Move Forward In Your Understanding of the Bible: the Covenant stories (part 2 of 5)

"I will bless you, I will make you a blessing, and I will bless all the world through you."

How's that for a promise?

This is essentially how God initiates his covenant relationship with Abraham.

If we want to move forward in our understanding of the Bible, we need to remember the significance of the covenant stories.

There are five over-arching stories in the Old Testament: Creation, Covenant, Exodus, Kingdom, and Exile. They are ultimately tragic stories full of irony and hope. They are very human stories retold by ancient Israel as there way to remember where they came from and where they were headed amidst national uncertainty and existential wandering.

The many stories that make up the Old Testament are about the God of Israel and the outworking of their covenant relationship. It's a stunning covenant - the Israelites believe that the God who created the marvelous, beautifully dangerous, life-sustaining and wonder-inducing universe had chosen them to be his special people. With the gloriousness and unfathomable power of this Creation God, Israel struggles to come to terms with the covenant that he initiates with them.

Like all covenants there are blessings for keeping it and curses for breaking it. The Old Testament is the stories of them continually breaking the covenant and God creatively compelling them to return to keeping it. God demonstrates his loyalty to this newly created nation - undeserved loving kindness and faithfulness to a people who forget, complain, rebel, deny, and abandon him in droves. It's real humanity and a real God interacting in the real Earth amongst real tribes. The stories are shocking at times and inspiring. Much like our stories today.

What is a covenant relationship?

“A covenant is a solemn formal commitment made by one party to another party to one another; its seriousness is normally undergirded by an oath or rite undertaken before God and or before other people. A covenant is thus a little like a contract, but the commitment is moral, not legal. A covenant involves something more like a personal relationship, but no ordinary relationship: it presupposes a level of commitment not required of most relationships, and it involves a formalizing of that commitment that shows we really mean it.” [John Goldingay]

An obvious image of a covenant relationship is that of holy matrimony. The heart of marriage vows are moral commitments, not legal, though it is both. It's the binding together forever of two friends, though it will become unlike all other friendships. It has it's own symbols and public declarations to indicate the sincerity of those making the vows. It's a covenant that requires hard work to keep, which has it's blessings, and when broken has obvious curses.

But within that covenant relationship of marriage is a loyalty that transcends the keeping and breaking of the covenant. Repentance rebuilds trust and leads to re-keeping the covenant, which can lead to blessings that remove the curses. We see this promised in the Torah and throughout the Prophets.

In the Creation story we have the account of God making a covenant with Noah and all humanity to never respond to violence - no matter how vast and ugly the scale - with mass-scale extermination. The rainbow is a public sign of this vow. The creative God must now find other ways to subvert evil hearts and bring about peace in nonviolent ways.

The original covenant for Israel itself begins with Abraham in Genesis 12, 15 and 17. We have three successive stories where God introduces himself to Abraham, and their coming to terms with each other over what the promises and covenant will look like - not only now but in the far future.

The creative God picks a man from a moon-worshipping tribe and promises to make his descendants more numerous than the stars of the sky. This requires unbelievable faith. And some important questions from Abraham about how he and his aged and childless wife will give birth to a son, let alone a new nation. Secondly, they have no land, they have sojourned from Ur to Haran and have never been to Canaan - how and when will they settle into this promised land?

Covenant-encounters with God induce plenty of questions. And some doubt. And the scale of the promises are so grand that it's tempting to take matters into our own hands to help God out. Which lead to tragedy. The creative God is not thwarted by our bumbling faith, but there are consequences to our actions to which we must make the best of in our life.

It was the same with Jesus and his disciples. It took extraordinary trust for them to believe that he was of God and that his instructions and way of life would lead to a new exodus and God's kingdom on earth. When they took matters into their own hands, Jesus had to step in and intervene. And so it is with us today. We can barely believe that the way of Jesus is the best possible response to empire-evil and entrenched-injustice in our culture and economic systems.

Just as the covenant stories with Abraham increase the scope and understanding of the relationship requirements and promises of blessing, so it goes when God connects with Moses and the people of Israel. Prior to the Exodus God re-introduces himself and his covenant with Israel to Moses and to the descendants of Abraham in Egypt. They agree to the covenant and pledge to follow him out of slavery and into the promised land. The story is more complicated then that, as it always is, but they go along. The covenant is formally renewed in dramatic and public fashion at Mount Sinai, on the far edge of the wilderness.

