Bible in a Year (The Story) Podcast
Bible in a Year (The Story) podcast features Professor Rachel Bodell, a marketing storyteller who teaches marketing, innovation, and leadership at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA University). She will not only read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation in one year, but she will share all the resources that have helped her to understand the Bible as one unfolding connected story along the way through short commentaries and reflections from biblical scholars, most of which read original biblical languages like Hebrew and Greek (e.g., Dr. Tim Mackie, N.T. Wright, Dr. Carmen Imes, Dr. Jeannine Hanger, Dr. James Petitfils, Kristi Mclelland, Dr. John Walton, Dr. Michael Heiser, and Dr. Lucy, Peppiatt) By 2024, we hope to additionally offer special episodes from the renowned Bible scholars themselves that will help you understand the context of hard-to-understand stories within the meta-narrative of the Bible. We want to help you not only listen but hear what God is saying through the Bible every year and grow in your understanding, practice, and re-telling of the story to others as you learn more about how all the pieces of the Bible fit together to tell the GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD with a God that is inviting us to participate in the story as it is unfolding today! Each episode is about 15 minutes and includes two to three scripture readings and a short commentary and reflection with suggested biblical scholar sources (e.g. The Bible Project and Premiere Insights) for this is our prayer ”that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:9-11). Some passages of the Bible and commentary reflections contain adult themes that may not be suitable for younger children - parental discretion is advised. Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
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Episodes
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Wednesday Mar 22, 2023
Today we read Numbers 3, Deuteronomy 3, and Psalm 87. The story in Numbers is a continuation of the organization of the encampment where the Levitical tribe will surround the tabernacle in the center and be in charge of its care. This story is tethered to the last part of Exodus where the law and preparations are still being given and Mount Sinai to the people in preparation for their trip to and entrance into the promised land. It’s interesting to note that Yahweh is accepting the tribe of Levi as the representative “first” son when Levi was the third son of Jacob and Leah. We also read more in Deuteronomy about how God fights for us and He asks us to all stand together and be a part of the resistance, the purpose, and the rescue mission. The story describes how there is total victory in the pursuit and response to following God’s plan. It’s anticipating what was stated in Genesis 3:15, a descendent of Eve, which we know is Jesus, is coming and He will crush the head (total victory) over the adversary. We discuss how the Hebrew phrasing and language used by Moses in his speech may be emphasizing this fact more than stating the Israelites participation in the total annihilation of their enemies. The point seems to be that we put our trust in God and He will deliver us, giving us total victory over the adversary. We also read about how Moses will not be entering the promise land and that Moses will play a role in the succession leadership training for Joshua who will take the people into the promise land.
Resources:
Dr. Millar, Gary (2023) A Deuteronomy Commentary, The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/deuteronomy/
The classic work on this subject is by K. Lawson Younger, Ancient Conquest Accounts, JSOTS 98 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1990)
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Tuesday Mar 21, 2023
Today we read Numbers 2, Deuteronomy 2, and Psalm 86. This is a story of wilderness where the people take a step towards God as He calls and then two steps back and then a step forward, and so on. It is also a story of organization and leadership with God at the center. Yet, God is still allowing and responding to the portion of power and authority God gave mankind to self-organize and rule. However, He still wants the ultimate authority to rest in the relationship, in our trust in Him. God not only wants our grit but our wholehearted gratitude with the orientation of our heart on the mission, relationship, trust in His promise and blessing for the purpose of being a blessing and being a part of the rescue mission at hand.
Resources:
Matthew Henry. Commentary on Numbers. Blue Letter Bible Organization. https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/mhc/Num/Num_002.cfm
Millar, Gary (2023) A Deuteronomy Commentary, The Gospel Coalition: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/commentary/deuteronomy/
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Monday Mar 20, 2023
Today we read Numbers 1, Deuteronomy 1, and Psalm 85. We start two new, but connected stories: Numbers and Deuteronomy. These are the last two books of the Torah. The Torah (law) is the Jewish way of describing the first 5 scrolls of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Many Christian and Catholic scholars refer to these same first 5 scrolls of the Hebrew Scripture as the Pentateuch. Many believe these were written or were mostly written and master edited by Moses. However, some point to the fact that he may not have been the one to write about his death, which we will read about at the end of Deuteronomy, specifically chapter 34. Today's discussion will review the entire connected story so far and zoom out to describe the whole book of Numbers and Deuteronomy and then zoom into the first chapter of Numbers.
Resources:
Dr. Mackie, Tim, Book Overviews (6 minutes and 51 seconds) https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/numbers/
Solomon, Marty and Billings, Brent (2017). Lead with Your Voice. Book of Numbers. (46 minutes and 15 seconds) https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/30
Solomon, Marty and Billings, Brent (2017). Remember Where You Came From. Deuteronomy. (40 minutes and 45 seconds). https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/31
The Gospel Coalition. Introduction to Numbers. The ESV Story and Crossway Partnership. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/numbers/#outline
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
Saturday Mar 18, 2023
This is the weekend review and reflection challenge. We'll be back on Monday! If you need to catch up, the weekend gives you the chance to do that. Remember, you can start whenever, pause whenever, but never stop listening (or reading) the Bible!
Reflection challenge question: What is one or two things you learned this week from listening to the Bible that you can put into practice in your life today?
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to our show wherever you are podcasting to get notifications to remind you on Monday that the show has been posted! Subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing our show also helps to organically grow our channel and make it easier for people to find us! Thanks for listening and we look forward to being back with you next week.
