Bible in A Year: Episode 29

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.

Matt • 00:15
Okay, episode number twenty-nine. Hannah, we’re here.

Hannah • 00:20
Yeah.

Matt • 00:22
The last

Hannah • 00:23
Old Testament podcast.

Matt • 00:25
We are about to finish the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures, as some like to say. We’re turning the page. We get to start the New Testament. Uh I did giggle when somebody said the chapter assignments are smaller, so maybe this will take less time, but we have like a 10 minute video to watch like every day this week. The Bible project people like really want us to know what’s going on here.

Hannah • 00:47
Yeah. Well, Bible Project spent a full year in Sermon on the Mount, so I think they’re trying to pack some of those into these early chapters of Matthew.

Matt • 00:57
Uh I’m here for it. I loved that series.

Hannah • 00:59
Yeah, me too.

Matt • 01:00
Really, really loved that podcast series uh and the materials that they produce. So we uh we may take advantage of that. I think we’re actually kind of getting more into the Sermon on the Mount maybe next time.

Hannah • 01:10
Yeah.

Matt • 01:11
Uh because I think we want to wrap up the Old Testament a little bit tonight. But oh for sure we’re gonna turn the page ’cause I don’t know, I’m pretty happy about it. Are you? Yeah. Yeah.

Hannah • 01:20
I like the Old Testament too.

Matt • 01:22
I do. Yeah. You know, I was gonna talk about this a little bit later, but we might as well talk about it here. I am sometimes the kind of guy who’s always looking forward to the next thing. I don’t know if you experience things, but like uh right about this time I’m like, oh football’s about to start. And then, you know, not too much longer. It’ll be like, oh, the weather’s about to get colder. And then you Oh, Christmas is gonna come and I I can sort of forget to be where I am. But then of course as soon as I get to that place, then I’ll think, oh Oh, I didn’t get to do everything that I wanted to do in the summer. Like it it’s the it it can be a struggle to appreciate where I am in a given part of the calendar. I don’t know if you’ve had that experience.

Hannah • 02:03
Yeah, sometimes maybe a little bit less so than you’re describing.

Matt • 02:07
Yeah. Yeah. Uh yeah, because I was giggling because you were telling me about the trip that you just went on.

Hannah • 02:12
Yeah.

Matt • 02:13
Where you uh you got a sunburn. You got to spend some time on a jet ski, is this right?

Hannah • 02:17
Uh yeah. Yeah. Carl and I went jet skiing for a couple hours and Apparently I haven’t seen the sun enough, so I burned pretty easily within two hours. Um it’s not terrible, but but it’s definitely a little pink

Matt • 02:32
Oh. Well, I I’m I am sorry that you got sunburned and you’re uncomfortable. But part of me is like, well, you get to enjoy like one last summer sunburn. That’s pretty good, right?

Hannah • 02:42
Yeah. Yeah. I mean the sun is still out for uh a good while here at least.

Matt • 02:48
Yeah.

Hannah • 02:49
At least it’s I don’t know, maybe it’s just hot and humid. It’s not quite as sunny.

Matt • 02:52
Well, I do sort of shake my head when I go to like maybe Walmart or Wegmans and they’re starting to put out like pumpkin stuff. I’m like it’s gonna be ninety degrees for like six more weeks. What what are we doing here?

Hannah • 03:04
Yeah. Yeah, people get really into fall though, so you know you might as well mark it early to extend your profit season.

Matt • 03:13
I love fall, but it’s still summer.

Hannah • 03:15
Yeah. Yeah.

Matt • 03:16
Well anyway, enough about that. We’ll we’ll get more into that later. Um but well why don’t we orient a little bit? I think we I got a couple uh we got a couple more things we want to do for Second Chronicles and then we want to talk about the process of turning the page. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, and then we finally get to talk about Jesus. I mean we’ve been talking about Jesus.

Hannah • 03:35
We have been, yeah.

Matt • 03:36
But we get to talk about Jesus as an active character uh an active participant in the story. Um so that’d be great. But why don’t you sort of what’s the story so far? Where are we? Uh give us a little bit more flavor.

Hannah • 03:48
Yeah, well we’re just wrapping up the last book of the Old Testament uh per the Jewish ordering that we’ve been reading it in. So I think we’re covering chapters 25 through 34. And um it’s really just like a big list of all of the the last kings um in um Jerusalem. And then there’s like only the very last chapter. Um it’s not thirty-four, it’s thirty-six is the last chapter. Um Where the author like squeezes the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile into like a few short verses, and then all of a sudden the exile is over, and Cyrus’s proclamation that the people can return to Jerusalem is in like a few of the final verses. So Um, we fast forward a lot, but the chronicler is really trying to give us that big overview from his perspective that the story is not over and it’s anticipating this conclusion or fulfillment or culmination that we keep talking about, which we see when we turn uh the page to the New Testament.