It's here that God is covenanting - not just with a person like Abraham or Moses - but with a whole people, the twelve tribes of Israel and their families numbering in the thousands and thousands. At this encounter it's more then just promises of blessings and curses for keeping and breaking the covenant, but detailed instructions for the basics of life for this new nation so that they more clearly understand the covenant laws.

It starts with receiving the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20, and from there and throughout Leviticus we learn more and more laws for ancient Israel for keeping the covenant with God and one another. Much of Leviticus includes laws for what to do when you break the covenant, for God understands the reality of humanity and their penchant for failure.

Reading further into the Old Testament stories we continually learn how often Israel breaks the covenant and God is forced to bring about the consequences of curses. It's clear that Israel is struggling to keep the covenant with God. Moses and Joshua try their best. The judges that follow get progressively worse.

Samuel the prophet is effective for a generation. But his leadership prompts the people to beg God for a real live king like all the other "real" nations and tribes around them. This is a rejection of God as sole king of Israel and a further deterioration of their trust and allegiance to Him. God assents to their requests though, and eventually strikes up a covenant relationship with David and his family, promising that someone from his family would always be king of Israel. 

God is strained by this covenant, as the descendants of David descend into decadence over the centuries. Though God sends prophets to plead with the people to repent and keep the covenant, they end up declaring the coming doom due to the ongoing covenant-breaking. Injustice towards the poor and oppressed, the widows and orphans, the laborers and sick - all this increased the ire of the Lord.

He determined to initiate a new covenant with Israel, one that he introduced through the prophet Jeremiah. He declared that instead of inscribing his words on stone or parchment, he would put his laws into the hearts and minds of his people, drawing closer to them in order that they might keep the covenant and fulfill their destiny as a blessing to the world.

It's centuries though before Jesus of Nazareth walks the hills of Israel, recognized as a prophet who calls his people to repentance. Jesus is full of promises and hope: God's kingdom is coming, he will end the exile and bring forth a new exodus for all those who will turn away from covenant-breaking and recommit to keeping the covenant. Jesus affirms the centrality of love for God and neighbor as the heart of living out the new covenant. How far is God willing to go with helping his people keep the new covenant? Even when his people crucify Jesus, whispers of forgiveness and promises of his Spirit pour forth from his body. God is radically committed to helping anybody who wants to keep the covenant.

The covenant is attractive with its blessings and scary because of its curses. But the covenant-relationship is always initiated by God towards us, and it's about love and flourishing in community within this good yet corrupted world. There are natural consequences for breaking covenant with one another and with God - rarely are supernatural disasters needed to make a point. We create our own hell on earth through our disloyalty and immorality towards one another and God. But God in Christ through his Spirit is present everywhere at work to invite everyone into a covenant relationship.

To those that assent, they become part of a new covenant-people through whom God intends to bless the world. They are a blessing because of how they care for one another and their welcome of the stranger and their love for their enemy. They are a light to the nations for how laws can add to the flourishing of all instead of to the advantage of the powerful and the demise of the weak.

They become like priests who mediate between the world and God, connecting people to this covenant-inducing Creator of the universe. They mediate, not like a bureaucracy but rather as a picture of what God is like and capable of - his faithfulness and patience and creativity and wisdom. An example is worth a thousand words.

Covenant-stories originate in the Old Testament, but they explain the story of Jesus and the early church in the New Testament. The Gospel of Jesus is the proclamation and introduction of the new covenant through this king of Israel from Nazareth sent by God to atone for our sins and empower us to live by his Spirit as participants in the coming kingdom.

We are like kings in the way that Jesus was a king, using his royalty and power to heal and restore, connect and educate, welcome and send with good news. Jesus, and we in this new covenant-community, use power and knowledge to build people up and spread the way of love as a blessing. We are just as human as Abraham and Moses, David and Jeremiah and the people of Israel and Babylon and Rome. It is by grace that we can become kings and covenant-keepers, and this so that we can do the good works for which God has created us to be and do.

The corrupting idea today is that we enter into a primarily enter into a co-dependant relationship with God in order to be saved from hell for heaven. But this does not reflect the reality of the covenant-relationships that God initiated with Abraham or Jesus. The covenant-relationships are first about life now on this good-earth, about love of neighbor and stranger and enemy now. Covenant-relationship with God in Christ is about justice now, the humble awareness that we will be judged for our injustice now, and that it is only by grace that we can repent and make amends for our sins. The reward is not just later, but also now.

