Simchat Torah—Yearly Reading Plan

Updated: Oct 17, 2022

The Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah celebrates the end of the yearly cycle of weekly Torah reading and the beginning of a new cycle.

Simchat Torah is translated as “The Joy of the Torah” or “Rejoicing the Torah”.

It is the eighth day following the seven day holiday of the Feast of Tabernacles—Sukkot; therefore, it is also called Shmini Atzerert which means eighth day assembly.

Leviticus 23:34-36 (KJV)

34 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto the LORD. 35 On the first day shall be an holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. 36 Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: on the eighth day shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD: it is a solemn assembly; and ye shall do no servile work therein.

John 7:37-39 (KJV)

37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Here is an interesting and encouraging perspective on the Eighth Day

In previous posts we looked at how the feasts of the Lord teach us about God’s plan of salvation and how Jesus fulfils all these feasts.

The Spring Feasts have been fulfilled

The Feast of the Passover—The Crucifixion

The Feast of Unleavened Bread—Jesus’s burial

The Feast of First Fruits—Jesus’s resurrection

The Feast of Weeks—Pentecost

The Harvest between the spring and fall feasts—The Church Age

The Fall Feasts will be fulfilled beginning with the Rapture

The Feast of Trumpets—The Rapture (more here)

The Day of Atonement—The Great Tribulation

The Feast of Tabernacles—Jesus’s Millennial Kingdom

The Eight Day Feast—A New Heaven and A New Earth

On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, also known as Shmini Atzerert—Eighth Day Assembly, a new yearly cycle of weekly Torah portion commences with Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Revelation 21:1 KJV)

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. Revelation 22:20-21 (KJV)

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

The Torah is divided into 54 weekly portions—Parashat HaShavua

Every Sabbath in the synagogue, a portion of the Torah is read.

On the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah the yearly cycle of weekly Torah reading is completed and a new cycle commences.

The last chapter of Deuteronomy is read and the yearly cycle starts anew with Genesis 1:1 - “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (More on this here)

It’s a great idea to follow a reading plan if you have a desire to read the Bible daily

Of course, we have the liberty to read what we are led to read; however, a reading plan gives structure to our reading and broadens our scope.

M’Cheyne Yearly Reading Plan: 4-5 chapters a day

A couple of weeks ago I completed and started a new cycle of my M’CHEYNE yearly reading plan.

Over the course of a year—reading 4-5 chapters daily— the M’CHEYNE reading plan will get you through the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) once and twice through the New Testament and Psalms.

This app is very helpful and really helps keeps me on track. https://apps.apple.com/il/app/readingplan/id336984707?l=iw

Obviously if you would like to read more, you can add to your reading plan and this will give you a broader, more coherent and comprehensive perspective on the whole Bible.

The Bible is compromised of sixty-six books written over a period of 1600 years by 40 different writers.

I find that when I relate to the various sections separately, it is easier for me to understand the whole and it helps me create a cross-reference in real time while I am reading. I’ll read a prophecy in the prophet Isaiah and then I’ll see the fulfilment of this prophecy in Matthew.

These are the sections and individual books of the Bible that I read in rotation throughout the year in addition to my M’CHEYNE reading plan. If my partition overlaps with my M’CHEYNE reading plan, I don’t read that book twice.

From Genesis to Deuteronomy
From Joshua to Ruth
From 1 Samuel to Esther
From Isaiah to Daniel
From Hosea to Malachi
Proverbs

TIP!!!

There are 31 proverbs which makes it convenient to read one proverb each day on the corresponding day of each month throughout the year.

Psalms
Job, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs
From Matthew to John
Acts
Romans
From 1 Corinthians to Philemon
Hebrews
From James to Jude
Revelation

I try to read a chapter a day from each section in addition to my yearly reading plan. I don’t always manage to do that, so I start with my reading plan and then move on to the other sections.

I use bookmarks in my Bible app to easily keep track of my reading.

https://apps.apple.com/il/app/holy-bible/id291877741?l=iw

Book marks in the App help keep track of reading

I pray that this post is helpful and that you will continue to be blessed by prayerfully reading the Scriptures.

Let’s rejoice that we have not only the Torah, but the whole Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), in addition to the writings of the New Testament.

Let’s remember that until a couple of hundred years ago, the Bible was not even available to the public and that there are those who were excommunicated and even sacrificed their lives to translate the Scriptures from Hebrew, Greek and Latin into English and other languages so that it could be printed and distributed.

Of course, spiritual truths can only be understood correctly by the guidance and revelation of the Holy Spirit who comes to indwell all who are born again from above.

You must be born again. (more here)

John 3:3 (KJV)

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 2:12-16 (KJV)

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.