Matt • 05:05
Uh yeah, and so because we’re reading this in the order of the Hebrew scriptures, um if we were doing this in their order, it would literally be a turning of the page. You know, reading in our English Bibles, we gotta like You know, shuffle around the text a little bit. But um but it would I I I’ve sort of envy that sensation of kind of turning the page from that place where you’re waiting and anticipating, kind of waiting for that other shoe to drop. Uh and then there he is. So that that’s a uh that I love the d the way that that design works, that it creates this anticipation in you. And then you turn the page and boom, there it is. So although I guess that wouldn’t have been the experience for somebody in real time, because there’s about a four what, four hundred year gap?

Hannah • 05:46
Yeah.

Matt • 05:47
Which just for some perspective, we’re celebrating two hundred and fifty years of our country’s history this year. So all of American history plus another hundred and fifty years.

Hannah • 05:59
Yeah.

Matt • 06:00
Uh that’s a l that’s a long time. It is. And it’s just brushed right over in the text, but that’s actually a long time.

Hannah • 06:07
Yeah. Yeah.

Matt • 06:20
Through the in Judah, less of the northern kingdom with Israel. So focused on Judah and the line of David and sort of the spiraling down of, you know, a king will trust Yahweh for a little bit, but then not trust him. There’s one character in particular whose story intrigued me in a new way this time, and that is Asa.

Hannah • 06:39
Okay.

Matt • 06:39
In chapters fifteen and sixteen. Uh and I was really intrigued by this because Asus seems to start out as one of the faithful kings. He’s committed to the Torah, he’s um, you know, he’s not chasing after idols. And then he has a turn. There’s a a moment where he decides he’s gonna align with a military alliance. And even though one of the prophets says, hey, don’t do this, he he decides to do it anyway. And then he doesn’t seem to turn back from that. So it’s it’s really interesting the way the chronicler describes that, because if you’d stopped in the first part of the story, I would have thought, well, Asa is a little bit like Maybe not quite on David’s level, but you know, some of the other good kings like Uzziah, Josiah, some of these ones were like, yeah, that’s that’s one of the good ones. But there’s that turning and we and I don’t really get a good sense of why I can see the what and the how um that he’s somewhat concerned about Israel’s security or you know Judah’s security. Um and feels like the Alliance is the thing uh that he wants to do, but I we don’t get some insight from him personally, so just stabbing a little bit, but It just sorta I I really paused when we read that that day because I was like I that idea of like well you knew you were in this. You you had seen Yahweh be faithful to him. You were seeing what it looked like to live a life of blessing and you walked away from it. What What what would cause you to do that? And and well frankly it just gave me some pause because I’m I’ve been seeing in my own circles the last couple of years, you know, people that I I would have told you we’re walking with Jesus, that we’re faithful, that we’re in Bible studies and campus ministries and churches and all of this and yet they walk away. Um and it was very just humbling and sobering to me. Um, you know, it’s not unique to ASA. Um and you know, because I see it in my own circles and Gosh, if it could happen to them, could it happen to me? What what is happening in my heart and my mind that might tempt me to say, yeah, God, I know, I know, I know, but I’m I’m gonna No, I don’t want you anymore. I’m gonna walk away from this. It was really sobering to me. So I don’t really have a I don’t have a silver lining for all that. It’s just really made me think a little bit. Um Uh just how how even people that I thought I I would have expected to go the long run uh in terms of walking with Jesus and yet they walked away. And Ace’s story reminded me of that and made me sad. and just maybe sort of double down on things like we’re doing with this ex with this project where staying in scripture, staying in community, um, being humble, trying to, you know, be honest about my faults and foibles, confess sin. Um, because you could be top of the mountain and then before you knew you turn the page in you’ve walked away from the whole thing.

Hannah • 09:30
So Yeah. Yeah, there’s a lot of examples of uh these kings that um we see in second chronicles that I that move from being like a good example of what a Davidic king should look like to then having this self-reliance or relying on material possessions or relying on military alliances. And then we also see some kings do the opposite thing too.

Matt • 10:00
Yeah. Yeah. This the you you pop pointed out this one, and I’m so glad you did. Manasseh is an interesting one.

Hannah • 10:07
Yeah. Yeah, I Manasseh stood out to me because there’s this whole uh I mean it’s not that long of a story, but there’s a story that was not included in, you know, the kings. Um um like events of Manasseh. Manasseh is mentioned in depth in King’s as being like the actual worst king.

Intro • 10:34
Yeah.

Hannah • 10:34
And he um is this terrible guy who does all of these awful things. But uh the Chronicles uniquely um adds a story that he humbles himself after all of that. Yeah. And prays to the Lord and he’s restored. Which is uh very encouraging that someone so terrible as Manasseh still has the opportunity to humble himself and and be restored to the Lord. And I noticed this theme of humility throughout the reading in 2 Chronicles this past week. Like Hezekiah is mentioned. Um Hezekiah was probably one of the best, if not the best, you know, king after David. in the way he’s described at least, as being someone who restores the temple, consecrates the priests and the Levites, renews worship and sacrifices, he gathers people to celebrate Passover. Um but later in Hezekiah’s uh reign he becomes proud, but he humbles himself again after his pride. So I noticed a bit um of a theme there. And then yeah, there were a few others I I don’t I don’t think I wrote them down, but I just noticed this theme of the king who humbly seeks and trusts Yahweh and leads his people to do the same and to worship Yahweh, That’s the portrait that the chronicler is painting of what an ideal Davidic king looks like. And I was just reflecting on how much the characteristic of humility is emphasized in Jesus and how he perfectly embodies that. Yeah. So it was a cool uh thing that stood out to me.

