Reading Through God’s Word

For the last seven years or so I have been using a wide margin journaling Bible for my daily reading. In the margins I write questions I have, things that I haven’t noticed before, prayers, and other things I have learned as I read.

I would love to encourage you to read along with me this year!

Why Read

As we read God invites us to know Him and His character better. One of my favorite verses is 2 Chronicles 16:9 that says “the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.”

The text uses the setting of Asa, king of Judah, to show how much he delights in helping those who seek him. In one case Asa seeks help from the king of Syria to fight against Israel, who has been trying to defeat Judah. When Asa relies on the strength of men, he is defeated.

In contrast, when Asa relies on the Lord in the battle against Ethiopia and Libya, who were a formidable army against Judah, he succeeds.

We see the character of God in this setting. Hanani, the seer, states that God is actively searching for people who are relying on him so that he can give his support and strength to those in the midst of trials. What an encouraging character trait of God!

There are also places where we may find comfort during difficult times. (Psalms) There are places that challenge us to grow in trusting God for our needs. (some of the letters in the New Testament) There are places that inspire us to see how great and mighty is God. (Genesis, Exodus)

How to Read

The Bible consists of different literary forms. Each literary form is written as such for a reason. The words draw us in, calling us to consider what it is saying, why it is saying it that way, and what it means for us.

There is narrative (stories), discourse (a logical sequence of thought), and poetry (emotional word pictures). If we read poetry as narrative, we may miss the imagery that is conveying a theme or emotion. Likewise, if we read narrative as discourse, we may misunderstand setting information as a directive. And if we read discourse as narrative, we may miss the overall message that is meant to change how we think about something.

There are many ways to read the Bible. Each contributes to our understanding of what it is saying. I highly recommend reading in different ways at different times. It will become a lifetime habit of learning and growing!

  • Read slowly to notice the details.
  • Read quickly to absorb the general themes.
  • Read out loud to hear the words.
  • Read thoughtfully to pause and meditate on God’s truth.
  • Read daily. Interact with God’s word. Let God’s word transform your life.
  • Read prayerfully to spend time with the Lord.

Hold loosely the challenge of reading daily. Don’t condemn yourself if you can’t stay on a perfect schedule. Just read.

Prayerfully ask God to help you read and understand.

Reading Plans

There are many, many reading plans available out on the Internet – printable plans, apps, books, etc. Personally, I don’t care for the plans that read through the Psalms several times or where the goal is to read a large quantity of text to cover a lot of ground in a year. Those reading plans feel intimidating to me.

Here are the printable reading plans that appeal to me:

  • Daily reading through selected books by theme (not the entire Bible) from the American Bible Society – This plan looks good for beginners who might feel overwhelmed by the commitment of reading the entire Bible. I have not used this plan, but it looks like it would be good for establishing a habit of reading every day and still read a fairly substantial portion of the Bible.
  • One book at a time through the whole Bible from the Navigators – This plan looks manageable if you want to tackle reading the entire Bible, one book at a time. I have used similar plans and somewhere in Chronicles and/or the prophets I start to feel bogged down. On the other hand, it is systematic and it feels good to see the progress of pages and books that are covered.
  • Read the whole Bible thematically by Craig DesJardins an elder at Faith Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, WA. – This is the type of reading plan I used last year and I enjoyed that there is a section of Old Testament and New Testament every day. This breaks up the hard parts of reading through lots of genealogy or prophecy that is difficult to read.
  • Read through the whole Bible in historical order by the Blue Letter Bible. – I have not used this plan but it looks interesting. It is similar to a chronological plan in that the New Testament is read in the order that scholars believe the books were written. The Old Testament is read in the order of the Hebrew Bible. The books are arranged slightly differently in our English Bibles.

Look through these reading plans (or you can search the internet further for others) and choose one that looks good to you. Let’s start reading!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

Why write?

In the past, I have never ever thought about writing or attempting to become a writer. It’s not that I’m particular bad (or good) at it. I did alright in high school, placed into the second semester required English class in college, and never thought twice about writing again. My bachelor’s degree was art based, so I’ve done my fair share of creative projects. I’ve had a job or two that required technical writing. And I’ve written quilting patterns – very niche technical! Creative writing, though? Nah.

When I went back to school at the age of fifty, I was dumped into the world of scholarly writing. Wow! What HUGE learning curve! Eventually, I learned how to write in a scholarly manner – develop an idea and put it into words. Still, creative writing is a whole other beast that I am currently learning by trial and error.

So, why write?

