purpose

Be less intimidated by reading the Bible

The Bible is wonderfully complicated. This is exciting for scholars and confusing for the rest of us.

Nothing can take the place of reading the Bible – especially ink on paper. But some of us need help keeping track of names and places or sometimes wonder, “why is this story even in the Bible?”

My hope is that these lessons will help demystify the Bible. Having a grasp of some of the background and concepts in the Bible can allow you to get more out of your reading.

What we will cover

This is not, I repeat, not a daily Bible-reading plan where I give you four chapters to go read and wish you luck. This is actually explaining what is in the Bible. Each week will cover each of these topics.

Sundays

Books

A book of the Bible anchors each week

Mondays

Themes and organization

Patterns and big ideas in the Bible

Tuesdays

people and places

Making sense of all of those names

Wednesdays

poems

These are surprisingly important in understanding Scripture

Thursdays and Fridays

stories

The Bible has more narrative than any other method of teaching

Saturdays

Doctrine

Moral and ethical principles; holy things – you know, religious stuff

Latest posts

Genesis 42-46. Joseph has risen to great power in Egypt and is now in a position to rescue his family from starvation. But first, Joseph strings them along since the brothers don’t recognize him after abandoning him as a teenager 20* years before.
“Overachiever!” That’s the impression you get from whoever wrote this book. Five chapters, each a poem, and all of them are acrostics! And the middle is a triple-acrostic! But wait, gotcha! The last one is the right number of verses*, but it’s not an acrostic after all. OK, what? It’s like it is meant to toy with your mind.
He became king at age eight and was one of the very best kings Judah had. He was also the last good king in Jerusalem. After he died, Judah rocketed downhill until it was taken captive by Babylon, about 23 years later.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah (or Christ) that the Old Testament Scriptures predicted would come. Some predictions are obvious, while others are the complete opposite (to me, anyway).
A mostly depressing book, but wow, the silver linings. Jeremiah tells of the coming wrath for his nation (Judah) and lives just long enough to see it happen in about 586 BC.
It’s bad. Don’t do it.
Genesis 29. Jacob, “the deceiver,” is deceived by his uncle* Laban into marrying the wrong girl.
Isaiah sees a vision of God. Isaiah 6:1-7.
The last and most famous of the servant songs, it vividly illustrates the sacrifice, suffering, and vindication of this messianic figure.