Lois Tverberg: Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus How a Jewish Perspective Can Transform your Understanding.
As C. S. Lewis once observed, “one of the rewards of reading the Old Testament regularly” is that “you keep on discovering more and more what a tissue of quotations from it the New Testament is.” There is no doubt that it is essential to have a deep understanding of the Old Testament if we want to grasp the truths which are revealed in the New Testament.
We live in a very different culture from the world of the Bible and there is always the danger that we impose our 21st century perspective on to the pages of the word of God. It was my daughter, Fiona Crow who gave me this book which has helped me to develop a fresh insight into the teachings of the New Testament from the perspective of a Jewish reader. Most of the books of the Bible were written by Jews and the Bible should be regarded as a whole - not a series of fragmented books. That is what makes the Bible special - it was written by a variety of human authors over a long period of time but there is a unity about the message from Genesis to Revelation.
One young man, who attends our church in Falkirk, made a comment about our study group on Tuesday evenings where we have been studying the book of Revelation. Referring to the style of the study guides and the depth of discussions, he said this is not a pot-noodle type of Bible study. He was acknowledging that we were going deeper into trying to understand the Word of God and we have indeed been blessed as we have tried to read Revelation from the first century perspective in which it was written. Lois Tverberg has a similar analogy - she talks about doing Bible study microwave style. She says that we gulp down a pre-packaged, pre-sweetened devotion with a few slurps of coffee before heading off to work. That criticism could apply to Dayshare - it could be described as convenience food. I am encouraging readers to dive a bit deeper and maybe to engage in meaningful Bible study. This brief look at Lois Tverberg's book is designed to encourage us to go beneath the surface.
Here is her introduction to this book:
Have you ever tasted fresh pita bread made by the Bedouins?
It's out of this world—chewy and hot, crispy in spots, and a little smoky from the open fire. When a veiled, wizened old woman flops a piping-hot piece into your hands, you need to tear a chunk off and pass the rest on before your fingers burn. Smeared with olive oil and dried hyssop, it's like nothing you've ever tasted before.
Sure, you can buy bagged pita bread in your local grocery store, and its nutritional value will be exactly the same. But the mouthwatering aroma of the original simply can't be captured and transported to you. Similarly, the Bible's ideas are often best appreciated "freshly served" in their original Middle Eastern setting. [Lois Tverberg: Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus page 9]
It requires time and effort to delve deeper into the original Jewish context. It is too late for me to learn Hebrew and it will take time to build up a picture of the history and the culture which provides the setting for the Old Testament and the New Testament. I hope to make a start by looking at thirty useful Hebrew words for understanding the Bible. I plan to allocate a blog to each of these Hebrew words providing the insight from Lois Tverberg as well as looking at how these words are used in the Old Testament. I am hoping that this might encourage us to look more systematically at the Hebrew words which form our basic understanding of Biblical theology.
This in itself will not be enough to transform our perspective from the world of the 21st century in the United Kingdom or the Netherlands as we also need to change our big ideas to approach the Bible with a Middle Eastern outlook rather than with all the Western assumptions and prejudices. So the plan is to incorporate some Hebrew concepts into our studies too. This will be challenging for a wee bald Scots guy who has never visited Israel and the Middle East. Johan Schep, however, has lived in a kibbutz and he came to faith while staying in a make-shift hut in the Sinai desert. Sandy Roger has also a deeper understanding of the Jewish perspective than I have. I have also been given a whole series of photographs when one of the many members of the Neilly clan had a holiday in Israel.
However, to use my favourite word when I want to look at the other point of view, this is not an academic exercise. The primary objective of our Dayshare studies is that we will have a greater understanding of the Word of God so that we will become more Christ-like in our conduct and outlook. It is not about filling our heads with knowledge. The desire is that our hearts will be overflowing with love for the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us. It is about sharing this love with others so that they too will find this love for themselves.
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