Bible reading plan for 2012

I’ve been thinking about how to structure my bible reading in 2012, and have settled on a plan.

I’d like to:

• read the New Testament in a year
• take more time over each chapter
• use weekends as catch-up points
• involve friends who have never read the bible
• Use facebook to discuss and post thoughts

Therefore, I’m going to give this bible-reading plan a try. It’s called Project 345, has a number of different ways to customise how you get the text (email/phone/rss feed etc/time of day etc…). The blurb follows:

Project 3:45 is a simple, effective way to read the entire New Testament in one year. The plan involves reading one chapter per day five days a week and uses the weekends to catch up if you missed any days. The plan was named for the average of the three minutes and forty five seconds that it takes to read one New Testament chapter (obviously this time will vary due to individual reading rates, chapter lengths, and etc., but you get the point). It’s never too late, start today!

The above plan will be suited to busy people, especially if you use a smartphone or email a lot during the day. It doesn’t come with notes, so I’d still recommend using A study bible like the excellent ESV study bible which I’ve been banging on about for the last two years, or a commentary or other daily notes.

If you’re interested in joining me in this read-through, please send me an email to bible@beatcave.co.uk, or, if you are already connected to me on facebook, message me via my facebook page (www.facebook.com/gregdeblieck) I’ll be posting up my thoughts as a way to encourage a bit of friendly and honest discussion. It will be hopefully more informal than the blog format.

My main aim is to encourage as many people as possible to read as much scripture as possible, so please do give it some thought for yourself in the next day or two.

Other things I’m thinking about too:

PRAYER
I’d also like to have a little extra time to develop my praying, because this is something I’ve felt I really struggle with. I bought a fantastic book called The Valley Of Vision which contains a lot of really rich puritan prayers, I’m going to try to work through that on a daily basis.
MEMORY VERSES
A few years ago I tried to learn 52 different “memory verses”, and got about 2/3 of the way through. It was hugely valuable to focus my restless attention on some of the deepest truths of scripture, and I’d like to start that process once again (same verses, but I hope to finish it this time!) It involves reading the verses out loud 10 times, then trying to repeat them 10 times until you can do it without a prompt. Hopefully the shorter daily readings will allow me enough time to accomplish this too.

Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to the B2Y blog over the last 2 years, and I pray that 2012 will provide many fresh opportunities for you to discover the glories of God in scripture. Along with Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, I pray…

that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

resources for bible reading | Bible in 1-2 years | 2012

Justin Taylor’s blog offers an excellent list of bible reading plans and resources. I’m currently thinking about a more accessible “new testament in 1 year” plan (following the McCheyne plan again, I think), but I will post an update on this as soon as I have settled on it.

The End Is The Beginning…

We’re coming to the final few chapters of the bible read-through. I’m now wondering  how many of the 70 or so people who originally signed up are still with us at the end… I had hoped at the start to be able to offer much more support and encouragement than I was able to give. If there was a lack of a support infrastructure this time around, then please accept my apologies if I made promises that I couldn’t deliver on. The very discipline of reading 2 chapters a day was a sufficient challenge to me as it was!  If you didn’t manage to keep up, don’t worry. Tomorrow is a new day, and 2012 is a new year, and God’s love and mercies are new every morning. The treasures of his word are still there to be explored!

If you did manage to keep up, even with a few sections missing, congratulations to you! I am very pleased for you. The reward is in the reading, of course, and in building up a surer knowledge of the glorious character of God, that we can strengthen our faith and resolve. Milestones are useful though, to reflect on the nature of our trajectory as Christians, and our ultimate goal. How are we different now from two years ago? How has God changed us?

For me, the milestone is an opportunity to reflect on the value I have got from the reading: a regular daily tool in anchoring my thoughts and actions in the word of God. At the same time, I realise that I’ve got even more out of the read-through than the first time I did it, and it has inspired in me a renewed respect for the awesome depths of the scriptures. The more I read the bible, the more I see its supernatural unity. It is no work of mere human imagination, and realising this strengthens my reverence and trust in its words.

But I remember too that my reverence for it is still far less than it ought to be, and what I claim in principle (that these are the very words of God) I am slow to demonstrate in practice. There is far less unity between what I profess and what my actions show that I actually believe. “I believe, help my unbelief“. I am reminded of my own lack of discipline, knowledge and wisdom, and my tendency to wander headlong towards many kinds of sin, pride, laziness and ignorance… All this is held in check and transformed only by the grace of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit.

If reading the bible does not cause us to lose faith in ourselves and place it on God, then we have not understood its purpose. The inevitable (self?) satisfaction we have at reaching the end point should hopefully be balanced with an awareness of the nature and distance of the spiritual journey stretching out in front of us…

In all these things, I am satisfied, though, when I remember that my success doesn’t depend on my own achievements or abilities, but on Christ, who has done so much for all of us. Christ, who he is, what he has done, is doing, and will do:  this is the gospel. The critical, important news of Jesus Christ, affecting everyone, and offering a unique and unparalleled hope to all who respond to it.

For 2012, may our focus be on the glorious gospel of Christ: the gospel is the hope, anchor, power and joy of His church.  Let us joyfully continue to strive together, in God’s power, and not our own, to facilitate the glorious transformation that God is already working in us.

Merry Christmas!
Greg

P.S.In the next few days I hope to post up plans for what begins in January 2012…stay tuned!

Introduction to Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi…restoration and the promised Messiah

We’re reaching the end of our readings now with the last three minor prophets and the gospel of John (introduction to John’s gospel is found here).  Malcolm Green’s brief overview of the last 12 books of the old testament concludes here.
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With the last three of the Twelve we are definitely in post-exilic territory, when the exiles, newly returned from Babylon, were struggling to re-establish a sense of religious, cultural and ethnic identity among the Jewish people in their homeland. Pre-eminent among their concerns was the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem as the unique focus of the people’s worship and spiritual loyalty. The last three prophets, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, all belong to this period. Both Haggai and Zechariah are mentioned in Ezra  (c 5 v 1 and c 6 v 14) as chiefly responsible for restarting the work and driving it towards completion.