I had one class in seminary that was a total bust. To this day I still have a level of “buyer’s remorse” – aka, I can’t believe I spent all this money on that! Except, there was one caveat. An assignment given us required researching a biblical character then creating a monologue and “presenting” it to the class. The teacher loved movies, analyzing and critiquing movies, and looking for theological threads in movies. Essentially, he wanted us to “act” out our monologue.

No Thank You! I had a major panic attack.

As I was talking with a friend, I decided to circumvent the “acting” bit by turning it into a radio show. You know, the old-timer kind with sound effects? That worked for me. No one had to look at me and I might survive the experience. I instructed everyone to close their eyes and just listen.

Who did I research?

It couldn’t be a usual “hero” of the Bible. The common choices in class were all “good guys” – Joseph, Elijah, Peter, John, etc. My character had to have grit, an alternative story. Jezebel it was. Researching Jezebel was fascinating! I will leave that for another post.

Here’s what that horrible class and horrible assignment taught me.

  • There are so many stories to be told beyond the major ones we learn in Sunday school.
  • Context is relevant – historical events that happened alongside the biblical events are important.
  • Seeing things from a different angle can provide greater insight.

An idea was born from that class. I don’t know if I will be able to materialize that idea, but I’m willing to try.

My favorite genre to read is historical fiction. I love reading books that creatively and realistically fill in the missing gaps for me to consider the “what ifs.” I love books that include technical information about a topic and I get to learn more about that topic through a story. I want the details to be realistic and believable.

Why biblical historical fiction?

People say you should write about things that you know. I learned a lot about the Bible in seminary. The only other topic I know a lot about is sewing. Who wants to read an historical fiction about sewing? Okay, maybe I could write one. I read a book once that was about a carpenter who built expertly disguised hiding places inside houses during World War II. The carpentry part of the story was fascinating! Perhaps a seamstress could sew secret messages into clothing? There are unsubstantiated speculations about secret messages sewn into quilts during the American Civil War.

In the end, the main reason to write lies in the need to tell a story.

What story do you think needs to be told?

These Are The Words

Throwing my graduation cap in the air, my heart and mind were filled with excitement and the anticipation of what lay ahead. Celebrating the end of my studies, I looked forward to the beginning of a new adventure in the working world. With only a loose plan of how to find a job, I moved four states away from my childhood home.

I was excited, yet terrified at the same time. What would the future hold? Would I find success or failure? What would my life after college look like? Even though I had so many questions, the future seemed to hold unlimited possibilities.

Anticipating Change in Deuteronomy

In Deuteronomy, Moses and the Israelites were camped at the banks of the Jordan anticipating what lies ahead of them. For forty years they had lived in the wilderness between Egypt and Canaan. It was now time for them to leave the wilderness and enter the land God promised to give to them. It’s likely they were both excited and terrified, wondering what their future would look like, just as I was.

Deuteronomy’s first sentence begins with, “these are the words that Moses spoke.” In Hebrew tradition, Deuteronomy is called the “Book of Words” from the first two words in the Hebrew text – “these words.” We know the book as Deuteronomy for its Greek title in the Septuagint, translated “second law.” It is not another law, but the second recounting of the law that was given throughout Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, thus the second account of the law in the Pentateuch.

With a pastoral heart, Moses aims to prepare the Israelites for the future by reminding them of their past experiences over the last forty years. It was time to put into action the wisdom of the Torah, the law that God gave them at Mount Horeb while in the wilderness.

Torah as Instruction

Although “torah” in Deuteronomy 1:5 is translated “law”, the nuanced meaning of the Hebrew word “torah” is closer to instruction or teaching. Ancient Near Eastern (ANE) law was not legislative as we think of law today. We see law as prescriptive, where the expected response is obedience and conformity. ANE law was viewed as descriptive where comprehension of a principle was expected. The ANE laws contained descriptions of scenarios based on traditional wisdom which were used to judge cases brought before a ruler.

Facing the Future

Have you been on the brink of a new change in your life that left you wondering about the future? Like the Israelites, as we embark on new endeavors, we are called to put into practice all the knowledge and wisdom we have learned in the past about walking in faith under God’s direction. We can reflect on God’s words in the Bible to remind us, teach us, and guide us as we journey through life.

As Paul encouraged Timothy to “continue in what he has learned and firmly believed,” he reminded Timothy that “all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14, 16-17)

Come, consider how God’s word teaches, corrects and trains you for the work set before you today.

References:

Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy: The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI, Zondervan, 2012) 25.

John H. Walton & J. Harvey Walton, The Lost World of the Torah (Downers Grove, IL, Inter Varsity Press, 2019) 18-22.

