In one of her Bible studies, Beth Moore called Leviticus “the graveyard for those trying to read through the Bible in a year.” I’m here to tell you, it doesn’t have to be that way. I’m starting my seventh year of reading the Bible through in chronological order, and it’s no longer boring to me.
There is certainly still a decent amount I don’t understand, but that’s surpassed by new understanding God grants me as I read passages again over the years.
Here are 20 tips to help you make it through the boring parts of Scripture (even Leviticus).
BIG PICTURE
- Seek accountability. It’s easier to keep reading when you know a friend or a group is going to check in with you.
- Look for God’s big picture ideas. He is a just God who brings order out of chaos. Altogether loving, but serious about making us Christlike.
- Read the Bible as a story. That’s why I prefer my daily reading to be chronological, but regardless, it’s a continuous telling.
THE LISTS OF NAMES AND MEASUREMENTS
4. When it gets mundane, read out loud.
5. When you hit a list of names (they start right in at Genesis 4), look for what I call “aha moments.” Is there a woman listed among the brothers or tribal leaders? Does someone have a special talent, occupation or receive credit for discovering something? Make it like a scavenger hunt (ie. note the ages of people early on in Scripture. When did this change? Later on, note who is left-handed and why).
6. Remember, God has a reason for every name/word in the Bible. These lists were important to the Hebrews because they place a great emphasis on lineage. Also, early on when they heard these names (the Bible was delivered orally years before it was read), people would have recalled family stories about many of these ancestors.
7. Be on the lookout for names you recognize from other Scripture passages.
8. Note when a woman is listed, and consider why she is mentioned in that part of Scripture.
9. Spend some time looking up some of the places mentioned. Often, they are still in existence today.
10. Consider the meanings of the names used. A given name carried huge significance in Hebrew culture. Look up a few names.
LEVITICUS AND THE LAWS
11. In the Torah, when you hit those pesky laws, consider why the law mentioned is logical for the time and culture.
12. Ask yourself, what does this law/scripture passage show us about Jesus?
TABERNACLE & TEMPLE DETAILS
13. For me, I struggle more with the Bible measurements than the lists of names or the laws (what size was the ark, the Tabernacle, the Temple, Ezekiel’s Temple). Consider the big picture; a God who was that detailed with the measurements of a structure surely cares intimately about the details of our lives!
14. Compare the perimeter of your home with the size of the Tabernacle or Temples. I have to ask my husband for these numbers again year after year, but it helps.
THE GOSPELS
15. Don’t try to make them match up perfectly. These accounts come from four different men directed to four different audiences.
16. We don’t have that many words spoken by Jesus, so soak in the few we do have. PS I’m a sucker for the versions that still put the words of Jesus in red.
THE LETTERS
17. Remember these are real churches full of real people. Think of similar circumstances you might have in your own church.
18. As time permits, look up each city or people group who received a letter. What pertinent word did the author have for them, and what carries universal truth? Ask the Holy Spirit for discernment as you read.
REVELATION
19. Good luck! No really, this final book is a masterpiece. Appreciate the imagery, and praise God that believers can anticipate some magnificent things when we finally get home.
20. As with the letters, consider the author and the audience. We aren’t going to completely figure this book out, so try to see it through the eyes of John, and the early church who would have read this for the first time.
What parts are the boring parts for you? Let us know in the comments below!
Traci writes at her kitchen table in rural Michigan. She and her husband are modern homesteaders; parenting a daughter, growing a garden, and raising a variety of farm animals. Traci has been called a gatherer; forming a community who figuratively gathers around wooden church pews in a big, glorious cathedral in the country. Together, they tell church stories to remind us there is more of Jesus to be found when we learn from one another.
One year one of the students in my junior high Sunday school class ask that we study the book of Revelation. I decided that we would illustrate it as we went. Wow! that was an eye-opener to the content in the book. Some of the kids’ drawings had detail that went right by me as I read.
That would have been something!! Probably a good psychology test on what we think about God.
I seen to struggle with the Old Testament The Chronicles for example the precise measurements Solomon uses to build God’s house I know everything in the bible is important, but I struggle to resist the urge to skip that chapter/book of Chronicles
I totally understand! I feel that way about the beginning of numbers with the census of the Israelities, too. I think it’s okay to skim it. And then maybe consult a picture of the temple so you can see in a visual what all the measurements made.