Matt • 12:34
Yeah. Yeah, and it’s interesting. I don’t think those stories are right next to each other in the passage, but certainly the way that you can be on top and think that things are going well and then fall. And you can be at the bottom and considered irredeemable, but God’s grace uh matched with your humility can do so much to restore and bring back. Um so I I think you’ve hit on something really important. And it’s so subtle in the text, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Alright, so that’s it. That’s it. Yeah. And yeah, to your point, it it almost reads anticlimactic because uh once the chronicler sort of finishes the line of the kings And then he’s like, yep, and then some stuff happened and um and then there was an exile, but then you know Cyrus let everybody come back. So here we go.

Hannah • 13:26
Yeah, and then in the Hebrew it ends with a incomplete sentence.

Matt • 13:29
Yeah, that’s yeah, to explain that a little bit more for somebody who’s not schooled in Hebrew.

Hannah • 13:35
Well uh this is Cyrus’s decree um that we read about in um at the right at the beginning of Ezra. It’s like the same like copy and paste pretty much Um and then the last sentence, last verse, verse 23 in chapter 36, um, thus Says Cyrus, King of Persia, the Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house. At Jerusalem, which is in Judah, whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him and let him go up. That’s the end.

Matt • 14:16
That’s it?

Hannah • 14:17
Yeah.

Matt • 14:18
Is let him go up?

Hannah • 14:24
Um the English translations f Add a period.

Matt • 14:28
Okay.

Hannah • 14:28
And they kind of make it to be a sentence. But it’s not. Like in the Hebrew, it doesn’t really make sense grammatical sense.

Matt • 14:36
Okay. I assume it’s go up to the mountain where Jerusalem is. Like go up to the Temple Mount or go up to Mount Zion.

Hannah • 14:43
Maybe. But it d like it doesn’t say that.

Matt • 14:49
That’s true. But yeah, so uh it’s It’s a little weird. You could totally see like a you know 21st century sort of editor be like, um, can we like close the loop here? We it’s a little little not not satisfied, but that’s yeah, that’s what’s in the scripture. But I yeah, I I think uh there must be some intent with that. It’s certainly yeah, I think the New Testament uh writers would have read it that way because it feels like they are sort of

Hannah • 15:22
Yeah. Yeah, and if you go read uh Ezra chapter one, it does say and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Like it finishes the sentence there.

Matt • 15:33
Well maybe they just ran out of ink then.

Hannah • 15:35
Yeah, I’m sure.

Matt • 15:37
Maybe they were trying to write it out and you know they just or maybe they ran out of parchment paper or you know, they got to the end of that scroll and we’re like, eh, that’s enough. We don’t need to write anymore. They get it. That’s fine.

Hannah • 15:47
Matt, everything in the scriptures is intentional.

Matt • 15:50
Okay.

Hannah • 15:50
I believe you.

Matt • 15:51
I’m confident this is the case. Alright. So uh so we want to turn the page. We we’ve Finish the Old Testament and and I don’t know, I imagine there’s some people listening that they they might not have read the whole Old Testament before.

Hannah • 16:02
Yeah.

Matt • 16:03
Yeah, so way to go, people. Good job. You you have read Habakkuk. I wonder how many people can say they’ve actually read Habakkuk or Hagi or all of Second Chronicles.

Hannah • 16:14
Yeah. The Chronicles are are probably the hardest ones for me.

Matt • 16:20
Uh I can see that. There’s there’s there’s little bits in there.

Hannah • 16:24
Yeah.

Matt • 16:25
Yeah, especially like uh when you’re reading the list of genealogies and there’s just like little parenthetical thing where it’s like this guy, this guy, this guy. Then a really cool thing happened. This guy, this guy, this guy. Oh yeah. Let me tell you about another quick cool thing real quick. That’s that’s kind of fun. But yeah, I could see how it’s a for an English reader. in the 21st century. It’s a bit of a drag. But so before we turn the page here, we asked uh some of you to just reflect a little bit. What’s it been like to read the Old Testament this year? Has there been anything that sort of stood out for you or popped for you in either a fresh way or it’s just kind of reset your heart or mind on anything. We got a couple responses. Thank you. So we got an email from our friend Karis uh which is lovely and Hannah I’ll ask you to read that in a second but but first uh I think you missed it at church but Hannah brought presents for you and I both from Japan. And it’s yes. Oh, yes. I really shouldn’t be doing this. You need a different co-host. Um so Karis brought us presents.