Haggai’s two short chapters are part narrative, part prophecy and are eloquent testimony to the urgency with which he pursued his mission. It is the year 520, the death of the Persian king Cambyses has produced widespread revolt in the empire and Haggai seizes this opportunity to urge the people to recognise that a series of bad harvests are a mark of God’s displeasure that they have not pursued the rebuilding work and the current unrest is a sign to God’s people to ready themselves for a decisive intervention in history (c 2 vv 7-8).  It is not too much to claim that, without Haggai and Zechariah, the Temple might not have been rebuilt and the future of the Jewish people themselves would have been in doubt. Thank God that he raises up people of commitment and energy like Haggai and Zechariah at critical moments in human history!

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Zechariah, whose fourteen chapters rival Hosea in length, was a younger contemporary of Haggai and chiefly concerned, like him, to see the Temple rebuilt. His prophecies, however, consist of visions, eight in number in the first six chapters, and in style and content we are reminded of Ezekiel. Furthermore, angels are now the intermediaries between God and humans, explaining to the recipient of the vision how it is to be understood. The dominant note of Zechariah’s prophecies is the restoration of prosperity and peace to Israel. Crucial for Christians is the promise of the Messiah, who will ensure the establishment of the Kingdom of God, which will embrace all nations. Chapter 9, verse 9, prefigures the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. It is this emphasis on the ultimate triumph of God’s goodness that makes Zechariah’s prophecies so relevant.

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Malachi (the name means “my messenger”) is the last of the Twelve and his four chapters close the Old Testament. Though Hebrew Bible places The Writings after the Prophets, which means that I and II Chronicles conclude the Jewish Scriptures, Malachi is regarded as the last of the prophets and Jewish tradition declares that with him the Holy Spirit departed from Israel. The situation that called forth his prophecies is as follows. The Temple has been rebuilt, the generation of Haggai and Zechariah has passed away, but so also has their commitment and enthusiasm for the correct worship of the Living God. The priests were lax in their duties and the people careless in the payment of their dues. Belief wavered: “It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge?”(c 3 v 14). Families were intermarrying with foreigners and losing their sense of religious identity. The book of Ezra is eloquent on this crisis. But though Malachi’s message is to recall the chosen people to their obligations towards Israel’s God, his concern is wider. He denounces vigorously the moral laxity of the time and pronounces a swift judgment on “sorcerers and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right and fear not Me” (c 3 v 5). Most strikingly, c 1 v 11 proclaims that even offerings made by the nations to their gods are in reality made to the only true God, since idols have no existence. This incipient universalism leads on to the promise of the Messiah (c 3 v 1), identified with Elijah (c 4 v 5-6), who will “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers”. And so the last of the Twelve gathers up the key messages of all his predecessors, as he proclaims the sovereign holiness of the God Who rules all nations and Who will in His good time execute judgment, rescue the oppressed, cleanse the people and “restore all things”, for “I have loved you, saith the Lord” (c1 v 2).

Malcolm Green

Introduction to Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah

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Of Nahum we know nothing more than is contained in his three chapters, which are entirely focused on the certain destruction which Nineveh and the whole Assyrian empire will suffer because of their cruelty, rapacity and wickedness. Whereas other prophets had stressed Israel’s comparable sins or even regarded Assyria’s oppression as God instrument of punishment, there is nothing of that here. We may presume that he spoke these words of comfort (this is the root meaning of his name) to his fellow-countrymen when Assyria was trampling over everyone and seemed invincible. The message we can take from his graphic celebration of Assyria’s downfall is the assurance that God will ultimately put an end to injustice and oppression, though His timescale will often stretch human patience.

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This impatience is in evidence right at the start of the eighth prophet, Habakkuk: “How long, O Lord, shall I cry, and You will not hear. I cry out to You of violence, and You will not save.” There follows a description of the advancing Babylonians (called Chaldeans) and the terrible destruction they left in their wake. Habakkuk takes his stand on his watchtower in the hope of receiving an answer. But God gives him a vision, which he is told will be fulfilled in God’s own good time. Retribution will indeed come, but not in accordance with our time-scale. “The Lord is in His holy temple, let all the earth keep silence before Him”. This verse introduces Chapter 3, which is a poetic description of the appearance of the Lord God in majesty, reminiscent of Psalm 104. The Lord God will come to punish iniquity (vv 13-14) and deliver His people. The devastation of warfare, even when it results in the overthrow of the enemy, can be hugely damaging, but in two magnificent verses the prophet voices his confidence that God will bring us through. These verses (c 3 vv 17-18) have been taken up into our hymn book in Cowper’s lines: “Though vine nor fig tree neither Their wonted fruit should bear, Though all the fields be withered, Nor flock nor herd be there, Yet, God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice, For, still in God confiding, I cannot but rejoice.”  The Christian’s hope, of course, extends beyond this life, but Habakkuk’s confidence reminds us that we are no less under God’s protection here and now.

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A little earlier in date than Nahum and Habakkuk, Zephaniah, like them, proclaims the destruction of all those whose immoral conduct is incompatible with the sovereignty of God’s holiness: “All those who are settled on their lees, that say in their heart: the Lord will not do any good, neither will He do evil” (c 1 v 12). This includes Assyria, Moab, the Philistines, even Ethiopians (c 2), but also Jerusalem, whose princes, judges, prophets and priests have profaned what is holy and done violence to the law (c 2 vv 3-4). But a faithful remnant will return from all the lands to which they have been scattered and they and all nations will acknowledge God’s sovereignty: “I will make you to be a name and a praise among all the peoples of the earth” (c 3 v 20).

(Malcolm Green)

Introduction to The 12 Prophets 1-6 (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah)

Malcolm Green has been especially supportive over the last two years with his contributions to the B2Y blog, and has helped me out once again (thanks Malcolm!) with the following overviews of the 12 “minor” prophets. I will schedule the remaining 6 for the coming month.

It’s easy to lose perspective when reading the prophets one chapter a day, so I strongly recommend using this post to refresh your memory for what you’ve (hopefully) just finished reading…

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The Twelve Prophets that conclude our Old Testament scripture are regarded as one book in Jewish tradition. They had come to be regarded as a single volume during the centuries that followed the downfall of the Babylonian empire and the return of leading Jews to rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship.

