Read the Bible with Me!

Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray: 

My God, I adore and thank your loving and wise Providence, manifested on every page of Sacred Scripture. You have always been close to sinful and erring humanity, and have indicated the way and given hope. Amid the shadows of error and corruption, you kindled the light of your truth; amid universal corruption, you are the Just One; amid so much idolatry, humanity in every corner of the earth has cultivated a sincere worship of you.
Let my reading today increase my trust in your goodness, your mercy, and your unfailing faithfulness.

Today's chapters are 2 Samuel 4-6 and Psalm 36.

The most important passage in today's readings is Chapter 6, the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant in solemn procession to Jerusalem. The Ark, upon which the Lord of Hosts is symbolically enthroned, has lost none of its fearful majesty: When a man reaches out to keep the Ark from tipping over, the act of touching it causes his death. 

Luke will incorporate elements from Chapter 6 into his setting of Mary's Visitation to her kinswoman Elizabeth, starting with David's response to the dramatic death of the man who touched the Ark: "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?" His words are echoed by Elizabeth, wife of Zechariah when the Virgin Mary appears at her threshold: "How can the Mother of the Lord come to me?" Out of an abundance of caution, David will position the Ark in a family's home "for three months." Mary stayed with Elizabeth "for about three months." When the Ark was finally brought into Jerusalem, the king himself "leapt before the Lord...with joy." Elizabeth testified that the unborn John the Baptist "leapt for joy" in her womb at the sound of Mary's voice. (The Greek word in the ancient manuscripts for 1 Samuel and Luke is the same, whether translated into English as "danced" or "leapt.")

The Gospel of Luke (1:41-45, 56) uses these clues from 2 Samuel 26 to tell us that Mary is the Ark of the Covenant. Now the Lord of hosts is no longer symbolically enthroned: In Mary's unborn child God is truly, really, bodily present among his people.  The Ark of the Covenant is a "type" or prophetic foreshadowing of Mary, the Mother of God. This passage of Luke's Gospel is also a powerful testimony to the Church's faith that Jesus is truly God.

Start reading 2 Samuel here and Psalm 36 here.

If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by John Bergsma and Brant Pitre. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts, and how each book of the Bible has been understood by the Church Fathers and used in Liturgy.