Bible in a Year (The Story) Podcast

Bible in a Year (The Story)

Bible in a Year (The Story) podcast features Professor Rachel Bodell, a marketing storyteller who teaches marketing, innovation, and leadership at the Bible Institute of Los Angeles (BIOLA University). She will not only read the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation in one year, but she will share all the resources that have helped her to understand the Bible as one unfolding connected story along the way through short commentaries and reflections from biblical scholars, most of which read original biblical languages like Hebrew and Greek (e.g., Dr. Tim Mackie, N.T. Wright, Dr. Carmen Imes, Dr. Jeannine Hanger, Dr. James Petitfils, Kristi Mclelland, Dr. John Walton, Dr. Michael Heiser, and Dr. Lucy, Peppiatt) By 2024, we hope to additionally offer special episodes from the renowned Bible scholars themselves that will help you understand the context of hard-to-understand stories within the meta-narrative of the Bible. We want to help you not only listen but hear what God is saying through the Bible every year and grow in your understanding, practice, and re-telling of the story to others as you learn more about how all the pieces of the Bible fit together to tell the GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD with a God that is inviting us to participate in the story as it is unfolding today! Each episode is about 15 minutes and includes two to three scripture readings and a short commentary and reflection with suggested biblical scholar sources (e.g. The Bible Project and Premiere Insights) for this is our prayer ”that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ - to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:9-11). Some passages of the Bible and commentary reflections contain adult themes that may not be suitable for younger children - parental discretion is advised. Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard. read less
Religion & SpiritualityReligion & Spirituality
Day 177: Dark Allegory to Convey a Drifted Heart and the Dark Consequences of Covenantal Defection
Sep 5 2023
Day 177: Dark Allegory to Convey a Drifted Heart and the Dark Consequences of Covenantal Defection
Today we read Isaiah 57-58, and Ezekiel 14-16. Adult theme warning. We read a parabolic marriage metaphor with a dark allegorical twist (e.g. graphic storytelling imagery) - the marriage goes south with adultery (e.g. for pleasure) which is more frequently described as prostitution (e.g., for profit, gain, numbness). Then this story becomes different from the other similar parables we have read such as the Hosea story or even the Sodom and Gomorra story where Lot's daughters are spared and Hosea pursues His unfaithful wife for restoration. The outcome reads more like Judge 19, where there is shaming and violence that is so gruesome it is hard to consider. We are also reminded that this story is a parable using allegory within the context of a marriage metaphor and not actually about God and a woman but the relationship between God and Jerusalem, the Israelite people which is likened to this scenario, the point being the accusation is here and judgement is being rendered through exile and the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem. Perhaps the parable is so allegorically dark and graphic to shock the hardened hearts of the people of Israel, to reach their wayward souls. This story is not condoning violence against women. Have you every listened to a story that is meant to illustrate the truth in imagery or story but you found the crassness or dark humor distasteful and problematic? This story is like that for me. I understand the lesson, the hidden meaning is conveyed, but it doesn't mean I liked the way the message was conveyed. We know from the stories we have already read, God wants right relationship with His people and will not give up on them or His purpose, His rescue mission, His desire to right-side the world. Resources: Daniel I. Block. (1997). The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1–24. Eerdmans.   Credits Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.
Day 174: God will Be Our Sanctuary When We Are Refined in the Fires of Affliction
Aug 31 2023
Day 174: God will Be Our Sanctuary When We Are Refined in the Fires of Affliction
Today we read Isaiah 47-49 and Ezekiel 8-9. We are being told to lift up our eyes, to remember that God can take us from the warriors that hold us captive or the idols that have our hearts. And Yes, God can take us, who have become plunder for the adversary, tested in the furnace of affliction, and retrieve us. We are reminded that God is the first and the last. He created it all and it all works together for Him. His glory will not, cannot be denied. We are reminded to come near and listen to the Lord for He teaches us what is best and the direction to go. He gives peace, well-being, a name, and progeny. We are called by God to leave the things that have captured our hearts and declare the joy, be strengthened in the Lord and declare this message of redemption to others for He will provide water from the rock in the deserts we find ourselves in; He will be our sanctuary, our wing to provide shadow and flight. We read that the Lord will not quit on Israel, He will not desert His promise, He will display His glory and honor through His people. He will be their strength. He is their reward. His salvation will be a gift to all the earth and for all time. We are reminded yet again, that judgement, the fire, the desert, the valley of the shadow of death, the storm is intentional but the intent is not harm, it's to refine, transform, hewn us, those around us, and all creation. Not just that, but that God will be with us in front as a guide. He will be our rear guard and He will be our sanctuary in and through it all.  Credits Podcast music by Stockaudios from Pixabay. Speaker, Dr. Rachel Bodell. Podcast Sound Engineer, Alan Darling. Podcast Artwork, Will Gerard.