These twelve prophets (sometimes called Minor Prophets in Christian tradition, by contrast with Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, whose collected prophecies are much longer) span a time-scale of some four hundred years, from the reigns of Jeroboam II in Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and Uzziah in Judah (the Southern kingdom) in the eighth century to the Persian period in the fourth.

The series begins with Hosea,

Introduction to Amos: Does prosperity = divine approval?

Listen up Israel,

You’re surrounded by evil people who commit great atrocities of war, greed and avarice. God’s fury is coming to them. Are you pleased to hear that news?
Now, your wayward brother, Judah…Those people have wandered away from what God explicitly taught them, just like their fathers. God is going to light a fire amongst them. Are you pleased to hear this?

Now…What about yourself?
You have experienced victories over your enemies recently. You have money and you prosper. But don’t be so quick to equate prosperity with blessing, or with divine approval.
Ask yourselves: how did we come by this wealth? Was it by obeying God’s laws of old? The sword of justice cuts both ways.
Don’t you know what God hates? He hates idolatry. He hates to see people flagrantly abusing the gift of sex. He hates injustice and self-satisfied iniquity. You witnessed God’s judgement on other nations for these things, but He saved you and showed you great patience. You have been a blessed people. But you have thrown that blessing in His face, and he will bring you low. Repent! Do you think He takes pleasure in seeing this happen to you?

You think that because of your name, the tides of invading empires have receded from you? Look farther out, you shortsighted fool, and see the tidal wave that is growing. God have given you ample warning. The tide? It obeys God! And it will sweep in and uproot you. Everything you enjoyed, everything you took pride in will be swept away. Everyone who thought they were secure will find themselves destroyed. Perhaps then you will see God for who he really is, in his holiness, standing beside His altar.

But look Israel, where the flood waters have receded, a verdant land will grow. God is a good God, and has a purpose which will not be upset by your failures.

Israel, be the people God intended you to be. Long for the day when your sins will be behind you, once and for all.

Introduction to Joel: Judgement or Salvation

Joel is a short prophetic book which evocatively describes the ravages of a “locust army”. Locust swarms represent a massive catastrophe for any agrarian society, and the prophet Joel uses this image to represent forthcoming judgement, on “the day of the LORD”.

The language is poetic, the text is difficult to date exactly, little is known about the author…It is no surprise that the exact interpretation of this book is the subject of some scholarly debate. For more on the interpretative challenges of Joel, the ESV study bible offers a more thorough overview here.

The prophetic ideas of judgement and salvation are central, and Joel expresses the idea that God will judge, but he will also protect and deliver His people in the midst of devastation and catastrophe.

How does a nation survive if the Holy God is in their midst? Where Holiness is, there is judgement and wrath at sin.  Joel uses powerful pictures to express the gravity and extent of the problems that sin creates for us.

But because God is one who keeps his covenants, He offers grace and hope for the repentant: He will be a “stronghold” and a “refuge” for His people. (3:16-17)

Hosea, you loveable, gullible man.

We’ll be starting to read the book of Hosea in a couple of days.

Here is one of my favourite songs, from one of my favourite songwriters, Andrew Peterson.

Well every time I lay in the bed beside you,
Hosea, Hosea,
I hear the sound of the streets of the city.
My belly growls like a hungry wolf
And I let it prowl till my belly’s full.
Hosea, my heart is a stone.

So please believe me when I say I’m sorry,
Hosea, Hosea,
you loveable, gullible man.
I tell you that my love is true
Till it fades away like a morning dew.
Hosea, leave me alone.

Here I am in the Valley of Trouble.
Just look at the bed that I’ve made:
Badlands as far as I can see.
Well there’s no one here but me,
Hosea.

Well I stumbled and fell in the road on the way home,
Hosea, Hosea.
I lay in the brick street like a stray dog.
You came to me like a silver moon
With the saddest smile I ever knew.
Hosea carried me home again.
Home again.

You called me out to the Valley of Trouble,
Just to look at the mess that I’ve made,
A barren place where nothing can grow.
One look and my stone heart crumbled–
It was a valley as green as jade.
I swear it was the color of hope.
You turned a stone into a rose,
Hosea, Hosea.

Hosea

Well I sang and I danced like I did as a young girl,
Hosea, Hosea.
I am a slave and a harlot no more.
You washed me clean like a summer rain
And you set me free with that ball and chain.
Hosea, I threw away the key.

I’ll never leave.
Hosea, Hosea.

Introduction to Daniel: Faith Under Fire

Daniel

What constitutes a betrayal? The book of Daniel begins as a historical narrative which wrestles with that question, and the issues of God’s judgement, and His saving power. It recounts the experience of the conquest of the Jewish people by the Babylonians – a temporary judgement, and a time of discipline through divine indignation – from the point of view of four princes of Israel. Chastened by the experience of exile, Daniel and his companions drew the line at disobedience. The dietary laws of the Jews were non-negotiable for them because they did not wish to be defiled in God’s sight. To modern eyes, this looks like hair-splitting. After all, their small country was enslaved in exile, and the Jews allowed their most noble sons to be assimilated into Babylonian culture through education. Why not just eat the food their new masters provided? Was it worth causing a fuss to preserve an identity that had already passed? Surely this was the end of Israel? Daniel is the story of why purity prevails. It is a tale of heaven and earth.

The way that God gave Daniel and his schoolboy companions victory in this seemingly small area is the precursor to a greater story: the faithfulness of men faced with death. The most memorable parts of Daniel are its great set-pieces. The account of the fiery furnace is a great example of faith which does not count the cost, as is the similar narrative of how Daniel faced the den of lions. Both incidents point to God’s faithfulness, and remind us of Jesus, who not only faced the prospect of harm, but died so that he could rescue his people from their faithlessness. Jesus features in the prophetic part of the book too, as

“ one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.”

