Read the Bible in a Year

Beginning in January 2021, I've been following the Good News Translation's "Read the Bible in a Year" schedule. This Bible is published by the Canadian Bible Society.

It has been a number of years since I've read the Bible in one year-so I thought it would be an edifying discipline to do so again this year. If you haven't done so before; or if it's been some time since you've done so; I encourage you to undertake this commitment. 

So far, I've read through the Book of Genesis, and the first eleven chapters of Exodus. When one reads larger portions of the Bible in one sitting, one discovers a greater appreciation for the context of events in many of the stories that one might miss or forget in a briefer reading. Since the Bible is a Living Word of God, one notices certain things that were perhaps overlooked in previous readings of the text. Here are a few notes from my reading so far.

In the first creation story, human beings are created as male and female in God's image, which implies God is both male and female, and, of course, more than the two genders as well. At the end of the the sixth day: "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

Even after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit (nowhere does it identify the fruit as an apple or any other fruit) God, in an act of grace, made clothes for them. 

In the story of Cain's and Abel's offerings, no reason is explicitly given for God favouring Abel's offering and not Cain's. However, in observing Cain's anger, God warns him to "master it," or it will lead him into sin. (Genesis 4:1-7) Another mystery with regards to Cain is his wife: we are not told where she came from, and she remains nameless in the story. (Genesis 4:17)

Throughout the Book of Genesis the names of far too many wives and daughters are rarely given--reflecting the patriarchal society out of which Genesis originated. For example, in Genesis 5:4, the writer mentions Adam (not Eve) having a son named Seth and other sons and daughters who are not named. The same is true of Seth, 5:6, he had a son named Enosh, his wife remains nameless, and he had other sons and daughters who remain nameless. 

In Genesis 19:30-38, an account is provided of the incestuous origins of the Moabites and Ammonites. Lot, after drinking wine, had sexual intercourse with his two daughters, who are also nameless. Centuries later, God chose Ruth, a Moabite, to be the ancestor of David and Jesus. Although there are certainly good reasons to avoid incestuous sexual relations, (it is not promoted in the Bible as being a normal sexual practice) perhaps one of the lessons from this story is that God's ways are not our ways.  

Sarah, Rebekah and Rachel are all barren and eventually able to give birth with implicit or explicit divine intervention. For example: "Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived." (Genesis 25:21) Indeed, the main purpose of women in the Book of Genesis is giving birth to children. There is little or no room in Genesis for women to choose occupations beyond domestic ones. Most of the stories in Genesis focus on the patriarchs rather than the matriarchs.

In the Book of Exodus, the political, economic and social status of the Israelites has changed radically--they are now reduced to slaves in Egypt. 

The story of Moses reveals how God is at work through Pharaoh's daughter to save Moses. She has compassion on him, spares his life as an act of disobeying her Pharaoh-dad, and with the help of Moses' sister and mother, he is cared for until Pharaoh's daughter adopts him and raises him. 

Moses' humanity is revealed when he is hesitant to accept God's call to him to deliver the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. I hazard to guess that many a pastor down through the ages have identified with Moses' hesitation to accept God's call-I know I have! 

The divine drama in Exodus is portrayed by God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Moses and Aaron confronting him to release the Israelites. As God's servants and spokespersons, Moses and Aaron are given the capacity to assist the LORD by announcing divinely orchestrated events that threaten Pharaoh and the Egyptians, causing hardships and suffering. The plagues serve to heighten the drama; revealing God's power over Pharaoh and his unsuccessful resistance.    

 

Brief Book Review:The Beatitudes and Woes of Jesus Christ For The Slow Savouring of Serious Disciples

 

The Beatitudes and Woes of Jesus Christ for The Slow Savouring of Serious Disciples

Author: Joseph R. Jacobson

Publisher: PageMaster Publishing, 2020

103 pages, paperback

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

About the Author 

The Rev. Joseph R. Jacobson formerly served as a Lutheran pastor, and as a bishop of Alberta and the Territories Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church In Canada. Later, he became a Roman Catholic, and has served in that denomination as a priest. Rev. Jacobson and wife Carolyn were married for fifty-two years and nine months when she died in 2018. They have two children and eight grandchildren. He is the author of several books, both fiction and non-fiction. 

Dedication 

Rev. Jacobson has dedicated this volume: To the Chinese Christians of our own time who along with survivors of the gulag and the jihad are giving the whole Church a fresh vision of what it means to be called "disciples of Jesus." 

Introduction 

In his Introductory Comments, Rev. Jacobson states that: i) contrary to what many believe, the beatitudes and woes are stark; ii) they are descriptive not prescriptive; iii) and they describe discipleship. As stark, ground rules of Jesus for all would-be disciples, the beatitudes and woes, according to the Most Rev. Dr. Donald Coggan, a former Archbishop of Canterbury--cited by the Rev. Jacobson--"They terrify me." (p. 3) They can "terrify" us precisely because we cannot live up to the beatitudes, and the woes in Luke's Gospel all too often describe us. Yet, paradoxically, the author points out: the beatitudes cannot save us, and even though they are stark, we are graced by them insofar as they remind us of the state we are in--we are "Blessed." Originally, Rev. Jacobson wrote these twenty-four private meditations for each day during the season of Advent in 1997, revised them in 2014, and decided to publicly share them by publishing this volume in 2020. 

Structure and Content 

The author has employed a brilliant and creative method of writing these meditations. Each meditation has a two-fold message. First, each meditation begins with the words: "N.___________________________, child of God," (reminiscent of our baptismal covenant) and spoken to the reader directly by God the Father. Second, each meditation concludes with a conversational prayer-response to each particular beatitude and woe, beginning with the words: "Dearest Father." In both sections of each meditation, the author often refers to--in some meditations--several additional biblical passages, complementing the beatitude and/or woe. 

Here is a fragmented example: N.__________________________, child of God, I call you to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I do not need disciples who pay it eloquent lip service. (Matthew 15:7-8) I need disciples who pay it daily life service. (p. 32) Dearest Father, give me a fierce appetite for Your righteousness alone. Show me what it is. Show me how it works. Show me why the world needs it so desperately. Show me how much You want the world to have it. Show me Jesus and never let anything come between us! (Romans 8:38-39) I want to see my craving for anything but Your righteousness for what it really is: Deadly poison served on a silver platter. (pp. 34-35)

Over-all, I found this little Advent devotional book edifying. However, I do have a couple of critiques. My first critique is that the author does focus on total depravity in several of the meditations. In the present time, when the COVID-19 pandemic is causing many to be in a state of depression, these meditations may have an unintended adverse effect on some readers. My second critique is that the author most likely should have identified the painting on the front cover of the volume as well as the painter: The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch, in Frederikborg Castle, Copenhagen. 

That said, I would recommend this little volume to those readers who are looking for meditations for the Advent season.