Hannah • 17:32
Okay, yeah. I she told me that she did, but I haven’t I I don’t know what they are yet.

Matt • 17:38
So I have taken receipt of mine. Okay. Um and then I think she wants to give you but ours they’re supposed to complement each other. So I’m scared. I’m supposed to share part of mine with you and you’re supposed to share part of mine with or it’s part of yours with me. And apparently she likes you better because she the the gift that she’s giving you is what she said was the best coffee she’s ever had. Or at least the best coffee that she had in Japan.

Hannah • 18:04
Okay. Amazing.

Matt • 18:05
Yeah. So we’ll have to figure this out. Like we’ll have to scoop you like based on your brewing method and proportion and then you can scoop a little bit for me. So maybe I think we need to bring our coffee scoops to church this week.

Hannah • 18:17
Yeah. I I don’t have a coffee scoop, I have a scale. Okay now I totally want to bring

Matt • 18:30
Oh, we have to do this. Just a little kitchen scale. Oh my gosh. People already think we’re nerdy and snoppy. This is amazing. Anyway, so uh so caris, thank you. Thank you for the lovely gift. I have not opened mine yet, but I’m looking forward to that. And thank you so much for your lovely email. Hannah, can you share with us what Kara Kara shared?

Hannah • 18:51
Yeah. Okay, so Kara said one of the biggest standouts in reading the Old Testament through this time was the sufficiency of God every single time. And the turning away from him, the seeing, desiring, taking theme, woven the whole way through the story so far. And that theme is still present today, guilty as charged. And that’s a direct result of doubting that God, Yahweh, is truly sufficient no matter what. I wonder how the story would have been different if they had trusted that more. And it causes me to wonder that about myself and my life so far. But we are not God and we can’t mess up his will even when we go 180 degrees in the opposite direction of trusting his sufficient care and plan. But we’re just not that powerful Part of this aspect standing out is probably due to studying it as my word of the year, but it has challenged me to take a long and honest look at my trust in God’s sufficiency in my life. His provision of Jesus, before whom no one and nothing is better for our longing souls. And I cannot wait to dive in and reflect on the coming of Jesus and Matthew and the Gospels collectively to see that sufficiency come to us here on earth, to meet us right where we are in our striving to satisfy ourselves, to which he says, Come to me. So lovely reflection from Karis on the sufficiency of God.

Matt • 20:31
That really is lovely. Thank you, Karis. Uh you know, she does raise and interest because we saw this with so many of the characters in the story, especially after the kingdom had been established or yeah, uh after the Exodus and they’re in the promised land. They have seen and they have testimony of God parting the Red Sea and giving them the law and establishing the temple. And I think we even talked about it a few times. It’s like, how is this not enough for them?

Hannah • 20:57
Hmm.

Matt • 20:58
Um yeah, what else do they need to be persuaded that he is for them, that he cares about them, that he has a good plan for them? What is it about the other nations that are around? that is compelling in a way that he is not. Um I I think that’s I I think the text is is begging us to answer that question. So Karis, I love that you have pulled out that word sufficiency. ‘Cause I think we still wrestle with that in our own way today. It’s like, how is God not enough for me?

Hannah • 21:28
Yeah.

Matt • 21:29
Uh and especially with what he’s accomplished in Jesus, where by offering himself on the cross he has paid the penalty for my sin. He has overcome death through his resurrection. He has put his Holy Spirit in me. How is that not enough? Yeah. So it’s it’s a a burning question. I think we’ll probably wrestle with that even more in the next couple of months. But Yeah. How how do I not see him as efficient? Why does it still feel like sometimes that he has to prove himself to me?

Hannah • 21:57
Mm-hmm.

Matt • 21:58
Yeah.

Hannah • 21:58
Yeah.

Matt • 21:59
So I love how you pulled that out.

Hannah • 22:01
A lot of the biblical authors are trying to point a mirror right back at the reader to see ourselves in the same story of Israel’s lack of trust in God’s sufficiency. So Um it’s a a very good point that we still make all the same mistakes, but we even have the benefit of Jesus having already come and our hearts have been transformed as the prophets, you know, prophesied, and we have the benefit of the spirit. Yeah. In us, but we still have a lot of the same challenges.

Matt • 22:38
Yeah. And the church. Yeah. We you know, having each other is part of that story. You know, having each other to rely on uh and grow with and form family with is supposed to be part of this well. part of the story as well and yet sometimes I it it I I at least I behave as if it’s not enough that he’s not enough for me. So Karis, I love your thoughts sharing. Uh thank you so much for sharing with us. Uh this one was not in an email, but I had a lovely chat in the lobby with uh Michael Gurnier.

Hannah • 23:10
Have you met him? No, not yet. I’ve met his wife though.

