Bible in A Year: Episode 28

Intro • 00:00
Welcome to Read the Bible in a Year with Matt and Hannah, a weekly podcast from Fairfax Bible Church where we explore scripture together, uncovering its themes and design patterns. We’re glad you’re here. Now, here are your hosts, Matt and Hannah. Okay, we’re back.

Matt • 00:17
Episode 28. We had a small hiatus there. I went on vacation. Uh Hannah, did you did you you were going to travel. Did you end up going somewhere?

Hannah • 00:26
I was going to, but I didn’t. My flight got canceled, but I uh rescheduled for this coming weekend.

Matt • 00:32
Oh. I’m sorry your trip got canceled.

Hannah • 00:34
Yeah.

Matt • 00:36
Yeah. And when it’s a you know, summertime, I guess people are starting to wind down their travel. You you might be the last vacation taker of of everybody in our church.

Hannah • 00:45
Oh, I don’t know about that.

Matt • 00:47
Uh yeah, you’re probably right.

Hannah • 00:48
There’s no such thing as like the end of vacation time. You could take a vacation whenever.

Matt • 00:53
Yeah, well you certainly can. I think the rhythms that people have though, because you know school’s about to start back up and I don’t know, people get into at the fall you’re going to football games and farmers markets and whatnot. So I don’t know I don’t know what I’m talking about, but um but I did I will say during the couple weeks that we were not actively engaged in recording this podcast, I sort of missed it.

Hannah • 01:18
Well good.

Matt • 01:19
Yeah, I was like, uh as I was reading something and seeing people’s comments and asking questions, I was like, oh, I need to make a point to jot that down, especially because when we’re in our rhythm It’s a little bit fresher in my memory. Yeah. But I was like, oh, I’m not actually gonna talk to Hannah for whatever time. So I need to make a point to actually write this down and take some notes.

Hannah • 01:38
So yeah.

Matt • 01:39
Uh so we’re back. It’s good to be back. And hopefully some people had a chance to catch up either on the podcast itself, which I know people told me they were doing, or on the Bible reading plan itself. So Uh and we’re about to turn this over. We’re about to finish the Old Testament.

Hannah • 01:53
Yeah. Yeah, we’re getting really close.

Matt • 01:56
Yeah, it’s uh you can taste it. Yeah. Now I will say, and I think we’re gonna talk about this more today, this is really about the time when I do reading plans like the one we’re doing. Where it’s sequential instead of concurrent, where you read the Old Testament all the way through and then begin the New Testament. Um, I’m definitely ready to hang out with Jesus by about this time.

Hannah • 02:17
Okay. Yeah.

Matt • 02:18
Which is probably the point.

Hannah • 02:20
Yeah, that’s that’s what the Old Testament’s uh exactly what it’s doing.

Matt • 02:24
Well it’s doing the right thing then. So cause uh I’m ready. Not that I’m not enjoying the reading that we’re doing now, but I definitely um Can uh I’m starting to have that experience. So it’s like, okay, I’m ready. I’m ready. Let’s do this. And um right on time for Jesus to show up. But more about that later. So

Hannah • 02:40
Yeah. Yeah.

Matt • 02:41
So what are we going to do today?

Hannah • 02:43
Well, we’re going to talk about Ezra and Nehemiah and then um 1 Chronicles and a little bit of 2nd Chronicles where m maybe or what are we halfway maybe a little more than halfway through second chronicles as well. Um so why don’t we set up Ezra Nehemiah and talk a little bit more about those two books, which originally were one book, which is why um I’m saying Ezra Nehemiah.

Matt • 03:11
Ezra Nehemiah.

Hannah • 03:13
As one one book. So in in these uh books or book, we finally start to see the fulfillment of the promise of Israel’s return and restoration of their land. Um so We’re s finally in the post-exilic phase of, you know, chronologically. So the Persian Empire has defeated the Babylonian Empire at this time. And the Persian king allows the Israelites to return to Jerusalem. And so these two books focus on three leaders that lead Jerusalem’s rebuilding efforts. So the three leaders are Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. I don’t know why Zerubabel doesn’t get a book named after him, if they are too.

Matt • 04:01
That is an excellent question.

Hannah • 04:02
Yeah.

Matt • 04:03
It’s such a great name. Zerubbabel.

Hannah • 04:06
Yeah.

Matt • 04:08
Or I learned it when I was a kid it was Zerrubbable.

Hannah • 04:10
Okay.

Matt • 04:12
I’m not saying it’s correct, it’s just there was a song in like a musical that we did at uh at my church called Zerubbables and Troubbable. Isn’t that good? Isn’t that amazing?

Hannah • 04:25
Oh wow.

Matt • 04:26
Surabbles intrubbables. I don’t know, it must have been seventh grade when we did that. Yeah.

Hannah • 04:32
Oh I I really like that.

Matt • 04:33
That was good

Hannah • 04:34
Oh man.

Matt • 04:35
But yeah, Zerubabel needs some love.

Hannah • 04:37
Okay, Zerubabul, Zerubabul. He uh is the first of the three leaders that leads a large group back to Jerusalem. to rebuild the temple. And then about 60 years later, Ezra arrives in Jerusalem and he’s focused on teaching the Torah and rebuilding the community. And then he was uh followed shortly after by Nehemiah, who led the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls And so the stories of these three leaders are set in parallel to each other. They each start with a Persian king being prompted by God to send the leader back to Jerusalem. offering support and resources. And then each leader encounters some kind of opposition during their efforts. And each story has some kind of anticlimactic conclusion.

