“Since childhood you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus. Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God can be equipped to do everything that is good.” – 2 Timothy 3:15-17 CEB
This winter, I have been taking a bible study class on Zoom with a scholar in Old Testament Hebrew. Not since seminary have I looked so deeply at a bible passage. We are currently studying the story of how Cain killed his brother Able in Genesis chapter 4. After 7 1/2 hours of class time, we have only made it to verse 7. That’s less than one verse per hour! At this slow rate, it will take us six months to finish the chapter, but I am learning a lot. The depth and the riches of scripture are amazing.
On the other hand, there are riches to be found in moving more quickly through the bible as well. During Lent, I will be offering a five-week course on the Gospel According to Mark (the biblical Mark, not me). At this pace, we will be covering about 135 verses per hour. At that breakneck speed, we won’t be able to study every single word like I am doing in Genesis. Still, there is value in reading scripture in larger chunks the way we usually read books. I don’t believe that when Mark wrote his Gospel he meant for it to be read one sentence per week.
Slow or fast, either way you study the bible you can’t go wrong. All scripture is inspired and valuable for equipping us to live as God’s people.
Have a great week,
Pastor Mark
The Gospel of Mark study begins on March 12 at 6:30 pm. Sign up at rezumc.org/events