There are many highlights in the parts of the story which take place on earth. Perhaps the most dramatic section of the historical part of the book records the response of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to Nebuchadnezzar. The king asks a rhetorical question: who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands? But he receives one of the great answers in all the bible:

“…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”

The words “but if not” are truly amazing. Our God is able, but even if he does not save us… These men have grasped the value of God, and have placed it above their own lives. They are in the hands of the Ancient of Days, described by Daniel later in the book:

“As I looked,
thrones were placed,
and the Ancient of Days took his seat;
his clothing was white as snow,
and the hair of his head like pure wool;
his throne was fiery flames;
its wheels were burning fire.
A stream of fire issued
and came out from before him;
a thousand thousands served him,
and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;
the court sat in judgment,
and the books were opened.”

The intervention of God in Nebuchadnezzar’s life, through dreams and interpretation brings the king to this pass:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honoured him who lives forever,
for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”

Besides these dramatic vignettes, and strange role reversals, Daniel narrates the fall of empires through his account of the handwriting on the wall, and the accession of Darius and Cyrus. The first section of the book ends with the words “So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” This prosperity is explained with in the context of the experience of his repentance and faith. The cataclysm of history is a metaphor for the deeper reality of faith and faithlessness.

The prophecies which make up the remainder of the book are hard to understand. Indeed they are so hard, that at several points Daniel himself is unaware of their meaning. This, by the way, is a great reason to suppose that they are trustworthy. The first and second visions are explained, but Daniel even says: “And I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for some days. Then I rose and went about the king’s business, but I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.”

Whether or not the prophecies are clear, their thematic drift is intelligible, and the interpretation given within the book is coherent and straightforward. The important thing about them is that they have been given. That is, they explain what they explain.(Who knows what we will one day understand of them?)

The ninth chapter is a prayer of repentance and faith, which is tremendously encouraging, as, in the next chapter, Daniel is called: “man greatly loved” and is told not to be afraid. Why should he be unafraid? The context is visions of God in judgement, and the Son of Man with all authority. Fear is absolutely reasonable: if anyone has offended that great goodness, how can they stand? The reason given is that “from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.” This is a good word, and worth taking note of. God our Savior, desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

If you get into the prophetic section, then like as not, with Daniel you will say “I heard, but I did not understand.” Daniel asked: “O my lord, what shall be the outcome of these things?” He was told, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.” Bits of the affairs of heaven spilled over into the earth.

Edgar de Blieck

Psalm 104

O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.

O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.

Ezekiel: Damn Well Listen

Ezekiel is a tough read.

If you tell people that you wake up every morning and have a “quiet time” for bible reading, they probably imagine you with a kind of ready-brek glow, reading words of wisdom and tranquility, with a saintly half-smile on your lips. Ezekiel takes that “thought for the day” portrait and rips it up.

“Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, and they shall deal with you in hatred…and the nakedness of your whoring will be uncovered…A cup of horror and desolation…you shall drink it and drain it out, and gnaw its shards, and tear your breasts…” (Ezekiel 23)

We almost have no frame of reference for this kind of language. It is vulgar to our western sensibilities. What can be the purpose of it? Do we treat it as the ravings of a lunatic…like those straggly guys wearing “end is nigh” signs? Is Ezekiel just a shocking performance artist, a kind of twisted entertainer whose message is essentially impotent?

The book of Ezekiel fundamentally challenges you if your purpose in reading the bible is simply to have a spiritual cupcake for an enhanced sense of wellbeing.

Ezekiel forces us to consider: how does God get through to people who repeatedly brazenly ignore him? Have you any idea of the magnitude of the sin when a person intentionally defies God in this way? What experiences do we have to which this might compare? Ezekiel goes to great pains to show us. Ezekiel is even called to go beyond using mere words, and has to act out his prophecies, in order that his listeners might see, taste, smell and touch the message which God has for his rebellious people. God, though angry with these people, wants to ensure they have every possible chance to contextualise and understand his message to them.

God suddenly kills Ezekiel’s wife: not to punish Ezekiel, but to use the very language of death to communicate his message. Ezekiel is told not to mourn her loss, that the people might see how they themselves are acting this way towards God. They risk losing their glorious God, just as Ezekiel lost his wife. Why do they not mourn?

God has a serious and profound message to communicate to mankind. It is the message of the gospel: it is ultimately a message of the greatest hope. But we cannot ignore that a significant part of that message is about sin, rebellion and unfaithfulness, and these things must somehow be confronted and dealt with.

Ezekiel is like God using an expletive to get his people’s attention. To what lengths will God have to go to get yours?

“As surely as I live,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “I take no delight in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?” Ezekiel 33:11

Lamentations: Grief, not despair

Suffering is an issue which profoundly characterizes the human condition. We have many questions about suffering, frailty, guilt, sin and death and the bible has much to say about these things. The book of Lamentations is an often neglected response to these issues.

How do we respond when God brings catastrophe on our lives? Or, as a Christian, do you think you are exempt from that, so long as you keep believing that God will protect you?
Some Churches teach a muddled theology of suffering, suggesting that we prosper according to how much faith we have, and suffering, disease or tragedy are only the result of a failure in our faith. Like so much false teaching, this thinking has a grain of truth, but is dangerously skewed. If this is your outlook, and disaster strikes you, you have no way of dealing with it: it will damage not just your physical wellbeing, but your faith as well. And rightly so, because a false faith that cannot save you is as bad as (or worse than) no faith at all.

Jesus said that his followers would have to take up their cross and follow him, confirming that suffering would be as much a part of a Christian’s life as it was for Christ himself. But if we look at the book of Lamentations, we find the same truth playing out. It is written for those people in Israel who were “the remnant”, who experienced the full force of one manifestation of the terrible “day of the Lord”, escaping with their lives, only to live with the terrible grief and memory of what was lost.

All the good things that were associated with being God’s covenant people, the community, the temple, health, security and prosperity…all these things were removed from them because of Israel’s endemic unfaithfulness. God’s wrath at sin is kindled, and is displayed in a terrible way. Even those faithful to God felt this wrath. The writer of this book feels that judgement and loss keenly.

But what about the greatest loss of all? There is a loss from which no recovery is possible. It is a loss that is beyond the losses of the many gifts that God gives us, and it is the loss of God himself. We turn our backs on God many times, but what if he were to turn His back on us? The exiled people of Israel were doubtless inclined to ask that question. If they had put their faith in the gifts of God with no regard to God himself, then they would truly have felt devastated when it all turned to ashes.

