Jeroboam II, Uzziah, Menahem, Jotham, Tiglath-pilesar, Pekah, Ahaz, Shalmaneser, Hoshea, Sargon, Hezekiah, Sennacherib, Eliakim, Shebna, Joah, the Rabshakeh.
Most Christians would confess that every book of the Bible is an important part of God’s Word. And yet, somehow these names, important as they may have been to Isaiah, don’t seem to matter much to most Christians today.
After all, what practical application can we glean from these ancient biographies that will help us to achieve greater [fill in the blank here] in life? Indeed, it is very difficult to figure out how any of them factor in the day-to-day decision making of our busy lives.
How will these men change my approach to standing in line, bleary eyed on Monday morning, at the local Tim Horton’s coffee shop? Well, quite frankly, Sennacherib did not really help me that much this morning. My day probably would have unfolded much the same way whether Sennacherib had devastated Judah and forced Hezekiah into a nail-biting test of faith in the eighth century BCE or not.
Herein lies the great challenge of reading and preaching the Bible. As devotional Christians, we tend to like familiar, bite-sized, reading and preaching texts tagged with clear and immediate, life shaking, application. This happens to work well with Paul’s epistles. And yet, I doubt that the author of 2 Kings was too concerned to make sure that every paragraph of his history ought to feel super relevant for the average evangelical in 2017 Canada.
It is helpful to remind ourselves that man does not live by bread alone but by EVERY Word that comes from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). Is 2 Kings 18 any less the Word of God than Romans 5? By our approach to reading and preaching the Bible, it might seem as though we should say that it is. And yet, we know better. Moreover, lest we forget or are unaware, the history of 2 Kings 18 seems to be very important to God. After all, He repeats it no less than three times in the Old Testament: 2 Kings 16—20, Isaiah 36—39, and 2 Chronicles 28—32.
May I suggest that we have a problem in current Canadian evangelicalism? The problem, as I see it, is that many God loving, Bible believing, Jesus worshiping Christians fail to see the relevance of much of God’s Word. The pages of entire sections of the Bible remain crisp, untouched, and dusty. This necessarily means that our knowledge of the Gospel remains incomplete, shallow, and thin. We are famished even though we fail to see that we are. If this is the case, what can we do?
Acknowledge the Problem
Until we recognize our biblical anemia, we will not develop a well-balanced hunger for God’s Word. Acknowledging this problem starts with each of us. We all need to very humbly and very vulnerably begin to confess to one another that we don’t really know our Bible that well at all. We may have the parable of the prodigal son covered, but we are less comfortable in Zephaniah.
Read the Bible to Know God
It is very difficult to read Numbers 2 or Obadiah or Judges 19 if we are looking for immediate gratification. These texts, and a host of others, do not lend themselves to me-centred, quick and easy, application. Therefore, they remain largely unread. This reveals a greater problem, which is that we often read the Bible for selfish reasons. We want to see ourselves, or at least glean a tidbit of self-help for ourselves. We are not always accustomed to reading the Bible to get to know God better. And yet, Jesus is clear: The Bible is, first and foremost, about Him (Luke 24:44–45). The first and most important reason to read the Bible is so that we might come to know God better. To know God fully, we need all of His Word.
Ask Pastors to Preach on Unfamiliar Books
As a pastor myself, I know how difficult it can be to convince the church that it is a good investment of time to preach on certain passages in the Bible. It can be demotivating for a pastor to consider preaching on lesser known passages and books. Yet, a church can easily motivate their pastor by expressing a corporate interest in an under-preached text. Of course, accusing your pastor of not preaching the full counsel of God is not the way to motivate him. Expressing an interest in his knowledge on a passage is a much better tact. Affording your pastor time to study, and affirming him as he wades into these unchartered waters, are also crucial.
Get a Bible Dictionary And Start Conversations about Lesser Known Men And Women of the Bible
One of the most helpful tools in my library is my Bible Dictionary (Achtemeier, Paul J. The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary: Revised Edition. New York: HarperOne, 1996.). A good Bible Dictionary will have a short description of every personality in the Bible. As you read unfamiliar passages, look up every name you have never encountered before. Another approach is to find a person in your Dictionary and decide to get to know that person intimately by reading your Bible. Might I recommend starting with Joab? He is one of the most intriguing and underrated players in the drama of 1 and 2 Samuel. Having made good use of your Bible Dictionary, start talking about your discoveries with family and friends.
You can only know God as well as you know your Bible. So, how well do you know your Bible? Really. If you’re like me, there are hundreds of biblical personalities I do not yet know very well at all. For every David there are ten Hushais. And yet, there is no need to be defeated or discouraged. For as long as God gives us breath we can seek to know Him better through His Word.
