Is it time to think about your Bible reading plan for 2012?

The other day i was talking with one of my youth leaders about Bible reading plans for the coming year. I gave a few suggestions but thought that it was probably time i decided on one too. I’m not sure how you’ve done this year with reading the Bible – i’ve battled – but perhaps it’s time to begin thinking about it so that the first reading can actually be on Jan 1st.

So, here is a list of plans that may suit your needs and wants. Reading the whole Bible once throughout the year should be the minimum i think for any believer. It’s a matter of discipline and commitment in sticking to it and a great sense of accomplishment if you’ve ever done it even once. There are a variety of plans out there – for those who like to meditate on passages, for those who like to just read and read, for those who want to work through slower etc. In the end you probably don’t need a plan, after all it only takes reading 4 chapters per day to get through the Bible in a year. However, a plan will help guide you where to next and give you a system for reading – there’s nothing like putting a line through what you’ve done either.

The crew at ESV have a selection of 13 different plans - They are excellent and will suit a variety of needs. I would particularly highlight the Chronological Plan, McCheyne’s Plan, and the simple Bible Reading Plan.

I’ve come across the Horner Plan – this requires a big effort but will no doubt result in massive gains. This is 10 chapters p/day that gets you through the Bible pretty much twice with a few books up to 5-6 times in the year. Challies has a good description of the plan here.

Justin Taylor has a heap of them listed from a post 12 months ago. They are mainly through the ESV site but also a few extra thoughts about Bible reading. See here.

Youversion.com has a selection of different plans too.

Hope that helps rather than confuses you…!

Being a Berean

According to Luke, the writer of Acts, the Bereans were of “more noble character” than those presky Thessalonians. In Acts 17:1-15 Luke depicts for us the events that occurred when Paul, Silas, and Timothy began to preach the gospel in Thessalonica and then their movements to Berea and eventually to Athens (v16ff).

What strikes me in this passage is that here we are given a picture of two types of reactions to the gospel – the message of Jesus. In both places the same message is given yet there are two different reactions from the people listening. In Thessalonica some people end up gathering a mob, cause and riot, and eventually pull the host, Jason, who is looking after Paul, Silas, and Tim, in front of the city officials. This is contrasted with those who listened in Berea and actually go back to the scriptures and investigate for themselves what is being said.

This morning i am reminded of different reactions to preaching. Sometimes there is much encouragement given to the preacher after the sermon is given other times there can be a deathly silence. However, the more i preach the less inclined i am to seek after and listen to these reactions. What i’d prefer to see is people going back to the scriptures themselves, looking at what was being said, then reacting to it. This will perhaps enable a more thoughtful reaction, which may lead to us growing in our faith. After all, “being a Berean” is more noble anyway.

wisdom literature (week one) – the nature of wisdom

Continuing on from a post a few days ago here are my thoughts about the second half of our lecture introducing the Wisdom Literature. This time it surrounds the nature of wisdom and what that means.

The nature of wisdom can be seen in a variety of passages: Ex 31:3-6; 35:25, 35; 2 Sam 13:3; 1 Kings 2:6; 3:9, 16-28; Jer 9:17; Eze 27:8-9.

In these passages wisdom is expressed as (a) practical skill, in this case working on the Tabernacle or perhaps spinning and dying cloths. (b) It can be seen as cunning or craftiness, just like Amnon (2 Sam 13:3) or even the serpent in the fall narrative. 1 Kings seems to tell us a lot about the nature of wisdom as it can be defined as (c) justice in doing things for other people or political pragmatism. Solomon’s wisdom seems to be along these lines as he asks the Lord for wisdom to govern well and be a wise ruler. Underneath this there is also the wisdom that comes from (d) knowing the psychology and nature of the human heart. This is pictured in Solomon’s reign in 1 Kings 3:16-28 where he wisely makes a decision about a child who’s biological mother is debated. When his verdict comes the whole of Israel are amazed at his decision.

A number of scholar’s have researched the nature of wisdom and seem to summarise it in the following points:

- Whybray suggests that in Proverbs the word hoknah is always ‘life-skill’ and therefore wisdom is mostly about the conduct of life – in the best way possible and to it’s best outcome.

- There is an intellectual slant, however, with the word hoknah that is frequently coupled with the words ‘understanding’ or ‘knowledge’. A further literal understanding of this is that wisdom ‘always happens down in the heart’. For the Hebrew reasoning and will don’t happen with the brain but actually happens in the heart.

- There is an assumption that wisdom can be acquired and used (Proverbs 1:1-6). Learning about wisdom is able to occur, this comes through instruction and insight that can be passed on and learnt by people. It is not just something that is for the young, in order that they live better lives, but it can be learnt by anyone – at all stages of life. Negatively, we can also see that one can lose wisdom. Solomon’s fall was not sudden but gradual and occurs over a period of time where his numerous foreign wives begin to seduce him into worshipping their gods.

When we look at the book of Ecclesiastes we can see that there is a distillation of wisdom at the end of life. Central to this is that the life is lived with God, which brings proper insight and wisdom to a person. Wisdom is therefore religious, not simply something that everyone has, because it is linked with God and he is the one that gives it to you.

wisdom literature (week one) – a definition

Excuse me while i collect my thoughts from this weeks lecture. It is the start of the semester and the first class was yesterday. Very much looking forward to learning more about God and his Word through our lecturer, Ted Woods, on the subject of Wisdom Literature.