Matt • 23:12
Okay. Uh yeah. He had just started coming to our church earlier this year and he’s a big fan of the plan. Um so that’s really cool. But he shared one of the uh things that’s resonated with him this year is he found himself in conversations a lot with people who would say something like, Well, I love the God of the New Testament because he’s all about love. But that Old Testament God is so capricious and condemning. And so I I I don’t want to be a part of that God. And he’s and he’s shared how reading the text through this time and being reminded that the steadfast love of God is a It just a consistent part of his character and the steady reminder of that through the use of design patterns has been refreshing for him and helped him in some of the conversations that he’s been a part of. It’s like, well yeah, you’re missing it. If all of you s if all you see is the um is the s sin portions, uh well and you’re missing it. Uh you’re also missing that God Yes, God does those things in the Old Testament, but that He’s doing that to execute his justice. And he’s doing that for waiting years and years and years and years. The the story’s really about how patient he is.

Hannah • 24:21
Right.

Matt • 24:21
Um, you know, we think of this God as somebody who maybe really should be meeting us halfway. I mean, yeah, we’re not awesome, but we’re not that bad. Why couldn’t God just meet us halfway? Why has he gotta be so uppity about our sin and rebellion? Why why can’t he just chill a little bit about that? But Yeah, this the scripture really paints him as patient and gracious and kind uh and waiting and waiting and waiting for us. So so I really appreciate that Michael pointed that out.

Hannah • 24:48
Yeah. Yeah, Exodus 34, 6.

Matt • 24:51
Yeah, one of our favorite verses.

Hannah • 24:54
And the biblical authors own favorite verses.

Matt • 24:58
Yeah.

Hannah • 24:58
At least Based on the number of times they quote it within the Bible itself.

Matt • 25:03
Yes. Yeah, so the Lord’s patient, he’s kind, he’s slow to anger, he abounds in steadfast love. And then I you know really love uh that verse in Micah, um, that the Lord uh he does not retain his anger forever because he delights in steadfast love. So yeah, so I love that thought.

Hannah • 25:26
Yeah.

Matt • 25:28
Yeah. Uh and then I had one. Is it okay if I share one?

Hannah • 25:32
Yeah, I’ll allow it.

Matt • 25:34
Okay. Uh I I would say uh something that really resonated me with me this time around was the exile. I feel like it that one really caught my attention. Um I think I learned a little bit more. I I thought of the exile as just sort of one single event. But it really opened my eyes this time that it was more an event that unfolded over a longer period of time, that there were a couple different layers to it and levels to it. Um, I also didn’t realize that not everybody returned from the exile. Um, that some people disperse, and that’s why we see so much dispersion around the greater Middle East and then even up into what we would consider Europe. Um that’s part of the history of the Jewish people. Um so I think understanding that uh has given a little bit more layers to the story for me, that the exile was something that happened over time and that it never really finished for some people. A a lot of people stayed exiled or or stayed dispersed. So it it tells me there’s more to the story there than I would have originally thought. I it there’s just more there I wanna explore about what it was like for somebody to be um you know a devotee of Yahweh in that time. And you know, how do you how are you making that choice if you are living in Persia around that time? How do you make that choice if you’re going to go back to Jerusalem or not? What’s What’s involved with that and what it really says about the heart condition for us. Um yeah, so the exile is something I think popped for me in a new way and something that I want to explore a little bit more about.

Hannah • 27:07
I know this is something that we have talked about before, but that theme of listening really stood out to me this time. And I think we already maybe talked about I don’t know, we were talking about things that stood out to us from the Torah or something. That and the theme of the choice. Yeah. The choice of life or death. You know, good or bad. That theme stood out to me. And then this reading, um, Ecclesiastes really I mean I’ve always kind of liked liked Ecclesiastes, but this reading Um yeah, I just spent a lot more time reflecting on um what it what it looks like to find joy in the Lord while accepting our limited or no control in life.

Matt • 28:00
Yes. Yes.

Hannah • 28:01
Yeah.

Matt • 28:02
And it was really fun to have our J our friend JT be part of that episode.

Hannah • 28:06
Yeah, that was fun. That was awesome. Yeah.

Matt • 28:08
Yeah, love uh I love that. I I feel like I was about to say something and now I can’t remember what it was. Oh, the choice. Um yeah, I actually got the chance to share with our church family about that. Um I preached, I think it was in June. Unfortunately we had a uh the it didn’t didn’t record it, so I don’t have that. But if that’s something you’re curious about, I’d be happy to share my notes or or grab coffee with you or something like that. But yeah, I I I I think I was trying to do you justice when I was sharing that, Hannah, because I know that you love that theme so much and that you um love some of those things so much. So I was trying to make sure that I reflected uh reflected your thoughts and so much that I’ve learned from you as I was sharing that day. So and one of the things I really love about the choice is we’re not quite done with that theme yet because that actually is part of our reading this week.

Hannah • 28:51
Yep.

