How often do you read the Bible?

How often do you read the Bible?

  • Several times a day

    Votes: 11 39.3%
  • Once a day

    Votes: 6 21.4%
  • One a week

    Votes: 2 7.1%
  • when I feel like it

    Votes: 7 25.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 2 7.1%

  • Total voters
    28
  • Poll closed .

Daniel C

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My Favorite OT Story. It's a toss up, there are a lot of Great ones(like Samson tying all those Foxes together) but if I had to pick one it would be the Ark being taken by the Philistines.

That story really lets you know the power and anger of God against those who continually do things he really abhors (Especially in his presence). Every time I think about the statue being made to bow down to the Ark of covenant(not to mention it being cut apart), I always think of what must have been going through the peoples minds when they saw their god bowing down before the ark. That had to be something. Then every town they went to it was basically a curse upon to the point where the last town said the people trying to bring the ark into their city to kill them.

A close second would be the Story of Elijah mocking the Priests of Baal when their god couldn't do anything to light their pyre on fire. I always smile thinking about how 1 guy was standing in front of 450 men mocking how their God was probably talking or asleep and needed to be woken up. Then the power of the Lord being witnessed by them all as the Lord Lit the Pyre Elijah built(and drenched in water three times) on fire.


Yes there was a lot said about the Ark of covenant in OT, even going as far to give a physical description of it like the size of it and cherubim at each end.

According to the Bible,the Ark is lost but still on the Earth,right?
 
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Archivist

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Yes there was a lot said about the Ark of covenant in OT, even going as far to give a physical description of it like the size of it and cherubim at each end.

According to the Bible,the Ark is lost but still on the Earth,right?
According to Raiders of the Lost Ark it was found by Indiana Jones and is now in a US Government storage warehouse.
 
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Daniel C

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According to Raiders of the Lost Ark it was found by Indiana Jones and is now in a US Government storage warehouse.


Was a good film. The director steven spielberg said his parents were orthodox Jewish so growing up no doubt gained much insight from them about the OT.
 
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Archivist

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Was a good film. The director steven spielberg said his parents were orthodox Jewish so growing up no doubt gained much insight from them about the OT.
Cool--I did not know that!
 
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mindlight

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Once I worked in a hotel. I used to read the bible in my lunch breaks. The manager came up to me and asked me how many times I had read it. I said about 30 times through. He said, so why are you reading it now don,t you know it yet. I replied cause everytime I read it I find something new.

Another time as a missionary in Israel I met a Jewish scholar who spent all his day 6 days a week studying the scriptures in their original languages. Yet despite all that learning he did not know Jesus.
 
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seeking.IAM

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I began daily Bible reading (KJV) when I was a little boy as encouraged by my parents. It was a family practice of my grandparents, my parents, and passed on to me and my siblings. Now in my 60's, I read the Bible when I want to and I confess some weeks not at all. This is partially because I've read or heard it so much I suppose, but also because I've changed. Now a daily prayer ritual is much more important to me than daily Bible reading. It may also have something to do with my change of religious affiliation, praying the Daily Office, etc. I see some people that lead me to think they almost worship the Bible when I think their time might be better spent connecting to God in prayer. Forgive me. :crosseo:
 
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Mario David

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I read the bible every day but for short period of times, I hear the bible on the car Bluetooth when i drive to work most of the time. I have a bible in the car for when I am waiting, a bible in the house. Also have the bible on my tablet and several books related to the bible to further help my knowledge and understanding.
 
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JCFantasy23

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Not as much as I should. I go through phases of devotional studies and reading that way mainly, or else theology studies and reading that way, or else reading scripture here or listening to podcasts discussing scripture and issues weekly.
 
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The Righterzpen

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Elijah Mocking the priests of Baal in

"Where's baal; sitting on the jon?" When someone once explained to me that's the implication of what Elijah actually said to them - I thought to myself - well isn't that interesting. So I actually looked up 1 Kings 18:27.

Cry louder, for he is a god, he is muttering to himself, on his return from a (habitual) journey; or maybe he languishes (I.E. he's stuck - in the "privy"?) and must be aroused (from his sate of preoccupied stupor).

So yeah, contextually when you put all the words in this sentence together; that does make sense.

LOL

What's your favourite part?

My favorite story in the Old Testament is Noah and the flood. There's so much to that story that points to the utter destruction at the end of time; as well as redemption.

I find the story so fascinating because of the vast evidence that's still with us today of how absolutely devastating of a catastrophe this flood was. All the other Bible stories are confined to a specific place. Besides creation and ultimately the going forth of the gospel; the flood is the only event that affects all life on earth.

It's mind numbing to think of this man and his family, having built this giant box (basically) for 120 years; to be in this thing for a little more than a year; with all these land animals. Then to get off and know everything (except aquatic animals) had been killed! No wonder the poor sap got drunk!

