Bible in a Year (The Story) Podcast

Day 30: God Equips the Called

Today we read Exodus 4-5, Leviticus 4, and Psalms 46. In this story, we learn how God is going to equip Moses with his Shepherd's staff and his brother, Aaron on this rescue mission. We also try to unpack the enigmatic story about a bridegroom of blood in Exodus, chapter 4 with Dr. Carmen Imes. Like a foreigner in a foreign land, we visit Leviticus, a culture far different than our own and consider what we can learn about atonement. For me, it brought to light how casual and nonchalant we, or I should say, I, can sometimes be about sin. I know it’s wrong, but here, in Leviticus an animal was slaughtered for sin to pay the cost and cover over the sin in order to allow God to dwell in their midst. While this ritual reads gruesome and weird to a culture like ours, it puts front and center the weightiness of sin and the cost is alienation and dislocation from God. Dr. Tim Mackie makes the analogy to going to a restaurant and realizing after we ate that we forgot our money. Yes, opps, but we still owe the restaurant for the meal we ate. So we ask our friend to “cover us.” Even if we do not mean to sin, there is a cost. Dr. Tim Mackie also points to the rituals we have today with trash, placing them in certain places and taking them out. In Leviticus, God was giving the people a way to take out their sin and the only way is through innocent blood standing in the gap, covering the cost. If you do not already know, Leviticus happens after the people of Israel are freed from slavery by God and then someone quite immediately drifts into idol worship at the end of Exodus. Atonement was needed for the Hebrew people and it is needed for us, but we know because of what Jesus said at the last supper (Luke 22:7-23) and what He did through His death and resurrection, He stands in the gap, He paid the cost to cover us. If animal sacrifice causes me to squirm, my heart is gutted everytime I think about what Jesus did for me, for us, in order to have us back to dwell with us to restore and redeem us to the blessing and our role of being a blessing to others.
Resources:
Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins, https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/exodus-1-18/ 
Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins (2017) Torah Leviticus Q&R, Episode 5, Bible Project. Podcast: https://bibleproject.com/podcast/leviticus-qr/ 
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/ 
Pollard, William (1996) The Soul of the Firm. Harper Business. 
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.

Day 29: Commissioning Clarifies Identity

Today we read Exodus 3, Leviticus 2-3, and Psalms 45. This story describes God’s commissioning of Moses into a rescue mission. This time the rescue mission is not for one person or one family, but an entire community of people, descendants of the 12 tribes of Jacob - Israel, that would become the nation of Israel. It is the story of how Moses’s identity is clarified and tied up, or intertwined with God’s identity. We are given a name for God, Yahweh. When Moses asks, who am I? God answers, I will be with you. We also learn that God will stand on His character revealed and there is a promise in the statement God makes, “I will be who I will be.” Who He is has not been entirely revealed yet, and there is both a promise and a challenge in God’s statement, “I will be.” It feels like stable and staying power, that far superseded our own, but it also calls on us to trust Him for the character He has already revealed to us. There is a sense that our commissioning into His purpose and His mission will help clarify both who He is and who we are. We also learn about a burning bush where the fire of God does not consume the bush. We learn from the Eastern Orthodox tradition that there is a foreshadowing to Mary who is flesh and the spirit of the Lord, which is sometimes depicted as fire, came upon her, she carries Jesus, and does not die. In a similar way, it foreshadows the Holy Spirit who is given to us, and our bodies become a temple (1 Cor. 6:19) that will not die but come to life with His presence. As God was close in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2), He will draw near again through His son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He draws near to Moses here in the form of a burning bush and later in the Tent of Meetings and Tabernacle. We also learn more in Leviticus about the need for and what the cost of atonement will require. We will place our hand, our guilt and our sin onto an innocent animal. It is death and blood to cover and atone for us. It’s so gruesome and unbearable, but it’s pointing to Jesus which is even more unbearable and unbelievable to consider. While it is entirely uncomfortable, we have to see what is happening here, try to understand it within its cultural context and make sense of what it means in the larger, connected story, and what it means for us as the story is still unfolding. 
Resources:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (March, 2017), A Kingdom of What? (40 minutes), Retrieved from https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/25 
Give an overview of the book of Leviticus.
A Kingdom of What? Presentation (PDF)
Discussion Video for BEMA 25
Leviticus: A Call to Priesthood (Sermon Series) — Real Life on the Palouse - Paule Patterson
Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins, https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/exodus-1-18/ 
 
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/ 
 
Dr. Carmen Imes (2019). Bearing God’s Name, Why Sinai Still Matters? InterVarsity Press
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
 