Matt • 28:52
So that that’ll be really cool. Cool. Well, all right. Well, we’re finally here. We’re finally turning the page. Um, yeah, much like on uh uh we were joking about listening to Christmas music before, our friend Casey Maddox considers himself the czar of the Christmas season. And his firm rule is that you’re not allowed to listen to Christmas music until after Thanksgiving Day. So usually somewhere around nine thirty on Thanksgiving, he will send out a usually on Twitter, he will send out a message that says, You are now free to listen to Christmas music.

Hannah • 29:25
Nice.

Matt • 29:26
And it makes me giggle every year. So shout out Casey Maddox. Uh and now we are now free to turn the page and listen and read the New Testament. We made it. Well, we’re gonna start with the four gospels. Yeah. Um what does that word mean? Gospel. We’ve actually talked a lot about it at church uh this year that in in Romans that the gospel is God’s power to save us. But if you’re if you’re new with us on that journey, if you if you’re haven’t been in our church to hear about that, but also if you’re a relatively new Bible reader, it’s kind of a churchy word. It’s a Bible word. It’s not something I think in real life conversation we would say it about a certain style of music. or things like that. But it’s it’s a little bit of a churchy word. So for people who are sort of getting into this text now, but we’re reading a gospel, what is what does that actually mean? What am I getting myself into here?

Hannah • 30:17
Yeah. Well, you know, um w as we’ve been learning about Romans in church uh the gospel as God’s power to save is something that Romans uniquely highlights. So sometimes the different aspects of the gospel are highlighted a little bit differently when Jesus or the gospel authors talk about The gospel. Um one of well let’s start with so the gospel comes from a Greek word ewangelion. Which is kind of fun to say.

Matt • 30:52
And that’s you on Galeon.

Hannah • 30:54
Yeah.

Matt • 30:55
I think I’m gonna do better with Greek than Hebrew.

Hannah • 30:57
Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s less guttural. You don’t have to do the throat clearing stuff. Um, and that means good news. So gospel means good news. And the so the four books that we often call the Gospels are really just one singular gospel, even though we use a plural to describe the four books. But they’re one gospel told from four perspectives. And the gospel accounts are not merely historical records. They’re a carefully designed uh theological biography of Jesus focused on the announcement of the good news of the arrival of God’s kingdom here on earth So a lot of times the gosp or the yeah, the gospel accounts are focused on using that word gospel, the good news, to describe the arrival of God’s kingdom here on earth. where Paul often takes it in a slightly different direction, but all rooted in the same thing, just different different aspects of The gospel. And the gospel accounts aim to persuade the reader to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and to enter into the community of his followers. And then I think we talked about this when we read Isaiah, but this term gospel in the New Testament is rooted in the Old Testament’s vision for God’s anticipated arrival as king. So this was in Isaiah 52, 7. That says, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news. And so this was in the midst of exile after the destruction of Jerusalem, uh, describing this messenger who’s bringing the good news that God still reigns as king. And so Jesus sees himself and his ministry as the fulfillment of that hope as he proclaims the good news of the kingdom of God.

Matt • 33:00
Alright, so the first one we’re gonna read is Matthew. So we’ve started that. We’re gonna be at through over the course of this reading week, we’ll get through the first eight chapters. Um and so the second part of that starting chapter five is the very famous sermon on the mount. Um I think we’re gonna we wanna do a full run through yeah so we’re we want to give that the love that it deserves. So I think we might save that for the next episode. Um but there’s some setup in the first couple chapters. Um I think it it’s certainly clear from the reading that that Jesus is a new king of a type, but he he seems a little bit different than the kings that are in place at the time and maybe the king that we are looking for. Um you’ve got some examples to lay out for us. So What is the text showing us about Jesus as King and what should we have our eye b eyes open for as we are reading through this story?

Hannah • 33:51
Yeah. Well maybe starting just a little bit more broadly, one of the main goals of the gospel uh c accounts is to show how Jesus is bringing the whole biblical story to its fulfillment. Which is why the New Testament authors constantly quote and allude to the Old Testament and describe sometimes explicitly how Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy. um and sometimes more implicitly will show those patterns between Jesus and Old Testament patterns Um and so what you mentioned was um Matthew portrays Jesus as the long anticipated Davidic king So we’ve talked so much about how, especially towards the end of our reading of the Old Testament, the authors are like Really amping up this longing and anticipation for us to finally see the the promised king and messiah come And so Matthew starts with this genealogy.

Matt • 34:56
More genealogies.

Hannah • 34:58
Yeah. Which everyone loves. Um but it’s a very carefully designed genealogy. It um has these three sections of 14 generations um centered around David. So uh David is a key player in the genealogy and Um Hebrew the Hebrew language can use letters to also refer to numbers. And so the letters in the name David. Add up to the number 14. And so this is like another way that Matthew is highlighting David as the center of this genealogy.

Matt • 35:45
That’s really nerdy. I would have no idea about that from a casual reading.

Hannah • 35:50
No, of course not. Yeah.

Matt • 35:52
I don’t but even if our reading Jewish reading might. You think so?

Hannah • 35:56
Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Matt • 35:58
That feels like when in Harry Potter when Hermione took numerology, that’s what it sounds like.

