Introducing the Psalms

The Psalms are the Bible's model prayers.  About half of them are written by the famous king David, as well known as a musician and worshipper as he was as a warrior and giant-slayer.  There's a psalm for almost every occasion we're likely to experience in life.  In the Psalms, we find beautiful songs of praise, testimonies to God's goodness, pleas for help, and questions asked when things don't work out as they're supposed to.  The Psalms are really meant to be prayed-sung even-rather than just read.  I find that I get the most out of them when I adopt them as my own, praying them as my own prayers.  I tend to pray them verbatim-doing so aloud and with gusto whenever possible seems to improve the experience immensely-but I know other people who use them as jumping off points into further prayer in their own words.  You might even want to try occasionally reading a psalm aloud together with someone else.  Take turns reading stanzas aloud.  At the end of the psalm-or in the middle of longer psalms-you could jump off-book to pray further about the ways the psalm connects to your own current life circumstances.

If you're like me, praying two common types of psalms might initially make you a bit uncomfortable:

1. Extravagant claims of righteousness-occasionally, I find myself gulping when, aloud and with gusto, I end up praying something like, 'I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered' (Psalm 26:1).  I wonder if the proverbial lightning will strike me down.  Despite the fears of divine punishment, a few things have kept me praying these absurd boasts:
   1. First of all, I've noticed that my praying of these psalms take on a tone of aspiration: it makes me want to be the kind of person who can pray those things without blushing.  That seems like a pretty good result to me.
   2. Secondly, I get the feeling that the psalmist doesn't mean that he has never made any mistakes.  I think what he's saying is that he has never abandoned God.  That's still a pretty gutsy thing to say, but it's not quite a claim to perfection.  While the 'not faltering' thing still kind of trips me up, I think I can honestly say that ever since I met God I've taken my relationship with God seriously.
   3. Thirdly, I have a growing suspicion that these extravagant claims to righteousness have less to do with my moral report card, as it were, and more to do with how God sees me.  I noticed that sometimes in the same psalm the author will ask for God's forgiveness and will make one of these audacious claims to utter blamelessness.  Once he's confessed and been forgiven, it's as if he never even took a mis-step.  Perhaps these psalms are saying that, because of God's goodness, we can be certain that God likes us, sees the best in us, and wants the best for us.  If that's the case-and I'm beginning to believe it is-then we can pray those crazy things with confidence and excitement.
2. Calls for violent retribution-some of the psalms seem like they're more suited to a Quentin Tarantino movie than to the Bible.  While I sometimes still find myself a little squeamish at the sheer bloodthirstiness of some of these 'crush my enemy' psalms, I've been surprised to find them among the most helpful psalms to pray, for a few reasons:
   1. They help me prepare for the difficulties of the day-if I start the day with one of these psalms, it reminds me that not everything is going to go my way.  I can prepare myself, and ask for God's help in facing the difficulties that are sure to come;
   2. It's a faithful and non-violent way to vent-it's extremely liberating to unabashedly express just how I feel about the people who treat me poorly and unfairly.  But in the end, it's harmless.  I'm expressing it to God, not letting it leak out in my interactions with people.  I express my anger and my desire for revenge; then I leave it in God's hands to protect me and to vindicate me when appropriate.  Once I've expressed my feelings and left action in God's hands, I can much more easily let it go;
   3. I primarily focus the prayers on my true enemies-the New Testament author Paul tells us that our real enemies aren't other people, but destructive spiritual forces whose entire purpose is to do us harm (Ephesians 6:12).  I have no problem praying that these enemies die a gruesome death.

Introducing the 'Minor Prophets'

These books are called the 'minor prophets' not because they are unimportant, but because they are shorter than the writings of the 'major' prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel).  During this part of our reading schedule, we'll read several of these shorter prophetic books: Micah, Jonah, Joel, Habakkuk, Malachi, and parts of Hosea and Zechariah.  The popular conception of prophets tends to focus on the idea of seeing the future, but predicting the future is actually just one surprisingly small aspect of what the Bible's prophetic books are about. Most fundamentally, the Bible's prophets were God's spokespeople to kings and to society in general.  Their job was to share God's perspective on political events, mostly events that were current at the time of the prophecies.  Often, the prophecies include God's planned response to these events; that's where predictions of the future play a part.  Since these prophetic books are God's social and political commentaries, it's helpful to have at least a little knowledge of the events on which God is commenting.  Three different events figure particularly prominently in the writings of the prophets:

