Reading the NKJV #4

Confession: I am way behind in my reading, about 3 weeks, but I am beginning to sneak opportunities hear and there to catch up. 

I have finally finished reading Exodus and as I have been doing so, I am constantly asking God to allow me to read it with new and fresh eyes.  A question that I have asked for as long as I can remember reading the Bible has finally been answered.  I have always asked, “Why does the Bible seem to repeat itself and come off as redundant?”  In one passage (especially throughout Exodus) I read God giving detailed instructions to Moses.  In the next passage you see Moses repeat, verbatum, what God told him as he share it with the Israelites.  And yet again you read, in the same great detail, the Israelites doing what they have been commanded by God to do.

I think this question is the result of how bored I used to get reading the Bible and feeling like I was reading the exact same thing chapter after chapter.  But now I am seeing this with a fresh perspective.  The Holy Spirit has been revealing to me over the last few weeks the reason that we read the same stuff over and over again.  It has come to be my conclusion that the reason we see this take place is to see how obedient Moses and the Israelites were to God’s instructions.  God said it, Moses repeated it, the Israelites did it.  Sure, it would take less time to read if we only had to read the detail once, when God made His proclamations and then is the subsequent passages it simply said, “Moses told the Israelites exactly what God had commanded,” and then you would read, “The Israelites did exactly as Moses had told them from the Word God had given him.”  But if that’s how the text read, we would miss out on the details.  God demanded (and still demands) perfection.  No compromise.  And even though they didn’t always get it right, we can see how often they did.  On the contrary, we also see when they totally miss the mark because so much detail has been communicated to us through scripture we can see when they totally miss it.

So what?  Well, it has allowed me to read these “boring” passages of scripture with a new excitement.  I find value in passages that I thought were excessive (stupid – I know).  It is also helping me see how obedient the Israelites could be and how they did strive to meet the standard of perfection.  It’s actually quite inspiring to read!

Reading the NKJV #3

As I have settled into Exodus and progressing into the later chapters I am seeing theme that is overwhelmingly evident: God is holy! In fact, God is so holy He mandates incredible lengths that man must complete in order to come into His presence. Well beyond what the average Joe, or more appropriately, the average Jew, must do to enter into God’s presence, so much more was required of the priests. As I look at what was expected of Aaron and his sons as the first priests over the Jewish people, I am amazed at what was required of them. God was incredibly detailed when describing what they should wear, the types of offering they should make, the dimensions and constructions of the tabernacle and the altars that offerings would be made on, when offerings should be made, etc. He left no detail unattended to. God is amazing in how detailed He is.

What I find truly amazing, is that through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, God provided the ultimate sacrifice so that we may enter into His presence without the rituals and requirements of the OT. I get that Jesus death and resurrection is greater than any requirements laid out by God in the OT, but from a human perspective and way of thinking what was expected in the OT seems overwhelming. So having that context helps me understand even more how great the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for me on the cross.

God, thank You that You have made way to you!

Reading the NKJV #2

So I am a few days in to reading the Bible cover-to-cover in Genesis 14.  I thought I would blog about one of the a-ha’s I have had as I have begun to read scripture in a new translation and with fresh eyes.  For some people this may not be anything new but for me this bucked against some conventional wisdom and reasoning I have heard and been taught in the past, but now that I have read with new eyes a few verses it has shed new light on a few old teachings.

The topic of this discovery:  Why were Adam & Eve kicked out of the garden? / What would have happened if Adam & Eve had never eaten the fruit?

My previous answers to these questions was rather simple.  Adam & Eve were kicked out of the garden because of their sin in eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Had they not eaten the fruit, not only would sin have not been introduced into the world but they would have been immortal because death would only be the result if that sin had taken place.  Wrong on both counts, at best only partially right.  The answer to both these questions is found in the final verses in Genesis 3:

22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. 

See it?  They were expelled from the garden because there was the possibility that they would eat from the tree of life and achieve immortality after having sin enter into their lives.  This was not an acceptable possibility for God so similarly to later in Genesis when He destroys the world with a flood and ends the mass of evil and sin that had come to exist He completely removes the opportunity for things to get “out of hand.”  In both instances God intervenes in history and says, “things are bad enough, they don’t need to get worse.”  Had Adam & Eve never eaten of the first tree there existed the potential for them to live in perfection and without sin for the remainder of their existence, but their days would still have come to an end, assuming they never at of the tree of life.  Nowhere in scripture are they guaranteed immortality prior to sin entering the world.

There have been other cool moments as I have read through the first dozen + chapters of Genesis, but this one hit the most probably because it was the first “big one” to jump off the pages at me.  I look forward to God teaching me many more cool lessons on this journey!

Reading the NKJV #1

So I’m not really big on the whole New Year’s resolution but this year I’ve decided to take the concept seriously.  Some people are anti-resolution, some people set “goals,” others set resolution year after year and have never accomplished one…I’ll be honest, I don’t know that I care enough about the concept “resolution” to have a strong opinion.  At the very least, it’s the start of a new calendar year and I’m hoping to start a new habit and spiritual discipline along with it.

I have decided to read the Bible from cover to cover.  I know there are several different reading plans for tackling the Bible: chronilogically, New Testament first (Old Testament second), OT & NT simultaneously, alternate a book from each Testament, etc.  I’m going the simple route and have been challenged and inspired to do so by an Elder in our church, Northern Hills.  He simply told me that he likes to challenge people to read the Bible from start to finish, like a novel, in a translation that you have never read before.  So I took him up on it.

I actually started on December 31st because I’m excited to dive into God’s Word this year like I have never have before.  I have read the NT through a few times in the NIV and NLT.  I honestly don’t believe I have read the OT in its entirety.  So this is a first for me.  As far as the translation I have chosen, the NKJV.  This has surprised a few people that I have shared this with, so allow me to share a few thoughts behind why I chose it:

1. Other than checking out a few verses, I have never read the NKJV.
2. It is a very literal (word for word) translation, which is different than most translations I read (phrase for phrase).
3. Because it is a higher reading level than other translations, it will force me to slow down and pay attention to what I’m reading.

What I’m really excited about is not just doing it this year, but a few years running so I can read a variety of translations.  But first things first.  I’m 3 days in and loving it.  I imagine I will blog about what I read from time to time, which will hopefully make for sosme good blogs.

Until next time, happy reading!