Opus 2025-500: Uncounted Blessings

I’m not sure how many people ever stop to think about how blessed we are in the sense of having access to the words of God.  When I want to study or know what it is that God has for me I can reach to one of a dozen different translations that have been made down over the years.  I have the word of God in my own language.  Beyond that I have study tools.

Think of the concordance and the way in which Strong linked every word in our Bible to a number that tells us what the Greek and Hebrew is.  This is in printed form.  I used to have a copy of the KJV New Testament interlinear that linked every word with its Greek text, and then had another volume that told us how it was used and where it was used and what it came from.  That was before the days of computers.

Now think about the access you have through your computer.  I have two main digital resources.  My oldest one is called E-Sword.  The advantage of it is that it is totally downloaded on my computer and I have access to everything even if the internet goes down.  The other one that a friend got me onto is The Blue Letter Bible.  This one requires Internet access to fully use and has many of the same features as E-Sword, but you have a little different approach and between the two of them, it is awesome the amount of study I can have from the primary sources.

Think about what you would have had available to you if you had been an average citizen of Israel in the days of Solomon.  The temple would be built.  The priesthood would be organized.  You could go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices.  It’s even possible that you as a farmer in a small town might have learned how to read and write.  The problem is, you wouldn’t have anything to read and very little reason to write.

An even greater limitation that we don’t think about is that most of what we consider the Bible would not have been available in those days.  None of the prophets were writing or preaching in the time of Solomon.  The books of Kings and Chronicles were written after the fact because they cover the entire history of the Jewish monarchy.  All would exists would be the Pentateuch, possibly Ruth, and possibly I and II Samuel.  There was nothing else available.

This is awesome what we have.  The sad part is that most people who call themselves Christians do not make use of the tools that are available to them.  They might show up on Sunday morning and expect the professionals to tell them what to believe and how to live.  Do they actually read it themselves?  Do they actually turn to the passages that the pastor refers to and read them for themselves?  Do they ever open their Bibles in between Sundays?

The answers are sad. If they make me sad, just think about it makes God feel.

homo unius libri