Matt • 05:28
Yeah.

Hannah • 05:29
And the overall idea is that even though the people have returned to their land and rebuilt their city and temple and walls, there’s still something missing. There’s still an unfulfilled promise and hope for transformation of the people’s own hearts and ultimate restoration. And so in the chronological narrative, this is the end of the Old Testament story, but the tension of this unfulfilled transformation and restoration anticipates more. Which we’ll we’ll get to in the New Testament.

Matt • 06:03
I know we talked last time about Esther and how it’s just ready to be a Netflix series.

Hannah • 06:10
Oh yeah, yeah.

Matt • 06:11
Ezra Nehemiah Chronicles, maybe maybe Netflix not backing up the uh truck for this one.

Hannah • 06:18
Yeah, I don’t know if the plot is quite riveting enough.

Matt • 06:23
It doesn’t have like the narrative tension that I think we’re used to as uh story consumers. There’s they’re interesting stories. We’re gonna we’re gonna talk a lot about those things, but yeah I If somebody as a relatively casual Bible reader kind of struggles to get through these passages, I I get a sense of where they’re coming from with that.

Hannah • 06:46
Yeah, well it it in reality these are kind of a middle of the story story, you know, like they’re they’re not they don’t have a beginning because you have to read the the earlier parts of the Bible to understand where you are in the story. And they are they’re anticipating an end that doesn’t happen in the books themselves.

Matt • 07:07
Yeah.

Hannah • 07:07
Yeah.

Matt • 07:08
Yeah. Well, let’s get into it a little bit more. Um you want to start with Ezra? Oh sure. The Ezra part of Ezra Nehemiah.

Hannah • 07:16
Yeah.

Matt • 07:17
Yeah, so um so Zerubb Zerubbable.

Hannah • 07:22
It doesn’t matter. We’re not saying any of them right anyway. Like we’re saying a transliteration of an attempt of an ancient language, you know?

Matt • 07:32
It’ll be so fascinating to get to heaven and learn what these people’s actual names are. This is a total non-sequidor too, but also one of the things that we have learned as Bible readers is that the name that we read Like a character’s name is is doing something of like telling part of their story. Like Jacob is deceiver. So we’re you know, we we know that that’s gonna be something of what this character does. For all we know, when it when when he was born, his name was like S Johan or something, right? So I mean they the the they the authors could have finangled the names a little bit. I don’t know.

Hannah • 08:06
Oh yeah.

Matt • 08:07
It may not be the name that Isaac and Rebecca gave him when he came out of the womb. In his case it probably was, but other characters, right? Yeah.

Hannah • 08:15
Yeah. Well Zerul means planted in Babylon.

Matt • 08:19
Okay. Okay, so that probably was his name then.

Hannah • 08:23
Well, I don’t know. Would you name your kid that?

Matt • 08:26
If he was born. If uh maybe. I’m just like I’m thinking.

Hannah • 08:29
Like every kid at that time was born in Babylon, right? Yeah. If you were exiled to Babylon, why would you name your kid? Would you name your child planted in Fairfax?

Matt • 08:40
Uh maybe not, but I have met kids. I have met people that’s named like uh one of my cousins named his daughter Mallory Bay. because uh my family my parents are from Mobile Bay, Al they lived right on Mobile Bay in Alabama. And so he uh he gave his daughter a name with like that bay connotation ’cause that’s a important part of their family story.

Hannah • 09:06
Okay. Yeah.

Matt • 09:07
Maybe.

Hannah • 09:08
I do know a couple that name their daughter Virginia because they met in Virginia or something like that.

Matt • 09:15
That’s reasonable. Yeah. Okay, we got off track. Zerubable So Zerubable is the first one back and he he’s got a cleanup job. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And um so it’s been a couple weeks since I read this, but Zurabbable is pretty focused on sort of like building back the t the temple, right? Yeah.

Hannah • 09:38
Okay. Mm-hmm.

Matt • 09:39
Yeah.

Hannah • 09:41
Yeah, so this is right at the beginning of the book of Ezra where this happens. The interesting thing that stands out is what happens when the temple building is finished.

Matt • 09:52
Right.

Hannah • 09:53
So um When when they lay the foundation of the temple, they start singing and praising the Lord. This is in Ezra 3, verses 11 through 13. They’re singing, they’re praising the Lord, they’re shouting with a great shout. because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. Um I guess maybe that’s not at the end of the building. That’s when you’re laying the foundation that’s the beginning.

Matt • 10:18
But whatever. You’re you you’re part of a building project. It’s very exciting. You’re getting started. Yeah.

Hannah • 10:23
Yeah. But many of the priests and Levites and Heads of the Father’s houses, who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, even though many shouted aloud for joy. And people because so that people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the shout of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout. and the sound was heard far away. So there’s this mixed reaction. Yeah. People are excited, except for those who saw the first temple, because Solomon’s temple was so glorious and majestic. That this the second temple is not meeting their expectations. It’s nothing like their glorious past, and it doesn’t meet their hopes for what a restoration would really look like.

Matt • 11:19
Yeah.

