I was told that the Jewish history of Christianity can be interesting, informative, and beneficial for believers. So I started doing some research into Jewish (and Messianic Jewish) liturgy to see what their ways of Bible Study were.
Weekly Readings Each week, something from the Torah (first 5 books), Haftorah (rest of the Old Testament), and Brit Chadashah (New Testament) is read. The benefit of following the weekly readings is (when you go to a Messianic Jewish service), most people there will have done the reading and the sermon will be on the reading as well. Sometimes, I gravitate to my favorite passages and ignore some of the harder passages, but this method of reading helps to correct that human tendency.
Psalm Readings For the Psalms, you have two choices, you can cycle through them in a week (20-30 Psalms per day) OR you can cycle through them in a month (4-9 Psalms per day). There is beauty in the Psalms and a great many emotions that we can relate to.
You may be asking yourself, "Why is this important, Liz? Why should I learn about the Jewishness of Christianity?"
It's important to study this for several reasons.
1) Jesus was a first-century Jewish rabbi, following Jewish customs.
2) The Old Testament was originally in Hebrew/Aramaic. When things are translated, messages sometimes change.
3) We are grafted into the Jewish tree. God didn't just burn down that tree and plant Christians in its place. We are in-grafted and can just as easily be cut out.
4) The Bible is seeped in Jewish culture, traditions, history, and idioms.
5) Jesus didn't say "you don't have to follow the law and traditions" but rather, He said "here's a summary of the law that's easier to remember and apply." (see the Sermon on the Mount-Matthew 5-7).
There may be benefits to studying the Bible through Messianic liturgy and weekly readings. Are you willing to try it?
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