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Friday Mar 17, 2023
Today we read Exodus 39-40, Leviticus 27, and Psalm 84. We concluded the two part saga of Exodus where first Moses was delivered and commissioned and then the Hebrew people were delivered and commissioned. We zoomed in on God’s visible presence which fills and guides His people. All of the rescue, redemption, and restoration with socio-cultural guardrails are for the purpose of God coming physically close to us in a sacred space. This echoes back to creation! In summary, the story of Exodus, they are freed from slavery and then in Leviticus they understand more about what they are freed for - to become a kingdom of priests (e.g., Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelations 1:6) - to be blessed and to bless others. While history might note that people freed from oppression often become a new type of oppressor, here in these stories God is putting up guardrails for the people to keep them from becoming a new type of oppressor. Then Brent Billings and Marty Solomon from the BEMA project describe the story of Leviticus as also a two part story where the first half is about me/us approaching God. The second half is about me/us helping others find their way to or find their way back to God for the purpose of dwelling with Him. And here we end the story of Exodus and Leviticus.
Resources:
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (March, 2017), A Kingdom of What? (40 minutes), Retrieved from https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/25
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Thursday Mar 16, 2023
Today we read Exodus 37-38, Leviticus 26, and Psalm 83. It’s a story about developing our followership and responding well to being voluntold by a God we love what we need to do and at the same time also developing our leadership and volunteering muscles to respond to our hearts stirring to give our physical resources, our talent, and expertise to God’s Kingdom purposes. There is a charitable adventure that awaits, but at the same time, there is a required first-mile sacrifice. Delivery and discovery are both parts of the transformation process and being a blessing, putting God on display and participating in creation care. This story is teaching us of the importance of delivering the required first mile (ref: Simone of Cyrene in Matthew, Mark, and Luke) - give God the required sacrifice in the way He is calling for the steps towards restoration for the purpose of Him dwelling with us. Second, the story is teaching us about what Jesus also talks about on the Sermon on the Mount, the second mile, seeing a need, listening for it, and giving our valuable resources and talents to and for God's purposes.
Resources:
Father Mike Schmitz and Jeff Cavins, Bible in a Year, Ascension Press. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bible-in-a-year-with-fr-mike-schmitz/id1539568321
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Wednesday Mar 15, 2023
Today we read Exodus 35-36, Leviticus 25, and Psalm 82. In this part of the story, Exodus 35 to 40 is about God resolving alienation. The people are all participating, fulfilling, and implementing the plan, not innovating or picking their own adventure. There is a redeeming sort of action going on with redirection of creative energy from golden calf to creating the Tabernacle. Where the people broke the commands in the last story and broke the command in the Garden of Eden which led to the breaking of our dwelling with God, here in Exodus, we are reading yet again, how God is making a way for us to restore our relationship. What a gracious God, it’s truly unbelievable.
Resources:
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/
Dr. Scott Rae (2014). Thoughts on the Old Testament and Economics. Biola, the Good Book Blog. https://www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2014/thoughts-on-the-old-testament-and-economics
Dr. Sandra Richter and Dr. Scott Rae (August, 2020). Sexual Violence Against Women and the OT Law, Think Biblically Podcast, Biola. https://www.biola.edu/blogs/think-biblically/2020/sexual-violence-against-women
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Tuesday Mar 14, 2023
Today we read Exodus 33-34, Leviticus 24, and Psalm 81. In this story, we read about a state of jeopardy. We read how Moses interceded between God and Israel. We read how God will maintain His promises but we also read how the perpetual, immediate betrayals affect our relationship with Him. We read about God’s immutable characters in Exodus 34:6-7, one of the most cited passages in the entire Bible. We make a distinction between mercy, which is NOT niceness and justice, which is NOT aggression. In this story we learn about the importance and the effect of pursuing the presence of God. We become what we behold. We are what we love. God’s presence leads to a type of transformation that results in radiance. So cool!
Resources:
Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins. Visual Commentary: Exodus 34:6-7 (6 minutes) https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/character-of-god-exodus/
Dr. Barry Corey. (2016). The Radical Call of Kindness, Why the church must recover Christian compassion in an age of incivilityBiola Magazine. Retrieved from: https://www.biola.edu/blogs/biola-magazine/2016/the-radical-call-of-kindness
Dr. Barry, Corey, Love Kindness: Discover the Power of a Forgotten Christian Virtue, Tyndale House Publishers, March 2016.
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Monday Mar 13, 2023
Monday Mar 13, 2023
Today we read Exodus 32, Leviticus 23, and Psalm 80. This is the famous story of the golden calf. As Father Mike Schmitz says, it starts with uncertainty. Dr. Brene Brown describes how some see faith and reason as natural enemies when certainty is the enemy of both. When we want certainty we cannot reason well, we are more likely to seek to support whatever outcome we are hoping for, in the academic world we often refer to this as a confirmation bias - where you search only for the answers that support the outcome you’ve already assumed is correct. Alternatively, certainty is also the enemy of faith, if faith moves from being certain of what you do not see to uncertain because you cannot see. This story challenges the reader to consider how we respond to uncertainty and or desire for certainty? Do we wait in the story God gave us for the when and what to do next, or do we try to take control instead of reign and rest in our role as representatives?
Resources:
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/
Father Mike Schmitz, Bible in a Year
Keller, Timothy. (2008) The Prodigal God. Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith. https://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-God-Recovering-Heart-Christian/dp/1594484023
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
Saturday Mar 11, 2023
This is the weekend review and reflection challenge. We'll be back on Monday! If you need to catch up, the weekend gives you the chance to do that. Remember, you can start whenever, pause whenever, but never stop listening (or reading) the Bible!
Reflection challenge question: What is one or two things you learned this week from listening to the Bible that you can put into practice in your life today?
Don’t forget, you can subscribe to our show wherever you are podcasting to get notifications to remind you on Monday that the show has been posted! Subscribing, rating, reviewing and sharing our show also helps to organically grow our channel and make it easier for people to find us! Thanks for listening and we look forward to being back with you next week.