Hannah • 36:02
Right, right. Uh so uh throughout the first few chapters and uh probably probably a lot more of Matthew, but Even just right off the bat, we see Matthew be very explicit with some of the ways that Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecy about what we expect from the Messiah. But some of the ways uh like I mentioned are a little bit more implicit. So uh not only is he Jesus portrayed as this long anticipated king, but he’s also portrayed as a new Moses. Um and he replays a lot of the events of the Exodus. So just in the first like four chapters, um, after he’s born, King Herod, just like Pharaoh, tries to uh thwart God’s plan for Israel by killing all the baby boys two years and under. And Pharaoh did the same thing in the first chapter of Exodus. And then this forces Mary and Joseph to hide their son. They take him down to Egypt for for refuge. And after some time Jesus comes out of Egypt, just like Israel came out of Egypt. And Jesus is delivered through the waters of baptism, just like Israel was delivered through the waters of the Red Sea And then Jesus faces 40 days of testing in the wilderness, just like Israel faced 40 years of testing in the wilderness. But anytime that Israel failed And even where Adam and Eve failed, Jesus passes the test that is kind of set in parallel to both Israel and Adam and Eve. So some really cool parallels.

Matt • 37:54
I want to go back to the genealogies real quick.

Hannah • 37:57
Okay.

Matt • 37:58
Two things. One of all, first of all, Gold Star and shout out to the aforementioned Casey Maddox. for that genealogy song that he put in the uh in the chat or the in the plan. Did you listen?

Hannah • 38:09
I didn’t listen yet. No, but I saw it.

Matt • 38:12
It’s pretty clever.

Hannah • 38:13
Is it okay?

Matt • 38:14
It’s pretty clever. I don’t know if I would put it on repeat on one of my playlists. But it’s pretty clever. I certainly celebrate it. I mean, all scriptures got breathed, right? Yeah. I mean, how many songs about like Psalm 23 do we need? Why why isn’t somebody working Matthew 1? Come on. Yeah, I love it. Good point. And then I know we’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth highlighting now that we’re here. But we’ve talked a lot about how some of the unlikely characters in the story um in the old testament. So think Rahab and think uh Ruth and Boaz, how uh there’s there’s careful crafting into the messianic line and Matthew knows exactly what’s going on and makes sure that we haven’t forgotten that so our friend Rahab gets it mentioned here. Um we see Boaz and and Ruth mentioned here. So some of those things where it’s like, you know, God’s been grafting in the people. all along to be part of his plan and part of uh uh bringing messiah. So it’s it’s kind of neat to see it start to come to fruition that way.

Hannah • 39:09
Mm-hmm. Yeah, totally. Yeah.

Matt • 39:13
And then yeah, it was definitely popping for me all of the Exodus references. So going to Egypt, coming back, you know, the it in this sort of inverse it’s now the king who is in Israel who’s the evil pharaoh like creature going after the baby boys. And it’s interesting, um, that now Jesus and his family have to go to Egypt for cover when in in the in the previous part of the story it worked the other way. Right. Um and yeah, so that that Kind of kind of how we talked about with design patterns is it’s not just A and then B and then C. It’s it’s the remixing of them all, kind of seeing how the biblical authors want to uh weave that story and and show us new things. So it’s sort of this inverse of, hey, you know, you used to think that Egypt was the bad guys and and Israel is the promised land and the good things all happen now. But the thing is so spoiled now That Israel’s a little bit of a uh threatening place. And you gotta go get some solace in Egypt only to find your way back. So it’s a really interesting uh design choice there.

Hannah • 40:15
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, another way that uh Matthew is portraying Jesus as a new Moses is that uh, you know, we’re familiar with the five books of the Torah that are attributed to Moses and Matthew um designs Jesus’s um s some some teaching blocks into five teaching blocks throughout the book. So thinking from a macro level of the design. Um Jesus’ five blocks of teaching mirror the five books of the Torah of Moses.

Matt • 40:50
Now there is one interesting thing where we’re we’re told that Jesus is uh out in the wilderness for 40 days. Uh and I can see the connection to the 40 years in the wilderness that Israel experienced. But I’m I am mindful that, you know, Israel had to experience that because they failed the test. Uh and so, you know, they were invited to go into the promised land. They refused to take God up on his promise. And so then they had to wander for forty years. And I guess the uh the I think the idea is the sin is sort of worked out of them over that period of time. But it’s framed in a different way. Jesus is not disobedient, but he still has to experience the forty days. So What what should I be looking for there? What do you what do you think is is interesting for me to kind of keep note of as I’m looking at that?