Hannah • 11:19
Yeah.

Matt • 11:20
Yeah, you know, it makes me think I um You know, not too long before the events of September 11th in 2001, about a year, um, I was in New York City with my wife. We had just gotten married at the time. And so I remember very distinctly walking around the World Trade Center when it was the Two Towers and um, you know, walking around it and and walking through the the famous um you know, down uh downstairs area with a large mall area. And so um so then obviously the events of September eleventh happen uh and then they rebuild it, the Freedom Tower. And I do get a sense of that now. When I go to New York City and I see it, I can’t help but see what used to be there.

Hannah • 12:02
Yeah.

Matt • 12:03
Uh and remember um you know my many visits to New York and sort of being that being an anchor in the skyline. I could always make uh navigate my way in New York City because when I I could always know what north and south was because those two towers were south. And so yeah that that disorientation of yeah there’s there’s a new thing here. And that’s good and proper and of course you would do that, but I remember what used to be here and I remember that it was beautiful and glorious and it reminds me um of what we lost. Um and that’s a very fresh memory for that. So I I I don’t want to be overly dramatic or comparison, but I I think I get a sense of that where if if I had been there in that moment Yeah, you’re a little bit s excited or you’re like, of course we’re gonna do something new, but I remember. And of course now I’m an old uh you know, in their case, I’m an old man now. Uh, you know, I’ve just spent uh you know many decades living somewhere else and sort of come back and this thing um you know it it can’t be as grand as it was in my memory and it it can’t be what it was. Um and so it’s it’s This new thing is always going to be in competition with the thing that was there before that was so fun fundamental for me and paramount for me. So I I think I get a sense of that.

Hannah • 13:18
Yeah, totally. Yeah, and there’s been um all this promise of restoration after exile. Um and and that’s what is kind of happening here, but I think the the the reaction of especially these priests and Levites who are so disappointed by what this version of restoration looks like. That’s anticipating Maybe we’re actually waiting for something better. Maybe we’re actually waiting for a bigger restoration that will actually fill our expectations.

Matt • 14:00
Yeah.

Hannah • 14:01
Yeah, their expectations must have been way higher, which which I think is an accurate assumption based on the promises that God’s given because I think what he is really describing is the messianic temple. You know, the new creation temple.

Matt • 14:20
Yeah. Which, you know, even for being back in their homeland and being able to build a temple and come back to their ancestral land to be able to farm that and live there. Although not everybody, a lot of the exiles stayed uh abroad and dispersed even more. But even to come back and but you’re still living under a foreign ruler. You know, you’re still living under somebody else’s authority. Um you still yeah, we got a temple, but and yeah, we’ve got like a governor, but we don’t have our own king and we’re under somebody else’s authority. So yeah, I I get the sense of this being good, but a bit anticlimactic. I could see like wanting more.

Hannah • 14:58
Yeah.

Matt • 14:59
Right. And then Ezra’s pretty interesting, uh and I I think you’re probably about to get into this, but you know, Ezra Ezra doesn’t work on the physical buildings so much as he’s trying to build back up the culture, especially the religious culture with the the Torah and the observance of that. And uh he’s got a tough job.

Hannah • 15:17
Yeah, I mean they all do. Yeah, all the leaders do with all the opposition that they face. Um Yeah, did you want to talk about the that uh he’s trying to reform there’s no good solution to some of the things he’s trying to reform?

Matt • 15:35
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So tell me a little bit about that. Yeah.

Hannah • 15:38
Yeah, well we were talking about this divorce decree that Ezra enacts and the you know, a lot of the Israelites had intermarried with non-Israelites during um either during the exile or when they returned um and there were non-Israelites living around Jerusalem. And that was something that was specifically prohibited in the Torah. But so is divorce. Yeah. You know? Yeah. So what’s the solution when both are wrong?

Matt • 16:15
Yeah. You know, it strikes me, you know, one of the most beautiful chapters, I think, in not just in this passage, but in um in all of scriptures is chapters 9 and 10 of Ezra, where Ezra has this long prayer of intercession and confession. It says that he’s fasting. Um and I remember what coming up two years now when we did a sermon series uh and we talked about prep fasting in a sermon, this was one of the passages. that I was giving some thought to where it’s like, gosh, uh A, we have a lot of lament and confession to do, but also I don’t know what to do You know, I have these conflicting things. And so to before he steps into that, he has this long period of confession and fasting. And the people respond to that. Um And so yeah, that’s uh yeah, I th I think some people had some questions about why the especially the divorce decree that um that we’re gonna call these people divorced and then seemingly You you tell me if I’m m misreading the text here, but seemingly the the ones who have been guilty of intermarriage, um, he nullifies those marriages and then these wives and children are just sent away. Or at least they’re told to go away. I don’t know if they actually do or not, but it’s like that seems a little harsh.

Hannah • 17:29
Yeah, totally.

Matt • 17:30
And then and then Ezra ends. Like the book ends right there. So it’s like, what? What is what is happening?

Hannah • 17:37
Yeah. Yeah. And that is definitely not part of God’s vision either, the sending away vulnerable women and children. Um to not be, you know, under the care of the community and the families and just be separated. So the First of all, God never actually commanded Ezra to enact this divorce decree.

Matt • 18:07
Right.

