Here we encounter the farewell address of Moses, the great Old Testament hero of the Exodus. Its style is warm and personal. Jesus quoted from it extensively. Here are some questions to consider as you read this book:

1. See the three speeches of Moses (chapters 1-4, 5-26, 29-30). How are they different from each other?
2. Compare chapter 1’s account of the wilderness events with Numbers 13 and 14. Do you see differences?
3. Chapter 6 has a key verse to Jews (6:4). It’s called the Shema, meaning “hear.” What is its significance?
4. This book emphasizes certain social standards which we still value today. What do you see here–5:17, 24:7, and 27:18; 5:20 and 19:15-21; 14:28-29 and 24:19-21; 5:18 and 22:13-30.
5. See the poem in chapter 32. How is it different from the prose around it?
6. What lessons in leadership do you see here?

The Hebrew word for this book is “in the desert,” a good title considering thirty-eight years of desert wandering are covered here. Consider these questions as you read the book:

1. Where do you see issues of leadership and obedience stressed?
2. The children of Israel fight a holy war against the Midianites. Can such a thing ever be justified?
3. Some say the Bible is never humorous. But take a closer look at the story of Balaam. Picture the scene in your mind. See the humor?
4. Notice the dependency on speeches in the book. What different kinds do you see in chapters  6, 10, 23, and 24?
5. How is this book connected with the important Abrahamic covenant?

Many skip over this book since there are many passages referring to duties of Levite priests. But many Christians see much here as foreshadowing Jesus. Some questions for you here:

1. How can it be comforting to be part of a ritual system like the one described here?
2. Where are social responsibilities stressed?
3. Does this sacrificial system seem to be a means of buying favor with God?
4. Chapters 1-7 we see much about unintentional sin, guilt, and restitution. How similar/different are these ideas to ours today?
5. A lot in Leviticus focuses on spiritual holiness symbolized by physical perfection. Where do you see this? What leftovers of this view are seen today?

This powerful book tells the story of two key events that led to Israel’s nationhood–the escape from slavery and the revelation of God’s law (“torah”). Here are some questions to consider as you read through the book:

1. How is Moses presented as a typical hero here? Think about Superman, Batman, . . . How is he different?
2. What does God reveal about himself in Exodus?
3. Like any good literary author, the writer of Exodus is selective in the details presented. For example, what parts of the life of Moses are presented and what other parts have been skipped or barely covered?
4. Exodus seems to focus on key themes. What do you think the book is saying about God? What are themes that have to do with human characteristics?

Let’s continue with questions to get us thinking about this important part of the Bible.

1. Literary authors like Mark Twain, Herman Melville, and John Steinbeck have taken more from Genesis than any other book in the Bible. Can you explain its appeal?
2. Genesis, like other literary masterpieces, uses several devices that capture a reader’s attention. One is the use of chiasm, in which several verses are laid out with a reversing order to them. It’s easier to see it than to describe it. Look at the story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11:1-9. Verses 1-2 are the same format as verses 8-9, while verses 3-4 are reflected in verses 6-7. Verse 5 acts as the center point between the two sets of verses. Explain how this inversion works.
3. A literary device used here that is shared by many other books is the use of contrasts to highlight the qualities of people or places. Where do you see pairs of people or places which act as strong contrasts with each other?
4. A crucial part of Genesis is devoted to the establishment of a covenant between Abraham and God. It plays a prominent role throughout the rest of the Old Testament. Take a look at the following verses to see what the covenant covered–Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:14-17; 15:1-16; 17:1-21; 22:15-18.

Here are further questions to consider as you read Genesis:

1. Were you surprised to find out how honest the book is when it comes to its leading heroes? Name one person who is shown both in good and bad ways.
2. Genesis, reflecting ancient peoples’ beliefs, shows how important names were. Where do you see that?
3. Muslims, Jews, and Christians all respect Abraham. What do you see that would cause that level of admiration?
4. Compare Isaac and Rebekah–which comes across the stronger and more vivid character? Explain your choice.
5. How does the story of Joseph illustrate God’s ability in the Bible to accomplish his purposes through unsuspecting or antagonistic people?
6. The story of Joseph is important because it links the account of a family to a nation. Explain.

Let’s consider another key part of Revelation—determining when this all has/will be happening.  It focuses on one word—millennium. How long is a thousand years?

When it comes to the end times, it all depends on who you ask.

Near the end of his visions on the island of Patmos, John glimpses a glorious angelic being. The angel bursts forth from the heavens with a chain and a key in hand. Suddenly, a dragon appears as well—the same dragon who had slithered into Eden as a serpent and who whispered temptations in the Messiah’s ear in the deserts of Judea.

The divinely-empowered angel seizes the dragon, chains him, and hurls him into a bottomless pit where he will remain for “a thousand years” (Revelation 20:1-3). Throughout this span of a thousand years, the souls of martyrs and faithful witnesses live and reign with Christ (Revelation 20:4–5). In Christian theology, this thousand-year reign has become known as the “millennium,” from the Latin terms for “thousand” (mille) and “year” (annum).

Here are several ways to think about the apocalyptic texts (especially Revelation) that are found between the bonded-leather bindings of your Bible:

1. Road maps for the future? If you see Daniel, Revelation, and other apocalyptic texts mostly as road maps for the future, you are probably taking what’s known as a futurist view.
2. History textbooks about the past, present, and future? If you think apocalyptic texts prophetically provide information about a long period of history— perhaps the history of Christianity or some other significant epoch—that’s a historicist approach.
3. Allegories for all times and places? If all the visions seem to you to be allegories of struggles of God’s people in every age, that’s closer to an idealist view.
4. Long-lost newspapers from the past? If you see the biblical apocalypses as books that mostly tell about current events from the times when the texts were written—something like a lavishly-written newspaper report—that’s called a preterist perspective.

Keep in mind that none of these four approaches completely excludes the others. Partly because the biblical writers mixed literary genres, nearly every interpreter of the end times draws from more than one of these approaches when reading biblical apocalypses and end-times prophecies.

Revelation is an example of apocalyptic literature, so popular in Jewish writing. How you read this type of literature depends on what you think it is trying to do. If you take these texts primarily as predictions of events yet to come, you will scour them for clues about what could happen in the future. But if you see Revelation (as well as the Old Testament book Daniel) mostly as elaborate illustrations of temptations that people of faith face in every age, you’ll probably look for connections between your present struggles and the temptations of past believers. If you read them as writings that provide a God-centered perspective on what was happening in the times when the texts were written, you will spend your time seeking hints of first-century events.

How are we to understand the letters to real-life local churches at the beginning of the book of Revelation? Are these epistles to be read simply as introductory letters for the seven original  recipients of this apocalypse? Or do they represent examples of churches that exist in every age?  How do the letters connect to the visions in the rest of the book? Are they historical retellings of the entire story of Christianity, encoded in the form of letters?

Let’s do another blog that explores the various ways people have struggled to understand this enigmatic book.