I can't imagine how terrifying of an experience that would have been!

According to the Bible,the Ark is lost but still on the Earth,right?

According to Raiders of the Lost Ark it was found by Indiana Jones and is now in a US Government storage warehouse.

LOL - of any place the ark of the covenant would be today - that's probably it!

There's no evidence in the Scripture that it ever came back from Babylon. Which that does make some sense because the "presence of God" was suppose to be connected to the mercy seat. And at the point that the 2nd person of the Trinity becomes incarnated; it would make sense that the ark (which was a symbol of what was to come. Kind of like Noah and the big box that saves all life on earth.) would be conspicuously absent.

Which this makes the tearing of the curtain in the temple an interesting story. Did that act prove to the people that the ark was not in the temple; because it was across the ravine on the Mount of Olives being crucified!

As to the OP of how often do you read the Bible?

We have access to so much information today; but finding the truth requires a lot of digging.

I study off and on, maybe an average of a couple hours a day. Some of that involves internet research and sometimes I just listen to sermons or other types of lectures. If it catches my interest I'll take a look at it.

Outside of just studying though; I spend a lot of time contemplating what I've found.

If I'm just studying the Bible; it's a concordance and simply looking up passages. I'll often take a word or phrase and just research all the places it's used in the Bible. I've learned a lot that way. The Scripture is its own dictionary, commentary and interpreter.

We learn what God is telling us by comparing the Bible to itself. Although I find historical and archeological information enlightening (it's often quite informative); God never tells us to interpret Scripture through the lens of what any culture thought it meant. We compare it to itself and this is how we find out what it means.

For example the number 666. The answer to what that actually means comes out of information in the book of Ezra (chapter 2) as well as part of one of Ezekiel's visions. Ezekiel 8 is a parallel text to Revelation and who's slaying those with the "mark of the beast" in their foreheads.

"Mark of the beast" is actually 2 different types of marks. We see this in the Greek that's used. One is in the hand, the other in the forehead. Only certain people get the "mark of the beast" on the forehead. Everyone gets a "mark on the hand" because it's connected to a who runs the monetary economic system. Certain people don't get the "mark of the beast" on their foreheads though because they have their Father's name written on their foreheads.

And to think - all this I found with just a concordance and a Bible!

Bible Study - END TIMES? Chapter 1: Introduction, a bible fanfic | FanFiction
 
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StephenDiscipleofYHWH

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Yes there was a lot said about the Ark of covenant in OT, even going as far to give a physical description of it like the size of it and cherubim at each end.

According to the Bible,the Ark is lost but still on the Earth,right?
We see in revelation that the Ark of Covenant is in Heaven, though since this takes place in the future, it may well be on earth at this time.
Revelation 11:
19And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
 
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Daniel C

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"Where's baal; sitting on the jon?" When someone once explained to me that's the implication of what Elijah actually said to them - I thought to myself - well isn't that interesting. So I actually looked up 1 Kings 18:27.

Cry louder, for he is a god, he is muttering to himself, on his return from a (habitual) journey; or maybe he languishes (I.E. he's stuck - in the "privy"?) and must be aroused (from his sate of preoccupied stupor).

So yeah, contextually when you put all the words in this sentence together; that does make sense.

LOL



My favorite story in the Old Testament is Noah and the flood. There's so much to that story that points to the utter destruction at the end of time; as well as redemption.

I find the story so fascinating because of the vast evidence that's still with us today of how absolutely devastating of a catastrophe this flood was. All the other Bible stories are confined to a specific place. Besides creation and ultimately the going forth of the gospel; the flood is the only event that affects all life on earth.

It's mind numbing to think of this man and his family, having built this giant box (basically) for 120 years; to be in this thing for a little more than a year; with all these land animals. Then to get off and know everything (except aquatic animals) had been killed! No wonder the poor sap got drunk!

I can't imagine how terrifying of an experience that would have been!





LOL - of any place the ark of the covenant would be today - that's probably it!

There's no evidence in the Scripture that it ever came back from Babylon. Which that does make some sense because the "presence of God" was suppose to be connected to the mercy seat. And at the point that the 2nd person of the Trinity becomes incarnated; it would make sense that the ark (which was a symbol of what was to come. Kind of like Noah and the big box that saves all life on earth.) would be conspicuously absent.

Which this makes the tearing of the curtain in the temple an interesting story. Did that act prove to the people that the ark was not in the temple; because it was across the ravine on the Mount of Olives being crucified!

As to the OP of how often do you read the Bible?

We have access to so much information today; but finding the truth requires a lot of digging.

I study off and on, maybe an average of a couple hours a day. Some of that involves internet research and sometimes I just listen to sermons or other types of lectures. If it catches my interest I'll take a look at it.