Hannah • 18:08
Um there’s this big, you know, like you just said, this prayer of confession, but I don’t know that uh there’s nothing in the text that indicates that he waited for God to tell him how to respond. Yeah. You know Uh and either way he had a difficult decision to make because if he allowed these foreign uh wives or spouses to stay there They might have led the Israelites astray to their foreign gods, which is something that happened many times in Israel’s past.

Matt • 18:41
Yeah.

Hannah • 18:42
Um but divorce is not part of God’s Torah either and um putting uh people in vulnerable situations isn’t. So it it’s really um A decision that Ezra made, maybe doing his best to discern what would be wise. Um, but Kind of a lose lose situation.

Matt • 19:07
Yeah, you know, I’m thinking of Ruth and Boaz, um, where That’s an intermarriage, but that is but Ruth expressly gave devotion and affection to the God of Israel. And so she said, Hey, I am renouncing my old uh gods and I’m going to follow the God of Yahweh and and trust in that. And her faith not only is honored as part of that marriage, but we see that she becomes part of the lineage of Messiah. And so I wonder if maybe there’s you know, we don’t know everybody’s story, but uh you know, because I am also taking that we certainly saw it with Solomon and some of the other leaders, when they intermarry, it’s just downfall. They follow their wives’ gods. So the when the wives are bringing their own culture into it and expecting the husbands to follow with them, that leads to um chaos and disorder as well. So I wonder, this is just imagination for me, that maybe some of them were like Okay, yep, the intermarriage happens, but I’m gonna recommit myself to follow Yahweh, and they’re gonna be sort of enveloped into um the family of the Messiah. And maybe others were like, oh. Okay, well, we’re taking off then. I I d there’s no way to know. Yeah. But yeah, the it it is a just the plain reading of the text as we see it is a little bit unsatisfying.

Hannah • 20:22
Yeah. Yeah. Totally. And that fits into this pattern throughout Ezra and Nehemiah of these strange anticlimactic or disappointing endings to each of their stories.

Matt • 20:34
Yeah, because wouldn’t you love it for all of the people? to be like, yes, we renounce our sin, we confess it, yes, we’ll do whatever you say, which they kinda do, and for everybody to live happily ever after, but we’re not told that everybody lives happily happily. There’s some very real issues to work out.

Hannah • 20:51
Yep.

Matt • 20:52
Yeah. And then uh and then we get to Nehemiah. Yeah. So Nehemiah’s focus is on building the wall. So we we’re back in the land, we’re starting to sort of build up the the temple a little bit, we’re getting sort of some of the habits and rituals back and And some of the feast days and all of that, but we’re still pretty vulnerable, so we gotta build a wall. Yeah. And then this one, uh yeah, my heart goes out to Niama. These are some tough issues to navigate.

Hannah • 21:23
Yeah.

Matt • 21:37
you know, prone to it. And then he’s also got um outright uh opposing forces and even some like potential labor partners that he doesn’t quite trust. um and actually makes them go away. This is actually something I I think I actually put this in our chat, but the the first group that comes along, they’re like, oh yeah, we wanna we wanna partner with you on this. And Nima’s like, no, go away. And and in Bible Project’s commentary, they’re like, oh he shouldn’t have done that. But I don’t know, I sort of get where Nehemiah is coming from. I I’m a little bit more sympathetic to him on this one because I don’t know who these people are. These are people that um that stayed in the land, that intermarried, that sort of collaborated with the people who took over from us. Now all of a sudden they want to be business partners with us. I’d have a hard time trusting them too. I I think and I don’t want to be overconfident here, but I think I get where Nehemiah is coming from a little bit.

Hannah • 22:27
For sure. Yeah, I I think the the people who oppose Nehemiah or you know, they maybe offer to help, but they are presented in the text as genuine opponents to his mission. So I agree with you that I don’t think Nehemiah, I I think he’s in a difficult place to agr uh to agree or to not uh exclude them, right? Like it makes sense for him to make that decision. I think what um Maybe what Bible Project was trying to highlight was that we clearly aren’t in the ideal yet, right? The realities of this broken world is that Nehemiah is facing opposition. And so this isn’t the vision that uh I think it’s Zechariah that they highlight, if I’m remembering correctly. Yeah, Zechariah the prophet prophesies about the God’s kingdom would be a city without walls, surrounded by God’s presence and joined by people from other nations. So I I don’t I wouldn’t read this like, oh Nehemiah is not living up to the prophet’s vision, but that the reality of this broken situation is that he faces opposition, meaning we’re still looking forward to something bigger and better that will fulfill Zechariah’s prophecy.

