The Rambling Disciple

Have you ever endured hardship? Maybe it was the loss of a loved one or a terminal illness. Maybe you faced difficulties at work or school. All of us, at one time or another, must face situations and times that are hard. All of us inevitably ask why. One of the great things about the Bible is that there is a book that deals with this very issue. The book of Job is the first of the five books of wisdom. As we discussed last week, the wisdom literature is different from the books that come before it. They are poetic, not historical, in nature. They also are focused more on the human response to God. As we dig into the book of Job, I think we shall see that it is a very different book than what we normally picture it to be. Background Not much is known about the background of the book of Job. We do not know who wrote it, nor do we know when it was written. We don't even know when the person of Job lived. Some have suggested he lived during the days of the patriarchs, the days...

As we have journeyed through the Bible every book we have talked about has had one thing in common; they are all largely historical in nature. Every book from Genesis to Esther has focused on recounting events as they happened, when they happened, and how they happened. While there are some parts that aren't strictly history, the legal codes of Leviticus for example, they are surrounded by and depend on historical events. This is what we like to read when it comes to Scripture. The only other genre we read as frequently is the letters, and that's because we understand how letters work. We like the straightforwardness of reading history and letters. It fits our mindset. We understand the rules of how letters and history work. Unfortunately those rules don't apply to every book in the Bible. In fact the majority of the Old Testament doesn't fit under those rules. As we move past the historical books and into the wisdom literature, I thought it fitting to take some...

When it comes to the books of the Bible, most of us probably don't realize the process that went into collecting all sixty six books. When some of the books were written they weren't immediately accepted. After all the Bible came together over a period of 1500 years. This week's book is one of those contested books. The reason the book of Esther was contested is that there is no mention of God in the book. None of God's names or titles are mentioned. There is no direct reference to God in the book of Esther. For the ancient rabbis (in the time before the birth of Jesus) who were trying to assemble what we would call the Old Testament, this was problematic. After all, how could a book that didn't even mention God be considered Scripture? As we shall see, though the name of God is never mentioned, it is clear that he is working throughout the book of Esther. Background The book of Esther is another book that we really don't know who the author is. We do k...

If you were to ask me which of the historical books in the Bible were the least studied, I'd venture a guess and say Ezra and Nehemiah. Books like Chronicles may be repetitive, but people do like to see the different take on certain stories. Even books like Leviticus and Deuteronomy, which are mainly law codes and speeches, have famous passages or interesting verses that we like to look at.  Ezra and Nehemiah, however, simply get ignored. The interesting thing is people generally know what they are about. They can tell you that the rebuilding of the temple and Jerusalem's walls happen in these books. People generally just don't see the significance of it. When we ignore the books of Ezra and Nehemiah we ignore a crucial part in Israel's history as well as something central to God's character. Background The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were originally one book. In fact they still are in the Jewish Scriptures. The book was largely written by Ezra, who was a sc...

As we journey through the books of the Bible we now come to an interesting place that not many people know what to do with. So far, from Genesis through 2 Kings, there has been one continuous narrative. Everything has flowed together and has pushed the story of God and his people forward. Not so with the book of Chronicles. Chronicles is, in many ways, a repeat of all that has come before. It begins with Adam and, through extensive genealogy work, makes its way to David. From there it rehashes many of the stories we see in Samuel and Kings, finally ending where Kings ended; with Judah in exile. Most people simply skip over Chronicles when studying Scripture. They believe that it is simply a retelling of things they have just read. The first eight chapters are also nothing but genealogies, everybody's favorite reading material. So what is the point of reading Chronicles? Well, a little background information will go a long way in establishing the importance and unique message ...