As you study the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John you learn a great deal about the intended audience for the writing style of each one. Here’s a high level “Original Audience” summary straight from my Life Application Study Bible.

• Matthew - Matthew wrote especially to the Jews

• Mark - The Christians in Rome, where the Gospel was written

• Luke - Theophilus (“one who loves God”), Gentiles

• John - New Christians and searching non-Christians

Within each Gospel you will see many of the same stories referenced, some with more detail than others. The story that we’re covering today is covered in detail in Mark 7:31-37 and briefly mentioned in Matthew 15:29-31.

Mark 7

Then Jesus left the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd, and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.

Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it. The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
- Mark 7:31-37

The first time I read this, what was happening here did not stand out to me. After a couple of rereadings and some study assistance from Lifeway, it hit me though.

Try to put yourself in the shoes of the deaf man who can barely speak. What is his experience through this? What do you see through his eyes?

In order to illustrate this in our Sunday School class I asked for some volunteers to re-enact the scene for us. We needed somebody to play Jesus, somebody to play the deaf man, a couple of people to bring the man to Jesus and the rest of the class would be the crowd. After some negotiation, we agreed to skip the “He spit and touched the man’s tongue” part.

The point of this is to visualize what’s going on here from the perspective of the deaf man.

Some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and hardly able to speak, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him.

First, he was brought to Jesus in front of a crowd by friends who begged Jesus to heal him. Would the deaf man have any idea why he was there? These people, presumably friends, brought him along to Jesus because they believed He could heal him. How would that have been communicated to the man himself though?

So Jesus took him aside privately, away from the crowd

Next Jesus moves the man away from the watching crowd. This man would have certainly been aware that he was in front of an audience and potentially would be embarrassed by being made into a spectacle. The crowd themselves may have wanted to see a show, to be entertained by witnessing a miracle first hand.

By moving this man away from the crowd, Jesus is able to address him directly for only his benefit without the man being concerned that he was an unwilling star of a show.

and put His fingers into the man’s ears. Then He spit and touched the man’s tongue. And looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”).

This next part is what I didn’t catch on the first read. As we read about the miracles of Jesus throughout the Gospel it’s easy to read this and think “He’s doing this as part of the process of the miracle. Touching his ears and tongue to heal his ears and tongue.”

But that is not what’s happening here. Jesus doesn’t need to perform specific rituals to do any of this. In the story that directly precedes this one in Mark, he removes a demon from a child who is not even present [Mark 7:29-30]!

Read it again and you’ll realize, Jesus is communicating with the deaf man.

1. He pulls him away from the crowd so that he can address him directly.

2. He puts his fingers in his ears to indicate that he is about to do something to his ears.

3. Spitting (while gross) was an indication of cleansing.

4. He touched the man’s tongue to indicate that he is about to do something to his tongue.

5. He looks up to heaven, which the man can see. This directs the man’s attention to God.

6. Then He sighs deeply, which is body language that the man would also be able to see indicating something is about to happen.

7. Finally he says “Ephphatha!” or “Be opened!”

Through all of this, Jesus is altering His communication style to address the man in a manner than he can understand. He’s telling him what is about to happen and where it is coming from.

If Jesus had not done it this way, what would this man have perceived? He was put in front of a crowd and all of a sudden he’s able to hear and speak? How? Who? His first sounds would have been the noise of the crowd itself. Imagine how overwhelming, scary and confusing a sensory overload like that would have been for the man!

Instead he’s taken away to a quiet place. Calmly communicated with to prepare him for the miracle that is about to happen…and then it happens!

Immediately the man’s ears were opened and his tongue was released, and he began to speak plainly.

Now the Bible doesn’t proclaim the order of events here, regarding whether the man begins to hear before or after Jesus speaks. Since we know that Jesus doesn’t actually need to say a word to perform this miracle, I like to imagine that his hearing is restored in time that Jesus words are the first thing he hears.

Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more widely they proclaimed it. The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

Jesus brings the man back to the crowd and to his friends, who can see the change for themselves. Then He orders them not to tell anyone…but they do it anyway.

There are a couple of ways to interpret that. First, that Jesus actually didn’t want them to tell anyone because crowds were following Him everywhere at this point. There is definitely some truth to that. Additionally, His focus was His message…not the miracles and He did not want to distract from that message.

There’s another way to interpret this and that is to realize that Jesus fully understands human nature. He regularly tells people not to tell anyone.

When you know something amazing, but you’re not supposed to tell anyone…how does it feel? You’ve got a great present for somebody and you can’t wait til their birthday. Some huge surprise that you want to share with a loved one. You’ll feel like you’re about to explode because you want to tell somebody so badly. When you finally do share it, that building excitement comes through with the message as well and adds to it!

And how differently do you treat information you get when you hear, “I’m not supposed to say anything, but I just have to tell somebody…”

You’re the lucky one who got the secret! And then you want to share that secret with somebody too.

Jesus Christ, Speech-Language Pathologist and Marketing guru all in one!

We were shocked at how well it was done. After the first few episodes, we decided to start over and watch with our kids too.

Why were we shocked? You get used to low budget, poorly acted Christian movies with some rare exceptions like the Bethany Hamilton story Soul Surfer or I Can Only Imagine. Then there are really well done movies like The Passion of the Christ that are simply too intense to watch with younger children.

We’re only 6 episodes into The Chosen and we are hooked. It’s well written, well acted and from everything we have seen so far, Biblically accurate. There are details of backstories that are written in to provide a coherent production simply because they have to be, as we don’t have all of the details to fill in those stories otherwise (and this is explained).

You see the story from the standpoint of the disciples and from Mary Magdalene. The confusion and wonder. The circumstances that they were in. The portrayal of Matthew the tax collector is an extremely interesting approach as well.

If you don’t know the story of Jesus and you’d rather stream a show than read the Bible, I get it. This is true for many people. It’s hard to commit to reading the Bible without being very motivated to do so. Many people, myself included, didn’t sit down and read the Bible until God had already intervened in our lives and we were desperate for understanding. It took me 3 years to read a 1 Year Bible.

