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Alright. These are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Hey, and welcome back. We are now in week three of an eight-part series with a panel of believers discussing what intentional Bible study has meant in their walk with God.
Check out the show notes for links to Bible study resources, and let us know if we can help you in your own Bible study journey. Send us an email, hello at wordsoflifepodcast.org. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation, O my soul, praise Him for His help and salvation.
So the Bible is the Word of God. I believe it's inerrant. I believe it's infallible. But it also was created, it was written through time and space. And it conveys not just.
Theology things we believe about God. but it also communicates those things from a particular culture and historical setting. And a variety of historical settings, given that it was written over so many centuries. As we become better students of the Bible, it is important that we become more attuned to. The History around the Bible, too, the culture that surrounded the Bible at the time of its writing.
When we read the Exodus. it's helpful to know about the Egyptians and to know what Scholars have discovered through studying ancient Egypt, particularly in the time frame that we think the Exodus would have occurred. That can be useful in better understanding what the Exodus is about, what God's doing there. Similarly If we want to understand Jesus well, that we need to know something about the history and culture of the first century. uh A D in Jesus' time and And The Holy Land.
And so that can mean uh being acquainted with other ancient documents written at that time. It can mean Knowing something about the Roman Empire and the history of the Roman Empire. It can be knowing about preceding or conquered the region like the Greeks. Or the Persians could mean knowing about other important literature, particularly the literature that occurred during the intertestamental period. because we find it's also quoted in the New Testament.
So, there are a variety of ways we can become more familiar with the history and the culture surrounding the Bible, the other literary influences that we see in the Bible. And that makes us a better student of the word and makes us better understanding who God is. and what he's communicating to us. Similarly, not only was the Bible written in particular places at particular times, but it also is written in a variety of styles. And not every book of the Bible.
Should be read the same as any other book of the Bible. When we open the Bible, we find history. We find poetry. We find What you might call etiology, which is an explanation for how things came to be. You also have specific genres that.
we think are kind of specific to the Bible like genre of gospel, which has Elements of an ancient biography. and is written like biography in Jesus' day, but also all four Gospels have at their core this proclamation of the events of Jesus's day. crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. And so the Bible also, in some ways, has its own sort of genres that are studied. There's also wisdom literature.
Prophecy. Prophecy is a huge genre. in the Bible and prophecy not just being future telling, but being a way of saying things that are true, of speaking on behalf of God and saying, this is true, and because it's true, This needs to change.
So we want to read the Bible with a healthy understanding of genre. Because that can determine The sort of interpretations we arrive at. And then I think at minimum, you want to read the Bible knowing that it's not written primarily as a historical text or as a scientific text. but it's written primarily to communicate to us. Who God is.
and what he's doing in our lives. Hey, you're listening to the Salvation Army's Words of Life. We're gonna take a quick ad break and we'll be right back. Every day, families are navigating real pressures. This season, hope is possible, healing is possible, and stronger families are possible with your love and support.
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Help deliver hope and joy to thousands of families this Christmas. Caleb, it makes me excited to hear you talk about. This because You have studied this. You are so smart. You have knowledge.
That I will never have. And I think that's important for people to remember. They don't have to know all of those things. There are other people who have done this research, and you can find out this information. It's remarkable to think about all these details that are historically accurate that can be proven.
And that is exciting to me, and exciting to think about how all of this has been woven together from the Old Testament to. to the New Testament, all the different genres that you talked about. have intention and purpose And detail, and that makes it so exciting to me because we get to be a part of this great, amazing story. It didn't end with the Old Testament, it didn't end with Revelation, it is still powerful. and alive for us today, and we get to be part of it.
That is another reason why I love it so much. And I'm so thankful for someone like you that has put in this study, other people as well, who God has given this knowledge and wisdom to. And we're all created uniquely and differently and have a different way of thinking. And so I just want to thank you because your study is inspiring to me and it makes me want to learn more. I'm so glad you mentioned Revelation too, because that makes me think of another genre that I think is often misunderstood, which is the apocalyptic.
There's This genre within the Bible of apocalyptic texts, which are often describing events that haven't yet happened. But also using vivid imagery to describe how God is breaking into our present as well.
So there's so many wonderful. Creative ways that the Bible communicates the knowledge of God to us and I think it's actually a gift too that Uh we have First of all, people who are much more knowledgeable than me of the Bible, but also that we have this richness because. Uh it makes it more beautiful and more life giving. At least gives people who are interested in a sort of higher critical reading of the Bible. ways to occupy our time.
