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Eden to Patmos. Turning the corner.

A couple of days ago I finished reading the First Testament. It's the first time in the history of my devotional life that I have read nothing but the First Testament for such an extended time- about 6 months. And it's the first time I have read it through using the Jewish ordering rather than the accepted Christian one.

Take the same elements of a narrative and reorder them and you get a completely different story. We Christians tell a tale of a developing revelation; of a movement from the beginning of all things , through a salvation history to Jesus. The Jewish story is not so much about the past as about the present. It is about the law, by which is meant more than a set of rules and regulations. It is about the great ordering on which the universe is founded. It is a prophetic commentary in which society is critiqued against the standard of that ordering, and it is worship in the light of the law. By and large, I prefer the Jewish system, and wonder if I will ever read the First Testament in quite the same way again.

The day before yesterday I began to read Matthew's Gospel, again, without verse or chapter numbering and without any form of textual apparatus, and a quite different Gospel presented itself. There is a pattern in the first Gospel which has little correlation to the way we have divvied it up these last 500 years. Shaped by my reading since Advent, I noticed like never before the scriptural references. Of course this is quite blatant: the writer starts with that subversive genealogy after all. There are constant references and allusions and echoes of the old stories, but the pattern is there as well. Jesus' origins are laid out, then his reworking of the law is given, then there are the stories of how this law is worked out in daily life. It's all here, says the writer (Matthew? Who knows? What does it matter?) here in this enigmatic man and his pull you up short make you catch your breath and question everything you thought you knew teachings.

This morning I rose in the dark and lit the fire for my sleeping wife. I made coffee and sat on the old, worn, red leather sofa with my beautiful book. I read a few pages more of the Second Testament (Which chapters? Who knows? What does it matter?) and after all these years began to understand Jesus the Messiah as I have never done before. 
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Merv said…
Thanks again for taking us on this journey with you.
I was going to say 'it's all down hill from here' - but that doesn't sound quite right. As you say, a corner has been turned.
I wonder what the 'Jewish ordering' means. You are correct in that our 'Christian' view of the developing narrative informs our understanding of the Divine. We critique our society in the light of this revelation? It seems unfashionable nowadays to even suggest that there is a 'great ordering on which the universe is founded.'
I'm looking forward to your reflections on the rest of your journey.
17 July 2017 at 09:44
Kelvin Wright said…
Hi Merv. The Jews divide their Bible into three sections, Law, Prophets and Writings. These are all "scripture" but the Law is regarded as the most sacred and most authoritative section, and the writings the least. The Law contains the first 5 books as we have them in thee Christian Bible. The Prophets contains two sub sections: the former prophets (what we would call the historical books, except for Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther Ruth and the Chronicles) and the latter prophets (what we would call the prophets - Isaiah and Hosea and so forth, but not Daniel) The writings is everything else.

What was revelatory to me was classifying the historical books as prophecy, which places a very different slant on them, and the inclusion of Daniel, Esther, Ruth and Chronicles amongst the poetic or devotional works.

I haven't checked this out properly but I suspect the Jewish system might more accurately reflect dates of authorship.
17 July 2017 at 11:58
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