In the World War II story Unbroken, Louis Zamperini does exactly the same thing many years after he returns from the war, in the throes of nightmares and alcoholism. I just finished reading that book this week and it’s one of the most powerful and horrifying stories I’ve ever read.

The Chosen is a great way share the Gospel with friends and family. The cast is clearly having a good time too.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here unfortunately. We get busy. We get preoccupied. We get distracted and it takes away from the things that we know we should be doing. Like making time to post here.

Or taking time to read the Bible everyday.

My pastor likes to say, “If the devil can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.”

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Luckily, today there are a ton of options to keep you on track with your goal of reading the Bible this year.

1. 5 Day Bible Reading Plan

5 Day Bible Reading offers a free downloadable PDF schedule that’s designed to get you through the Bible in 1 year, by reading just 5 times a week. Here’s an excerpt from their site about the reasons they set it up this way.

The Five Day Bible Reading Schedule’s secret is that you only have to read five times a week, not every day. This allows time for catching up, taking a day off, read other parts of the Bible to prepare for Bible class, etc. Read the entire Bible or just the New Testament – it’s your choice and it is easier than ever to accomplish!

In 2009 we completely revised the Five Day Schedule to make it easier to complete, fit the readings into their proper chronology more accurately, and better balance the readings up so no one day is too burdensome. It also has been re-formatted to be easier to read and use. All this contributes to daily Bible reading being do-able and practical. The Schedule fits on a standard sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ (letter) paper.

2. The One Year Bible

When I finally read the Bible for the first time, I downloaded The One Year Bible on my Kindle. Granted, it took me 3 years to get through it but I did eventually get through it.

This structure worked well for me because the book was already separated day by day. The Kindle app saved my place, so I didn’t have to worry about bookmarks. I could read on a Kindle device or just use the app on my phone to read as I was going to bed, when I might have been wasting my time browsing social media otherwise.

Every day, you get a little bit of Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs and this structure can be very beneficial. You’ll hit certain books that can be tougher to get through on their own. By keeping your day a little more varied it does a good job of keeping focus.

3. The Bible Recap Podcast

It’s 2023. There are a lot of ways to get information and podcasts are a very simple way to work the Bible into your day. The Bible Recap podcast was recommended to me earlier this year by a friend of mine on Facebook. Tara doesn’t read the Bible to you, but instead provides 5-10 minute episodes every day that recap, discuss and help you understand the reading for that day if you’re following along.

While we certainly recommend you do the reading yourself, even the recap alone goes a long way. The short format is easy to fit in a short commute and Tara is an excellent guide along the way.

If you've ever closed your Bible and thought, "What did I just read?", this podcast is for you! In about 8 minutes a day, we’ll give you a summary and highlight reel of that day's Bible reading from our 1-year chronological plan.

One additional benefit to their structure is that the episodes are organized in chronological order. There are events which are referenced in multiple places, entire books that cover event chronology while other books will dive deep into the specifics. Following the material in chronological order keeps everything in context as you study it.

This podcast just started it’s 5th year and is very well put together as a guide.

4. Word of Promise - Dramatic Bible Reading

This one was strongly recommended to me by a friend as an excellent companion resource. It offers an immersive reading experience, with dramatic audio reading as the text is highlighted right in front of you to follow along.

I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks like an incredible way to stay fully engaged in the reading. Word of Promise includes apps for every platform too.

5. The Bible in a Year Podcast from Ascension

If you are looking for a podcast that will actually read the entire Bible to you over the course of a year, The Bible in a Year podcast may be for you. It will be read to you and discussed from a Catholic perspective.

In The Bible in a Year podcast, Fr. Mike Schmitz guides you through the entire Bible in 365 episodes. Using an exclusive reading plan rooted in The Bible Timeline (a ground-breaking approach to understanding salvation history developed by Biblical scholar Jeff Cavins) you won’t just read the Bible … you’ll finally understand how all the pieces fit together to tell an amazing story that continues in your life today!

The episodes are longer, which should be expected for a full reading. If you have a longer commute, it might be exactly what you’re looking for.

6. The Bible from 30,000 Feet

I was halfway through a men’s Bible study using this book when Covid hit and I really can’t say enough good things about it. Skip covers each section of the Bible with an overview, historic context, things to look for and an in depth guide along the way.

The first time I read the Bible, I didn’t have any type of guidance with me. I was just reading the words and taking in as much as I could. After reading it once, subsequent study and church discussions brought out so many things that I’d missed along the way. The Bible from 30,000 Feet will make sure you don’t miss much. The insight and attention to detail is fantastic.

You could read the book on it’s own, but it works best as a companion to reading the Bible yourself. If I were going to choose an approach to read the Bible for the first time today, this is definitely the method that I would utilize. It adds wonderful perspective.

7. YouVersion

Probably the most well know Bible app out there is YouVersion, which offers multiple translations, reading plans, videos, supporting material and subject guides. You can even find plans like The One Year Bible and The Bible Recap which we discussed above right there inside the app. There are many other Bible in a year plans you can find if you search as well.

It’s a wonderful resource to always have the Bible at your fingertips.

UPDATE: After this was initially posted, several people recommended this reading plan on YouVersion from the Bible Project - One Story that Leads to Jesus. It was recommended enough that I felt it important addition to this post.

8. The Life Application Study Bible

Sometimes the best approach is just to open a copy of the Bible and start reading. I’ve become a big fan of the Life Application Study Bible, personally. Each book of the Bible comes with a an overview, historical context and timeline as well as excellent footnotes, discussion excerpts about specific figures or events and cross references to topics referenced in other books of the Bible.

It’s the Bible that I use personally and it has always been a trusted resource. I find myself sitting in church and reading the various footnotes around whatever we’re studying in a given day quite often, because the context it provides is very interesting.

There’s also no group more committed to getting the Bible in people’s hands than The Gideons International, who not only donate and distribute Bible’s but also provide a free reading calendar.

9. Join a Bible Study

Studying the Bible with others brings consistency and accountability. You may want to consider joining a study at your local church or even finding a D-Group in your area specifically geared toward covering the Bible in a year. Check it out!

