Category: Tyndale Bible Update

We often think of Mary, Jesus’ mother, as the beautiful young woman who the angel visited to share of the coming of Christ. And that the Messiah would come into the world through her. We know Mary sang out in praise to God, but that wasn’t the end of her story. Read more about Mary’s story from the Life Application Study Bible

Profile Note from the Life Application Study Bible Third Edition

Motherhood is a painful privilege. Young Mary of Nazareth had the unique privilege of being mother to the very Son of God. Yet most of the pains and pleasures Mary experienced in motherhood can be understood by mothers everywhere. Mary was the only human present at Jesus’ birth who also witnessed his death. She saw him arrive as her baby son, and she watched him die as her Savior.

Until Gabriel’s unexpected visit, Mary’s life was quite satisfactory. She had recently become engaged to a carpenter, Joseph, and was anticipating married life. But her life was about to change forever.

Angels don’t make appointments before visiting. Feeling as if she were being congratulated for winning the grand prize in a contest she had never entered, Mary found the angel’s greeting puzzling and his presence frightening. What she heard next was the news almost every woman in Israel hoped to hear—that her child would be the Messiah, God’s promised Savior. Mary did not doubt the message; instead, she asked how pregnancy would be possible. Gabriel told her the baby would be God’s Son. Her answer was the one God waits in vain to hear from so many people: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (Luke 1:38). Her later song of joy shows us how well she knew God, for her thoughts were filled with his words from the Old Testament.

When Jesus was eight days old, Mary and Joseph took him to the Temple to be dedicated to God. There they were met by two devout people, Simeon and Anna, who recognized the child as the Messiah and praised God. Simeon directed some words to Mary that must have come to her mind many times in the years that followed: “A sword will pierce your very soul” (Luke 2:35). A big part of her painful privilege of motherhood would be to see her son rejected and crucified by the people he had come to save.

We can imagine that even if she had known all she would suffer as Jesus’ mother, Mary would still have given the same response. Are you, like Mary, available to be used by God?

“The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “’Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’” Matthew 8:25, NLT

“Although the disciples had witnessed many miracles, they panicked in this storm. As experienced sailors, they knew its danger; what they did not know was that Jesus could control the forces of nature. We often encounter storms in our lives where we feel God can’t or won’t work. When we truly understand who God is, however, we will realize that he controls both the storms of nature and the storms of the troubled heart. Jesus’ power that calmed this storm can also help us deal with the problems we face. And he is with us. Jesus is willing to help if we only ask him. We should never discount his power even in terrible trials.”

Note from the Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition

Reflection from Evie, Bible Team Marketing Coordinator

It was the third e-mail in a month from our daughter’s middle school. “Violence has been threatened against the school, but we are handling the situation and the person who initiated the threat is not on campus.” That was basically all we got. We spoke to Els about the situation and she didn’t seem overly concerned. In what is unfortunately our reality we moved on thinking it was “just” a social media prank. We prayed with her, told her to pay attention to her surroundings, and to share with her teachers and us if anything didn’t feel right or she was scared.

But at dinner the next night Els said, “My friend was shaking she was so scared. She was on the bus when she heard a boy say, ‘Don’t come to school during 5^th–7^th period today because I’m going to shoot up the school.’”

As any self-proclaimed protective momma bear would, I ran around the table hugging her as a million thoughts consumed me. How can we homeschool her? What is wrong with that school? Wait until the principal gets an earful from me! Who is that kid? I am talking to his parents! But in the midst of my chaotic thoughts her sweet voice broke through. “It’s okay, Mom. God knows what’s going on. It’s going to be okay.”

Taking extra time to tuck her into bed that night, I glanced around her room. There were porgs, cuddly droids, and strange looking animals from a galaxy far, far away spilling from her bed to the floor. The half-read giant encyclopedias filled with information about strange looking creatures with even weirder names were hastily placed on surfaces throughout her room. She was just a kid. She shouldn’t have to worry about her safety. I took comfort in knowing that in just a few days we would be able to get away to Disney World. She needed an escape—I needed an escape—from the fears of violence at school. And the chance to be immersed in a Stars Wars land—I couldn’t wait to see her face!

