I worked on this blog idea over the Christmas holiday and am now sharing it. (Don't worry, I have made private settings so this is not a searchable blog online though if I have given you the address you can access it, I hope.) It can be a place for all participants to comment or leave notes for something they want to discuss, etc.
Having people to share this with is great. Three of us have met once and even though it was in a cold vault(that's another story) it was a warm gathering. As we read, we mark passages we want to remember to discuss or simply read. When we gather we share our reading. I think we all find the reading is a kind of praying and listening at the same time. Our last meeting was five and maybe we will continue to grow.
As we "read, mark, and inwardly digest" the message of the Bible some of us make notes. I was writing in longhand a quick summary of thoughts and decided I might as well do it here and keep it organized. That is what appears below and in posts. The place for comments is below. Just click on comments and follow the instructions to add your comments.
Realize that the Bible is about 1400 pages and 300 of that is the New Testament. So go get yourself a Bible and don't be afraid to mark in it. It seems we each have different versions of the Bible but we decided that is OK. We have already realized that different versions have different books but that is also a learning experience.
Before you begin, here is a note about how the Bible is organized (and approximate pages) which I found helpful.
The Torah is God’s Law in the first five books. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. This is basically the history of the Hebrews. 211 pages
The historical books from Joshua to Esther. 300 pages
The Poetic Books including Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon. 250 pages
The Major(1st 5) and Minor prophets Prophets: Isaiah to Malachi 300 pages
The New Testament : the 4 Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 175 pages
History of the early church from The Acts of the Apostles to Jude 200 pages
Revelation 15 pages
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GENESIS:
Meaning:
When I read Genesis I was struck by the fact that God was continually making covenants with man. The part about the apple of the tree of knowledge which gets so much attention seemed rather unimportant compared to the fact that God kept seeking out man and woman to make His covenants with. His first covenant was with Adam and Eve. Then he made a new one with Noah and then with Abraham and Sarah and next with Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, and lastly(in Genesis) with Jacob’s son, Joseph.
The description of the covenants were each a bit different but the covenant -making was a constant. Nor is the covenant between equal partners for we are made in the image of God and do have free will but we are not God. Because we are made in his image we recognize Him, and when we are separated from him we lose our mooring, hence the need for covenant-making. The horrible notion that Abraham would be required to sacrifice his son Isaac to appease God or obtain his love misses the point. The point is when we put our trust in God our faith in his plan for us increases. We begin to understand our nature- not to be God but to be his and to trust Him. Thus Genesis is one of the 5 books of the Law- God’s Law for us.
We are led to obey because we are His. God created us to his purpose, which, as he is powerful enough to create the universe and us in it, then we want to trust him. He has our good at heart, so why would we not trust him? I liked Rhonda's point about God as Creator and that we, in his image, are powerful when we create. As a painter I zeroed in on that.
Oh, and about that apple. He gave us free will. When we make bad choices He lets us know quickly that we have done so through our feelings of shame over wrongdoing and fear of the consequences - separation from him. But, again, though we feel ashamed he never seems to be ashamed of us because he seeks us over and over.
Some of the reading interests me because it offers history passed down in an oral tradition before it was written. And so I will make some notes of the history and my thoughts on it. For example, when Sarah and Abraham up the Euphrates and into the land of Canaan they encounter earthquakes. Earthquakes were common of course as they still occur. I don't see them as acts of God to punish.
I thought Jacob was a most interesting character. He is good, smart and law abiding, He brings good influence but we also see him suffering(wrestling angels etc.) Jacob goes to Bethel with family to establish an altar and God renames him Israel. Jacob has twelve sons including Benjamin by Rachel and also Joseph. These twelve become the tribes of Israel we will hear more about in the next 4 books. Joseph is the one sold into slavery in Egypt. Joseph seems to know his misssion as Genesis closes.
The description of the covenants were each a bit different but the covenant -making was a constant. Nor is the covenant between equal partners for we are made in the image of God and do have free will but we are not God. Because we are made in his image we recognize Him, and when we are separated from him we lose our mooring, hence the need for covenant-making. The horrible notion that Abraham would be required to sacrifice his son Isaac to appease God or obtain his love misses the point. The point is when we put our trust in God our faith in his plan for us increases. We begin to understand our nature- not to be God but to be his and to trust Him. Thus Genesis is one of the 5 books of the Law- God’s Law for us.
We are led to obey because we are His. God created us to his purpose, which, as he is powerful enough to create the universe and us in it, then we want to trust him. He has our good at heart, so why would we not trust him? I liked Rhonda's point about God as Creator and that we, in his image, are powerful when we create. As a painter I zeroed in on that.
Oh, and about that apple. He gave us free will. When we make bad choices He lets us know quickly that we have done so through our feelings of shame over wrongdoing and fear of the consequences - separation from him. But, again, though we feel ashamed he never seems to be ashamed of us because he seeks us over and over.
Some of the reading interests me because it offers history passed down in an oral tradition before it was written. And so I will make some notes of the history and my thoughts on it. For example, when Sarah and Abraham up the Euphrates and into the land of Canaan they encounter earthquakes. Earthquakes were common of course as they still occur. I don't see them as acts of God to punish.
I thought Jacob was a most interesting character. He is good, smart and law abiding, He brings good influence but we also see him suffering(wrestling angels etc.) Jacob goes to Bethel with family to establish an altar and God renames him Israel. Jacob has twelve sons including Benjamin by Rachel and also Joseph. These twelve become the tribes of Israel we will hear more about in the next 4 books. Joseph is the one sold into slavery in Egypt. Joseph seems to know his misssion as Genesis closes.
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