You can do this!

Reading the Bible for the first time is still one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life. Everyone experiences it a little differently. As one pastor told me, reading the Bible is like looking in a mirror.

I hope you can commit to push through. Don’t get discouraged if you get behind or off pace. Remember, it took me 3 years to read a 1 year Bible.

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Why the test works

Is there a lot to learn as a practicing Christian? Yes, absolutely. There's a lifetime of study in pursuit of better understanding. If you're reading this blog, you're watching me do it right now. Regardless of which denomination you're affiliated with, whether Protestant or Catholic though there is one single ultimate authority: Jesus Christ. So what does he say on the subject?

Matthew 22

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

- Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

Mark 12

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

- Mark 12:28-34 (NIV)

Does the thing that you've seen or been told is Christian behavior appear to violate either of these two? Then it's probably not Christian.

But what if...?

There will always be plenty of "what if?" scenarios.

What if somebody in church did or said it?

Everybody in church is a sinner in need of a Savior, just like everybody not in church. Doing something that isn't Christian behavior in a church doesn't make it Christian.

What if somebody on the web said Christians believe it?

Christians are people. People believe different things. None of us can read the minds of anyone else to know what another single person truly believes, much less an entire group of people regardless of professed religion, political affiliation, nationality, race or college football team. Doesn't make it Christian.

But everybody in that political party is Christian!

No, they aren't. Not anymore than people in a different political party aren't Christian based on whichever issue you believe supports your viewpoint. People support political candidates for all sorts of reasons, from single issues to simple opposition of issues from the other party.

Labeling entire diverse groups of people only allows you to construct your own image to tear down. It’s a disingenuous way to allow people to channel anger towards people without knowing them at all. Just like calling all sorts of things “Christian” that aren’t.

“Once you label me you negate me.”
- Søren Kierkegaard

But I heard a preacher say it!

Then that is unfortunate, but preachers are not infallible. I have personally heard preachers give sermons that they later had to apologize for after correction from other church elders. Not everyone hears the correction after hearing the original message, unfortunately.

Churches are designed to function with elders who are able to hold the pastor accountable as well as to provide him with counsel. Teaching is a very serious endeavor and should not be entered into lightly.

Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
- James 3:1 (NIV)

On this blog, I will always accept correction as well as posting edits where needed (and calling attention to them)…but that is the benefit of this format. Spoken and recorded sermons do not have the same benefits.

Churches split all the time. Pastors leave or are removed. Churches fail sometimes while other times new churches grow. None of us are perfect people.

I heard a story about Christians who did something bad

Even the most devout Christians are people, who are all sinners in need of a Savior. There’s also nothing preventing people from calling themselves Christian without attempting to walk the walk. Bad behavior isn't Christian any more than good behavior is. God isn't impressed by all of our good deeds anymore than our misdeeds prevent us from redemption.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

- Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)

Paul reiterates this in detail in Romans.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

- Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

Our faith in Jesus will ultimately tell the story. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I can tell you that I'm haunted by mistakes I've made that I can’t take back. Where possible, I hope to do what I can to make them right. I have said things that were unkind, which I deeply regret. I have judged people who I have no right to judge. To the best of my knowledge, I've never done something terrible and claimed it was in the name of Jesus.

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

Tough love is a thing, which we absolutely must keep in mind.

Sometimes, love means pushing someone outside of their comfort zone to do something that is hard. Love isn't always coddling people or being willing to hand out a hug. Sometimes, we have to look in the mirror and realize that what we're doing isn't good for us. Maybe it's a change to our diet? Maybe it's not enabling an addiction? Maybe we need to learn how to budget? Maybe we need to spend more time with our family? Maybe we're in a relationship that isn't healthy?

Maybe it's being honest even when it's uncomfortable? Sometimes love is hard. It's much easier to say "not my business" or “you’re perfect just the way you are” than to have a hard conversation with somebody you care about.

And it's even harder to tell someone you care about when they have to take responsibility for their own actions. As parents, we do it everyday but having a conversation like that with somebody who isn't your child is a lot more complicated. I recently had to stop helping somebody who I'd previously helped a lot. It killed me to do it too, but if I helped again I worried that person would remain on the same path forever.

The willingness to have hard conversations with people who you want to help comes from love.

The willingness to shout accusations at people is not. If your intent is to help, your approach demands thoughtful tact. Not many people getting yelled at, online or in person, have ever said, "You know, I think you're right. I should listen to you." Your intentions will guide your approach.

I've often approached those people we all see holding up signs in crowds telling everyone they are going to Hell. Their intent is to spread the message. Their tact is not helpful. My intent is to have the hard conversation with them about that, because I do care that they want to reach people.

It's not one of the 10 Commandments

Something that struck me as I read over the 10 Commandments is that "Love your neighbor as yourself" is not actually among them. That comes from Leviticus 19:18.

Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

- Leviticus 19:18 (NIV)

One of the more interesting things about that is that, with study comes better understanding of the roots. Let's look at all of the 10 Commandments from Exodus 20 and see if we can follow the logic of Jesus here. A commandment should either support "Love the Lord with all your heart..." or “Love your neighbor..."

1st Commandment

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.

- Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV)

Love the Lord with all your heart...

2nd Commandment

You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

- Exodus 20:4-6 (NIV)

Also, love the Lord with all your heart. As a side note, idolatry is one of the biggest recurring themes in the Bible that I noticed on the first read through.

3rd Commandment

You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

- Exodus 20:7 (NIV)

Love the Lord with all your heart. I believe this applies especially to teachers.

4th Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

- Exodus 20:8-11 (NIV)

This one is both. By honoring the commandment we are showing love to the Lord with all our heart, but at the same time by not asking any servant, animal or even foreigner to work on the Sabbath we are loving our neighbor as ourselves as well.

It’s also probably the most regularly broken commandment.

5th Commandment

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

- Exodus 20:12 (NIV)

Also both. We love the Lord by honoring the commandment and we love our neighbor as ourselves when we honor our parents.

