Monday Reflections...what I learned in class this week and the Rifle River

What did I learn this week through my online master's class?  I'm glad you asked!

I learned that the Bible is like a river.  I grew up around the Rifle River in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan.  I spend many hours paddling down this one river with its many sections.  The Bible is like a river.  It is one book but it has many sections but it is still one book like the Rifle River, with its many sections, is just one river.  

Many times we would put in at the little town of Selkirk and travel down to a pickup point at the Moffat Bridge.  It was a good eight hour paddle through the many sections.  We gave them names like "the highbanks," and "the pipeline rapids" but they were just a part of the all one river, "The Rifle."  The Bible is one book with our sections designated by book names and even literary type sections but it is still one book in the end with one author (God), one subject (Jesus), and one message (God's plan of salvation).

This week also brought perspective of how I look at the Bible and specifically the Old Testament.  I could look at it like a mirror, as a reflection of how it related to me; I could look at it like a window of what was happening in history; or I could look at it like a picture of why it was happening.  The goal would be to look at it all three ways to get a better picture or interpretation of the text.  

On reflection, I think the order of looking at it should be a window first and answer the question of what is historically happening.  Secondly, I would look at it as a picture and answer the question of why or the intent at that time. I would finish with looking at it as a mirror and answer the question of how to apply.  I think this would bring better results on how I understand and live out the passage.  Again, I have received another grid to help me as I look at the Bible and prepare for another message to deliver to God's family. 

Let me look at the window (what) of the passage.

Let me look at the picture (why) of the passage.

Let me look at the mirror (how) of the passage.

One more lesson from the week was recognizing the different writers with different accounts and to different audiences.  The Bible overlaps itself at times and we have multiple writers recording during the same time period but to different audiences or with different intents.  A great example of this is 2 Kings 21:1-18 and 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.

Both writers tell the events of King Manasseh.  The first 9 verses of each chapter are virtually the same but then they differ greatly.  The Kings account focuses on the evil of Manasseh and connects it to why they are in exile.  The Chronicles account focuses on the restoration of Manasseh and connects it to how they should live after the exile.  Kings portrays Manasseh as a consistent sinner while Chronicles paints him as a repentant sinner.  Here is a clear example of the same river but different sections.

The Kings writer wants his readers to feel the weight of the consequences of sin.  The Chronicles writer wants his readers to respond with a repentance that leads to a changed way to live for the glory of God.  The window of the passage is different because it is written in different time periods but same as an event in history.  The picture of the passage is different because its emphasis is on different aspects of Manasseh's life but same as it deals with one man's life.  The mirror of the passage is different because it draws us to the acknowledgement of sin or to the solution and example of repentance but same in a calling for a response from us.  

The window, picture, and mirror of this one river with its many sections.  "Thank You God for helping me to understand Your one book with its many sections better."

Pastor Adam