Home > My Research > Christianity > Sacred Scripture > E100 Challenge
An Evangelical Christian friend of mine invited me to take The Essential One-Hundred Bible Reading Plan, also known as the E100 Challenge. If for no other reason, I accepted to show that Catholics embrace the Bible too. I’ve already noticed a few noteworthy things about this program, and I thought it would be neat to compose a “nutshell” narrative based on the selected passages. This particular challenge is running between December 2011 and May 2012.
Observations
- I received a reading plan from my friend that listed all of the readings. I tried to find a copy online, but apparently they are only available in the E100 store. The 136-page guide costs about $10, and the daily planner is only availble in packs of 25 for just under $13 (all prices as of 12/29/2011). So as not to deprive the company of revenue, I will not directly reproduce the list here.
- The plan did contain a shortened version of The Scripture Union Bible Reading Method (SUBRM). This method is almost identical to Lectio Divina, which was developed over time (primarily) between the 4th and 12th centuries (sources vary as to events that attribute to this development, the details of which are irrelevant here).
My Narrative
The SUBRM involves reflecting upon the Scriptures, asking questions. This correlates to the Lectio Divina practice of meditatio. It recommends writing the answers in a journal or notebook. This narrative is my E100 journal. One caveat: in my experience, Lectio Divina is usually applied to much smaller passages, not one or two whole chapters at one time, so I will focus on key points each day.
On average, my notes lag about one week behind the readings…
OLD TESTAMENT
1. God created the world and man in it. All of creation was pleasing to God, man included. He lovingly provided all that is necessary to sustain us. The whole man includes both body (dust) and soul (breath). We were made to be like God and to be with God. God asked only for us to trust in him and not in ourselves. The garden, God’s care, was given freely to man.
2. But man chose to disobey God. The result was death: not an immediate physical death, but a spiritual one. No longer a friend of God, man had forfeited God’s gifts. The protection of the garden was gone. God foreshadows that man will struggle with this choice for generations, but that an offspring of the woman will eventually conquer it.
3. As time progressed, man became so wicked that God decided to destroy his creation because of them. Only one man found favor with God on account of his righteousness. Noah obeyed God in every detail. His obedience saved not only him, but his family and other creatures from the forthcoming destruction. The flood waters came, and only the passengers of the ark were left behind.
4. When the flood waters subsided and the earth had been cleansed, Noah made an acceptable sacrifice to God. Acknowledging that it is man’s fallen nature that causes him to sin, God then made a covenant with the earth, promising that he would never again destroy creation with a devastating flood.
5. Several generations passed, and man plotted to reach heaven by building a large tower. (Jewish tradition tells us that Noah’s great-grandson, Nimrod, desired vengeance on God for the destruction of their forefathers.) Remembering his promise, God simply confused their language, preventing the completion of this ambitious and prideful project.
6. God decided to set a people apart for himself in a land of their own, beginning with a man named Abram. A special blessing is to be made upon the members of this people and a curse upon their enemies. The latter is proven true when the Egyptian Pharaoh attempts to take Abram’s wife for his own.
7. God assured Abram through a covenant promise that his blessing was to be bestowed on his own offspring upon his death. The covenant ceremony required an animal sacrifice, signifying the fate of the one who breaks it.
8. The blessing of Abram (now called Abraham) was to be inherited by his son Isaac, despite that Abraham had an older son by a servant girl. This was God’s choice that the blessing be passed on to the son born of his wife, Sarah. God then tested Abraham’s faithfulness by telling him to sacrifice Isaac, an order that Abraham followed obediently until he was stopped by God and was given an alternate victim.
9. From Isaac, the blessing was to fall on his son, Esau; however, his younger son, Jacob, deceived Isaac and received his blessing instead. Again, this was God’s will, confirmed by the Lord himself to Jacob in a dream. Once the blessing is given, it cannot be revoked and cannot be replaced with a curse. Esau vowed vengence.
10. After some time had passed, Jacob and Esau were reconciled, though Jacob had been expecting a confrontation for he knew that Esau had murderous intentions toward him in the past. While Esau was still far off, Jacob had sent gifts as a peace-offering, but these were initially dismissed by Esau. The real confrontation had actually been with a mysterious stranger the night before his meeting with Esau. Though the stranger lost the fight, he blessed Jacob, and changed Jacob’s name to Israel, “he who has contended with divinity”. God often changes the names of men after they have reached a point of transformation in their lives.