Growing up, I think everybody has that certain point when they think they know everything and that their parents need to get with the times. The older we get, the more we usually discover that our parents knew a lot more than we thought.

6th Commandment

You shall not murder.

- Exodus 20:13 (NIV)

Pretty sure murdering our neighbor wouldn't be love. You may have heard this one as “Thou shalt not kill” but the translation was updated because the actual word used is only ever used in the context of intentionally killing another person without legal sanction and outside of battle. It translates to the equivalent of “commit homicide”, which is murder. We’ll cover that in more detail in another lesson.

7th Commandment

You shall not commit adultery.

- Exodus 20:14 (NIV)

Your spouse is also your neighbor. Cheating on them certainly does not show them love. And no, justifying it as “loving your neighbor too much” doesn’t cut it.

8th Commandment

You shall not steal.

- Exodus 20:15 (NIV)

Would stealing from anyone show them love?

9th Commandment

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

- Exodus 20:16 (NIV)

How would lying about our neighbor to get them in trouble possibly show love?

10th Commandment

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

- Exodus 20:17 (NIV)

And lastly we should not be jealous, wishful or lustful for things our neighbor may have that we do not. Envy will gain us nothing but resentment towards our neighbor and does not serve to show love.

It will also fuel a never ending need for “more” as there will always be someone who has something we do not. Contentment is a principle that is also reinforced throughout the Bible, which we will discuss quite a bit.

All of the commandments really do logically flow from those two core principles.

Can it really be that simple?

There's an entire Bible, church, study...can it really be as simple as those two commandments? Yes! It's not supposed to be hard.

It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.

- Acts 15:19 (NIV)

Gentiles are anyone who is not Jewish, who we established in Romans are no different from Gentiles anyway since we "all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ."

Is there more to learn?

Absolutely! There's tons more. The more we learn, the better we understand. There are lessons in there about how church leaders should be conducting themselves, how they should be selected, and how we should be acting to set a standard for how Christians as a group are perceived.

Just as an example, over the years you've probably heard that Christians are to "turn the other cheek". Growing up, when I heard this I always assumed that it meant that we were to look away or something along those lines. The actual context is very, very different.

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

- Luke 6:27-36 (NIV)

If someone strikes one cheek, invite them to strike the other. If someone takes your coat, offer them your shirt as well. Love your enemies, do good to them without expecting to get anything back.

So…is it Christian?

Does it show love to the Lord with all your heart? Does it show love to your neighbor as yourself?

If that answer to both of those question is “no”, then it’s not Christian.

It’s that simple.

How did we get here?

To answer your first question...No, Lifeway did not have an adult Sunday School lesson about Hercules or Greek Mythology (that I know of). The core lesson, which we will cover first, was about a reference that I'd never heard of before that got me curious. Turning off curiosity isn't one of my strengths.

Jesus in the Old Testament

A couple of years ago, I joined a Men's Bible Study at my church who's goal was to cover an entire book of the Bible each week while using a book called The Bible From 30,000 Feet as a guide. That study was cut short by Covid, but it was a wonderful learning experience up until that point.

I can't recommend the book highly enough if you're interested in understanding deeper context around each book of the Bible. It's also an excellent guide if you should decide to read the Bible yourself.

One of the key elements to the book is to reference the Gospel of Jesus, with each book of the Old Testament, including points where we can even see Jesus foretold. This wasn't something I was aware of the first time I read the Bible, so for the most part I just missed it on the first run through.

In Numbers 21:4-9, we see one of the most blatant references of all.

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.

- Numbers 21:4-9 NIV

Now, if we assume that a snake made of bronze is going to be heavy it probably wasn't simply wrapped around the pole or it would slide down. More than likely, there was a crossbar near the top to hold it up. Which would actually make the pole...a cross.

So the Israelites were able to look upon a cross...to be saved from their sin. It's hard to find a more direct illustration of Jesus Christ in the entire Old Testament.

A Bronze Snake on a Pole...for Healing?

That image sounded incredibly familiar to me. So I started Googling.

World Health Organization

Here's the WHO...

Emergency Medical Services

EMS uses the Star of Life logo.

US Army Medical Corps

This one includes a different look that includes two snakes.

Finland

There are two Finnish cities that include the 2 headed version in their logos as well: Tampere and Jyväskylä.

So what are these two logos?

We see repeated uses of a "1 snake" and "2 snake" logo, both wrapped around some type of pole or staff.

The single snake logo is referred to as the Rod of Asclepius, wielded by the Greek god Asclepius, associated with healing and medicine.

The 2 snake logo is called Caduceus, which is the staff carried by the Greek god Hermes. This excerpt from Wikipedia gives us a little background on their usage.

Although the Rod of Asclepius, which has only one snake and is never depicted with wings, is the traditional and more widely used symbol of medicine, the Caduceus is sometimes used by healthcare organizations. Given that the caduceus is primarily a symbol of commerce and other non-medical symbology, many healthcare professionals disapprove of this usage.

What we do clearly see here are numerous references to the Rod of Asclepius, which depicts a snake on a pole with the power to heal. That sounds awfully similar to our bronze snake on a pole. If we look to the attributed origins of the symbol for the various logos, they will all directly cite the Greek usage for medicine.

This imagery is attributed to an origin of 300 B.C. Numbers was written sometime between 1450-1410 B.C. which predates the Rod of Asclepius by over 1,000 years...interesting. This isn't the only reference to the bronze snake on a pole in the Bible either.

In the third year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Hezekiah son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah a daughter of Zechariah. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles.

He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)

- 2 Kings 18:1-4

So now we have a name for the bronze snake and the knowledge that King Hezekiah destroyed "Nehushtan" because the Israelites were treating it as an idol. What's even more interesting about this is that Hezekiah became king in 715 B.C. meaning that Nehushtan had been with the Israelites for 700 years! 700 years is a long time. The United States of America isn't even 250 years old yet. Think of all the generations of people that would have known about this snake on a pole with the ability to heal. Even after 700 years, it was still destroyed a full 400 years before the Rod of Asclepius.

Now...let's look at a map.

