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When the Bible is Boring by Patience Griswold

For many, Leviticus is a dreaded book of the Bible. Filled with chapters of strange laws, it is often where aspirations of reading through the Bible in a year go to die. For my part, it’s usually the first few chapters of Numbers that seriously challenge my resolve to keep going. More than once, the census and the silver bowls in the first few chapters have upended my efforts to read through the Bible in one year. I hate to say that I find some of these passages boring, and yet, it’s true. So, what do we do when find the Bible boring? 


First, remember that God’s word is important to God. Those silver bowls and that census are important to God. If they were not, he would not have included them in his Word, and because they are in his Word, they are “useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) The “boring” books and passages of the Bible are there to equip us. 

Second, desire eyes to see. God’s Word is not just important to God, it is also important to his people. In Psalm 119, David offers a beautiful meditation on the wonder of God’s word. In it he prays, “Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18) David knows that there are wonderful things in God’s law, and also that we see those wonderful things when our eyes are opened. One thing about Psalm 119 that is especially striking is the fact that much of what existed as the canon of Scripture at that point was what we would be inclined to describe as the “boring” parts of the Old Testament. This is not to say that what David says about the Bible in Psalm 119 only applies to some parts. God’s word, in its entirety, is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Nevertheless, it is worth remembering that David would have been reading primarily the Pentateuch, and likely Job and Judges. When David said that God’s law is his delight (Psalm 119:174) he was delighting in Leviticus and Numbers. 

Third, remember who the Bible is about. The whole counsel of Scripture points to Christ. In the words of the Jesus Storybook Bible, “Every story whispers his name.” The books of the law whisper his name by pointing forward to the True Sacrifice, the True High Priest, the True Tabernacle, and the priesthood of all believers. In Numbers we see Moses transfer his mantle to Joshua so that Israel will not become like sheep without a shepherd. (Numbers 27:17) In Matthew, we are reminded that Jesus is the true leader of Israel and that Israel has not honored God’s covenant when we see Jesus weep for the people of Israel because they have become like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) 

Finally, ask questions of the text. Knowing that every passage of Scripture is given to us to equip us, and that the entire Bible is about God’s plan of redemption turns our Bible reading into a hunt for the treasures in God’s word. When we read equipped with the knowledge that God is revealing who he is through his word, we are able to approach the text in a way that produces fruitful study. To that end, we should ask ourselves what every passage of Scripture teaches us about God. In Women of the Word Jen Wilkin recommends approaching each passage of Scripture with three questions: “What does it say?” “What does it mean?” and “How should it change me?” Asking these three simple questions can lead us to challenge some of our own assumptions about certain passages. Rather than approaching “boring” passages with the assumption that they will be dry, uninteresting, or irrelevant, our posture shifts to a desire to see why God gave us these passages and what they teach us about him. This leads to a richer experience of the Old Testament than to simply plow through for the sake of getting through, and also leads to a richer experience of the New Testament as we see the two work in harmony with one another, pointing us to the unchanging God of all Scripture.

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