His Provision Covers Us

Temptation entices us like an irresistible dessert promising delight and satisfaction. Only after succumbing to the temptation do we realize that our immediate desires were only temporarily satisfied, yet the long term affects come with a price. Regret or shame may follow such indulgences. Remorse then motivates us to quickly cover up our poor choices. Our efforts to cover up our actions never fully remedy the situation.

Adam and Eve suffered the same temptation in the garden. After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil their eyes were opened and they saw that is they were naked. They quickly covered themselves with loincloths made from fig leaves. (Genesis 3:7) 

Shame that comes from sin

When Adam and Eve heard the sound of God walking in the garden, they hid themselves from him. Yet God sought them out, calling to Adam “Where are you?” In their shame, Adam blamed Eve for their transgression and Eve blamed the serpent. From their disobedience, life became harder for all mankind. The tending of the earth became difficult, child-bearing would include pain, and mankind would return to the ground as dust through physical death. (vs14-19) Only God could set right the wrong that had been done through Adam and Eve’s disobedience. 

God still pursued a relationship with Adam and Eve despite their sin. He prevented them from eating of the Tree of Life by removing them from the garden so that they wouldn’t remain in a state of sin for eternity. God also gave them a promise of future redemption from their sin (v15) and then provided for their immediate need of adequate clothing. What Adam and Eve could not do, God did in and through His persistent and steadfast love for them (v21).

The contrast between Adam and Eve’s efforts to clothe themselves and the garments God made for them illustrates so well the abundant love and provision of God! At best, Adam and Eve made their coverings without lasting thought, of temporary material, only covering the most intimate parts of their bodies – fig leaves tacked together for loin clothes. But God made durable garments for them – tunics covering their whole body crafted from long-lasting animal skins. 

A long-lasting, full-coverage solution

Just as Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness, our efforts to cover our sin and shame will never be enough. But God’s provision for our transgressions is complete. God sent Jesus into the world – to live, to die for our transgressions, and to rise again – in order to provide the means by which each of us may be reconciled to God. (John 3:16) When we put our trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven and we are covered with his righteousness. (1 Peter 2: 24)

Resist the temptation cover up your transgressions by your own strength. God has provided a long-lasting, full-coverage solution. Confess your sins and place your trust in Jesus’ death on the cross. Receive God’s perfect and complete provision through Jesus and be reconciled to him. 

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:7-8)

Gate N13

A short story.

The boarding pass in my hand said Gate N13, destination Reykjavik. A vacation to Iceland in the dead of summer sounded like heaven to me. I don’t do heat. I really don’t do a hundred-five-degrees-with-eighty-one-percent-humidity heat.  The psalmist’s thought, “My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer,” nailed how I felt about summer. Iceland would do nicely to revive my strength.

I looked at the airport map. To get to Gate N13 I needed to turn right at the Sephora shop, walk halfway down the B Concourse, take a left at Starbucks, head down the stairs, and hop the tram to the N Concourse. Easy-peasy. A small sigh of relief escaped my lips at the thought that soon I would be out of this god-forsaken heat.

Sephora, check.

Starbucks, check.

Wait, where are the stairs? I don’t see any stairs. 

Oh, for crying out loud! I must have read the map wrong, I muttered to myself. 

People scurried past me like rats on a treadmill. “Great. It can’t be that hard. I will just retrace my steps and figure this out,” I mumbled out loud.

Starbucks. Check.

Sephora. Check.

What? How can this be Concourse C? Didn’t I start on Concourse B? “Good grief.” I muttered louder this time.

Slowly turning to my left, I took note of the stores around me. I turned a little more to my left again, and again, until I made a three-sixty surveillance of the concourse in which I stood.

OK, right. My best bet to resolve my confusion would be to head back to the center pavilion and ask for directions. As I began walking, I noticed that the signs were no longer written in English, and the cacophony of voices around me weren’t English either.

“What the . . .” I stumbled over my feet as my heart began to race. I am never going to make it to my gate on time! This cannot be happening to me! Looking around, I hoped to find someone who could help me figure out what was going on.

“Excuse me. Can you . . .” my words trailed off as I tried to catch someone’s attention.

An elderly man saw my uncertainty and shuffled toward me. I met him halfway, with hopeful eyes.

“Excuse me. Can you tell me how to find Gate N13?” 

He had a puzzled look on his face. “No N13 gate. Which gate you need?” he responded with broken English.

“N13,” I whispered, showing him my boarding pass.