The day arrived to visit Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. It was still dark when we boarded a bus from our resort to head to the park. Els seemed quiet, and we thought she was just tired from such an early morning. As we made our way toward the immersive land she started walking slower and then stopped. “Mom, I don’t want to go!”

“What? You love Star Wars. You are going. You’ll love it!”

“No. Kylo Ren is there. I’m not going.”

Our brave, mellow preteen broke down sobbing. She panicked. We couldn’t get her to move. She just sobbed saying, “I’m scared. I’m too scared.” I had never seen her so upset and honestly didn’t know what to do. She was paralyzed with fear.

With a lot of convincing and some bribing about blue milk we finally got her to move. As we walked into this totally immersive experience, I prayed that Kylo would stay in his own galaxy far, far away and we wouldn’t lose Els’ trust. She was shaking from fear when we noticed one of the characters working on a ship.

We started talking to him and I explained how our daughter was very scared of the First Order (the bad guys). I asked if he had any tips for avoiding them while we visited his planet (I totally bought into the whole immersive thing). He said, “Oh yes! I’m finishing here. Let me grab my tools and I’ll take you to the Falcon.” He jumped over the low wall and encouraged us to follow him. “Hi, I’m Immanuel. Don’t worry, I know all the best hiding places. I will get you there safely,” he said smiling at Els. He guided us through the entire extremely detailed and beautiful imaginary world. As he ran ahead to check that everything was safe and then signaled for us to follow, I watched Els’ fears fade. Her eyes began to sparkle as fear lost its grip and enjoyment and excitement grew.

When we neared the Millennium Falcon, with his reassurance that we were safe, our hero left us extremely thankful. (Sorry Han Solo—Immanuel is now my favorite Star Wars character!) My mom in all her wisdom turned to Els and said, “Do you know what Immanuel means? It means God with us. What you were afraid of never went away. Your fears were always around you, but you could get through it because Immanuel was with us. If we are walking with God, it doesn’t matter what’s going on around us. We can be confident knowing he is with us.”

When I think about those weeks and my mom’s words, I am taken to the boat where Jesus and the disciples are traveling across the lake. While Jesus naps, a storm hits and the disciples are paralyzed with fear.

“The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ Jesus responded, ‘Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!’ Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. The disciples were amazed. ‘Who is this man?’ they asked. ‘Even the winds and waves obey him!’” Matthew 8:25-27, NLT.

It wasn’t like the disciples hadn’t seen Jesus perform miracles before that moment. They had seen him heal numerous people, including Peter’s mother-in-law. They had heard his powerful teaching, and they were still afraid. Many of them were seasoned fishermen who had been in loads of storms, and yet it was at this moment that they panicked. It was a fear they knew and understood. So much of what they were hearing from Jesus they couldn’t fully understand, but this . . . this they knew.

What they didn’t fully understand yet was the power of Immanuel. They knew to run to Jesus to be saved, but that deeper trust of being confident in his presence was still being formed in them.

So what about my life? The things I’m afraid of won’t disappear. My stomach still churns each time I see an e-mail pop up from Els’ school. Els is still afraid of Kylo Ren. But when we learn to bask in the understanding of Immanuel, when we know that he has the power and compassion to walk with us through the unknown and the known fears, we can go forward with confidence. We can experience an overwhelming peace knowing he can bring calm to any storm.

Learn more about the Life Application Study Bible

by Glenn Paauw, Senior Direct of Content for the Institute for Bible Reading

At the heart of the Gospel is the stunning realization that God is creating a new worldwide family through Jesus. The First Testament is the story of Israel – the Family of Abraham. God launches his project to restore the world by making Abraham a big promise. “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. . . . I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.” Since their inception, the nation of Israel knew that they were God’s family.

This is the story that Jesus was born into – the long, winding, up-and-down story of Israel. Then surprisingly, shockingly, Jesus fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham by giving up his life for the life of the world. Israel’s story became everyone’s story. All people are now invited to join God’s family, and the boundary lines that formerly ordered society – nationality, language, economic status, gender – are now superseded by membership in the family of God.