Matt • 23:56
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so uh I again my heart and I’m I’m just thinking like you know I haven’t led anything on the scale of Nehemiah trying to rebuild a city, but um Yeah, certainly in our church’s history, we’ve had some moments where we had to rebuild. You know, we’ve had two pastor transitions and a whole bunch of things like that. And so there is that sense um where it’s like Gosh, you know, we’re trying to do a really hard thing here. Um, and it’s it’s the kind of thing where you everybody has to be on the same page about this and so you get people who come in and like well what if we did this or what if we did that and it’s like I hear you I don’t want to be unkind but we’re not doing that right now. We’re doing these things right now. Um I will not replay them for the people. But you know, I’ve I’m re rehaving some of those conversations in my head where it’s like, well, what if we did this? I’m like I’m sure that’s a fine idea in a different time and place, but today we’re doing this. This is the thing that we need to do to get our church back to a healthy, productive place. And I’m sure I stepped on some toes and I’m sure I hurt people’s feelings and I’m sure that there’s any number of people out there that think of me as a jerk and And uh you know, I’m and and I’m some of that is I’m I’m a less effective leader in some of these situations than I maybe could be. But it’s like that that clarity where it’s like we’re not doing these things. We’re doing these things. Um and yeah, you’re gonna you’re gonna have some enemies when you do that. And there are gonna be some aspects of that that are not satisfying. To everybody, to plenty of people involved. So yeah, maybe it’s because of the experience that I’ve had in in my own leadership journey that I’m a little more sympathetic to Nehemiah than some others would be. But I just think he’s got some really hard things to deal with and um I’m I’m actually inspired with the way that he navigates some of these things. Yeah. Now there is one thing, chapter eight though, the the story about the public reading of scripture. I know you love that one, so I want to hear some of your thoughts on that one. Yeah.

Hannah • 25:56
Um yeah, well, I think so this is um in chapter eight of Nehemiah, it’s actually Ezra that um reads the Torah aloud to the community. They gather all the people that would be able to understand and they explain some parts of it. um so that everyone can can learn the Torah. And it sa I think it says they read from like sun up to midday or something which I don’t know if you maybe you can read the whole Torah in that amount of time. I don’t know. It sounds kinda short, but anyway, I guess it’s only Five books of our Bible. Um, but yeah, uh Bible Project had a video on that day about the public reading of scripture, particularly as a um uh the the way that the scripture was generally read or uh encountered at that time. And a lot of that is because They didn’t have, you know, Bibles on their phones like we do in their pockets and um the printing press had not yet. Yeah. And you know vast majority of people couldn’t read either. So even if they did have access, they couldn’t read on their own. Um and so these scriptures were read aloud to communities. That was like really the only way you would encounter these um these the Bible. And I love yeah.

Matt • 27:27
I was just gonna interject real quick. I love the little note. It’s in verse eight of chapter eight where it says they read from the book, uh from the law of God clearly, and they gave the sense. So that the people understood the meaning. Right. Or understood the reading. I love that. They’re like little little Sunday schools, little preaching. It’s like, here’s what the Torah says, but Let’s let’s let me let me help you digest this a little bit. So I like a little bit sort of you’re getting a little Sunday school action there. I love it.

Hannah • 27:55
Yeah, uh because at at this time too, this is post-exile, the Torah is pretty old by that time.

Intro • 28:02
Yeah.

Hannah • 28:02
You know, it’s ancient for us, but like it also was pretty old for them. And so But it’s good to contextualize the sort of thing. Right, right.

Matt • 28:15
Like um they’ve lived in a different country for all these years. And yet they had snippets of it. And we see that um you know, Ezekiel and and Daniel and some of the people that were in the exile, they were certainly familiar with the Torah and God’s teaching and God’s laws. But may not on a broader level. Some of the people may not have had regular exposure to it. So yeah, they needed to be reintroduced to it.

Hannah • 28:36
Yeah. Yeah, and I think it’s um cool to see the reaction of the community. They um worship In response to the reading of scripture. Um it’s interesting they even it says that they lifted up their hands, they bowed their heads, they worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. uh after the reading of the Torah. And then they celebrate um the Sukkot, which is the feast of booths.

Matt • 29:05
One of your favorites.

Hannah • 29:06
Yeah, that’s a good uh good Jewish holiday. And then they confess their sins together as a community. And so this public reading of scripture together as a community also calls for a community response. And I I just think this is cool to talk about because this is what we’re doing this year, like you know, with this study. is let’s all read through the Bible together as a church community. Yeah, we are like reading by ourselves at home whenever throughout the day we’re reading, but then we’re We’re all doing it at the same time where hopefully some people are commenting.

Matt • 29:42
Yeah.

Hannah • 29:43
You and I at least get to talk about the scripture together.

Matt • 29:46
Along with the occasional special guest.

Hannah • 29:48
Yes, yeah. Um yeah, I think these are community texts. Like this is not a text written to one person to read in isolation. This is written two communities, four communities. to respond within a community. And the New Testament absolutely is as well. So I think it’s really powerful to read the scripture as a community and you can see in Israel’s response, how uh impactful that public reading of scripture was to them as a community.

Matt • 30:21
Yeah. Um so I th I may have mentioned this before, but my dad spent a couple years living in New York City um after he remarried. And so he’s been retired for a couple years now. So when his wife would go to work, my dad would just explore. He would just walk all over and he’s came in contact with a group uh and they call themselves the Public Reading of Scripture. It’s the name of this ministry that’s in New York City and uh they’re in one of these office buildings in Manhattan. And so my dad would actually start to pop in a couple of weeks and this is what they do. Um at all times, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Somebody is on a microphone reading the scripture out loud. They start at Genesis 1 1, they go all the way through to Revelation, and when they finish, they go right back. So you time this out. It’s about 75 hours to read the Bible straight through.

Hannah • 31:08
Um the I didn’t like personally time that’s just what the internet told me.

