If anyone is considering a Bible study regimen, at the beginning of the year Abby inspired me to read the "Bible-in-a-Year," using a prescribed program she found online. I really appreciate the way it's set up. So far, we've alternated between Old and New Testament, which is good for 2 reasons. First, it gives you a "break" from some of the more liturgical passages (e.g. Leviticus) , which are overall fascinating, not to mention the inspired word of God, but which can be somewhat hard to take in large quantities (I admit that I get a bit queezy after a few straight verses dealing with the fat around the liver of a sacrificial animal).
Secondly, and perhaps this was an important intention in setting up the reading order, it requires you to fully consider (and feel), as much as possible over such a vast cultural and chronological divide, what the Jewish scholars of Jesus day were holding onto when it came to the law. Reading chapter after chapter of God's law straight through (which I admit I've never intentionally done in the past), I begin to get an overwhelming sense of the weight of what God was compelling his chosen people to do. Here am I, thousands of years later, not bound by all of the specific requirements of the law given to Moses, yet I feel their weight and the compulsion that must have been Israel's to obey. (Of course, priest-consuming fire due to disobedience in the details would also get my attention, a la Lev. 10). And then there came Jesus, who turned the Jewish establishment on its head, challenging those who found their life's meaning in their ability to understand and "dispense" the Jewish law and customs. Having read these accounts back to back (ordered Genesis, Mark, Exodus, Acts, Leviticus . . .), it really helps to bring the forefront what the life and ministry of Jesus was fighting against, at least when it came to the Jewish leadership. It also helps to underscore why it would certainly lead to a death aimed at silencing the type of popular radical leader he had become (and not only of Jesus, but of many of the first century Christians -- the attempt to "tie up the loose ends"). It ultimately makes me appreciate all the more the faith of those who did accept that Jesus was who He said.
A favorite passage thus far, simply because it is so incredible, is the famed instance of Aaron building a Golden calf. Moses is up on the mountain, OBVIOUSLY communicating with God , and the people below say, "Enough of this waiting, Aaron, give us something to worship." It's behavior you've come to expect from the masses, but the fact that Aaron concedes is one of the most incredible parts of this period to me, especially seeing that a great deal of what God is outlining on the mountain has to do directly with Aaron -- God is setting the terms of his priesthood, while Aaron is melting bracelets to build a cow-god! And then there's that ultimate moment when God says, "Moses, by the way, you're people have just built a cow-god." I can only imagine the reaction of Moses. He's been gone just a matter of days, he's trekked to the top of this mountain to commune with and record the law of GOD, he's had to deal with complaining and ingratitude the likes of which we can hardly imagine, and now he's got to trek back down to TCOB, after he's pleaded with God not to just wipe out the whole lot of them.
The truth is I see that kind of "stiff-necked" forgetfulness in my own life. A very sad thing to identify with.
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