God has come to earth in Jesus and is always with us through the Spirit. The covenant-relationship is about this generation right now - and whatever rewards await us in the afterlife, they are directly connected to our love now. If we don't want God and his way of life now, we won't want it for eternity. But if we respond to God's grace and invitation to a covenant-relationship now, the rewards begins now and continues without end.

God's covenant-relationship with Israel was complicated and turbulent and reflected the real interaction between real humanity and a real God.

So it is with us, a real Jesus is really at work in this new covenant-people, redeeming us from our sins and reconciling all people to himself through us without forcing his will on anyone and patiently staying faithful to humanity despite our penchant for destroying creation and abusing one another.

Amidst this terrible tragedy is a new-covenant people who seek to move forward, bringing light and hope and faith and love into the world - themselves in need of it and willing to be an instrument of it. 

The invitation continues to be put out there: Jesus is the new king welcoming all who want to be in a covenant-relationship with him for the good of the world and love of God.

Move Forward In Your Understanding of the Bible: the Creation stories

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

It's a compelling and famous first line to the Bible. It's also the first word about God.

When Israel compiled the Hebrew Scriptures, the stories of Genesis, of their beginnings, they start with their dramatic and poetic retelling of Creation. But they do it in a unique way: they chart out the unfolding of creation in accordance with the days of the week, which culminates in the Sabbath, the seventh day becoming holy, set apart for rest, since the work is done.

Clearly the Creation story of Genesis chapter one is about much more then a scientific accounting of how the universe was formed. Israel clearly makes the claim that YHWH is the Creator of the whole universe - he is the one and only true living God who forms a universe where life begets life.

This is against the competing creation narratives that shaped the cultures around them. Whether they be Assyrian or Babylonian creation narratives, the story of Genesis is a stark contrast. Compare it to the remarkable and ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates back to around 1800BCE. Though the Hebrew Scriptures weren't gathered together in their final form until around 300BCE, the Genesis stories date back to the era of Gilgamesh. And it's easy to see the similarities. But it's the differences that matter. And understanding the culture and aims of ancient Israel will help us understand their poems and stories, their theology and beliefs, which is crucial to us in our believing and living in accordance with the Bible.

If we are going to move forward in our faith in Jesus Christ and our love for one another based on what we understand from the Scriptures, we need to move forward in our knowledge of the Bible. Not just what the Bible says, but why it says what it says. To best understand Jesus of Nazareth, we read the Gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. To better understand the Christian context in which the Gospel was recorded, we read Acts and the Epistles of the New Testament, which predate the actual compilation of the Gospel according to MMLJ, but historically flow from the events recorded in them about Jesus. To better understand the early development of the church and the beliefs and culture of Jesus, we need to move forward in our understanding of the Old Testament and its world.

To help us move forward in our understanding of the Old (or First) Testament, I've identified five key stories that provide an overarching flow of the narrative in the Hebrew Scriptures. They point us forward to Jesus, who fulfilled the story of Israel in his life, death, resurrection and ascension.

The five stories are: Creation (Genesis 1-11); Covenant (Genesis 12-Deuteronomy); Exodus (Exodus - Ruth); Kingdom (1Samuel - 2 Chronicles/Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs) and Exile (Ezra - Malachai/Job and Ecclesiastes)

This is the first of five blog posts on each of these five over-arching stories. Gaining understanding of Israel through the stories, poems, and laws that they selected to be part of the Hebrew Scriptures gives us great insight into their life with God. Especially the story of Creation, of which their are at least three different accounts of the beginning of the world in Genesis 1-11.

If you notice, chapter 1 of Genesis seems to be a poem of sorts. It's not really a story, it's not a law-treatise, it's not your typical poem. But there are some unique features among the six days of creation: they are a move from chaos to order, of emptiness being filled, of work that is good and moving forward towards more life. It's obvious that the creation culminates in a day of rest, the seventh day is made holy, work - even good work that creates life - ceases and relaxes and enjoys the fruit of its labor. Clearly this chapter is not about science, but about an understanding about life and God at work in this world of ours. It's not an exhaustive recounting of Creation, for it has an emphasis all its own centered around the days of the week and the rhythms of life.

It is an interesting contrast to chapter 2 of Genesis, which is an obvious story about Creation, but one that ends in tragedy and even an early narrative of exile. There is very little overlap between the the first two chapters on the order of Creation, from a scientific point of view they don't correlate. But they are not meant to convey science, they are meant to convey knowledge about humanity and God and our relationship and purpose on Earth. It's a beautiful story that reveals much about how Israel understood God and themselves and humanity. It's beautiful and it resonates as true because we can see how those stories still play out today between men and women, husbands and wives, brothers, and humanity towards God (see chapters three and four.)