Matt • 31:14
Okay, but so so they’re doing this multi multiple times a week. So my dad would just like pop in and be like, Oh, we’re doing Ezra today. Cool. So he would pop out open Ezra and follow along and then, you know, a couple days later he’d be there and be like, Oh, we’re in Matthew or whatever it is. And so my dad would just pop in a couple of times a week just to see what was going on and he made some friends there and learned about it. And so yeah, it’s I I forget the whole origin story and the whole point of it, but it’s this group in New York City and the whole idea is Hey, we’re here reading scripture. Anytime you want to come, you just come. And I think there’s like a prayer room, so if if you’re moved by the scriptures, somebody can pray with you about it. But They don’t sell devotionals. There’s no weight loss plan. There’s none of this stuff. It’s just somebody reading scripture all the time, every day. Yeah, then that’s it. So and it’s I I never got the chance to visit that with him, but he it was one of his favorite things about living in New York.

Hannah • 32:06
Oh cool. Yeah.

Matt • 32:08
You think we could try that as a church? Should we try this?

Hannah • 32:11
Sure.

Matt • 32:12
We could just set up in the office and uh what for seventy-five hours straight?

Hannah • 32:19
Everyone sign up for a time slot.

Matt • 32:21
Yeah.

Hannah • 32:22
We rotate through.

Matt • 32:24
I kinda wanna do it.

Hannah • 32:28
Yeah.

Matt • 32:28
I’m not great with the late nights, so somebody else will have to take those shifts. But uh but yeah, I don’t know. We can figure it out.

Hannah • 32:35
Yeah. You know, we do a lot of uh sermons and small groups and bible studies But like when have you ever just like listened to a large chunk of scripture be read and then like not necessarily have a in depth discussion afterwards. Just be like that was the main event.

Matt • 32:54
Yeah.

Hannah • 32:54
Yeah.

Matt • 32:55
Yeah. I kind of want to try it with my small group.

Hannah • 32:58
Okay.

Matt • 32:59
And actually the whole thing.

Hannah • 33:01
The whole Bible?

Matt • 33:02
Maybe not the whole Bible, but like maybe one night at small group or I mean maybe we do something relatively short. Yeah. Like uh one of Paul’s letters or something like that. I think you could do like Philippians in probably about twenty minutes.

Hannah • 33:13
Oh yeah.

Matt • 33:14
I’m guessing. But um yeah, where we just read it.

Hannah • 33:17
Probably less.

Matt • 33:18
Yeah, maybe.

Hannah • 33:19
Yeah.

Matt • 33:19
I don’t know, whatever it is. We just read it. And then I don’t know, maybe ask a couple questions, a little bit of d discussion, maybe just read it and pray. Yeah. That’s I don’t know. I might test drive that. But yeah, I could even see doing that. I mean, this is very like especially churches like us. Where we’re very much about expository preaching and that’s like a huge value for us. It would be very sort of counter-cultural.

Hannah • 33:47
Yeah.

Matt • 33:47
But I don’t know. I’m sort of game to try it. We’re just gonna read like the first twenty-five Psalms today.

Hannah • 33:54
Yeah, sounds great.

Matt • 33:55
I don’t know. Okay.

Hannah • 33:57
The elders are probably gonna yell at yell at me about this, but um wh why what could be wrong about reading the scripture?

Matt • 34:07
What are you doing? So yeah. So uh I mean it obviously had a power off powerful effect in Nehemiah, uh or in the book of Nehemiah as or Nehemiah. Um but yeah, it’s it’s just it’s interesting to think about what it might look like um in our context today. So Yeah. Alright, so uh why don’t we go to the Chronicles? Uh we’ll start the Chronicles. We won’t finish them. We’ll we’ll give them a proper wrapping up in the next episode. Uh but Chronicles is actually the end of these or the end of these Hebrew scriptures. So it’s it’s gonna conclude the Old Testament. And you know, I always like to say what better way to start than with nine chapters of genealogies?

Hannah • 34:47
Yeah. In one day. Show that should be our first public reading of scripture. It’s first Chronicles one through nine.

Matt • 35:00
Oh my goodness. Yeah, if yeah, so the comments about that that day, I I get it. That was funny. Yeah, and this one’s though, kinda we talked about with genealogies before. Yes. In fact the the the planners clearly figure that you’re gonna skim these because they give you nine of them to read.

Hannah • 35:16
Yeah.

Matt • 35:16
But it’s there’s like little bits in there, it’s like blah blah blah blah blah. What wait a minute, what’s that? There’s like little It’s n nugget stories in there that are kind of interesting. So it is the kind of thing that you want to skim, but it the detailed reading of it reveals some goodies. So it can be pretty challenging as a reader. I I Well, I mean I there’s no getting around that.

Hannah • 35:38
Yeah.

Matt • 35:39
Yeah. Now now Hannah Bible scholar, uh why is this book the last one in the scriptures. But also I’ve already read a lot of this before because I read s uh the scrolls of Samuel and the kings. So why do I need to read all these things again? What’s what’s happening here?

Hannah • 35:58
Yeah, I mean admittedly some I skim parts of these books as well. Shocker. Um but I do like scandalous I do like to um pay attention to what stands out as different because the author of Chronicles, who’s called the Chronicler, which is a really fun name, I think. The chronicler has a specific theological purpose in his selection and arrangement of all of these stories and genealogies, too And the the first word of First Chronicles is Adam, you know, who’s the first character.

Matt • 36:42
I’ve heard of him.

