As I read through different books of the Bible, I am struck by the different approach that God seems to have in each of them. I’m trying to work through Revelation and make sense of it. It is a real slog. For some reason I started working backwards through the Old Testament. I find Malachi very clear and very helpful. As I continued going back, Zachariah went back to the Revelation style of literature. We had horses of different colors patrolling the Earth. I think there was mention of something with many eyes. As I continued back, I got to Zephaniah and found it very straightforward and clear.
I got to wondering about this. Why in the world would a God who could make things so clear in one book make them so confusing in another. In a moment of humor I wondered if the book of Revelation was just something God threw together to entertain John while he was isolated on Patmos. You know, it could be the revelation was The Star Wars movie of the day. Somehow, I don’t think God works that way, but it did occur to me that just as different people prefer different styles of worship and choose their church because of that, it may be that some people are reached more effectively through one type of literature than another.
If you take me into a Pentecostal church, you may have to tie me down to keep me there. I’ve been around enough wild and crazy Pentecostals to know that I can’t take them seriously. When I’m not around them, I can accept the fact that they are worshiping God and that they are sincere. When I’m in their presence, I question those thoughts. At the other end, you have my stereotype of a Presbyterian. You might wonder if they ever feel any emotion or ever get excited about the things of the Lord.
In my sober moments, I simply think that these are different types of people. Some people are emotional. Some people are intellectual. That doesn’t mean that intellectuals don’t feel emotion or the emotional people don’t have serious thoughts, it just means that’s their basic personality type. Some of us are introverts. That doesn’t mean we don’t like people, it just means that we prefer our own company.
So it’s a thought I had this morning and I may even follow it up some more. We classify books of the Bible as history, law, prophecy, and so forth. It could be that there is a parallel classification that is simply a matter of God trying to get his message of salvation across to many different people.
At the same time I think that most of us can sing together,
Jesus loves me this I know,homo unius libri
For the Bible tells me so…
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Comments are welcome. Feel free to agree or disagree but keep it clean, courteous and short. I heard some shorthand on a podcast: TLDR, Too long, didn't read.