Day 28: Rescuing the Rescuer and the Identity Crisis of Dislocation

Today we read Exodus 1-2, Leviticus 1, and Psalms 44. We introduce two more stories that are connected to the first, in Genesis. Exodus is a two-part story. The first story is focused on an individual, Moses, and starts with a story about the women who rescued him and how Moses was commissioned by God to be a rescuer for his people. Moses' story is inverse to Joseph’s from the last part of Genesis we just finished. In this story, Moses is raised by Egyptians, but he is Hebrew and struggles with his identity. Whereas, Joseph was raised by Hebrews, but was adopted into the Egyptian family as a young adult and was also called to make a choice about where his story would end - both choose the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The second story in Exodus is focused on the collective Hebrew slaves who will be delivered by God and His chosen rescuers - Moses and his older brother, Aaron to become the nation of Israel. God delivers the Hebrews from Pharaoh and they are commissions by God, given a covenant and God’s presence. In 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). The story of Leviticus is also a two part story where the first half is about me/us approaching God. While the Hebrews had been “saved” from the advisory - Pharaoh, atonement or the reconciliation of us to God through offering is laid out as necessary before restoration and redemption can truly begin. The second half is about me/us helping others find their way to or find their way back to God. This story tells of what it means to be a priest and a kingdom of priests - not a kingdom with priests where most people are exempt. We will learn about the 4 fold role of the priesthood in Leviticus: (1) putting God on display, bearing His name, (2) helping others navigate their way to God by being His image bearers, creation care agents, and vice-regents e.g., salt, light, fruits of the spirit through more grace, more justice, more mercy more lifting up those who are the lowest and downcast (3) interceding for others, standing in the gap instead of blocking others way, praying to God on behalf of others and (4) being generous with the distribution of our resources to those in need. The early church did this well, and there are a few exemplar individuals, like Jesus in the N.T. who model what it means to live out the 4 fold role of priesthood.  There are a lot of amazing things to discuss and hard things to understand in these stories, but trust in God, even when it’s hard. Lean in and pray that He will keep your heart soft and your eyes ready to “see” what He wants to show you. Keep in mind, God is revealing himself through a culture. He is not condoning or condemning the entire culture but incarnating in it, look at what God is doing and what it would have meant in that time to understand what it reveals about God's character. It is only then that applications to our own life can be made. Remember, the Bible was written for us, not to us.
Resources:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (March, 2017), A Kingdom of What? (40 minutes), Retrieved from https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/25 
Give an overview of the book of Leviticus.
A Kingdom of What? Presentation (PDF)
Discussion Video for BEMA 25
Leviticus: A Call to Priesthood (Sermon Series) — Real Life on the Palouse - Paule Patterson
Dr. Tim Mackie and John Collins, https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/exodus-1-18/ 
 
Dr. Carmen Imes, Exodus Class - Exodus 1-40, (14 hours) Bible Project. https://bibleproject.com/classroom/overview/exodus-overview/ 
 
Dr. Carmen Imes (2019). Bearing God’s Name, Why Sinai Still Matters? InterVarsity Press
 
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.

Week 5: Weekend Review & Reflection Challenge

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.

Day 27: A Crown and Thorns on a Threshing Floor

Today we read Genesis 49-50, Job 41-42, and Psalms 17. This ends our story of Genesis and Job, but the story of Israel is just beginning. Rabbi Fohrman makes comparisons between the story of Joseph and the story of Esther. He also concludes the story of Genesis with a really cool possibility regarding the dispossessed children of Ham (the Canaanites) and Abraham (Ishmaelites) seeing Joseph (another disposed child) laying his crown on Jacob’s coffin at the threshing floor at Atad and choosing restoration and redemption over vengeance. A threshing floor is a place of judgment in Scripture and Rabbi Fohrman’s Genesis Parsha companion makes the point that Hebrew words used to describe a threshing floor here include the provision that is surrounded by thorn bushes. The picture he paints is that the Canaanites and Ishmaelites came to take from the favored and accepted children but when they saw Joseph, a man like them who had been exiled by the blessed family, a man who chose restoration and redemption over vengeance, this softened their hearts to lay their crowns on Jacob’s coffin creating the visual of crowns surrounding a threshing floor with thorn bushes. For those who have read ahead, this paints a picture like the one we know of Jesus with a crown of thorns who took our place in judgment. Wow. 
Resources:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (2021) Character Study - Joseph Part 2. BEMA Discipleship Project https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/215 
Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
 

Day 26: When Who is More Important than Why

Today we read Genesis 47-48, Job 39-40, and Psalms 16. Jacob uses his blessing to bless Pharaoh (and by extension all of Egypt), Joseph, and Joseph’s sons. But again, we see in this story how God chose Jacob’s younger son as the one who will be greater, which continues to upend what Joseph and the reader would expect in a culture that places the highest value on the firstborn male. The story sets us up with curiosity regarding who Joseph will ultimately pick as his family, will it be Israel or will it be Egypt? While he has wealth and status, plus his own family in Egypt, Joseph chooses Israel and takes a risk in burying his father back in Canaan. In a surprising act of generosity, Pharaoh sends a large Egyptian state processional back with Joseph and his family to bury Jacob. Father Mike Schmitz points out in the story of Job that God doesn’t ask Job to stop asking questions and God doesn’t tell Job to stop wrestling with Him, but God does put Job into context. God is revealing, if not reminding Job, there is a bigger story going on and while you may not know the “why” there is one because God is a good God and everything we are a part of and go through has meaning, even the moments of suffering matter in the story. So the question becomes, can you trust in the “who” and make that more important than knowing the “why?” Joseph did. Even in his exile, alienation, and dislocation, he slowly grew in his commitment and centralization of God in his life. May we all learn from Joseph and Job that we all need to be and need people around us who are patient, gentle, pursue wisdom, are willing to repent, are willing to forgive, and are willing to remind us that only God knows the full story and that God will use our suffering in some important way in the redemption story still unfolding today, can we put our trust in the “who” over our need for the answer to “why?” God never says be silent or stop asking me questions, but a heart check might be in order because sometimes this is what it comes down to - a soft broken hallelujah or a hard heart that stops believing in the justice and goodness of God, trading it for our own wisdom - and this is one of the most clever ways I think the deceiver, the advisory of God can cause more alienation and dislocation of our hearts. Remember, this is basically a retelling of Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve choose the Tree of Knowledge over trusting in God’s plan and choosing His Tree of Life.
Resources:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (2021) Character Study - Joseph Part 2. BEMA Discipleship Project https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/215 
Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman
 