As the region goes, Israel and Greece are not too far apart. At this point in the world, the Mediterranean Sea was the center of commerce and trade between nations. Israel was made up of 12 tribes, one of which was the tribe of Dan. When the Israelites reached the Promised Land, the tribe of Dan was allocated a coastal portion.

They built ships and traded with Greece maintaining a strong presence in the Greek Isles. The tribe of Dan was also known as the most pagan of all the Israelite tribes. There's a clear path of evidence here that Nehushtan was the inspiration for the Rod of Asclepius and therefore the primary medical symbol used throughout the world today, about 100 of which are listed on our Wikipedia page right after this nugget.

Biblical scholars look to the Book of Numbers, in which the Nehushtan (Hebrew: נחושתן or נחש הנחושת) was a brass serpent on a pole that God told Moses to erect, saying that anyone bitten [by a snake] would live if they looked at it. This Biblical account is the earliest known record of the pole/serpent combination (though the exact configuration is not known).

So how do we get from that to Hercules?

Glad you asked. Even after teaching this lesson, my curiosity got the better of me and I may have taken a deep dive researching the Tribe of Dan. I bought the book, "DAN: The Pioneer of Israel" by Colonel J.C. Gawler, Keeper of the Crown Jewels written in 1880. In this book, Colonel Gawler goes deep on these bits of history including phonetic analysis, which is critical for oral history. We'll come back to that in a moment.

There's a famous Bible story associated with the Tribe of Dan and that is the story of Samson who was a great warrior of incredible strength given by God. Does that sound familiar?

From Wikipedia...

Hercules is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmene. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.

Hercules. Heracles. Son of Zeus, King of the gods.

The Hebrew word for merchants is "Haroclim".

Hercules origins were traced by Aristotle to Argos on the island of Cyprus, which was established by a tribe known as the "Danaoi", "Danaid", "Danaan" which is equated with "Tuathe de Danann" or...Tribe of Dan, who were also called the Danites. Cyprus was a natural hub where many of the Tribe of Dan settled. It's not hard to see how stories could easily travel from the Tribe of Dan to directly influence Greek and Roman mythology of the time period which makes a strong case that Hercules was actually a story inspired from Samson himself. Recently a Roman mosaic depicting Hercules was found on Cyprus as well. There’s even a Mt. Olympos on Cyprus as well as one in Greece itself!

And that is fascinating. Colonel Gawler goes much deeper on this subject in his book, including the migration of the Tribe of Dan all the way to Ireland as well as likely influences on Norse mythology, potentially even being the basis for Norse mythology, by tracing the origins of the Scythians.

So is it possible that Thor was actually inspired by Samson as well?

After all, the parallels of Thor and Odin with Hercules and Zeus are certainly difficult to avoid. When you start to think about it, it's not much of a stretch to wonder if Zeus and Odin themselves were potentially inspired by these same stories. How much of a stretch is it to go from God in the heavens above to...thunder and lightning representing God?

If nothing else, it's certainly an interesting topic to research and talk about. As you get to watch Thor meet Zeus at the movies this week, tell your friends and see where the conversation goes. Could all of this mythology have come from one of the most direct foreshadowings of Jesus in the Old Testament? It might get them interested in reading the Bible.

This is a reasonable question.

In a typical Sunday School environment I’d be going through a lesson every three weeks, mixed in with the teaching style of multiple other teachers. If you’re reading this newsletter, I have no idea what else you may be reading or hearing.

My intended audience is anyone who is curious about the Bible. Anyone who has questions. Anyone looking for logical exploration and historical discussion where nothing is off limits.

What does the Bible say about my audience?

One of the most powerful passages for me, as a teacher, is from the apostle Paul whose letters make up the bulk of the New Testament and form the basis for how the church is supposed to operate.

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
- 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (NIV)

As a teacher, I read this passage to mean that Paul believes we are called to reach the people who we can relate to the most.

Who can relate to me?

I grew up in church and then walked away at 15. The reason I walked away is because I didn’t have a good experience in my youth group. As a teenager, who as all teenagers was never wrong, I focused my departure on the youth group itself. In hindsight, it was really me.

I wasn’t a popular kid in high school. I had a pot belly, big glasses and braces. I expected the kids in youth group to not pick on me the same way that some kids in school did…but of course that didn’t happen. I expected “church kids” to be better. In reality, there were only a couple of people who ever actually gave me a hard time. Because they were a couple of the more popular kids in the group, I projected their attitude onto the rest who were actually very nice. It took me years to admit that.

During those years, I became an agnostic and briefly an angry atheist. I made all of the arguments. I believed them too.

I was wrong.

Professionally, I’ve been a software developer for over 20 years. My field is full of extremely logical people because we all live in logic problems all day long.

Logically, I thought those arguments were sound but they were only sound based on the picture of Christianity that I had in my head. It was formed by my own biases. It was formed from a Bible verse here, a Bible verse there, an inflammatory story on the internet before I realized almost every story on the internet is inflammatory. Does somebody identify themselves as a Christian but then do something you don’t think they’re supposed to do? Might as well throw it all out the window right?

The picture painted on the internet of Christians by non-Christians seems to be largely framed by people who are very angry, claiming what “Christians” believe, want, or my personal favorite…are conspiring to do to America.

I’ve got news for everybody. Christians can’t even agree on what Christians believe. There are many different protestant denominations with differing views on how the Bible should be interpreted, which practices are most important to follow and which aspects of routine and ceremony we should be following. This doesn’t even account for independent churches.

Even among specific denominations, there’s not a clear agreement. The Southern Baptist Convention is a collection of different church constitutions. You’ll experience big differences between those same Baptist churches.

Questions are GOOD!

Asking questions is critical! The Bible and the Christian faith itself has not survived as long as it has due to an inability to withstand questions. Lots of them. Questions mean that you are curious, interested, and want to know more.

If we ask questions that make you wonder about something you have heard that calls it into question…that is a good thing. Because if we explore and find that thing is supported, you’ll never wonder about it again. Deeper understanding will only reinforce you.