Outside of just studying though; I spend a lot of time contemplating what I've found.

If I'm just studying the Bible; it's a concordance and simply looking up passages. I'll often take a word or phrase and just research all the places it's used in the Bible. I've learned a lot that way. The Scripture is its own dictionary, commentary and interpreter.

We learn what God is telling us by comparing the Bible to itself. Although I find historical and archeological information enlightening (it's often quite informative); God never tells us to interpret Scripture through the lens of what any culture thought it meant. We compare it to itself and this is how we find out what it means.

For example the number 666. The answer to what that actually means comes out of information in the book of Ezra (chapter 2) as well as part of one of Ezekiel's visions. Ezekiel 8 is a parallel text to Revelation and who's slaying those with the "mark of the beast" in their foreheads.

"Mark of the beast" is actually 2 different types of marks. We see this in the Greek that's used. One is in the hand, the other in the forehead. Only certain people get the "mark of the beast" on the forehead. Everyone gets a "mark on the hand" because it's connected to a who runs the monetary economic system. Certain people don't get the "mark of the beast" on their foreheads though because they have their Father's name written on their foreheads.

And to think - all this I found with just a concordance and a Bible!

Bible Study - END TIMES? Chapter 1: Introduction, a bible fanfic | FanFiction


To be honest I don't watch many sermons, although I'm sure there is value in it.

I prefer reading scripture,blogs and forums. The forums are good because of the diversity of thought that comes from them.
 
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Daniel C

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We see in revelation that the Ark of Covenant is in Heaven, though since this takes place in the future, it may well be on earth at this time.
Revelation 11:
19And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.


Thanks for the rapid response there.

Just kidding, I've had a hiatus or two myself. :)

Yeah I have no idea about the ark so what you're saying sounds plausible.
 
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FIRESTORM314

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I read the Bible about one hour a day everyday but sometimes more.

Just wondering how often other Christians read the Bible.

Thanks. :)

About once a day these days unless I've really been naughty & need to show some commitment.
In the past I've read loads - and also had periods where I didn't read much.

I now think the most important thing is to spend time with God in prayer. My, have I grown a bit over the years. I'll soon be up in the mountains praying. It's good to develop self discipline in these things while young and always be ready for any eventuality. Wasn't it the wise builder who listened and applied Jesus teachings to his daily life - and his house fell not when the storm came.

God Bless
 
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Daniel C

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About once a day these days unless I've really been naughty & need to show some commitment.
In the past I've read loads - and also had periods where I didn't read much.

I now think the most important thing is to spend time with God in prayer. My, have I grown a bit over the years. I'll soon be up in the mountains praying. It's good to develop self discipline in these things while young and always be ready for any eventuality. Wasn't it the wise builder who listened and applied Jesus teachings to his daily life - and his house fell not when the storm came.

God Bless


That's good.

I need to work on prayer a little more. I tried set times but that doesn't work well for me so I generally try to use scripture.
 
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The Righterzpen

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To be honest I don't watch many sermons, although I'm sure there is value in it.

I prefer reading scripture,blogs and forums. The forums are good because of the diversity of thought that comes from them.

Well this wasn't a sermon, it was a conversation. I too get the most information out of just looking up verses and comparing them to each other.

For example - I looked up Revelation 11:19

I looked this up in both Hebrew and Greek and I think this passage is a parabolic reference to Jesus Himself.

In Revelation, the verb is in the aorist indicative, which describes something that is not a continuous action and does not relate the time of action to the time of speaking. It could be an event that is prior to "time if speaking" (or time this was written) or after. Although it's often translated to appear as "past tense".

So is this "past tense" or "future tense". We can't tell that by the verb; but we might be able to tell by the rest of the sentence.

The other thing to be noted about the Greek used in Revelation 11:19 is the pronoun "his".

Now Hebrew only has gender specific pronouns and therefore doesn't really have a word for "it" or "the". So in Hebrew you just see "ark of covenant" as opposed to "the ark of the covenant".

Greek though does have words for "it" and "the". But in many instances "the" is left out of the translation because in English you would not say "the Jesus", "the Peter" or "the Paul". "The" in that context in Greek is pointing to "this specific" Jesus, Peter or Paul as opposed to some other Jesus, Peter or Paul.

So the descriptor of "... in His temple was seen the ark of His testimony..." is a bit more specific than how it's described in the Hebrew. In Hebrew the possessive of the object "ark of covenant" is usually followed by "of the Lord". Some times though it is simply described as "ark of covenant" and a few times "ark of covenant of God". Only in this passage in Revelation is it described as "the ark of his covenant". Which I think it's interesting that the possessive is so formally portrayed in that verse.

The other clue seems to be "... and thunderings and lightenings..." Now this phrase "thunderings and lightnings" is only used 8 places in the Bible.

