I wouldn't even know where to go to get an answer. What books of the Bible do Christians most read and/or study today? What are the most popular books for Sunday Schools? I won't even offer an opinion on this but I would expect that the least read books of the Bible are the Old Testament prophets, both major and minor.....major and minor simply describing the length of the books. Now I know that the book of Isaiah is often studied for the Messianic prophesies, and the stories of Daniel in the lion's den and the Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego in the fiery furnace are often taught but aside from the 'read through the Bible in a year' plans do we venture any further in our reading with the contemplation that we might read Galatians, Ephesians or even Romans and Hebrews? Has Jonah and the Whale become a children's story instead of a dire warning of judgement and a call to repentance?
I'm not saying that there are not differences in all the books of the Bible, for the four Gospels are....'the four Gospels,' and Romans contains essential doctrine and Paul's pastoral letters and all the other books are God's very Word but the Old Testament prophets are God's Word too....and possibly greatly neglected at the very time when they are needed the most.
You might try something to test this out. Add these books into your daily Bible reading. For example, start with Isaiah and read about three chapters. Think upon each and every verse. Could these only have been meant for the people of Isaiah's time? Could they be for another time period also. What you will often find in books such as Isaiah and Daniel is that one chapter may differ greatly from the next in many ways. Study Bibles can be helpful here. You may find God speaking in one chapter and then find the prophet speaking in the next. You may find specific prophesies for the Israelites of that day and then find words for a time period far in the future... in the last days.
As with every book of the Bible there are numerous commentaries available, some wonderful and some not so wonderful. You can find prophesy books that are very very specific in what will happen in the future and who will be involved.....once again, many helpful but unfortunately many very unhelpful in the more than speculation given and even outright error taught.
Those books with odd names such as Obadiah, Nahum and Zechariah can and should move us with the same reverence as James and Jude. My hope in this post is simply to encourage reading these books and also that the reader might, as I have, see ourselves as the objects of the writer's warnings from God....not so much as 'this nation is America today' but rather....'this rebellion against God is the same as America's rebellion against God.'
I'm not saying that there are not differences in all the books of the Bible, for the four Gospels are....'the four Gospels,' and Romans contains essential doctrine and Paul's pastoral letters and all the other books are God's very Word but the Old Testament prophets are God's Word too....and possibly greatly neglected at the very time when they are needed the most.
You might try something to test this out. Add these books into your daily Bible reading. For example, start with Isaiah and read about three chapters. Think upon each and every verse. Could these only have been meant for the people of Isaiah's time? Could they be for another time period also. What you will often find in books such as Isaiah and Daniel is that one chapter may differ greatly from the next in many ways. Study Bibles can be helpful here. You may find God speaking in one chapter and then find the prophet speaking in the next. You may find specific prophesies for the Israelites of that day and then find words for a time period far in the future... in the last days.
As with every book of the Bible there are numerous commentaries available, some wonderful and some not so wonderful. You can find prophesy books that are very very specific in what will happen in the future and who will be involved.....once again, many helpful but unfortunately many very unhelpful in the more than speculation given and even outright error taught.
Those books with odd names such as Obadiah, Nahum and Zechariah can and should move us with the same reverence as James and Jude. My hope in this post is simply to encourage reading these books and also that the reader might, as I have, see ourselves as the objects of the writer's warnings from God....not so much as 'this nation is America today' but rather....'this rebellion against God is the same as America's rebellion against God.'