What if it’s not though? Well, that’s a good question. Maybe we shouldn’t repeat that thing? Maybe we should try to find out where it came from, what it was trying to say and how we can communicate it more effectively in a Biblically sound manner?

Questions are how we learn.

How are we supposed to read the Bible?

The first time I read the Bible I was curious and I wanted to get through it. I ended up using one of those One Year Bible reading plans that breaks each day into some Old Testament, some New Testament, some Psalms and some Proverbs. Took me three years to get through the one year plan, but eventually I got there.

I realized there were major themes reiterated over and over. Themes that aren’t often mentioned. Idolatry is one of the biggest themes in the entire Old Testament. It’s discussed in book after book. I realized there were things that we talk about constantly which are barely discussed at all. After reading in totality, I felt like I understood things much better.

And then later I joined a men’s Bible study group where we covered the entire Bible and realized that I only knew a fraction of what I thought I knew. You will quite literally see Jesus foretold in many books of the Old Testament and I had no idea how to look for Him. Some people believe that we must see Jesus in every book of the Bible, but again…I do not see support for that. That view creates much of the debate around Song of Solomon, because you have to work extremely hard to try to see Jesus there.

I don’t know if there is a right way to read it. What I do know is that reading it with an open mind and an open heart is one of the most important things I’ve done in my life. Jesus did the rest.

From a standpoint of pure logical reasoning, I understand that absolute positions are dangerous to the point of being nearly indefensible. If even a single contrary example can be pointed out, the position doesn’t stand. In my experience so far, most absolute positions come from man made expressions rather than the Bible itself.

We’ll talk about that.

The Meat is in the Middle

The Bible consists of 66 different books by 40 different authors, yet people spend more time on two of them than almost any others: Genesis and Revelation. The beginning and the end.

The rest of the Bible covers Jewish history, the prophecies that foretold Jesus, lessons in life and human behavior which have changed very little in thousands of years, opposing religious leaders who manipulate it for their goals, Jesus life, death and resurrection, as well as the aftermath which saw the establishment of the church, how it’s intended to operate and the traps that we are all vulnerable to falling into if we aren’t careful and much more.

When people focus so much of their energies on arguing about Genesis and Revelation, who I call “bookenders”, they miss out everything else. Don’t worry, we will talk about them as well but neither will be a primary focus of this blog…because neither are the primary focus of the Bible. Jesus is.

No Perfect People

One of the hardest lessons I had to learn is that we are not expected to get a set of rules to follow and then BOOM! You’re a Christian.

This is a journey. Churches are not full of perfect people. They are filled with sinners in need of a Savior. Every single one.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
- Isaiah 64:6 (NIV)

Paul reiterates this in detail in Romans.

This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
- Romans 3:22-24 (NIV)

No matter what you have done in your life, the choices that you have made, or the deeds you have performed we are all equal before God. We are all redeemed by faith in Jesus alone, which is given freely.

“It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath.”
- Acts 15:19-21 (NIV)

Paul’s expression that we should not make it difficult for those who are turning to God is one of the more critical verses for all teachers. Keep it simple. Focus on what’s important and feed the interest that will help to learn more.

Jesus tells us the two most important commandments himself. They form the basis for all others and are the litmus test for what constitutes Christian behavior. They are also very straightforward.

Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
- Matthew 22:34-40 (NIV)

The Bible for the Curious

If you have a spark of curiosity about the Bible, my only goal is the feed the fire. Open the door in your heart a little wider and let Jesus Christ do the rest.

I will close this out with a prayer that my pastor growing up used in every single service.

May the words of our mouths and the meditations in our hearts be pleasing and acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my Strength and our Redeemer.
- Psalm 19:14 (slightly paraphrased)

Now, one of the biggest things that always drove me nuts about Lifeway and most Sunday School lessons in general is that they typically focus on a small subset of text of each book of the Bible rather than covering it in a more complete fashion. The idea is to study smaller segments over a longer period of time, but sometimes it’s just not that helpful. Several of the other teachers at church expressed similar frustrations with the cutoff points and many of us would opt to just go off script and cover more.

For this lesson we were supposed to be covering chapters 5:2-8:14. Song of Solomon is broken into 3 sections that cover different periods of a relationship: engagement, wedding and marriage.

I didn’t want to teach a lesson about marriage based on a Song of Solomon…because Solomon is not a person who I think anyone should be modeling their relationships after.

Ever.

I did not like Solomon

Growing up in church, he was always referred to as “Solomon the Wise” due to his request for a discerning heart while God spoke to him in a dream from 1 Kings 3.

So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
- 1 Kings 3:9

The Lord was pleased.

So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
- 1 Kings 3:11-14

Unquestionably, there is a noble lesson to asking for discernment, rather than power. The passage that follows discusses a wise ruling in a dispute between two women over a baby, reiterating this stance. Solomon would also go on to dramatically expand the profile of Israel, building great wealth for the kingdom and earning the admiration of many nations.

But later on in life, Solomon would turn from God by building many shrines and idols to other Gods for his many, many wives.

One of the biggest lessons from reading the Bible that people don’t talk about much…idolatry is among the biggest consistent themes across the entire Old Testament.

It’s also covered in the first commandment in Exodus 20.

You shall have no other gods before Me.

And the second…

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Additionally Deuteronomy 17:14-18, Moses reviews the law and specifically the requirements for Israel’s eventual kings. Among those requirements is this.

He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.
- Deuteronomy 17:17

Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. And his heart will be led astray.

I have to wonder, why in the world would we use Solomon as a reference point for anything related to a healthy marriage? Why is Song of Solomon in the Bible at all?

One of the great things about Bible study is that you often discover you are not alone in your questions.

What type of lesson can we teach from this?

I use a Life Application Study Bible in all of my lesson prep and I really love it. The footnotes and commentary provide some excellent insight. Reading the preface that was included with Song of Songs, I found this nugget.

Much debate has raged over the meaning of this song.

This is honestly more interesting to me. It turns out that Solomon wrote 1,005 songs.

Hold on.

700 wive of royal birth and 300 concubines means 1,000 women.