1. The division into two kingdoms: After King Solomon's reign, there was a civil war which ended with the Israelites splitting into two kingdoms: Israel and Judah.  Israel was larger and more cosmopolitan than Judah.  Judah was more attached to the Israelites' historic roots: it was ruled by Solomon's descendants, kept the capital of Jerusalem, worshipped at the traditional temple, and was led spiritually by the traditional priesthood. For about two hundred years, both kingdoms existed side-by-side, behaving something like competitive siblings: often they fought one another; sometimes they banded together to fight other surrounding nations.  Eventually, Israel was overtaken by the Assyrian empire, leaving Judah alone.
   1. Micah is a Judean prophet who comments on societal problems in both kingdoms.
   2. Jonah is from Israel, but his story mostly involves him prophesying about Israel's arch-enemy, Assyria.
   3. Hosea is about the last days of Israel, just before the Assyrian conquest.
2. The exile: in time, Judah was also conquered by a major power, the Babylonians.  Jerusalem was essentially abandoned, and a large portion of the population of Judah was forced to move to Babylonia.
   1. Habakkuk is set in Judah just before the Babylonian conquest, and Joel seems to be written just after Jerusalem was destroyed.
3. The return: when the Babylonians were, in turn, conquered by the Persians, the Persians allowed any Jews (as the people of Judah were now called) who wanted to do so to return to Judah and Jerusalem.
   1. Zechariah is about the humble time of re-building just after the Jews return to Jerusalem.  The part of Zechariah we'll read is Zechariah's foreshadowing of a more glorious future;
   2. Malachi also writes after the return from exile.

Introducing Song of Songs

Song of Songs is a steamy love poem, traditionally attributed to King Solomon (thus, it is also known as Song of Solomon).  Some interpreters think Song of Songs is a contribution to the Bible's wisdom literature, a meditation on the nature of romantic love.  Other interpreters think Song of Songs is an extended metaphor about the love between God and his people.  Who's to say it can't be both?

Introducing Ezekiel

Ezekiel is one of the 'major' prophets.  He was a priest as well as a prophet, but a priest who found himself suddenly and tragically unemployed.  The priesthood in Judah was hereditary: only people from the family of Aaron could be priests, and people from the family of Aaron could only be priests.  The priests served in the temple in Jerusalem, but during the Babylonian war Ezekiel was taken prisoner and carried to Babylonia.  Soon after, the temple and in fact all of Jerusalem were destroyed and abandoned.  So, first Ezekiel was carried away from his priestly duties-the only thing he would have ever expected to be doing-and then the whole reason for the priesthood's existence suddenly disappeared.  Ezekiel's prophecies were delivered from exile in Babylonia, and largely involve him responding to this radical re-orientation of what it means to be Jewish and a priest.

Introducing Acts

Acts is the story of what happens to and through Jesus' followers after his death.  It's the sequel to the gospel of Luke, written-no big surprise-by Luke, a traveling companion and teammate of Paul, the man most responsible for spreading the message of Jesus to Europe (you can read more about Luke in the introduction to his gospel below).  One interesting feature of Acts is that it may well have been originally intended for publication-it contains the acknowledgement of a patron, and it's written to be just about exactly the length of mass-produced scrolls
It's a gripping story, full of stirring speeches, dramatic action, plot twists, and amazing miracles.  The book of Acts is written to explain how a small group of people in an obscure corner of the Roman Empire ended up starting a movement that spread throughout that entire empire and to Rome itself within a generation.  Luke didn't experience it himself, but he probably wouldn't be surprised to discover that eventually the good news of Jesus spread throughout the entire world.

The book of Acts attributes this quick spread of Jesus' message to an entirely new experience in the history of humanity: the widespread pouring out of the Holy Spirit-the very essence of God-on people who hear that message.  This arrival of the Holy Spirit gives people a whole new access to the presence and power of a living and active God.  As we read Acts, it may be worth it for us to focus on the Holy Spirit.  What is it like to be filled with the Holy Spirit?  What does the Holy Spirit do?  How is life with the Holy Spirit different?