11. Israel favored his son, Joseph, who had been born of him in his old age. Joseph was blest by God with the ability to interpret dreams. His older brothers were jealous of Israel’s favor toward Joseph and sold him into slavery. The brothers convinced Israel that his son had been killed by a wild animal.
12. Joseph fared well under God’s protection. He was placed in charge of his master’s house. His master’s wife desired him, but when he refused her on the grounds that she was tempting him to sin, she accused him of rape. He was jailed, but there too, he found favor with with the jailor and was given responsibilities. While in prison, he interpreted dreams. He predicted one prisoner’s release and asked him to appeal to the Pharaoh for his own release. When Joseph satisfactorily interpreted the Pharaoh’s dreams, he was released and put in charge of the land of Egypt.
13. Ten of Joesph’s brothers were sent to Egypt to purchase food during a famine. Benjamin was not with them. Joseph recognized them, and sold them the food they required, but he also imprisoned one of the brothers, Simeon, and made his release conditional upon the presence of all eleven brothers in Egypt. The money they paid for the food was also placed secretly in their bags, so that when they returned home, they discovered that they had not paid for the goods.
14. When the food ran out, they prepared for another journey to Egypt, taking with them Benjamin, gifts for the man in charge of the food, and enough money to pay for more food as well as the food they had taken. Simeon was released and they dined on portions from Joseph’s table, still not recognizing him. As they prepared for the journey home, Joseph planted their money amongst their things once again, as well as a silver goblet in Benjamin’s bag, and had them stopped on their way to be arrested for theft. His brother Judah pleas on Benjamin’s behalf so that the favored son may go back to his father, Israel.
15. Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers and, with assistance from the Pharaoh, sent them back to gather his father and their people and to bring them back to settle in Egypt, where he could be near them and provide for them. So, the people if Israel came to Egypt to live, and they became a numerous people.
16. A new Pharaoh eventually came into power who did not know (or did not recognize) Joseph’s contributions to Egypt. In fear of their numbers, he oppressed the Israelites, making them slaves and ordering the deaths of their newborn boys. An Israelite boy was born and, because his mother faithfully placed him in the hands of God to protect him from infanticide, he was delivered by the water into the arms of Pharaoh’s daughter who loved him and adopted him. She was his advocate to Pharaoh, pleaing on his behalf and thereby saving him from death. She named him Moses. When Moses was grown, he killed an Egyptian for treating his Hebrew kin cruelly. He fled to a foreign land, settled there and was married.
17. God heard the cry of the Israelites. He came to Moses in a vision and called Moses to go to Egypt and lead the Israelites into the land he promised to Abraham. He showed Moses the signs he would work to show them that he was with Moses. He also sent Moses’ brother, Aaron, as a spokesman.
18. The might of God was displayed in a series of plagues imposed upon Egypt. At first, the Pharaoh’s magicians could replicate these miracles (or at least claimed to be able to do so), but when they (admittedly) could no longer do the things that God was doing through Moses, Pharaoh recognized that these were the works of God. God not only proved his identity, but also his dominion over man and nature. Moreover, by some of his wonders, God set his people apart from the Egyptians. Nonetheless, Pharaoh remained obstinate.
19. Before the Israelites were delivered out of Egypt, so that they might prepare, God marked the head of their calendar and established and mandated an annual memorial sacrifice. The victim had to be an unblemished lamb, its blood used to signify the sanctity of the place of sacrifice, and its meat eaten as part of a meal along with bread and herbs. The meat was to be consumed in the first day, but the partaking of the bread was to continue for seven. This time was reserved for sacred assemblies and the preparation of the needed food. One who disobeyed in the celebration of this custom thus separated himself from the people of Israel. Indeed, the Israelites performed the sacrifice as perscribed and anyone who did not suffered the loss of the firstborn in the household, including the Egyptians. This loss was too great, and Pharaoh granted permission for the Israelites to leave Egypt.
20. Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued the Israelites into the desert. Through Moses, God delivered the Israelites across the Red Sea by parting its waters that they may walk acrosson dry land. When the Egyptians followed, God covered them with the sea, killing them all. His people were blessed, their foes cursed, just as God had promised Abraham.