There is yet another Creation account in chapter five, a genealogy that traces history of humanity from Adam to Noah (and later one we'll have another genealogy that traces humanity from Noah to Abraham, the father of Israel). Genealogies are how you remember where you came from, they are a connecting of names and memories that shape your identity, that reveal your past so that you can better understand the direction of your life and those connected with you in your community. Without genealogies we have little sense of where we came from.

And that's one of the goals of Genesis: to lay out for Israel their understanding of where they came from, where the Earth and universe came from. We have recorded in elegant, sophisticated, brilliant form their Creation narratives. Even the dark story of the flood recorded in Genesis 6-9 is a creation story of sorts, for in it the whole world is destroyed by water due to God's anger towards humanity and their rampant evil that had corrupted his good creation. Through Noah and his sons, God makes a new covenant with humanity that he would never destroy the world by water again, no matter how full of evil it becomes. This is a new beginning for God and the humanity, with Noah, who is like another version of Adam. God binds himself to humanity, requiring massive creativity in his response to the unending, exponential infection of evil throughout the Earth.

Chapter ten is like another version of chapter 5, giving the forward looking genealogy of Noah, which ends up providing the introduction of the origins of Israel's arch-enemies: Assyria and Babylon. Chapter eleven becomes a very interesting chapter: it is our first story of Israel's enemy Babylon constructing an ingenious tower - but in defiance of God and fueled by human pride and ambition.

How does God respond to this evil but technically advanced collaboration now that he's made the covenant with Noah? Instead of destruction through violence, the story reveals the introduction of multiple languages such that the people were confused and could not communicate and thus not collaborate on their temple project. They then despaired of their tower and dispersed across the land.

This is Israel's accounting of why there are multiple languages, of the origins of Babylon, and a revelation of their belief about how God works in the world: he comes down to us. The men of Babel were seeking to go up to God in the heavens in an effort to exert power and dominion over humanity - which is in stark contrast to God's intentions that humanity work together for the flourishing of all creation and one another.

From a scientific approach to these eleven chapters, there are all sorts of conflicts. Whether it's geology or astrophysics or biology or botany or anatomy or anthropology or linguistics or any other branch of science, there are multiple points of disagreement with the narratives of Scripture. To insist that Genesis 1-11 must completely correlate with science is asking too much for what ancient Israel intended to convey. They sought to make sense of the world as best they understood it - not only accounting for the natural reality of the world, but the social, moral, spiritual, political, economic, domestic, and legal realities of their world.

We are doing similar work as they are: seeking to make sense of our life and world. We are building upon what they have started. But does the new knowledge we have gained about the origins of the universe and all that is in it made Genesis 1-11 less true? No. The sub-structure of the narratives, the ultimate points they seek to make about living are outside the aims of science. The narratives do point to a real reality of humanity in which the God of Israel is at work in the world as it actually exists.

There is more to learn about humanity and God from Genesis 1-11, we've only scratched the surface of what the narratives are seeking to reveal. It's not primarily scientific knowledge, but knowledge of life which profoundly shapes those who seek the truth - not only men and women of science, but for our community and for love, as revealed by the Lord.

We are introduced to the God of Israel through Genesis 1-11, and since Jesus is both a son of Israel and the son of God, we must submit ourselves to that reality as we seek to move forward in our faith and love of the Lord and our neighbor.

If nothing else, these Creation narratives should move us forward in our awe of the natural world and the vastness of the universes, humble us as we consider our place in the galaxy, but inspire us as we learn about a Creator who initiates life and a world that he made to be good. It is a dangerous world that has been infected by evil, and violent destruction is it's hallmark, but not the answer. There is a way to peace, but we don't learn about it in the first chapters - if nothing else we learn of it's origin and our desperate need for it. Which sets the stage for the unfolding story of Jesus.

A few takeaways for us: 

* science and faith in God do not need to be enemies. It is beautiful when our scientific inquiry reveals the complexity and wonder of the world. This can bolster our faith and gratitude towards God. It can both strengthen our faith in God the Creator while deepening our knowledge and curiosity of the universe. We can vigorously believe that the God of Israel is the Creator of the universe without being compelled to lay out the exact way he did it.

* reading the Old Testament is a task which pulls you into an ancient world that is intriguingly and confusingly different from our own, and yet full of similarities. To enter into the Old Testament with the expectation that it will speak directly and easily into our post-modern American life is naive and lazy. We must humble ourselves to learn about them in order for the narratives of the OT to speak into our existence. And they have much to say to us, if we will work and listen.

