Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: Family is important

In Chapter 6 of Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg talks about the importance of family in a way I've never thought of before.

Being from the West, while family is important in my culture, it doesn't have the same focus and weight as in the East. Maybe it's because my country is less than 300 years old. My family's "memory" is really only goes back around 3-4 generations. 

But for those from the East, it's very different. 

In the West, we say, "I'm so and so and I do this job". We put our identities in what we do.

In the East, Tverberg says they say, "I am so and so, from the family of _____". Their identity is bound up in the identity of their family. Why? Because the family is what will last long after the individual passes away (p. 119). This is why it's so important for your family to have a good reputation, why honor and shame is so important, and why every action needs to be thought of in terms of what it means for the family name, not the individual. (Edited April 4, 2020: For more about this, check out the post on names in Near Eastern culture here).

This is also why it is so important for people to marry and have children, and why barrenness is a curse. And why when God says He will bless someone's name and family, it is so important. It means a great, lasting reputation.

But the coolest thing to me, is how in Romans, Paul says that Gentiles who accept Him are grafted into the family of God. We have that legacy, and are part of it—not because of birth, but because of grace. 

What do you think? How does our concept of identity change when we think in terms of family and relational status, instead of our profession? How does that impact our thinking of what it means to be part of the family of God?

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: Words and the Meaning of Words

In Chapter 4 of Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg talks about understanding the depth and breadth of Hebrew words can really help in understanding what is being said.

An example she uses is found on page 64, where she says that the word for "work" is the same word for "worship", and the word for "listen" as "obey".

What I think is so interesting for that is the implied action involved in each of those words. Each have a "forward action", if you will. There's an assumption, almost, that if you are working, you are worshipping. And if you are listening, you need to obey.

She also talks about the words "remember" and "forget" also as having accompanying meanings—which makes sense. When God tells the Israelites, "I will remember you", He's not just saying that He'll think of them. It means He'll act on their behalf. "Forget" has the opposite connotation—it's not just an absence in the mind, but a removal.

How can the deeper meanings of these words have significance to us as we read the Bible in 2018?

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: What does it mean to have a King?

In Chapter 3 of her book, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg asks the question, "What does 'Christ' mean, anyway?"

When I first read that, I thought, Well, Messiah, of course. After all, that's what I was taught: Jesus the Messiah. "Christ" isn't a last name, but a title.

But as Tverberg explored the true meaning of Messiah (you really need to read this book!) and takes it so much deeper.

Through example after example, verse after verse, Tverberg proves that "Christ" means "God's chosen King"—something a first century reader would have understood.

This really got me thinking. What does it mean to live under a king? As an American, I come from a political system where every 4 years, I have the opportunity to vote for the leader of my country. Any leader cannot serve for more than 8 years (or 10, for special circumstances*). Even if I am not a fan of my current leader, I have a voice in choosing the next one, and I know that no matter what, he will be gone in a few years.

In the Western world, we glamorize the word "king". All the best stories have a king. In fact, it's not even the West that does this. Proof of this is the enormous international audience during both Prince William and Princess Kate's wedding in 2011 and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding earlier this year. The numbers of people who watched were astronomical... one source even says 1.9 billion people watched Harry and Meghan's. 

But having a king, in some countries, might seem more like a nightmare than a fairy tale. After all, kings have absolute power. They can help their countries; or they can seriously hurt them. We see this time and time again throughout history. And maybe the hardest of all, they can do this for life. They don't lose their power after a few years.

I don't know what it means to live in a system where I don't have a vote and maybe won't see a change in power in my lifetime. I don't know what it means to pledge allegiance to a king in a practical sense. Yet, we talk about God as the King of Kings and we sing praise songs referring to Him as such. But do we, do I, really understand what that means?

First century readers did. They would have known immediately what the word "Messiah" meant, and what it could mean for them. This is why, when Peter made his declaration in Matthew 16 at Caesarea Philippi, Jesus shushed him. The time for him to be proclaimed as king wasn't ready.

What else can we, as 21st century readers in the Western, glean from this concept of having a king?

Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus: WEIRD Filters

In her book, Reading the Bible with Rabbi Jesus, Lois Tverberg writes about how American, European, and Australian readers we have WEIRD filters.

WEIRD doesn't mean bad or strange*. In fact, it's an acronym for:

• Western (they are Eastern)
• Educated (we think in abstractions and logic, they thought in pictures and parables)
• Industrialized (We focus on work outside of the home; they focus on growth and strength of family)
• Rich (easy access to food and housing)
• Democratic- in voting countries. (We focus on individual good versus the good of the community)

Tverberg shares an example I've never thought of before in her description for "Rich". She mentions the story of Luke 12:15-21, how the rich man built barns for his overflowing crops, in order to take care of him in the future. This makes sense to a modern, Western reader. But Tverberg points out that this would have shocked readers in the first century, because it means he didn't share his wealth with the community first. 

What does this example and the WEIRD filters show us about the difference in first-world life? How can it help us read the Bible differently?

*from pages 36-38

Update on September 24, 2018—check out this updated discussion here!