Hannah • 36:44
Uh of the Bible. And then the very end of Second Chronicles goes all the way up to um the like the period of Ezra and Maya. So it’s a a summary really of like the whole Old Testament, which is why in the Jewish tradition it’s placed at the end of the Tanakh. as kind of a a summary, but with a specific theological purpose. So the author, the the chronicler, uh has shaped these stories specifically focused on David and Solomon in order to provide a message of hope for the future.

Matt • 37:22
So maybe we can talk about some of the differences and then that will highlight like why it’s important to read this book. Yeah.

Hannah • 37:30
Okay, so one thing that the Chronicler is doing is giving us a um A picture of David as the ideal king.

Matt • 37:43
Yes, there are definitely some things that I read in Kings that are not repeated in this version of the story.

Hannah • 37:50
Yeah. Yeah, in Samuel and Kings, there are definitely a few stories um that portray David in a negative light. Or there are things that he did that Yeah, I mean certainly the episode with Bathsheba.

Matt • 38:06
Yeah. Um and so but even like the season of Waiting to Be King where he’s he’s basically a warlord. I mean he’s a fugitive and all that, but like that is sort of skimmed over. We don’t see very much of that. And we certainly don’t get much uh of the Bathsheba story in this one either. So yeah, th those things are minimized and other aspects of his story are highlighted.

Hannah • 38:29
Yes, yeah. And this isn’t like an attempt to trick the audience into believing that David never sinned or that he was perfect because The author knows that the books of Samuel and Kings exist and that his readers can also go read those stories. So they’re not hidden.

Matt • 38:48
In fact, he makes reference to those accounts a couple times. Yeah.

Hannah • 38:51
Yeah. Right. Yeah, like the rest of the stories are written in the books of Samuel or whatever. Yeah. Um rather the chronicler is selecting from the known uh tradition of the stories of David for a specific theological purpose, highlighting David as the king who unites Israel, he defeats all of Israel’s enemies, he organizes Community worship, he prepares for the building of the temple. That’s uh emphasized way more than his involvement in the temple building project in Samuel. And um he uh establishes the pattern that Israel’s future kings ought to embody. And I think a lot of times as modern Westerners We always want to know, well, what really happened? Yeah. Like we want to know what’s historically accurate.

Matt • 39:51
Yeah, we want it to be a a work of journalism.

Hannah • 39:54
Yeah, yeah. Um, especially when we’re reading parallel accounts of the same events. We’re like, well, which one’s really true?

Matt • 40:01
Yeah.

Hannah • 40:02
But what we should be doing is seeking to determine what the author is intending to communicate through his selection and arrangement of these stories. And so the the chroniclers post-exilic audience doesn’t have a Davidic king sitting on the throne. And even after the rebuilding of the temple, like we saw in Ezra Nehemiah, um there’s this anticlimactic uh result to say the least. And so David becomes a portrait of the king that Israel is hoping for in the future. And so the books of Samuel are kind of answering the question like is David the king we really need? And the The whole picture of his story says no, because he failed in several ways. But Chronicles is asking the question. What would the Davidic messianic king that we need look like? And so he’s painting this portrait.

Matt • 41:05
Yeah, he’s he’s it seems like he’s basically saying, hey, we have enough raw material to work with that we can start to imagine what this could be like. Yeah. So remember how David did this and Solomon had this. Keep that thing going and that’s the kingdom that we’re waiting for. Yeah, I it’s definitely popping for me more in this reading than probably previous times I’ve read this.

Hannah • 41:28
Yeah. The another thing that pops out is the specific language that the chronicler uses. There’s a lot of like larger than life language, kind of like it’s a an epic narrative or uh heroic literature. Um and so some of the descriptions are like Is that really accurate? There was something I read in um 1 Chronicles 12, 14 that’s speaking of the warriors, and it says, the least was a match for a hundred, and the greatest was a match for a thousand. And you’re like, really? Come on. I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know. The chronicler is really amping up. These warriors. Like, could one of your warriors really take on a thousand from the other army? Like, I don’t think so.

Matt • 42:19
But he’s probably not intending to be literal.

Hannah • 42:22
Exactly. It’s it’s epic narrative language. Yeah. And then um there’s another verse in uh 1 Chronicles 14, 17 that says that David’s fame spread throughout all of the lands and that the Lord caused the nations to fear him. And so the chroniclers is painting this epic picture of David’s reign. Where he has all of these mighty warriors around him and he’s defeating all of their enemies. And like this is Israel’s legendary golden age. Yeah. So it’s the golden age that they look back to, and that’s creating hope for the messianic future.

Matt • 43:01
Yeah. Uh and then there’s a moment um in gold star Ian Cox, because he pointed this out in our chat where sort of David uh sort of combines the he he does he’s the king, but he takes some actions that normally the priest would in terms of offering sacrifices. And you know, Ian rightly pointed out that Saul was condemned for doing that.

Hannah • 43:23
Yeah.

Matt • 43:23
Um that division of labor was was was uh very delineated for Saul. But in in the Chronicles it’s pointed as a Maybe not outright uh approved of, but it’s it’s appropriate for David to do this in the way that he does. So it’s sort of inviting us to think of that priestly king kind of role. Am I getting the sense of it?

