Abundant Life: July/August 2008

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Getting Good out the Bible's Hard to Read Material

This special issue of Abundant Life is designed to enhance your Bible reading by dealing with some of the material in Scripture that is just frankly hard to read. What value is Leviticus? What of those little books, like Philemon, that seem so personal? How can I get good out of a book like Hebrews, that seems to be written to a people in an entirely different situation than I am in? That seems like a good place to start. Let's talk about how to get good out of Hebrews.

Getting Good out of Moses' Law

Quite often, when we start a Bible reading program, or even when we are reading to study for Bible class, we get bogged down in certain areas. Leviticus is one (see Jay Taylor's article in this issue), but Exodus and Numbers are also places we can "get stuck." Exodus has a lengthy section on the instructions for building the tabernacle. Numbers is frustrating because we have been following God's people beginning with Abraham's journey from Ur to Canaan, Jacob's journey from Canaan to Egypt, 400 years of captivity in Egypt, escaping across the Red Sea and coming to Mt. Sinai. Finally, we get to the cusp of the Promised Land, and there is the discouraging failure that ends up being 40 more years of wilderness wandering. So, if we're reading the Old Testament, what can we possibly glean from all of this? Here are three things about God we can learn from Exodus and Numbers.

Getting Good out of Leviticus

Everybody knows Genesis. Its stories captivate the young and edifies the seasoned student of God's Word. Exodus is thrilling to read. The monumental deliverance of the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage serves as an awesome display of the power of God and will become a recurring reminder throughout the rest of the Old Testament. And then there is Leviticus.

Getting Good out of Genealogies

In both public and private reading of Scripture we typically neglect genealogies. When you combine strange names, long lists, no apparent plot or narrative and only passing mention of genealogies in our preaching and teach- ing, our reaction is to be bored and just skip them. This is our usual approach to Genesis five, ten and eleven; Matthew one, Luke three and various other lists (1 Chron.). We need to take a little more time and try to better understand the purposes of these passages.

Getting Good out of the Little Epistles

Of the twenty seven New Testament books, why are Philemon, 2 John, 3 John and Jude included? In the usual approach taken to Scripture, "getting good out of" these little personal letters may seem challenging when compared to say integrating the "good" of Hebrews into practical life. Why are these little ones here for cherry-picking purposes only?