Published by Bethany House, who kindly sent me a copy for an honest review, The Bible Recap: A One-Year Guide by Tara-Leigh Cobble just didn’t speak to me at first! As the posts on this blog show, I’m really into the Bible and have been since early childhood. So I don’t identify with those who view God’s Word as inaccessible or hard to understand. My way has been to look up difficult passages in various translations and, in recent years, to search Bible Gateway where I find English versions I’d never heard of or don’t have on my shelves.
But that’s me.
Tara-Leigh Cobble also has a passion for God’s Word – just not a similar experience, but rather than giving up, she took another approach to understanding the Bible – one involving relevant questions with which most of us can relate and will do well to ask.
In her opening letter, for example, she approaches the Bible with these vital questions:
- What does God say or do in this passage?
- What does this reveal about what God loves?
- What does this reveal about what God hates?
- What does this reveal about what motivates God to do what He does?
- In all of that, what attributes of God are displayed?
As she goes on to explain:
“The questions we ask of the Bible impact the wisdom we glean from it. Reading the Bible is not a means of self-help or an attempt to earn God’s favor. It’s an opportunity to behold the beauty of God and be drawn in by Him.”
After focusing on her favorite passages, the author “decided to read through Scripture chronologically, not front to back. I wanted to see the overall story line or metanarrative,” finding “Some of the questions I had in Leviticus weren’t answered until Hebrews. But all good relationships require patience, and they develop over time. It’s worth holding some things with an open hand and waiting until God reveals more of Himself.”
Amen!
Ironically, my dissimilar approach led me to the same conclusion! So I’d already purchased a chronological Bible before I saw the opening line in “How to Use This Book”:
“This book is arranged according to a one-year chronological plan, but you don’t have to buy a chronological Bible. In fact, I encourage you not to because it’s probably laid out differently than the plan we are doing.”
With each day’s reading clearly shown at the top of the page, the author suggests we first read the passage(s) in our preferred translation then return to The Bible Recap for a summary and a commentary on any confusing parts. At the end of each of those introductions is “Today’s God Shot,” which gives a glimpse of an aspect of God relevant to the reading. For instance, at the end of the section “Genesis 1-3,” that sidebar says:
“God is our Creator and the Lord over everything, but despite His lordship and His perfection, He’s merciful toward the sinners He’s in relationship with.”
At the end of the section for “Exodus 13-15,” we read this “God Shot,” which says:
“There is no love without wrath. If you truly love something, you’ll hate whatever threatens it. Out of God’s great love for Israel, He fights for them. And when God makes war, He wins. He has solutions we can’t even conceive of – who would even think to pray for a path through the sea? …He knows better than we do. He loves better than we do. He helps eradicate the things that distract our heart from Him to help us remember that He’s where the joy is!”
Joy – delight, elation, and even ecstasy – reside in knowing and loving God, which is the primary theme and purpose of this book. For example, as The Bible Recap reaches the New Testament, we’re encouraged to read “Matthew 5-7” followed by this commentary:
"In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes the upside-down kingdom of God. He opens with eight blessings, and many scholars believe they’re cumulative – the first blessing is the foundation of the rest of the sermon….
“When we realize our spiritual poverty, we mourn it which produces meekness in us as we engage the world. Meekness gives way to a desire for God to increase our righteousness. It becomes easier to show mercy to others, because we know what it’s like to struggle. God continues to purify us as we engage with Him. We become people who don’t run from conflict, but who enter into the chaos and create peace. Peacemakers, not peacekeepers….”
Amen! Through the Bible, The Bible Recap, and the leading of
the Holy Spirit, may God help us to know Him better, incorporate His Word more
fully into our lives, and make peace as the Lord empowers us in Jesus’ Name.
©2021, Mary Harwell Sayler, poet-writer, Bible Reviewer
…