Don't judge me, but there are parts of the Bible that I just don't understand why they are there. Some, like about a third of the Torah, on the surface, are outdated and useless. Much of Ezekiel seems like an ancient Israelite's bad trip. Paul keeps saying the same thing in his letters. But these are trivial in comparison to Judges.
I just finished reading Judges, and to be completely honest with you, the book bothers me. I don't know how it fits in to my theology, or what it tells me about God. I know that parts of the Bible are prescriptive and parts are descriptive, but that doesn't explain away the bloody last few chapters of the book. Homosexual propositioning, rape, and murder leads to a civil war. Tens of thosands die in just a few days, and one of the twelve tribes is almost wiped from history.
Here's what I do understand:
Judges is not the whole story. There's an undeniable push-from the garden forward, to Jesus. And Jesus, who teaches love, revives prophetic traditions of social justice, and gives himself as a sacrifice for the world- that I get. So I take comfort in knowing that Judges is just one sad, dark chapter in the story.
What do you do with parts of the Bible you don't understand?
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You know, I take comfort that there are parts of the Bible I do not understand. If it was all easy-breezy, it'd be too easy to be worth anything. Something as big and wonderful as God could never fit within the limits of human understanding. If he did, he wouldn't be God.
That doesn't mean, of course, that there aren't parts of the Bible I wish I could ignore. Like Leviticus. And, frankly, Esther.
And then I say, "Teach me, oh God, that I may walk in your ways. Increase my understanding and my hunger, the capacity of both my mind and my heart, for your truth."
It's not quite grammatical, but he understands. :) And together we work through another day.
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