Terra Incognito

At this point, we're about 25% through the Bible, and we've read some very familiar stories--Adam and Eve, the Tower of Babel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and the Exodus, etc. We may not have known every single detail about every story (and slogging through Leviticus probably made you wish you didn't know ANY detail), but we're familiar with the characters and issues.

I won't speak for all, but that pretty much ends after today and will continue up to the birth of Christ on September 28th. There will be familiar characters and stories, such as Samson, Elijah, David, Solomon, etc., but we're about to enter unknown territory for many of us. Just as the people of Israel were about to enter territory unfamiliar to them, we're about to read about people, places and things that might not immediately register with us.

These next six months will be our test. Will we stick with the rigor and regimen of daily immersion in the word when we may not have a backdrop of knowledge to buttress what we're reading? Will we get to Isaiah and the other prophets and just shake our heads (that's possible, so don't sweat that)? We're crossing our own River Jordan today, leaving behind the familiar stories of the first five books and entering the unknown of the rest of the Old Testament. 

We won't be alone. Joshua 5:13-14 describes the "commander of the army of the Lord," who will be with the people as they enter the Promised Land, and we'll have the Holy Spirit as we head through unfamiliar parts of the Bible. All scripture is God-breathed, and some of it will confuse or elude us, but with God's help and our diligence, we'll see the message that the Lord wishes to share with us. You've made it this far--stick around and see how it shakes out.

Scott