Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the book of Revelation.

Is this the most intriguing book of the Bible? There is a huge variety of views about what this book means and, even if we can understand it, what we should do with that understanding today.

Bern and Owen start by looking at the culture it was written into, the challenges Christians were facing towards the end of the first century, and how words from Jesus and visions of future battles, judgements and resolutions would have been received.

Jesus had notes for every regional church, and the theme of “repent” - changing of mind - was consistent. Could our understanding of this today be too small? Did Jesus want to “come in and eat” only with new converts to faith, or with every believer throughout life?

John’s prophetic visions were dramatic and packed with meaningful symbols from stories across the whole of the Bible. But was this a code people needed to crack, or more of an encouragement to suffering people that they were richly connected to the God who had always promised to rescue and deliver them? 

The world as they knew it was coming to an end - as the world sometimes looks to us too - but they could look forward to a better future. God and his love wins.

Thanks for listening! You can review the whole of our Bible listening plan and hear every episode of this podcast at severnvineyard.org/bible.

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the books of Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, as well as Psalms 132 to 150.

Covering a broad stretch of history from before, during and after the exile of God’s people, the last minor prophets in the Old Testament are sharing words from God in different situations, looking from a broad range of viewpoints. 

The different angles of their approaches might even mean that the work they saw God doing looked surprisingly different to them.

Bern refers to a physical picture of this - a sculpture with a complex shape that looks like a pair of giraffes from one angle but like an elephant from a different angle a short walk away. (This is hard to imagine, so have a look here: https://youtu.be/S2iq8fYVNt4) 

Some people in history have seemed to dig in and defend particular viewpoints, giving them certainty that God’s kingdom was all about how it looked from their angle - for example, the Sadducees saw it about life centred on a physical temple, while the Pharisees saw it more about what God was doing to bring temple-like life into every home. We can think of modern examples where we’ve heard conflicting groups argue about what church should be focusing on today.

God’s people had to move and change their perspective during the time of these prophets, and God seemed to deepen the understanding of people who would listen. A picture of where God was taking people and what his promised Messiah would be like were emerging. But would anyone really understand until they met him?

In the next and final part of our boxset, we finish the Bible by listening to the book of Revelation. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, as well as Psalms 120 to 131.

The story of how Jerusalem and the temple began to rebuilt was a major cause for celebration for God’s exiled people. Much in this story - formerly a single book - points people to God and the benefits of gathering together, faithfully observing his law and making the best possible effort to avoid the mistakes of the past.

But is there more to this story? Had people really taken onboard the fresh perspectives given by God through the prophets about what he really wanted from them, and what he was promising to do next?

Looking at how people were proceeding by their own best efforts, doubling down on some traditional ideas but skewing the law in the process, could this really be more of a warning against certain kinds of leadership instead of an encouragement to emulate the leaders described here? And can we see parallels which should give us caution and encouragement today?

The “Psalms of ascent” also give encouragement and cause for reflection to people gathering for festivals and worship. When gathering people put their hope in God, was this only to expect good life in the gatherings, or was God going to do something to transform life afterwards too? What are our hopes about this?

In the next part of our boxset, we finish the Old Testament by listening to the minor prophets Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, as well the rest of the Psalms, 132 to 150. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the books of Lamentations and Daniel.

Both were written for and about God’s people around the time of their exile to Babylon and the loss of their temple and centre of social order.

Lamentations expresses huge depths of pain and suffering, though in the Hebrew it’s ordered around the alphabet in a similar way to Psalm 119. There is devastation throughout, but also a strong central column of hope which might still feel relevant and needed for us today. Could this book be a good way for us to engage with suffering and find God’s presence?

Daniel’s story is memorable to Bern and Owen from childhood, and it seems to have become even richer in meaning since then. Trusting God in the most difficult times is a central theme, and the way God works through people who trust him can be astonishing. Daniel looks a lot like Joseph and might even look a lot like Jesus. What can we learn about God and his kingdom by following Daniel as he seeks to gain understanding and humble himself before God at the same time?

In the next part of our boxset, we continue the story of God’s exiled people as they start to return in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and look at Psalms 120 to 131. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible. 

