Torah – week 2 of 8
Readings for the Week July 16-21, 2018
Theme of the week: The stories of Joseph
- Monday: Genesis chapters 27, 28, 29 & 30
- Tuesday: Genesis chapters 31, 32 & 33
- Wednesday: Genesis chapters 34, 35 & 36
- Thursday: Genesis chapters 37, 38, & 39
- Friday: Genesis chapters 40, 41 & 42
- Saturday: Genesis chapters 43, 44, & 45The Bible In A Year – Torah – week 2 of 8
A Framework for Understanding
Where did the Bible Come From?
Why is it important to understand the background and beginnings of the Bible? To gain a more complete understanding of God, it is important to understand the “who, what, when, where and why” of its beginnings. Many people deciding to read the entire Bible “cover to cover” discover by the third chapter of Genesis that the Bible is not a single story, but a blending of many stories revealing the person and nature of God.
Biblical scholars have identified several “voices” in the pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) which add a distinctive element to the overall story: The sources are referred to by a letter:
J – uses “Yahweh” (in German written “Jehweh”) to refer to God.
E – used “Elohim” (Hebrew word for God) to refer to God
These two source provide many of the “doublets” found in the scriptures. Doublets are stories told twice.
P – is concerned with the Priestly role and ancestry
D – is the primary contributor to the book of Deuteronomy
Examples of theses distinct voices may be experienced:
J – very personal God, who walks and talks with people
E – more distant God, who communicates through dreams and angles
P – a God that is very concerned with order – boundaries, ancestry
D – God is invisible, without form
The work of listening for different voices can be beneficial, particularly living in a multi-cultural environment. Just as we can learn something important about God from each of the voices listed above, so we can learn something important about God by listening to Bibles stories told from various modern cultural perspectives.