Romans: A Preamble

Romans is an amazing book. The rich depth of theology it contains, often conveniently condensed into one or two memorable verses, makes it a favorite source for arguing many doctrinal issues. A lot of people, however, have a very superficial understanding of this great book. They may be able to recite the “Romans road”, and have heard plenty of sermons out of Romans, without really grasping the over-arching sweep of it. I fall somewhere into this category myself, but intend to change that over the next few months. 

The way I plan to remedy this deficiency is to memorize the whole book. There is something about the process of actually memorizing something that helps your brain understand things that at first glance seem confusing. Also, memorizing Romans brings famous verses like 3:23 and 6:23 into context--which often adds layers of meaning that may have been previously overlooked. Finally, memorization is the best way I have found for myself to really comprehend how all the pieces of a book in the Bible work together to form one cohesive whole. 

Why is all this going onto our blog? Well, when it comes to the Bible, memorization could be considered the ultimate form of reading--therefore it fits quite well under the theme of the blog. The other reason is as an introduction to the rest of the series. As I memorize Romans, I am going to write about each chapter, to help fix the outline firmly in my head: summarizing things, any thoughts that the text brings up, how each section fits into the rest of the book, et cetera. Hopefully, this will be encouraging to you, as well as help me memorize Romans. 

As Paul would say,

Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all...The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 
(2 Thessalonians 3:16,18)

Jonah and Swimming

As I have been working on memorizing Jonah chapter two (Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish after being thrown out of the ship by the mariners), I am strongly reminded of my own experiences in learning how to swim. It may seem implausible at first, but especially if one does not look back with fondness on learning to swim, the parallels are quite striking.

For instance:

Verse 3: For You cast me into the deep, (the swim teacher pushes me in)

Into the heart of the seas, (the 4 ft. end of the lap pool)

And the floods surrounded me; (another student passes me, splashing with unnecessary vigor)

All Your billows and Your waves passed over me. (and another)

Verse 5: The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; (now I'm 6 feet deep; couldn't touch bottom if I tried)

Verse 6a: I went down to the mooring of the mountains (diving for the orange cone)

Verse 6c: Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. (making it to the surface)

Verse 7: When my soul fainted within me, (first time without a kickboard)

I remembered the LORD; (Maybe praying would help)

And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple. (God, please help me not to drown!)

Verse 8: Those who regard worthless idols (swimming trophies) 

Forsake their own Mercy.

Verse 10: So the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. (Substitute "teacher" for "fish" and "let" for "vomited.")

Now remember, God made you special, and He loves you very much. Goodbye!

What's in a Name?

One of the many things I love about the Bible is the fact that the people in it act like real people. They aren’t idealized, perfect, hazy-haloed saints. One manifestation of this that I’ve been noticing in my reading lately is their choice of names. An example I especially notice is in Genesis 29-30: Jacob’s kids. The twelve tribes. Some of the most often repeated names in the Bible. Were these names carefully selected with a view to impressing posterity? Unfortunately not. Leah and Rachel got into a bit of competition over who had more kids, and they were so wrapped up in it that even the names reflect their wrestling. Every time I read this story it cracks me up, as I keep a running commentary going in my head:
Reuben: “See! A son!” (How’s that for straight forward?)
Simeon: “God has heard” (She thinks God is sorry for her, because she is unloved.)
Levi: “Attached” (Jacob will be attached to her.)
Judah: “Praise” (She is happy she has so many sons.)
Now Rachel starts to get jealous and unreasonable, so she gives her maid to Jacob to have children for her. This is where the competition becomes evident.
Dan: “God has judged” (Between her and her sister.)
Naphtali: “wrestlings” (She says she has wrestled with her sister and prevailed. Her attitude is pretty plain, but I would say her math could use some help. Leah’s four kids verses her two...I’d say Leah is still prevailing.)
Now Leah gets busy again.
Gad: “A Troop Comes” (Now she’s thinking ahead!)
Asher: “Happy One” (Meaning herself, because she has so many sons.)
Issachar: “Wages” (She basically bribes Rachel to make Jacob sleep with her.)
Zebulun: “Dwell” (She thinks Jacob will dwell with her.)
Finally, Rachel has a son. This name is the funniest of all.
Joseph: “God will add another son” (How’s that for cheek? As though she can tell God what to do!)
That’s basically the end of the quarrel in stalemate; both sides think they won (by the time Benjamin comes along, Rachel has other troubles to think about). This little spat between sisters can be easily overlooked in the grand sweep Genesis, but if you take time to notice it, it adds colouring to the rest of the story of the tribes and their struggles, to remember that there has been tension between them since before their forefathers were born. 

Introduction

The Purpose:

This blog was created to give us a place to share our thoughts about where we are reading in the Scriptures and how we are serving the Lord. 

The People:

Who are we? We are Sarah and Margaret Eddy, pastor’s kids and slightly Bible crazy. We love reading, studying and memorizing the Bible, spending time with our eight siblings, and we occasionally revel in employing protracted locution (interpretation: we like using big words).

Disclaimer: If you have never laughed out loud while reading your Bible, some of our posts may surprise you. If you would consider it disrespectful to laugh while reading your Bible, you probably shouldn’t read this blog.