It seems to be quite a challenge to come to a definition of what ‘wisdom literature’ is. A number of scholars have tried and seem to have a variety of thoughts on what it is. The best place to start is with the word ‘wisdom’ itself which can be found in numerous places throughout scripture. The root word of ‘wisdom’ is taken from the Hebrew word ‘hkm’ and can be expressed in various forms as hokmah, hakam, or hokmot. This word ‘wisdom’ is predominantly found linguistically in the books of Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.

A second, and also very common approach in finding a definition of ‘wisdom’ is to see the common approach it has to reality. In other words wisdom is something that is experienced throughout life and is about life. The realities of life are portrayed through wisdom.

There are three forms of parallelism that wisdom can take; antithetical parallelism, synonymous parallelism and synthetic or progressive parallelism. Antithetical parallelism is where the first line contrasts with the second line (cf. Prov 12:25; Anxiety weighs down the human heart, but a good word cheers up or Prov 11:1; A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight is his delight). Synonymous parallelism is where the second line repeats the first (cf. Prov 19:5; A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will not escape). Finally, progressive parallelism is where the second line builds or extends upon the first line (cf. Prov 20:4; The lazy person does not plow in season; harvest comes, and there is nothing to be found).

A significant point in wisdom literature is that it doesn’t comment on any of the great moments in salvation history. There are no references to any of the poignant points in the biblical storyline. i.e. no mention back to the covenant with Noah, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob, the exodus, the Mosaic covenant and the like. I think this is quite an interesting observation.

One area that does seem to get a mention or at least some close attention by the wisdom literature is that of creation. In Proverbs 8 and in God’s speech to Job there are some profound understandings of creation. The doctrine of creation seems to be important in wisdom literature and even in the creation story itself there is mention of wisdom (cf. Gen 3:6; Eve takes the fruit and sees that it will make her ‘wise’).

Many scholars have tried to define what wisdom literature is and so here are a few of their definitions:

Von Rad = “essence of what a man needs for a proper life”

Crenshaw = “order is the big ticket item in understanding wisdom”

Whybray = “wisdom is a set of ideas or it’s intelligence”

Murphy = “not a search for order but man’s opposing of order upon the world”

Kenworthy = “the search for creation’s order”

Hubbard = “the art of being successful”

Hunter = (a) “a universal perspective on life”, (b) “a human view of the problems addressed”, (c) “evidence of a curiosity about the natural and everyday world”, (d) “an intellectual approach to solving these problems”.

In the end i think i like Von Rad and Hubbard’s definition of wisdom. They capture the practical realities of what wisdom literature entails. In reading through the books of Job, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs one gets a picture of what it is to have a successful and proper life. They teach from a human observation point of view, which is fine, but more than that they are teaching those things with the Spirit of God behind them. Whilst the writers and thinkers may have been human they are centred around God  and the fear (respect) of him.

but he could have said more…

Recently i have begun to hear the comment that the words of Jesus and Paul that we have are not their only words and that they could have said more. I agree. The words that we have recorded in the Bible are probably not the only words they would have said throughout their life. No doubt they said a lot more. However, the point or argument being made is usually in the context of trying to balance something that Paul or Jesus said in one of their letters or parables. The reaction i get inside me when i hear such arguments is annoyance. I find that this kind of thinking is watering down the Bible as we have it. God has given us his Word and it is through this we are to find all things for life and faith. I don’t understand why we need to make a point that seems clear from the passage and then footnote that Paul or Jesus could’ve said more – about this or other things. It is important to acknowledge the context in which letters and the gospels were written, it is important to understand the purpose for which it is being written. But just because Paul and Jesus have said more doesn’t mean what we have now doesn’t apply, nor does it mean that what we do have now is not important. This argument annoys me because it diminishes the infallibility of the scriptures and makes us question what we can get out of the Bible. We have been given God’s words as they stand – no more, no less. Let’s try to understand and apply them because it’s much harder to understand and apply words that we don’t have.

Jesus on the move…

Today i am preparing for my sermon on Sunday. The passage is from the Gospel of Mark (7:24ff) where Jesus travels into Gentile regions – Gentiles are non-Jews. Many of the commentaries suggest that Jesus disappeared into these regions in order to rest and escape the constant pressure and questioning of the Pharisees. I find this explanation unsatisfactory, it implies that Jesus was soft and couldn’t handle the heat so he had to get out of the kitchen.

the Bible, one tweet at a time

One of the things that preaching books, classes, workshops and conferences tell the upcoming preacher is: “Get the main point of the passage”.

Well, on Twitter this is happening to the extreme. And, it’s very exciting.

Chris Juby, from Durham in the UK, is summarising each chapter of the Bible, start to finish, in one tweet every day until November 2013. It is a marathon task but will be so worth it. I’d encourage you to have a look or start following him on Twitter so that you can get his posts each day. It’s one of those ideas you just wish you had thought of yourself.

Go here for the Twitter page.

Go here for the bible summary website.