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about chapters 18 to 21 of John’s gospel and Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Was it too ambitious to try and take in these texts in a week? Any of these chapters could be studied for a lifetime, and scholars still debate the details, but Bern and Owen still found massive value in getting an overview from them and reflecting on God’s intentions for his kingdom.

Since the middle ages, the western church has often focused on a message of personal salvation which can be pieced together from these passages - a “ticket to heaven” necessary to avoid eternal suffering.

But an escape from earth to heaven does not seem as important for Jesus or Paul to teach as much as God’s plan to pour heavenly resources through believers to renew the earth, through relationships and societal change as well as personal development.

Jesus’ nature as a suffering servant, along with his willingness to accept a death caused by everyone else’s brokenness, show the power of heaven to overturn the worst of what can happen on earth. God’s kingdom is a social order which can look “upside down” to us and can turn injustice on its head.

Paul’s description to the Romans of how God moves to fix brokenness is a challenging one, perhaps requiring us to admit to being more broken than we would like to.

Bern and Owen discuss question of whether the fix is our faith in Christ, or the faithfulness of Christ - two alternative readings of the text. With the original culture in mind, some scholars are emerging with a view that this is a both/and rather than an either/or situation; what we call God’s “grace” would likely have been understood at the time as his offer of sponsorship or patronage, providing all the resources people needed to work and expecting a faithful response from people using them. This relationship seems irrelevant in terms of obtaining a “ticket to heaven”, but extremely relevant to a plan to renew the earth with heavenly resources.  

Paul leads from this towards the idea that we can know how to deal with our inner and interpersonal conflicts, and know God’s mind in general. What Jesus has done has made a way for us to approach God directly, as priests offering ourselves as sacrifices. What does this mean? For one thing, it means God considers us good and acceptable. For another, it means that we can expect to have to lay down some of the things we think are essential to us - perhaps stuff, perhaps opinions - in exchange for a renewal of our minds. This is a lifelong process within faithful relationship with God.

In the next part of our boxset, we turn back to the Old Testament and listen through Lamentations and the book of Daniel. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible. 

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about chapters 1 to 17 of John’s gospel.

Following the story of Israel from the time of exile and God’s promised of a renewed kingdom, it’s clear that people wanted their anointed leader, the Messiah or Christ. But their expectations of how to recognise God delivering this differed among various groups. 

John told the story of how Jesus was this leader, and how people could know, but also of how many kinds of senior leaders rejected Jesus’ authority. There may have been lots of reasons for this, ranging from having firm ideas which were hard to displace, to perhaps not wanting to lose some of the status and stability they thought they had. 

But John’s account also shows how many people, especially the marginalised and people hungry for change, accepted Jesus’ authority and started to follow him.

There are questions for us about what Jesus was really asking from people and promising in return. His call could be seen as “radical”, which is not always a welcome word in discussions of faith today. Jesus’ ability to connect with people and transform from the roots, changing the inside out with living water, might make us question whether we should be satisfied with anything less than radical change.

In the next part of our boxset, we finish John’s gospel and listen to Paul’s great summary of Jesus’ role in God’s plans through history in his letter to the Romans. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible. 

We’ve produced a special audio version of John’s gospel with soundscapes, music and time for immersion and reflection built in. Search for “Time, Space, Jesus” on Spotify or find out more at severnvineyard.org/time-space-jesus

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about chapters 40 to 48 of the book of Ezekiel and Psalms 107 to 119.

After some harsh and harrowing images, Ezekiel’s visions turn to glorious pictures of God’s designs for Israel’s future, including restoration and fulfilment of purposes God always had in mind for his people.

An amazing temple is described, bigger and better than people have ever known, and this serves as an image of God living and working with people, redeeming and transforming where needed.

This temple is also remarkable for what it produces - life-bringing fresh water that starts to look like a river, getting wider and deeper the further it gets from the temple. It’s a picture of transformational holiness, bringing life to the Dead Sea and to incredibly fruitful trees along its banks.

Bern and Owen discuss what these images meant to Israel then and to us now. Can we learn more about holiness and what it’s for, and could that release us from “holy huddles” into places where God wants to work through us? How important is spiritual fruit in our lives, and what is it for? 

Linking the river imagery with the Psalms, is our worship sometimes too shallow? What would happen if we became more immersed in the depths of emotions expressed in Psalms, and where can we find places and times to soak in a really comprehensive piece like Psalm 119?