Hannah • 43:42
Yeah, yeah. There so two things. The first I would say about Saul is that not only is Saul condemned for simply being a non-priest who makes a sacrifice, but he explicitly disobeys the Lord’s instructions. uh to wait for the priest to come. Um so this is I’m thinking of specifically first Samuel chapters ten through thirteen is where um Saul makes a sacrifice without waiting according to the Lord’s instruction. The second thing I would say that’s really important is that David isn’t being portrayed merely as a non-Levite doing priestly things. He is being portrayed as a different kind of priest altogether, which is God’s anointed king in Jerusalem, standing in this uh biblical trajectory of Melchizedek. So the Bible project video uh makes a really good point about the connection of Melchizedek being this priest king who existed uh during Abraham’s time and how David is falling in line with that portrait. And that’s what we see that Jesus stands in line with Um and we see this a lot in the book of Hebrews, that Jesus, he was not a Levite. He was from the line of Judah, just like David. And um He was acting as both a priest and a king, the ultimate high priest, connected with the order of Melchizedek.

Matt • 45:14
Yeah I also want to give a gold star to Casey Maddox, who kind of pointed out the connection between um Going back to the Abraham-Isaac story, uh, where God provides the sacrifice um to that being, as we understand things, that being the spot where the temple would be built years later. So that’s that place where um that sort of heaven and earth spot but also that place where um the God God meets us in our sin kind of That place where the Abraham sacrifice and the temple are in the same spot. So good job, Casey Maddox, finding that connection.

Hannah • 45:50
Yeah. Yeah, the the near sacrifice of Isaac is like our first pattern of substitutionary sacrifice, which is what the temple is doing or creates a space for as well.

Matt • 46:02
Yeah. There is one sort. I think mine save this for the next episode because the the Chronicles it The first Chronicles, it’s David and Solomon, and this is great. Uh and then it starts to turn a little bit because the the author does want to remind us. that the Israelites went into exile and there was a reason that they went into exile. So it turns. So maybe we’ll talk about that next time because I I want to come back to King Asa. You know, the story tips a little bit with uh Rehboam. And then and then it really slides pretty hard with Asa and some others. So I I think I want to circle back uh to that one next week. So we’ll we’ll finish that. And then I think the next time we record, we’re gonna finish the Old Testament. Oh, that’ll be good. So I’m gonna put something in the chat, but uh I think this is a great time tomorrow ’cause like, okay, we’re we’re turning the corner here. So before we leave the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures Uh I would love to hear from some people. What have what’s that journey been like for you? What was something that you read that either popped for you in a new way or Was there maybe a book that you read this time through that you didn’t read before? And so now you understand the story a little bit better? So what from our Old Testament reading has really stood out to you? And then what are you looking forward to most as we turn the corner? uh to the New Testament. Again, I’ll put this in the chat so you have it there, but I would love to gather some of those thoughts so that we have them for the next episode. Um and then we’re going to turn the corner and then we finally get to hang out with Jesus. I mean I think the scriptures for me, as we alluded to at the top, for me the scripture is doing what it’s supposed to be because my appetite is wet. Like I am I’m ready to I’m ready to who is this guy? Where is the one that is promised? Where is the the king? Where is the teacher? Where is the leader? Where’s the the one righteous person that we need? I’m I’m ready. Um, you know, I’m I’m tired of being in exile. I’m tired of all the starting and stopping. Um, I’m not complaining, but I’m just saying my soul is tired. It’s like I’m I’m I need refreshed, I need renewed, I need, I need a jolt of this. So uh I’m ready to start hanging out with Jesus.

Hannah • 48:03
Yeah.

Matt • 48:04
Yeah, it’d be good. Cool. Any other thoughts from Ezra Nehemiah or uh the Chronicles before we wrap this up?

Hannah • 48:11
No, I think that’s it.

Matt • 48:13
Yeah. Yeah, so again, I understand that this is not the most uh excit Netflix is not going to probably be making a mis miniseries based on Ezra Nehemiah. Although the Chronicles could be interesting in the right hands. Yeah. Okay, we’ll save that conversation a different time. Uh but still there’s so much. Uh I think there’s so much wisdom, especially when we see the wisdom that is behind the writing. Um, I think there’s real value in reading these books, so I’m glad we’ve had this experience. Cool. Well, can you pray for us?

Hannah • 48:41
Yeah. Lord, we just thank you so much for this time that we have to read your word and discuss your word together. And it’s so clear from these books that this uh period of restoration is not the ultimate restoration that you had in mind. Um and that you were waiting for something and anticipating something bigger and better, which we know is um guaranteed uh to us by Jesus. Um but ultimately we’re waiting for something even bigger um today as well. We’re waiting for the new creation where your presence will fully um be with us in uh a bigger and better temple that will be so glorious and That there won’t be walls, that you have invited all nations, all people to be your children, to be found in Christ. And so we just praise you. Because we are those people. Um, at least I am not an Israelite. And so I um I’m so grateful that you welcome in. um all people into your arms and to your family. And that we’re looking forward to a bigger and better restoration. While we are in kind of an exile of our own here in this world, in this uh broken world today, but we have a sure hope and guarantee because of the life, death and resurrection of your son. And so um what a a joy it is to have that assurance. And so we um Thank you for this time. We pray that you continue to bless our time as we move towards the New Testament together. And we pray all this in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Thanks so much, Hannah. Thank you.