Follow The RabbiSample

Today, I want to change the way you currently read the Bible.

One of the things I love about being in Jerusalem is hearing rabbis openly read discuss, and debate the scriptures out loud. The discussions get particularly boisterous near the Western Wall, where dozens of Jewish believers will openly read the scriptures together in a large group, and then study and discuss what they have read loudly and passionately. They ask each other questions like “what does this passage mean for us?” “How do we apply this story in our community?” It’s incredible to watch them learn and grow together.

This is so different to the individual way most of us Christians study the Bible. We’ve been taught to read and study the Bible silently, to journal and ponder alone, and then pray in solitude. Reading the Bible is called our “quiet time”—but is this what we’re supposed to do? I mean, one of the earliest followers of Jesus named Paul, once encouraged Christians to pay attention to “the public reading of scripture”. The Jewish Bible is written in conversational Hebrew, and the New Testament in conversational Greek—making them specifically designed to be read out loud. 

Paul even wrote that our “faith comes from hearing” the word of God. And one of the disciples named Luke records that even Jesus read the scriptures out loud in public (Luke 4:17). So why do we western followers of Jesus have a “quiet time” when we read and study the Bible?

I follow Paul and Jesus’ example the best I can by having this YouVersion Bible app read the Bible to me. I listen as I get ready for work. I listen as I commute—and I've discovered that I remember more by listening to the stories. I then openly discuss and debate what I read with a few trusted friends. We ask questions. We offer new insights. We challenge each other.

So I have two questions: How do you study the Bible … and who do you discuss it with?

For reflection:

Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture — 1 Timothy 4:13