During this part of the schedule, we'll read the conclusion of Acts, which tells the story of how Paul gets to Rome.

For those who are interested, I previously co-wrote a Daily Guide-a sort of guided tour-to the book of Acts.  The dates and passage divisions don't match our current reading schedule, but you may still find the thoughts and comments helpful.  The Daily Guide is available at http://www.bostonvineyard.org/classesprograms/leap-of-faith/.

Introducing Revelation

Revelation is a collection of visions seen by John, one of Jesus' twelve apostles.  They're written in a genre, called 'apocalyptic,' that was apparently very popular at the time but has now become extinct.  Apocalyptic writing is very stylized.  Two prominent features of apocalypse are visions of fantastical creatures and the symbolic use of numbers.  The best we can tell, certain numbers and images had standard, well-known interpretations; but we've lost the keys to interpreting them.  So, this most popular of the biblical genres has become perhaps the most difficult to understand for modern readers.  I often liken Revelation and other apocalyptic literature to comic books: easy to read if you know the conventions, but pretty confusing if the style is unfamiliar.  I think Revelation can still be worthwhile to read, and even pretty entertaining, if we simply acknowledge that some of the code is lost to us.  The over-the-top imagery is quite engaging, and I think it's possible to get a decent (but not exact) picture of what's being described by considering what impressions the images evoke and by seeing how an image is used over the course of the book.  It's almost certainly a lost cause to spend any time at all trying to figure out what the various numbers mean, apart from the vaguest of impressions; for instance, the most I get from the number 144,000 is something like, 'a very large number, but not so large that it can't be easily counted.'  The fact that it involves 12 sets of 12 speaks to me of order.  But that's about as much as I can get; a first century reader would probably have known exactly what it meant.

Almost everyone agrees that parts of Revelation refer to current events at the time of John's writing and that parts of it refer to the end of time or to the distant future.  People disagree about which parts refer to John's time and which refer to the future.  In getting the most out of my reading of Revelation, I try to avoid the temptation to map it to our own current events.  Instead, I try first to ask the question, 'What would John's original readers have gotten from this?'  Then, I try to translate that message into a more timeless truth, which I can apply to my own life.

Introducing the letter of James

James was the brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem.  This letter was apparently sent to Jewish followers of Jesus who were scattered around the Roman Empire.  James bears some similarities to proverbs; it's full of wise sayings, applied practically to life. 

Introducing Luke

As we mentioned in the introduction to Acts, the book of Luke is part of a two-volume set with the book of Acts.  The book of Luke tells the story of Jesus' life and teachings; Acts tells us what happens to his followers later.   The author never gives his own name, but from very early in church history the books of Luke and Acts have been ascribed to Luke, a traveling companion of Paul, a famous early follower of Jesus who was largely responsible for spreading the good news of Jesus to Europe.  Luke was part of a small company who worked with Paul, sharing the good news and starting churches throughout the Mediterranean world.  Luke was a medical doctor by profession, and he was almost certainly the only non-Jewish author of the New Testament (and quite possibly of the entire Bible).  The audience for Luke may have been cultured, highly-educated Greeks (Greek was the dominant culture of the eastern Roman Empire): he writes in the same formal historical style that was fashionable in Greek society at the time.  There is some evidence that Luke intended his writings for wide publication: the Gospel of Luke and Acts are almost exactly the same length, which happens to be the length that was common in scrolls used for publication (IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament 187: InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 1993).

Luke's gospel was probably written after Mark's gospel, another of the four biblical gospels, and is apparently based upon it.  Luke follows the same basic storyline as Mark, and about 40 percent of the material is drawn directly from Mark.  But Luke also has much material that isn't found in any of the other gospels.  Luke's unique contributions show up particularly in his stories about Jesus' birth and the teachings of Jesus he shares with us.  Perhaps because he is outside of Jewish society himself, he also shows a particular concern for Jesus' interaction with people who would be outsiders in ancient Jewish society: non-Jews, women, and the poor.
As with Acts, you can find a Daily Guide for Luke on the 40 Days of Faith page of our website: http://www.bostonvineyard.org/classesprograms/leap-of-faith/