There are 1,005 songs and this entire song is about one woman? Is that a coincidence? Did Solomon write a song for every woman? Why was this one particular song out of all of his songs selected for inclusion in the Bible? I have no idea what Solomon’s other songs were about (I did try to find out), but one thing I have learned in Bible study…always do the math.

Quick overview

• The author of this song is supposed to be Solomon, which is questionable on its own once we start reading

• It’s generally believed that Solomon wrote this as a young man, around 950 BC

• Solomon was king from 970-931 BC

• This song depicts the 2 year period of the engagement (1-3:5), wedding (3:6-5:1) and marriage (5:2-8:14) of King Solomon to a Shulammite girl who worked in a vineyard

Was Solomon the only author?

When the entire book is taken into account, the writing style clearly depicts a conversation.

• She talks to him or about him

• He talks to her or about her

• Her friends talk to her

Some of the verses where she talks about him, she’s describing how attractive he is to her. If she didn’t co-write this with them, then Solomon chose to write her describing him like this…

My beloved is radiant and ruddy, outstanding among ten thousand. His head is purest gold; his hair is wavy and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the water streams, washed in milk, mounted like jewels. His cheeks are like beds of spice yielding perfume. His lips are like lilies dripping with myrrh. His arms are rods of gold set with topaz. His body is like polished ivory decorated with lapis lazuli. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of pure gold. His appearance is like Lebanon, choice as its cedars. His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.
- Song of Solomon 5:10-16

In case you’re wondering, Solomon used the cedars of Lebanon to build the Temple.

Would he write about himself that way?

I don’t have an answer, but I think it’s a worthy question to think about.

What about all those wives?

In 1 Kings 11:3 we learn about Solomon’s wives and concubines.

He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

There’s a key part in that verse. 700 wives of royal birth.

The Shulammite woman in this song was not of royal birth. Solomon had a number of political marriages and his first was to Pharaoh’s daughter.

Why was this Shulammite woman the subject of the one song of Solomon included in the Bible? She was not royalty by birth, but worked in a vineyard.

Could she be Solomon’s true love among a lifetime of political marriages?

Reading further, we find in the song verses 6:8-9 there’s a hint that this might be true.

Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; but my dove, my perfect one, is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her.

Other theories

Let’s pause on this train of thought for a moment to consider some of the other theories of the meaning of Song of Solomon. Some people believe that this is “an allegory of God’s love for Israel or for the church…”

Seriously? This is about Israel?

Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing. 

Each has its twin, not one of them is missing.
- Song of Solomon 5:5-6

Israel…you have all of your teeth and they’re still white in a time before toothpaste.

How beautiful you are and how pleasing, my love, with your delights!

Your stature is like that of the palm, and your breasts like clusters of fruit. I said, “I will climb the palm tree; I will take hold of its fruit.”

May your breasts be like clusters of grapes on the vine, the fragrance of your breath like apples, and your mouth like the best wine.
- Song of Solomon 7:6-9

God is supposed to be saying this about Israel? Or the church…? Maybe there is more to support that interpretation but to me it seems like a stretch.

So why is this really here?

To be clear, this is my theory and mine alone. It’s entirely possible that I’m wrong…but I think this song is about Solomon’s true love. She’s the one that got away.

Keep in mind, we don’t know what happened in each of Solomon’s relationships, including this one. Did all 700 wives live with him? Did they have their own room or house? Would it even be possible to maintain that many relationships? How did the previous wives feel everytime a new wife arrived?

All of these questions make me believe that it would be nearly impossible for Solomon to maintain a relationship with his true love among such circumstances. People become jealous, resentful, distracted and hurt very naturally. The more one reads the Bible the more it becomes apparent that human nature has not changed in thousands of years.

What we do know is that toward the end of his life he built shrines to foreign gods for his other wives.

For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.

At that time on a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
- 1 Kings 11:4-8

For the king of Israel, this is about as far off the deep end as one can go. What could make a man of such high regard fall so far?

Always do the math

Let’s support this theory with some numbers based on what we know.

• Solomon ruled from 970-931 BC, 39 years total

• This was written around 950 BC, 20 years in

• The song itself references 60 queens at this point

So that means that over a period of 20 years, Solomon had 60 wives meaning a rate of 3 wives per year or 1 every 17 weeks.

• He had 700 wives, leaving 640 more after this one

640 wives over the remaining 19 years means a rate of 33.7 wives per year over the last half of his rule! That’s 1 new wife every 1.5 weeks!

Hopefully this is the only “Wives per Year” chart you’ll see today.

That is a dramatic change in the rate of marriages.

Have you ever known people to make bad relationship decisions after a hard breakup?

Those numbers certainly reflect it.

How would you expect your true love to react to more and more brides in your life, even if it was accepted during that time period? Would anyone expect her not to be resentful? You could almost understand wives from political marriages accept something like that more easily than a girl from a farm who was not born into the expectations of royalty.

I think this was Solomon’s true love and when he lost her he stopped caring. He accepted any political marriages that were offered, grew the alliances of Israel and allowed these wives to have shrines and idols built to appease them. Consider the type of witness he would have been to them in a state of lament and sadness.

Whatever. Do what you want…

The sudden dramatic change in behavior, losing your will to obey God’s commands and disregard to the point of building shrines to others…it reads like depression and even anger towards God.

Such a reaction could be understood if Solomon lost his true love and believed it was due to his duty as king.

Like father like son?

There’s a verse that I accidentally stumbled on while researching this story on Biblehub. I was looking for 1st Kings 11:3 but accidentally typed 1st Kings 1:3 instead when this caught my attention.

Now King David was old and well along in years, and though they covered him with blankets, he could not keep warm. So his servants said to him, “Let us search for a young virgin for our lord the king, to attend to him and care for him and lie by his side to keep him warm.”

Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag the Shunammite and brought her to the king. The girl was unsurpassed in beauty; she cared for the king and served him, but he had no relations with her.
- 1 Kings 1:3

There are some scholars who speculate that Shunammite and Shulammite are synonymous, while others debate whether the later represents a specific area of Jerusalem or even the feminine form of Solomon used only after marriage. If they were synonmous we can wonder whether Abishag is the same girl. We are never told her age, only that she was young.

