READING FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION

Several years ago, many of the members of our Sunday school class set as a private goal to read through the whole Bible using The Daily Bible so that we would all be on the same passages at the same time. Three of us volunteered to answer any questions by email that anyone might pose concerning the meaning of the daily reading. I could easily tell by the relative volume of questions turned in which portions of Scripture were being read carefully and which ones were being skimmed over.

I almost titled this post “From Texas to California” since I could see a close parallel to reading through the Bible and a trip our family once made from our present location in central Texas back to my old home in Southern California. We started out from the best area in Texas with the beauty of the Hill Country, the culture of Austin, and the history of San Antonio. But our drive westward to the many attractions of the West Coast was more like the Israelite's journey from Egypt to the Promised Land; most of it was through the wilderness.

I certainly don't want to offend anyone in West Texas, Arizona, or New Mexico since all of these areas have their own charm. But as far as I was personally concerned, the only view from our car I could see for hour after hour was miles and miles of miles and miles, interrupted every now and then by a road sign or a truck stop. I see several parallels with the reading journey from the first book of the Bible to the last.

One starts out at a high interest through the whole book of Genesis with its earth-shaking happenings, inter-family squabbles and intrigues, and interesting personalities and plots. I must admit that there are some chapters of mainly genealogies, but no one reads these anyway. This interest level generally continues through the plagues of Egypt and escape of the Israelites to the other side of the Red Sea. And then the story appears to slow down to a crawl with the descriptions of the numerous failings of the Israelites. And the action comes to a complete halt with Leviticus and its endless lists of archaic regulations. It picks up a bit with Numbers and Deuteronomy and even continues to be somewhat interesting into the first half of Joshua. But I must admit that the last part of Joshua leaves me a bit cold with its lists of all the territories as parceled out among the twelve tribes.

I won't bore you with continuing through the rest of the Old Testament with my own personal favorites and not-so favorites. But at last we come to the New Testament where attention increases considerably as we are regaled with the more familiar stories and teachings of Jesus. And that interest continues at least through Acts. But then we come to some rather heavy theology from authors of the likes of Paul. Sure, there are individual verses worthy of hanging on the walls of our rooms as inspiration, but there is much else that can be a bit too deep to wade through.

But at last we arrive at our final goal, the Book of Revelation. Many Christians are so wrapped up in the mysteries of this book that they tend to neglect the whole rest of the Bible, except as it might impact on their personal understanding of the cryptic details in the Apocalypse. Others are so confused by the whole thing that they give up in despair. But most of us, at least, recognize the importance of the last two chapters as our journey finally comes to an end.

What are the lessons we can gain from all of this? For one thing, we must admit that just as in a trip from Texas to the Golden State, every mile, every foot, every inch of that journey was necessary for us to arrive at last at our goal even if we didn't appreciate it at the time. Paul explained that fact to his son in the faith Timothy using the following words: “All scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.”

So we may be driving through some place like West Texas and can see nothing whatsoever of interest from our limited viewpoint on the highway or wading through seemingly endless genealogies in the Book of Genesis while wondering what it is all there for. But in each case, a handy travel guide is sometimes needed to point out the State Park that is located just a few miles off the road or the hidden gems of information in even some passages as dry as genealogies.

That is really why a “travel guide” such as a commentary (scholarly or devotional) and/or a good Sunday school teacher and pastor may be vital to your spiritual growth along your road to the final destination, heaven.

Another lesson we can learn is that the areas we may think are totally barren may actually be quite appealing to others. Just as there are those who would live nowhere else than the desert, there are those who spend most of their Scripture time reading the Psalms, which I must admit do not speak very clearly to me personally. We should not try to impose our own individual tastes on other Christians or disparage the parts of the Bible that are their favorites. Conversely, we can all learn in this area from one another and by sharing insights we have gained, we will all begin to appreciate the treasures, sometimes concealed, that others have found.

I am reminded of a visit to one of our company's production plants years ago on the Gulf Coast. I was talking to an engineer who had been recently relocated there from another facility. I asked him what he thought of the area. His wry reply was, “The locals pointed out to me all the charms of the region.” And then after a pause, he added, “But they had to point them out to me.”