It’s important to remember that the people in Jerusalem were religious people. They had a degree of cultural pride in their heritage, in their observances, in the name of their god. They showed that they didn’t really understand their calling by their growing unfaithfulness, but how aware were they of this situation? What would it take for us to learn the difference between faith in religion, and faith in God? Disaster, when sent by God, does not make us desperate, but rather it reveals our desperation.

Despite the totality and depth of the suffering which God’s people have experienced, the message of Lamentations is that God has not given up on his promises. The message is that God’s faithfulness goes deeper even than this kind of judgement, and we read that in Chapter 3:21 onwards.
When Jesus taught his disciples that they could “turn the other cheek” he was thinking about Lamentations 3:30 “Let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults”. Those who realise that “The Lord is [their] portion” (3:24) are able not just to endure all suffering, but find blessing in the midst of it.

We have the book of Lamentations that we might, through profound poetry, experience in our imaginations the kind of disaster that reveals our desperate need for God. Perhaps God will spare us from similar tragedy in our own lives. We need not seek it, but Lamentations shows us that we can find profound value in even the deepest of suffering, because we know that God has remained faithful to those who repent and seek his face.

There was one man who did not need tragedy to teach him what God’s love was worth. He knew the joy of communion with the Father in all its fulness, and he knew every blessing that came with it. But Jesus Christ entered and endured the deepest of tragedies: separation from God. He did this so that we, like the remnant of Israel, might have a firm hope in the forgiveness and faithfulness of God.

Reading the Psalms: recap

Back in April 2010, Paul Maxfield posted an excellent introduction to the book of Psalms. It’s worth reading over this to help keep the book of Psalms in context.

Being honest, I can remember tuning out on a few occasions when reading the Psalms, because many of them sound similar, and the modern translations can’t retain the original poetry that took these important ideas and made them ‘musical’.

This time around I’m going to try reading each psalm as a prayer, reading it to God. Developing a regular prayer life that uses good, biblical theology is something worth aiming for, so that we can pray in line with God’s will, and get to know Him better.

If you’ve been struggling to keep up with the readings, why not use today as a catch-up point? Take note of where you fell behind, and join in afresh. I hope it’s going well for you.

Recap of the gospel of Mark

I’ve been remiss over the last few weeks in keeping on top of the blog posts. Nevertheless, if you’re still keeping up with B2Y, I’m praying that your readings are going well, and that they are serving to grow your love for Jesus, and your passion for God’s glory.

Here is the introduction to the gospel of Mark, from when we began reading it last year.

Please take the time to continue to encourage one another in bible reading. It is often difficult to even pick up the book when our lives are hectic, or in a downright mess, and God has placed us in community to support each other.

Jeremiah: Mr Unpopular

It’s difficult to get a handle on the book of Jeremiah: it is long, was compiled over Jeremiah’s lifetime, and it covers a wide variety of subjects in a variety of ways. The lessons we get from Jeremiah can’t be easily summarised, but hopefully the following overview will help you to maintain a perspective of the book as you read.

———-

JEREMIAH

Jeremiah was young and reluctant, but God called him to be a prophet just the same.

 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

He started out as a prophet when Judah was ruled by Josiah, the last faithful king of Judah.

Within two decades of Josiah’s death, Judah was in serious political, social, financial, moral and spiritual decay. Gone were those days when the people of Israel felt the sovereign protection of their God, when

“Israel was holy to the LORD,
    the firstfruits of his harvest.
All who ate of it incurred guilt;
   disaster came upon them”.

Now,

“The lions have roared against him;
   they have roared loudly.
They have made his land a waste;
   his cities are in ruins, without inhabitant.”

The lions of war were circling, in the form Babylon, Assyria and Egypt. Jeremiah prophesied at various stages during the political turmoil of these times. He watched as Judah tried negotiation, resistance, surrender and duplicity in any attempt to stay afloat, and to somehow protect its borders and national identity.

In the middle of this unrest, Jeremiah was the prophet who recalled the promises God made of old, the blessings and the curses of the covenant with Israel. God used Jeremiah to say, in uncompromising terms, exactly how the people had forsaken God.

“For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly treacherous to me,
declares the LORD.”

The people were becoming godless, forsaking all of God’s commands. They didn’t fear him, respect him or even think of him. They pursued selfish gain and every kind of sin, all of which was the result of people desiring to be rid of God,  to rebel.

“for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me,
   the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
   broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

Jeremiah pointed out to the people cowering before the might of other nations like Babylon that God himself had summoned this “lion” to judge, and pillage and destroy.

God’s people had to learn the hard way that sin, injustice and rebellion are an affront to a holy God. He was sick of the people who turned up to weekly worship but refused to do anything about their sins.

“Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail.  Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’—only to go on doing all these abominations? Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah called the people to repent, or “turn away” from their sins again and again…over 100 times in the book. He wept at the stubbornness of people, and the coming judgement that was evidence of their sinful condition. Preaching repentance was just as popular in Jeremiah’s day as it is today. He rattled so many cages that Passhur the priest came and beat him up and put him in the stocks.

Jeremiah faithfully fulfilled his thankless duty, hammering home the message, even as God began to hammer home his judgement. God’s people had to understand the nature, the cost of their rebellion. But in the broken and fractured earth God was digging up, God, through Jeremiah, plants a seed of hope.

Jeremiah foretold a return from exile, when those people who placed their faith in God would make up a “remnant” of Israel. They would be participators in a New Covenant, and live under a wise king: the prophesied Messiah, David’s “righteous branch”.

The old covenant was given to a nation of people who collectively failed to honour it, despite God’s unerring faithfulness and patience. The new covenant would be for those people whose obedience demonstrated that they had faith in God. God’s law, the spirit of the law, would be written on their hearts, and somehow, for those people, God would “remember their sins no more”.  The broken, destitute, exiled communities of Israel and Judah would eventually be united in this new covenant community, and fulfill their calling to be the light of the world.

 

 

 

 

Recap of the gospel of Matthew

Matthew: God’s Kingdom Is On The Move

Recap: intros to recent books of the bible

I missed linking to the introduction to Philemon a while back, so here it is. Love Jesus, Love His Family

The letter of James reminded Christians what faith looks like in action: Faith Works Out

The First letter of Peter gave urgent instructions to Christians facing persecution, reminding them of spiritual realities, and the hope of the Gospel.