* the Hebrew Scriptures are trustworthy for revealing knowledge of God and for pointing us forward to Jesus. The Gospels repeatedly record Jesus teaching from the Hebrew Scriptures in order to help people see Him in it. The Apostles all teach from the Hebrew Scriptures to help people move forward in their faith in Jesus. We can benefit richly from the Old Testament when we make the effort to understand it on its terms.

* many of the stories and poems of the Old Testament have multiple layers of meaning. There is a thick richness to the truths and realities being conveyed to the reader about the Creator and Creation. Be open to always moving forward - in depth and in insight - as you immerse yourself in these old but true words of Scripture.

Why Do You Stay Hidden and Silent?

Job 13-14

When you carefully and thoughtfully observe the world around you, does it ever prompt some difficult and yearning questions for God? Does your own experience with suffering, pain, fear, and oppression cause you to wonder what God is up to and why does he seem absent? It did for Job, for me, and likely for you.

This long and winding poem called Job articulates artfully the probing questions we humans have for our Creator. Does he not notice what life is like for the majority of people on planet Earth?

More than half the population lives on a few dollars a day. The wealthiest of Earthlings are dying of obesity and loneliness. It's pathetic, disgusting, revolting and unacceptable. Is God proud of how miserable humanity has become? And what is he going to do about it?

Job presses God with some pointed and painful questions. And it makes Job's religious friends nervous. They aren't comfortable with God getting accused for stuff. But Job presses them: how big is your God?

Can't he handle the frustration and venting? Job is very direct with God, to the point, boldly upfront about his observations of what is going on - not only in his confusion and wretchedness, but that of so much of humanity.

We're all adrift in the same boat:
too few days, too many troubles.

We spring up like wildflowers in the desert and then wilt,
transient as the shadow of the cloud.

Do you occupy your time with such fragile wisps?
Why even bother hauling me into court?

There's nothing much to us to start with;
how do you expect us to amount to anything?

Job goes on to reflect on the seeming pointlessness of life, the brevity and turmoil of human existence - especially in comparison to nature, to the trees that seem to endure well past our own death.

For a tree there is always hope.
Chop it down and it still has a chance -
its roots can put out fresh sprouts.

Even if its roots are old and gnarled,
its stump long dormant,
At the first whiff of water it comes to life,
buds and grows like a sapling.

But men and women? They die and stay dead.
They breathe their last, and that's it.

Like lakes and rivers that have dried up,
parched reminders of what once was,
So mortals like down and never get up,
never wake up again - never.

Job doesn't want to die. He wants to live! But his suffering, and that of so much of humanity, it makes death look attractive. The prospect of wanting death is abhorrent - but that's how bad life has become. Job is stuck - he doesn't want to die, to have life be over forever.

But he doesn't want this pain. So it leads him to this question for God: if you won't take away the pain now, will you grant me death - but only if you promise for resurrection, for life again, a better life then what we have now?

Here's how Job writes it:

Why don't you just bury me alive,
get me out of the way until the anger cools?

But don't leave me there!
Set a date when you'll see me again.

If we humans die, will we live again? That's my question.
All through these difficult days I keep hoping,
waiting for the final change - for resurrection!

Our life and suffering can resonate with that of Job's. He, however, wrote with no knowledge of Jesus. We do. And where as Job longed for resurrection but with no promises that it would be a possibility for him, it is for us.

If we, like Job, gain wisdom through our sufferings, compassion for humanity wracked by sins and pain, insistence on knowing truth and reality, resurrection can become our hope.

Jesus' story has many similarities to Job's. They both longed for resurrection - for themselves and others. And through Jesus it becomes a possibility for humanity. Longing for it, looking for it, in accordance with what Jesus has to say about God and life and humanity and the future - this changes us. It changes our perspective, our attitude, our hopes.

Much like Job, we wonder why God seems to stay hidden and silent. Yet for Job, his pining for resolution led to hopes of resurrection. If it does for you too, then what Jesus has to promise you will be good news indeed!