This means the Story of the Bible is the story we’ve all been adopted into. It’s our Family Story.

This beautiful reality is why we at the Institute for Bible Reading believe everyone should be welcomed to the table to feast together on the Word of God. And we intentionally crafted Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience to allow for that.

We were thrilled to hear how Bethesda Community Church used Immerse to create unity between their Spanish and English congregations (watch video story). They used the Family Guide to invite families with young children to read and discuss together. They (and others) have used the custom Immerse Audio edition for those who struggle to read or simply prefer to listen.

We realize there’s still a long way to go: more languages, more resources, and more adaptability for every kind of context. But our vision is for everyone to have the tools to read big, read real, and read together. This vision for God’s new family to go deep into God’s Word is already beginning to happen.

The Kingdom of God is brown, white, black, young, old, educated, uneducated, healthy, disabled, rich, poor, and everything in between. We speak a multitude of languages. But we are united in Christ. What a beautiful gift it is to come together and feast on our Story.

Learn more about Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience

Learn more about the Institute for Bible Reading

Our lives are filled with moments. Moments of joy. Moments of sadness. Moments of agony. Moments of exhilaration. Moments when life is mundane, and sweet moments of simplicity and rest. All these moments are integral to our individual stories. Stories that intersect and diverge from others. Stories that have peaks and valleys. A story of God’s love and grace through it all.

I think that is why this video so resonates with us. We can see parts of our own stories; we can connect to the joy and to the pain. God has given us himself and his Word not for a season, but for our whole lives. And it goes far beyond that: The Bible is for all times. Through its pages, we are connected to those who have gone before us, and it is up to us to pass it on to those who will come long after us.

Watch with us. And we’d love to hear your story.

Learn more about the Life Application Study Bible

Judges Book Introduction from the Life Application Study Bible, 3rd Edition

Real Heroes are hard to find these days, thanks in large part to social media, which has made the foibles and weaknesses of our leaders all too apparent. We search in vain for men and women to emulate. The music, movie, and sports industries in particular seem to produce a steady stream of “stars” who shoot to the top and then quickly implode with one moral failure after another.

Judges is a book about heroes—12 men and women who helped rescue Israel from its oppressors. These judges were not perfect; in fact, they included an assassin, someone who doubted God, and a sexually promiscuous man. But when they were submissive to God, God worked through them in amazing ways.

Judges is also a book about sin and its consequences. Like a minor cut or abrasion that becomes infected and causes great damage when left untreated, sin grows and soon poisons the whole body. The book of Joshua ends with the nation of Israel taking a stand for God, ready to experience all the blessings of the Promised Land. After settling in Canaan, however, the Israelites lost their spiritual commitment and motivation. When Joshua and the elders died, the nation experienced a leadership vacuum, leaving them without a strong central government. Instead of enjoying freedom and prosperity in the Promised Land, the people of Israel entered the dark ages of their history.

Simply stated, the reason for this rapid decline was sin—individual and corporate. The first step away from God was incomplete obedience (1:19–2:5); the Israelites refused to eliminate the enemy completely from the land. This led to intermarriage and idolatry (2:10–3:7) and everyone doing “whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (17:6). Before long, the Israelites became captives. Out of their desperation they would beg God to rescue them. In faithfulness to his promise and out of his loving-kindness, God would raise up a judge to deliver his people, and for a time there would be peace. Then complacency and disobedience would set in, and the cycle would begin again.

This book spans over 325 years, recording six successive periods of oppression and deliverance and describing the careers of 12 deliverers. The Israelites’ captors included the Mesopotamians, Moabites,
Philistines, Canaanites, Midianites, and Ammonites. God used a variety
of deliverers—from Othniel to Samson—to lead his people to freedom and true worship. God’s deliverance through the judges is a powerful demonstration of his love and mercy toward his people.

As you read the book of Judges, take a good look at these heroes. Note their dependence on God and their obedience to his commands. Observe Israel’s repeated downward spiral into sin, refusing to learn from past mistakes and living only for the moment. But most of all, stand in awe of God’s mercy as he delivers his people over and over again.