Discovering the Auditory Bible
Several years ago, through Justin Taylor’s blog I discovered the incredible resource of Bible Reading Plans via podcasts. It occurred to me at the time that since I spent between 45 mins to an hour in the car driving each day that a podcast would be an easy way to get through the whole Bible in a year. Like many people, I have struggled with staying consistent with Bible reading plans. I studied the Bible a lot, mostly because I consistently teaching, but truthfully, I hadn’t actually read the whole Bible straight through in years. I realized that with these podcasts that it really was possible, and so I started listening. It took a few weeks to get in the habit, but after a few months of listening to the Bible on my ride to work God struck me with a series of important realizations.
First, hearing the Word of God was very different than reading the Bible in my head. I found myself noticing different details and themes in the text than when I was reading only visually. For instance, the genealogies in Genesis 5 struck me as less as a historical index of names than as an indictment of the effects of sin. Hearing the phrase, “… and he died,” repeated over and over has a way of driving the point. Likewise several of the Psalms have repeated phrases that on a visual read it is easy to skim through. The impact of hearing the awesome truth that “His steadfast love endures forever,” over and over (Psalm 136), makes the statement drive directly to my heart a way that visual reading did not.
Second, there was also something powerful happening by being so immersed in the Word on a daily basis. Foreign languages are often learned through immersion learning techniques. Immersion is supposed to lead to fluency more quickly. The idea is that instead of focusing on the vocabulary and grammar first one becomes immersed in the sound of the language, in the same way a 2-3 year old first learns language. These days the public reading of the Word of God has become less common in daily life. To be immersed in the “sound” of scripture takes a deliberate act. In John 10:27, Jesus says that his sheep “hear my voice and follow me.” To recognize Jesus’ voice do we not need to be familiar with his voice and fluent in his language? Doesn’t the bible promise that the Word of God does not return void, and that faith comes by hearing (Romans 10:17)? How beautiful it is to “hear” the Bible. The poetry of the Bible comes alive, the promises are spoken. Have we been missing something by only reading it in our heads? Are our quiet times perhaps too quiet? Visual reading can also be immersive, but there is a distinctive difference between reading with the eyes and hearing with the ears. The more I listened, the more I was convinced that there was great value in having both in my life.
Last, as the sound of Scripture has become common in my life, I discovered how often God actively uses the Bible daily to speak directly to situations in my life when we are faithful listeners. I cannot emphasize enough how many times the passage assigned for a specific day has ended up being the preparation I needed for a conversation later in the day or the answer to a question I hadn’t even though to ask, or simply because God had something he wanted me to hear that day.
One time, when my wife and I were pregnant with our second child we had extensive bleeding midway through the pregnancy. Since we had experienced pre-term labor at 32 weeks and an emergency C-section at 40 weeks with our first born, we were justifiably fearful of losing this baby. So at 30 weeks after spending all day in the labor and delivery we were sent home to watch and wait the outcome. As we were leaving the hospital, I put on the audio bible passage I was on for the day in the car. Out of the speakers came Isaiah 66.
Rejoice with Jerusalem “Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall a land be born in one day? Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?” says the LORD; “shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?” says your God. (Isaiah 66:7-9 ESV)
I didn’t need a big cloud or a pillar of fire to know that God had just spoken to us audibly, giving us the assurance we needed to hear in that moment. He was assuring us that our child was truly in his hands. Even more interesting was the fact that I was two weeks behind on the podcast. God had ordained even my lack of diligence to be part of his plan. By listening and being immersed in the Bible daily, we were able to hear God’s voice in the moment. A statement my pastor, Dean Inserra is very fond of saying is “If you want to hear God speak, then read the Bible. If you want to hear God speak audibly, then read it aloud.” We I first heard him say that I had already been through the Bible via podcast almost three times and immediate laughed for I had been saying similar things because of my own experience.
As Christian’s I sometimes fear we treat the Bible simply as the “Good Book”, treating it like some sort of self-help book rather than the holy and revealed Word of God. God speaks with the Bible, has given us the Holy Spirit for understanding - we have only to listen. It is so easy to cry, “Why doesn’t God answer me?” while going to the Bible only when we are in desperate need of an answer. For years, I had routinely studied the Bible, but in many ways I was not immersed like I needed to be. I studied in spurts and sprints rather than seeking out my “daily bread.” I would thrive on in-depth study, but did not realize something was missing. Sometimes, the Bible’s narrative is masked behind the series of short out of context quotes that so many Bible studies are based upon. Yes, our study of the Bible should be intentional and with our full mind and spirit engaged. The quality of our study matters and we do need quiet time for in-depth study. But sometimes the pursuit of the quiet moment means we are not in the Bible at all because we can’t seem to find the “right time.” Quality matter but so does quantity. So let me challenge you friend to consider redeeming some of your commuting time or time while you working on house chores, or any time you feel that you can listen and hear. God is speaking, we have only to listen.