“No N13,” he replied, shaking his head and lifting his hands in a sign of bewilderment and defeat.

“Thank you for your kindness.” I gave him a half smile while my heart pounded, making way for the beginning of a panic attack.

Deep breath. Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t panic. There has to be an explanation, right? OK. I can do this. God knows what is going on even if I don’t.

I closed my eyes, praying silently that I would find my gate in time and soon be on my way to Iceland. Sweet, blessed, cool, not a hundred-five-degrees Iceland. I slowly opened one eye, then the other. Taking a deep breath, I started walking again, and this time with a mustard seed of hope that I would find my gate.

A smartly dressed thirty-something businessman whooshed past me, bumping my hand that held my boarding pass. The treasured piece of paper took flight and fluttered off beyond my reach, floating to the left, then to the right, eventually landing upside down on the floor. 

I bent over to pick up the thin piece of paper that held my gateway to paradise. As I turned it over, I could see that it wasn’t my boarding pass. Panic rose to despair as I grabbed for another piece of paper. The entire floor was now covered in paper. “What in the Sam Hill?” I grumbled under my breath. 

Frantically, I grabbed another piece of paper, and underneath it was a fifty-dollar bill! Confusion led to disbelief as I reached out for another piece of paper. A hundred dollars! And another, twenty dollars. And another, fifty dollars. Money galore under every piece of paper. I didn’t know what to think. Had I lost my mind? Why was there money on the floor? Where was my boarding pass? A deep sigh escaped my lips. There would be no Icelandic adventure without my boarding pass. I began to mourn the loss of my beloved vacation.

“Beep. Beep. Beep” erupted behind me, pulling my focus away from the papers and the money covering the floor. “Beep. Beep. Beep.”

My mind and heart struggled to sort out the difference between conscious reality and fiction. I opened my eyes and felt sweaty sheets wrapped around my legs. Still a bit hazy, I lay in bed another fifteen minutes. Finally, I stretched out one arm and then the other. I could feel my cat sleeping next to me. It was Wednesday, garbage day. That must have been the garbage truck backing up outside my window waking me up, saving me from the anxiety of my vivid dream. It felt so real!

The questions of where I was going and what I should be doing had continually been on my mind for days. Perhaps this was a vision from God? How did Abraham know it was God who told him to “leave your country and your family and go to the land I will show you”? How did God show him? Or how did Joseph know that it was God who told him to flee to Egypt with Mary and baby Jesus and stay there until “I show you”? Another wait-until-I-show-you directive.

How could I know if God was showing me something? Oh, boy, if this crazy dream was God’s way of getting my attention . . .  Could it be God? Then again, how could I be so obsessed with a piece of paper printed with a boarding pass when there was a treasure chest of twenty-, fifty-, and even hundred-dollar bills at my feet? 

“Hey, honey! You will never believe the crazy dream I had last night! What is summer like in Iceland?” I shouted to my husband as the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee wafted into the bedroom.

What is Bitumen?

One day as I was reading Genesis 14, I ran across this verse:

“Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits, and as the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the hill country.” (Gen 14:10, ESV)

Maybe you know what bitumen is, or like me, you aren’t completely sure. It seems kind of silly that I didn’t really know for sure what a bitumen pit was, but I believe that it doesn’t hurt to ask questions.

So, I looked up bitumen on the Internet and found this definition on Britannica.com.

“a dense, highly viscous, petroleum-based hydrocarbon that is found in deposits such as oil sands and pitch lakes (natural bitumen) or is obtained as a residue of the distillation of crude oil (refined bitumen)”

“A tar pit,” I thought to myself. Like the Le Brea tar pits? I looked up Le Brea tar pits. Le brea is Spanish for tar, pitch, or bitumen. In the United States it is often called asphalt, but really, asphalt is refined tar mixed with gravel, sand and other fillers.

Bitumen Elsewhere in the Bible

A further query on Bible Gateway revealed that bitumen was mentioned in the building of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:3 where it was used for mortar.

“And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.” (Gen 11:3, ESV)

Bitument was also mentioned in Exodus 2:3 where Moses’ mother sealed the basket with bitumen and pitch in which she placed Moses so that it would be waterproof when she placed it into the Nile River.

“When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.” (Ex 2:3, ESV)

Tar Pits Today

I find it fascinating to imagine what the settings of these stories in the Bible might have looked like. Can you picture the black, oily tar pits in Genesis 14? It must have been an amazing sight to see. 

It must have been equally horrifying to fall into a bitumen pit and not be able to escape. Here is short video about the La Brea Tar Pit and the animals that have been found in it.