About 12 weeks ago, thousands upon thousands of Christians were planning a trek they sensed would be demanding and exhilarating at the same time. They wanted to read all the words of Scripture in one year.Like Sir Edmund Hillary planning to conquer the heights of Mt. Everest, they went out, purchased gear (Bible reading plans, a lucid translation, etc) and plotted their course.
Old Testament scholar Bruce Waltke picks up the story from there:
"Most Bible readers make at least one attempt in their lives to read the Bible from cover to cover. The enterprise is surprisingly successful at the beginning as they are engaged by the irruption of God's kingdom in overcoming the primordial darkness, the Fall, the Flood, a hostile and powerful pharaoh, the Red Sea, and a terrible wilderness. In these stories the author proves himself as having a flair for the dramatic. From the creation to the destruction of the Egyptian army at the Red Sea and Israel's survival in the wilderness, the author enthralls
his readers with action and conflict. The readers are carried along by the smooth-flowing narrative to the feet of Mount Sinai (Horeb) but then are unexpectedly dumped into an incomprehensible heap of case laws and curtain measurements. It is like reading Moby Dick, a thrilling narrative interrupted by a taxonomy of whale species." --- from An Old Testament Theology, by Waltke with Charles Yu (Zondervan).My advice? Push through the howling winds of boredom in late Exodus and throughout Leviticus. Things pick up a little in Numbers and Deuteronomy. When you reach the plateau of Joshua you will see sunshine again. And remember, when you reach the summit in the Book of the Revelation, the view is breathtaking.