2nd Peter was a reminder to watch out for false teachers, and remember where the church’s Superhuman Power comes from.

First John helps us answer the question: Are You A Christian? and reminds us that sin and following Christ are incompatible.

How To Read A Book.

How is your reading going? Is the train wobbling on the tracks yet? I’ve been reading Isaiah, and Carson’s notes and realising that there are some books and passages in the bible that require a different level of concentration, and a different level of academic discipline and awareness. Sometimes I just don’t have the time (or more likely, the inclination) to understand the specifics of his prophecies. It becomes a bit of a homogenous mush in my memory, shortly after reading it. Sorry Isaiah!

I’m reading a book just now called “How To Read A Book” by Mortimer J. Adler. It’s one of many that I’m dipping into on my Kindle. It’s helping me to think about the discipline of engaged reading. He identifies four different levels of reading:

Elementary (recognising the words without thinking about them)

Inspectional (systematic skim-reading to get the gist)

Analytical Reading (“asking many, and organised questions” of what you are reading).

The fourth level he calls Syntopical or Comparative Reading. This level requires the reader to read not just one book but many, placing them “in relation to one another and to a subject about which they all revolve…the syntopical reader is able to construct an analysis of the subject that may not be in any of the books.“

Time constraints, mental disposition, priorities and environment are some of the variable factors we bring to our reading. Sometimes we are simply unable to get anything beyond an elementary reading of a passage because our head is not in the right place, or the passage is simply too complex for us. Our aim is to have at least an Inspectional approach to our reading. If we are skimming through it to gain the main points, we are still engaging with the text to a degree, and it will yield some benefit. But the truth is that we benefit most when we attempt Analytical reading (Syntopical reading is a highly advanced and academic pursuit, and advisable only once we have learned the discipline of Analytical reading.)

Adler describes valuable reading as not a passive activity, but an active discipline: it is “aided discovery”, not just reading for entertainment. To learn, we must think, we must use our imaginations, ask questions. This requires practice. Reading the bible daily challenges us to develop ourselves as readers, it challenges our capacity to learn. And it is the most valuable of teachers.

But in all this, it is important to remember that Bible reading is not just an intellectual exercise (though it is hardly less than this). When we engage with any other text, we grapple with the thoughts and ideas of an author and teacher who is not present with us. But with Scripture, the author is present with us, ready to hear our prayers, and help us to understand. The aim of scripture is that we learn, through reading it, to look beyond it and know its glorious Author.

So if you’re struggling, get the book out again. Try again, don’t give up. It won’t stay difficult forever: just persevere.

Introduction to Isaiah: God’s Unstoppable Glory

Isaiah’s contribution to the Old Testament was compiled over his whole life, though little is known about the author apart from his credentials as a prophet of God. It defies specific categorisation, because its remit is so broad, the style is varied, and the subject matter is so thoroughly profound.

Isaiah says little about himself (he is the son of Amoz), and he may have been a member of the royal family around 740 B.C. He appears to have lived in Jerusalem (7:3) and was a married man and a father (7:3; 8:3, 18). But Isaiah’s focus is on God himself, and everything else is defined by its relation to God. God is seen by Isaiah as the glorious centre of reality. How long will it take us to start seeing God in this way?

Isaiah is given the task of being God’s mouthpiece: revealing God’s character, his response to situations and attitudes, his judgements, and also his plans. This great prophet announces God’s surprising plan of grace and glory for his rebellious people, and, indeed, for the world.

In chapters 1-39, God speaks through Isaiah to His people who are quaking in fear before the threat of Assyria (the eighth century B.C.). They are in a state of rebellion towards God, and God is going to demonstrate to them that his judgement is required to purify the remnant: to teach them that they are rebels who were unwilling to return to God, despite his enjoinders.

In chapters 40-55, Isaiah speaks prophecies about the 6th century B.C. (long after his own death!) when God’s people will be exiled in Babylon. He speaks consolation to those discouraged exiles, and reminds them that “the glory of the LORD shall be revealed” (40:5)

Chapters 56-66 reveal some more general prophecies about all times and occasions until the end, and are for people who are trusting in God’s promises. They remind us of the promise of salvation, and teach us to “Keep justice, and do righteousness” (56:1) which is pleasing to God.

Crucially, despite the fact that Isaiah denounces hypocrisy, greed and idolatry amongst God’s chosen people, he also foresees the Saviour of offenders, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God-with-us (7:14), the child destined to rule forever (9:6-7), the hope of the Davidic throne (11:1), the glory of the Lord (40:5), the suffering servant of the Lord (42:1-9; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12), the anointed preacher of the gospel (61:1-3), the bloodied victor over all evil (63:1-6) and more. Isaiah is mentioned by name in the New Testament over 20 times and is quoted there extensively, for the message he preached is the very gospel of Jesus and the apostles.

How will you respond to the message of Isaiah? Will it harden your pride against God, (what right does God have to insist on these things?), or will it make you contrite, and give you comfort and hope in the God who has not let his plan for salvation be stopped by our sinfulness, but gave his very son that we might be redeemed?

Isaiah is no easy book to summarize, or even to offer an introduction to…hence the delay in getting this out there. Sorry once again for the delays. I hope everyone’s readings are going from strength to strength. And I’m again grateful for my trusty ESV study bible for much of the content of this post, lest anyone thinks I am able to write this stuff unaided!

Recap: The Pastoral Epistles & Hebrews

Introductions to the Pastoral epistles are here:

1st and 2nd Timothy

Titus

and, if you’re up to date, we’re now reading through Hebrews and Song of Songs. Since both of these books began on the same day, if you are falling behind, now is a good time to rejoin with the group!

I’m interested to hear any thoughts, comments or reflections people have on any of the above books, or about how you’re getting on with the read-through!

Scenes of a Sexual Nature – Introduction to Song of Songs

Before the fall, Adam and Eve were both naked, and felt no shame. After the fall, sexuality is one of the first places where they experience the painful and confusing effects of their sins. Since the bible documents God’s rescue plan for mankind, it’s fair to ask: where does Song of Songs fit into this?

