Who is like Yahweh?

1 Quarter 2014 issue.

For the past several years I have been reading/studying the Bible each morning. I have been using "Encounter with God" published by Scripture Union. The short reason why this magazine is that it appeared in my life. It obviously has a Protestant Christian view. That can be a challenge for me at times. At other times, I just ignore any blathering about Jesus.

The problem that I have encountered with these guides are that they zip through books and sometimes skip over passages that don't fit in their propaganda. I got sidetracked with this current issue while reading the first part of 1Samuel. So I got off track by reading the parts they skipped.

I just finished the book of Micah. The magazine had scheduled it for 6 days but I that was too quick for me to really digest it. So I took 2.5 weeks instead. Needless to say (but I will), I really got into it.

My bible is similar to this.

I use my (Roman Catholic) New American Bible, St. Joseph Edition, Large Type. I've had it for years and put tabs for easy use (it really helps). I also have used the Collegeville Bible Commentary Series booklets for years. The one for Micah (OT15) was pretty good but they forgot to check some of the verse references (which either were wrong or the relationship was overly obscure).

A few years ago, I started using the Jewish Study Bible as a supplement to the Catholic and Christian references. It is a fairly modern and liberal approach, with a lot of emphasis on the historic. It is a good introduction to the Jewish perspective.

My first bible study magazine was "God's Word Today." Unfortunately, it is no longer published. I used an early issue as well as one from several years later (that tried to do The Book of the Twelve aka The Minor Prophets in only one month...-almost a sin).

Another reference I like to consult is "The New Jerome Biblical Commentary." This is a moderate Roman Catholic scholarly book. It is rather pedantic and dry and has me reaching for the dictionary for words that are likely archaic for our pop culture time. {I actually am very fond of this hard cover book because my son, Richard, found it for me on a library sale table for a QUARTER (that is 25 cents)! What a bargain!!}

I like reading the Prophets. I think they are timely. At the time of 9-11, I was in a bible study that was reading the Early Minor Prophets (including Micah). It was so relevant...and still is.

I am posting this entry about Micah because I really got a lot out of a close reading of it and would like to encourage others to read it. I also would like to encourage others to read the Bible by using multiple aids so as to get a more rounded and rich presentation. We should savor the "Word of God" and not feel compelled to rush through it in some sort of race.

Links:

http://www.scriptureunion.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Micah