In the next part of our boxset, we get back to the story of Jesus as told through John’s gospel. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible. 

We’ve also produced a special audio version of John’s gospel with soundscapes, music and time for immersion and reflection built in. Search for “Time, Space, Jesus” on Spotify or find out more at severnvineyard.org/time-space-jesus

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about chapters 22 to 39 of the book of Ezekiel.

His visions and actions have been difficult listening, with harsh judgements and consequences for God’s people as well as loss which Ezekiel felt personally and was not allowed to grieve in the normal way. However, God was not remote from suffering, but walking through it with them.

God’s heart for people and their ultimate restoration was also revealed not to be restricted to Israel. Ezekiel was given words to share with all the surrounding nations, people with no access to Jewish worship rites but remarkably included in God’s promises for renewal.

The kind of leadership God promised for a restored situation was also remarkable - good shepherding, concerned for the whole flock, more humble and service-based than strident and dictatorial. How much did that fit anyone expectations then, or ours in similar political situations now?

Ezekiel’s vision of God’s ability to bring life from dead, dry bones might be the most remarkable so far. Did this meet people’s expectations of God’s power, or exceed them? How much difference would it make to us truly to believe in God’s ability to do this today, not just in terms of afterlife but in renewed relationships, trust, hopes and love where these seem to be lost to us?

In the next part of our boxset, we complete Ezekiel, looking at his visions for future hope, and also listen to Psalms 107 to 119. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the first 21 chapters of the book of Ezekiel.

The vivid visions in this book are other-worldly and dreamlike, and as Ezekiel had been in Babylon, in exile from his home country for a few years, it might not be surprising to see visions of heavenly power which looked similar to the way his captors saw this.

But God seems to have added surprising twists, including his authority and radiant presence over all of the dark powers feared by people. Israel’s God was not defeated in the way people may have expected from his people’s fate, but had a purpose and plan which was yet to be seen and understood.

It’s easy to read these passages in isolation and form a dim, dark view of God, especially as the suffering described through Ezekiel’s words, pictures and actions would be brutal and shocking.

As with other prophets, there is hope to come later, but in the early parts of Ezekiel, there are also signs of what God wants the most and looks to restore - relationships in which people can share God’s vision and values, put love into practice, and work for justice and against everything which devalues life.

There are also signs that life in relationship with God may involve ongoing movement and developing understanding. Ezekiel’s words include fresh insight into some scripture people may have regarded differently, including “the sin of Sodom”, and we can also spot pictures which get developed later by Jesus, like the usefulness of a vine. Jesus moved people’s understanding along - should we expect to experience this too?

God’s presence was also on the move, tragically out of the temple of Jerusalem, but thankfully close to people wherever they were in exile. In the next part of our boxset, we continue through Ezekiel and find God’s power doing some incredible things. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about chapter 44 to the end of Jeremiah and “Book 4” of the Psalms, 90 to 106.

It’s worth considering where the main point, or climax, is the book of Jeremiah. Hollywood stories have this near the end to keep our attention, but ancient stories often cover the main point nearer the middle. If the point of this book is at the end, it’s destruction and judgment. But there are reasons to think that God’s heart for restoration is the real heart of the story of Jeremiah.

One reason is that events towards the end are not told in chronological order - the order has been chosen for other reasons. Promoted and put closer to the centre than earlier events was God’s command to abandon slavery among Hebrews. Judah’s last king agreed but did not put this into practice. Could this have been featured as part of the book’s core message, that God was going to act to restore and empower people to live a new way of life, with his word and values on their hearts?

The central nature of this message, as well as the way it’s also followed up by Jesus, seems to elevate its importance, both to Jeremiah’s original listeners and to us.

Psalms 90 to 106 also give us insight into how people were inspired to connect with God and express pain and suffering, as well as praise and hope, during their exile from Jerusalem. At the heart of this collection, the encouragement to “sing a new song” and expect joy to be shouted from “all the earth” also suggests a hope for a future of restoration, not just of Israel but of everyone and everything.

In the next part of our boxset, we turn to the prophet Ezekiel whose prophecy was around the same time as Jeremiah, but whose style was very different. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.