30 Days With the Literary ESV

observations along the way.

Reading this large of a block of scripture every day created a problem for me. I note that I became focused on conquering the territory rather than surveying it as I went. I had to continually struggle against that bent.

I suffer the same shortcoming when I drive on vacation. I could drive past the most beautiful vista's and never notice because my eyes were pinned to the road and my heart was already at my destination. So it was in some measure as I read through the Bible this month. I found myself so focused on conquering the territory that I undoubtedly missed a number of blessings.

On the other hand I gained a panoramic overview of the Bible which can't be had otherwise. So I don't feel any guilt at reading past the details instead I feel blessed for having experienced the grandeur of God's word at a distance. So I didn't miss all the blessings I just received a different set. In fact most slower readers are virtually guaranteed to miss the forest because they're so focused on the trees, or in most cases the bark.

The ESV as a Reader's Bible

The ESV is incredibly readable. The speed with which I read didn't permit me to compare it either to the original languages or to the NASB which has been my main bible translation for a number of years now. However I can say that the ESV rarely felt difficult to read in large chunks. To that effect at minimum it is a good translation for reading. This is an important point for me.

I can't believe I've fallen behind in these posts. I've been reading but not reporting. The problem is that I'm reading on paper now rather than on the computer screen. That means I can read in bed, or in my easy chair or outside while the kids run around. These are the times and places I'm far less prone to writing down my thoughts as I read.

In the last few days I started in Malachi and then passed 400 years with the flick of a finger as I moved from the Old Testament into the New. The Gospels then piled up one after another to invade my senses with the sights and sounds of Israel lost and struggling to recognize a savior standing right in front of them.

I enjoyed a great day working through (most of) the minor prophets yesterday. Almost no reading at all on the computer screen since my hard copy of the ESVLSB arrived.

In terms of construction it's a pretty well built Bible. It's a hard back which I don't use many of, but it opens flat immediately no matter where you are. The binding is a little tough to figure out - I can't tell if it's glued or sewn. From the end's it looks glued, but the pages (folios) are folded as if sewn. the paper itself is very thin and is not white but parchment colored, which has a staggeringly nice effect on reading. the font is a touch small for my eyes but clean and sharp. All and all since it was designed as a readers' bible it is easy to read.

So with my brand new hard back I sat down outside to read in side the kids' playhouse while my two youngest played in their playhouse and sandbox. Eventually my oldest daughter found her way outside with a book and sat down next to me to read, and pretty soon my second oldest was sitting on the other side of me reading. My wife also - came out to sit near me and we enjoyed the day together.

The shade was lovely the gentle breeze was just the right temperature and my entire family was sitting playing or reading next to me, it was pure bliss.
Thanks God.

Jeremiah

Another Massive prophecy by a massive writing prophet. The scale of the book of Jeremiah is reflective of his massive ministry. Jeremiah touches me as more human perhaps than some of the other prophets, this for the very reason that he is called the weeping prophet.
Jeremiah's preaching and writing ministry fits the culture of his day. By our own standards much of his writing is fescennine; yet it was age appropriate for it's time as God portrays himself as a jealous husband and Israel as an adulterous wife who would rather run in lust after her lovers than offer the slightest glimpse of faithfulness to the Lord.

Adultery and it's description is the primary theme throughout as God threatens and ultimately delivers judgment on the people who should have loved him but preferred to love sticks and stones. We are no better when we lavish our attentions upon cars, clothes and computers instead of loving passionately our Living God. Let us turn away from the temporary and worthless things of this world that we might be consumed with passion for Christ rather than titillated with lust for things which will perish.

Lamentations

Ultimately God does visit his judgment on the nation, half way through the book of Jeremiah. The brief but powerful book of Lamentations is a hard read written by a tender prophet with a broken heart. In five chapters Jeremiah mourns the horrendous suffering brought on by the deserved punishment from God. It is not the place of the righteous to relish the pending judgment of the wicked but rather with a prophet's heart to warn and plead for repentance and if need be to weep when repentance is rejected and judgment finally falls.

Whew! Catching up is hard to do. Time and circumstance tend to converge in such a way that the slightest stumble (or in this case, internet interruption) can set you back for days. Well I'm happy to report that for today at least I am finally caught up on reading through the Literary ESV in thirty days. And that's a good thing because my free subscription runs out soon. Of course I do have a hard copy on the way but I still have to finish what I started here.

Job

Job encapsulates the penultimate problem which seems to drive theologians and non-theologians alike absolutely batty: the problem with pain as C.S. Lewis called it. Is there ever a point to suffering? Is there ever a purpose to pain?
Job as literature leaves nothing out. It is poetic, didactic, dramatic, narrative, comedic, tragic in fact if you can dream up a literary style the book of Job contains it. In terms of touching real life in a raw and unnerving way - the book of Job is it. All of this for one simple reason; the book of Job is unquestionably real.
We all suffer from time to time, and occasionally we suffer in the midst of righteousness. This theodicy is beyond our standard ability to comprehend and quite frankly any explanation which fails to account for God's ineffable glory falls far shorter than it should.