If God intends to restore and redeem his creation to its proper functioning, then that process includes God’s plan to redeem human sexuality. God’s concern is that we learn to use sex and sexuality for its rightful purpose in a way that brings honour and glory to its author. The thing is not that we do it, but that we do it right.

Song of Songs is in many ways a challenging book. There are a variety of schools of thought regarding author, narrative flow, characterisation and the meaning of certain terms and passages. My ESV bible mentions a number of these approaches, and selects one while recognising that no one interpretation is devoid of academic difficulties. I’m not qualified to comment on these, but feel free to read up on the differences between the Allegorical Interpretation, the Anthology Interpretation, the Shepherd Hypothesis and the Solomon-Shulammite Interpretation.

This is not to admit that there are no lessons to be learned from Song of Songs. It’s always important to ask questions like:

• Why is this book in the canon of Scripture?
• What is particularly special about this book?
• What does it teach us about God, about reality, about us?
• Does it express ideas found elsewhere in Scripture in a useful or illustrative way?

Some observations about the main themes of Song of Songs (again from ESV study bible):

1. God’s covenant, which commands sexual purity, provides just the right framework (marriage) within which his people may properly enjoy the gift of sexual intimacy (cf. Gen. 2:23–24). Thus God’s people honor him and commend him to the world when they demonstrate with their lives that obedience in such matters brings genuine delight.

2. Marriage is a gift of God, and is to be founded on loyalty and commitment (see Gen. 2:24, “hold fast”), which allows delight to flourish. As such, it is a fitting image for God’s relationship with his people, in both the OT and the NT.

Song of Songs is a reminder that God is the inventor of pleasure; that sex is not somehow better enjoyed outside God’s jurisdiction. It reminds us that romantic love is something worth celebrating, and God often gives access to this profound joy to even the simplest among us.

A balanced view of sexuality identifies the power and fragility of the gift, both the risks and the possibilities. Above all, it acknowledges that sex is a gift from God, but not God himself.

For those of us who are not in a position to enjoy this particular gift of God, it is important to remember that we can yet celebrate what the gift foreshadows. God does not give everyone the blessings of wealth, or of health, or beauty, peace, or wisdom. But before you find this cause for despair, remember that he has given us Christ: God has given us Himself. We can derive greater satisfaction in knowing that the all-powerful God who saves us in Christ intends to withhold no good thing from those who love him.

There will indeed come a time when the church, the bride of Christ, will see the approach of the bridegroom. We need not be ashamed to understand Christ’s return in terms of marital consummation, but we should also be careful to understand that the gift of human sexuality is but a shadow of the joy which Christ plans for his church.

What is the point of anything? (Introduction to Ecclesiastes)

Ecclesiastes

Ecc: 1:15

What is crooked cannot be made straight,
and what is lacking cannot be counted.

What the teacher says here is that he sees that the world is bent out of shape. He knows that everything under the sun is meaningless. He also knows that it should not be meaningless – the meaninglessness itself is a product of a broken reality. The meaning which is lacking can not be experienced, because what is lacking cannot be counted, except as a want. The teacher has confronted his problem. He does not allow it to get on top of him.

This is the preamble to his discourse, which, of course, he wrote after he had tried all the things he tried to create meaning in his life. If you read Ecclesiastes you find that he did all the things that people experiment with, in a search for meaning. He tried worldly wisdom, madness, stupidity, pleasures, possessions, people, sex, fame, greatness, reputation, honour, power, hard work, indigence, family, making vows to God, doing things for God, mourning, feasting, laughing and gossip, human justice, finding vicarious meaning through children, marriage, risky business, and every other thing that people try to give meaning to their lives. He found out that, “All is vanity”.

But that would be a gloomy and unpalatable end to the matter, if that had been all he had to say about it. In fact, he appeals to faith. His summary invites men to trust God, and to live out their lives as if God’s judgment should make sense of the things we do. In fact, it is something stronger than trust that he enjoins on his reader: it is fear. The one who lived out the life delighting in the fear of the Lord was the one whose life had most significance, and most meaning, and most glory. It turns out that the teacher knew what he was talking about, even if he didn’t know Who…

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Ed

Recap: 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy

Malcolm Green wrote an introduction to 2nd Thessalonians. I wonder if, having just finished this letter from Paul, you remember enough about it to agree (or disagree!) with Malcolm’s overview. I found that very little of what Paul wrote had taken root in my conscious brain. And while there are other subtle, unconscious and Spirit-given benefits in reading God’s word, an important aim should always be to have God’s word consciously available to us, for our use and benefit.

The truth is that people remember stories more than anything else. It’s not hard to recall the stories of David and Goliath, or Moses and the burning bush. If we can picture something in our mind’s eye, we experience it, and we learn from it in a way that only experience can teach us. We should not neglect our imagination as we try to read scripture.

As we start reading the first letter to Timothy, (intro here) try to form a picture of both the author and the recipient of this pastoral epistle. Timothy, the young, gifted leader about whom prophecies were made, growing up in the faith of his mother and grandmother. Paul, the father-pastor, clinical of mind, but burning with passion for the truth of the gospel, and deeply concerned about the sanctification of his flock. Imagine the church, the culture, the landscape, the weather, the clothes, the food. Use the text to create a backdrop so that you can better remember the important lessons being taught.

A good imagination can help us ground these letters firmly in reality, even when they talk about complex, abstract doctrines and ideas. God has given us an imagination: let us harness it for his glory.

Popular Idols.

Proverbs 29:25 says “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”

Trusting in anything other than God for your security, happiness, hope and daily provision is idolatry. The bible says that is a fundamentally fatal idea, because it goes against the purpose of our very existence: to acknowledge God’s glorious character. If we don’t acknowledge this in our daily lives, then we are denying God his rightful place as God, and that is our most serious sin. Furthermore, if we persist in this sin, we blind ourselves to the grace, forgiveness and sheer glory of God, and miss out on the very thing we were created to enjoy forever. This is the most dangerous path we can tread, and yet we tread it daily.

