Day 2371 – Theology Thursday – Even The Bible Needed Upgrading – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible

Welcome to Day 2371 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – Even The Bible Needed Upgrading – I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2371 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2371 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.   Today is the third lesson in our segment, Theology Thursday. Utilizing excerpts from a book titled: I Dare You Not To Bore Me With The Bible written by Hebrew Bible scholar and professor Dr. Michael S Heiser, we will invest a couple of years going through the entire Bible, exploring short Biblical lessons that you may not have received in Bible classes or Church. The Bible is a wonderful book. Its pages reveal the epic story of God’s redemption of humankind and the long, bitter conflict against evil. Yet it’s also a book that seems strange to us. While God’s Word was written for us, it wasn’t written to us. Today, our lesson is Even The Bible Needed Upgrading. Wait a minute. The Bible needed an upgrade? Those sound like fighting words to anyone with a high view of Scripture. An upgrade implies that something needs updating, but the Bible is timeless! That’s true, but in this case, I would have to excuse myself from the ring. I wouldn’t want to tangle with those responsible for the improvements: the biblical writers and, well, the Spirit of God. Believe it or not, there is evidence that the Bible was updated.- That may sound strange, but if you read closely, it’s undeniable. Take Genesis 14:14 as an illustration: When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. Did you notice the problem? This is the time of Abram, a time before Moses and Joshua—before there was a promised land divided among the tribes of Israel. There wasn’t even an Israel yet. So, what’s up with the reference to the land that belonged to the tribe of Dan? If we plotted out the battle between Abram described in this verse on a map, with place names appropriate for Abram’s day, we’d see that the writer meant that the enemy was pursued all the way to a place called Laish, not Dan. Many Bible critics would call this an error, but it isn’t. Much later, in the days of Israel’s judges, Laish was renamed as Dan: They renamed the town Dan after their ancestor, Israel’s son, but it had originally been called Laish. (Judg 18:29). Evidently, an unnamed editor updated the text of Genesis 14:14 after the name change took place. The editor likely did this to make sure readers of his own day would understand the geography. In other instances, an editor repurposed something already written in the Bible to make it preach to their community. Psalm 51 is well known as a record of David’s repentance after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah. The psalm, though, ends by asking God to “Look with favor on Zion” and, with the command, “rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.” (Psa 51:18-19). The walls of Jerusalem were not in need of repair until after God’s people were exiled,...