How To Read The Bible: Lesson Five - The Letters

How To Read the Bible – And Get Something Out of It

Lesson One – Get To Know Your Bible

What Are You Reading - Understanding What You Are Reading

Lesson Two –  First Testament

How to Read the Torah

Lesson Three – First Testament

How to Read the Writings & Prophets (Hebrew Poetry)

Lesson Four – New Testament

How to Read the Gospels

Lesson Five – New Testament

How to Read the Letters (of Paul, Peter, James, Jude, John)

Lesson Five –  New Testament

How to Read the Letters

The Letters of Paul to the Church in:  Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, Thessalonica; to Timothy, Titus, Philemon

The Letters of Peter to: God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia

The Letter of James: To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations

[see also the Letter to the Hebrews - an anonymous epistle]

The Letter of Jude: To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

The Letters of John: To the lady chosen by God and to her children // To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth //  To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Originally there were no chapters and verses in the Scriptures.

Some letters were written while the author was imprisoned.

The audiences are varied – geographically, culturally, religiously, maturity.

Understanding What You Are Reading

The Flow of the Story: The Letters and the Acts of the Apostles

…and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. [Acts 1:8]

The Story of God as told through Five Sections of the Bible

Torah: God Will Bless the World Through Israel

Prophets: God’s Call To Israel to Repent That

He Might Bless The World Through Them

Writings: God’s Involvement With Israel and the World

 As He Works To Bless The World Through Them

Gospels: God Through Jesus Calling Israel to Repent

That He Might Bless The World Through Them

Letters: God’s Involvement With Israel & the Church

In the World As He Works To Bless The World

Through Them in Jesus’ Name

* Jesus comes as God to initiate a New Exodus God with Israel to save them from slavery and destruction, making a new covenant with them for blessing the world through him. (He reinterprets Torah for them as a Prophet)

* Whoever would believe and follow Jesus – whether Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free, civilized or barbarian – would become part of the New Israel, or the Ekklesia (assembly or church) of Jesus.

* This New Israel/Church would be God’s instrument for blessing the world in the name of Jesus.

* The Letters of the Apostles and Disciples are selected writings of the expansion of the New Israel/church through the proclamation of the Gospels from Jerusalem to the end of the earth within the Roman Empire.

* The Letters inform of us of how the early church blossomed in its culture in as it entered into the Story of God through the proclamation of the Gospel.

* The Letters give us insights into how our church can blossom in our culture as part of God’s ongoing story through the proclamation of the Gospel. 

How To Read The Bible: Lesson Four - The Gospels

How To Read the Bible – And Get Something Out of It

Lesson One – Get To Know Your Bible

What Are You Reading - Understanding What You Are Reading

Lesson Two –  First Testament

How to Read the Torah

Lesson Three – First Testament

How to Read the Writings & Prophets (Hebrew Poetry)

Lesson Four – New Testament

How to Read the Gospels

Lesson Five – New Testament

How to Read the Letters (of Paul, Peter, James, John, Jude)

Lesson Four –  New Testament

How to Read the Gospels

Who were the Gospels originally written to? Knowing who the audience was helps aid in our understanding of what is in the Gospels. The four Gospels all had different authors and different audiences.

Matthew: written to a Jewish community

Mark: written to a Roman community

Luke & Acts: written to Theophilus

John: written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The Synoptic Gospels

Matthew, Mark, Luke – many similarities: stories & teachings

Possible use of a common source – “Q”

You'll notice as you read the four gospels that the first four have a lot of similarities. Hence the name: Synoptic Gospels (synoptic meaning similar). Lots of studies and theories try to explain it all. The most common understanding is that there was a common source called "Q" that Mark used to write his Gospel. Then it is thought that Matthew and Luke each separately used Q and Mark to write their Gospels to their respective audiences.

The Passion of Jesus

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John – about 1/3 of each book is spent on the Passion week of Jesus. Each author sets up the events of Jesus’ life leading up to the Passion in a unique way. And each author has their own accounting of what happens after the Passion.

What Are You Reading?

Genre of literatures in the Bible:

Myth                Poetry             Biography

Narratives        Genealogy        Letters

Lawcodes         Wisdom            Apocalyptic

Songs              Prophecy          History

Understanding What You Are Reading

So what is the Gospel? It's a unique kind of literature - it has some similarities to other ancient writings, but it sets its own agenda and form. 

Gospel as History: recounting of events that led up to the Passion of Jesus

We think of history in very modern terms. To the ancients, however, recounting history was always in the context of political, religious, or cultural realities. We must understand how history was used back then to make sense of it now. It is important to note that while there is historical information in the Gospels, they were not written to be a pure history of Jesus.

Gospel as Biography: retelling of the life of Jesus

Whatever we think a biography ought to be, the Gospels fall short. While we can read the Gospels to learn something about the origins, childhood and adult life of Jesus, it is only bits and pieces. It is very difficult to reconstruct the life of Jesus of Nazareth from the Gospels. There are biographical elements in the Gospels, but the purpose of them lie elsewhere.

