Read through the Bible in one-year, reflections part II

If you are following a “read through the Bible in one-year” plan, it is likely you have spent some time in Genesis! Genesis is “narrative” and there are certain things to keep in mind. By the way, scholars estimate that about 40% of the Bible is narrative. Narrative is a fancy SAT word for “story.” Stories are composed of plot (sequence of events/dialog), character(s), and setting(s). Examine the plot, characters, and settings and you can usually glean its significance and meaning. 

Thus, advice #1 as Greg Koukl (Stand to Reason) says, “Don’t read just a Bible verse.” 

The chapter and verse markings in the Bible according to Wikipedia were first put into Bibles back in the Sixteenth century. It is better to be reading discreet passages of the Bible. And in the case of Genesis and other narrative portions of the Bible, read the distinct collection of verses that form the story. For example, the Cain and Abel story is from Genesis 4:1-16. From this story you can get significance and meaning; for example, the challenge of facing temptation and cost of yielding to it. And if you read all the way to the end of it, do you get a hint of God’s mercy on Cain?

#2 The discreet stories sometimes point to a LARGER story. In the case of the Hebrew Bible, there is the larger story of what God was doing with his people (Abraham and his descendants). 

For example, you might wonder what to make of the lists of people in Genesis 10 and then in Genesis 11:10-32? What significance and meaning do the story of these two lists of people tell us?

Perhaps, two things. One is God’s timing. Looking at the list of Genesis 11, Shem is the first person on the list and Abram is the tenth in the genealogical sequence. 10 is the number of completion. Thus, perhaps, it is a way of saying in the plans of God, it was time to intervene by calling Abram. By the way, Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus is patterned on 14 generations where 7 is the number of perfection and completion multiplied by 2. Second, is it obvious from the list of people in Genesis 10, which line leads to Abram? His ancestors were buried in a list of names. Were you able to track them down? Perhaps, this is a way for the story to emphasis that God’s choice is totally grace!

#3 The discreet stories sometimes point to the EVEN LARGER story of God’s redemption plan to be fulfilled through Jesus. What to make of the story of Genesis 14? A bunch of tribal warlords fight with each other! I suppose one significance is don’t mess with God’s chosen people as Abram got his 318 guys together and became the first Army Ranger unit! The aftermath of the battle is the story of Abram meeting the mysterious Melchizedek. Does Melchizedek appear again in the Bible? He is referred to in Psalm 110, a Messianic Psalm that is the most frequently quoted in the New Testament! And Melchizedek forms the argument in the Book of Hebrews about Jesus as the ultimate perfect King-Priest. Thus, what at first glance appears to be an obscure cul-de-sac of a story is a big pointer to Jesus. 

Keep reading! 

Soli Deo Gloria!