasp the initial profundity of the psalms of sickness, we must first attempt to read them within the perspective of the beliefs of their authors. This life is the life given by God. It terminates in death, beyond which was Sheol, an existence not really known, shadowy and incomplete in its substance. Sickness, in a sense, is an anticipation of Sheol; it was hard in sickness to rejoice in God and praise him, but in Sheol it would be impossible.
It is proper that the modern reader of the Psalms understand them with an awareness of the doctrine of resurrection and everlasting life. But to add this perspective to the psalms of sickness too quickly may be questionable, especially for the healthy reader. For the awareness of joy and resurrection beyond sickness and the grave may contribute to a casual understanding of death, and a casual understanding of mortality is likely to crumble with the onset of sickness and the advent of death. It was a fact, as the psalmist knew, that this life was the gift of God; in this life God could be praised, but in death it would no longer be possible to join in the praise of the congregation of the faithful (v 6). If too easily we think that when sickness and death approach, we will trust in God and look to the life beyond, then when the reality comes, the casual faith may not sustain. Like the psalmist, we need a full appreciation of this life before we can look beyond it. And like the psalmist, we may have to undergo the anguish of pain and the sense of separation from God before we can emerge to the faith that rests confidently upon God. The sense of anguish and trouble which permeates this psalmist’s words was experienced by Jesus, and indeed influenced his words (v 4; cf. John 12:27); we perceive the pathos of the psalm most clearly when it is read in the context of the Passion. (pp. 95-96)
What are your thoughts of Jacobsen’s reflections on Psalm 6? He writes:
Reflections
1. The Problem and the Solution
As Mays has seen, the psalm is an “appeal to the grace of God against the wrath of God. It sees the Lord as the cause of death and as the giver of life.”20 In Psalm 6, the Lord is both the problem and the solution. The identification of this psalm as a penitential psalm by the Western church is consistent with that basic insight. Such an identification comprehends correctly that the theological situation from which this psalm is prayed is one in which a petitioner recognizes that to be caught up in the human condition is to be caught up before God—to be caught up both in God’s grace and in God’s anger. The psalm thus shows that there is an indissoluble link between lament and faith. Lament is not the absence of faith or an expression of faith being tempted into despair. To lament is to speak precisely from the position of faith, from a position which recognizes that the Lord hears the cries of those who suffer and is not indifferent to them. To lament is to lay claim to God’s hesed with the faithful expectation that the Lord will vindicate the lowly. “Just as Israel as a nation received God’s love in covenant in, and after, the great deliverance from Egypt, so too each member of the covenant community could request the continuing experience of God’s lovingkindness in the act of divine deliverance.”21 The reason that the psalmist cries out to God (vv. 2–3, 5–7) and the reason that the psalmist cries out in triumph to the enemies (vv. 9–10) are consistent. In the words of the psalmist: For the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping. The Lord has heard my request, the Lord accepts my prayer.
2. The Anger of God
In the commentary above, the issue of how to understand God’s anger was raised. To be more specific, the question was raised as to whether to understand God’s anger as instrumental or causal. If one understands God’s anger as instrumental, then the notion is that the Lord is a teacher—by means of judgment, God instructs the sinners. If one understands God’s anger as causal, then the notion is that God is a judge—because of crimes, God judges human sinners. One suspects that the nicety of this theological distinction might be lost on the psalmist—swimming in a bath of tears, dissolving in a bed of weeping. When one is suffering, it is usually not the time to deploy such theological distinctions, as one hopes Job’s comrades learned. But such distinctions do matter for the life of faith in the long run. The concept of the anger of God is the necessary corollary to the love of God. Without God’s anger, God’s love is reduced to a sloppy sentimentalism. To be sure, God loves us. But because God also loves our neighbors, when our actions result in the suffering and death of our neighbors, God’s love becomes indivisible from God’s anger. But God’s anger is in service of God’s love. God’s anger is not a permanent state, but one that arises from time to time when human violence against other creatures whom also God loves sparks God’s anger.22 God’s wrath is neither random nor inexplicable. It arises for specific reasons, which the prophets, in particular, spell out. And God’s wrath is certainly instrumental. That is, God is angry for the sake of the relationship God shares with the world and for the sake of the wellness of God’s creation. (pp. 106-108)
References
Craigie, P. C. (2004). Psalms 1–50 (2nd ed., Vol. 19). Nelson Reference & Electronic.
Jacobson, R. A., & Tanner, B. (2014). Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41. In E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, & R. L. Hubbard Jr. (Eds.), The Book of Psalms (pp. 106–108). William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.
20 Mays, Psalms, p. 59.
21 Craigie, Psalms 1–50, p. 93.
22 See Terence Fretheim, “Theological Reflections on the Wrath of God in the Old Testament,” HBT 24 (2002) 1–26.