Solomon’s brother Adonijah even tried to claim Abishag as his wife, because it would give him a claim to the throne. For this request, Adonijah was put to death in 1 Kings 2:21-23. If she was the same girl, that’s a lot of history between them.

Now, I don’t believe that Abishag is the Shulammite girl from Song of Songs. From the reading I have done, Solomon would have been about 20 years old when King David passed away and Solomon is about 40 years old during the time of the song.

But could the memory of a beautiful Shulammite girl who cared for his father on his death bed stick with a 20 year old young man? Could it create a fondness that eventually lead him to his one true love?

We can only speculate of course

When I started preparing to teach this lesson, I adamantly disliked Solomon. Hearing for your entire life of someone celebrated as “Solomon the Wise” and then learning about exactly how far he turned from God…it honestly made me resent him.

No one in the Bible is perfect except for Jesus. Every person has their flaws. Solomon’s flaws appeared to me at first to be the extreme.

After researching this lesson though, my view changed. I pity Solomon. The story humanized him for me in a way that I did not expect. If not for the information provided in this song, we would not have any indication of the dramatic rate change in his marriages that could open our eyes to the potential cause of the change in his behavior.

Imagine finding your true love in a life in which it seems you have everything, but then to lose her because she simply doesn’t fit in the royal existence you have to lead. He’s the king, but you can’t force someone to be happy in a life where they aren’t any more than you can force them to believe things they don’t want to believe.

After all, towards the end of the song she laments…

Then, if I found you outside,
I would kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
- SOS 8:1

What if Solomon’s song is a country song?

What if it’s included in the Bible to give us perspective to help us understand why the life of one of the greatest kings of Israel took such a turn for the worse?

It changed my perspective on Solomon. I hope this theory might encourage you to dig deeper into the story yourself!

In Ecclesiates, Solomon shares a great deal of regret about the way that he has lived his life including why “pleasures are meaningless”, until he brings it to his ultimate conclusion.

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13

If you’re curious about other theories and interpretations, I recommend reading the very detailed and well cited History of Interpretation of the Song of Songs. It goes in depth on many different perspectives.

You cannot be misled if you’ve read!

UPDATE: My pastor send me an interesting read about why Jews read Song of Songs during Passover.

This is Read Not Misled, a newsletter to get people excited about reading the Bible!

I grew up in a Baptist church in South Carolina, walked away for 6 years in which I identified myself as agnostic and sometimes even atheist. After getting married, my wife and I church hopped for many years. I went because she wanted to and I knew how to go through the motions.

Then one day, we ended up at NewSpring church and the preacher spoke in such a way that it actually made me want to hear more. After a lifetime in church, I could not tell you about almost any sermon I’d ever attended. I was bored, tuned out, drew on the church bulletin or planned how to beat a video game that I was into at the time. This one was different.

The pastor was in the book of Judges and he was telling the story of Ehud. He kept calling him Ehud, the left handed dude and proceeded to tell his story. I walked out of church that day and could not wait to go back the next week. We continued with that church for almost 6 years. I was so interested that I even went to the church website to watch other sermons.

Over the next 6 years, these sermons maintained my interest throughout. The pastor pulled in historical context to frame the picture of the time and discussed a number of topics that, despite being in the Bible, were not “appropriate” for church as far as I remembered.

At some point during that time, I was dealing with a very intense personal struggle for almost 2 years that I did not believe I could overcome on my own. I gave up and finally confessed it to my wife, who simply asked me, “Did you ask God to help?” I did not. Despite my newfound interest in going to church, I still had my doubts and honestly didn’t think it would do any good.

I said a simple prayer, “God, please help me forgive.” That night I had a dream, then woke up feeling incredible. Everything was better. It was as if a switch had flipped inside of me and simply turned off everything I was struggling with. That was the first of many experiences in my life that have erased every doubt to which I clung.

And that is when I started reading the Bible.

Finally.

I wanted to understand what happened to me and I learned a tremendous amount from it. It took me 3 years to complete a “1 Year Bible” reading plan, but I got through it and learned a lot along the way.

The most fascinating thing for me was what was not anywhere to be found. There were so many things that I’d grown up hearing in church, were regularly recited by church going Christians that I knew and I could not find any support for these sayings or common beliefs anywhere in the Bible. Reading had become a filter for things that were simply not biblically supported.

Eventually, we decided to find a more “normal” church with adult Sunday School classes rather than small groups at people’s homes. After a few months of me speaking up in class to share a detail or clarify a point from the lesson, I was asked to help teach the class every now and then. I was not comfortable with it. The Minister of Education who supervised all of the Sunday School classes took me out to lunch to talk about my concerns.

“All you have to do,” he said, “is follow the lesson in the teacher’s guide. It’s pretty easy.”

I asked, ”If I don’t think the teacher’s guide is accurate, can I say that?” After weeks in the class there were a number of things in the Lifeway lesson plans that felt…injected.

He said, “Use your judgement and pray about it. If you have any questions, I’m happy to talk.”

For the next 2 years, I taught a lesson every 3 weeks or so and loved it. I was a nervous wreck sometimes. The time I had to teach about what the Bible says about alcohol in a Baptist church, I was pretty sure I’d be kicked out but they supported me every step of the way. I was able to dive into history and sometimes go deep down unexpected rabbit holes that were nowhere close to what the lesson plan wanted me to teach. If the lesson was going to put me to sleep, I wanted to find a way to make it more interesting.

When Covid started up, our class tried meeting remotely but then eventually died out. We’ve only just started attending regularly again in person and haven’t rejoined a Sunday School class yet. At some point, I hope to return to teaching.

After the Easter service this past Sunday, I felt compelled to setup this newsletter to share the lessons that I have taught so far and hopefully new lessons in the future. I hope these can get you interested in reading the Bible yourself if you haven’t before or at the very least, give you a different perspective on stories you may already know.

You cannot be misled if you’ve read!

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