Gospel as Narrative: reconstructed story of Jesus in the light of the story of Israel as part of God’s Story.

All the Gospel writers are telling the story of Jesus as a retelling of the story of Israel. They understand Jesus to be the King of Israel, the Messiah who will deliver them from evil. To understand the story being told about Jesus, it is crucial to understand the story that had been told about Israel and their relationship with God. To get something out of the Gospels of Jesus for our life today, it will be helpful to understand what the Gospels met to those Israelites who lived then.

As you read the Gospels, here are some key chapters and stories you'll want to be familiar with and appreciate.

Matthew: King Jesus & Kingdom of Heaven

Birth Story (Chapters 1-2)

Sermon on the Mount (Chapters 5-7)

Healings & Miracles (Chapters 8 & 9, 14 & 15)

Parables & Wisdom Teachings (Chapters 13, 18-20)

The Passion (Chapters 21-28)

Mark: Jesus Christ is Son of God & Kingdom of God is Gospel

Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.

Immediately…

Healings & Miracles

Parables & Wisdom Teachings

The Passion (Chapters 11-16)

Luke & Acts: Jesus as King of Israel & the Kingdom Coming Through an Ekklesia of Believers

Introductions (Luke 1:1-4 & Acts 1:1-5)

Origins of Jesus (Luke 1-4)

Origins of Disciples & Apostles (Luke 5 & 6, 9 & 10)

Jesus & the Pharisees  (Luke 11-18)

Jesus & Jerusalem (13, 19, 21)

Passion of Jesus (Luke 19-24)

Passion of Paul (Acts 21-28)

The Beginning of the Church (Acts 1-5)

The Gentiles Entering the Church (Acts 6-8)

Introduction to Paul (8-9)

The Leadership of Peter (9-12)

The Ministry of Paul (13—20)

John: Jesus is the Logos, Life Unto the Ages

Introductions to Jesus (Chapter 1)

The Eight Signs (2:11, 4:54, 5:15, 6:14, 6:20, 9:7, 11:41-42, 20:9)

The Passion (12-20)

The Conclusions (20:30-31, 21:24-25)

Don't You See?

Genesis 46-50

A shocking ending to a story! Joseph, who was once a slave, and is now the second in command of Egypt, reduces the whole nation to slavery! Reuben the first born of Jacob is cast down as the firstborn for his wickedness against his father's maidservant. Jacob brings down curses on his oldest three sons, but praises Judah with promises of royalty. And then Joseph sees God at work in all the evil that was planned against him, how good was brought out of it. 

Can we see how complicated our lives are? How complicated our world is? Do we see the complicated mess God inserts himself into? We see bits and parts, small threads of the story, chunks that make sense, but then pieces that confuse. But can we see where the complicated story is headed?

Depending on how you look at it, God enmeshes himself in evil human systems of slavery, family abuse, and corrupt Pharaoh power to keep the story of Israel going forward. Is God complicit for the wickedness that happens? Or can we see the miracle of good coming out of the despicable actions that humanity insists on repeating? 

Joseph's brothers were afraid that following the death of their father, Joseph would exact revenge upon them for their evil thoughts and actions. But Joseph responded in grace: "Don't be afraid. Do I act for God? Don't you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good, as you see all around you right now - life for many people. Easy now, you have nothing to fear; I'll take care of you and your children."

For you who have endured trauma and abuse and suffering: look for how God can bring good out of the evil that others perpetrated against you. The ways that others have wrecked your life bring sorrow - but God is capable of using those pains to bring good and life to others through you.

Rage and revenge will not undo the past. Looking to see how God has been at work to help others through your pain will bring healing to you and hope to others. In this complicated world of suffering and injustice, we must persistently choose to see where God is at work for good. 

How To Read The Bible: Lesson Three - the Prophets

LESSON THREE – FIRST TESTAMENT
How to Read the Writings & Prophets 

History      Poetry          Prophets
Joshua             Job                      Isaiah            Amos
Judges             Psalms               Jeremiah       Joel
Ruth                Proverbs            Ezekiel          Hosea
Samuel            Song                  Daniel            Micah
Kings              Ecclesiastes       Haggai          Zephaniah
Chronicles      Lamentations     Zechariah      Habakkuk
Ezra                                           Malachi        Obadiah
Nehemiah                                                        Jonah
Esther                                                               Nahum

In our Protestant Bibles our Old Testament Books are gathered together in three main categories: History, Poetry, and Prophets. But the Hebrew Scriptures are clustered together under different headings: Torah, Prophets, Writings (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim) known as Tanakh). It's important to note that the core element of the Tanakh is the Torah. Everything that the prophets speak and write are connected to the life of Israel and Torah. And all the writings are Israel's story of themselves in relation to God and Torah and themselves.