And I appreciate that too. But I think it really is a gift to see God is a creative God. He Didn't just describe himself to us in one particular way, but He reflects the enormous creativity of his creation, of us. And I think it's also a reflection of his image being on us that we have this creative capacity to communicate in a variety of ways. We pray that you're enjoying and being blessed by this conversation.
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Sometimes the Bible has very violent things, mysteries that we just don't understand how this could happen. And then God, in the middle of that, gives us a story of hope. Of a story of his reassurance of character, of his reassurance of salvation. Isn't it amazing? Isn't it just remarkable how God tells us over and over again in different ways how He loves us, how He has a story for us, and that it will go into the future as well.
I think one of the themes I'm hearing is the idea of God's creativity, taking all these different books, different styles, different times in history, different authors, different people. And he's woven this one united story together. And it really does flow like one complete narrative. And I think that's one of the most exciting things that I've enjoyed about reading through the Bible: just it not being there's Old Testament and there's New Testament, or there's, you know. The stuff I don't really like and the stuff I like, I think the more we read the Bible, we recognize that there's this incredibly creative.
Story that is just woven together. Claudia, you mentioned there's mystery, and I think it's not by accident that there is mystery, because I think it's that that draws people in. That has drawn people like Caleb or other theologians into really studying deep. And then that gives them information, so then we can come and have a group discussion like this. What we're doing right now is all part of the design that we would come together and talk about these things to learn more about God.
to press into the the mystery of the unknown. And then at the same time. We've mentioned the theme of God's love and wanting relationship. There are truths that we can hold on to. in the mystery, in the ups and downs.
and the reminder that God uses broken people. To make this all happen is just yet another sign of God's creativity, is that He can just take these. Broken stories, these broken lives, and use them for his glory to give us a message of hope. I think about like genealogies in the Bible, and that's always kind of one of those things I think when anyone reads. You just want to skip over, right?
Absolutely. But I think the last two years and the. Bible reading, I've started paying so much attention to that because it's so important. Not only does it prove historical accuracy and you can trace these people, but when I hear that, it almost makes me want to cry because women are named in that. People who did not have very good reputations are named in the lineage of Jesus.
And that's so powerful to me because it wasn't all these perfect people. God redeemed their stories. And I think that's. Encouraging Uh to so many of us when we read that. It all matters, right?
It's all woven together from the Old Testament into when Jesus was born. Jesus was part of it from the beginning, right? It wasn't just When he was born in Bethlehem, Jesus was always the plan. That is just crazy and wonderful. And I love that and I think about When you read Isaiah and and you see Jesus being Prophesied and then when Jesus is teaching and he's quoting those scriptures and just how it is all woven together, I think is so powerful.
And it just adds to the wonder and the beauty of God's Word and that we get to be a part of that. I just want to co-sign the genealogy thing. I've always skipped those because it's just, you know, but in the plan that I'm doing currently this year, which is the same one that my mother-in-law I'm going to call her Nanny for the sake of this podcast. We've been doing the same plan and we just got to Matthew and That was the first time I've read a genealogy, and I was just, I could feel the Holy Spirit. And I've never, I mean, it's just a bunch of names, but because I know the stories behind those names.
And you see all those things of imperfect people. It was incredible. And I just think that only comes from spending time and really getting to understand the stories behind it. Nothing in the Bible is wasted. There's no, even just a list of names that can seem like, ah, we can skip this.
Like, God will speak through even just a list of names. Because you see the connections now. Like, oh, I just read this in the Old Testament, and now I'm seeing it. It's coming to be. It's coming alive.
I remember these people. They're part of this story, too. The triune God, the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. You know, the Spirit was hovering over the waters. I love how God's character and his holiness and his new life is from the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible, and that's his character, and that's the different genres, the differences that we all see, and how he has revealed himself completely and fully from the beginning to the end and into the future.
Yeah, he is present throughout it all. The Salvation Army's mission, doing the most good, means helping people with material and spiritual needs. You become a part of this mission every time you give to the Salvation Army. Visit SalvationArmyUSA.org to offer your support. You can subscribe to Words of Life on your favorite podcast store or visit SalvationArmysoundcast.org.
Join us next time for the Salvation Army's Words of Life. These are the words, these are the words of life. These are the words, these are the words, these are the words of life. Thanks so much for listening to Words of Life. We want to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the show.
Visit lifeaudio.com, where you'll find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network. They have shows about prayer, Bible studying, parenting, and more. Thanks again for listening. We'll see you next time. For some of us, personal finances aren't just personal.
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