“Is there anything of which one can say, ‘Look! This is something new’? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.” Ecclesiastes 1:10 NIV
When it comes to reading the Bible, I’ve been a sloppy reader. I don’t know how many times I’ve been through the entire text, but it’s a bunch.
Only in the last three years have I followed a systematic procedure for consuming it slowly over one year. This method allows greater focus on 3-4 chapters daily and more detailed study. I look up the meanings of Hebrew and Greek words, convert measurements, weights, money into English units; check out cities and regions, etc. It has deepened my understanding of the Scriptures in a meaningful way.
As a result, I learn things that were never apparent to me previously. Is it something new? Well, it’s new to me, but it’s been there for a long, long, time that predates my existence.
Here’s just one simple example. Exodus recorded that God instructed Moses to bring two stone tablets in meeting Him on Mount Sinai. God inscribed them with the Ten Commandments. This fact is no biggie, but it had escaped my attention for years until a few days ago. God wrote the Ten Commandments on both sides of the two tablets.
How many artists’ depictions, movies, animations, etc. have you seen that show them written on only one side? The answer is all of them. I have never seen the tablets in any format depicted as they actually existed.
I realize this discovery may not mean much, except that it emphasizes the importance of not being a sloppy reader of the Bible. It makes me wonder what else I may have missed. Have I overlooked something of great significance? It’s entirely possible.
Read your Bible carefully and stay focused. You just might receive an answer to prayer or learn something that’ll impact your life.
Prayer: Thank you, God, for the inspiration of Your Holy Word. Open our eyes to seeing Your truth for our lives. Amen.