Hannah • 41:36
Well uh Bible Project has this video of the theme of the test. Maybe we watched it with one of the earlier passages. I don’t know if it was in the plan already. Okay But this is rooted in the original test that Adam and Eve face in the garden in Genesis three, um, and where they fail to submit their own desire and trust that the Lord wants to bless them. Instead, they take what they think is good in their own eyes. This in this case Jesus passes the test. Yeah, you know, by trusting that the Lord and it it’s funny. Karis made a good comment on on one of the days of like, Jesus already has the whole world in his hands and Satan is like, I could give you every kingdom like as if, first of all, he has any ability to do that and also he hasn’t recognized that Jesus already like is king over all of these kingdoms. Um but yeah Jesus uh submits to the Father’s will and we see this like later towards um Before his crucifixion and the garden, everything too, where he passes the test by listening and obeying, like we’ve been seeing that pattern.

Matt • 43:00
Yeah, it’s interesting. And I love what you said about baptism too, about how we see Israel go through the waters in the Red Sea and then Jesus goes through the water in baptism. And I feel like Baptism is a little bit of a new element. I feel like it’s mentioned very in very small ways in some of the Old Testament passages, but it’s a big part of the New Testament reading experience. So I love that exchange that people had had in the chat this week. It was I think it was Ian who was asking where did that come from? Um and then um I think Lisa Monaghan. uh responded with that. So that the I mean, look at the chat doing its thing. We’re reading community, right? So that was awesome. So see that exchange if you’re curious about Pad Baptism. And I’ll confess I’ve never done a deep dive on baptism, like where it came from or while we do it. I you know, I I know some things, but I haven’t done a deep dive. So I will be looking at that resource to try and learn a little bit more so that this language pops from me even more and I have clarity. Um so yeah, I love that.

Hannah • 43:53
Mm-hmm. Yeah, very cool.

Matt • 43:55
Yeah. And then we might want to pull up there because as we turn from chapter four to chapter five, then Jesus starts to teach. And of course he has a great reputation as a teacher, but we want to be able to give that his due because he’s a different kind of teacher. Uh and there’s so many connections between how he teaches, what he teaches, and the Torah in the Old Testament. And I think that’s worth exploring with some more time than we have today. So why don’t we table that for next time?

Hannah • 44:24
Does that sound good? Yeah. Sounds great.

Matt • 44:26
All right. Uh well, anything else we should be excited about as we’re turning the page from the Old Testament to the New Testament?

Hannah • 44:33
Oh, well, I’m excited for the Sermon on the Mount. It’s it’s just really beautifully designed and so rich in just three chapters. of like the core of Jesus’ teachings.

Matt • 44:49
Yeah.

Hannah • 44:49
Yeah.

Matt • 44:50
Uh I’m excited too. Uh I’ll save the l a longer description for this for next week, but a book that really really uh impacted me. It was called The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. I think Dallas Willard is is famous as a writer about spiritual disciplines, but this is a book that he wrote the the it’s in essence asking the question What if we really applied the Sermon on the Mount? Yeah. What would it look like if we actually lived our lives that way, organized our communities that way? What would it really look like and why don’t we do it? Uh and when I read that it scrambled my brain and made me long to live in a community like that. So I’ll share some more thoughts about that as we get into it last week. But um but yeah, if you Curious about that book, I highly recommend it. Um you’re not allowed to borrow my copy because that one’s precious to me. I don’t loan that one out. Um but it’s not can’t be that expensive on Amazon. Go get go get your own people. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, why don’t I pray for us and then we’ll uh we’ll wrap it up this week and we we made it. We’re in the New Testament.

Hannah • 45:57
Mm-hmm. Oh, it’s so good.

Matt • 45:59
Awesome. Awesome. Uh Heavenly Father, thank you. Thank you so much. And Lord, thank you that we don’t have to be uh like the people who lived around the time of the exile where we’re looking at the story and we see that you have been faithful and provided for us and re-established your temple and given us the law and brought us out of exile only to live life waiting for that other shoe to drop, Lord. We were here with Jesus has come. He’s accomplished his work. Now, in a way, we’re waiting for that other shoe to drop, so to speak, because we’re ready for him to come again and bring the story to its full completion. But Lord, what a joy it is to turn that page and see that you are faithful, that your plan is not over, that you have good things for us and that you want to be with us. And so Lord, I’m just Really grateful to actually be reading about Jesus and just say this is what the kingdom looks like. And it doesn’t have to be a far away thing and it doesn’t have to be a make-believe thing. This is something that we can experience Right here, right now, under your Lordship, through the power of the Holy Spirit, as we live in loving community together. So Lord, we don’t want this to just be something that we read about, although that is fun and awesome and amazing, Lord. We want to be We want this to be something that we live out in our church and in the communities that we’re part of. So help us to do that, Lord. Help us to have ears to listen across these next few weeks. As we hear the words and sayings of Jesus and as we learn to love him as our Lord and Savior on an even deeper level than we might feel today. Thank you for bringing us here. And Lord, we don’t want to stop. We want more of what you have for us as we read your word, filled with your spirit, and empowered to be obedient to you. This is our act of worship to you, Lord. Hear our prayer and petition as we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hannah • 47:41
Amen.

Matt • 47:42
Amen. Thanks, Anna.

Hannah • 47:43
Thanks, Matt