21. Having delivered the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, he made a covenant bond with them: the people of Israel would be God’s most precious treasure on Earth if they obey him completely. They would be a “kingdom of priests”, a consecrated people set apart for God, making a sacrifice of themselves in dedication to him. He then told Moses to prepare the people for his coming down to the mountain. They were to sanctify themselves and wait for the confirmation of their new relationship with God signified in the sounding of a trumpet. The people were not to approach the holy, but remain faithful to their earthly spiritual leader through whom God chose to reveal himself. Indeed, through Moses he gave them ten words, rules by which they were to live their lives. After witnessing the events on the mountain, God speaking to Moses in lightening and thunder, they accepted Moses as their mediator to the divine.
22. Moses spoke with God for some time on the mountain, and the people forgot about their promise of obedience. They made a statue that they idolized as an image of God (Aaron built an altar in front of it and procalimed the next day to be a feast day of the Lord). This angered God and he wished to destroy them, but Moses interceded on their behalf, reminding God of his great love toward them and their fathers. The sin of the people did not go unpunished. Due to their zeal, the tribe of Levi was chosen and consecrated to perform ritual services for the Lord. Their first task, by which they were ordained, was to put to death many of the idolators. Moses set up a tent from which he conversed with God. No person could see God, for he hid himself in a column of cloud; but when the cloud stood outside of Moses’ tent, the people revered his presence with solemn bows. Because Moses had found favor with him, God agreed to go before the people on their journey to the land promised to Abraham and his descendants. God gave to Moses the ten words again and emphasized that the prescribed feasts were to be kept. Because he spoke with God, Moses’ face shone.
23. Moses was succeeded by his aide, Joshua. God promised to be with Joshua and urged him to observe the law he had given them, reciting it day and night. Joshua commanded his officers to prepare the people to occupy the land on the other side of the Jordan river from where they were camped. The two tribes that were already in the land apportioned for them pledged to aid their brethren in the occupation effort, to obey Joshua as they had obeyed Moses.
24. The tablets that bore the ten words of God had been placed in a container called an ark which the Levite priests would carry ahead of the people. As God had done through Moses at the Red Sea, when the feet of the priests touched the Jordan waters, it ceased to flow, allowing the people to cross on dry ground. At God’s command, Joshua had representatives from the twelve tribes mark the spot of the crossing with stones from the riverbed.
25. Jericho was the first city to be conquered. Joshua was approached by a warrior who made himself known as the commander of the Lord’s army. The Israelites had besieged Jericho and God instructed them to march around the city with the ark of the covenant for seven days. When they had completed the marches on the seventh day, and had blown ram horns and had made much noise, the walls of Jericho collapsed. The city was taken and all living creatures within were put to death (save a family spared for the help they had provided). Articles made of precious metals were collected for the Lord’s treasury, but the Israelites were not to covet the possessions of the citizens of Jericho. Joshua cursed the city, that it may never be rebuilt.
26. Once the promised land had been delivered to the Israelites, the people served God and that generation that had seen his great works passed away. Over time, they fell away from God and worshiped other gods. Their infidelity angered God and caused him to turn against them, and in their weakness, they fell to their enemies. They were given judges by God as guides who were men of God who would intercede on their behalf. So long as a judge lived, the anger of God subsided, but once he had died, the people turned from God and he became angry once again.
27. One such judge was the Prophet Deborah. The Israelites were being oppressed by a Canaanite king. Deborah revealed God’s plan for their military victory over their oppressors and it came to be. The Canaanite general fled, taking refuge in the tent of a women he trusted, where he fell asleep from exhaustion. The woman struck his head, thereby delivering the people into freedom. Deborah sang a canticle, foremost giving thanks to God, then praising the deeds of the some of the tribes of Israel while chiding others for not coming to their aid, and finally, extolling the woman who had secured the victory, calling her the “most blessed of women”.
