How To Read the Bible: Lesson Two - Torah

LESSON TWO – FIRST TESTAMENT
Get To Know Your Torah

Also known as: Pentateuch, Books of Moses, the Law

Torah means: instruction, to teach, law

Made of five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Grounding of Jewish identity – both ethnic and religious.

Read it as ancient Israel’s history of where they came from, who they are, and why they exist.

Read it also as ancient Israel’s account of God, their relationship with him, their big stories of him, of God’s work in the world through them.

Remember: what you are reading is ancient literature - it is born out of an ancient culture, ancient traditions, ancient way of life. It all made logical, reasonable sense then for how they understood the universe, the workings of society, the purpose and meaning of existence. We benefit when we try to read their literature from their point of view. This is hard, but very rewarding.


What Are You Reading?
Genre of literatures in the Bible:
Myth, Poetry, Narratives, Genealogy, Lawcodes, Wisdom, Songs, Prophecy, Apocalyptic, History, Biography, Letters

Remember: when reading through Torah, you want to be able to distinguish what genre a certain paragraph, a certain story, a certain section is. It will help you ascertain the purpose of that piece, as well as how to understand it and why it is significant to the book. For practice, pick Genesis 1-11 and see how many genres are used? Or Numbers 14-21.


Understanding What You Are Reading
The Bible is like a library and each “book” stands by itself, and yet some are connected. Each “book” needs to be understood on its own merits, including what genres are included in it. But then each “book” needs to be understood with the other “books” that it is connected with in that section, as well as to the history and the story.

Remember: a helpful way to read a book in the Bible is to first skim it. Each modern translation usually has an italicized heading at the beginning of each chapter, or of a long paragraph in the middle of a chapter. By skimming over these headings, you can get a sense of what is in the book, of it's layout. Unfortunately, none of the books in the Bible have a table of contents, nor is their a summary paragraph on the front page. Get a study Bible, you will have some of this information, and it will be very helpful to you. But it is also very helpful to do the overview yourself.

Below is a brief summary of major sections in each book, or I've highlighted especially important chapters in those book as it relates to the life and teachings of Jesus. You can create your own summary and breakdowns of each book in the Torah - it will help you grasp the amount of content in it, the arrangement of the material, and will increase your familiarity with the text. And you'll more quickly find the most interesting stories! There are some real gems hidden in Genesis, Exodus, and Numbers.

One final note: one of the primary reasons I dig into Torah is to better understand Jesus. He teaches from Torah, quoting it, preaching from it, reinterpreting it. As I read and seek to understand Jesus, I am driven to the texts he read and preached from. Love God? That comes from Deuteronomy 6. Love your neighbor? That comes from Leviticus 19. Jesus as the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world? That comes from the Passover story and laws in Exodus and Leviticus. The judgment of God upon Israel? It comes from Deuteronomy. Let your curiosity about Jesus lead you into studying Torah.


Genesis
1-11 Stories of Beginnings
Creation/Fall
Flood
Babel

12-50 Stories of Fathers/Ancestors
Abraham
Isaac
Jacob
Joseph


Exodus
1-19 Stories of Beginnings Again
20-31 Commands, Laws, Instructions
32-40 Stories of Rebellion, More Instructions


Leviticus
1-18 Instructions on Worship, Offerings, Priestly & National Purity
19 Love Your Neighbor
23 Festival Days
25 Sabbath Year
26 Reward for Obedience
27 Redeeming What Is the LORD’s


Numbers
1-10 Instructions and Stories of Worship Management and Ritual Purity
11-14 Israel Refuses to Enter the Promised Land
15-21 More Instructions for Rituals, More Rebellion Stories
22-24 Balaam
25-36 Stories of Failure, Justice, and More Ritual Instructions


Deuteronomy
5 Ten Commandments
6 Love the Lord Your God
7 Drive Out The Nations
8-11 Remember – Rewards and Punishments
12-30 Remember the Commands
31-34 Final Words Of Moses, and His Death