Our idols are often “Good Things made into God things, which is a Bad Thing”. Idolatry looks like this: God gives us good things, often with instructions for how best to use them, and we recklessly appropriate them for our own greedy and savage uses, inflating our own sense of worth and offering little more than lip-service to our generous heavenly father.

Even for people who have accepted Jesus as their saviour and lord, allowing ourselves to let go of our idols is a slow and lifelong process which can only be done with the Holy Spirit’s help. Trust me, we all suck at this. But because of Jesus, God forgives, and his mercies are new every morning, which means that Christians do not need to be held captive to their past failings, and we can embark on a new trajectory that leads us away from idolatry and into full communion with God.

In the first instance, though, how do we identify those things that are preventing us from finding our peace and satisfaction in God?

David Powlison, in his book Seeing With New Eyes highlights 11 questions that help us identify what our idols are.

1. What do I worry about most?
2. What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel that I did not even want to live?
3. What do I use to comfort myself when things go bad or get difficult?
4. What do I do to cope? What are my release valves? What do I do to feel better?
5. What preoccupies me? What do I daydream about?
6. What makes me feel the most self-worth? Of what am I the proudest? For what do I want to be known?
7. What do I lead with in conversations?
8. Early on what do I want to make sure that people know about me?
9. What prayer, unanswered, would make me seriously think about turning away from God?
10. What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make me happy?
11. What is my hope for the future?

We will soon start the book of Ecclesiastes, written by a cheerful guy who argues that everything is meaningless. I think it’s important to prepare for this by evaluating the things in our lives that give us meaning, and discovering whether there is something more important out there, beyond our immediate needs, appetites and desires.

HT Jared Wilson via Resurgence.

What is Exegesis?

R.C. Sproul and D.A. Carson discussing how to read the bible.

HT: Justin Taylor

(I suppose that the way Sproul starts this interview seems a little cringe-y to cynical Brits like me, but I think the compliments proceed from deeply genuine affection and respect rather than an underhand desire to idolise Carson’s opinions… but the rest of the 25 minute discussion is very worthwhile, if you can spare the time.)

Colossians (recap), 1 Thessalonians, and a tip for Proverbs

I must confess that I’ve been drifting behind a bit with my readings in the last week or so. I’ve also missed a fair few of D.A. Carson’s commentaries (sorry Don). I’m finding Proverbs non-linear style quite slow progress (I’m at about chapter 15), but I’ve caught up in my NT readings at least. If you’re behind in your readings, don’t give up! Take note of what you’ve missed and join in with the rest of us at a suitable point.

I’ve noticed that reading larger chunks at a time can also be beneficial for allowing you to follow the bigger picture, and the motives and priorities of the book (though Proverbs is not like that!)

To try and get a little extra benefit from Proverbs, why not do the following: every day, take note of one proverb which seems especially appropriate to your life at the moment and write it on a piece of paper. Keep it on your desk, or somewhere visible, and use it to remind yourself to pray for God’s help in that area today. You could share it with someone via a text message or email. I think this reflects the spirit of proverbs.

Our previous introduction to Colossians can be found here. We’re now in 1st Thessalonians, obviously.

Meanwhile, I will refer myself to Proverbs 6:6

” Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.”

Philippians In Other Words

Philippians Intro

Galatians and Ephesians

Since we’re reading through the New Testament for a second time in our two-year plan, I will post links to the original intros, which might be useful to nudge our memories.

One of my own aims with scripture reading is to get a better idea of what each book is about and the issues it addresses: to get a feel for its context and purpose. I find this especially difficult with the epistles and the prophets, so I’m looking out for ways that we can start to get a handle on these things. We have a couple of ideas in the pipeline for a general meeting in the next couple of months, so I’ll keep you posted!

Introduction to Galatians: A Backwards Glance

Questions about Ephesians & Unity

(I love the opening chapter of Ephesians. This is worth a little slow, engaged reading!)

PS Remember that discussion, questions, encouragement and general responses are welcome and encouraged from everyone who is doing the B2Y.

 

Introduction to Proverbs: Transforming Wisdom

The book of Proverbs is a prime example of OT “Wisdom Literature”.

What is the purpose of the this kind of book? And why is it part of the canon of holy scripture? It doesn’t seem to advance the narrative of God’s plan of salvation through the nation of Israel. Neither does it seem to deal directly with the law, the temple or the priesthood, or Israel’s covenant history. It is not particularly messianic in tone.

Is this maybe just ancient lifestyle advice, like we get from our modern-day magazines?

Wisdom literature surfaced in various ways in many ancient cultures in times of stability and peace. Is this little more than another collection of these works, compiled when Israel happened to be thriving? I believe that it’s more than that, and it is included in the canon because, amongst other things, it reflects God’s intimate concern for the transformation of his people, centred around the conflict in our will: the choice between what is wise and what is foolish.

The pithy statement that contrasts “wise or foolish” is the predominating literary feature in the book of Proverbs. It presents a clear distinction in a variety of practical situations and encourages the reader to meditate on these ideas, to learn to discern the way of wisdom. It’s worth noting that being “wise” does not mean simply being a person of penetrating insight, like a royal advisor. The meaning of the term is broad enough to encapsulate a whole-life approach, skills and attitude as well as understanding. And at the root is the assertion that first, we must learn to fear God.

It is also crucial to recognise that the book is written and compiled especially for the covenant community of God. That means it is written with an awareness of, and reverence for God and his attributes, including his justice, goodness and unlimited wisdom. If you are a member of God’s people, then God has already revealed truths to you about Himself, he has given you a sense of community and purpose, a variety of ceremonial institutions, legal and moral guidance. The Wisdom Literature of the bible helps us to develop the skills, the wisdom, to translate the many gifts of God into everyday living: to make the connections between our theology and our practice. When we look at Christ’s teaching, we discover that it regularly reflects a similar concern.

As we read Proverbs, we should reflect on the fact that choosing between the right way and the wrong way is not a skill which comes automatically to God’s people. We are called to join in -to be participants- in the transformation which God has graciously called us to. Holding a deep reverence for the God of justice, we are to commit ourselves to learning and becoming wise, that we might not just understand, but apply.

(thanks to a true “wise guy” Stuart Weir for his help in the preparation of this post!)