28. Another judge was named Gideon, who was called as a boy by God to save Israel from their oppressor, Midian. Gideon made two altars and made sacrifices to God, the first as a sign that he found favor with God, and the second prescribed by God to replace his father’s altar to another god, Baal. The latter provoked the people, but his father told them to let Baal avenge himself. When Gideon was to lead the Israelites to victory, he once again asked for a sign of God’s favor (the sign of the dew and the fleece), and it was given. He did not doubt God, but wanted confirmation that God was still with him. God told Gideon that he had too many soldiers, that they may boast that the victory was theirs and not God’s. Those who were afraid were dismissed, and God selected the ones who would fight by a test, a mere three-hundred soldiers. The army was emboldened by visions in dreams. In one vision, a tent (symbolizing the nomadic Midian people) was taken down by a single loaf of bread (the agricultural Israelites). Midian was driven out through fear and confusion and not head-to-head confrontation. The Israelites’ battle cry, “For the Lord and for Gideon”, united the soldiers in God’s power and the power given to his vicar.
29. A third judge to consider is Samson, who came to judge the Israelites when under the power of the Philistines. His is a story of revenge, though God remains with him even in his worst moments. He was born of a barren woman, and his birth was prophesied by an angel who instructed the woman to remain ritually clean, abstaining from wine, beer, and unclean foods. The boy was to be set apart for God (a Nazirite), his hair to remain uncut. Samson’s father made a sacrifice to God, only then realizing that the angel was a messenger of God. Samson grew, and fell in love with a Philistine. During the wedding feast, Samson gave a riddle and made a wager with thirty Philistine men present. The men extorted the answer from Samson’s wife, and she thus betrayed him. He paid the wager at the expense of the lives of thirty other men and then returned home to his parents alone. When he returned to find that his wife had been given to another man, Samson burned their crops in the field. The Philistines then killed his wife and her family, which Samson avenged with a great slaughter of many men. The men of Judah were ordered by the Philistines to capture Samson, but when they delivered him into their hands, Samson was freed by God and he killed a thousand Philistines on the spot. He judged Israel for twenty years. He then fell in love with another woman who betrayed him, not once, but four times, delivering him into the hands of his enemies. He was blinded and thrown into prison where he labored. In a feast, the Philistines decided to mock him in their temple. With God’s help, he brought the temple down upon himself and all of his enemies.
30. The story of Ruth bridges the time of judges and the time of monarchy for Israel. A woman named Naomi lost her husband and two sons to death and sought to return to her native people. She urged her two daughters-in-law to return to their peoples. One did, but the other, Ruth, did not. Instead, she pledged her steadfast loyalty to Naomi, her people, and to her God. Ruth went to work gathering the grain customarily left for the the marginalized by the farmers. It so happened that she sought permission to gather in the field of Boaz, a near relative of Naomi and one of their “redeemers” who had the responsibility to care for widowed kin. After a time, Naomi suggested that Ruth visit Boaz and seek to marry him, as would be his right as a redeemer. In accordance with custom, Boaz approached the only other redeemer who preceded him in the right of redemption and received from him the right to acquire the estates of Naomi’s husband and sons. The two were married and bore a son, Obed, the grandfather of the future king, David.
31. A figure quite pivotal in the transition to an Israelite monarchy was the prophet Samuel. His mother, Hanna, was the first wife of his father and could not have children. She prayed in the temple to God for a son, pledging him to the temple as a Nazirite (like Samson) should he be born. Eli, the priest, blessed her, telling her to go in peace and asking God to grant her request. She bore a son, and when he was three, she returned to the temple and gave him to Eli. Her prayer to God was one of thanksgiving for victory, for the raising up of the downtrodden. They left him there, but would visit and bring gifts. The Lord rewarded Hanna with more children. Samuel grew and was loved by the people, but Eli’s sons, who served in the temple, were wicked, and they corrupted the sacrifices of the people and behaved promiscuously with the women (Jewish sources claim that they did not not commit adultry directly, but delayed the bird sacrifices of women, thereby preventing them from returning home to their husbands and thus depriving the husbands; cf. Mitzvah of P’ru u’Revu; Yoma 9a(2), Shabbos 55b(9)). A messenger of God (Samuel’s father according to rabbinic tradition) told Eli that his son’s would die and that no one in his house would live long lives, for they dispised God and are therefore cursed (recall God’s promise to Abraham). God also intended to find a faithful priest whose house would serve God forever. God revealed his plan for the House of Levi to Samuel in a vision, and Eli, upon hearing it, acknowledged God’s justice. Samuel became a trusted prophet and God spoke through him.
32. When Samuel was old, he too had two sons whom he appointed as judges over Israel; however, as with Eli’s sons, they were selfish and unjust. The elders requested that Samuel appoint a king to rule over them instead of judges. …