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

Again, it is helpful to be able to identify what kind of literature you are reading when you open up to a book in the Bible. Becoming familiar with the different styles of writing and genres will help you better understand what you are reading.

Chronology
1400BC  1100BC  1000BC  701BC  586BC  516BC  479BC  466BC  450BC
Joshua Judges/Ruth     Samuel Kings Chronicles                        Esther    EZRA    NEHEMIAH
Job                                       Psalms Proverbs Songs Ecclesiastes Lamentations
                                                         Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel
                                                         Amos Joel Hosea Micah Zephaniah Habakkuk
                                                                   Obadiah Jonah Nahum
                                                                                HAGGAI ZECHARIAH            Malachi

A chronology can be helpful in piecing together the flow of the story. With all the names and places that are stuffed into each book, it can become overwhelming. But to see the history laid out through the ordering of the books can help you get a sense of who comes where in the story. Moses comes before David. David comes after Abraham. Noah comes before Daniel.

Above you can see the history books laid out in order of chronology. Below that you can see where the poetry books fit in. Psalms were primarily written by King David. Proverbs, Songs, Ecclesiastes were written by King Solomon. The next three lines show where the prophets fit into the chronology. Isaiah and Jeremiah worked during the history recorded in Kings and Chronicles. Same for some of the other minor prophets.


Understanding What You Are Reading
History: Ideology & Theology
It is important to remember that the history recorded here is about kings, thus political in nature. But it is also about God's involvement in their nation, thus it is theological. The writers of Israel's ancient history have a particular slant they mean to convey about themselves, their kings, and God. We may read a history book as a boring collection of facts and figures. But the ancients did not record history in the same way as us. We want to ask: did it really happen this way? They want to ask: how to make sense of what has happened to us? We read the history books in order to get an accurate accounting of what really happened. But we ought to read the history books of the Bible as a way to understand their perspective on God, their political situations, and themselves.

Poetry: Parallelism or Binary Repetition
For us, a good English or American poem will rhyme, and have a beat or metre to it. By now you probably know that good Hebrew poetry is very different. It consists in its most basic form of two lines, or two ideas. The first and second line have a interdependent connection - they parallel each other in specific ways. This can become a very complex, high form of art. But once we get the hang of how the Hebrews do poetry, we then need to ask: how to understand Hebrew poetry. Part of it is practice - just read lots of it. But the other part delves into the heart of poetry - why use poetry at all to express yourself? And what were the metaphors, ideas, and issues that were important to the ancient Hebrews?

Prophecy: the words of a Prophet - from God or to God – about righteousness, justice/judgment, shalom
We tend to think of prophecy as about predicting future events. This is not a helpful way to think of Biblical prophecy. At its most basic form, Biblical prophecy is a word for God or mostly from God to people through a prophet of God. Mostly it's about calling people to repentance from their unobservance of Torah. Some of it is promise of restoration following the punishment that will come for their unrighteousness, injustice, disobedience. A little bit is about what will happen in the future.


History
From the Exodus to the Kings
-Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel

During the Reign of the Kings
- Kings, Chronicles

From the Kings to the Exile
-Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

These are the three main elements of understanding Biblical history for ancient Israel. The books fall into one of these three categories. You can see the development of the plot, the flow of the characters, the coming tragedy.


Poetry
There are three basic kinds of poems:
1) Line A and Line B repeat similar idea using key words/ideas
- Examples: Psalm 22:1, Proverb 27:2, Isaiah 55:1

2) Line A is extended in thought by Line B
- Examples: Psalm 23:1, Proverb 28:3, Isaiah 56:1

3) Line A is contrasted in thought by Line B
- Examples: Proverb 28:1, Isaiah 54:7, Isaiah 57:16-21


Prophecy
Here are examples - often expressed in poetry - of God speaking to Israel through his prophets.
From God to the unrighteous: Micah 1
From God to the righteous: Zechariah 9-10

From the righteous to God: Habakkuk 1

From God to Israel: Jeremiah 2
From God to Egypt, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, etc.: Amos 1, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum

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

Read The Bible In A Year Schedule: Sept - Dec

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