2 are in Exodus related to Mt. Sini and the giving of the law.
1 is in Job and that seems to be related to Noah's flood.
Psalm 77 describes both the use of water (seemingly in the context of Noah's flood, but it doesn't specifically mention Noah); but also the following verse speaks of leading the people as a flock such as was done by Moses and Aaron.

The rest of the references (4 in all) are in the book of Revelation.
1. Thunder and lightening coming from the throne of God along with voices; seven lamp stands which are the seven spirits of God. The 2nd and the 4th describe the same events. (Thunderings lightenings, voices and earthquakes.) The 3rd mention is 11:19.

I don't see the term "earthquake" used related to Sini; but there were "thunderings, lightenings, voices and earthquakes" related to the crucifixion. The other references these phrases seem to be pointing to is judgement day at the end of time; which makes sense because the crucifixion is portrayed as a type of precursor to the final judgment. Noah's flood obviously was a judgement. The book of Hebrews tells us that. And the law given on Sini is the written revelation whereby people are condemned. So it would not surprise me if Revelation 11:19 is actually talking about the crucifixion.

Now the verse before it speaks of "the time of the dead when they shall be judged..." Now again, I don't think that's talking about the end of time because Revelation 12 goes on to speak of something else. Despite the fact that "the dead" (or those who've already died) are judged. This is similar to Matthew 24; which some of that verse I believe is speaking of things going on in heaven that we can not see on earth. (I.E judgement is passed)

Also Revelation 11:19 speaks of "the temple". Jesus on several occasions refers to Himself as "the temple". The body of believers is also described as "the temple".

So thus more reason I conclude it's a parabolic representation. At the point heavens and earth are recreated; it's a whole new ball game and thus is when "the law" is totally done away with. So in that respect, there would be no reason for a temple and ark of the convent to exist in heaven as they had existed on earth. When Jesus was the fulfillment thereof and that system even disappeared on earth; why would that aspect of the OT remain in heaven as other than the symbolism in a vision?

So the ark as constructed by Moses's directions; I don't think exists any longer.
 
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Daniel C

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Well this wasn't a sermon, it was a conversation. I too get the most information out of just looking up verses and comparing them to each other.
.....


Right sorry I wasn't trying to be rude and calling your messages sermons, I was referring to this from post #29 :

''I study off and on, maybe an average of a couple hours a day. Some of that involves internet research and sometimes I just listen to sermons or other types of lectures. If it catches my interest I'll take a look at it.''

So i was acknowledging your post about watching sermons and confirming I don not generally watch them myself,although that may change in the future. And when I say i read scripture, it's only at a basic level. I read the Bible.

The reason I liked some of your posts in another thread is because you have expressed the Reformed Theology most understandable (to me) so far on this forum. I'm non-denominational but still like to see the other groups beliefs.
 
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The Righterzpen

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Right sorry I wasn't trying to be rude and calling your messages sermons, I was referring to this from post #29 :

''I study off and on, maybe an average of a couple hours a day. Some of that involves internet research and sometimes I just listen to sermons or other types of lectures. If it catches my interest I'll take a look at it.''

So i was acknowledging your post about watching sermons and confirming I don not generally watch them myself,although that may change in the future. And when I say i read scripture, it's only at a basic level. I read the Bible.

The reason I liked some of your posts in another thread is because you have expressed the Reformed Theology most understandable (to me) so far on this forum. I'm non-denominational but still like to see the other groups beliefs.

:oldthumbsup:

OK, got what you're saying now!

Yes, I do listen to sermons and lectures; but I don't "count" that as "study". It's more like "information gathering". If someone says something and I'm like - Oh, gotta go look that up; than it turns into study.

And I'm glad my explanations of reformed theology have been helpful to you. If you have other questions, feel free to ask and maybe other explanations I come up with might be helpful too.
 
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GodLovesCats

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I was always told the Bible is not meant to be read from cover to cover. Bible Study Tools has a variety of reading plans: Genesis to Revelation, chronological order, Old Testament, New Testament, and topical. In 2018 bI tried this, but it made my junk mail skryrocket. I saved all of them and then rarely read the next newsletter.
 
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The Righterzpen

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I was always told the Bible is not meant to be read from cover to cover. Bible Study Tools has a variety of reading plans: Genesis to Revelation, chronological order, Old Testament, New Testament, and topical. In 2018 bI tried this, but it made my junk mail skryrocket. I saved all of them and then rarely read the next newsletter.

Yeah, agree with you there. I don't do mailing lists / sign up for "material" just for that reason. I get enough junk mail as it is!
 
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GodLovesCats

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Yeah, agree with you there. I don't do mailing lists / sign up for "material" just for that reason. I get enough junk mail as it is!

LOL It happens to all of us. I even started a thread about spam mail in The Junk Drawer. Shame.
 
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