Bible Challenge: Beginning the histories

We are now beginning the last section of the Bible - if you have done both years of the Bible Challenge you have now read most of the Bible.  All that is left is the books that are called the histories.

These books are the ones that tell the history of the nation of Israel from the arrival in the promised land through the rebuilding after the return from exile in Babylon.  This is a period of more than 1000 years.  We tend to think of Biblical times as all the same - but think about the difference in how we live even over 100 years.  Things have changed a lot since 1914.  Now think about how much things have changed since 1014.  That is the amount of time that passes between the beginning of Joshua and the end of Nehemiah.

We start with the book of Joshua.  Joshua picks up the story of the people of Israel at the end of their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

God had brought them to the brink of the promised land, right after the flight from Egypt, but they were afraid and didn't trust God, so God had them wander in the desert for 40 years.  They are now back at the edge of the Promised Land and ready to go in.

The most familiar story in the first half of the book of Joshua is the story of the fall of Jericho in which the walls of Jericho fall from the blast of the trumpets of the people.  But notice also the story of Rahab - it is one of many stories in the Bible where someone from outside, who the people would see as an irredeemable sinner, is used by God to work his purposes.

Bible Challenge: The book of Daniel

Daniel is an example of what is known as apocalyptic literature.  It is telling a story that is on the service about one thing, but is really about something else.

This type of story telling is used when it is either too dangerous or too polarizing to talk about what you really want to talk about - but you can use an story about the same themes set in a different time to make your point.  Some modern examples are the original Star Trek talking about race relations, which they couldn't do on television in the 1960's but by setting it in the future they could raise the issues or MASH - which is really about the issues of Vietnam, but by setting it in Korea they could get it on television.

The story of Daniel is set in the time of the captivity of the people of Israel in Babylon.  The book was actually written about 200 years after the return of the people from exile.  The themes - staying true to the law of God even in the midst of persecution and hardship - were themes being raised by the group of teacher who eventually became the Pharisees in Jesus' time.  They were calling the people back to obedience to God in the midst of a nation being influenced by many of the surrounding nations.

Bible Challenge: Ezekiel part 2

This week we have the second half of the book of Ezekiel.

By this point you probably have discovered that much of the imagery in Ezekiel is a little strange.

The second half of the book begins with a series of oracles - or prophecies.

There are articles against the various nations around Israel - the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Philistines.  A long oracle against Tyre and a short one against Sidon.  Then there is an oracle against Egypt and Pharaoh specifically. These oracles tell the nations what they are doing wrong and why they will fail.

We then have several oracles for the nation of Israel.  These are called oracles of restoration.  They encompass a few themes: responsibility, both of the individual and the nation and the duties of the shepherds of Israel (that is the kings).

In chapter 37 we have perhaps the best known part of the book of Ezekiel, the valley of the dry bones. - the point of the oracles around this one is that God can call faithful followers from even the very bones.  God will breath new life back into the nation of Israel.

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Bible Challenge: Ezekiel

The book of Ezekiel is named after a priest who was part of the people of Israel who were taken into captivity in Babylon.  He was serving in Babylon from about 593 to 563 BC.  The book is a collection of oracles or prophecies.  The book was edited and expanded at some point after Ezekiel's death and the return of the people to Jerusalem.

One of the main themes of the oracles were to assure the people of Israel of the presence of God with them, even though they were in a foreign land.  This was by no means a foregone conclusion.  At this point in history most people believed in God's of place.  So the fact that the God of Israel could be with the people while they were in Babylon was a rather new idea.

Ezekiel reminds the people that not only is the Lord with them but that the Lord is taking an active role in the events of their lives.

In Ezekiel we see God calling the prophet "mortal".  This makes the distinction between God and humans.  We are mortal, God is not.

Bible Challenge: Job part 2

In the second half of the book of Job, God enters the discussion. God's point is that who do you think you are, you little human. I don't remember seeing you around when I  created the world.  What is it exactly that you think you know about me and how the world I made works?

From Chapters 38 to 41 we get the Lord God demonstrating exactly how much Job doesn't know.  God asks Job a series of questions that demonstrate exactly how small Job is and exactly how big God is.

The very end of the book is Job answering the Lord by basically saying, sorry, Lord, I didn't know what I was talking about.

We then end with a paragraph about God blessing Job.

All in all Job is not a very satisfying book.  There are no real answers to the problem of suffering and no real answer to the relationship between God and humanity.

Bible Challenge: Job, part 1

This week we start the book of Job.  We have all probably heard the expression "the patience of Job" but in fact the book does not set out to explain the ways of God or to justify the existence of suffering.

The book is very much like Greek drama - there is the protagonist, Job.  God, and the Greek chorus - Job's three friends.  We see Satan, whose name means "accuser" taking the position of the prosecutor - asking God to prove that Job loves him and not just because Job has been blessed by God.

The real debate starts in chapter 3 when Job curses the day he was born.  Job and his friends throw speeches back and forth at each other, getting increasingly angry with each other.

Tune in next week for God's answer.

Welcome Back to the Bible Challenge

Welcome back to the Bible Challenge.  This week we are reading the books of Ruth and Esther.  These are the only two books in the Bible that are named after women (there are two books in the Appocrypha, Judith and Susanna, that are also named after women)

Neither book is probably a true story.  But both show important truths.

Ruth was probably written after the return of the people of Israel from exile in Babylon - about 500 years before Christ.  One of the major issues of the returning Israelite was how to deal with the fact that while they were in exile many men had married foreign women.  There was one side that felt the foreign women and their children should be welcomed into the nation.  The other side felt that they should be excluded and sent back where they came from.  The book of Ruth is written in support of the first group.  The importance of the story is in the last sentence, in which Ruth, a woman of Moab, is revealed to be the great grandmother of King David.

The book of Esther is the foundation of the Jewish festival of Purim, which is still celebrated to this day.  The basic point of the book is that we have to do what we can wherever it is that we find ourselves, oh and that good will triumph over evil.  I think Esther would make an excellent Disney princess - but the story is probably a little too violent and sexualized for that.