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.

Day 25: It’s God’s Story

Today we read Genesis 45-46, Job 37-38, and Proverbs 4:20-27. This story reminds us that Scripture is telling us God’s story and how we are a part of it. We’re learning in this story how prodigal love and trust for God and others is the uncomfortable road in the direction toward His restoration and redemption to blessing in order to become more of a blessing in His name. From the story of Job, we also learn through his friend Elihu that God does not oppress. The question, therefore, is, can we trust, even when we don’t understand? Dr. Traci Birge, a theology professor at Azusa Pacific University who I met at an Institute of Biblical Research conference last May proposed that sometimes, instead of asking what we did wrong, if you cannot find an answer, which is what Job’s friends were telling him to do in this story. Then, try not to move to the question, like Job did, why did God do this to me which tends to lead to challenging God about His justice and wisdom, basically putting God on notice for a defense. In this case we can tend to elevate ourselves as sinless in these scenarios. Dr. Birge suggests,  perhaps the question is what is God trying to show me or teach me through this situation? It might be something about who God is or what He’s doing in the world or through your suffering to offer redemption and restoration to some other important aspect of the larger story that is unfolding, which we are a part of today. This ties back to Joseph’s story and how he reframed the story. Not necessarily more comforting, but there is a peace in trusting that God is just and wise. He loves us and He is working, even-if and even-when we do not understand it right now.
Resources:
Lucado, Max. (2017) Anxious for Nothing. Finding Calm in a Chaotic World. Thomas Nelson.
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.

Day 24: A Prodigal Response to Undeserved Hurt and Hardship

Today we read Genesis 43-44, Job 35-36, and Proverbs 4:10-19. In this story, Judah confronts head on the terrible truth that started it all, his father loved Rachel more than he loved his mother and he loved her children more than he loved him. His father’s soul seemed bound to Benjamin’s and Judah accepted it. He was not battling against that anymore out of hurt and jealousy. Judah offered himself in the place of Benjamin as a slave, asking Joseph (who he did not recognize as the other favored son) to accept him, Judah, and let Benjamin go home. Even though Judah was hurt and facing a hard situation, he chose prodigal (reckless and unwarranted) love for his father and what his father wanted over everything else. This relates to the Job story where Elihu is warning us that if we allow our anger, grief, and hurt in response to suffering to move our soft hearts to harden in the direction of replacing the throne of God with ourselves, judging God as unjust and claiming ourselves sinless then we are in jeopardy of exiling our own hearts from His. Scripture makes it clear that God is not telling Job to stop asking questions, to stop wrestling, to stop crying out to God but to caution him against using the very permissive will God gave him to remove God from the throne of justice and goodness, a place only God is capable of leading from - there is a larger story at hand and it’s still unfolding today.
Resources:
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (2021) Character Study - Joseph Part 2. BEMA Discipleship Project https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/215 
Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman
Credits:
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.

Day 23: Reversing the Exile and a Challenging Friend

Today we read Genesis 41-42, Job 33-34, and Proverbs 4:1-9. In this story we examine two different types of exile experienced by Joseph and we also see how God reverses Joseph’s exile from his family and employer (or should I say, owner). Yet the story leaves us in suspense regarding the restoration or redemption of Joseph’s own family. We pin our hope for this to happen in future installations of the story. In the story of Job, we learn more from Elihu’s insights about who God is and where Job is drifting. We reflect on what blame is and consider what self-compassion and a growth mindset can look like when we are confronted by a challenging friend about the truth.
Resources:
Prof. Patricia D. Ahearne-Kroll (2021) Joseph and Asenath. The Torah.com https://www.thetorah.com/article/joseph-and-asenath 
Marty Solomon and Brent Billings (2021) Character Study - Joseph Part 2. BEMA Discipleship Project https://www.bemadiscipleship.com/215 
Genesis: A Parsha Companion by Rabbi David Fohrman
The Space Between Self-Esteem and Self Compassion: Kristin Neff at TEDxCentennialParkWomen
Dr. Brene Brown (2012) The Power of Vulnerability: Authenticity, Connection, and Courage. Audible. https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Power-of-Vulnerability-Audiobook/B00CYKDYBQ 
Credits: 
Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
 

Week 4: Weekend Review and Reflection Challenge

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.